With the growth of online poker in recent times, the number of poker platforms and players has increased significantly. Even though it is considered relatively secure, poker cheating is still a big concern for many. The online poker industry has seen its fair share of poker game cheats over the years, and the number is growing. As the world sits at home battling the pandemic, the search trends for terms such as ‘poker cheating’, ‘online poker hack, ‘how to cheat at online poker’ and ‘poker cheating methods’ have grown drastically.
Spotting online poker cheating is the biggest challenge that players and poker platforms face. While the majority of players do not play with the intention to con anyone, even a small portion of bad apples can ruin the game for everyone. In this article, we will discuss some of the online poker cheating methods that these players use. So, these are the ‘5 Ways Online Poker Cheating Happens’.
#1 Ghosting
Ghost Dogs Playing Poker (ghosting Any Image in a Scene Is the Same) By solipsism in Craft Art. Download Favorite. PokerStars’ investigation into the unknown player started following speculations that a popular pro could be ghosting the account. The controversy first came to light through a tweet from top online poker pro “girafganger7“. Ghosting is an issue that once resided in a gray area of rules and ethics for online poker. Since there is not technically a one-player-to-a-hand-rule for online poker, it is nearly impossible to police ghosting in a culture that was built around sharing advice on instant messenger.
Im under the impression that ghosting players is legal in online poker. Situation occurred where my brother is in town this week and wanted to dabble a lil in some online poker MTTs wit me. Guy accused me of cheating because I was ghosting him through hands which i had no problem admitting to bec.
Ghosting is an online poker cheating method where a player is often getting help from another player with a better skill level, or a coach. This method is often used in tournaments with high prize pools to cash out as much as possible. To counter this online poker cheat, online tournament organisers have started opting for video tools such as Skype, Teamviewer, Google Meet and even customised software to keep track of the player’s device, ensuring any other player does not feed them any information or strategy.
If one encounters the ghosting poker game cheat, the player can’t win as you may be playing against a profession with far more knowledge of the game. Moreover, obstructing ghosting in standard online poker games is also impossible, as poker platforms cannot monitor every player’s device for every game.
#2 Curropt Poker Platforms
Instead of players indulging in online poker cheating, sometimes it is the platforms that are crooked. Many online platforms have come up in recent times, and a fair share of them have been built to con players. These poker platforms can employ their poker cheats in quite a few ways, such as:
- Rigged Payment Systems To Cancel Large Withdrawals
- In-House Bots To Win Every Hand
- Questionable Number Generators
- Dubious Software To Favour Certain Players
Therefore, it is better if players stick to the big names in the poker industry to avoid getting conned. However, even the biggest names have fallen down, so keep track of your money, and ensure you cash out from time to time to avoid any cancelled transactions and money loss.
#3 Multiple Accounts
This is online poker cheating at the most basic level, and many new players don’t even know this exists. To simplify, players create multiple accounts on a single poker platform and enter the same poker table. Now, every other player can see only two hole cards, but the person with multiple accounts can see four, or even more hole cards, depending upon the number of accounts he has on the table. This will be a headache for the other players as it puts them in a severe disadvantage.
The poker game cheat of multiple accounts is frowned upon by all significant poker platforms and players, but very little can be done about it. The ease of access to online poker and the availability of multiple devices has done no good as well. But to combat this practice, many poker platforms have now employed stringent verification practices.
#4 Using Poker Bots
Cheating at online poker with bots is a heavily debatable topic in the poker industry. Many poker players are still not convinced that a poker bot can play as good as humans, but many such poker bots have been tested out and have passed with flying colours. A well-known poker bot is Polaris, created in The University of Alberta in Canada. After considerable R&D, the bot was placed in certain situations where it would be tested out against humans. The bot showcases exceptional skills, and played ‘just like a human would’.
Ghosting Poker Player
Also, the bots have no emotions and no downtime, so they can play for as long as possible without feeling tilt, anger, or even the emotion to seek revenge. While the use of poker bots in online poker cheating is still not considered huge, it is still a problem nonetheless. It is believed that many such poker bots are being used in the lower-ranked matches, where the players are easy to beat, and the prize pools are more than enough.
#5 Card Cheats
Poker Hosting Websites
This online poker cheating method is severe, and can really impact the game for the players, and the reputation of the poker platform it is done on. This online poker cheat allows a player to view the hole cards of other players, giving the game away. For example, the cheater knows what cards everyone is holding, and can bet/fold accordingly. This poker cheat is a serious issue for another reason. The data of the cards is stored on the platform’s server. Therefore, to indulge in this online poker cheating method, one must bypass the security of the poker platform as well. This puts all player’s at risk, making the platform vulnerable to play on.
Online Poker Cheating Overview
Many new-age poker platforms have employed critical measures to counter these online poker cheating tricks. However, as a player, one must always be conscious of their surroundings and report any irregularities to the platform admins. Through this article, we aimed to make the poker players more informed about some online poker cheating methods. Now, don’t you read this and search google about how to cheat at online poker.
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