Online poker brought a lot of advantages for players. Now you can play anytime from anywhere, you don’t have to worry about having cash in your pocket, and you can even choose the visual design that you enjoy.
However, along with many benefits, it also brought along some safety concerns. And one of the biggest issues often raised by players is: is online poker rigged?
When you are playing a live game, you might have a similar concern with your opponents if you suspect them of foul play. But it is easier to spot a cheating player, especially if you have enough poker experience, than to understand if the system has been rigged to keep dealing you bad hands or you are just having bad luck.
In this article we will take a close look at how online poker systems operate, how to make sure they are fair, and find an answer to whether online poker is really rigged.
In online poker, the work of a card dealer is done by the Random Number Generator (RNG). When players talk about online poker being rigged, they imply that this system has been tampered with to produce specific card combinations.
But what is an RNG? It is a mathematical algorithm that runs through vast numbers of card combinations at any given moment in the game. Random number generators, which are also used in most online casino games, can’t predict what hand is going to come up or favour certain players.
Now one could argue that while the algorithm can’t do such a thing, casino operators could calibrate it to produce the results they want. The thing here is that any major legal casino or gambling platform is regulated by the gambling authority of its country (in the UK it is the United Kingdom Gambling Commission). It is also subject to audits by third party testing agencies. If any part of their setup, including the software, is deemed incompliant with the regulations, they won’t get a license.
If a licensed casino is caught for unsavoury game practices, they stand to lose much more than they would win by rigging the game: from fines to permanent revocation of their license, all that combined with an irreparably damaged reputation. With poker being one of the most lucrative gambling businesses for operators, casinos and gambling platforms are as interested in fair play as the bettors.
Besides having to pass very strict checks to get licensed, casinos, gambling platforms, and gaming software developers go through annual assessments conducted by third party testing agencies. Such audits are focused on the following areas:
Some of the most well known and trusted testing agencies include eCOGRA, iTech Labs, and Gaming Labs International (GLI).
So if it is virtually impossible and highly impractical for licensed casinos to rig their online poker software, where do the claims come from?
One thing you will notice about such complaints is that they are never backed by any evidence but more often than not come loaded with emotions. No one likes being on a losing streak or being dealt bad hands throughout the game, so the frustration is understandable.
However, professional poker players know that this is all an inevitable part of the game. On the other hand, those recreational poker players who claim online poker is rigged play a very limited number of hands and make conclusions based on an insignificant sample size.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common complaints and what stands behind them.
Our brain has a tendency to focus on bad experiences. This cognitive bias leads us to believe that we lose often, even with strong hands.
To disprove this assumption, all you have to do is download a poker tracking app, input all your hands, and then filter to see the times you had AA and the winning percentage. If this number is around 85%, you don’t have to worry that the game is rigged against you.
Also, don’t forget that for the statistical data to have any relevance, you have to provide a significant sample size, and that is thousands of hands where your pocket aces lost against random hands. With a sample size of three, ten, and even a hundred hands, there is not enough data to mathematically prove the game has been rigged.
First of all, this is statistically impossible. Unless you always play against someone who only learned to play poker yesterday (and even in that case there is a mathematical chance they will get a strong hand and make a good bet, even if accidentally), you are bound to lose every now and then.
What creates the illusion are some differences between online and live poker games. Rounds in live poker tend to be much slower, which means in the same amount of time you can play more hands online than at a table. Statistically, the more you play, the more times you are likely to lose.
When playing live, most recreational players play against opponents with similar skill levels. Online games are open to players of all levels, and you are much more likely to find yourself in a room with players who have more experience and play better than you. The fact that you can’t use tells in an online environment adds to the likelihood of losing.
Bad beat is a situation where a player with a strong hand makes a bet. Their opponent with an objectively poorer hand makes a mathematically wrong decision but ends up winning with the turn or the river card anyway.
A situation where your very strong hand that had all the chances to win still loses to an even stronger hand is called a cooler and is mathematically more likely to happen. Sure, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating, but that is not a true bad beat.
Again, the speed of online poker makes it seem like bad beats occur much more frequently than in live poker. The fact is that they are unavoidable in both live and online games, that’s just how poker and probability work. But since you can play more hands in the same amount of time during an online session, the number of times you find yourself at the losing end of a bad beat seems higher.
This has nothing to do with the game being rigged. Bad beats are just part of poker, so the best strategy you can employ against them is to accept the fact that they may happen every now and then.
You can rest assured that major reputable poker platforms don’t meddle with the random number generator to rig the game in their favour. However, there is a different safety threat you might be facing, and that is cheating players.
This is not a new phenomenon and it has nothing to do with poker becoming an online game. Cheaters in poker have existed since its early days, and with the game transferring into the digital realm, they came up with fresh ways to skew the game in their favour.
Recently, some players have been found to use real time assistance (RTA) software to help them solve various hands as they play. Of course, this gives them an advantage over other players who play on their own. Such software is banned across all major poker platforms, and using them is considered cheating. Same goes for various bots that players deploy to play instead of them.
Ghosting and collusion are also valid concerns in online poker. In the first case, players acquire help from other, usually more experienced players who practically ghost play for them. In the second case, players who are playing at the same table collude behind the backs of other players.
The good news is that reputable poker sites take all the necessary precautions to detect such cases or to avoid them altogether, because such malpractices damage their reputation as well.
And finally, make sure your device is well protected against malware and hacking attempts, so that hackers don’t get access to your personal and banking information. Whenever you suspect dubious activity on a poker platform, report it to the customer support immediately.
With that being said, we have to mention that the above applies to regulated online poker platforms that operate under a license issued by a gambling authority.
As we mentioned above, regulated poker platforms obtain their license from a well established authority, such as the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), or the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau in Macau. This means their software was thoroughly checked, among other things, and their gaming practices are under scrutiny for any deviations from the law.
Things are different with unregulated platforms or the ones obtaining a license from a dubious institution. With lax control and superficial checks, you run a higher risk of encountering cheating. While even for such platforms it is highly unwise to resort to rigging the game, you should be cautious. Rigging the RNG is not the only form of cheating, so always make sure you check the credibility of the platform you choose.
When choosing a new online poker platform, there are a few simple steps you can take to verify that the gambling site is legit and you will have a safe playing experience.
Let’s summarise the most common arguments players come up with to prove online poker is rigged and see what happens in reality.
| Claim | Reality Check | Verdict |
| Bad beats prove rigging | Bad beats have a mathematical probability of happening. As you player higher hand volume online they seem more frequent | False |
| Sites manipulate outcomes | Regulated sites are obliged to use certified RNGs and undergo internal audits. Tampered software has grave consequences | False (for licensed sites) |
| Collusion and bots are widespread | They do exist but can be mitigated with detection tools | Partially true |
| Unlicensed sites cheat | Platforms that aren’t regulated by official authorities can resort to cheating | True |
Despite certain allegations that online poker platforms are rigged to put players in disadvantage, there has been no clear evidence to support these statements. All legal casinos and gaming sites have to receive a license from a regulatory gaming authority to prove their authentication. If any sign of a tampered software is detected, licensing won’t be possible.
A more real concern are players who deploy various software and unsavoury playing practices to gain advantage over their opponents. Most poker rooms create special mechanisms to detect such attempts, however players should also stay alert and notify the platform customer support if they notice any unusual signs.
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