Cheating in Poker and Sports Betting

Sadly, one way in which poker and sports betting are very similar is in the area of cheating. That is to say, if there is money to be made in something, someone will try to exploit the rules to give him or herself an unfair advantage.

In poker and sports betting, cheating manifests itself in different ways.

Cheating in Poker

Poker cheats operate most commonly by manipulating the cards in some way. Some cheats can deal from the bottom of the deck, others may try to slip a stacked deck into play. With the advent of online poker, these methods are less effective.

The most common way of cheating in online poker is collusion, playing on more than one account on a table at once, or getting a confederate to work with you at the table. From statistical reasons this is probably most effective in shorthanded poker.

This is something that the poker sites try to prevent by rigorous monitoring of user activities.

Cheating in Sports Betting

When betting with an unlicensed bookie, you run the danger of the bookie cheating you by trying to alter the lines or the amount of money you are on record as betting after the fact, insisting that your memory is inaccurate.

Another old school method of cheating is past posting, placing or laying a bet on an event where you already know the outcome. Just as with poker, the Internet has made this kind of cheating difficult.

Now the best way to cheat in sports betting is to do something to affect the outcome of the game, such as paying a player not to perform at his best.

Protecting Against Cheating in Poker and Sports Betting

As should be obvious, playing Texas Holdem online is a great way to avoid a lot of cheating that you might run into when gambling privately. Poker sites keep a vigilant eye on the users 24/7, and you can be assured there are no hidden cameras in your own kitchen.

If you don’t like to play online, at least be sure to make your bets in a licensed casino.

Bluffing in poker is not cheating

Don’t get things mixed up, though. Bluffing in a poker game is not cheating. Bluffing is an integral part of poker. It’s built into the Texas Holdem rules, and is what sets poker apart as such a great and exciting game.