Newsletter Article

Cheating At Poker
And Our Approach at Preventing It
Appeared in October 2008, Volume I

For months you have been hearing that Main Event Charity Games is bringing a new style of charity poker to Chicago, a Casino-Style Charity Poker Room. What makes a "Casino Style Poker Room"? Naturally one could say that it's in the equipment used, the service that's provided, and the security procedures in place, and they would be correct, but in reality, it's much, much more than that. What makes a poker room a "Casino Style Poker Room", aside from the equipment, service and procedures, are the rules that are adopted and enforced. These rules maintain the integrity of the game, and at the same time make it extremely difficult for someone to gain an advantage over the other players by resorting to cheating methods.

The most widely used cheating methods players may try are...
1) marking cards, 2) passing chips to other players, 3) taking chips out of a game for future use, 4) deck manipulation, 5) card removal,
6) stealing from the pot, 7) misrepresenting a bet and
8) player collusion.

Main Event Charity Games has adopted rules that may not totally prevent, but will make it extremely difficult for players to gain an advantage using one or more of the above cheating methods.

We have adopted the same rules that you will see in any Las Vegas or Atlantic City Casino Poker Room.  To maintain the integrity of the game, the following rules have been adopted and enforced:

• Players will never be asked to shuffle cards

• Players are not allowed to take change out of the pot

• Player's cards must remain on top of the table, and in plain site of the dealer at all times

• Dealers are rotated every hour

• Decks are checked with each dealer rotation

• Players are not allowed to toss their cards directly into the muck pile

• In tournament play, players may not pocket any of their chips

• No splashing of the pot

• Only English may be spoken at the table

• No cell phone use while at the table.

• To curtail collusion, all called hands may be seen at any player’s request.

We will go to great lengths, just as Casino Poker Rooms do, to maintain the integrity of the game while providing the player with an environment that's comfortable, fair, and safe.

Come on out on Saturday, October 18th when we will be at Grace O'Malley's in the Loop. Cash games and Sit n' Go's start at 12:00 pm and run all day and night. See the calendar for specific games scheduled throughout the day.