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Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:55 pm**

I read a poker book awhile back that mentioned cheats. He said it was common at some casinos for most of the table to be in on the scam. They'd take money from the players at the table who weren't in on it, then split it later on.

Here's how I think it worked.
When someone had a huge hand he just limped in, but signaled his buddies that he was holding a monster. He let his buddies make the raises, while he just called. Then towards the end, the buddies would all fold, so the only people left in the (big, and desirable) pot were the sucker and the guy with the huge hand who'd only been limping in.

That made me think about online play now. I bet a few motivated individuals could set something up so that they could dominate poker rooms. Specific card information could be shared instantly, so it would be substantially more efficient.

What means could an online casino use to prevent this sort of behavior?

Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:34 pm**

They could theoretically snoop your machine for instant messaging clients or other comm. software, but that sounds grossly illegal. If you're in on a conference call w\ your buddies, there's not a damn thing they could do, though.

Perhaps some sort of EULA agreement saying you won't do that. If physical casinos can throw out cardcounters, then I dunno why virtual casinos wouldn't start doing the same thing to trusts of players.

Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:10 pm**

I recently read a big article about this.

What they do is monitor random card rooms. They also have programs that search through their records of every hand at every table to see if certain people are sitting together a lot. when they find patterns, they investigate.

When they find evidence of cheating they ban the players for life. Keep in mind that real money rooms require real names, credit cards, etc. thus it's not like the person can sign right back on again with a different screen name.

The kicker is that they also take all money the player has in his current online account. The player forfeits it all.

Then they report the player to the other gambling sites.

Also keep in mind that these sites are off shore, so they can do pretty much whatever they want without worrying about some asshat's lawyer.

Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:24 pm**

If you had a large enough group of people & cycled their teams enough, could you break it?

Or what if every few big money hands, the dude w\ the best hand folds to throw off the check? You'd still've a few folks who could beat the one or two that weren't in on shit. Odds are in your favour, sorta.

Then again, I'm sure these sights can ban anyone the want for any reason whatsoever, so beating the check might not save your ass.

Posted: **Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:58 pm**

So basically, if you played it smart you wouldn't get caught.

Each person in on it would create an account on a different day, from a different state, and would establish a play patten. Weeks later, they all filter into a game over the course of hours.

Alternate winners and betters. Have some people leave early and others join late. Have some people with the best hand fold.

Don't get greedy, and ca-ching!

Edited By Paul on 1131746341

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