Breaking Down Cheating and Collusion in Online Poker Rooms
Poker by nature is a highly competitive game and rightly so because the winner walks away with a huge prize. Which is why you must always be aware of collusion in online poker. Cheating can become an issue in online poker as some players would do anything to gain an edge over the other players and increase their own chances. When it comes to online poker, this becomes even easier as the players can maintain a certain amount of anonymity.
Thankfully online poker rooms are aware of the different ways that players try to cheat or collude and have ways to deal with it.
In this blog, we will take a look at different ways that players can avoid collusion in online poker and the ways that online poker rooms handle the situation.
Different ways of cheating and collusion in online poker
1. Abuse of the All-in protection feature
In this method of cheating, players abuse the feature that most online poker rooms have, called ‘all-in protection’ which is designed to help the online players.
It works to protect a player’s money in the pot in case the player logs out of the online poker room, which is a common occurrence given the fickle nature of the internet connections. So, at the time that the player logs back in he or she is still entitled to receive the money that was invested in the pot as it is not the player’s fault that he or she was logged out of the poker room.
In the case that the player who got disconnected wins the pot, he or she is still entitled to the pot. However, the second-best hand wins the side pots that were created during the amount of the time that the player was logged out. This way the game still remains fair.
Unfortunately, some players exploit this feature by intentionally disconnecting themselves from the online poker room when they are faced with tough decisions. This enables them to hold on to their money instead of folding and losing it all.
Poker rooms quickly picked up on this tactic and are now one step ahead in resolving such issues of cheating and deception. Now many rooms do not offer the disconnection protection and instead give adequate time for players to reconnect and join in the game.
If the players still do not reconnect their hand is considered folded when further betting actions continue. This has resolved the problem of most of the abusers. In fact online poker rooms even ban such players and sometimes seek monetary compensation to the players who are victim to such type of abuse.
2. Collusion in online poker
Collusion in online poker is when two players work together in an underhanded fashion in order to increase the odds that one of the players wins the pot.
Usually, two or more friends or acquaintances work together to drive up the size of the pot and share the confidential information about their cards in order to get a better idea about the odds of the hands. This way, they can squeeze other players out of the pot and win. The winnings are then later split between all the players involved in colluding.
This is often difficult to catch because it is really tough for players to identify whether players are sharing information and plotting or just making decisions based on their own cards.
However, it is much easier for online poker rooms to detect this kind of cheating or collusion in online poker rooms. Since these sites have a complete history of player actions, they know whether these players have a history of playing at the same tables. They also employ complex algorithms to check for any signs of collusion. Such cases are then checked manually, and multiple steps are taken against collusion and to resolve such matters.
3. Handling Multiple Accounts
Most online sites do not allow for players to register more than one account. However, it has become a common practice for people to do so, in part, this is because players are riven to create multiple accounts by the sites themselves due to lack of responsive rake backs. So, it is important to note that there is a difference in creating a second player account and multiple accounts. Creating multiple accounts can be considered collusion in online poker.
A player can enter into a poker tournament from multiple accounts and increase the chances of winning and cashing in on the big fat pot of an online tournament.
This form of cheating is also pretty easy for online poker rooms to crack down, and they usually nip it in the bud.
These are a few ways that online poker collusion takes place. So be aware of these and do report them immediately in case you suspect any of these.
If you are worried about getting cheated online, make sure, you choose a trustworthy online portal. Spartan Poker uses the most advance software and has a very serious fair play policy that helps ensure that all players receive the same treatment online.
So, rest assured and start playing online poker games at Spartan Poker now!
