If you’ve read some of our other articles here on Poker Bonuses, then you know some of the strategies that you should have in the game of poker. However, there are also a laundry list of activities and actions you should never, under any circumstances, do when you’re playing online poker. What are they, you ask?

1. Multi-Accounting – This is the cardinal sin of poker. Never sign up for more than one user name on an online poker room. You’re breaking the Terms of Service if you do and destroying your own credibility in the process. Online poker has been plagued with infamous players who have signed up several accounts. Each has ultimately been found guilty of their misdeeds and punished accordingly. Having more than one account allows you an unfair advantage over other players, whether it’s knowing several sets of hole cards or playing with anonymity. Either way, it’s not allowed. If you insist on multi-accounting, you’re liable to be banned from any online poker site you play on and potentially have your assets frozen.
2. Chip Dumping – When you intentionally give chips to another player, it’s called chip dumping. It doesn’t matter whether you’re doing it because you can collect a portion of their earnings or are just bored with a tournament and want them to do well; it’s not tolerated. Imagine someone coming up to Phil Ivey (a member of Team Full Tilt Poker) during a live poker tournament and handing him stacks and stacks of chips. It would never happen because it gives him an even greater advantage over the rest of the field. It’s the same thing online. Chip dumping schemes have occurred for years. The sites have the ability to spot these acts and put a halt to them.
3. Chat Abuse – Oddly enough, despite the backdrop of the internet, abusive chat is shunned upon in online poker much more than it is in live play. Phil Hellmuth can spout off about how he never catches cards and berate other players to his heart’s content. Scotty Nguyen can show up to a final table inebriated and curse at casino staff because he doesn’t have a fresh beer in his hands and it’s accepted. Online, abuse towards other players is not accepted. After all, anything you say online appears – and is saved in – a chat box, making its discovery and enforcement an easy task for an online poker room. If you take a bad beat and mouth off in the chat, you won’t be able to talk to other players about anything for several months.
4. Blatant Collusion – This might seem like it’s a no-brainer: Don’t cheat at poker. However, cheating and collusion sadly still occur on the virtual felts, including large-scale scandals that were unearthed on Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. You wouldn’t try to rob a brick and mortar casino like George Clooney did in the movie “Oceans 11,” so why would you even think about trying to rip off other players online? Just because people are shrouded by an IP address and user name doesn’t give anyone the right to make money illegally online. Don’t cheat.
5. Launder Money – The movie “Office Space” taught many people what the term money laundering actually meant: to conceal the source of, as through an intermediary. It’s acceptable to ship your friend $50 on PokerStars because he wants to buy into a tournament. That’s fine, but don’t use your online poker account for anything but online poker. My guess is that if you’re reading this, you’re probably not ever going to launder money online. However, don’t accept payment for things you do through online poker if you’re just going to take it off the site and into your bank account. Tax evasion is a federal crime. Remember, the cops never booked Al Capone for murder or extortion. Instead, he was finally brought down on tax charges.