From November 4, ScreenShield will be enabled automatically for players, while WPN also evaluates broader third-party software restrictions.
ACR Poker players will have ScreenShield turned on by default from November 4 as Winning Poker Network moves the table-protection feature into a network-wide standard rather than a targeted precaution.
The change is the clearest operational step to come out of WPN’s response to recent concerns around remote-access software. It is also being paired with a broader security review, including consideration of whether third-party software should be prohibited from being used alongside the poker client.
What Changes on November 4
ScreenShield is designed to protect WPN poker-table content from the screen-capture and screen-sharing methods covered by the technology. When it is enabled, the player continues to see and play normally. The protection changes what supported external capture software can see, not how the poker game itself functions.
Beginning November 4, players will not have to request ScreenShield or activate it themselves. It will be on by default across the network.
The feature remains player-controlled. ScreenShield is visible in the lower-left area of the poker client and has a dedicated page in Settings. Players who intentionally need capture functionality can turn it off themselves. That includes streamers, players recording sessions, content creators and players working with coaches.
This distinction is important because screen capture is not inherently suspicious. There are legitimate reasons poker players use recording, sharing and remote-access tools. WPN’s new approach is to make protection the default while preserving an off switch for players who knowingly need those functions.
Why WPN Changed the Default
WPN had previously used ScreenShield as an additional precaution for players whose devices met its detection criteria for software with remote-access, screen-control or screen-capture capabilities. The presence of that type of software did not, by itself, mean a player’s computer had been compromised.
After reviewing the issue, the network concluded that default-on protection provides a stronger baseline. Every player receives the added layer automatically, while those with a practical reason to capture their tables can make that choice themselves in the client.
WPN is also evaluating whether to adopt a broader rule that could prohibit third-party software from being used alongside the WPN poker client. That review remains ongoing and no final policy has been adopted. The network is assessing whether further restrictions could reduce security and Game Integrity risks without creating unnecessary disruption for legitimate player use cases.
The Two-Million-Hand Game Integrity Review
Alongside the ScreenShield rollout, WPN is putting the results of its gameplay review on the record. The Game Integrity team examined more than 2,000,000 hands from players whose devices had MeshAgent detected.
Across that sample, WPN says it found no evidence that any reviewed player was using hole-card knowledge while playing on the network. The review was focused on whether gameplay showed signs that players were making decisions with information they should not have had, including opponents’ hole cards.
The network’s stated conclusion is straightforward: despite the concerns that prompted the investigation, it did not identify evidence of hole-card use in the reviewed WPN hands.
Paul Gregg: About 200,000 Hands Reviewed
Paul Gregg was one of the players most prominently raised by members of the high-stakes community during the public discussion. WPN therefore conducted a detailed review of his play on the network, covering approximately 200,000 hands.
WPN says that review found no evidence that Gregg could see another player’s hole cards or that he was using hole-card knowledge while playing on WPN.
That finding is intentionally narrow. It is a statement about the gameplay evidence reviewed on WPN and does not attempt to resolve every allegation or question that has circulated outside the network.
Why Gregg’s Account Was Closed Anyway
WPN’s gameplay finding did not end its broader account review. During the investigation, and through communication with other online poker operators, the network gathered additional information concerning Gregg’s history in the industry.
Taking the totality of that information into account, WPN determined that continuing to provide access to the network was not in the best interests of the WPN poker ecosystem. Gregg’s account was therefore closed.
WPN has separated the two conclusions publicly: it found no evidence of hole-card knowledge in the approximately 200,000 WPN hands reviewed for Gregg, while it made a separate Game Integrity and risk-management decision on the account based on broader information available to the network.
Industry Sharing and the Next Security Question
WPN has also shared information with other online poker operators about how this type of ScreenShield protection can be implemented. The aim is to give other operators a practical reference if they want to evaluate similar protection for their own players.
The network is not presenting ScreenShield as a complete answer to every cybersecurity threat. It is an additional layer designed to reduce the ability of covered external capture methods to display protected table content.
The next question may be broader than ScreenShield itself. WPN’s review of a possible third-party software prohibition shows that the network is considering whether player choice around software running alongside the client should be narrowed further in the interest of Game Integrity. For now, that remains an evaluation rather than an announced rule.
What Players Need to Know
For ACR Poker players, the immediate November 4 change is simple. ScreenShield will be on automatically. No request to Support and no manual activation will be required.
Players who intentionally need screen capture or screen sharing can turn the feature off in the ScreenShield section of Settings. Everyone else receives the protection by default.
At the same time, WPN says its review of more than 2,000,000 hands from players whose devices had MeshAgent detected found no evidence that any player was using hole-card knowledge on Winning Poker Network. The network is pairing that finding with a default-on ScreenShield rollout and a continuing review of whether stronger software restrictions are warranted.