[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying it is rigged, just that it could be. I'm sure that software that advertises you can see hole cards could figure this out very easily.

You send out mass e-mails with an attachment "Win big at Party Poker with these secrets" Have some random tips with a "virus" installed that reads the hole cards from hand histories or using OCR. Then send them away to the server.

Then you sell the hole card software, people that buy the hole card software also unknowingly are getting their hole cards sent away. The "virus" spreads.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm convinced that one of the reasons sites are banning programs like PokerEdge is precisely this concern. If PokerTracker or a HUD suddenly went rogue and started stealing hole cards (and passwords!) thousands of firewalls would sound the alarm and they would be caught.

But if PokerEdge or similar service started doing this no one would notice for a long time because internet traffic is part-and-parcel of how the service works. A player who has access to three opponents' hole cards has an enormous edge over *everyone* at the table. Users of programs like this are potentially endangering the security of the site and everyone playing there.