Can the operator see cards or cheat?
No. No server is involved in dealing; the operator sees exactly what you see, and at a table would be an ordinary player. The one thing the operator controls is the site code: updating it is an on-chain transaction anyone can diff. You are trusting the code you opened, not anyone's promise.
Can the last shuffler control the order?
No. They shuffle ciphertext that reveals nothing, so they cannot even tell what they produced; the post-hand audit also verifies that every shuffle was a proper permutation.
Can players collude?
Yes, as at any online table. The chain can prove the dealing was fair and the accounting exact, but it cannot tell whether several people bet as a team. There is no "collusion detection" here, because no server watches the game. What helps: every hole card is revealed after each hand, so teamwork is visible afterwards; sit with people you trust, or open a private table.
Will there be bots?
Possibly. They are neither banned nor detectable. A program has to shuffle and sign receipts like anyone else and cannot win anything beyond its cards.
Does a bad connection cost me?
It can. No answer when it is your turn to bet means a fold and leaving after the hand; dropping out while shuffling or dealing voids the hand and what you had already put into the pot goes to the others. Come back within 45 seconds and you play on. There is no dealer to wait for you: that is the price of having no dealer.
Where is the money, and what if the operator disappears?
The chips are in the contract on chain and the operator cannot move them; the site is on chain and does not go down. Even without the operator, the receipts you and your opponents hold (also kept by the relay and on chain) can be submitted and settled, and you withdraw. If a relay is used and goes down, the hand in progress follows the disconnection rules and earlier receipts are unaffected; the all-on-chain mode has no such risk.
What does it cost?
The rake (shown in the lobby and at the table, taken only on hands that see a flop), plus gas: one wallet transaction to sit (and an approval of BEM the first time), one per top-up; with the buy-in a little BNB goes to this page's key (about 0.01 in the all-on-chain mode), which pays for receipts and the cash-out on your behalf, and the rest comes back when you leave; in the all-on-chain mode every game message is a small transaction.
Where does the rake go?
To the address published in the contract. The rate and cap are set by the operator for every table and cannot be changed by whoever opens one; the agreed burned share goes to the burn address.
Are the contracts audited?
No independent audit. The code is public and the rules are as above, but treat them as unaudited contracts: start small.
What about my privacy?
Your wallet address and every hand you played, folded cards included, are public; opponents can study your play, and the address stays tied to those hands forever. Use a separate wallet if you want them apart.
Is this page's key safe?
It only signs game messages and receipts, and triggers your cash-out when you leave; the contract pays only to your own wallet, so it cannot take your money. Sitting and topping up need your wallet's signature. It lives in this browser, so another browser means sitting down again.
Can a table be voided?
The contract has no way to cancel a running session. The one exception: a table where nobody has submitted any receipt for seven days can be closed by anyone at the last receipt on chain (or the original buy-ins); the upkeep does it when the week is up and sends everyone's chips to their wallets.
How do I play on a phone?
Open this address in Chrome or Safari; "Connect wallet" brings up WalletConnect, which jumps into the wallet app on the phone or shows a QR code for another device. The browsers built into wallet apps cannot open on-chain sites (no Service Worker support), so do not use those.
What is the points mode?
The same table, free: no wallet, 10,000 points a day, the same shuffle, deal and receipts as the BEM tables, only the ledger lives on the operator's relay instead of the chain. Points have no value and cannot be bought, withdrawn or exchanged for BEM; points tables and BEM tables never mix.
Is this legal where I am?
Laws differ from place to place; check that it is allowed where you are before you play.