Poker cheats are everywhere. There are loads of shady ways to scam the game 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.

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 allegedly milk thousands of dollars from their unsuspecting 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 they get away with it, and, how do you recognize poker cheats?

Types of Poker Cheats:

Card Marking

To recognize improper play, you need to have at least a basic understanding of the most commonly employed 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. Online poker rooms are relatively immune from such techniques.

Collusion

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. This type of scam can be found online and off, although high level technologies have been created which can spot colluders.

Hand Mucking

This technique involves two or more poker cheats switching hands. Two players sitting next to each other somehow switch or alter their hands, they can also use 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 poker cheats have to repeat signals without being noticed by others. And, the last but certainly not the least practiced collusion method is soft-play.

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.

Security at casinos, whether virtual or real has stepped up tremendously in the past few years to stop poker cheats. Online casino safety is key to these rooms remaining open and anyone trying to scam the system is generally caught quickly.