A few poker players continue to harbour reservations regarding the legality of playing the game online. Even though it has been over two decades since the “poker boom” in the middle of the 2000s popularised online poker, many players still prefer it over its live equivalent. This is because live poker is played in casinos. Since the introduction of poker into the modern era, one of the most contentious issues about the game’s integrity has been whether or not it is “rigged” when played online. When playing poker online, how can players ensure that the site is not giving better cards to certain players or favouring certain players in any way our questions about whether or not the outcomes of online play poker games are predetermined will be answered in this post.
Is Fair Play Expected When Playing Poker Online?
To put it succinctly, online poker is not rigged in any way. When it comes to cheating at poker, the owners and operators of online poker clubs have a lot to lose.
- Because of the advancements that have been made in poker database software, current players are now able to monitor every hand that is played on select poker websites. Even if a website does not support monitoring software such as Spartan Poker, a genuine platform will nonetheless record and store player hands for analysis. This is the case even if the website does not support tracking software.
- Poker players can be among the most thorough sleuths on the face of the planet as a collective group. Cheating for a prolonged period in poker is extremely difficult to pull off.
- If an online poker room is rigged, this is a clear indication that players are trying to cheat the system. Although dishonest players have been called out in the poker world, the poker community has not been able to show any hard evidence that an online poker site is rigged.
- If it were discovered that significant operators had been cheating, their reputations would be ruined beyond repair. Third-party auditors are utilised by every licenced poker site to provide evidence that the random number generators (RNG) used by the poker site are, in fact, random.
In the long term, operating an honest poker website like PokerStars is beneficial to the company’s bottom line.
Why do I continue to lose at poker when I play online?
This is the question that generally causes people to question whether or not a poker website is rigged. It would appear that players at online poker sites experience “bad beats” significantly more frequently than those who play in traditional poker rooms. When you play poker online, you run the risk of experiencing a string of bad beats that gives the impression that statistically improbable occurrences are taking place with greater frequency than they do. On the other hand, as a result of the faster tempo of play in online poker in comparison to live poker, it is reasonable to anticipate more frequent occurrences of things that appear to be impossible.
The gap between the 25–30 hands dealt each hour at a normal full ring game and the 75–100 hands dealt per hour at a typical 6-max online game is significant. Full-ring games tend to have more players participating in the game. If you play poker online at four different tables at the same time, you’ll be able to see as many as four hundred hands in an hour. The number of hands that are typically dealt in a four-table 6-max session played over the internet is about equivalent to four thousand when measured against the number of actual poker games that are played. This indicates that statistical outliers like set vs set, two outs, and pocket aces versus pocket kings will occur much more frequently in online poker than they would in live poker. The more digits you see in an hour, the more unlikely it is that you may see certain events; yet, this does not mean that they are impossible.
Is There Reason to Believe That This Online Poker Room Is Honest?
If they tamper with the RNG, online poker firms stand to lose a significant amount of money while gaining very little in return. You may have faith that the random number generator (RNG) on any reputable online poker rules site will always deal you a fair hand. However, if you want to maximise your chances of winning, you should limit your play to online poker rooms that are reputable and hold appropriate licences. When choosing between two different online poker sites, it is best to go with the well-known one rather than the less well-known one.