GGPoker Officially Launches Poker Integrity Council to Blacklist Cheaters

The world's leading online poker site, GGPoker, has officially announced the launch of their 'Poker Integrity Council' (PIC).

In an effort to boost the integrity of the online poker industry and more effectively apprehend cheaters, the PIC will manage the detection of suspicious behaviour by poker players that can include collusion, RTA, botting or ghosting.

GGPoker’s Integrity Ambassador and poker pro, Jason Koon, will head-up the committee along with other big names of the poker world. Any activity that is flagged will be forwarded onto the PIC for review, at which point members will decide whether action is to be taken based upon a majority vote.

GGPoker released a statement that reads:

The PIC was formed to investigate allegations, conduct fair reviews, and issue industry-wide sanctions. This provides a heavy disincentive for players to cheat.

There is a multi-stage process each claim must undergo:

There are various levels to the severity of rulings that can be applied. For the least egregious acts, the PIC may just go with warning or a simple suspension. Other activity that could relate to abuse or a more serious breach of GGPoker's rules, could result in a permanent ban and even a confiscation of funds. Any more severe cases could lead to a player being added to an industry-wide blacklist.

GGPoker has partnered with some of the biggest brands and tournaments in the industry to ensure blacklist rulings can be applied most effectively. A player that is blacklisted would be unable to participate in all major poker events including the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, Triton Poker, Poker After Dark, Kings Casino and Asian Poker Tour.

The star-studded panel of council members alongside Koon, includes the likes of Andrew Lictenberger, Fedor Holz, Seth Davies and Nick Petrangelo.

Koon stated:

I joined GGPoker with an important objective in mind: to help the GGPoker team make its poker games more secure and fairer than ever... It’s an honour to launch PIC and take another massive step in ensuring online poker is safe for all players. Our long list of allies also means that the wider community will be better protected via the industry-wide blacklist; we’re sending a united message that there’s no place in this game for cheaters.

Of course card games come with some nature of deception and mind games, but any form of cheating is greatly frowned upon by the community - this new system should allow cheaters to be more easily apprehended. The panel of industry pros should help GGPoker offer a more honest and trustworthy platform for playing online poker and tournament events alike.

With recent headlines featuring the likes of Bryn Kenney, Jake Schindler, and Ali Imsirovic alongside serious allegations of cheating - it's clear that cheating is getting out of hand. Schindler and Ismirovic both face allegations for using RTAs (real-time assistance software) after being banned. While Kenney is accused of running a collusion and ghosting scheme on GGPoker itself. It's no surprise then, that GG are going full-steam ahead with more intense anti-cheat systems.

Ismirovic also suffered from allegations of cheating at live tables, on camera. The act is still up for dispute, but with so many accusations towards him, it's tough to see this going his way.