Online poker providers like GGPoker work hard to ensure that players have access to a safe and regulated gaming environment. One part of this is to regulate members of a poker room to ensure the integrity of cash games and tournaments. According to a recent report by PokerNews, GGPoker has decided to take action and create a new group to tackle poker cheating.

Poker Integrity Council

The Poker Integrity Council is the latest group created by GGPoker that seeks to stop cheating in the game. The Council chose five members to join the group and work on fixing cheating activities. Members of the group include:

  • Andrew Lichtenberger
  • Fedor Holz
  • Jason Koon
  • Nick Petrangelo
  • Seth Davies

Koon was hired by GGPoker last summer to act as an Integrity Ambassador for the brand. He joined to work on making the poker games at GGPoker more secure and fair. He sees the Poker Integrity Council as the next step in ensuring that all players have access to safe online poker gaming.

The council members will be asked to investigate cases involving possible integrity issues. After a player account is flagged for issues like ghosting, real-time assistance, or other illegal action, the members of the Council will step in.

Punishment for Cheating

So, what happens if a player is caught cheating? If the Council rules that a player did cheat, they may receive a warning or see their account suspended. A permanent ban may also take place with funds confiscated. It seems that punishment will be based on the crime.

The Council is not holding back when it comes to protecting the integrity of the game across the board. The group has started talking with live tournament operators to enact an industry-wide ban. This would see any player who is permanently banned from the game unable to compete in major events such as the World Series of Poker, Poker After Dark, and World Poker Tour, among other options.

The goal is to not only stop cheaters from acting out online at GGPoker but stop individuals who do so from taking part in live gaming as well. It may be a stretch to see a full ban in place even in a live setting across the board, but it would certainly stop the bad actors from cheating during any type of poker competition.

We will keep an eye on the new Council and how it develops. It will be interesting to see if any action is taken in the future and if so, which players are affected.