Are Online Poker Sites Fair Or Rigged

Are Online Poker Sites Fair Or Rigged?

The online poker sites would have you believe that their software is fair for all players. In fact many of the online poker sites are required to submit their software for rigorous testing to prove it is a fair game for all players. However, is the software really fair? On the other hand, is there something going on in the background that many people never realize?

Many victims of bad beats will scream “this site is rigged” while others will counter that the suck outs and bad beats are all a part of poker and it happens even in live games. While that is true, it still begs the question as to whether there is something more going on than meets the eye.

In a recent study conducted by a popular poker forum, the question, “Are Online Poker Sites Rigged?” was posed and the results were nearly split with 42% saying yes and 58% saying no. However, opinions by players really have no bearing on the truth as to whether there is something amiss in the software.

Attention to the fact that there are flaws in the software used to produce ‘random’ cards has always been the focal point of the argument. The fact that a computer program is determining the outcome using a RNG (Random Number Generator), does not imply the game is fair or random.

A RNG is merely a program that will “Egp88” the 52-card deck and appear to deal that deck in what may seem to be a random manner. However, because the RNG has limitations on capacity and ability to be truly random, additional software algorithms and processes are added into the online poker software to further insinuate a fair game.

It is these additional programs and algorithms that is the true culprit in creating an environment where bad beats and suck outs will occur more frequently. A popular poker site once claimed that the reason one may see so many bad beats online is that more hands are dealt. This limp explanation is neither credible nor even close to reality.

A typical live tourney will see an average of 38 hands dealt per hour, while an online tourney will have 52 hands dealt per hour. That in itself, is not a significant difference to warrant the overwhelming amount of bad beats that occur. The fact is, you could have the exact same hand in the same position dealt in the live game and the online game. Both could also be extremely strong.

The solution to the greater live suck outs and bad beats is to learn to recognize the anomalies and utilize the online poker software to your advantage. As the saying goes, “you can’t beat a computer playing against a human.” The computer may have an edge in poker, but in the long run a computer does not have an edge over a human.

In closing, it’s important to realize that online poker is no different than live poker. You’re not playing the game to be fair to everyone else. You’re playing the game to win, and anyone who plays against a computer is by definition at an advantage over a human who would play against a computer. I play both online and live poker and I never see anything different. If anything, the only thing I see different is more computer players. If anything, we all have an advantage over the computer players who have nothing more than a human opponent.