Online Poker Integrity and Fairness: Is Poker Rigged?

 Online Poker Integrity & Fairness: Is Poker Rigged or Honest?

There are many messages online claiming that online gambling is rigged. This means that there are no winners due to random card dealing. Many new players might feel the same way. However, it's in the best interests for the poker sites that their games are fair and have random card dealing. Let's examine the most common integrity issues and fairness problems in online poker.

Evidence against online poker being rigged

First, most online poker rooms permit you to download hand histories while you play cash or tournaments. Information such as:

The hand histories can be imported into Holdem Manager 3 to analyse the number of times hands have been outdrawn. You will need thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of hands in order to draw statistical conclusions. If you have Pocket Aces that were cracked twice or three times in a row it is most likely bad luck. All poker players will have bad luck at times, particularly if they play a lot.

What about financial incentives for poker websites to rig the game? While there are many arguments to support this, the most popular is that it creates more action and thus charges more rake. This logic is just plain wrong. If poker sites set up rigged games to generate more rake, the players would quickly discover that these games are not fair. The poker site would likely take a huge hit in player traffic. Also, the poker site could lose their poker license or go out of business.

Randomness of the Shuffle & RNGs

The purpose of the shuffle, as the name suggests, is to randomly select the cards and make sure that the games are fair. Random number generators, software that simulates randomness and favors no one player, are used to ensure that the game is fair. It is no surprise that random number generators are one of the most essential components of online poker. Software that shuffles cards can't control who wins or loses. Instead, the software deals out cards and leaves the rest up to the players. The algorithm can't predict the outcome of a hand. Online poker rooms usually certify their RNGs using third party auditing companies, such as Gaming Laboratories International. This allows players to verify that the games are being run fairly and honestly.

Even though RNGs provide randomness to the shuffle, online poker is not without dangers. Let's examine the most common methods of cheating and how we can detect them.

There are many ways you can get cheated online in poker

Insider cheating by superusers

Superuser poker accounts have full access and can view all of the hole cards at the table where they are playing. Superuser accounts have the ability to determine when it is time to fold, bet, or raise. This gives them an incredibly high chance of winning the hand. You are only allowed to see your own hole cards when playing poker. The cards of other players cannot be accessed. Superuser accounts must have access to the poker server owned by the gambling operator.

Absolute Poker & Ultimate Bet was the victim of one of the most notorious online poker scams. A group of players discovered that superusers were playing as if they could read the cards of other players, winning many pots. An investigation revealed that the superuser accounts had all of the hole cards and were able to make extremely profitable moves at poker tables.

Superuser accounts were used to destroy reputation and businesses of poker sites. In some cases, superusers have been created by malicious software installed on the computer of another player. This allowed them to view their opponent's hole cards while they play. When playing online poker, it is important to close all IM applications.

Collusion

Any poker game that involves three or more people can have collusion. Collusion is when two or more poker players use a common strategy to gain an edge over other players. Collaboration is strictly against poker rules and can sometimes be hard to spot.

Most collusion cases involve players who share their hole cards, trying to push others out of the pot, or lure them in when one colluder has a strong hand. Collaboration can also be defined as chip dumping in poker tournaments. Losing chips to a specific player with the intention of doing so.

Soft.

Soft play is when one player fails or refuses to place a bet in a situation where it would normally be merited. This could be used to take a more aggressive line against one player or avoid winning money from them.

Ghosting

All the players at a poker table play on their own in a fair game. Ghosting refers to a player giving advice while another player is seated at the cash or tournament tables. Ghosting in online poker can be done using software such as Teamviewer, Skype or other video conferencing software. A player can talk to their ghost in case they are faced with a difficult situation before making any final decisions.

Ghosting is a major problem in tournaments that have large prize pools. Ghosting is thought to be the most common form of cheating in online Poker.

Multi-accounting

Multi-accounting refers to the opening of multiple real money accounts at a site. It allows players to pretend to be different players and increases their chance of winning. Multi-accounting poses a problem both for honest players as well as the poker site. Cheats can also get multiple poker bonuses by opening multiple accounts. All accounts and balances that a player creates are subject to being frozen if he is caught violating the TOS.

Poker bots

Because bots have become more sophisticated in their strategy and are difficult to detect, they pose a serious problem for online poker players. Poker bots are computer programs designed to play poker online. They are prohibited from any poker site. Poker bots have the ability to mimic human actions, but they make few mistakes since they aren't as tired or distracted as humans. are us online poker sites rigged