Is online poker fair or is it rigged?
Poker is a card game based on skill and in which luck has its small part of influence. This could be a simple but effective definition of the type of game poker is, regardless of whether we are talking about Texas Holdem , Omaha or 7 card stud.
However, many users are convinced that poker is not a fair game and that it is somehow rigged so that players do not win what they deserve according to their skills. In fact, there are multiple conspiracy theories related to online poker mainly, much less controllable in theory than the face-to-face modality.
In any case, as with most conspiracy theories, the claims that are made can be easily debunked. We are going to explain several of them, all focused on the online poker sector. In this way, when you finish reading, you will realize how absurd they are .
The Curse of Retirement in Online Poker
One of the best-known conspiracy theories in the online poker world is the cash out curse . This theory states that a player who withdraws money from his account will experience a losing streak when he plays again, which will cause him to lose a lot of money.
What is the reasoning of some poker players to believe this? The conspiracy theorists point to a double reason . The first, which is a kind of punishment to the player by the online poker pages for withdrawing money from the platform with the aim of discouraging him from doing so in the future. The second, that the rooms hate that players withdraw their money, preventing that amount from being redistributed among the rest of the players and, consequently, that they can receive their percentage of profits through rake.
Although it is possible to see some logic to this type of reasoning, the curse of the withdrawal in poker is simply unreal and no reputable online poker site would dream of trying to implement such a type of plan. Online poker is a game of constant fluctuations due to its great volatility, which means that the cards a player receives at any given time are unpredictable and random .
When a player wins a certain amount of money playing poker, he may think that his skills are better than they really are. That is why, when he returns to play and loses, he may believe that the problem is not that he is not such a good player, but that there is a curse behind the losses: the curse of retirement.
The situation gets even worse if the player who has withdrawn his winnings considers that his game is better and decides to play at online poker tables or tournaments with users of a higher level, who will be on the lookout to leave him without a chip.
Bad beats in online poker
Bad beats or strokes of bad luck in online poker usually appear when the player finds himself with a powerful hand after the flop. Despite having the best hand on the table at that point in the game, another user calls with a weak draw and ends up winning on the turn or river.
Although these strokes of bad luck are perfectly feasible considering the influence of luck in online poker , this has led many players to establish another conspiracy theory around it.
This theory would be based on the fact that online poker rooms manipulate the software to ensure that less experienced players do not lose all their money so quickly so that they can continue playing and, in this way, the house can take a higher number of commissions.
Bad luck strikes happen naturally . A player who plays weak hands more often will increase the chances that, at some point, luck will smile on him.
In fact, these bad beats occur even in prestigious online poker tournaments , where a player with a 90% chance of winning a hand, for example, ends up losing it after flipping the last card on the table. By hand? No, pure chance .
The RNG, key in the randomness of online poker
The random number generator or RNG is the key element not only of all online poker software , but of any other game of chance that is developed on the internet. Understanding how it works will help you dispel any doubts about the different conspiracy theories that we have talked about in this article.
The purpose of the RNG is to ensure that there is no bias in the dealing of cards and that it is done completely randomly each hand.
In fact, any random number generator must go through a certification from an independent organization that guarantees that it fulfills its objective: to reproduce 100% random actions.
Many theories suggest that poker sites could manipulate the RNG to reproduce certain results. But the reality is that any attempt to tamper with the random number generator would be easy to detect and would have catastrophic consequences for any platform.
Also, let’s not forget that each user’s game history is saved in the room’s online poker software and is regularly analyzed by the players themselves. If any manipulation is detected, it would be the end of the prestige of the page.
In many ways, online poker rooms go above and beyond what they really need to generate an RNG that ensures their games are random and provides the player with a fair and unbiased gaming environment . In fact, these systems also ensure that hackers cannot tamper with the software for their own benefit.
Can online poker be manipulated?
As a power, in theory it is possible, but in practice it is not. Much less if you play in legal online poker rooms like the ones we offer on our page. In that case it is directly impossible .
The conspiracy theory that online poker games are rigged is a completely wrong perception that has proliferated on internet forums among some players, but it has no basis in fact .
It is human nature to believe that the problem is not with us, but with external factors . In other words, it is completely normal for players not to perceive that they are making bad decisions when they play and that it is for this reason that they lose, but rather that the software is manipulated.
This reasoning exempts us from any type of responsibility and allows us to live with a clear conscience… despite the fact that we are completely wrong and that the brave thing would be to accept that we are not as good at playing poker as we think .
We recommend that you accept your mistakes and learn from them. Play, read, study and learn everything you can about poker. There will come a time when, even if you continue to fail, you will accept reality as it is: online poker rooms do not manipulate their software . Chance or a wrong decision is the reason you have lost a poker hand.
