Collusion
Two or more players secretly working together against the rest of the table — sharing hole cards, squeezing a third player between raises, or soft-playing each other. It is the most serious form of cheating in poker and grounds for a lifetime ban.
Frequently asked questions
What is collusion in poker?
Any cooperation between players that gives them an advantage the rest of the table does not have — sharing hole-card information, squeezing a third player between two raisers, dumping chips to a partner, or playing more than one account.
How is collusion detected?
Live, through floor observation and betting patterns that make no sense individually. Online, through hand-history analysis across millions of hands — looking for pairs of accounts that meet far more often than chance allows, or whose actions correlate with cards they should not know about.
What happens to colluders?
Live: disqualification, forfeiture of chips, and removal from the venue. Online: account closure, confiscation of balances, and redistribution of the money to affected players, with major operators publishing the actions they have taken.