ACR Poker's new ScreenShield feature is the clearest sign yet that online poker operators are taking remote-access cheating seriously. According to a Gambling.com report published on October 7, 2026, the Winning Poker Network (WPN) switched ScreenShield on for a group of flagged accounts on Tuesday, September 29, and now offers it to any player who asks. The tool is designed to stop protected table content, including your hole cards, from being picked up by screen-capture and screen-sharing software. If you play real-money poker on ACR, here is what the feature does, what it does not do, and how to get it.
What ScreenShield actually does
ScreenShield is a table-protection layer. When it is active, you still see your table normally on your own monitor, but the software blocks the table content from being captured through the screen-capture and screen-sharing methods it covers. In practical terms, if somebody has installed a remote-access tool on your machine, or if you are running a screen-sharing program, the poker client's cards and table state are not supposed to be visible through that channel.
The reason this matters is simple. A hole-card leak is one of the most damaging forms of cheating in online poker. If a third party can see your cards, they can pass information to a partner, or an opponent can use the same trick to see yours. WPN said it activated the feature in response to concerns about remote-access software being used to view opponents' hole cards.
Who got ScreenShield first
On September 29, WPN contacted players whose accounts met its detection criteria for software with remote-access or screen-control capabilities, then enabled ScreenShield for them as a precaution. Note the wording: this was a protective step aimed at flagged accounts, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Software with remote-control capabilities exists on plenty of legitimate computers, and many players run it for perfectly innocent reasons such as IT support or working from home.
That is also why the feature is not switched on for everyone by default. According to the report, ScreenShield can interfere with legitimate uses of screen capture, including streaming, recording sessions, and reviewing hands with a coach. A grinder who streams on Twitch, or who shares a screen with a coach during a review session, would find the table suddenly blank. Making the feature opt-in for the wider player base avoids breaking those workflows.
How to request ScreenShield
Any player can request ScreenShield through WPN support by email. Activation can take up to 48 hours and is not guaranteed to be immediate, so do not expect it to be live the minute you send the message. If you are about to register for a big tournament, ask a couple of days ahead rather than on the morning of the event.
Before you ask, consider whether you need screen capture at all. If you stream your sessions, record video for your own review, or use a coach who watches your screen live, ScreenShield will get in the way. If you simply play and want the extra layer of protection, asking for it costs you nothing. You can read our full Americas Cardroom review for background on the room, its software and its tournament lineup.
ScreenShield is one layer, not a cure
WPN was careful not to oversell the tool. The company says ScreenShield is one layer of protection and that it does not eliminate every possible security threat. That is an honest framing. Screen-capture blocking addresses one attack path, the one where software on a computer reads what is displayed. It does not stop a player from pointing a phone camera at a monitor, and it does not detect collusion at the table or the use of solver-style real-time assistance on a second device.
WPN also says its review so far has found no compromise of its own systems or poker software. That distinction is important. The concern is about what is running on players' computers, not about a breach at the network level. The company is also sharing information with other operators on developing similar table protections industry-wide, and its work with training platform GTO Wizard is described as part of a broader effort to support game integrity beyond ACR's own network. We covered that partnership in our piece on GTO Wizard anti-cheating work with WPN and WPT Global.
Going forward, WPN plans regular scans and says it will apply ScreenShield more proactively when its detection criteria identify new risk accounts, rather than waiting for periodic large-scale sweeps. For players, that means the set of protected accounts is likely to grow over time without them having to do anything.
The backdrop: a year of security anxiety
Remote-access and screen-sharing exploits have been a recurring concern in online poker, and several networks have added software-detection tools and account-verification checks after player complaints about opponents seeming to know hidden information. ACR itself moved early on policy. In 2025 it became the first major operator to issue a broad statement against virtual machines, after players were found using them for an edge in high-EV spots, and its updated terms also banned real-time screen-sharing tools and any device that could bypass platform security. A first breach brought a warning, with later breaches able to lead to suspensions, bans and withheld funds. At that time the room said it had banned eight accounts for collusion plus 25 more linked to the main offenders, and confiscated and reallocated $184,000.
Chris Moneymaker, an ACR team pro, summed up the mood at the time with the line "I'm sad that we have to engage in this high-tech game of Whack a Mole." The ScreenShield rollout fits that pattern. Each new defense raises the cost of cheating, and cheaters look for the next gap.
More recently, the poker community has also had to deal with reports of malicious software hidden inside poker tools. Our recent coverage of the compromised-software scandal explains why players are now checking what they install on gaming PCs. ScreenShield is partly a response to that environment: if you cannot guarantee that every player's machine is clean, you can at least limit what a compromised machine can see.
What this means for players
First, treat ScreenShield as a cheap safeguard rather than a guarantee. If you are a US-based player who relies on ACR for real-money poker, requesting the feature costs one email and a short wait.
Second, tidy your own machine. Remove remote-access software you do not use, avoid downloading "free" poker utilities from unofficial sources, and keep your operating system and browser patched. A protected table client cannot fully compensate for malware on the rest of your system. If your account is flagged and ScreenShield is enabled for you, that is not a penalty; check whether you have remote-control software installed and remove it if you do not need it.
Third, keep your streaming and coaching separate from your protected sessions if you can. Some players will simply request ScreenShield for their main account and use a separate approach for content creation, or schedule coaching reviews using hand-history exports rather than live screen sharing. Check with WPN support about what works for your set-up.
Fourth, understand what the feature cannot do. If you suspect collusion or unusual play at a table, report it through the room's support channel with hand IDs. Detection teams still rely on player reports. For a broader view of how operators compare on integrity and payouts, see our guide to safe poker sites.
The bigger picture for US online poker
Players in the United States who use offshore-facing networks have limited recourse compared with regulated markets, which makes visible security investment more valuable. A room that tells its players exactly what it did, when it did it and what it cannot do is behaving better than one that stays silent. WPN's note that ScreenShield "does not eliminate every possible security threat" is the kind of candor that builds trust, even if it also admits the problem is not solved.
The wider industry trend is clear. As solvers, real-time assistance tools and remote-access malware become easier to use, operators will have to move from after-the-fact bans to preventive controls on the client. ScreenShield is an early example of that shift. Whether other networks copy the approach, and whether regulators in licensed jurisdictions begin to expect similar measures, will be worth watching over the next year.
For now, the takeaway is practical. If you play on ACR and you are not streaming or sharing your screen, ask for ScreenShield, clean up your PC, and keep reporting anything that looks wrong at the tables. You can find current promotions and tournaments at the Americas Cardroom page and compare other options on our US poker sites list.