Although online poker is fun, there is one sad and very little-known part of it that is hardly ever mentioned: cheating.

Collusion
Imagine two people chatting through AIM or talking on the telephone, telling one another which cards they are holding before raising or betting to map out bigger pots. The player with the better hand will then have a bigger chance at winning a much bigger pot, while the player with the worse hand simply folds. Although this would, in essence, make the latter lose to the better hand, they could both walk away with tons of your money if they execute things out just right.

Poker Bots
There are several bot programs that exist on the internet today and it would be highly recommended not to use one. However, a lot of people put them to use; several of them are called: Holdem Memory, WinHoldem, PokerBot Pro and PokerBot Plus. The most popular bot of all would be WinHoldEm.

The website of WinHoldEm does warn possible users that stealth modes should and need to be implemented at a lot of the more well-known poker rooms on the internet today and they even offer detailed instructions to how this can be done. However, just because you choose to use a bot, it doesn’t mean that it will work out well. The bot forum of WinHoldEm comes with sections that focus on tweaking formulas that the bot uses.

Imagine if a bot plays at four different tables. Bots that know every odd and never makes mistakes but it can still be tricked by live players; however, the players would need to know that they are playing against a bot. Poker rooms are not fond of these bots and do their best in keeping bots away from their tables; however, users of bots simply change how their bots work on a regular basis.

Tracker
Poker trackers have the ability to track your game play and the game play of everybody else at your table. Would this really be considered cheating? Although it isn’t considered cheating in the eyes of poker rooms (in fact, a lot of poker rooms actually allow this kind of program), it does give players a massive advantage, if they make use of this program.

Such programs can show users how often every player sees the actual flop, how aggressive they tend to be, how often they make showdowns and how many times they win. Still, players that use trackers will have to decide their own bets and whether to bet, call, fold or raise. However, having this program will give them tons of information that they can base their ultimate decisions on.

Unfortunately, cheating will always be a part of poker on the internet. At least now you know what you are up against whenever you are playing in an internet poker room.

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