While the global poker industry experiences a surge in popularity due to the increase in online poker traffic, the game of poker has also received a lot of negative publicity in recent years that has not bode well for those campaigning around the world to get poker recognize as a game of skill and a sport.
The online poker industry and the live poker industry has been rocked with multiple cheating scandals in the last few years. The Mike Postle – Stones Gambling Hall cheating allegations threatened to be the biggest poker cheating scandal in online poker history while the Phil Ivey card counting controversy threatened to be the biggest cheating scandal in live poker history.
Top Live Poker Scams     
Live poker scams are generally harder to pull off because poker players are physically present and all of the action takes place in front of them. However, it all depends on the setting and the people who are present at the table.
Live poker scams tend to happen more frequently at private poker games and unlicensed poker clubs as there is little to no recourse to action. However, live poker scams have also taken place at the biggest and most popular poker rooms in the world. Wherever you decide to play live poker, you need to keep a close watch to see if you are not being taken for a ride by an unscrupulous dealer or a cheats at the felt.
Collusion Cheats: Poker players only have to think about their strategy and look at ways to beat the rest of the players at the table. However, players who decide to cheat using a collusion cheating strategy will abandon the single player approach strategy and team up with one or more players at the table.
The collusion strategy is usually done with just one player at the table as teaming up with two more players can make the collusion strategy rather obvious. What happens during the collusion cheating scam is that players work together as a team and target one or more players at the table and focus on eliminating them. The colluding players will make decisions at the table that will protect each other, even if it means they have to lose a few hands.
Colluding at the poker table usually occurs during the final poker table as it is the fastest way to get ahead of the pack and get to a bigger payout. If you ever suspect that you are being targeted at the poker table, it’s best that you exit at the earliest.
Edge Sorting: This happens when a poker player masters the skill of card counting or edge sorting. Players can either mark a deck of cards by using invisible ink or their fingertips or spot a flaw in the cards and use special glasses to detect these cards consistently.
They used a trained eye to figure out where these cards are being dealt and due to this inside-knowledge have an unfair advantage during the game. These card counters are pros at what they do and usually keep a low profile losing some games and winning the big posts not to arouse a lot of suspicion.
Card counters generally tend to play big games as they want to use their extraordinary skills to make a lot of money at the poker tables. However, there are also players who use their card counting skills at small poker games and private games as they know they are less likely to be detected here as it is not easy to spot a card counter.
If you find a particular player having a unfair advantage at the table or your gut tells you something is off – you best leave the table quickly.
Corrupt Poker Dealers
This scam is when the dealer is in on the scam and usually colludes with one of the players at the table. Corrupt poker dealers are more likely to be found at home games and private clubs as most casinos rigorously test and vet their poker dealers.
However, there have been poker dealers at top casinos over the years that have colluded and got caught. This scam is difficult to spot as a corrupt dealer is usually a card master who can easily trick the average poker player. If you feel something is weird with your card dealer, you best move to another table.