Written by :
Published on :
OAKLAND PARK, Fla. (Gambling911.com) - The poker world has once again had to contend with the MeshAgent cheating operation. The scandal originally made headlines back in September but Wired Magazine picked up on the story late last week.
What is the MeshAgent Cheating Operation?
MeshAgent is at the center of one of the biggest alleged online poker cheating scandals in years. The scheme reportedly allowed a cheater to secretly watch opponents' computer screens, see their hole cards in real time and use that information to win high-stakes poker games.
The alleged losses could be as high as $4 million, according to an October 30 investigation reported by Casino.org and WIRED.
How It Works
1. Players downloaded legitimate poker software. Two programs, Jurojin and IntuitiveTables, help professional players manage multiple poker tables simultaneously.
2. The software was compromised. Attackers allegedly manipulated downloads or updates to install MeshAgent secretly on selected players' Windows computers.
3. MeshAgent provided remote access. MeshAgent is a legitimate remote-management program associated with MeshCentral. In this case, it allegedly operated without the players' knowledge.
4. The attacker could see hole cards. Once a player opened a poker table, the attacker could potentially watch the screen and see the two private cards.
5. The cheater could exploit that information. Knowing an opponent's cards makes it possible to avoid losing hands, make unusually accurate calls and extract more money from strong but second-best hands.
6. High-stakes players were deliberately targeted. The attacker allegedly selected particular opponents rather than indiscriminately infecting everyone using the software.
7. About 30 players may have had their Windows PCs remotely accessed.
Canadian high-stakes poker player Paul Gregg has been publicly linked to the allegations via GGPoker while ACR Poker has JackKlompus, OxOO, Ez[Pz] to the cheating on their platform.
Gregg has yet to comment in regard to the MeshAgent claims but has publicly protested a ban on CoinPoker. According to CoinPoker ambassador Patrick Leonard, that poker site previously banned an account called Europe, registered under Gregg's name, and confiscated more than $100,000.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
