Poker Cheats

When many people think of poker cheats, they think of traditional ways to cheat at the most popular game of chance. For centuries, poker players have cheated by using sleight of hand -- for example, swapping cards -- or by sneaking peeks at their opponents' cards. With the digital age the old tricks get a high-tech upgrade for the new millennium.

Online poker games have managed to prevent most of these traditional cheating methods. Since the cards are virtual, cheats cannot touch them to mark or switch and each player only sees the cards dealt to him. However, cheats are nothing if not inventive and a new generation of cheats has emerged.

Online poker games, whether they are free or played for money, are vulnerable. Of course, in free games the cheaters are not really damaging anything except a sense of fair play. However, in paid games a poker cheat can cost a casino and other players a lot of money.

So, what are cheaters doing to win unfairly at poker? There are several kinds of poker cheats that are most commonly seen in online poker games today.

Collusion is when two or more players work together to win at poker. Imagine that all of the players at your online poker table are actually in the same room, talking to one another. If they are sharing information about their cards, they can ensure that one of them wins most of the hands and you will not have a fair chance at the pot. Players do not have to be in the same physical location to engage in collusion; cheaters often use instant messenger services or phone calls to work the system.

Some online poker clubs will not allow players to choose their own tables and only do random assignments. This prevents colluders from sitting at the same table, but also makes it difficult for you to play against your friends.

Where there is software, there are bound to be hackers. Hackers break into servers in order to manipulate the software. Most casinos have stringent online security that monitors the cards that are dealt, the gameplay and every facet of the poker game to ensure that poker cheats cannot take advantage of the system.

Since many online poker sites offer some kind of ante refund policy when players suffer disconnects, some poker cheats take advantage of this to dump a bad hand. This kind of poker cheat is fairly easy for the online casinos to detect, and some casinos automatically assume a disconnect is a fold, taking away the cheaters' advantage.

Some players wonder if the online casinos ever cheat at poker. While it is not impossible, it is not really in the best interest of a casino to cheat. Remember that the casino already has an advantage in the games, so the casinos are making money without cheating. In addition, the casinos have a vested interest in offering their clients fairplay so they return to play poker -- and lose money -- again and again.

• Video Game Violence Statistics
• History of Video Games Timeline
• Top Strategy Games

• Street Fighter Characters
• Free Online Horse Games
• Nintendogs Cheat Codes: Unlockable Breeds
• Street Fighter Characters 2
• Play Zuma Online for Free

• Darkstalkers: The Chaos Tower Cheat Codes
• Constantine Cheat Codes
• Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders Cheat Codes
• Age of Empires Cheat Codes
• Dead Or Alive 4 Cheats