Online Poker Cheating Scandal: Losses of Up to $4 Million

According to a new WIRED investigation, high-stakes online poker players are estimated to have lost up to $4 million to a cheater who secretly saw their opponents' face-down cards. The attacker compromised Jurojin and IntuitiveTables, programs professionals use to play at multiple tables at once. A remote access tool called MeshAgent, embedded in these programs, made it possible to watch the screen without entering the poker sites' systems.

The software may have reached more than 1,000 users, but the malicious functions were reportedly triggered only against high-stakes players. Professional player Alex discovered MeshAgent in September, after an AI assistant flagged the program. He found 11 possible screen-monitoring incidents at Americas Cardroom (ACR) tables, and in 10 of them the same opponent had an exceptionally high win rate. Alex estimates he lost about $30,000.

Winning Poker Network, which operates ACR, said it reviewed more than two million hands from computers with MeshAgent, including about 200,000 hands from the suspicious account. The company says it found no evidence that information about opponents' cards was used. Still, it was reported that no refunds would be issued, but the suspicious account was closed after information from other operators.

Some players do not believe the explanation. Alex's records and the unusually high win rate keep the question of whether cheating took place at ACR in the spotlight. CoinPoker says it shared its findings with ACR but received no response. Poker coach Patrick Howard, meanwhile, says he warned GGPoker about suspicious results before the malware plan became public.