Winning is a big part of playing poker online, which is why people would do almost anything to ensure their success. Some players will learn everything about the game to try and win fair and square, while others are willing to use nefarious methods to get a flush poker win.
Catching a cheat during a live poker session at a land-based casino became easier with the years, thanks to various technologies casinos utilize. However, when it comes to playing poker online, finding a cheater is much harder. But it is doable!
What are the most common cheating methods online poker pros employ? And how can you detect a liar in your midst? Learn all about cheating and online poker NOW!
All You Need to Know About Online Poker and Cheating
Different Cheating Strategies
Nowadays, online poker players can use technology in many ways to cheat and deceive their opponents. Here are some of the most known cheating methods:
- Multi-accounting – Creating multiple accounts at the same poker website is not as hard as it should be. Players who choose to go down this route can join the same table at an ongoing game or tournament from more than one computer. Therefore, they get an unfair advantage over other players, as they can see at least two sets of hole cards instead of one. Plus, in an SNG event, they get multiple lives, unlike most participants who only get one.
- Ghosting – Unlike live poker events, playing poker online allows you plenty of privacy – which some players take advantage of. With the help of simple communication tools, some people recruit the help of coaches or pros – which are referred to as 'ghosts' – to help them make smarter moves. That means that the average player has to deal with two opponents at the same time, without knowing that one of them is a well-trained pro.
- Colluding – Two players at the same table can choose to share information with one another, communicating via a separate app. This way, the two can ambush their opponents and share their profits by the end of the session.
- Inside informants – Those are rare, but they can be the hardest to catch and deal with. Sometimes, players can gain access to your personal info and see the hand you're dealt without you knowing. A trojan horse or a corrupt employee of the poker room can allow others to see your cards, which gives them a clear advantage 100% of the time.
How to Identify a Cheater?
To figure out whether someone at your table is cheating or not, you should always remain vigilant and pay attention to suspicious things. Here are a few examples that should raise a red flag:
- Two players that always sit at the same tables and make irrational moves that benefit one or the other.
- Players who seem to predict the future, making faring moves that are too good to be true.
- Players who seem to have similar playing patterns, gambling stats, and so on.
In addition to that, we always recommend reading casino reviews to determine whether a gambling venue is trustworthy and is able to protect its members.
Darren Woods Arrested for an Online Poker Cheating Scandal
There are no hard and fast rules which determine how a cheating poker player gets punished, especially when it is hard to find proof of wrongdoing online. But from time to time, when a cheater is caught red-handed, the law steps in and makes things right.
Darren Woods, a former English poker pro with a WSOP bracelet under his belt, was scheming online poker players from 2007 to 2012. Apparently, Woods was using multiple accounts to increase his poker wins. He even went as far as buying multiple private networks to cover his tracks and override the rules in each poker venue he played at. It has been estimated that Woods made more than £900,000 from his scheme.
Eventually, he was sentenced to 15 months in jail, under the condition that he pays the money back in six months. The court decided that if he can't pay up, he will spend six more years behind bars.
Once the court's ruling was announced, the poker community was overjoyed. They celebrated the fact justice was served on Reddit, as things don't always turn out so well!