Poker Strategy - Poker Cheating Techniques

People will always look for angles in life and the gambling world is certainly no different. Many of the "opportunistic" tactics fall into a grey area where some of them could just as easily be labelled as gamesmanship. Like the player who motions and calls all in without physically moving any of their chips forward. This takes advantage of the careless and unobservant player who maybe has been listening to his walkman or some other distraction. The guy raises from the small blind to take the big blind who had telegraphed a fold only to reel in horror when he realises that some one is all in in front of him.

Or how about the player who deliberately conceals his cards to deceive opponents that he is still in the hand. Many players do this in order to get the next player to act out of turn. A player checks believing that he is first to speak and the action is on him. The player who really was first to act has concealed his cards but he now has information that the player to his left is checking. This means that a bet by him is now much more likely to take the pot as he essentially only has one player to get through now and not two if this is a three way pot for instance.

This little angle leads to entire pots being won especially against careless or inexperienced opponents. It is also a reason why many players cannot win on the internet. They cannot transfer their live game antics to an online environment. Many poker players would have no earn rate at all if they attempted to play the game straight.

How to spot it

Extreme caution is advised at all times especially when playing live poker. Sad to say though that many inexperienced players will be meat and drink to some of these "anglers". They prey on the weak and the unwary and one mistake is all that they need in certain games. Always expect someone to cheat you and be on the lookout. After all, poker is played for money and some people will do whatever is necessary in order to get their hands on it. If you do not believe that then you do not understand human nature very well.

This article has been reproduced with permission by Carl 'The Dean' Sampson. Carl, a professional Online Poker Player writes for Poker Pro Europe, World Poker Tour and Online Poker Pro as well as being the author of 2 paperback books! You can visit Carl at www.pokerschool.com