Whether you are playing live poker or online you will not be able to get away from the fact that cheating occurs. You will no doubt have read of countless incidents and heard numerous reports from lots of people connected with this subject. What this means is that there is an awful lot of paranoia that is unfortunately also connected. Now we all know that cheating occurs, it occurs in all walks of life and poker is certainly no different in that aspect.
But it is vitally important that we do not lose sight of the true reality of the situation. In my experience of not just live poker but also online poker, the vast majority of players play the game on the level. The most common types of cheating involves amateur tactics like sharing hand information with a colleague. This sort of thing does not turn losing players into winners.
Although it has to be said that the higher you play then the more risk that you will incur potentially running into more sophisticated cheating methods. Also in my experience I have been active on many poker forums in the past and I find that the vast majority of personal opinions that come from players on the subject of cheating tends to be based around players not understanding variance after having lost money.
It never ceases to amaze me how players only suspect cheating after having lost and not after winning. If I have ever lost money playing poker then I have always looked at myself first and foremost as being the likely reason for the loss. If I cannot find any flaw in the way that I have played then I will look to variance as being the next likely reason. It is only when I have exhausted all other possibilities that’s cheating becomes an option that needs further investigation.
Another amateur tactic not just in live poker but online poker too is soft playing. This is a process of two or more players not fully betting the strength of their hand when they know that several other players have weaker hands than them. This is usually a tactic that is displayed between friends or associates. With online poker then betting patterns can be far more easily spotted and thus cheating is easier to detect online than it is live.
One thing that needs carefully highlighting is that the actual poker sites themselves can not adequately police all of the games all the time. This then places substantial responsibility on the actual players themselves. Should you spot anything that you believe is untoward then do not hesitate to contact the site administration desk and report what you have seen.
They will ask you for certain data regarding where the game took place and the hand numbers to help them to identify the actual situation. It is very much in your interests to do this as you are providing a priceless service not just to the online poker site but to the online poker community as a whole.
It is vital for the continued growth of online poker that it is policed adequately. Online poker especially cannot avoid to have a credibility issue. Therefore you owe it upon yourself and your fellow poker players to report anything that you’ve seen that is suspicious. However do not become like millions of paranoid losers and start seeing Indians behind every bush.
Other types of cheating like team play, switching account details and other types of collusion in my experience are not widespread and therefore should not be the primary concern of poker players not just online but in general.
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