How to prevent cheaters at home games

[Pinkmartiniz]

Vancouver has sadly lost almost all of our casino tournaments to slot machines because they make the casino more money. So we are reduced to playing home games. I'm looking for suggestions for how to prevent players from cheating when dealing cards themselves. Any ideas?

 

[pescaofish]

For sure: don’t play with Crooks, assemble a group of friends that you know are nice people. Don’t get into groups full of Crooks! :laugh:

 

[korneel]

Make sure to use a new deck of cards every night. A deck of cards costs almost nothing and this way you prevent the cards being marked.

 

[Djon25]

As a young man, he also hit the bandits:evil:, got him on the cards, didn’t play with them anymore, only with his own.

 

[Djon25]

In his youth, he also played with bandits, lost a lot of money, did not play with them anymore, only with his own.

 

[Poker_Mike]

Vancouver has sadly lost almost all of our casino tournaments to slot machines because they make the casino more money. So we are reduced to playing home games. I'm looking for suggestions for how to prevent players from cheating when dealing cards themselves. Any ideas?

I like some of the suggestions on this thread already. New cards every night and of course playing with trustworthy players.

Another option is to have a designated dealer. Who hopefully won't collude with any "cheating" players. Put out a "want" ad for a dealer and find one from one of the closed poker rooms in your area.

Just ideas.

But how do you think players on a rotating deal are cheating? Peeking at cards? Dealing from the bottom of the deck? Loaded decks? Ace up the sleeve?

Good luck !

 

[kraemer]

Buy a shuffling machine...
If a player wants to cheat while dealing and he is good at it you hardly have a chance of noticing it. Otherwise "magicians" would no longer have jobs...

If a machine is too expensive then let everyone do a baccara shuffle as the last step of dealing... It is pretty hard to cheat at that method of shuffling....

 

[Datdude1]

I heard a lot of suggestions about how to stop cheating but the advice I like best is changing the deck often and playing with a group of people that you can trust. If you can't get a good honest game with people you think you can trust, then you may have a bigger problem than trying to run a fair poker game.

 

[Pinkmartiniz]

Buy a shuffling machine...
If a player wants to cheat while dealing and he is good at it you hardly have a chance of noticing it. Otherwise "magicians" would no longer have jobs...

If a machine is too expensive then let everyone do a baccara shuffle as the last step of dealing... It is pretty hard to cheat at that method of shuffling....

Thank you for your great suggestions. And yes, a machine would solve the problem of people "stacking the deck", however they are too expensive for the lower buy-in games I play. I assume you meant baccarat shuffle, but can't find a description of it anywhere. Can you point me in the right direction please?

 

[Criplgamer]

Hire a dealer for the home game. That way he has no interest in the game.

Consider starting a social card room , who says casinos are the only businesses who can offer poker?

I've run tourneys for years and cash games. It's not hard. be honest and don't **** with people's money.

 

[Criplgamer]

Never had a cheater at any of my home games. Know a ton of people who play seriously? Buy a nice tournament set of chips and a nice cash game set.

Buy a nice table or two.

Buy some nice Copaq cards, plastic preferably and host a game. Have a close friend or a trusted person be the banker.

Pay a dealer or two. DONT allow dealer to play.
Encourage people to tip dealer.
Split the money accoring to ICM models commonly used during tournaments or just host cash games such as 1/2 no limit with 500 max limits.

USE UNIQUE chips and do not allow anyone near your chip cases , nor the money.

Carry a pistol. I was robbed during a home game. Local gang member found out where we was playing poker. He shows up . Robs the place after buy ins.

Do not allow toxic people back to the game. Anyone who fights, or calls names, degrades or causes drama has to GO period.

ALSO KEEP YOUR SEX LIFE OUT OF YOUR POKER CIRCLE.

Hate to have a good game broken up by a man or a woman who cant keep it in their pants.

 

[rj_montana]

I understand the desperation for players when putting together a home game. Don't invite anyone this might be a problem for.

 

[quartz]

You're going by an honor system with small home games so it's always a risk but if you're playing small buy ins with friends there's not much to worry about if the aim is to have fun

 

[Smokewood]

Vancouver has sadly lost almost all of our casino tournaments to slot machines because they make the casino more money. So we are reduced to playing home games. I'm looking for suggestions for how to prevent players from cheating when dealing cards themselves. Any ideas?

Pay someone to deal, or cut the hand off the first guy who cheats!

 

[Zaksdad]

having a shuffling machine is a good idea, don't have to spend the big bucks, I have one that works on a couple "C" batteries and costs less than $20, outside of being a little noisy it works fine ... a dealer would be nice as well but realize you're probably going have to pay them a reasonable fee, even if it's $25 an hour that's $150 for a 6 hour game ... there are a lot of ways to cheat at poker, many don't involve marking cards ... I have several books, some of those folks are very crafty ... one way to avoid cheats is keep your eyes open, especially if there's more than 1 player, working in collusion it's pretty easy to signal each other ... watch their eyes, their hands that are making like a baseball coach giving signs is a sure giveaway, how they're talking, and chip placement are just a few that don't require marking cards, they're telling them exactly what they have ... I was amazed, some of the systems they use can be pretty sophisticated ... also, plastic cards like Kem, Modiano, Copag or many others are a little harder to mark or disfigure ...

 

[rayrc]

I think that in the comments everything has been said about your question, in a homegame the most important thing is trust, you play with people you know most of the time, all I would like to say is that if you believe or feel that they can Being cheating shouldn't play there. Cheats will always look for ways to get away with it and even if you are attentive to the signs, after a few hours of play you may get tired and distracted and even if you discover them that will only cause you problems, so I think the best thing is Avoid a place where you have no confidence.

 

[chuckycheese]

For sure: don’t play with Crooks, assemble a group of friends that you know are nice people. Don’t get into groups full of Crooks! :laugh:

my friend are nice people , but i can tell you, nice people will cheat to. bending the edge of cards, gouging with fingernails happens all the time even in the casinos

 

[GWU73]

Read the book 52 ways to cheat at poker. It details most cheats so you can detect or stop them.

 

[Criplgamer]

Don't allow anyone to deal that you aren't paying to deal.


Find a decent player and pay them to deal. End of cheating worries.

Keep chips that are hard to find online or get one off chips made.
New packs of cards every poker night.

Be the banker or have a trusted partner be the banker. Someone you wouldn't have to worry about handing 50k to . Ask yourself this question.


Can I hand X person 50 Grand and trust them not to spend a dime ? If you can't trust that person, that person doesn't need to be dealing or be the banker.

 

[damkoMTK]

Thank you for your great suggestions. And yes, a machine would solve the problem of people "stacking the deck", however they are too expensive for the lower buy-in games I play. I assume you meant Baccarat shuffle, but can't find a description of it anywhere. Can you point me in the right direction please?

You can find may options on Amazon or eBay... not to advertise any products just type in card shuffle, and you will find something from 10$ to 30$.

But still, like what Datdude1 said:

I heard a lot of suggestions about how to stop cheating but the advice I like best is changing the deck often and playing with a group of people that you can trust. If you can't get a good honest game with people you think you can trust, then you may have a bigger problem than trying to run a fair poker game.

Just to add that, maybe you should do some "pre-scanning" of who you are letting in to your house. If it is a friendly game why would they cheat.... if it is a bigger cash game then best would be to have a dealer.

 

[lcid86]

Shuffler (or higher a dealer), rotate seats hourly, unique chips, lower limits, make someone vouch for new players, new decks hourly.

 

[Nomahoners]

Dont invite any magicians.

 

[Chris Wade]

Scarne says to beat a stacked deck. On the cut pull a middle section out place it on top then do a regular cut. Card mechanics are pretty impossible to spot for the untrained.