Poker News

Somewhat Disillusioned: A Joe and Hobby Poker Fiction

I asked Benny Asher to check out my computer. He’s an old drinking buddy who keeps up with computer technology. My email was all screwed up. I didn’t know what to do, short of buying a new computer.

Benny explained in too much detail what I could do, but it was beyond my ken. I said, “Benny, I’ll pay you to make a house call.”

“No way, Joe, but I’ll accept a dinner at Chico’s.”

“Sounds fair to me. How about tomorrow?”

Within 20 minutes Benny had my computer humming. He explained how he purged all the old files that glommed it up, but I didn’t even try to follow his discourse. “Joe, I noticed that you have an internet poker site. Do you play?”

“Yeah, almost every day.”

“For money?”

“Sure. It wouldn’t be much fun otherwise.”

He was silent for a while looking at me askance, then said, “Do you know players can cheat?”

“No way, Benny. These sites are highly regulated. I’ve never had any indication of cheating. I don’t think it’s possible.”

“You may not have encountered it, Joe, but it’s going on.”

“I don’t know, Benny…”

“Let me ask you a question, Joe. Let’s assume you’re playing four hands at a six-man table. Would you have an advantage?”

“Hell, yes. I’d just pick out the best hand. Odds are that most of the time it would be better than the hands of the opponents.”

“That’s the way it works, Joe.”

“I find that hard to believe, Benny.”

“I’m sure it is, but it’s happening. I know a guy who’s cheating. He claims he’s raking in about 25 thou a month.”

“Jeez, I hope he’s not on my website.”

“He moves from one site to another, but he tells me there are many cheats running the scam.”

“How does he do it, Benny?”

“I could set you up with the hardware and software for about a thousand bucks.”

“Wow! I don’t want to cheat, but can you explain to a yokel like me how it works?”

“It’s pretty simple, Joe. You’ve already got a good computer; it would be your control module. You can pick up three used CPU’s for about $150 a piece. You don’t need the monitors or keyboards. A good 4-port router will cost less than hundred bucks. Your computer and the other three are hooked to the router and then into your internet modem. You’re already on cable, which is important. You do need a high-speed connection.”

“Is that it, Benny? I still can’t imagine how it works.”

“There’s another piece of hardware and some software involved. You see, each CPU is controlling one player’s hand, but since you have only a single monitor and keyboard, you need to connect to each CPU, in turn. This requires a KVM switch, which stands for keyboard-video- monitor. It costs about a hundred bucks. When it’s connected between your control unit and the other CPU’s you can address them in serial fashion.”

“That’s another piece of hardware. What’s the software you mentioned?”

“Ah, yes. It’s what keeps the website operators from recognizing you as a multiple- hand player. Every computer has a unique IP address; you dig?”

“Yeah; my internet provider address. I think I understand. If four players at the same table had the same IP address, it’d be a dead giveaway.”

“That’s it, Joe. But you can buy software that will create bogus IPs for your other CPUs every time you go online.”

“Man, even to a dummy like me it sounds possible.”

“It’s more than possible, Joe. But I didn’t mention that there’s one more challenge for the cheaters. Can you imagine what it is?”

“Well, you didn’t mention how the money works. Wouldn’t they have to set up different accounts?”

“Exactly. I’ve been told a cheater might be able to use his own credit cards because the money handlers don’t give the game operators all the account details. But if they did catch on, the cheat could use other persons’ credit cards or, if they were heavy-duty crooks, they could create false IDs.”

“Complicated, but a grim prospect for a guy who likes to play online,” I said. “How do I avoid being taken?”

“The most obvious thing is: don’t go to a 6-person table; use the 9-person tables, they’re too complicated to control for this scam. As far as other things, here’s what I’ve been told. One technique a cheater uses is to get the fish between two selected aggressive bettors when one has the nuts and whip the sucker up to the point where he is pot committed or can’t afford to call. The cheat can prop up the pot odds too, to make a call more attractive and also, he’s seen more dead cards and can better evaluate the possible outcome.”

“It doesn’t seem all that easy, Benny.”

“Well, you have to know what you’re doing. The guy I know is a sharp poker player, but he says his odds are improved by at least 25 percent. Do you know what that means to a good player?”

“I can imagine it would be big.”

“Yeah, Joe, like 25 grand a month.”

“Any other tips, Benny?”

“Let me think… here’s one. I’m told the cheats don’t play in the highest cash games, which are more carefully monitored; they also don’t play in the low pot games for obvious reasons-not enough cash flow. Other than that, I’d say just be leery if you get the feeling you’re being jerked around. Leave the table.”

“Thanks for the tips, Benny. I’ll be watchful, and I hope the site operators will screw things down better, too.”

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