Home-game Cheating Awareness, Part II : Other Cheating Methods
M.J. Morgan asked:
Our 4-part article series will offer you an extensive guide to detecting the different ways cheaters may invade and clean up your home poker nights, even if they are friends or acquaintances you have trusted over the years. If you read our first article, you will now be more wary of dealing irregularities; now read on to find out other methods used at home games.
Collusion:
Requiring minimal skill and preparation, collusion is definitely the most used and the easiest way to cheat. It consists of an agreement between two or more players to signal each other at different times of the game how their poker hands are standing and when winning, they split the pot between them.
Maneuvers: Each player agrees on discreetly giving each other signals about the strength of their hands, and when one of them is dealing, the other distracts the other players. Some of the signals to share hand information involves turning the cards faced down after dealing outwards, thus showing their numbers in a split second, but if paying attention, the colluding players can see the cards. In addition, the colluding players may agree to speak using a code that is imperceptible to the other players.
Angling:
Although allowed in some casinos, angling consists of acting when it is not the player’s turn, thus influencing the other players’ actions, and when it is finally the player’s turn, taking back the anticipated action, thus affecting the others’ fate in the hand. Players who use angling are called “angle shooters” and some say it is more unethical than plain cheating.
Marked Cards:
Cards can be marked obviously, noticeably up close, or imperceptibly. In order to mark the poker cards, the cheating player has to own the deck or have at least plenty of private time with it before playing.
For vigilant players, card markings can be classified in 4 types:
Shading. Manipulation of the card design with very fine ink applied with extreme precision, making it almost imperceptible.
Daubing. Available in magic stores, a special ink only visible with special sunglasses is applied to the marked cards, and the cheater plays the poker game wearing the glasses.
Corner Crimp. The cheating player peeks at the wanted card (top or bottom) and discreetly pushes it a small distance away from the rest of the cards, subtly bends the corner closest to the thumb or index finger. The cheat can do this with all aces or kings.
Thumbnailing. This technique consists of inserting the thumb nail inside one of the edges of the card, barely splitting the card but leaving a mark that is visible to the trained eye.
Misrepresentation of a Hand:
Also called bad calling, a cheat misrepresents a hand by reveling it at showdown but calling it something better than what it is. If unnoticed by the rest of the players, the cheat gets the money; if caught, he/she will innocently pretend to have made a mistake and laugh it off. If not careful, too many of these mistakes can reveal the true agenda of the cheat.
Pot interaction:
Cheating can very easily occur when putting money into the pot or “making change” off of it, which can allow the cheat to take small but frequent amounts of money that favor his/her bankroll.
To avoid inappropriate handling of the pot, players should keep track of the expected pot amount. If the amount is less than expected, each player’s bankroll must be counted.
Prepared Deck:
A cheat can prepare a deck by putting the wanted cards in strategic places before shuffling, and the cheat would usually say the deck has already been shuffled. This trick is frequently used in angling. The most basic deck-preparing includes cards whose back designs are not symmetric, and if the position of the design of some cards differs from the others that will help the cheater figure out which cards those are during the game. However, if he players move the cards or the deck is shuffled again before the next hand, the cheating would lose its course.
Phony Chips:
After a player purchased phony $100 chips from the Rio souvenir shop during the 2005 WSOP, the chips were used by that player for the tournaments, and since then, it has been a cheating trend. The red engraving that identifies a chip as an official WSOP chip is not easily visible in all chips, especially when stacked up, which confuses them with fake ones.
Players may bring phony chips or steal them from previous games and introduce them to the game. In order to avoid this, the host must be very protective of his/her chips and when possible try to purchase unique-looking chips, different from standard color denominations, and keep them locked at all times. The game should be played with the house chips and no one should be allowed to bring their own; unique-looking chips prevent phony chips from being secretly introduced in the game.
Learning about all the ways you can expect a cheat player to boycott your home game creates awareness about how deceitful some of your acquaintances can be. However, detecting cheating and demanding justice in a home game can be difficult and challenging. In our next article, we will show you the ways you can protect your home from poker cheats.
Next: Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part III: Important Facts about Poker Cheats
Xbox 360 Game Cheats
Our 4-part article series will offer you an extensive guide to detecting the different ways cheaters may invade and clean up your home poker nights, even if they are friends or acquaintances you have trusted over the years. If you read our first article, you will now be more wary of dealing irregularities; now read on to find out other methods used at home games.
Collusion:
Requiring minimal skill and preparation, collusion is definitely the most used and the easiest way to cheat. It consists of an agreement between two or more players to signal each other at different times of the game how their poker hands are standing and when winning, they split the pot between them.
Maneuvers: Each player agrees on discreetly giving each other signals about the strength of their hands, and when one of them is dealing, the other distracts the other players. Some of the signals to share hand information involves turning the cards faced down after dealing outwards, thus showing their numbers in a split second, but if paying attention, the colluding players can see the cards. In addition, the colluding players may agree to speak using a code that is imperceptible to the other players.
Angling:
Although allowed in some casinos, angling consists of acting when it is not the player’s turn, thus influencing the other players’ actions, and when it is finally the player’s turn, taking back the anticipated action, thus affecting the others’ fate in the hand. Players who use angling are called “angle shooters” and some say it is more unethical than plain cheating.
Marked Cards:
Cards can be marked obviously, noticeably up close, or imperceptibly. In order to mark the poker cards, the cheating player has to own the deck or have at least plenty of private time with it before playing.
For vigilant players, card markings can be classified in 4 types:
Shading. Manipulation of the card design with very fine ink applied with extreme precision, making it almost imperceptible.
Daubing. Available in magic stores, a special ink only visible with special sunglasses is applied to the marked cards, and the cheater plays the poker game wearing the glasses.
Corner Crimp. The cheating player peeks at the wanted card (top or bottom) and discreetly pushes it a small distance away from the rest of the cards, subtly bends the corner closest to the thumb or index finger. The cheat can do this with all aces or kings.
Thumbnailing. This technique consists of inserting the thumb nail inside one of the edges of the card, barely splitting the card but leaving a mark that is visible to the trained eye.
Misrepresentation of a Hand:
Also called bad calling, a cheat misrepresents a hand by reveling it at showdown but calling it something better than what it is. If unnoticed by the rest of the players, the cheat gets the money; if caught, he/she will innocently pretend to have made a mistake and laugh it off. If not careful, too many of these mistakes can reveal the true agenda of the cheat.
Pot interaction:
Cheating can very easily occur when putting money into the pot or “making change” off of it, which can allow the cheat to take small but frequent amounts of money that favor his/her bankroll.
To avoid inappropriate handling of the pot, players should keep track of the expected pot amount. If the amount is less than expected, each player’s bankroll must be counted.
Prepared Deck:
A cheat can prepare a deck by putting the wanted cards in strategic places before shuffling, and the cheat would usually say the deck has already been shuffled. This trick is frequently used in angling. The most basic deck-preparing includes cards whose back designs are not symmetric, and if the position of the design of some cards differs from the others that will help the cheater figure out which cards those are during the game. However, if he players move the cards or the deck is shuffled again before the next hand, the cheating would lose its course.
Phony Chips:
After a player purchased phony $100 chips from the Rio souvenir shop during the 2005 WSOP, the chips were used by that player for the tournaments, and since then, it has been a cheating trend. The red engraving that identifies a chip as an official WSOP chip is not easily visible in all chips, especially when stacked up, which confuses them with fake ones.
Players may bring phony chips or steal them from previous games and introduce them to the game. In order to avoid this, the host must be very protective of his/her chips and when possible try to purchase unique-looking chips, different from standard color denominations, and keep them locked at all times. The game should be played with the house chips and no one should be allowed to bring their own; unique-looking chips prevent phony chips from being secretly introduced in the game.
Learning about all the ways you can expect a cheat player to boycott your home game creates awareness about how deceitful some of your acquaintances can be. However, detecting cheating and demanding justice in a home game can be difficult and challenging. In our next article, we will show you the ways you can protect your home from poker cheats.
Next: Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part III: Important Facts about Poker Cheats
Xbox 360 Game Cheats
Home-game Cheating Awareness, Part III : Important Facts About Poker Cheats
M.J. Morgan asked:
Direct access to poker games through television and the effective marketing strategy of today’s poker industry has greatly increased the popularity of poker, and more people are now hosting poker nights at home. What most of the poker amateurs don’t know is that not only are they risking their and everybody’s money to savvy cheating players, but also risking police raids, and in worst-case-yet-real-scenarios, losing their lives. If you enjoy playing and hosting poker nights, there are some basic things you need to know for the safety of everybody involved.
One of my previous series of articles dealing with poker tragedies featured 4 home game tragedies out of 9 that happened during the last century and the beginning of this one, and not every player that ended up killing their poker mates was an experienced criminal. Some of them were average people who wanted to have some fun but found themselves in a situation and reacted impulsively and regrettably. Therefore, home poker games can certainly be dangerous and prone to the unthinkable if people are not cautious.
According to Richard Marcus, a now retired professional casino cheater, talks about the alarming increase of home-game cheating that can lead up to dangerous incidents.
“If cheating is blowing up sky-high on the Internet, it’s gone nuclear in home games. How do I know? You’d only have to read my e-mails. Eighty-five percent of them querying me about cheating in poker ask about incidents occurring in the senders’ home games.”
Thus, what signs or traits would a poker host look for when suspecting of the honesty of some player? Whether a poker host would like to get rid of their cheating buddy or learn everything about cheating before hosting his/her first poker party, there are 4 important facts to consider about poker cheats, according to poker player and author Marc Wortman.
Cheats will do anything rather than admit they cheated. If you think that confronting a poker cheat about their shady practices is going to embarrass them and make them admit and repent of their actions, then, you definitely don’t know much about poker cheats.
Even if you or others at the table catch a cheater red-handed, they will deny it with all their might. The only thing you can get out of confronting a cheater is a nasty argument, which may escalate into something more unpleasant, depending on the circumstances and the feelings of the other players.
Low stakes won’t discourage cheaters. Some cheaters are more driven by the challenge of tricking others than by profit. They can’t play without the thrill of changing the game’s course to their advantage and winning. Most home cheaters look for home games in which there is a balance between the profit stakes and the ability for the other players to catch the cheater. Therefore, keep in mind that even when playing for pennies, you might be hosting a cheater who just likes fooling everybody.
Cheaters will try to continue playing after being caught. Even after an embarrassing moment at your poker night, the cheater will continue trying to get invited to future games, especially because they will always deny their involvement, and expressing any kind of shame by not coming back would be like admitting the suspicion was accurate.
Cheaters won’t get scared when warned by a knowledgeable host. If you ever thought that warning a cheater that you know what they are up to could deter him/her, you will only be daring the cheater to improve. Therefore, don’t make the mistake of waking the cheating beast!
According to Richard Marcus, the cheating technique that wins the #1 prize in home games is marking cards.
Marcus claims that nowadays, the marking trend for home cheaters involves a Mission Impossible style move: buying several new decks, taking the cards out without damaging the plastic packages or the sealing blue sticker on the box openings, marking the cards, putting everything back, and ironing the plastic cellophane wrappings to seal the decks back. Then, the cheats take the decks to a store near the game’s location, especially a store that stays open until late, and when the vendor is distracted, the cheaters replace the new decks with the marked ones. Then, at the game, the cheater goes on “tilt” and tears the cards in their bad hands out of apparent frustration. When all the decks available at the host’s house are ruined, someone will try to go and buy a deck at the nearest store, the one that is open until late and is now selling the marked decks. And to everybody’s surprise, there is no more deck tearing by the cheater for the rest of the game, only the tearing through everybody’s stacks.
Therefore, it is important for game hosts to know how far cheating players are willing to expend time and energy for the thrill of fooling everyone, even close friends. Hopefully your own cheater’s secrets have been exposed in this article, and you will be able to expel them from your home poker fun.
Next: Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part IV: 8 Home-Protection Rules
Game Hints and Cheat Codes
Direct access to poker games through television and the effective marketing strategy of today’s poker industry has greatly increased the popularity of poker, and more people are now hosting poker nights at home. What most of the poker amateurs don’t know is that not only are they risking their and everybody’s money to savvy cheating players, but also risking police raids, and in worst-case-yet-real-scenarios, losing their lives. If you enjoy playing and hosting poker nights, there are some basic things you need to know for the safety of everybody involved.
One of my previous series of articles dealing with poker tragedies featured 4 home game tragedies out of 9 that happened during the last century and the beginning of this one, and not every player that ended up killing their poker mates was an experienced criminal. Some of them were average people who wanted to have some fun but found themselves in a situation and reacted impulsively and regrettably. Therefore, home poker games can certainly be dangerous and prone to the unthinkable if people are not cautious.
According to Richard Marcus, a now retired professional casino cheater, talks about the alarming increase of home-game cheating that can lead up to dangerous incidents.
“If cheating is blowing up sky-high on the Internet, it’s gone nuclear in home games. How do I know? You’d only have to read my e-mails. Eighty-five percent of them querying me about cheating in poker ask about incidents occurring in the senders’ home games.”
Thus, what signs or traits would a poker host look for when suspecting of the honesty of some player? Whether a poker host would like to get rid of their cheating buddy or learn everything about cheating before hosting his/her first poker party, there are 4 important facts to consider about poker cheats, according to poker player and author Marc Wortman.
Cheats will do anything rather than admit they cheated. If you think that confronting a poker cheat about their shady practices is going to embarrass them and make them admit and repent of their actions, then, you definitely don’t know much about poker cheats.
Even if you or others at the table catch a cheater red-handed, they will deny it with all their might. The only thing you can get out of confronting a cheater is a nasty argument, which may escalate into something more unpleasant, depending on the circumstances and the feelings of the other players.
Low stakes won’t discourage cheaters. Some cheaters are more driven by the challenge of tricking others than by profit. They can’t play without the thrill of changing the game’s course to their advantage and winning. Most home cheaters look for home games in which there is a balance between the profit stakes and the ability for the other players to catch the cheater. Therefore, keep in mind that even when playing for pennies, you might be hosting a cheater who just likes fooling everybody.
Cheaters will try to continue playing after being caught. Even after an embarrassing moment at your poker night, the cheater will continue trying to get invited to future games, especially because they will always deny their involvement, and expressing any kind of shame by not coming back would be like admitting the suspicion was accurate.
Cheaters won’t get scared when warned by a knowledgeable host. If you ever thought that warning a cheater that you know what they are up to could deter him/her, you will only be daring the cheater to improve. Therefore, don’t make the mistake of waking the cheating beast!
According to Richard Marcus, the cheating technique that wins the #1 prize in home games is marking cards.
Marcus claims that nowadays, the marking trend for home cheaters involves a Mission Impossible style move: buying several new decks, taking the cards out without damaging the plastic packages or the sealing blue sticker on the box openings, marking the cards, putting everything back, and ironing the plastic cellophane wrappings to seal the decks back. Then, the cheats take the decks to a store near the game’s location, especially a store that stays open until late, and when the vendor is distracted, the cheaters replace the new decks with the marked ones. Then, at the game, the cheater goes on “tilt” and tears the cards in their bad hands out of apparent frustration. When all the decks available at the host’s house are ruined, someone will try to go and buy a deck at the nearest store, the one that is open until late and is now selling the marked decks. And to everybody’s surprise, there is no more deck tearing by the cheater for the rest of the game, only the tearing through everybody’s stacks.
Therefore, it is important for game hosts to know how far cheating players are willing to expend time and energy for the thrill of fooling everyone, even close friends. Hopefully your own cheater’s secrets have been exposed in this article, and you will be able to expel them from your home poker fun.
Next: Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part IV: 8 Home-Protection Rules
Game Hints and Cheat Codes
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