Cheating at Poker - How to Cheat Playing Poker

Any behavior that is not in the rules of the game of poker is regarded as cheating and this is because it is likely to give one or more players an unfair advantage. Cheating in poker can be done in various ways and this will include collusion, use of physical objects such as hold out devices or marked cards as well as sleight of hands like stacking the deck or bottom dealing. It is important for casino players as well as owners to keep in mind that cheating can be done by players either operating alone or as a team. Casino owners should ensure that all their staff members have the highest integrity.

Terms for Card Cheats

There are various terms used to categorize various card threats namely:

  • A hand mucker is a cheat that has specialized in card switching.
  • A card mechanic is a cheat that has specialized in card manipulation and sleight of hand.
  • A Double deal is a strategy of dealing players two or more cards on one round of deal.
  • A machine player is a cheat that uses mechanical holdouts.
  • A paper player is a cheat which involves the marked cards usage.
  • A base dealer who is also referred to as a second dealer or a bottom dealer is a cheat that relies on 2 related methods in order to manipulate how the cards are dealt.

Minimal Skill Cheating Methods

The most common types of poker cheating are easy as they don’t require any special skills for manipulating. Some of the most common methods in this category include avoiding house fees, peeking at other player’s cards as well as shorting the pot among other methods. Other not so common methods in this category include when one of the players at the table who has just folded the hand appoints himself as the pot tender, the chips stacker and counter as well as the deliverer of the stacks to the winning player. Going south is another not so common poker cheating method that falls under the category of minimal cheating skill methods. In this case a player removes a portion of their chips from the game while still in the game and this is just to keep all the winnings as profit or in order to prevent a next major loss.

Skilled Methods

One of the most common ways of cheating in this category is hand muck. In this type of cheating a player cleverly hides cards in their hands that they will later switch their hand for. The objective of this cheating method is to ensure that the player plays certain cards at specific stages of a game to improve their chances of winning. This method can be done by the player on his own or using a confederate. Players can know a player is using this method if the dealer grips the card deck with their index finger and the other fingers are supporting the deck as the cards are slightly being beveled which is also know as the mechanics grip. There are many other forms of skilled cheating methods in poker so it is necessary to do some research in order to know how to counter them.