CHEAT CODE

 A line of text or series of commands which can be used to

change a game's behavior, alter a character's looks and abilities,
skip levels, or access other hidden features.

 They are also the passwords or button combinations that

can be entered to trigger a particular effect or event within a video
game.
 Originally, cheat codes were tools that helped developers to
test the games they were building. 

CHEATING IN POKER:

Do not play the cards, play the people. That is one of the most
important mantras of poker. A good bluff always beat bad cards.
With one major exception. Cheaters beat everything. Unless they
get caught.

 Cheating in poker is any behavior outside the rules that is

intended to give an unfair advantage to one or more players.
 Cheating can be done many ways,
including collusion, sleight-of-hand (such as bottom
dealing or stacking the deck), or the use of physical objects such
as marked cards or holdout devices or using AI and high-tech
electromechanical devices like shuffling machines to manipulate
the deck.
 Cheating occurs in both friendly games and casinos. Cheats
may operate alone, or may operate in teams or small groups.

Following is a list of terms used to categorize specific card

cheats:

1. Card Mechanic: A card cheat who specializes in sleight-of-

hand and manipulation of cards, a card sharp.
2. Base dealer: Also called a bottom dealer, or a second
dealer, this relies on two related methods that manipulate the
dealing of cards.
3. Deadlock deck: Use of computer and AI to manipulate the
game either with manipulation of RNG in online games by
hacking or use of electromechanical devices like shuffling
machines to manipulate the deck.
4. Paper player: A card cheat that exploits the use of marked
cards.
5. Hand mucker: A card cheat that specializes in switching
cards.
6. Machine player: A card cheat that uses mechanical
holdouts.
7. Double deal: dealing a player two or more cards during one
round of a deal.

 WAYS TO CHEAT IN ONLINE POKER 

 Multi-Accounting
 Poker Bots
 Ghosting
 Collusion
 Access to hole cards (superuser account)

 Multi-accounting

1. Multi-accounting means that a player has several real

money accounts at a single poker room. Online Poker rooms
forbid players to open more than one real money account per
person at their poker site. The main reason for this ban are
their poker first deposit bonus offerings. By forbidding multi-
accounting, they prevent bonus fraud. However, this is only a
problem for the poker room, and not directly for the other players.
2. But the big problem arises when multi-accounting players
are using two or more accounts to play poker at the same cash
game table or at the same tournament.  Such a player has an
unfair advantage because in cash games he can see four and not
only two hole cards. In addition to this, in tournaments like SNGs
he practically has “two lives” in a single tournament.
3. Multi-accounting is a clear case of fraud, and a player who
gets caught will be suspended and his bankroll will be retained.
4. The poker rooms have – even in their own interests (first
deposit bonus) – taken comprehensive measures to prevent
multi-accounting. To cash out, for example, players have to
upload a copy of their ID first. Furthermore, many rooms have a
security feature, preventing the same IP address to register for
the same tournament more than once. In addition to this, other
players might detect this form of cheating as well, and report the
cheater to the poker room. However, multi-accounting is
theoretically always possible – at least until the player in question
has been caught.

 Poker Bots

1. Poker bots are computer programs that play poker

online. One of the most popular bots is the program Polaris from
the University of Alberta in Canada. This bot was able to win the
majority of heads-up fixed limit Texas Hold’em cash games
against poker professionals. To exclude random effects, the
poker pro’s and the computer bot played “duplicate match”
games of 500 hands. This means that both the computer player
and the pro’s had the same hands when playing against each
other.
2. Even if poker is, in contrast to a game like chess, a game
with limited information, the ROI and profits are still strongly
determined by the mathematical skills of the players. Heads-Up
Fixed Limit Hold’em is definitely one of the variants that can best
be “solved” in a mathematical way. On the other hand, with
computing power and programming skills permanently improving,
it is almost for sure a fact that similar to chess, computer bots will
be even able to beat very strong opponents in No Limit Texas
Hold’em in the future.
3. Currently, it must be assumed that poker bots are in
use. But these poker bots are rather playing on the lowest limits,
because there the level of play of the opponents is bad and the
human opponents are therefore easier to be beaten. Also
tournament poker players (and in particular Sit and Go Double or
 Nothing) cannot rule out for sure that all opponents at their
tournament table are human. 
4. Especially the middle and late phases of these six-and ten-
man tournaments are strongly influenced by the mathematical
skills of the players. Once you have less than 10 to 15 big blinds,
players (or bots!) have to make only one decision: should they
fold before the flop or push all-in? This push-or-fold mechanism
can be programmed relatively easy. 
5. The poker bot must take into account only the chip stacks of
the players at the table, the size of the blinds, the position and the
two hole cards. With the Independent Chip Model ICM he can
convert the chip equities into dollar equities and determine –
based on an assumption on the calling and pushing ranges of the
opponents, the optimal strategy (push all-in or fold).
6. In addition to this, a computer bot has no emotions. And as
you probably know: tilt and the desire for “revenge” are large
leaks of many human players – another advantage for the poker
bot.
7. A poker bot that became known to the public because it got
caught was “DeepComputer”, a computer program multitabling a
turbo SNG variation at Full Tilt Poker where players started with
only 300 chips. Surprisingly, the bot did not get caught because
of the insane number of tournaments it played each day. It got
caught because its programmers became too greedy and opened
a second account with a copy of the bot: they got caught because
of multi-accounting.
8. Poker rooms have no direct financial interest in catching
poker bots. Also bots eventually also generate rake. However,
the confidence into the poker room disappears if a bot gets
caught and this security problem gets known to the public.
Therefore, poker rooms are using a set of different mechanisms
to detect bots. These mechanisms are not published publicly for
obvious reasons. However, some of the protective measures
probably include:
 Examine whether certain programs are running in the
background (e.g. the WinHoldem poker bot framework)
 Taking screenshots, a very effective measure also used in
video gamese
 Measurement of mouse movements (are they natural?)
 Measurement of the reaction time of a player
1. Another measure that for example Party Poker has
implemented is using a pop-up window where the player has to
type in a certain sequence of letters within 120 seconds in order
not be put on “sit-out” on all of his tables. This poker bot check is
probably shown only to multiplayers.
2. In addition, the poker rooms prohibit the use of certain
programs while playing poker, such as programs which make
decisions for the human players or which make them suggestions
on how to play a hand in real-time. For example, the use of
programs that makes push or fold recommendations based on
the Independent Chip Model is prohibited.

 Ghosting

1. Ghosting is giving advice from one poker player to another

player during the poker game or tournament. While this is
prohibited in live tournaments, it can be very difficult to enforce
this in online tournaments. Ghosting can happen when a friend
sits next to the poker player and plays the tournament with him. 
2. Ghosting at poker happens more often online with the help
of free tools such such as Skype or Teamviewer. With
Teamviewer and since recently also directly with Skype, it is
possible to transmit real-time pictures of one computer screen
(displaying the poker table with the hole cards) to another
computer screen (where the “ghost” or coach is sitting).
3. A coached player has the advantage that he can discuss
difficult situations with his “ghost” before taking the decision. In
addition, having a live coach reduces the risk of tilt significantly.
4. Ghosting is mainly used in the late phase of online poker
tournaments with a high prize pools. It is quite usual that players
were lucky and made it into the money or even to the final table.
In this case, a coach can help them win thousands of dollars.
5. Although this is probably the most common cheating method
in online poker, the harm made to opponents by ghosting is
relatively limited, as a player has, besides the “second opinion”,
no further unfair advantage over the other players.

 Collusion
1. It refers to the cooperative play between two or more players at
the poker table. Collusion can mean that two players are spearing
each other, are submitting themselves the value of their hole
cards or are even intentionally cooperating to win the money of
an opponent. Collusion is a clear case of fraud. This kind of
cheating is prohibited by the poker rooms in their terms and
conditions.
2. Such a form of interaction can be time-consuming and it is
difficult multitable and collude profitably at the same
time. Collusion therefore makes mainly sense at the higher limits,
where a small edge can lead to a large financial benefit. Online
poker players can share their hole cards and intended ways of
playing the current hand with telephone, cell phone, Skype or
other messenger programs.
3. A milder form of collusion is implicit collusion. This happens
between experienced players at the bubble of a tournament. If a
small stack goes all-in, it can make sense for the large stacks to
call his bet and to check the flop, turn and river. 
4. By sparing each other, they maximize the probability that at least
one of them has a stronger hand than the small stack, thus
eliminating him from the tournament and getting them all into the
money. This collaboration by checking-down a hand is allowed as
long as it is agreed on implicitly (and not directly, e.g. in the chat).

 Viewing Hole Cards

1. A player who sees the hole cards of his opponents can win
every hand (or avoid losing money when his hand is
inferior). Online poker rooms are only sending the information the
information about the hole cards to the one player. The
information on the hole cards of the opponents is stored centrally
on the poker server. 
2. It’s therefore almost impossible to grab the data to the hole
cards of all opponents at the table. However, there was a huge
scandal in 2007 at the poker room “Absolute Poker”: An
employee was in possession of a “super-user account”. He was
able to see the hole cards of all opponents at the table. He was
 eventually caught when a player who became second in a
tournament suspected that he was cheated. 
3. When he requested the hand history, Absolute Poker
unintentionally sent him the complete hand history of all players
at the tournament. A specialist then analyzed the hand history file
and found out that the winner of the tournament played saw the
flop with all his hole cards after the first round, and that he folded
before the showdown every time he was behind.

 MARKED CARDS / CARD MARKING

1. When ‘marking cards’, you try to alter the cards in the deck.
You will have a big advantage (doh’), when you begin to know the
cards and its distinct alteration. Cards are normally marked with
bents, dents or small cracks, so be aware of the condition of the
cards.
2. If you are playing in a casino, cheaters will have a hard time
playing with marked cards. Dealers, and state of the line casino
cameras, are very focused on removing marked cards. BUT
during a six year period Mihai Lacatos, a Romanian poker player,
managed to cheat the casinos. Mihai used the card marking
technique. 
3. In one week he swindled The Playboy Club in Mayfair,
London for about 50.560,96 dollars. Mihai was eventually
caught(31 March 2014), but out on bail, he continued to swindle
casinos. So dodge Mihai if you meet him at a poker table.
4. Marked cards are more commonly found in privat games
(home games, backyard games). Poker sharks might try to take
advantage. Remember. If you cannot spot the sucker, you might
be the sucker yourself.

 BOTTOM DEALING / BASE DEALING 

1. Buddying up in poker is not rare. Friends might ‘soft play’ at

a game of poker to try to help the other and/ or avoid a big cash
clash with each other. Unethical, yes. Illegal, no.
2. But there are other ways of cheating with a buddy. Bottom
dealing is a way of stacking cards to ensure great cards for the
partner in crime.
3. The technique is something that involves sleight of hand.
The dealer doubles as a poker mechanic. He makes it look like
he shuffles the deck in random, all while he stacks the deck. It is
a dying art at the casinos, as it is something that casino cameras
can catch. In home games it might still have a way of living. 
4. As poker continues to evolve into new platforms, cheaters
will too. There are endless ways of trying to beat the game, but
hopefully all cheaters will get beat in the end. At least you will
know how to spot a cheater now.
5. EasyPoker makes it impossible to bottom deal, mark cards
and hopefully make a skynet-like-poker-pro-bot. Until that time,
enjoy a game of EasyPoker without the hassle of cheaters. But
with plenty of bluffers. 

MINIMAL SKILLED VS SKILLED METHOD

 MINIMIMAL SKILLED METHOD

1. The easiest and most common types of cheating require no

skill of manipulation, but rather merely the nerve. Such methods
include shorting the pot, avoiding house fees, and peeking at
other players' cards. However, it is very difficult to prove because
when confronted, at least the first time, the cheat often calls the
cheating an honest mistake.
2. One minimal-skill method that occurs in non-casino and
casino games happens when a player who has folded appoints
themselves the tender of the pot, stacking chips, counting them,
and delivering them to the winning player. Check-chopping is
when such a "helpful" player palms a chip. Odorless adhesive
can be used for this purpose.
3. Another minimal-skill method is going south (also known as
"ratholing"), where a player covertly removes a portion of their
chips from play while remaining in the game, normally in order to
preserve the winnings as profit, or prevent a major loss in big bet
games.

 Minimal skill Methods for Card Cheating:

1. Peeking or Glimpsing
2. Marked Cards
3. Collaborating with a Friend or “Soft Playing”
4. Dumping Chips
5. Hiding or Stealing Chips

 SKILLED METHOD

1. A cheat may hand-muck a card or more than one card.

When a cheat is "mucking" the cheat is cleverly hiding cards in
their hand, to later switch their hand for. This may also be done
with a confederate.
2. A skilled cheat can deal the second card, the bottom card,
the second from bottom card, and the middle card. The idea is
to cull, or to find the cards one needs, place them at the bottom,
top, or any other place the cheat wants, then false deal them to
oneself or one's confederate.
3. One sign of false dealing could be when a dealer grips the
deck with the index finger in front of it or their pinky and pointing
finger on both short sides of the deck while the other fingers
support the deck while the cards are being beveled slightly. This
is referred to as the "Mechanic's Grip". It not only allows better
control of the cards, but provides cover by showing the back of
the top card, and without moving the hand holding the deck.
4. A cheat can place certain cards in a position favorable to the
card cheat. This is called "Stacking". Stacking is more often done
than "False dealing" because it doesn't look suspicious. There
are a couple of techniques for "Stacking" cards. The most famous
are: Riffle Stacking and Overhand Stacking. By Riffle Stacking
the cheat stacks the card(s) while doing a Riffle shuffle. This form
of stacking is the most difficult to master and the most respected
under the card sharps and magicians. 
5. The Overhand Stacking method takes little practice, and is
more likely to be done in a situation with a cheat. The cheat does
a (what looks like) normal Overhand Shuffle. But while the cheat
is shuffling they keep track of the cards they want to stack, and
with a little practice they can manage to put the exact number of
cards in between the cards they want to stack to make the next
round of dealing favorable for the cheat.
6. Even if a cheat deals themselves a powerful hand, they may
not win much money if every other player has nothing, so often
the cheat will stack two hands, with one player receiving a strong
hand and the cheater getting an even stronger one. This is called
a "double duke".
7. A slight advantage for a cheat can be to know what cards
are placed both on the top of the deck as well as the bottom card,
so that information can then later be used to bottom deal or
second deal themselves that card. The looking at the top or
bottom card without the other players knowing or seeing it is
called "Glimpsing" or "Peeking". There are a lot of methods for
reaching the same goal. 
8. A method that is used most is called the "Shiner". A Shiner
is a reflective object (such as coffee, a lighter, a blade etc.) that is
placed under the deck, so when the cheat is looking into the
shiner the bottom card is exposed, and every card that is dealt
over the shiner can easily be peeked by looking in the shiner.
9. One method of cheating that involves both great risk and
great potential pay-off is the cold deck—so called because it has
not been "warmed up" by play (and thus randomised). Such
decks are usually pre-stacked, and are introduced either at the
deal, after the real deck has been shuffled, or before the deal,
where a card sharp will make a false shuffle using sleight of
hand. 
10. The latter method may require collusion or a pass if the style of
play or house rules call for a cut. The skill lies both in convincing
other players that the shuffle is legitimate and in ensuring that
other players receive hands that are good enough to entice them
into play, but not too good to arouse suspicion.

 Skilled Methods for cheating

1. False Shuffling/False Cuts

2. False Dealing
3. Holding out or Mucking cards