Cheating and collusion in poker

Every game, whether it is a card game or a table game, is susceptible to cheating by the participants. Some are easily identifiable and others not so easily identifiable, as is often the case in online poker. The betting and strategy game par excellence is sometimes manipulated by those players who do not respect the rules and who cheat to obtain benefits at the expense of the rest of the players. One of the most common and widespread cheating by this type of players is known as collusion poker.

In this article we want to talk about what is the collusion poker trap and other types of traps that are common in the king card game so that you can learn to detect them and so that you can play calmly knowing that it is a clean game where you can win the pot if you apply a good strategy and you are lucky. We recommend you read this article for more information.

Collusion poker, or colluding with other players

The rules in poker are clear and these are intended to prevent players from cheating, in addition to generating a great dynamic in the game. However, not everyone feels comfortable with them. The collusion technique in poker is nothing more and nothing less than colluding with other players to obtain benefits from the rest of the players or player. As you may have already guessed, this cheating is done between several players who participate in the same game -collusion poker online- or who are at the same table. They usually make use of several symbols or codes that they use to communicate to the rest of the cronies what the cards are and what strategy they will apply to modify the dynamics of the game as they wish.

In general, collusion in poker is easily detectable when the game is played physically. However, in the case of online poker collusion this is more difficult, although it is not impossible to detect - as we explain below. The problem, in any case, is that this generates a feeling of insecurity for the rest of the players, who cannot enjoy the game as they should and may feel cheated. Fortunately, collusion in poker is penalized and can imply a temporary or permanent exclusion of all those who participate in it.

Is it possible to detect online poker collusion?

Although it is true that in an online poker tournament it is not possible to detect the gestures or signals that players send to each other, we can find out if collusion is taking place by analyzing the strategies that the rest of the players are carrying out. To do this, we must take into account the following malicious strategies:

·         Squeezing: Squeezing is usually applied at two points in the game. Specifically, in the preflop and on the flop. In the preflop it is easier to detect, especially if it is applied with great frequency. What happens is the following. A player raises a bet before the flop and waits for the victim to re-raise. After that, another player raises again, preventing the victim from being able to continue betting. On the flop what usually happens is that players often use signs or codes to comment on the play, which makes the process much more difficult.

·         Soft Play: Or soft play. The strategy applied in this case consists of deceiving the victim with conservative plays and providing information to the rest of the cronies. What is done is to make very small bets, thus giving the partners to understand that they have the best play and that they should not act. In this way, those who are participating in the collusion are not harmed.

·         Chimb Dumping: The Chimb Dumping strategy is a form of distraction that consists of intentionally losing chips in order to give them to the rest of the players in the collusion -which share the spoils once the game is over-. This action is usually detected when the player starts the bet and ends up folding, especially if this action is carried out several times.

All these techniques are used in online collusion poker in combination. When a player barely has chances to win pots or simply to raise bets, it is very possible that he is being a victim of this trap in the game. From each online poker house there are mechanisms to proceed to denounce these illegal strategies.

Other poker traps

Collusion poker is perhaps the most popular trap that exists, although it is not the only one. Another technique that aims to deceive or influence the action of an opponent is known as Angle Shooting, applied during physical games or tournaments. However, there is an ambiguity about the legitimacy of this technique, since it has to do with poker etiquette - or manners and sets of unwritten rules on the education and poise of players during a game. Angle Shooting is the set of actions that are carried out to influence the action of an opponent or to obtain information from him, intentionally deceiving him with unethical tactics. Some of these tactics are:

·         Unclear moves during betting: This consists of making small moves that may make it appear to the poker dealer that the player is making a check in order to observe the reaction of the other players, and to excuse oneself by saying that one has not acted intentionally.

·         Placing incomplete bets: In this case, incomplete bets are placed in order to later indicate that they have not been completed and observe the reactions, trying not to be considered binding. Casinos, however, have counteracted this technique by forcing players to make a call the moment a chip is presented on the table. They also offer the possibility that the chips from the incomplete call are left in the pot and the player can either fold or complete the call for the full amount - thus remaining in the hand.

·         Pushing the cards: In order to analyze the feedback, the opponents are made to believe that the player has folded, but then argue that this move was not an attempt to voluntarily fold the hand.

In the poker world there can be other types of cheating, some more modern, such as the alleged use of bots - with robots playing the game - or more traditional, such as marking the deck or attempting to steal chips from the pot.