online cheating
 

i'm nervous that some people have an edge online due to multiple accounts playing the same table or people communicating via instant message. i've even heard of software that can show you other players cards. is that for real? how much cheating goes on, and how/where can i avoid it? thanks.

Re: online cheating
 

The only thing you mention that is not possible is seeing other players' cards during the play of a hand. The other things you mention probably do happen.

I don't think it's a huge problem at medium to low limits. At higher limits, where there's real money to be made, I think it's more likely.

Additionally, the major online sites pay close attention to signs of cheating - especially the multiple account stuff. Stick to those sites and you should be mostly safe.

And, if you suspect you're being cheated, I suggest you write to the site in question. They can look at hand histories and see if there is obvious collusion.

Regards,

T

Re: online cheating
 

Hey Killa Welcome to the forum! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: online cheating
 

thanks, dude!

Re: online cheating
 

the things you've mentioned i would believe could happen just as likely in a live b and m casino to. Collusion and signals or instant messenger in this case can be done live in one way or another to.

Re: online cheating
 

yes

Re: online cheating
 

Cheating goes on, yes.

But its not as common as people think, and many poker sites monitor and will suspend suspicious accounts.

If someone can see your cards though, its usually because they are standing behind you.

Re: online cheating
 

[ QUOTE ]
The only thing you mention that is not possible is seeing other players' cards during the play of a hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

On a dozen of occassions, as a result of software anomalies, I have seen other players' cards during the play of a hand.

In each instance, I confirmed with the players that I had witnessed their actual holdings prior to the end of the hand. However, always just for one errant hand--not a succession of hands.

I do not know if such anomalies can be reproduced but my concern has persisted that a dishonest person could, in theory, manipulate packet data and "see" others cards in the same manner that I had witnessed.

Re: online cheating
 

I'm sure that those who are able to hack multiplayer online games could manage something similar in online poker.

Unlike online games though, you'll probably never hear about it on a messageboard.

Re: online cheating
 

Jonny, what site(s) was this on? It's certainly possible, but only through a really serious software bug.

I didn't mention the possibility of a trojan program grabbing card images or history entries and transmitting them somewhere - that is completely possible, but if you have that problem, you're going to have others that are even worse and they'll be unrelated to poker cheats.

Regards,

T

Re: online cheating
 

Why do you think the big online rooms update their software so often?

Re: online cheating
 

Just in case there is doubt here

Your opponents' cards when still face down are not transmitted to you over the network in any form, so it is not possible to write clever code to "display" them.

Re: online cheating
 

[ QUOTE ]
Jonny, what site(s) was this on? It's certainly possible, but only through a really serious software bug.

[/ QUOTE ]

It has only happened to me Pokerroom. And only when using their Java interface on a Mac.

It happened roughly 14 times last year--in 10k hands--so I am not trying to wave a big red flag. It was just odd that it even happened once.

Also, it has not stopped me from playing on that site, but I think it is worth noting.

Re: online cheating
 

having xp enabled for remote assistance and remote manipulation will make you vulnerable to hack and make visible your desktop on a remote machine.

this is a fact; there IS software that will allow an attacker to do it.

Re: online cheating
 

[ QUOTE ]
having xp enabled for remote assistance and remote manipulation will make you vulnerable to hack and make visible your desktop on a remote machine.

this is a fact; there IS software that will allow an attacker to do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've used Terminal Services since NT4 and Remote Desktop in XP since it was released. Good luck hacking me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

But in all seriousness - it takes far less than using technologies like these to make your machine vulnerable - if you don't protect it you will be hacked. But by 1/2 limit poker players . . . no.

Exploits search for victims by being scattershot all over the Internet looking for vulnerable machines. The way any decent poker client is written, you have no idea what the IP address of anyone else playing in the game is. Your machine never communicates directly with them - only through the server as intermediary so you'd have no idea who to target. In order to perform what is being talked about here you'd have to hack tens of thousands of computers, wait for one of them to start playing online poker, then go sit down at their table. Ridiculous. You'd be far better off waiting for them to log into Neteller and capturing their login credentials.

But cheating does happen - I've seen it both live and online through collusion or angle shooting. The beauty is, people who cheat at low limit poker nearly always suck so bad at poker they still end up losers or very small winners. It's something you should probably be aware of, but not overly worried about.

Re: online cheating
 

[ QUOTE ]
i'm nervous that some people have an edge online due to multiple accounts playing the same table or people communicating via instant message. i've even heard of software that can show you other players cards. is that for real? how much cheating goes on, and how/where can i avoid it? thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

- There is no software that can show other players cards unless software is installed on the victims computer.

- Collusion is not really a concern in the lower limits, but most sites will look into players that freqently play at the same tables at the same time with other players. Party is partcularly good with this, even though their customer service usually sucks.

- There has been rumers flying that players have been able to see other players holecards though a software glitch on the Ongame network (includes pokerroom & eurobet). It is not really known if this is true, but if you are concerned stick to Party Poker & Pokerstars, where there are no doubts about security.