Poker cheats are everywhere. There are loads of shady ways to cheat in poker. And, although some poker players would tell you that there is no such thing as effective cheating in poker, others would probably assure you that successful cheaters actually do exist. However, since nobody can prove that the crime has indeed been performed, who can actually claim that the alleged cheater, in fact, cheated? Most seasoned poker sharks would say that a successful poker cheater is a player who has never been caught cheating.

Some believe that all sorts of conspiracies go on behind the scenes of even the most prestigious and monitored poker events in the world, such as the WSOP, where schemers milk thousands of dollars from their unsuspecting gaming opponents. Although traditional and online poker operators are well aware of the cheating phenomenon, they cannot prevent it from taking place all together. The inevitable questions are: How do cheating players get away with it, and, how do you recognize a cheating player?

Once again, there are many ways to cheat. And here's some really bad news: Unless you have a really trained eye, you should be careful before you pull up a seat next to a seasoned poker shark whose sole goal is to squeeze you for all you're worth. Furthermore, if you happen to play against a genuine “talent,” you are nothing but doomed. Just save yourself the precious time and say 'good bye' to your wallet. What we mean to say is, that you need to have gaming experience in order to be able to realize that something fishy is going on in the game.

To recognize improper play, you need to have at least a basic understanding of the most commonly employed card cheating techniques. The most basic technique is card marking. Cheaters take brand new decks of cards and use a dye that is only visible to a player with special glasses. Some players may also try and punch cards. A 'punched' card has an almost undetectable indentation in a specific location. This cheating technique can be easily avoided by always using your own cards.

Another commonly used cheating method is collusion. Collusion is actually a general title to a number of deceptive playing techniques. First and foremost, there is chip dumping. This cheating method involves deliberate loss. For example, when a player loses on purpose to someone with whom they have an agreement to split the prize. Then, there is also hand-mucking. This cheating technique involves switching hands. Two players sitting next to each other somehow switch or alter their hands. Another prevalent method is signaling. Signaling means exchanging information between partners. Signals may come in different and very sophisticated forms. The most crucial ingredient in successful signaling is the ability to repeat signals without being noticed by others. And, the last but certainly not the least practiced collusion method is soft-play. Soft-play is failing to raise or bet in a situation that would typically call for such a move because your opponent is your friend. Soft-playing a friend is considered cheating because all other participants in the game would prefer your friend to go down which would eventually get them closer to the jackpot. No matter how you look at it, soft-playing is a complicated thing to deal with because usually there is no evident financial (or personal) relationship between the two players involved in the scheme.

The surest way to put an end to suspected cheating is also the most radical one: to fold and leave the game altogether. It is, of course, an unpleasant method, but certainly an efficient one. Another less extreme approach is to remove the suspected cheater from the game. Although this approach is milder than the first one, it is, nevertheless, more complicated because a cheater will never confess to any wrongdoing. In addition, a cheat should not cause an entire poker game to be interrupted; it is not fair to punish honest players by breaking up the game.

Poker cheats can and must be stopped. The bottom line is that mastering all the sophisticated cheating techniques takes a lot of time and effort. And not everyone is up to it. Many believe that cheating takes all the fun out of playing poker, whether online or at traditional “brick & mortar” gaming establishments.