Poker Collusion Guide

Collusion and cheating are rare in poker. People often get their impression of Poker from movies and in those movies, someone is always trying to cheat.

Movies try to paint a picture that there is a lot of cheating in Poker. The view is not correct.

I must admit, there are so many instances that I suspected cheating. As I continued to play the game for the past 10 years, I began to understand how it works.

That is not to suggest that there is totally no cheating, it might be there but it is very uncommon. This is why we must look at ways to protect yourself from cheating as well as collusion.

Collusion and cheating

This is when a player teams up with another player or many players to gain a certain percentage of advantage over other players.

This may also be a player that teams up with the people that work for the casino and those that will be controlling home games to gain an advantage over other players. Players can coordinate betting action on the table, giving others an unfair disadvantage.

It is less likely that casino staff would collude because there are cameras all over the casino so it may be difficult for them to connive with players and try to cheat because they are monitored throughout their shifts by their supervisors.

If you want to avoid the collision, the best way to do that is to learn your game and be good at it. That way you will make it difficult for other players to collude and cheat.

If you still suspect that there is collusion you must simply leave the game. That is the simplest way to protect yourself.

Casino in deerfield beach fl. If you are playing online, you can ask the site operator to check if you suspect there is collusion.

Collusion is difficult to prove especially if it is at a live poker table.

Collusion - A cheating conspiracy between two or more players.
When two or more people engage in coordinated cheating in a poker game, it is called collusion. Collusion takes many forms, and it runs the gamut from relatively benign to malignant. For example, a milder form of collusion occurs when two players agree to 'check it down.' This means that both players agree that neither will place any bets for the remainder of the hand, and at the end of the hand they will simply turn their hands up to see who wins. Sounds harmless, right? Actually, this is a form of collusion and is technically considered cheating. Here is why.
Consider a situation where player 'A' and player 'B' are friends, and they have a standing agreement to check it down whenever they are heads up. This agreement can affect the way the action transpires to the detriment of the other players in the game. For example, imagine that player 'A' and player 'B' take a flop with a third player, player 'C.' If player 'A' bets, player 'B' knows that if player 'C' mucks his hand, player 'A' will subsequently check for the remainder of the hand. This provides an incentive for player 'B' to raise, even with a lousy hand, in order to eliminate player 'C.' So you can see that the latent agreement between players 'A' and 'B' can harm player 'C.' This is a textbook example of collusion. Even if the collusion is so mild that it has no discernable impact on the game, it is harmful because it puts the integrity of the game in question, which in itself has a negative impact. Additionally, there may be consequences to collusion that are hidden or not immediately apparent.
More malignant types of collusion include the formation of 'teams.' These teams consist of two or more players who act in the interest of the team as a whole rather than in a self-interested manner. Often, these teams will use secret signals to covertly communicate and coordinate their actions with other team members. They will share information such as betting instructions, and hand content. The damage that this type of collusion can cause is more obvious that of milder forms. In between these extremes, collusion can take many forms, but they all have one thing in common: players cooperating when it is not allowed. This is why the rule which states 'one player to a hand' is a constant in the poker world.
A partner in cheating is called an 'agent'. It is difficult to cheat by yourself in a poker game, because it must involve manipulating cards or chips. It is much easier for two or more people to cheat, because they now have a third option of manipulating the action. This type of cheating is easier to pull off, and harder to detect, because one or more of the cheaters is usually betting or raising, and then mucking their hand unseen. This creates an incentive for cheaters to form a team. Anyone on the team of a cheater, actively helping him to cheat, is called an agent.
An agent is usually another player in the game, but could also be a mechanic (a dealer skilled at manipulating the deck), or a floorman (by way of an intentionally incorrect ruling). Most commonly, a cheater will covertly signal the agent that he has strong hand. The agent will bet to generate action from the other players. The cheater will reraise the agent, building the team a large pot. The agent will be sure to muck his hand before the showdown. Since the content of the agent's hand is not exposed, it is very difficult to determine that cheating has occurred simply because one player raised the pot and then subsequently mucked his hand.
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