Cheater
A cheater is a player who uses dishonest methods to gain an advantage or to win.
The simple explanation
Cheating can take many forms: marking cards, working with a partner who signals what cards are held, or using software that gives an unfair edge online. A cheater breaks the rules to win money that would not be won in an honest game. Casinos and online sites watch for it and ban players they catch. The simplest rule is that anything that gives you information you should not have, or changes the cards unfairly, is cheating.
A closer look
Poker is meant to be a game of skill, so cheating damages everyone's trust in the game. Live rooms combat it with surveillance, trained dealers and rules about how cards are handled. Online sites use software to detect unusual patterns and can close accounts, withhold funds or take legal action. The most common forms are collusion, bots, marked cards and manipulating the deck. Not every unethical act is cheating. Angle shooting and coffeehousing break the spirit of the game but may not break a specific rule, so rooms treat them separately.
A practical example
A player secretly marks the back of cards so he can recognize them later. A group of players share their hole cards by phone while playing at the same online table. Both are cheaters.
Full explanation
A cheater is a player who uses dishonest methods to gain an advantage or to win.
A cheater is a player who uses dishonest methods to gain an advantage. Examples include marking cards, using a partner to signal information, and running software that plays for you or gives you information you should not have.
Cheating undermines the whole game. Because poker rewards good decisions, anything that gives one player knowledge they should not have makes the game unfair to everyone else, and honest players lose money they would not otherwise lose.
Rooms protect their games with surveillance, careful dealing procedures and detection software. In live poker, rules such as showing hands at all-in and keeping the deck cut and protected make cheating harder. Online, sites analyze betting patterns and account links.
Players who suspect cheating should report it to the floor or the support team instead of confronting the suspected cheater at the table. Rooms can ban players and recover funds when cheating is proven.
Proof matters. Rooms look for evidence such as video, hand histories and consistent patterns before they remove a player or take money away.