I do not like to discuss cheating at poker, but here I go. Recently, a major strip poker room caught a player using “daub” to mark cards. Without going into details about how this works, let’s say it is a way to place dye on cards that can only be seen with special lenses.

Now this stuff has been used for years by blackjack cheaters, many of whom use sophisticated teams to avoid detection (the player who marks is never the player who reads). When the casino catches a player using daub at blackjack (cheating the casino), that player is arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. His photo is circulated throughout the world using the Griffin book, so no other casino will let him play. Incredible facial recognition software is in place at the major casinos to look for matches to this book no matter what disguise the player tries.

So what happened when the player was caught at the poker table? He was immediately banned from their casino. That’s it. No cops, no warrant, no prosecution, no notification. Rumor has it that the casino feared lawsuits on two levels: one by the player who would challenge the casino’s proof (a casino does not need proof to ban someone, they can ban anyone at any time for any reason), one by the other players trying to recover the money they would claim the cheater would not have won had the player been caught sooner, or the casino been more vigilant.

So was this casino looking out for the customers, or for themselves? And how will similar cases be handled in the future? I do not know, but this not a good sign. A few years ago, a prominent player was physically caught introducing chips into a tournament. He was barred fro that casino. He then played in other tournaments around town and around the globe. This is not new.

I play all the time, and rarely even suspect cheating. My guess is that very little goes on at the middle limits, where the players are sophisticated enough to pick up strange anomalies in the game, but not high enough to justify major investments and risks. But, since cheating goes on at Wall Street, Seven-Elevens, and department stores, it would be silly to think poker is exempt from unscrupulous people.

Once every few months, I quit a game or change tables because I am suspicious or uncomfortable about the players or the way they interact. I will never stay at a table when I feel this way because I would be spending my mental energy looking for out-of-place activities instead of poker. I may have been wrong every time, but I need peace of mind. And such occasions are very rare.

A friend recently suggested that with the increasing difficulty of playing on the Internet, many former on-line players are now playing live. And some of them have been used to a, shall we say, looser morality than live poker generally permits (two or three people playing the same hand, for example). Of course, there was cheating on-line, and many got caught. But if these people that take this mentality to the casinos and cardrooms, there will be a period during which you will need to be even more careful than usual.

And while they may, do not count on the cardroom to look out for you. As we have see, they are looking after themselves first.

Do I think live poker is “safe’? Absolutely. Do I think you are likely to be cheated? No, I do not. But it is a bit more likely than it used to be, and it never hurts to remind you that you need to be aware at the table. If you feel uncomfortable, do not play detective and try to figure out whether there is a problem. Just remove yourself from the situation (and, if you are highly suspicious, tell a floor-man or shift boss about your suspicions.)

Please just be careful out there.