How Don’t to Letting Cheaters Play
Most everyone’s reaction to catching a cheater is to ban them from the game (well, sometimes you want to punch them in the head, but that’s usually bad form). I’ve seen players cheating in card rooms, casinos, in bars, and of course in home poker games and it all will be in my zodiac casino review on the https://playcasinocanada.com/zodiac-casino-review/. It happens. The funny thing is, the cheaters are usually spending so much time plotting their next move, they have no chance to win in the game, even with the cheating.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s vitally important that you understand the moves used in cheating at poker, but once you know what to look for, you have to differentiate between moves that cost you, and those that don’t. I used to play in a home game where a player cheated every once in a while by splashing their chips into the middle of the pot to save a chip or two. So, I had to break down their play. If they called a $5 bet and only threw $4 into the pot, and they did it 10 times a night, well, that’s $10. But the guy lost $100 every time we played, so I wanted to let that cheater play. Believe me, he was being punished by being “allowed” to play, and losing $100 every week. So the question is, was I a hypocrite for not throwing him out? I might be, because if he was winning most nights, and cheating that way, I’d have booted him.
When I’ve encountered cheaters, I’ve tried to figure out their moves and use what they were doing to my advantage. Can’t always be done, but one husband and wife team always sat on opposite sides of the table. They signaled to each other what their hands were (although I couldn’t read the signs) and were virtually never in a hand together – so they were always playing the best of two hands. You better believe that when they were both in a hand, I tossed everything but the very best starting cards! In that case, I couldn’t accuse them of anything, and since they were both pretty good players, I just found another game to play in.
I guess that’s the whole point here. If you find someone cheating in your home game, maybe it’s best to confront them, away from everyone else, and tell them what you think you are seeing. Or, maybe it’s better to let them cheat a little if they are bad players. That seems wrong to me on one hand, but still, maybe taking their cash every week is punishment enough. What do you think?
