Home-Game Cheating Awareness, Part IV: 8 Home-Protection Rules
By: EDUARDO SOLANO

Teaser: After learning some important facts about poker cheats in our previous articles, I will feature 8 crucial rules that you should not neglect at your next poker night. Without them, you are risking not only your friend’s money, but also the fun of poker night.

This article contains the right steps to take when facing a cheating situation at your home game. Avoiding confrontations should be the game host’s ultimate goal, since we all know arguments have turned into deaths in more than one home game in poker history. Therefore, the following guidelines will make it easier for the poker host to identify the cheater and take the best and most peaceful measure to keep the situation under control at all times and enjoy the game.

In order to protect your money’s and home poker’s safety, PokerHome.com offers a series of measures to prevent nasty home games.

Home Rule #1 Never play with strangers. Strangers have nothing to lose at a home game: they are not your friend, maybe a casual acquaintance of one of your invited friends, but never close to anybody at the game, which works well with the cheating. They will most likely get away with their tricks because nobody knows them well enough to feel confident doubting their integrity, and even if they do, strangers can always pretend to be honest when they’re not, so they will never admit their cheating.

Keeping only close friends in your game will eliminate the chances of unwanted cheating, provide a sense of security for everyone involved in your home game as well as keep potential outsider robbers (related or complotting with the stranger) out of your home game.

Home Rule #2 Verify each player’s poker hand at showdown. Keeping your friends honest is simple and should be mandatory during home games. This procedure only takes some seconds, and it is simply verifying that what your friends say they have is their actual hand at the end.

Home Rule #3 Demand clean pot interaction. Any movement in or out of the pot should be done slowly and clear to the other players. As a double-protection measure, the host may secretly assign someone at the table the task of keeping a strong eye on the pot at all times.

Home Rule #4 Use alcohol only as a busting method. If you or any player suspect of cheating at your home game, talk to the concerned players and agree on drinking responsibly but offering the alleged cheat as much as he/she wants. Alcohol encourages cheating behavior on suspected players and if the other players drink moderately, they can focus on catching the cheat.

Home Rule #5 Split up suspected anglers. If a couple of players always seem to win all your home games that could be a sign of angling. To avoid or clarify this, you can try to have games that involve several tables and rotate players randomly from table to table, splitting the suspected players. This method allows you to compare results and draw your conclusions.

Home Rule #6 Practice marked-card protection regularly. Right after each hand, before shuffling, the host should check the deck for marks, crimping or shading. This can be done flipping through the corners of the deck before dealing as if it was an old picture book, which should reveal any irregularities on the cards. In addition, it is always helpful to observe the player’s focus during the game: if they focus on looking at the back of the other players’ cards, the deck needs to be checked. Changing decks is a good way to prevent marked cards, especially if the host provides his/her own and at least 3 decks rotate during the dame.

Home Rule #7 End or leave the game if you smell cheating. It is difficult to spot or prove cheating, but players’ 6th sense always tells players something is not right. If this feeling increases during the game, you have the right to stop (if you are the host) or leave the game. If the other players inquire, then you simply say you are sure cheating was taking place and it is not allowed in your home game. For your next poker party, you make sure the suspected cheat is not invited.

Home Rule #8 Use shoes to deal poker cards. Unheard of in home games, shoes are plastic devices that hold cards and dispense one at a time from a crack. Shoes are obligatory at casinos, but they are never used at home games because it implies lack of trust from the party host. However, having an understanding among players that your game is based on safety and honesty may mitigate resentment from your friends. Using shoes eliminates the chance of cheating from sleights of hand.

Whether you are concerned about hosting your first poker night or about hosting another night where you and some of your friends feel cheated out of money, applying these rules will definitely prevent the fun and bonding of friendly poker from turning into a nightmare.

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