In the first part of this article series, we discussed three popular ways players cheat when they play poker online. The majority of players nowadays use various scripts and bots, which are definitely frowned upon, and some are outright legal. Some make several accounts (multi-accounting), and some use outside help from a professional poker player (ghosting).

This time, we’ll cover three additional ways players cheat. These are here just to inform you to report a player if you spot a cheater, as we highly advise against using any of these techniques.

As a matter of fact, some of the best USA online poker sites will not hesitate to ban you forever if they spot you cheating. Therefore, it’s always wiser to learn poker traditionally and get better with time than to cheat.

Let’s take a look at other cheating methods.

Collusion

Collusion is not a new way to cheat, as poker players did it in live poker games as well. It’s simply cooperation between two players sitting at the same table.

This is even easier in the online poker environment as it is more difficult to spot collusion. However, this is clearly a case of fraud, and players who collude are likely to be kicked from an online poker platform forever.

Account Selling

Account selling is pretty much self-explanatory. When a poker player sells their account to another person for profit, this is considered fraud.

Therefore, that other person would play using the account they bought, and this is against the rules. Sometimes, less experienced poker players can “sell a seat” to a professional poker player, making a profit that way.

Human Error

Although all online poker rooms are automated, errors happen from time to time. After all, poker software is made by humans, and central poker servers are maintained by humans.

Although this happens very rarely, some players were able to exploit an error made on the platform to gain an advantage.

We concluded the two-part article on cheating in online poker. They are written to help newcomers understand the ways some people cheat and report them if they spot a cheater.

It’s important to point out that cheating is not that common, especially not in some of the best USA poker sites which have teams of professionals working on minimizing the number of cheaters on their respective platforms.

Therefore, feel free to choose an online poker platform and play poker without worrying too much about cheaters. However, if you notice that something doesn’t add up, make sure to inform the site’s officials.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first — you shouldn’t cheat at anything, especially not online poker. Cheating kills all the fun, and you’re most likely to get caught and punished for your crimes.

Playing USA online poker is a great way to spend time and entertain yourself. If you’re good, you can win some money — but don’t cheat. To stay protected from players who cheat, here’s a list of things they usually do when cheating.

Multi-Accounting

You’re allowed to have only one account per online poker site. If you create more than one, that’s called multi-accounting and gives you a significant advantage when playing online. First of all, you can claim all the bonuses several times.

Moreover, they can use two accounts to gain an advantage in cash games as they would be able to see four cards instead of two (if they play with both accounts on the same table).

Multi-Accounting is not possible with one IP, but many players find workarounds such as using VPNs.

Bots

Bots basically replace human beings and play poker instead of an actual person playing on their PC or mobile device. Bots are unethical, as they can do the math perfectly, calculating the best possible move in poker.

They have no emotions, either, meaning rash decisions are not possible with them. Essentially, they kill all the vibe in poker, and that’s definitely not welcome among poker players.

Ghosting

Ghosting is a very interesting technique where one person gets help from a more experienced poker player. For example, a person named Michael, who has no idea how to play poker, can open an account and have Daniel Negreanu himself sitting beside him, telling him what to do.

This is a very difficult thing to prove by poker platforms. Essentially, it’s impossible to tell whether someone has help from a professional or not.

Nevertheless, many platforms have entire teams that focus on the issues mentioned above and make sure that they are minimal to non-existent.

If you’re up for some honest poker with no cheating, make sure to check out some of the best USA poker sites that we managed to find. This is just the first part of our take on poker cheating.

Next time, we’ll cover collusion, account selling, and human error. Therefore, make sure to check out the second part of the article when we publish it!

Although you might not find HORSE as often in USA online poker tournaments, it doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s a type of poker that some players love due to its unique approach to the game.

The reason why it isn’t as popular as Texas Hold ’em or Omaha is because it’s a bit more complicated.

H.O.R.S.E. or just HORSE is actually a multi-game form of poker, meaning players will actually have to play several types of poker when playing this game. It’s actually an acronym for all the poker variants that are part of this game.

The letter H stands for Hold ’em since Texas Hold ’em is one of the games you play in it. The letter O stands for Omaha hi-low split-eight or better, and R stands for Razz. The letter S stands for the Seven-Card Stud, and the letter E is for Split Card Stud hi-low split-Eight or better.

HORSE is popular in the World Series of Poker, so to take part in this poker format, you need to wait for the biggest poker event in the world. Naturally, you can always try to play it with your friends, if all of you are able to follow through with all the games that are part of HORSE.

Not An Easy Game

One important thing that you need to know about this game is that it’s not really for beginners. Due to so many poker games being part of it, you need to think quickly and adapt to one of the hundreds upon hundreds of situations that can occur in HORSE.

It’s no secret that this game is loved by many professionals, with many of them still finding it difficult to adapt at first.

Should you try HORSE? Definitely, but it’s a very rare type of tournament if you want to find it online. If you’re not a poker expert, you can always try one of the poker variations that are part of HORSE.

Naturally, complete beginners should start with Texas Hold’em or Omaha, and then try other games.

To do that, you first need to choose a reliable online poker platform that can help you learn and improve. Our team of experts conducted research and managed to create a list of the best USA poker sites.

Therefore, make sure to check it out and select one of the sites that you like the most.

Pai Gow poker is one of the most popular poker variants and is available to many players who play USA online poker as well as land-based casinos around the globe. It was created by Sam Torosian, who was himself a casino owner back in the day. The game caught on like wildfire when it was made back in the 1980s and is now available almost everywhere.

The goal of Pai Gow poker is to create not one but two poker hands that are going to be better than the poker hands of your opponents. It’s pretty easy to understand and play this poker variant if you already have some experience playing other poker types such as Texas Hold ’em or Omaha.

Only Bet

Betting in Pai Gow starts before any cards are dealt. However, unlike other poker games, this is the only time you will actually place a bet during a single hand, which makes the element of luck impact the game a bit more compared to other types of poker.

Once all players place bets, each (up to six players per table) receives a total of seven cards. Now, the main goal of Pai Gow is to use those seven cards and create two hands.

The big hand consists of five cards, while the small hand has two cards. The small hand (also known as the front hand) can only be a pair or two high cards, which makes things a bit more interesting when playing Pai Gow.

One More Card

What makes Pai Gow stand out from other poker types is the inclusion of a joker, which can replace any card if you can make a straight or a flush with it. In every other type of scenario, the joker is considered an ace. It’s also considered an ace if it is a part of the small hand.

Finally, you must keep in mind that the big hand must always have a higher rank than your small hand. If you manage to make that mistake, you will lose the bet and “foul your hand.”

This is basically it — the better your hands are, the higher the opportunity to win the hand and receive more chips. However, to do that, you need to know some of the important strategies that are used in Pai Gow poker. This is a perfect topic for another article!

If you want to play Pai Gow right now, make sure to check out some poker site reviews and find out more about casinos offering this type of online poker.

This is our third article on types of bluffs in poker, and players who enjoy USA online poker can now find out more about so-called stone-cold bluffs. So, what are they exactly?

Another name for a stone-cold bluff is a “total bluff.” Basically, when you want to pull off this bluff, you have no chance at all at actually winning a hand. You know just by looking at your hole cards that there’s little to no chance that the community cards are going to help you, but you proceed with betting, with one goal in mind — to make others fold.

Therefore, it’s a brave move, and you need to be so persuasive to make others think that your cards are that good that they simply must fold, while the reality is completely opposite, and you actually have no chances of winning the hand.

Be Aggressive

The stone-cold bluff is usually pulled out with very aggressive betting. It sometimes even involves going all-in on the flop or even the pre-flop. However, players often make stone-cold bluffs on the turn and the river, when there’s a lot of money in the game.

The deeper you go into the hand, the chances of other players actually calling your bet increase. Therefore, most of the players attempt stone-cold bluffs on the pre-flop or flop, as other players are still very eager to give up at that point and fold.

Most professionals advise attempting stone-cold bluffs only when you play heads-up, as more players increase the chances of someone actually calling your bet and seeing through your bluff.

However, many poker players agree that you should avoid making stone-cold bluffs whenever possible as they come with great risk and you can lose a lot of chips if you don’t pull it off the right way.

The only scenario when you should actually consider bluffing your way out is when you play against only one opponent, and you have already bet a lot of chips. If you know that your opponent is a tight player and that there’s a chance for them to fold despite being deep in the hand, then you might consider bluffing them into folding.

If you want to test this strategy, make sure to do it in low-stakes games in order not to lose a lot of money if things go awry. Some of the best USA poker sites offer various poker games where you can practice bluffing and other interesting poker strategies.