Poker Collusion/Hustling - Ways To Stop It

Collusion and hustling seem to be a natural part of poker although cheating is disliked by both players and game operators.

Players are more likely to collude in poker games played in land based casinos but this doesn’t mean that online poker is hustle free. The big poker rooms online use software that takes action against the cheating but no anti-collusion poker software stops all cheating. Players will always have to keep their eyes open and report to the poker room if they think something shady is going on around the tables.

     

Collusion and hustle

Not everyone is aware of what collusion and hustling is all about. Most online poker players don’t go into the games wishing to win by pulling a trick on the casino and the other players. When a group of players get together to cheat it is called collusion but groups of hustling players are luckily quite rare in online poker rooms. By sharing information on hands players can help each other and make sure to raise the pot to make a large winning. Signs and signals let the other players know what’s on hand but the online poker room has means to detect this unlawful behavior.

     

Anti collusion software

Most players will agree that hustling and collusion is repulsive and it makes sense that poker software has elements to prevent this kind of cheating. Just because a poker site is big and well recognized it doesn’t mean that they are automatically safe from collusion. The parts of the poker software that deals with hustle play must not only be especially developed but also maintained. The poker site must make sure to review the information they can get from the anti collusion features of the software and this is not always the case. The best way to find out in detail about the poker room you want to play with is to ask them straight out through their customer service how they deal with collusion.

     

Consequences of colluding

The poker sites that make the efforts of keeping their anti collusion software up to date are careful to keep the hustlers out of their games. If a player is caught trying to collude he will not only be kicked out of the specific casino but most likely also be banned from several other gaming portals. Today most of the big poker rooms are connected some way or another and therefore it is a very bad idea to get caught hustling the casino. This is why most players that could succeed in cheating refrain from doing so. There is simply too much to lose in the long run.

     

Seating of players

An important anti collusion feature is the seating of players at tables. The big poker rooms will have many games starting up at the same time. This makes it difficult for players to choose just where and with whom to play. Ending up at random tables with players that never met before makes it hard to collude. For collusion to work the players involved need to see each other frequently at the same tables. Colluding takes time and a skilled player has much more to win by playing fish at many tables at once. Since most poker software allows multi-tabling this feature alone makes collusion a bleak prospect.

     

Review of player history

Another important feature of online poker software is that it allows both players and operators to follow the history of the games. The poker operator can review individual players and then compare the information with other players and previous games. This is a great tip tool for spotting hustling and illegal behavior. The individual players can many times do the same thing as a way of analyzing their games. As great as the tool of player history is it isn’t used all that much. Online poker portals seem to rely on the majority of players being honest and only very skilled players take the time to go over their games again.

     

Call the Cheaters

New players could feel intimidated when they meet hungry sharks at the tables and many times cheating could be confused with good play. There is no shame in letting the casino know that you suspect hustle and collusion. This will actually help the poker rooms in using and upgrading their anti collusion software.

     

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