Joined: Jan '08
Location: New Zealand
Age: 62 (M)
Posts: 71
If i had a $1 everytime i heard someone say, "I was done by or bad beat" or, "this site is rigged", i would never have to work again. Now, i've played, like many of you, in just about every poker site going. I hold accounts ,and deposit/withdraw, mainly in, Full Tilt, Poker Stars, CD poker, Ubet and Absolute Poker. I play everyday, mainly SnG $5 - $50 and, Without exception, i hear the above comments at all of these sites. I have to be honest and say that there have been times when i've been guilty of the above. But was it really a bad beat ? In my experience, bad beats are'nt a result of bad luck or of a site being rigged but of poor play by the loser. Yes bad beats do happen and are part of the game, but they can be avoided or at least minimized . Among the pitfalls that many players fall into are, over valuing their hands, over betting, slow playing and trap setting. A classic example is AK. Although a very strong hand, AK ain't the nuts. It's not even a pair. Yet time and again i see players raising ridicules amounts based on those 2 cards. Fine if you make a set, but your holding nothing if you don't. How many times have you seen players going all in with AK with $50 in the pot. Slow playing is another one , Your holding AA and flop a 3rd. Great, your holding trips. Time to slow play and set a trap. Some idiot across the table is raising the roof off, fine just call him. Come the river he's all in and guess what ? The river gives him a flush. You trip A's are worthless. Better to take the small pot than lose a big one on the river. When you've made your trips, advertise and take whats on offer. Over valuing the cards you hold. Your holding QQ so you push all .Why would you do that ? I agree, at a later stage of a tournament or in position, then it could the right move. But to call all in early on is too risky. Anyone holding a A or K has you beat if they make a set. So your all you with your QQ and someone calls you with 87 suited. You get done and cry, "rigged" or "bad beat". If thats the case than you don't understand whats just happened. Sure you hold a strong starting hand, and in this case the strongest, but you've over valued your hand and undervalued your opponents. Suited connectors give your opponent alot more outs than you have, and guess what ? He just cashed in. Anyway, these are some of my thoughts. Sorry to ramble on. I'm just sick of hearing " Bad Beat" and " Rigged".
Joined: Jan '08
Location: Canada
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1354
i agree with what you are saying in your post... personally i hold some credit to the "rigged" side tho... just compare live hands vs the hands you get on any poker site... ive noticed that poker sites are set up for action... which would make sense the more action the more rake they get.. but how many times do you see AA and KK.. or anything way to many scearnios ive come across.. but your just right... its the players who decide what they do and the outcome so...
Joined: Jan '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 36
I certainly agree with you on this matter I've had pocket aces beaten three times this week (one of them was my fault) & i don't think I've had a bad beat or the site is rigged its part of poker. You also have to take in to account the amount of people playing on the site that is what makes the difference between live & online play. If you have 7000 people playing on a site the RNG is going to pull out some weird combinations of cards due to the laws of probability. Where as in my pub league where there are just 40 people playing then the cards come out in a what people would call normal
Joined: Jan '08
Location: New Zealand
Age: 62 (M)
Posts: 71
You've hit the nail on the head Lucky. People should compare the number of live deals they've seen as compared to online deals. For the most part, online players would've seen thousands of online deals as opposed to live deals in which case you are bound to see some quirky deals, flops, etc.. But of course people only remeber the quirky ones and the plain old ordainary ones, which are in the majority , are forgotton. As for creating more action, thats another one you hear often. But whats the point ? Theres already plenty of action without any rigging. Just spend a day on P.Stars amonst the fish. you'll see it all. The other point is that most people don't understand how the RNG works. The generator thats deals does not understand suits or values of cards. To it, putting up A2345 suited in the community cards, is as random as 2s 5h 9d kc 7s. It does not recognize or understand the connection between 12345. To it, they are just random. Blank cards if you like.
Joined: Dec '07
Location: Slovakia
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 824
Well the thing is .. u cant say "i played many games live and many online , and now i never had such a badbeats in life playing" , becouse in live session u play like 10 times less hands then in live the speed of dealer and instant shuffeling etc .. thats why u notice more bad beats ... i saw many incredible bat beats live too and probably i would say its the same .. I know there is for example a lot of more bad beats at pokerstars as on other rooms but one of my friends said its becouse there is a lot of USA players who dont rly care about they money so much so they play a lot of combinations / donk playing , so u can see so much bad beats ...
Joined: Jan '08
Location: New Zealand
Age: 62 (M)
Posts: 71
Which is exactly one of the points i'm trying to make. As you say, you see alot more hands online as you would playing live. Therefore you see alot more combinations. As for pokerstars, i've played there many times, including the sunday millons. The player base there is so huge that the varity and standards of players varies greatly and thefore makes it much harder to win. especially at lower limits and MTT's. These days i prefer sites with lower player numbers. I find it much easier to get into the money as it where. The downside of course is the waiting time to get a game.
