Journalist Hacks Card Shuffler to Prove How to Cheat at Poker

Can automatic shuffling machines be hacked to cheat at poker? A journalist put that question to the test in a new video that explores the vulnerabilities of shuffling machines like the Deckmate 2 used in casinos and poker rooms around the world.

The video, titled “I Cheated at Poker by Hacking a Casino Card Shuffling Machine,” was viewed more than 100,000 times in less than 24 hours. In it, WIRED Senior Editor Andy Greenberg speaks with security consultant and hacking expert Joseph Tartaro and a poker pro. Doug Polk before assembling a mixer and testing it in a real-world scenario.

Machine hacking and signaling

Tartaro spent years researching how automatic shufflers could be used to cheat in games like poker. In the video, he shows Greenberg that the USB port on the back of the blenders makes them vulnerable to hacking. He demonstrates this by plugging in a device capable of reading the order of the cards.

“This device has a Bluetooth model and it will connect wirelessly to this phone,” Tataro explains in the video. “And every time a deck is shuffled, it gets the exact order from the camera (in the shuffler) and sends it to me.”

With a hacked machine ready for testing, Greenberg arranged a private poker game with Tataro and two unsuspecting players. Tataro, who had access to the mixer on his phone, told Greenberg whether he should fold, call or raise by playing with his chips.

As a result, Greenberg was able to play perfectly and easily won the sit-and-go match despite not being an experienced poker player.

Should players be worried?

Mixer hacking is one of the many modern cheating methods that have emerged with the advancement of technology. In October 2024, psychologist Maria Konnikova said PokerNews about the nano-cameras that make card protectors, electronic devices and sunglasses all potential risks of cheating at the poker table.

Although automatic shuffling machines are common in poker rooms, Doug Polkowner of The Lodge in Texas, said there is a much greater risk of cheating in private, unregulated gaming than in casinos.

“You shouldn’t be too afraid of Deckmate 2 in a casino,” the content creator said. “They have all these casino contracts, so they have authorized people to fix problems that might arise. The problem is that once someone has a Deckmate 2 on a black market or secondary market, it’s no longer maintained by the company itself. Some guy is just in the back fixing the machine and then putting it on the table.”

“I’ve heard so many cheating stories where people are using them to get money from players when it doesn’t happen in a casino.”

A spokesperson for Light and Wonder, the gaming manufacturer that makes the Deckmate 2, told WIRED in a statement that they have fixed the security vulnerabilities and “updated the firmware on all of our Deckmate switchers for all of our customers around the world, at no cost to them.” Still, Tartaro says the machines remain a cheating risk.