A scandal has erupted in the online poker world, as Fedor Kruse has been accused of using a Real Time Assistance (RTA) poker solver to win in high stakes hands. Roommates of the CoD-streamer-turned-poker-player have taken to online message boards to prove his guilt with a plenty of screenshots and photos as evidence.
What Is A Poker Solver?
A poker solver is a piece of sophisticated software that provides players with the optimal solution for hands. They tell the user exactly how to play their range correctly, almost always resulting in a win.
Like HUDs (Heads Up Displays), poker solvers are a kind of third-party software that more and more sites are beginning to ban. However, Kruse seems to have worked out a method that makes his use of a solver undetectable.
Proof Posted on Poker Forums
An anonymous source (one of Kruse’s roommates) has come forward to provide proof that Kruse has been using an RTA while playing online poker. He is part of a group of German poker players who noticed that Kruse had gone from being a relatively unknown player to winning in many difficult, high stakes games – and, have closely monitored his gameplay. On the TwoPlusTwo poker forum, the source posted pictures and conversations that serve as pretty damning evidence.
In one of the screenshots posted, he is sharing a hand history on WhatsApp with a friend named Niklas. His friend stated “you played with a solver” and Kruse agreed. In another screenshot, he refers to his “dream machine”.
His roommate also took a picture of Kruse’s online poker setup. In the photo, you can clearly see two mice and two keyboards. The additional tools help the player stop the site from detecting any suspicious activity as he toggles between several screens to use the solver while playing in hands. In the photo, the solver on the screen is also visible.
A Much Bigger Issue
As it stands, Kruse has yet to comment on the allegations. His Twitter is empty and his Instagram account is now private.
This hasn’t stopped the online poker community from getting involved, though. Poker forums are full of posts about the scandal, and podcasts are busy chatting about it.
One of the more interesting responses to the issue is from Matt Berkey, a professional poker instructor, who suggests that this is a much larger issue in the poker world.
This brings up many more questions. Exactly how big is this “scale”? Since RTAs are so difficult to detect, will this type of software ruin online poker for those who want to play fair? Will online poker operators being implementing new measures to detect this type of cheating?
This is certainly a situation that we’ll be keeping our eyes on, as it has major implications for the online poker world at large. So, stay tuned as there are surely more interesting developments to come out of this scandal.
