History Main / FiveAcesCheater

** Another downplayed example, he had a record of 1,110,500 points in ''Fathom'', while the second place was 142 in 2.5 minutes, doing the math, he would take over 325 hours to achieve it, meaning he should also have a record for most time without sleeping, and that was another big reason for his ban, however, the current record is now 19,566 points in 29 minutes with video proof.

** Another downplayed example, he had a record of 1,110,500 points in ''Fathom'', while the second place was 142 in 2.5 minutes, doing the math, he would take over 325 hours to achieve it, meaning he should also have a record for most time without sleeping and was a big reason for his ban, however, the current record is now 19,566 points in 29 minutes with video proof.

** Similarly, ''Dragster'' in 5.51 seconds, although the minimum possible time is 5.57 (this one made the news)

* In Online Multiplayer Games, cheaters are usually subtle so other players will not report them, and there's the advice that if you start winning too much, stop cheating for a while so you won't get caught, but there's always that dumb cheater that does stuff like headshotting invisible players, leveling up too fast, and making high scores that you can't possibly achieve; And there's always games with little moderation where cheaters almost never get banned, and you can find cheaters that make no effort to hide it, like using invincibility hack, standing still, getting multiple shots, and never die. Not to mention achievements unlocked at the exact same time when they have no business being able to do so.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Rogers_(video_game_player) Todd Rogers]] used to hold many high-scores in videogames, most of them were given to him in the 80s, and most of them didn't have any proof but still accepted by the organization Twin Galaxies, a partner of the Literature/GuinnessWorldRecords, a lot of these records were either impossible, way higher than the second place, or would took days to achieve, in 2018 all his records were removed, here's a list of his [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12r8Hi8QuIedNKsyrVIyjw4S8194YtnEiGVZxqEx-b7U/edit#gid=0 suspicious records]], with some examples below:
** ''Centipede (Atari 5200)'': An exact score of 65,000,000 points, and the second place was 58,078.

** Similarly, ''Dragster'' in 5.51 seconds, though the minimum possible time is 5.57 (this one made the news)
** ''Wabbit'': 1698 points, not only the game ends when the player gets 1300 points, but the score counter increases only by 5 points.
** ''The Legendary Axe'': 99,999,990 points, even though the score can only end with x00 or x50, and the second place was 30,068,300 points.

Cheating in games is almost as old as playing games when a prize is involved, but cheating must be something subtle, after all, you usually cannot get caught cheating since you will be instantly kicked out of the competition.

This trope however, is when a character is cheating in an obvious and blatant manner, all the other players and the audience can clearly see that, and he may actually do something seemly impossible that could be only be done with special equipment or supernatural powers that aren't allowed, or does something that the game itself makes it impossible, the best example is the name of this trope, named after the very common gag in media of a character playing Poker and having a hand of five aces, when a card deck has only four, or something similar like having a hand of six cards, when in Poker you can only get five.

This trope will go further by showing many or all the competitors doing something impossible or that they can't do all at once, like having four aces, but everyone has four aces, meaning all of them are cheating.[[note]]Bar the one player that might have ''legitimately'' gotten four aces; but what are the odds of that....[[/note]]

This is pretty much a PaperThinDisguise version of cheating and it's almost always PlayedForComedy, the more comedic version is when no one notices the obvious cheating and they maybe even think the character is just that good, or someone actually notices but does nothing about it, the less comedic version is when audience and other competitors notice it and complain, but the cheater still gets away, or doesn't, the more serious version is when it's revealed or stated since the beginning that the whole game is rigged, the cheater is a powerful person that already bribed or forced the referees and organizers to make him win no matter what, and can be PlayedForDrama sometimes.

When adding examples of when a character cheats through supernatural powers, keep in mind that sometimes these examples may not fit since can be excused as LoopholeAbuse, since in those stories, using superpowers are technically not against the rules, and [[MuggleSportsSuperAthletes there are many stories around sports where players can use their superpowers]].

* In Online Multiplayer Games, cheaters are usually subtle so other players will not report them, and there's the advice that if you start winning too much, stop cheating for a while so you won't get caught, but there's always that dumb cheater that does stuff like headshoting invisible players, leveling up too fast, and making high scores that you can't possibly achieve; And there's always games with little moderation where cheaters almost never get banned, and you can find cheaters that make no effort to hide it, like using invincibility hack, standing still, getting multiple shots, and never die. Not to mention achievements unlocked at the exact same time when they have no business being able to do so.

* In a western-themed episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheHarlemGlobetrotters'', the main villain cheats at poker in a recycling of the aforementioned ''Quick Draw [=McGraw=]'' example.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': 5-ace decks are a common sight when visiting the local saloon. In "Black Hills", the bad guy assigned to disrupt the scientific expedition gets them to play poker, then accuses them of cheating when they all have 4 aces. The crowd nearly lynches them, until Luke shows up and asks why they were playing with a deck containing 48 aces.

* A scene in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' has the human Pinkie Pie and Applejack playing cards. Applejack shows four aces, which Pinkie counters with ''four Jokers''[[note]] Only one joker is included in a typical deck of cards.[[/note]].

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Rogers_(video_game_player) Todd Rogers]] used to hold many high-scores in videogames, most of them were given to him in the 80s, and most of them didn't have any proof but still accepted by the organization Twin Galaxies, a partner of the Literature/GuinnessWorldRecords, a lot of these records were either impossible, way higher than the second place, or would took days to achieve, meaning he should also have a record for most time without sleeping, in 2018 all his records were removed, here's a list of his [[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12r8Hi8QuIedNKsyrVIyjw4S8194YtnEiGVZxqEx-b7U/edit#gid=0 suspicious records]], with some examples below:

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5aoriginal.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/muchos_aces.jpg]]

This trope will go further by showing many or all the competitors doing something impossible or that they can't do all at once, like having four aces, but everyone has four aces, meaning all of them are cheating.[[note]]Bar the one player that might have'' legitimately gotten four aces; but what are the odds of that....[[/note]]

This trope will go further by showing many or all the competitors doing something impossible or that they can't do all at once, like having four aces, but everyone has four aces, meaning all of them are cheating.

* ''Film/SpaceJam'' has both teams go haywire with cheating during the Ultimate Game. The Monstars gang-tackle Granny, dogpile on Stan Podolak, incinerate Foghorn Leghorn and beat the stuffing out of the Looney Tunes. The Tune Squad attach explosives to the Monstar goal, shoot out one Monstar's teeth with handguns, partially denude another Monstar with a rod and reel, and bring an angry longhorn bull onto the court, maybe the basketball rules in the Looney Tunes world are different and none of them cheated however.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': The episode "Swindlin Wind" ends with Eustice playing cards with the tick that Muriel had on her toe throughout the episode (Now on his toe), with the bet being that the tick could move up to his nose if he wins. Eustice goes in with four aces, only for the tick to go in with six aces.

* In a western-themed episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheHarlemGlobetrotters'', the main villain cheats at poker in a recycling of the aforementioned ''Quick Draw [=McGraw=]'' example.

[[AC:Video Games]]

* ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' one puzzle involves winning a poker game. The solution is to take [[spoiler:five tarot cards]] and switch them for your rigged losing hand. They notice right away.
* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': In "Brucey B and The Lucky Coin", when Brucey B is playing Cheat with R.S., near the end of the game, R.S. plays a single four. Brucey calls him out on it, but R.S. reveals his card to be the four of diamonds. Brucey ponders how such a thing is possible when he had played four fours not too long ago.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'': Victor Zsaaz's StartOfDarkness was when he lost everything in a poker game with the Penguin. Zsasz had four sixes, but the Penguin had a straight flush that included a fifth six. PlayedForDrama in that, even years later and having a clear memory of the game, Zsasz never realizes that he's been cheated.
* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', there's a TournamentArc where the player is encouraged to help Isaac cheat by having the rest of the party make his progress through an obstacle course easier. While [[InvisibleToNormals psyenergy can't be seen by the other contestants or the crowd]], he does well enough that the other contestants work out that he did ''something'' and show up as a boss battle [[VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge in the sequel]].

* In a western-themed episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheHarlemGlobetrotters'', the main villain cheats at poker in a recycling of the aforementioned ''Quick Draw McGraw'' example.

* ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': In "Brucey B and The Lucky Coin", when Brucey B is playing Cheat with R.S., near the end of the game, R.S. plays a single four. Brucey calls him out on it, only for R.S. to reveal his card to be a four of diamonds. Brucey ponders how such a thing is possible when he had played four fours not too long ago.

* In Online Multiplayer Games, cheaters are usually subtle so other players will not report them, and there's the advice that if you start winning too much, stop cheating for a while so you won't get caught, but there's always that dumb cheater that does stuff like headshoting invisible players, leveling up too fast, and making high scores that you can't possibly achieve; And there's always games with little moderation where cheaters almost never get banned, and you can find cheaters that make no effort to hide it, like using invincibility hack, standing still, getting multiple shots, and never die.

* In ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'', two mobsters "invite" an old man, Dr. Chapatí­n, to play poker with them. He was asked to cut the deck and took a pair of [[LiteralMinded scissors to cut one card]]. One of the mobsters was angry that he cut an ace, which he knew due to a little mark behind it, while the other said that's no problem since he had another one under his sleeve.
--> '''Dr. Chapatí­n''': Good thing that we are playing among honest people.

When adding examples of when a character cheats through supernatural powers, keep in mind that sometimes these examples may not fit since can be excused as LoopholeAbuse, since in those stories, using superpowers are technically not against the rules, and there are many stories around sports where players can use their superpowers.