Terms of Service

Welcome to Ante. Please read these Terms carefully — they explain what Ante is, what it is not, and the rules for using it. By creating an account, accepting an invitation, or using Ante in any way, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use Ante.

In these Terms, “Ante,” “we,” “us,” or “the Service” means the Ante web application operated by Aura Golf LLC, a limited liability company organized in Illinois, USA (the “Operator”). “You” or “user” means the person using the Service.

1. What Ante Is (and Is Not)

Ante is a private, invite-only organizing and score-tracking tool for a small group of adult friends to set up, track, and follow their own friendly competitions tied to real PGA golf tournaments (for example, formats such as random deal, total-score draft, and best ball). It is a software convenience tool only — it helps friends keep track of who is playing, which format they chose, standings, and results. That is all it does.

Ante is not a casino, sportsbook, bookmaker, gambling operator, betting exchange, lottery, payment processor, money transmitter, escrow service, or financial institution, and it does not hold itself out as any of these. Ante does not accept wagers, does not set or offer odds, and does not organize or run games of chance for profit. Any contest you and your friends run is your own private activity among yourselves; Ante simply records information you choose to enter.

2. No Money, No Fees, No Rake

Ante never touches money. The Service does not collect, hold, process, transfer, escrow, or pay out any funds of any kind. Ante charges no fee, commission, rake, house cut, or service charge, and the Operator earns nothing from any contest, buy-in, or payout. The Service is provided at no cost as a convenience among friends.

Any buy-in amounts, pot totals, or payout figures shown in the app are numbers you and your friends enter and track yourselves. They are informational only. Ante does not verify, guarantee, collect, or disburse them.

3. Money Arrangements Are Private and Peer-to-Peer

Any decision to contribute a buy-in or to send or receive a payout is a private, voluntary arrangement strictly between you and the other users involved. These arrangements are made and settled entirely peer-to-peer (for example, directly between friends using a third-party service such as Venmo).

The Operator is not a party to, and takes no responsibility for, any of these arrangements. The Operator does not promise that anyone will pay, that any pot will be honored, or that any payout will be made or made correctly. Disputes about money are between the users involved. Ante may display links or handles (such as a Venmo username) to help friends pay each other directly; those third-party services are operated by their own companies under their own terms and policies, and the Operator has no control over and no responsibility for them.

4. Eligibility and Your Responsibility for Local Laws

You must be at least 21 years old (or older, if a higher age applies where you live) to use Ante. You may use Ante only where it is legal for you to do so. Laws about private contests, pools, buy-ins, and social gaming vary a great deal from place to place and change over time.

You are solely responsible for knowing and complying with all laws that apply to you, including the laws of your city, county, state, and country. By using Ante, you represent that participating in a private, voluntary buy-in contest among friends — and settling any amounts peer-to-peer — is lawful for you where you are located. If any activity organized or tracked through Ante is not legal for you, you must not use the Service for that purpose. The Operator does not provide legal advice and makes no representation that any activity is lawful in your jurisdiction.

5. Accounts and Invitations

Ante is invite-only. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity under your account. You agree to provide accurate information (such as your name, email, and payment handle) and to keep it reasonably up to date. You must not impersonate anyone or create an account for someone else without permission, and you are responsible for the people you invite and for making sure they understand these Terms.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree to use Ante only for its intended purpose — organizing friendly, private golf contests among people you know. You agree that you will not:

• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in any place where the underlying activity is illegal;
• use the Service to operate a commercial gambling, bookmaking, or betting business, or to profit as a “house” from other users;
• take a fee, cut, or commission from other users’ contests;
• enter false, fraudulent, or misleading information, or manipulate scores or results;
• harass, threaten, defraud, or abuse other users;
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or other accounts, or interfere with, disrupt, reverse-engineer, scrape, or overload it;
• invite or allow anyone under 21 to use the Service; or
• use the Service in any way that could harm the Operator or other users or expose them to legal liability.

The Operator may suspend or terminate your access at any time if the Operator believes, in its sole discretion, that you have violated these Terms or created risk for others.

7. For Entertainment Among Friends

Ante is intended purely for entertainment and friendly competition among a private group of friends. It is not a source of income, an investment, or a professional or commercial service. Please treat it that way, and only ever risk amounts you can comfortably afford to lose.

8. Assumption of Risk

You use Ante at your own risk. You understand that friendly contests can involve money you may not get back, that other users may not pay what they owe, that scores or results may be entered incorrectly, and that outcomes tied to real golf tournaments are uncertain and outside anyone’s control. You knowingly and voluntarily assume all risks associated with using the Service and with any contest or money arrangement you enter into with other users.

9. No Warranty — “As Is”

Ante is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Operator disclaims all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. The Operator does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that any data, scores, standings, or results shown will be accurate, complete, or reliable. You are responsible for verifying anything important yourself.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Operator will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of money, profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of (or inability to use) the Service — including any buy-in you contribute, any payout you do not receive, any money dispute with another user, or the acts or omissions of any third-party service such as Venmo.

Because the Service is provided free of charge and the Operator earns nothing from it, the Operator’s total aggregate liability for any and all claims relating to the Service will not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars (US $100.00). Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

11. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Operator from and against any claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to: your use of the Service; any contest or money arrangement you enter into with other users; your violation of these Terms; your violation of any law or of any third party’s rights (including any third-party payment service’s terms); or information you submit through the Service.

12. Changes to the Service and These Terms

The Operator may change, suspend, limit, or discontinue the Service (or any part of it) at any time, for any reason, without liability, and the Service may be closed down entirely. The Operator may also update these Terms from time to time; if we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to let users know (for example, by posting the updated Terms with a new effective date). Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You agree that any dispute relating to these Terms or the Service will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Madison County, Illinois, and you consent to their jurisdiction — except where applicable law gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere.

14. Miscellaneous

If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and the Operator regarding the Service. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact the Operator at theauragolf@gmail.com.