Poker Collusion: What It Is and How to Detect Team Play in Online and Live Games

By Jose Miguel Carrión Llop 21/05/2025

Poker Collusion: What It Is and How to Detect Team Play in Online and Live Games

What Is Poker Collusion?

Poker collusion happens when two or more players conspire to manipulate the game and gain an unfair edge over others. It goes against the core principle of poker: individual decision-making and fair competition.

📌 Live example: Two players avoid battling each other by secretly sharing their card info.

📌 Online example: Players use private chats or calls to coordinate betting strategies.

Collusion is illegal and can result in account bans, forfeiture of winnings, or permanent exclusion.

Common Types of Collusion

Type	Description
Soft Play	Avoiding aggressive betting between partners to protect each other.
Chip Dumping	One player intentionally loses chips to another.
Signaling	Sending covert signals to share hand strength.
Multi-Accounting	A player uses several accounts in the same game.
Squeezing	Players team up to raise collectively and force others to fold.

Even unintentional soft play is unethical and against the rules.

How to Spot Collusion

Unusual betting patterns between the same players.
Frequent favorable outcomes between suspected partners.
Coordinated movements in online lobbies.
Identical betting patterns or synchronized actions.

Use hand history review tools and HUDs to identify suspicious activity.

How Poker Rooms Deal with Collusion

Pattern-recognition software to analyze large datasets.
Manual and automated behavior tracking.
Strict anti-collusion policies and punishments.

Famous Cases: Absolute Poker (2007) and Full Tilt Poker (2015) scandals involved collusion at high levels.

How to Protect Yourself

✅ Play on licensed and reputable platforms.

✅ Never share hand info—even with friends.

✅ Use software to track suspicious activity.

✅ Report any incidents to platform support.

Stay safe and play fair. Choose poker sites that actively monitor and prevent collusion.

Poker Collusion: What It Is and How to Detect Team Play in Online and Live Games