Online poker allows you to lie. Bluffing is an integral part of online poker. One scam has been making the rounds on online poker forums, and even in “informed” articles. Online poker rooms are rigging their games to take actions. They have created a system that allows flops, turns and rivers to connect with players’ hands, increasing their investment potential, and thus making pots larger.
Bigger pots mean bigger rake. This is great news for poker sites. They would love to make more money by rigging the games.
The Poker Sites have Little to Gain, but All to Lose
Cash games are the only place where there is an incentive for rigging games to increase action. The reason is that tournaments and sit-and-go’s require a set fee, which the poker room pays each time someone buys in. Because tournaments are more popular than sit and go’s, rigging doesn’t generate more revenue for the poker rooms for most of the games that are being played at any one time. Do you really want to risk your reputation by trying increase the income of just a small percentage?
There are also rake caps on every cash game hand at gacor138. It doesn’t matter how large the pot gets after that point. They are therefore not motivated to take more action if the income they receive is minimal.
To be safe, let’s pretend that the poker site got greedy and decided not to follow the rules and rig their games. It would be a very difficult task.
Rigging is actually pretty close to impossible to do
The random number generator (RNG) is used to deal cards on poker sites. Because the cards are dealt randomly, any changes to the RNG could result in huge discrepancies between the expected frequency and what actually happens at the tables. These discrepancies could be quickly noticed as thousands of poker players keep detailed poker tracking software databases.
If any inconsistencies were ever found, even if they were small, it would quickly become a scandal and players would lose faith in the poker site in question. It would eventually lead to a significant loss of revenue for the site. This article is proof of the importance consumer confidence in online gambling and poker.
Poker rooms don’t want to put their well-being at risk by targeting specific players in order to achieve certain outcomes. This is how rigged games look ridiculous. Rigging for online poker action is most likely a ruse to explain why they don’t win. You have to think that something is wrong. I am still losing, but I am the best player in the world. It all boils down to the human ego.
Where is the proof?
I haven’t seen any evidence that proves online poker is rigged, despite playing for over 10 years. To be sure, I ran a Google search to see if there was any evidence. A 2004 article ranked #1 in search results. It was obvious that my search would be futile. I continued my search.
After searching numerous forums and clicking on many links, I couldn’t find any people complaining about how the games were rigged. They claimed that “impossible things” had happened to them. It was a simple matter of someone getting sick and then taking a lot of bad beats. There was no evidence to suggest that anything unusual had taken place.
Trust me, I have done as badly as possible over the years. It never seemed unfair to me. I actually ran $20,000 below my expectation, but that didn’t stop me from playing. I will not call B.S. unless a reliable source provides definitive proof that an online casino is manipulating the games. Anyone who claims to be a victim will be called B.S.
What about all the times it “felt” rigged?
Live poker can sometimes feel rigged to me. Keep in mind, however, that not every hand is that far ahead. When all-in is pre-flop, AA will lose 20%. It can also feel rigged if these losses are grouped together.
Humans have a problem with attachment and ownership. This can lead to feelings of entitlement, and the feeling that there isn’t justice in the world. Poker is not a game of justice. It doesn’t mean that you will have more luck today because of your bad luck yesterday. This is known as the gambler’s fallacy. It is hard to believe that most people who claim poker is rigged don’t have any poker skills. They use it to justify why they are losing.
You might not lose your win rate if you have more action-oriented games
What would the game look like if it was rigged to increase action? Hypothetically, players would be more inclined to play and contribute more if the flops were more frequently connected with hands. There would be more draws, stronger hands and more pairs. This would mean that the games would be more fun for everyone.
Let’s not forget the elephant in our poker room.
Who would be benefited if more players got involved and took their hand to the streets later? Common sense will tell you that larger pots with higher flops, turns, rivers, and staking would be more favorable to the more skilled players. This would drain the pockets of recreational players quicker and help move money up the food chain faster. I can assure you that it is not what the poker rooms want. This is not what the poker rooms want.
Actually, it is the reverse. Online poker sites want losing players to stay longer, pay more, and be happy enough to continue depositing more money. The poker room may lose money if artificially bloated pots are used.
Online Poker: What Could Go Wrong
I don’t worry about rigged games or other forms of “cheating” in a poker room. There are however a few things that can be a cause for concern.
Black Friday 2.0
We can’t do much about the political forces that surround online poker, except to vote. It is not surprising that there has been precedent for governments to interfere with online poker players’ rights. The first was the UIGEA 2006, then came Black Friday. We can hope that poker will be officially recognized as a skill game by the mainstream powers and that we can get past the ridiculous restrictions.
Hacking Accounts
This has happened several times before, including one on Doug Polk many years ago. This issue is taken seriously by most poker rooms. Even if your money is stolen overnight by a hacker, most poker rooms will restore your funds.
Solve the Games
There is a chance that game theory will improve and that poker will be understood more widely. For sit and go, this has been somewhat evident. The games have become extremely difficult to beat due to our ICM understanding. New formats like Jackpot SNGs (spin and go) have given new life to the format.
Invention of Unbeatable Bots
Poker bots have been shown to be able beat top players in isolated matches. This is despite having a small sample size. These programs are not suitable for full ring or 6-max play, and they are only intended for head-up play. It begs the question, though: When are we able to rest assured that we aren’t playing at tables full of bots? Sometimes I worry that the charts I made for my book might be used against me.
Which Poker Sites Are You Most Confident With?
Trust might not be the right word when it comes to choosing a poker website to play on. My online poker bankroll is an investment. No investment is ever completely safe. Take Black Friday as an example.
Even so, your chances of your bankroll being stolen by an online poker website are similar to those of you being in a crash plane. Over the last two decades, millions of people have played online casino poker. However, only a handful of them have been actually victims. Even after Black Friday, the largest poker scandal in history was not the end for most players. They got their majority, if not all, back.
Online interactions should be governed by common sense
No matter how rigged the games are, you must approach any situation that could affect your bankroll carefully and with discretion. Avoid obscure and newer poker sites with a history of low payouts, slow payouts, or other shenanigans. You should only play at reputable sites that have a proven track record of legitimacy.
I personally have been playing on Bovada, Ignition, and other sites for many years. I’ve kept as much as $10,000 at one point. I never worried about losing my money and I slept like a baby every night. But, I would recommend that you only keep the amount necessary to play your current stake. Then cash out any excess money as often as possible. It is smart bankroll management to keep a large amount of your money in an offline account.
Conclusion
People are tired of all the complaining after nearly 20 years of listening to people blame “rigged” poker sites for their poor play. People new to online poker may not be aware of the real reason people complain and believe there is truth to the noise. If you are in that group, please stop complaining before you start chasing newbies.
If you are still uncertain, call one of the top poker sites and ask them about their integrity. They will be happy to answer any questions you might have and explain how the RNG works. Online poker sites generally offer excellent customer service. You can move on to another site if you don’t receive a friendly experience. It’s like buying a car. If you feel bad when you enter the door, you will walk out.
