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 more to the online poker game than meets the eye.
In a recent discussion about bad beats, one of the participants claimed that the suckouts and bad beats are a result of the poker software used by the website. While that is true, is that site using the correct poker software for that purpose?
In other words, if a certain poker website is using a certain type of software for calculating the odds of a game, is that software correctly programmed to make certain suckers lose big pots? It is true that poker software is programmed to deviation from the mathematical optimum, but in that case, would a poker website resort to using software that would cause similar results?
The bottom line is that online poker is a game of skill and in the long run will always see some amount of bad beats. The question is, what is the best strategy for dealing with those suckouts and bad beats? The safest answer to that question is to forget about it, move on to the next hand and wait for a better hand to win.
At least that is the general consensus about online poker bad beats. But is that the full story? What really is the truth? That is a lot more complicated and subjective than many would think.
For example, what about the sleep swings? Many people will claim that they have been woken up by a poker bad beat. In fact, some claim that they have been woken up by something more than a single bad beat. It is well known that human beings will make wee hours of noise during the night, so that the stars and planets will get a chance to go to sleep. If the players at one site are Canadians, and the other are Americans, when they all lay their money down for a pot, some might well get up and say, “Gee, the Americans won, good hand.” The next hand they might well say, “Gee, the Canadians won, lousy hand.” The next, and the day after that, they might well repeat the whole routine.
The cause of the problem is the Freeroll afapoker tournaments. Freeroll tournaments, unlike regular tournaments, allow players to participate for free. Most of the players at the table are there for fun, and the online poker operators know that as long as they keep that in mind, players will keep coming back. One can say that the casinos and online poker sites that promote their free play tournaments are essentially giving away money.
It gets back to the myth of the poker software algorithm and whether or not there is a flaw. Some claim that there is no problem with the RNG, others that there is a flaw with the way the algorithm calculates certain numbers. However, whether it’s the pedigree of the poker sites that set the freeroll tournament rules, or whether it’s the algorithms, many claim that online poker is rigged.
However, is that the whole truth? Some claim that the poker sites have a secret algorithm that determines the outcome of winning hands. If that is true, then why would they want to advertise it? They don’t want their players to have an edge, so they keep it secret. Others claim that the poker sites manipulate the cards by changing the proportion of each up card in the shuffle. However, that same claim could be made for other casino games, like blackjack. Does the player always have an edge over the house?
Most likely, the reality is that the secret poker algorithms are baked into the software itself. Those algorithms are designed to prevent cheating, and that means that the outcome of hands is not completely random. Although the Originals may be completely random, there is a certain degree of human error involved. That degree is what makes it possible to beat the software.
The bottom line is that the online poker is not rigged. However, if you want to win at poker, you should understand the algorithms and the human factor. The more you know about what is going on inside the software, the better.