31
Is online poker rigged?
Online poker has become really popular, but did you know that overall, at least 75% of players lose money over time? That’s right, if you have made some money playing poker, you are in a very exclusive club. But because so many experience nothing but losses, it is unsurprising that many players believe online poker is rigged.
But what is the truth? Are poker apps rigged, or is that just how the game is, and the answer to losing all the time is to study the game and become a better player?
Try NZT AI for free
Play in 18 supported venues, use table player level detector and autoclicker to scale your bot farm
Are online poker sites rigged?
The short answer is no. Poker apps are not rigged, at least the most popular and used ones. Hands of poker are what they are, people play and better players come out on top, even taking rng into account. But that doesn’t mean every online poker room is perfect, and there are things you can do to know when sites are safe. Always check it is a licensed online poker site that work with an official regulator before using any online gaming operators. The reputable sites, apps and online casinos are all registered with appropriate licensing organizations that perform checks on operations to ensure they are not rigged. Every major online poker site uses a regulator in this way, and answers to their local gambling commission. By sticking to regulated operators, you will know which online poker sites are safe for you.
The reason it can seem like the world is against you when playing poker sometimes is that cards are random, and winning is more than just getting the best hand. Because of that, good players can win even if the cards are not going their way, and as a zero-sum game, that means others are losing. If you end up on the wrong end of that, even if you think you have a decent hand, it is easy to think that the game is rigged against you. In reality, that is just how poker is.
The rise of AI poker bots has likely made this situation worse for newer plyers too. The latest poker bots can beat multiple professional players at a table and require no specialized hardware. Running on home computers, they can be deployed by almost anyone and consistently beat human players, which is why so much effort goes in to detecting and removing account using bots.
Is online poker being rigged an opportunity for bot developers?
Poker bots can be used in two ways. The first is as a training tool, and this is how even some of the best-known professional tournament players are currently using the technology. Always there, highly adaptable, these training tools can really help refine your game and learn new strategies.
Another way is to use them to organize a farm from smartphones or emulators, playing automatically under the control of the farm operator in various poker rooms and poker applications. A good poker bot can play cash games and win regularly, with some even using them to create a passive income. A Texas Hold’em manager could play 24 hours a day, brining in winnings in theory. However, the challenge for bot developers is achieving this performance while also remaining undetected by the poker apps themselves.
Its an arms race that never ends, as poker apps improve security and detection, bot developers bring in new counter-measures to respond and keep their products functional.
Mechanisms of functioning of poker applications
Poker applications carry out many tasks, from providing a secure portal for account handling, including payments and withdrawals, to the games themselves, and of course, ensuring games are fair.
The game aspect is obviously the function that most people focus on as that is the bit they experience. However, it is the background stuff, bot detection, checking Ips and other account factors to avoid collusion at tables and so on, that really matter as they keep the games fair and ensure the integrity of the poker game itself.
Is online poker rigged?
So, what does all this mean? Are the games fair? In the sense that they play as any live poker game might, with random cards and players unable to see what their opponents are doing, then yes, online poker is fair.
However, if players are using poker tools such as bots or poker assistants, they will always have an advantage over those who do not. So in that sense, playing online poker will always have a little unfairness in it. This is why it is easy for some to think online poker is rigged.
Of course, then you think about the game of poker itself. It’s a game of skill, and those with more experience and training also have an advantage over new, less experienced players. You never really know who you are playing against in online poker, so that new player may be an experienced professional looking for easy money.
Online poker is as fair as live poker, and for many players, that can seem like it is not fair at all.
What can you do as an online poker player to avoid any form of cheating?
There are things to look for when choosing a poker app, or any poker room operator at all, to ensure you are using a fair game system. The first is regulation. Choose providers that submit to a recognized gambling authority. This is the biggest factor in ensuring fairness, as they usually infer a legal obligation to operate a fair platform. Major poker sites will display this information for you, and poker software will also provide the relevant regulatory oversight.
Other than that, reviews can help you get to grips with what the gaming experience would be like as well. The key factor to look for in reviews is the overall experience, how easy was it to withdraw money especially. If you are going into this to win some money, you want to know you can get at it when you need to.
When actually playing, look at the location for other players at your table. If you find yourself on a table where the other players are all from the same country and similar location, then that could be a collusion fraud. Leave the table and try elsewhere, it really is not worth the risk.
Similarly, if you spot the signs of a bot, such as consistent pre-flop strategies, or the same time taken for each turn regardless of the game itself, you may be better off trying a different game.
How to spot a fair game and avoid the bad operators when winning poker online.
There is no doubt that poker apps that are operated under regulatory bodies are safe and fair. However, the nature of online poker itself and the ability to use outside tools could be an issue in that they do give players an advantage.
It is clear that bot and tool developers remain ahead of the poker app teams in avoiding detection, and so online poker may or may not be a fair game even if the poker apps themselves are. However, by being aware of potential issues and choosing your games carefully, online poker today still offers a great experience and a fun time.
In the future the likely trend is more players using AI poker bots and tools to help them. The question will then be how that impacts the whole experience. Only time will tell.
