 |
Reality Check: Cheating at Absolute Poker
So, you want to make a fortune on Absolute Poker in a less-than-honest way? Wherever money changes hands in a game of chance, there are ways to cheat. In this article I'll
talk about some of the clever and not-so-clever ways people can gain an advantage in Absolute Poker.
Colluding with other players
This is probably the most widely used technique for cheating on Absolute Poker - also known as "playing with your buddies". The concept is simple - fill most of the seats
at your poker table with people who all agree to share their pocket cards (by phone, IM, yelling, etc). Knowing what most of the other hands are is a tremendous [unfair]
advantage to any player, and teaming up on unsuspecting non-buddies really puts the hurt on them. Most colluders get caught - poker players are encouraged to report
suspected collusion to the poker sites, and they have all the digital footprints they need for proof. Absolute Poker also believes in prevention - no two players with
the same IP address can join the same table.
Hacking the poker software
Because online poker networks depend on communication with the software running on each player's communication, it's tempting to think about intercepting or hacking that
information. In particular, you probably want to know if there's some hack that will magically tell you what cards your opponents hold during the hand.
While it is true that any piece of software has the potential to be compromised, Empire and Absolute Poker have erected legal and technical barriers to hacking their software.
The player software is very adept at detecting and/or blocking potential intrusions into its data stream or programming. Picture hundreds of programmers in India putting
in thousands of hours of development time to make Absolute Poker secure.
Using a card scanner
Here's the ultimate pipe dream - some kind of software or robot that scans each hand you're dealt, does the math, and makes most (or all) of your plays for you. You'd start
it first thing in the morning, and by the end of your second nap that day, it would have accrued a bunch of money in your account. I've written an entire article about the
idea of a poker scanner. A key point was this: a computer that plays every hand precisely by the
odds might make a little bit of money, but not a windfall. The most profitable hands in poker are often ones you had no business playing in the first place - low pocket
pairs that make trips, a flush draw that hits on the river, etc. There's no getting around the fact that good poker is a human game.
Abusing disconnect protect (DP)
The "Disconnect Protect" feature of Absolute Poker is designed to protect your investment in a hand should your internet connection hiccup at a critical moment.
Essentially, it lets you go to the showdown without having to call any remaining bets/raises to get there - your bets go into a side pot. This particular instance of online
poker can be abused by "pulling the plug" on your ethernet card at a critical moment in hopes of slopping your way to a win. Be warned, this is not only a lousy way to treat
your opponents, but easily noticed by them and (more importantly) by the poker software. Still, people use this tactic and the only way to avoid them is to join a table with
"(no DP)" in its name, indicating that disconnect-protect is disabled.
Tracking poker players
Forget about the magical hack that tells you everyone's pocket cards during a hand.
Poker is a game of people, and all people tend to behave in patterns.
Instead of somehow knowing what your opponents hold, it's very possible to surmise what they
probably hold.
This comes from studying their game play, taking notes on past hands, and some basic statistics.
Poker Mate does all of these things.
Identifying and capitalizing on the tendencies of other players is how you can really
beat Absolute Poker.
|
