Online Cheating

What is really popular nowadays is the online play.There is a great variety of poker games to play staying at home. Of course, with the development and the increasing popularity of the online play, the new methods of cheating iccur, while those based on marked cards are impossible here.

There are many forms to cheat online. We will list only the most popular methods here.

Use of bots – This is one of the newest cheating methods and it works thanks to a special program, which plays the game instead of a real person. Using these programs violates the basic rules of the online cardrooms, so winning with the help of bots is considered as cheating.

Collusion – This is a technique that occurs in both – live and online games. Of course, when playing online, it is much more easier to perform collusion that is executed perfectly. By messages and phone calls cheaters can discuss their cards and moves easily, and no one can see them. Sometimes two or more computers are used by one person. In this way multiple hands can be played at the same table and the chance of detection is very low, since there are the multiple IP addresses plans, offered by many internet providers. Although it is difficult to detect the online collusion, it is not an impossible task. The online poker rooms have the records of every hand played, and when the detectable patterns are found, the collusion is detected too. Detectable patterns mean to fold good hands to a small bet, as you know that partner has a better hand. Also the users that are playing on the same tables are usually flagged by the online poker rooms and their play is closely watched.

Multiaccounting – Another popular method of online cheating. A player registers more than one account on his name, or even on the names of non-playing relatives and friends. In this way the chip dumping is easy to perform, as well as the other methods of equity maximization in tournaments. Sometimes the multiaccounting is used by very popular player as it gives them the possibility to play incognito.

Datamining – A very interesting method that requires your attention. A special software is needed here to make the profile of the player’s oppponents. The datamining is a systematic collection of played hand histories, which are then analyzed by the software. The methods for collecting are different – sometimes the players share it among themselves, many sites offer the history of the played hands for a small fee, etc. Another advantage is that the use of the analyzing software is generally accepted, but still have in mind that if the player himself doesn’t participate in the acquiring process of his played hands, the rules of the cardroom are violated.

Remember, like all the other softwares, the poker ones also cannot be reliable. There is a great chance that someone is exploiting the poker software, or that the software itself contains a backdoor which allows other people to view your cards. There are many examples, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet were engaged in such scandals.