POKER PLAYERS ALLEGE MALWARE CAMPAIGN TARGETED THEIR GAMES

Online poker players have alleged that a cheater used malware to view opponents’ screens during games. Alex, a professional player speaking under a pseudonym, found a programme called MeshAgent on his computer on 25 September 2026 after a Claude AI agent flagged it during a database reset. Alex said he had not installed MeshAgent, which appeared capable of capturing his screen and controlling his computer. The agent indicated that the programme had been installed on 24 April. Alex said it identified 11 possible screen-capture events from graphics errors during screen sharing.

Alex said he had been playing on ACR, also called Americas Cardroom, during all 11 events. His hand histories placed a player using the name OxOO at his table for 10 of those sessions. Alex and other high-stakes players had previously discussed suspicions about OxOO’s play. Alex said publicly available tracking figures showed a win rate far above those of leading players. After examining the case, Alex and other players alleged that the same person had targeted hundreds of players over several years.

The alleged attacker used third-party tools that let players run multiple poker games to install MeshAgent on selected computers. Players raised allegations involving major online poker platforms, which took different actions. One operator had banned the account before the malware came to light, citing its unusually high win rate and patterns of play. Other operators offered tools to help players check their computers for MeshAgent. Another operator said it had found no evidence that game outcomes were compromised and declined to refund players. The suspected cheater has not been charged with a crime.