Imagine never having to bluff again, and always walking away from each poker game a winner. A Chinese manufacturer has created a new product that will help you achieve this goal. It’s an adapted smartphone with a built-in device that can reveal what the other players have in their hand. It’s an interesting bit of devious technology, and the story behind it is even more intriguing. Elie Bursztein works for Google’s Anti-Abuse Department and is part of the research team.
Upon booting up the device, you’re taken to the main cheating screen (seen in the screenshot above). The top half shows a view of the card as seen by the device’s secret camera. The bottom half displays various bits of information, such as the result (H6,D8), the number players (which can also be changed discretely during a match via the volume buttons), or whether the haptic feedback is connected.
The device looks like a normal smartphone, with 8GB storage and 1GB RAM. It also ships with a remote control that allows cheaters to change the game’s parameters over Bluetooth without being detected. To further conceal the device, it can be incorporated into items such as a power bank, watch, cuff, leather belt, or lighter. A common way of improving the accuracy and reliability of poker analyzers is to add an external scanning camera. The next article in this series will focus on the device’s accessory and how it works.