Fair Play or No Play: PartyPoker’s Blacklist Hits the Felt

Introduction

The poker community has been debating a big question lately: should players caught cheating online also be banned from live poker events? With the return of the PartyPoker Tour in April 2025 this question is very pertinent for us and we can answer this simply. For us, this isn’t a debate, and we have a very clear stance on the matter: Cheaters don’t belong in poker, whether that is online or on the live felt.

The Poker Blacklist

For years, the PartyPoker Game Integrity team has been discussing how we protect the game we love. Back in 2022, we published our zero-tolerance policy towards players who are intentionally trying to gain an unfair advantage over others at our tables and that these players are not welcome at our live events. We call this the poker blacklist. This isn’t just a rule; it is our commitment to you, our genuine players.

In recent years we have observed players banned on our network recording major poker scores across the globe. This leaves a sour taste when individuals, who have knowingly conspired to defraud our players, are celebrated for their accomplishments in the poker world. With the return of PartyPoker live events, we want to champion our champions. We will be sending over 1,000 players to our Live Events and it would be disingenuous for us to then allow players to compete against known cheats. This is why a blacklist is so important.

We are pleased to see that other poker sites have recently started talking about this issue and are considering implementing similar processes. PartyPoker’s continued view on this topic is that poker sites should not be competitors when it comes to the safety of online and live poker. We have previously discussed about the potential of a global poker blacklist which would mean that if a player is banned for cheating on one poker site, they would not be welcome to play poker on any poker site, including live poker. However, due to the regulations surrounding online gaming, it is a huge challenge to accomplish, if not impossible.

What we can do is continue to speak on this topic, to not welcome poker cheaters to any online poker site or live poker event, until it becomes the global standard.

How do we catch poker cheats and what happens next?

PartyPoker has continued to invest in the security of our games and our Game Integrity team handles all matters related to poker cheating. This includes the use of BOTs and Real-Time Assistance , Collusion , Chip Dumping, Ghosting, Multi-accounting, Banned software (e.g. HUDs) and more. More information about our commitments and investigative methods can be found at the links above.

Up to the beginning of 2025, over 2,500 accounts have been permanently banned for cheating from our poker networks. Every penny confiscated from these accounts is redistributed back to our legitimate player base and to date that total stands at over $2,300,000. As avid poker players ourselves it is disheartening to see the game we love frequently embroiled in cheating scandals. These are our real results that we believe bring a real impact to the poker ecosystem. It is our hope that between our commitment to online safety and a live blacklist, players at PartyPoker can be confident they are always playing a fair game.

While we don’t believe it is a players’ job to ensure their games are safe, we continue to welcome reports from, you, our players, highlighting anything suspicious you observe at the tables. We will always respond to your report, no matter how trivial, and inform you of the outcome of any investigation your report leads to.

Game Integrity at the PartyPoker Tour

This year the PartyPoker Tour is being launched with stops across the UK. Members of the Game Integrity Team will be on the ground at these events, beginning in London this coming April . We look forward to welcoming you to the Tour and are more than happy to discuss any topics regarding Game Integrity or concerns you may have regarding player poker online.

The PartyPoker Game Integrity Team