After my last posting I received some feedback explaining that the reason for my difficulty online stemmed from the reality that the programs on most online sites are rigged for action. This is something I've addressed before but have remained unclear on as far as a final decision.
There was an interesting story done by 60 Minutes last year about the question regarding whether online poker sites were rigged and if any kind of cheating was going on. The story is readily available online if any of you are interested in seeing it.
It is not surprising that some would respond to me in that way given the types of experiences that seem uniform to many engaging in the online poker experience. However, there are the arguments that because so many more hands can be played online, that the bad beat experiences and combination hands just "appear" to be more frequent.
In any event, both sides to the debate have legitimate positions and it is up to each person's own experiences to make a determination. I've heard people swear that their online experiences have been nothing but positive while others have gone completely in the other direction.
During my recent discussions with somebody on this matter they suggested a fun experiment. Log on to one of the sites with a friend and go into a heads up room. That way you can check with one another the number of times each of you are in play simultaneously when the flop comes down. It you both make hands on a frequent basis at the same time, it may be evidence of rigging. If it doesn't happen, maybe it isn't. Regardless, it sounds like an interesting experiment. Do it online with a poker buddy then try it for the same number of hands at a friends house with a deck of cards and see what kinds of results you get.
One thing is for sure. The question of online poker being rigged will be one that floats around for a while to come.
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I've tracked nearly 100,000 hands of online poker. I'd be hard pressed to believe it's rigged looking at my numbers.
What I do see online is a bit of bad play from both sides of the table. Since online poker has a bit more of a video game feel and the stakes people play for is much lower then in a casino, looking for action seems a more common approach by players. aka...people love catching lightning in a bottle.
You do play way more hands online then you do live. Heck, start multi-tabling and you are seeing way more hands.
I personally think that if you want to believe it's rigged, you will see all the evidence you need, all because you are looking for it.
You want to see really crazy poker action? Just go to a casino running a bad beat jackpot. People will play any two cards almost every hand.
The people I know that are most convinced online poker is rigged are losing players looking for any excuse to prove they don't suck. It can't be them. It's got to be the RCG conspiring against them.
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