Ways the online poker can cheat you

There are presently more online poker rooms than online casinos on the internet and their ranks are boosted on an almost daily basis. The unprecedented number on different online companies venturing into the world of online poker has sparked a fierce competition, and online frauds.

I would like to discuss here the ways how online poker can cheat you. Following are the ways to which you can trapped by the online poker scammers.

Active collusion

It is not much different than in a casino where two players “whipsaw” an unsuspecting rube with raise after raise, but it’s so much more effective online, where the cheaters can discuss their hands by cell phone, or even play on different computers in the same room! In a casino, this scam can get obvious, but online, where you can’t look players in the eye, you’re left wondering. Some sites have installed software to detect collusion, and the word is out that they are being diligent about it, but it’s small consolation complaining to a site after you’ve been bet out of pot after pot or whipsawed into oblivion. If you are facing two, three, or more players who all know each other’s cards, how can you possibly beat them consistently with your lone hand? This type of collusion is certainly easier and more effective online, but because of the computer record of hands, it is also easier to detect—after the fact. On the other hand, cyber play is so fast that by the time you realize what happened, many hands may have gone by.

Passive collusion

This brand of cheating is more subtle and harder to catch. Again, a number of players get an edge by sharing their cards—obviously a major advantage when figuring odds and deciding which starting hands to play. This might not sound like much, but to a gambler, a small edge makes a big difference. Wouldn’t you like to know what three of your opponents are holding? Hackers
         If a teenager can hack into the Pentagon, someone should be able to hack into a poker site, right? The sites say that their encryption software is as sophisticated as that of any online bank, and that only your computer is given information on your hole cards. So no nefarious nerd will be able to read your hidden hand by hacking a Web site. But ask yourself: How safe is your home computer?

All in scamming

This is probably the most common abuse of the Internet system and has caused much controversy in the poker world. In the early days, when faced with a tough decision, some unethical players were just refusing to act, and thus were “timed out.” A “timed out” player was treated as if he went “all-in” at the point he failed to act, the same as if his computer crashed or his service provider had a glitch and disconnected the player from the Internet. Remaining players built a side pot.

Cheating by venue

The jury is still out on whether it’s legal for you as a player to compete for money online, but the site owners aren’t taking any chances: Their businesses are based in foreign countries, like Costa Rica, which reap a large tax windfall by giving them safe haven. The faceless cyber honchos answer to no one, and their computers totally control the action. So what would keep them from stealing you blind?
All you have to hang your hat on is this tired argument: “The casino owners make so much money that they wouldn’t risk killing the goose that’s laying the golden eggs by cheating customers. They are making more than enough money without cheating.” Does this extremely logical argument sound familiar? It should. It is the exact same argument you always heard back when the Mob owned the Las Vegas casinos. Everyone knew the Underworld ran them, and everyone knew mobsters were the most dishonest, brutal people on the planet. So why did anyone in his or her right mind gamble with them? Because normal, logical people believed it made no sense for them to cheat—not with that huge House edge making them millions. But they DID cheat. All the time. In fact, they considered it a point of honor not to let a “sucker” out of the casino with any of “their” money—or any money at all. Were greedy mobsters winning tons and tons of money? Absolutely yes, but there is never enough.

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