Poker Basics - Ghosting

We continue our look at the things you should NOT do ever in poker with why getting advice during a hand is clear cut cheating.

In our Poker Basics series we try to explain important concepts to introduce into your game. It's also important to know what not to do, so the next articles in the series focus on rule breaking and breaches of etiquette. 

Ghosting is a form of cheating whereby one player gets advice from another player during a hand. So for example they may be at a final table, about to make a bad call, but a more experienced friend is watching the action and stops them from doing it. 

Ghosting is essentially a form of collusion because multiple players are involved in making the decision in the hand, even if not all of them are technically playing at the tables. 

Site security can spot shifts in playing style

Ghosting is one of those things where an inexperienced player may unwittingly do it without realising it's a problem. They might be playing online in their front room and their roommate comments on the action. 

Things like that are hard to detect, but once you are aware it is a form of cheating it is not excusable. If you have ever watched a Twitch stream where two people are talking and one is playing poker, you will notice the non-player never gives advice on the hand during it, only their thoughts on it after the fact. To do otherwise would get them banned. 

Ghosting is very hard to detect when it is quite casual, for example the instances where a housemate walks past a player mid hand and makes a suggestion how to proceed. It is much easier than many would imagine to spot if two players actively plan to ghost during a game. Online poker room security are trained to spot significant shifts in the playing style of a player at a table. If they suddenly start crushing, for example at a key stage of a final table, it is the sort of thing that can be detected. 

Related Resources