Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of
bribery
Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...
,
cronyism
Cronyism is the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs when appointin ...
and
nepotism
Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate criteria. The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...
,
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
or
custom
Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to:
Traditions, laws, and religion
* Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom
* Norm (social), a r ...
, making the identification of cheating conduct a potentially subjective process. Cheating can refer specifically to
infidelity
Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riva ...
. Someone who is known for cheating is referred to as a ''cheat'' in
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
, and a ''cheater'' in
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
. A person described as a "cheat" doesn't necessarily cheat all the time, but rather, relies on deceitful tactics to the point of acquiring a reputation for it.
Academic
Academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
cheating is a significantly common occurrence in high schools and colleges in the United States. Statistically, 64% of public high school students admit to serious test cheating. 58% say they have
plagiarized
Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
. 95% of students admit to some form of cheating. This includes tests, copying homework, and papers. Only 50% of private school students, however, admit to this. The report was made in June 2005 by
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
professor Donald McCabe for The Center for Academic Integrity. The findings were corroborated in part by a
Gallup survey
Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its bu ...
. In McCabe's 2,001 of 4,500 high school students, "74% said they cheated on a test, 72% cheated on a written work, and 97% reported to at least had copied someone's homework or peeked at someone's test. 1/3 reported to have repeatedly cheated." The new revolution in high-tech digital info contributes enormously to the new wave in cheating: online term-paper mills sell formatted reports on practically any topic, services exist to prepare any kind of homework or take online tests for students (despite the fact that this phenomenon, and these websites, are well known to
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
s), digital audio players can contain notes, and
graphing calculators
A graphing calculator (also graphics calculator or graphic display calculator) is a handheld computer that is capable of plotting graphs, solving simultaneous equations, and performing other tasks with variables. Most popular graphing calculat ...
store formulas to solve math problems.
For centuries, rampant cheating and examiner-bribery were common problems for the
Chinese civil service examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
s, the main route to career success for literate men in imperial China, as detailed in books like the Ming-dynasty ''Book of Swindles''.
Sport, games and gambling
Sports
Cheating in sports is the intentional breaking of rules in order to obtain an advantage over the other teams or players. Sports are governed by both customs and explicit rules regarding acts which are permitted and forbidden at the event and away from it. Forbidden acts frequently include performance-enhancing drug taking (known as " doping"), using equipment that does not conform to the rules or altering the condition of equipment during play, and deliberate harassment or injury to competitors.
High-profile examples of alleged doping cheating include
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
's use of
steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...
s in professional
road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...
particularly controversial as it is widely suspected that a high percentage of professional cyclists are using prohibited substances
Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to:
In sports Association football
*Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer
* Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player
Other codes of football
*Ben Johnson (Australian footb ...
's disqualification following the
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...
final at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, and admissions of
steroid
A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...
use by former professional baseball players after they have retired, such as
José Canseco
José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...
and
Ken Caminiti
Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 – October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman who spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Houston Astros (1987–1994, 1999–2000), San Diego Padres (1995–1998), Texas Rangers ( ...
. A famous sporting scandal involving cheating via harassment and injury occurred in 1994 in
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...
when
Tonya Harding
Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice ska ...
's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt, hired Shane Stant to break
Nancy Kerrigan
Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skating, figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, 1991 World Championships and the Figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympic ...
's leg to remove her from the year's competitions and prevent her from competing with Harding. One of the most famous instances of cheating involving a prohibited player action occurred during the
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...
quarter-final, when
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...
. Using the hand or arm by anyone other than a goalkeeper is illegal according to the rules of association football.
Illegally altering the condition of playing equipment is frequently seen in bat sports such as
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
and
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
, which are heavily dependent on equipment condition. For example, in baseball, a
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
using a doctored baseball, such as a
spitball
A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to mo ...
or an
emery ball
An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. This technique alters the spin of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner, as ...
, or a
batter
Batter or batters may refer to:
Common meanings
* Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan
* Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher
* Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting
* Batter ...
using a
corked bat
In baseball, a corked bat is a specially modified baseball bat that has been filled with cork or other lighter, less dense substances to make the bat lighter. A lighter bat gives a hitter a quicker swing and may improve the hitter's timing. Despit ...
are some examples of this.
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
are also subject to equipment cheating, with players being accused of using rackets of illegal string tension, or golf clubs of illegal weight, size, or make. Equipment cheating can also occur via the use of external aids in situations where equipment is prohibitedsuch as in
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
via the use of
stickum
Stickum is a trademark adhesive of Mueller Sports Medicine, of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, United States. It is available in powder, paste, and aerosol spray forms. According to the company website, the spray form helps improve grip "even in w ...
on the hands of receivers, making the ball easier to catch. An example of this is Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who admitted to regularly and illegally using "stickum" throughout his career, calling into question the integrity of his receiving records.
Athletic cheating is a widespread problem. For example, in
professional bodybuilding
Professional bodybuilding or pro bodybuilding can refer to bodybuilding for an income and/or possessing qualifications such as an IFBB or Wabba International Pro Card.
A professional bodybuilder may be one who earns his or her primary income from ...
, cheating is now estimated to be so universal that it is now considered impossible to engage in professional competition without cheating and the use of supposedly banned substances; bodybuilders who refuse to take banned substances now compete in
natural bodybuilding
Natural bodybuilding is a bodybuilding movement with various competitions that take place for bodybuilders who abstain from performance-enhancing drugs. This categorically excludes the use of substances like anabolic steroids, insulin, diuretics an ...
leagues.
Cheating may also be seen in
coaching
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
. One of the most common forms of this is the use of
bribery
Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...
and
kickbacks
A kickback is a form of negotiated bribery in which a commission is paid to the bribe-taker in exchange for services rendered. Generally speaking, the remuneration (money, goods, or services handed over) is negotiated ahead of time. The kickback ...
in the player recruitment process. Such practices are widespread all across athletics, and are particularly visible in
college sports
College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games.
World University Games
The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...
recruitment. Another common form of cheating in coaching is profiteering in association with
gamblers
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...
and
match fixing
In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...
. The most famous coach of the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
Runnin' Rebels basketball team,
Jerry Tarkanian
Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...
, was accused of both recruitment fraud and gambling fraud over the course of his career and was the subject of intense
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
scrutiny. Another form of this involves a team coach or other manager undertaking
corporate espionage
Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security.
While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governmen ...
or another form of prohibited spying in order to obtain details about other teams' strategies and tactics. The
2007 New England Patriots videotaping controversy
Spygate was an incident during the National Football League's (NFL) 2007 season, when the New England Patriots were disciplined by the league for videotaping New York Jets' defensive coaches' signals from an unauthorized location during a S ...
is an example of this, in which the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
were found to have videotaped an opposing team from an unapproved location while trying to obtain defensive signals. As was the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
use of, at the time legal, performance enhancers. However, there was cheating proven by the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
during their back-to-back titles in the late 1990s to circumvent the league's salary cap and obtain and retain players that they would otherwise not have been able to. Circumvention of rules governing conduct and procedures of a sport can also be considered cheating. a form of
collusion
Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
.
An example of cheating via judging collusion occurred in the
2002 Winter Olympics figure skating scandal
At the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, it was alleged that the pairs' figure skating competition had been fixed, in which a French judge had compromised scores. The Russian team was awarded the gold. After limited investigation of ...
when the Russian team was awarded a gold medal over the Canadian team in an alleged vote-swapping judging deal; the Canadian team's silver medals were eventually upgraded to gold at a second awards ceremony and the French judge was suspended for misconduct. The head of the French skating federation was later also suspended, and both were banned from the 2006 Olympic Games. The
International Skating Union
The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, Net ...
modified its judging system as a result of this case.
Cheating is also used to refer to movements in
strength training
Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
that transfer weight from an isolated or fatigued muscle group to a different or fresh muscle group. This allows the cheater to move an initial greater weight (if the cheating continues through an entire training set) or to continue exercising past the point of muscular exhaustion (if the cheating begins part-way through the set). As strength training is not a sport, cheating has no rule-based consequences, but can result in injury or a failure to meet training goals. This is because each exercise is designed to target specific muscle groups and if the proper form is not used the weight can be transferred away from the targeted group.
Video games
In video games, cheating can take the form of secret access codes in single-player games (such as the
Konami code
The Konami Code ( ja, コナミコマンド, ''Konami Komando'', "Konami command"), also commonly referred to as the Contra Code and sometimes the 30 Lives code, is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, as well as some non-Konam ...
) which unlock a bonus for the player when entered,
hacks
Hacks may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Hacks'' (1997 film), a 1997 American comedy film
* ''Hacks'' (2002 film), a 2002 independent American film
* '' Hacks: The Inside Story'', a book by Donna Brazile
* ''Hacks'' (TV series), ...
and exploits which give players an unfair advantage in online multiplayer games and single-player modes, or unfair
collusion
Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
between players in online games (such as a player who spectates a match, removing limitations such as "
fog of war
The fog of war (german: links=no, Nebel des Krieges) is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, ...
", and reports on enemy positions to game partners).
Attitudes towards cheating vary. Using exploits in single-player modes is usually considered to be simply another form of exploring the game's content unless the player's accomplishments are to be submitted competitively, and is common in single-player games with a high difficulty level; however, cheating in multiplayer modes is considered immoral and harshly condemned by fair players and developers alike. Cheating allows casual players to complete games at much-accelerated speed, which can be helpful in some cinematic or single-player games, which can take a subjectively long time to finish, as is typical of the
Role-Playing Game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
(RPG) genre. While this may be seen as a hasty advantage causing no damage to anyone, in a multi-player game such as
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
s the repercussions of cheating are much more damaging, breaking the risk/reward curve of the game and causing fair players to lose online matches and/or character development. Cheating in those types of games is generally prohibitedthough often widespread anyway. In many circles, the purchasing of items or currency from sources outside the game is also considered to be cheating. The Terms of Service from many games where this is possible directly prohibits this activity. One area where there is little consensus involves modern
free-to-play
Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
business models which support and are supported by the exchange of real-world money for in-game services, items, and advantages. Games that grant excessive advantages only available to paying customers may be criticized as being 'Pay to win'sometimes considered a form of "cheating" that is actually legitimatized by the systemwhilst games that limit real-money purchases to cosmetic changes are generally accepted as fair.
Another form of video game cheating is when a player does things to interact with game objects that are unforeseen by the programmers and break the intended function or reward system of the object. This can involve the way enemies are encountered, objectives met, items used, or any other game object that contains a
software bug
A software bug is an error, flaw or fault in the design, development, or operation of computer software that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways. The process of finding and correcting bugs i ...
. One common example is the exploitation of errors in an enemy's
pathfinding
Pathfinding or pathing is the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes. This field of research is based heavily on Dijkstra's algorithm for finding the sh ...
; if a player can cause an enemy to become "stuck" in a given terrain feature, that player can then usually kill the enemy from a distance without risk, even if much stronger, and achieve greater rewards than the player is intended to be able to at that level of progression. Another example was common in early
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
games and involved skipping a weapon's reload timer by quickly switching weapons back and forth without actually reloading the weapons, resulting in what was effectively instant reloading. It also can be accomplished through means of altered game files substituted for the normal files, or image graphics changed to permit greater visibility of the targets, etc.for example, replacing the colors on a dark-colored enemy intended to blend in with the background with a bright color permitting instant visibility and targeting. Generally speaking, there is often some concern that this is not truly cheating, as it is the fault of the programmers that such an exploit exists in the first place. However, technically, as with live sports, it is cheating if the player is not playing the game in a formally approved manner, breaking unwritten rules. In some cases, this behavior is directly prohibited by the Terms of Service of the game.
Gambling
The wagering of money on an event extends the motivation for cheating beyond directly participating competitors. As in sport and games, cheating in
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
is generally related to directly breaking rules or laws, or misrepresenting the event being wagered on, or interfering in the outcome.
A boxer who takes a dive, a
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
which plays with secretly
loaded dice
Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ga ...
, a rigged
roulette wheel
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
or
slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
, or a doctored deck of cards, are generally regarded as cheating, because it has misrepresented the likelihood of the game's outcomes beyond what is reasonable to expect a bettor to protect himself against. However, for a bookmaker to flatter a horse in order to sell bets on it at shorter
odds
Odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome. They are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not. Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics.
Odds also have ...
may be regarded as
salesmanship
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
rather than cheating, since bettors can counter this by informing themselves and by exercising
skepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
.
Doping a horse is a clear example of cheating by interfering with the instruments of the event under wager. Again, not all interference is cheating; spending money to support the health and well-being of a horse one has wagered on is not in itself generally regarded as cheating, nor is improving the morale of a sportsman one has backed by
cheering
Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome.
The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English ...
for them. Generally, interference is more likely to be regarded as cheating if it diminishes the standard of a sporting competition, damages a participant, or modifies the apparatus of the event or game.
In the world of gambling, knowing a secret which is not priced into the odds gives a significant advantage, which may give rise to a perception of cheating. However, legal systems do not regard secretly making use of knowledge in this way as criminal deception in itself. This is in contrast to the financial world, where people with certain categories of relationship to a company are restricted from transacting, which would constitute the crime of
insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
. This may be because of a stronger presumption of equality between investors, or it may be because a company employee who also trades in the company's stock has a conflict of interest, and has thus misrepresented himself the company.
An
advantage play
Advantage gambling, or advantage play, refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling, in contrast to cheating. The term usually refers to house-banked casino games, but can also refer to games played against other players, suc ...
er typically uses mental, observational or technical skills to choose when and how much to bet, and neither interferes with the instruments of the game nor breaks any of its rules. Representatives of the
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
industry have claimed that all
advantage play
Advantage gambling, or advantage play, refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling, in contrast to cheating. The term usually refers to house-banked casino games, but can also refer to games played against other players, suc ...
is cheating, but this point of view is reflected neither among societies in general nor in legislation. , the only example anywhere of a type of advantage play being unlawful is for an advantage player to use an auxiliary device in the U.S. State of
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, whose legislation is uniquely influenced by large casino corporations. Nonetheless it remains a widely held principle that the law should not impose any restraint over the method by which a player arrives at a playing or betting decision from information held by him lawfully and which he is not debarred from under the rules of the game. In "hole carding", a casino player tries to catch sight of the front of cards which are dealt face-down according to the rules.
One way of cheating and profiting through gambling is to bet against oneself and then intentionally lose. This is known as throwing a game or taking a dive. Illegal gamblers will at times pay sports players to lose so that they may profit from the otherwise unexpected loss. An especially notorious case is the
Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate led ...
, when eight players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox took payment from gamblers and intentionally played poorly. Another happened in
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
when Jake LaMotta famously took a dive against Billy Fox in order to obtain his entry to a championship match against
Marcel Cerdan
Marcellin "Marcel" Cerdan (; 22 July 1916 – 28 October 1949) was a French professional boxer and world middleweight champion who was considered by many boxing experts and fans to be France's greatest boxer, and beyond to be one of the best to h ...
, a deal offered by the mobsters who controlled professional boxing.
Business
Various
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
s exist to prevent unfair competitive advantages in business and finance, for example
competition law
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
, or the prohibition of
insider trading
Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider information ...
.
The most extreme forms of cheating (e.g. attempting to gain money through outright deceit rather than providing a service) are referred to as
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
.
See also
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1950s quiz show scandals
The 1950s quiz show scandals were a series of scandals involving the producers and contestants of several popular American television quiz shows. These shows' producers secretly gave assistance to certain contestants in order to prearrange the s ...
, series of cheating scandals that nearly destroyed the game show genre
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Cheating at the Paralympic Games
Cheating at the Paralympic Games has caused scandals that have significantly changed the way in which the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) manages the events.
Testing for performance-enhancing drugs has become increasingly strict and mor ...
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Cheating in bridge
Cheating in bridge refers to a deliberate violation of the rules of the game of bridge or other unethical behaviour that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. Cheating can occur in many forms and can take place before, durin ...
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Cheating in chess
Cheating in chess is a deliberate violation of the rules of chess or other behaviour that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. Cheating can occur in many forms and can take place before, during, or after a game. Commonly c ...
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Cheating in esports
Cheating in esports is a deliberate violation of the rules of an esports governing body or other behavior that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. At its core, esports are video game competitions in an organized, competitiv ...
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Cheating in online games
Cheating in online games is the subversion of the rules or mechanics of online video games to gain an unfair advantage over other players, generally with the use of third-party software. What constitutes cheating is dependent on the game in ...
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Cheating in poker
Cheating in poker is any behavior outside the rules of poker that is intended to give an unfair advantage to one or more players.
Minimal-skill methods
The easiest and most common types of cheating require no skill of manipulation, but rather me ...
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Game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
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Gaming the system
Gaming the system (also rigging, abusing, cheating, milking, playing, working, or breaking the system, or gaming or bending the rules) can be defined as using the rules and procedures meant to protect a system to, instead, Psychological manipula ...
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Infidelity
Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riva ...
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Unfair competition
Unfair may refer to:
* Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses ''fair''; unfairness or injustice
* ''Unfair'' (drama), Japanese television series
* '' Unfair: The Movie''
* Unfair (song), a song by South Korean boy group EXO