Upholding Integrity: The Crucial Role of Regulators in Ensuring Fair Play
The most essential component of any game is fair play. The term is broad but basic. As it pertains to poker, there is no specific definition of fair play, though it is widely believed to refer to two basic tenets of the game.
- All players abide by established rules of the game, rules that give every player the chance to compete on a level playing field with a fair chance to win.
- More broadly, fair play is based on honesty and integrity through the creation of an ecosystem that discourages advantage play.
There are simple ways to establish rules of the game, ones that are essentially universal across live poker and online poker rooms. This includes using industry-standard card shufflers at live tables and RNG (random number generator) certifications online. These ensure that the cards are, in fact, random, and everyone plays by the same rules.
The broader definition of fair play is not as clear cut. Besides the obvious requirement to prevent outright cheating, there are many aspects of poker that are widely determined to be fair play. Some of those include:
- Banning HUDs (heads-up displays)
- Banning RTA (real-time assistance) applications
- Preventing players from bum-hunting (stalking provably weak players through stats)
- Requiring one player to a hand, applied online by banning ghosting
- Banning bots by implementing technology to detect inordinate win rates
On a larger scale, fair play can also include transparency with rules and regulations, responsible gambling tools, disconnection policies, rules regarding verbal abuse at live tables and in online chat threads, and security for financial transactions. Fair play can, basically, be an effort to make the game as fair and enjoyable as possible for the most people.
Fair Play USA
At one time in poker’s history, there were organizations dedicated to legalizing online poker in the United States, such as the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) and Fair Play USA. The latter was a group comprised of politicians (Tom Ridge), attorneys, and poker players (Mike Sexton and Greg Raymer).
That group embraced ten principles of fair play that embraced its mission, such as:
- Strengthen the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2006 to specifically ban internet gambling not regulated by the US
- Crack down on illegal gambling operators using law enforcement
- Give states and tribes the authority to set their own poker laws
- Establish a gaming regulatory framework for online poker operators in various jurisdictions to unite as a part of a federal network
- Require operators to offer problem gambling tools and resources
- Mandate that poker sites maintain records of all transactions and players
- Combat underage gambling
- Use live poker rooms as examples of enforcing fair play online
- Allow states to collect revenue from regulated and licensed poker networks
- Require operators to place player monies in escrow accounts for safety and immediate access
Clearly, these requirements for fair play were broad but dedicated specifically to the US market. This shows how complicated the idea of fair play can be.
Understanding Regulatory Bodies
Typically, poker players themselves police online poker sites and hold them to high standards. By using social media, online poker forums, and word of mouth in a community that relies on fair play for survival, players do quite well in holding the industry accountable.
However, oversight from gambling regulatory bodies is essential to ensure poker operator compliance and use law enforcement agencies to enforce rules and laws in various jurisdictions around the world.
A regulatory body in the world of gambling can be a gaming control board or commission, often an arm of a government agency, that issues gaming licenses and enforces rules through regular testing, auditing, and issuing penalties as needed. Each regulatory body typically establishes a framework for online gambling – specialty rules pertaining to poker – and issues licenses and certificates for operators. Those operators must then meet certain standards to obtain regulatory approval and maintain standards through regular audits.
Around the world, there are numerous regulators that oversee poker sites. The most well-known include the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. In Canada, regulators operate in the provinces with legal gambling: Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. And in the United States, every state with gambling runs some type of department, commission, bureau, or board, the most recognized being the Nevada Gaming Commission and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
A Closer Look at MGA
Let’s take the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) for a closer look. It is one of the largest in the world and regulates a wide range of gambling sites.
The MGA mission statement is broad yet simple: “to regulate competently the various sectors of the gaming industry that fall under the Authority by ensuring gaming is fair and transparent, preventing crime, and protecting minor and vulnerable players.”
To be more specific, the MGA’s objectives are:
- To protect the Maltese Gaming jurisdiction by ensuring licensees are reputable and compliant operators
- To remain knowledgeable of regulatory and technology developments
- To achieve the right sizing and alignment of its organizational structure, processes, and procedures
- To provide regulatory guidelines to operators to protect minors and vulnerable players while managing problem gamblers and safeguard all player interests and funds
- To affect international policy and promote international cooperation
- To improve the MGA’s public image and foster relationships with stakeholders
A Board of Governors oversees the MGA. That board of eight people oversee the MGA’s development, policies, and objectives. It also serves as the conduit with the Malta government, especially on matters of policy.
Regulators and Operators
It is clear that gambling regulators set the parameters of gambling, from live poker room rules and regulations to all of the technological oversight provided to online operators. Each regulator plays an important role in poker’s fair play policies. Regulators issue the licenses for permission to operate, audit the sites for compliance to rules and laws, and keep all operators functioning within the larger global gambling framework.
The operators play an important role as well. They must adhere to guidelines set by regulators, but those primarily pertain to larger fair play policies like RNG compliance and responsible gambling practices. Operators must then address all other issues related to fair play.
Each poker site operator – or network on which partner sites run – needs to implement fair play practices that their players want.
As an example, Bovada and Ignition, both running on the PaiWangLuo Poker Network, implemented an anonymous player policy. Every time a player joins a table, their identity is anonymous. It prevents third-party software from tracking them and identifying their play for unfair advantages, and it prevents competitors from tracking their hand histories and playing style. PaiWangLuo decided that online poker should create as much of a level playing field as possible.
Another example is ACR Poker on the Winning Poker Network. In late 2023, the site adopted the ACR Poker Reshuffle function “designed to level the playing field for all players.” They started by putting it on PLO-4 and PLO-5 tables and will expand over time. The reshuffling happens every time a player folds their cards. They are immediately reshuffled back into the deck, and only then can the next player see their hole cards. It slows the game slightly, but it prevents collusion and the sharing of cards via messaging. ACR Poker developed the idea to combat unfair practices.
Regulatory Approval
The entire process then circles back to regulators. In a live poker setting, a poker room cannot implement a new policy until it is demonstrated to that jurisdictional gaming regulator, examined, audited, and approved. In most online poker instances, the same is required.
PokerStars may develop a method to combat RTA third-party software users. In fact, it did this in 2023 with a new strategy of identifying anyone using RTA technology. PokerStars began using a new form of analysis to build data based upon how players interact with their computer mouse. The Game Integrity Development Team at PokerStars began to use this analysis tool, noting that it detects RTA more than 95% of the time.
That particular process does not need regulatory approval, as it simply collects data for analysis. But if PokerStars then implemented something within its software to automatically cut off a player who is believed to be using an RTA, perhaps seizing the money in their account and banning them from future play, that may need to be approved by the regulator.
What makes that more complicated is the fact that PokerStars has licenses in numerous jurisdictions around the world. They have licenses with the UKGC; the regulatory bodies in France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain; the state regulators in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan; and so on. To implement new software, they must obtain the approval of every regulatory body for the places in which PokerStars wants to launch it.
This may seem like an onerous process, and it can be. However, it is a result of the fragmented gambling regulations around the world at this time. The positive aspect of this is that players are more protected than ever before, as poker operators and their actions are scrutinized by a variety of regulators with varying frameworks.
Positives for Players
Poker players depend on regulatory bodies for their safety and security online and in live poker games, whether they realize it or not.
Most regulation happens behind the scenes, without any public notice or press release. Most players don’t want to know the ins and outs of the regulatory process. But that process does happen, no matter where a site is licensed. Regulators’ reputations depend on the fairness of the sites they regulate, and the actions of those sites reflect back onto them.
Players, knowingly or unknowingly, benefit from the fair play that is a direct result of regulations. They are guaranteed fair play with random card distribution and rules in place to prevent cheating. Further, the global regulatory business ensures the enforcement of laws, oversight of financial and technological protocols, and market competition.
Fair play is more than a term thrown about in order to placate customers. It is a policy by which poker operators run their businesses online and in live settings. And regulators ensure that fair place practices are enforceable, understandable, and practical.
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