Cheating.

Does it happen on-line?  Yes.  Does it happen at Brick and Mortar?  Yes.  The difference is, when it’s done on-line there is a “hand record”.

If you think you have been cheated, record the hand number and report it to Support.  So long as you are not a chronic reporter the site will take your allegations/suspicions very seriously and will follow up on the hands/players in question.

Keep in mind, before reporting, that lots of weird stuff happens on the internet.  It is so easy to hit a raise button when you meant to fold and some pretty startling hands get turned over on a regular basis.  You will also find bluffing far more prevalent on the internet since it only requires a little click of the finger in the privacy of your own home as opposed to sitting on a table having to make a major movement with your entire body to push chips into the middle of the table.

Thinking of Cheating?

Don’t.

If you are caught your account will be immediately frozen.  You may also find yourself blacklisted at a multitude of sites. 

It is very easy for people to think that because they are playing on a computer that they are not visible and the temptation to be on the phone with a buddy on the same table is great.  If you are inclined to do this, you had better be very clever about it.  Many sites have some fairly sophisticated software for detecting cheating.  They also have your computer and IP address marked.  You are not invisible.  Although there are millions of players on-line, it is a smaller community than you may think.

More Food for Thought

I always recommend that you keep your play on the internet to the lower stakes.  If you are going to be cheated at the lower stakes, it is likely not going to be on a very sophisticated level.  Hence, if you are playing good poker and only entering the pot with premium hands, these players in cahoots with each other are in essence just giving you 2 to 1 on your money.  They are more often than not just idiots.

I also recommend playing Limit Hold’em as opposed to No Limit Hold’em on the internet.  The likelihood of being squeezed out of a pot by cheaters will be of less value.  As a side note, I have a great deal of difficulty fathoming No Limit play on the internet, where often a major coin flip decision may need to be made and without the added benefit of being able to look a man in the face to give you extra knowledge of a “tell” that he could be bluffing is beyond my comprehension.

By Lynne Milner, November 2006