With the expansion of online poker, the smartphone has become, along with the PC, the favorite support for players to enjoy this game. The convenience and mobility it offers, along with the enormous possibility of finding the poker variant you want to play, simplifies things a lot, allowing you to enjoy online poker anywhere, in short or long games, with large or small stacks, and in various modalities. In other words, online poker offers a personalized experience according to the player.
Playing poker on mobile: what to keep in mind
But the proliferation of poker apps makes it necessary to remember some security measures, necessary to preserve the experience. Since it is all about having fun and enjoying yourself, take note of these safety tips to avoid scares:
- Check the manufacturer. Android is one of the operating systems with the most malicious applications. They grow like mushrooms, and that is why it is important to identify the manufacturer of the application to avoid impersonations of official applications. Also take a look at the reviews, photos and other complementary data, such as the release date.
- Take a look at the app’s certificates. All poker apps have a series of certificates that allow users to identify the app as legal. They are also necessary for them to operate, so make sure they have them. Normally, there is an Information or “About the app” section where you can check all these data. If it lacks these sections, be suspicious.
- Ignore suspicious e-mails or SMS. The only thing you should receive in case of registering in a poker app is a confirmation e-mail for the registration to become effective. If you have authorized the sending of commercial notifications, you may receive emails about new competitions or for information purposes. But you should be able to deactivate this option, they should not be intrusive and should not ask for personal data and much less passwords.
- Do not share confidential data. If any of the notifications you receive from the new app ask you for any kind of data, you should be suspicious and uninstall the app as soon as possible. Do not share your account data under any circumstances, since poker platforms do not ask for this type of data unless you are previously notified.
Security recommendations to play poker without risks
The first filter to avoid problems with the application is you. That means that you must pay all your attention to check that the poker application you are downloading is the one you think it is. A good option to prevent this filter from failing is to resort to download QR codes, which are usually found on official web platforms, verified network accounts or bulletin boards.
However, if you resort to manual downloading it is important to check not only the image, as it can be easily replicated, but the combination of a whole series of indicators that can allow you to differentiate the original app from a crude copy.
To play poker on your mobile safely, check that the manufacturer’s name corresponds to the real one and click on it to get more information. On iOS, for example, you can view the manufacturer’s release history, a good way to check that the manufacturer is who it claims to be.
Reviews can also be good indicators, albeit nuanced. Generally, a poker app with good ratings and numerous reviews is trustworthy, but apps with few reviews are not necessarily malicious. Some young or recently launched poker apps may not yet have the number of ratings of the big apps. Therefore, trust the manufacturer first.
A good way to filter malicious apps from genuine ones is to check the language and spelling. Although cybercriminals have gotten better at translations, messages often give away that something is wrong.
Bad translations, meaningless sentences or accents or punctuation marks in impossible places are signs that something is wrong with the app. Note that this often happens when offenders replicate the app’s corporate style and colors to make it more believable, but trust your instincts.
Another useful measure to join poker tables without risk, especially if you’re interested in variety, is to use a poker club. These clubs operate under a larger network, which has numerous security tools designed to prevent fraud and malpractice by malicious agents. If you’re not part of one and you’re just picking and choosing from here and there, consider joining a club to avoid taking risks.
