GGPoker has announced sweeping changes to its security policies, banning popular third-party poker software and introducing new technology designed to protect players from opponents who can secretly see their hole cards.
The changes, announced on October 15, follow a major cheating scandal involving compromised poker software and remote access to players’ computers.
The measures include screen protection, suspicious connection monitoring and a new detection system that examines how frequently players make unusually accurate decisions against their opponents’ actual holdings. GGPoker has also named ten poker applications that players must close before launching its software, signalling a significant change in how the operator intends to police its games.
GGPoker Bans PokerTracker, Jurojin and Other Software
Perhaps the most controversial change is GGPoker’s decision to ban third-party poker software and automation tools from running alongside its client. The company previously permitted certain applications that did not interfere with gameplay, but says the recent security incident has forced it to reconsider that approach.
The prohibited applications include:
- PokerTracker 4
- Holdem Manager 3
- Hand2Note
- Jurojin
- StarsCaption
- DriveHUD 2
- Intuitive Tables
- Lobbyze
- Equilab
- AutoHotkey.
GGPoker stresses that this is not an exhaustive list, meaning other poker utilities and automation software may also fall under the restrictions.
The inclusion of widely used tracking and table-management applications will particularly affect serious online players who regularly use multiple poker rooms. Although some of these programs have been restricted on GGPoker for years, the new announcement removes any ambiguity about the operator’s broader position on third-party software.
Players who use these applications for games elsewhere will need to make sure they are fully closed before launching GGPoker. The announcement does not suggest that using tracking software for offline study while the GGPoker client is closed is automatically prohibited.
Screen Guard Aims to Stop Opponents Seeing Hole Cards
GGPoker is introducing a new Client Security section within its Game Settings, containing four protective features. All four are optional and operate only while the poker client is running.
The most prominent addition is Screen Guard, which is designed to stop screenshots, screen recordings, screen sharing and remote-viewing applications from capturing a player’s poker tables. This includes attempts by remote-access software that may have been installed without the computer owner’s knowledge.
Players can also activate a broader setting called Protect the Whole Client, extending the protection beyond their tables. This covers the lobby, cashier, account information and GG Wallet details.
Three additional features provide further monitoring. Connection Monitor identifies potentially suspicious connections involving remote-access tools or proxies, while DNS Check looks for signs that network traffic is being redirected through DNS hijacking.
The fourth feature, Allowed Processes, enables users to identify trusted applications so they do not trigger unnecessary security alerts. However, marking a process as trusted should not be interpreted as permission to run poker software that GGPoker has expressly prohibited.
New Detection System Looks for Impossible Poker Decisions
GGPoker has also introduced a potentially significant addition to its game-integrity monitoring, described as Abnormally High Win-Rate detection, or WAD. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional analysis of hand histories, the system examines individual decisions against information the player should not have possessed.
For each hand, GGPoker says it can evaluate decisions using the cards an opponent actually held. It then looks for accounts making correct decisions far more frequently than would reasonably be expected through legitimate play.
Consider a player who repeatedly makes exceptional folds against opponents holding extremely strong hands, while also calling bluffs with remarkable accuracy. Individual decisions might be explained by reads, experience or coincidence, but an unusually persistent pattern could suggest access to an opponent’s concealed cards.
The distinction matters because a player using stolen hole-card information might not display the same patterns as somebody relying on conventional real-time assistance. Such a player could make strategically unconventional decisions that are nevertheless highly profitable because of information nobody else at the table can see.
GGPoker says it has tested the detection method and successfully identified historical cases. However, it has not published detailed performance statistics, false-positive rates or information about the investigation process following a detection alert.
Changes Follow the Jurojin Superuser Scandal
The security overhaul follows the Jurojin poker superuser scandal, which emerged publicly in late September and raised serious questions about the risks of installing third-party poker software. Investigators uncovered a targeted operation involving malicious software updates capable of giving an attacker remote access to opponents’ computers.
Jurojin subsequently confirmed that an attacker had intermittently replaced update packages delivered to a specific group of users between June 2025 and January 2026. Some versions contained remote-access software, with the apparent objective of viewing opponents’ hole cards during high-stakes games.
The company said the attack was targeted rather than a mass compromise and that not everyone exposed to a malicious update was necessarily infected. The investigation also linked the attacker to attempts involving other poker utilities and imitation websites.
The scandal demonstrated how an attack on software outside a poker room’s direct control could compromise the integrity of games played on its platform. GGPoker’s new Screen Guard feature and restrictions on third-party applications directly address some of the weaknesses exposed by that case.
GGPoker Traces Cryptocurrency Funds and Contacts Coinbase
The October 15 announcement also provides an update on GGPoker’s investigation into the recent incident. The operator says it has traced funds involved in the case and identified a cryptocurrency wallet associated with the activity.
GGPoker believes the funds were deposited through Coinbase and has shared its findings with the cryptocurrency exchange. It has requested restrictions on the relevant account and preservation of records that could assist investigators.
The company has also reported wallet addresses to industry networks monitoring illicit funds and to law enforcement. It has not disclosed how much money might be recoverable or announced a confirmed recovery in its latest statement.
Identifying the destination of suspicious funds is an important investigative development, although the process of establishing ownership and recovering money can involve additional legal and technical challenges. GGPoker says it intends to continue cooperating with authorities and provide further updates as the investigation progresses.
Older Windows and Mac Computers to Lose Support
Another change will affect players using older computers, with GGPoker confirming that support for several legacy operating systems will end in 2027. The affected platforms include Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and macOS 11 Big Sur or earlier.
GGPoker is advising users to upgrade to at least Windows 10 or macOS 12 Monterey before the change takes effect. The company argues that operating systems no longer receiving manufacturer security updates expose players to vulnerabilities that modern security software cannot necessarily address.
An exact cutoff date in 2027 has not been announced. Players using older systems therefore have time to assess their options before the new requirements become mandatory.
What the New Rules Mean for Online Poker
GGPoker’s announcement represents a broader change in how online poker operators might approach game security. For years, much of the focus has been on identifying bots, collusion, account sharing and real-time assistance through the analysis of player behaviour.
The latest scandal exposed a different threat, where a legitimate player could unknowingly install compromised software that revealed private information to somebody else. Conventional anti-cheating systems are not necessarily designed to detect how that information was obtained.
The new protections address both sides of the problem by attempting to prevent unauthorised access to game information and identifying opponents whose decisions suggest they possess knowledge they should not have. The effectiveness of those measures will ultimately depend on how reliably they work in live games and how thoroughly suspicious accounts are investigated.
For players, the immediate change is straightforward: check which programs are running before opening GGPoker and review the new security options in the client. The longer-term implications could extend across the wider industry as other operators assess how to protect players from similar attacks.
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