I was having a conversation with a player from my home game the other day. We were talking about online poker, and after saying how he struggles to win online, he said “I think Poker Stars is rigged”. He’s been playing poker long enough to know it’s unlikely that Poker Stars is rigged. I was too polite to suggest it might be that he sucks at poker (actually he’s not a bad player, but online poker is a different ball game).
The whole conversation reminded me of post match interviews with football team coaches. If they won, the interview is usually about how well they played, how they took their chances, and so on. If they lose, they blame external factors, usually the referee, the rotten luck, and so on.
I believe many poker players think they are better than they truly are. They win at their local casino, so why can’t they win online? It doesn’t make sense to them. Their local game might be soft, and while there are plenty of bad players playing online poker – there’s a huge number of skilled poker players, even in the micro stakes. So rather than blame it on ‘online poker is rigged’ and jump on that bandwagon, some introspection should take place. I’m sure if I were to observe their play or analyze some hand histories, it would become clear why they are an online loser.
Some players just don’t want to know the truth – that they might not be as good as poker as they think. I know someone who regularly tells me about his bad beats, how he’s on the worst run ever, how he can’t even win with Aces in the hole, and a million other complaints. Everytime I see him he’s got a bad beat story. I suggest he puts some tracking software on his computer so we can review some of his hands – but he refuses. “I don’t need tracking software to tell me how unlucky I am” he says.
The truth is, some players just bury their heads in the sand. Maybe the truth hurts too much.
Total rubbish I am sick of people who can not see the obvious increased plays that occur, this is all that is needed to make a good player bad and no it is not because I lost that I am saying it, I just rang and complained to ladbrokes at the ridiculous hands dealt to me in just ten hands (straight after I had put new money in) I won the first two with full house the next all players had folded after the flop with me already with my 4 spades on the 4 hand I lost with A8 in my hand A85 on the deck to A5 …yes another full house I can not remember all of the cards that followed (I am still waiting for my hand history that I have requested) but it would be fair to say that all decks played had at least two players in it and yes we had the AA KK shot off which I won with my Kings! oh and how many players on deck just 6…..thats 12 cards which made 5 full houses three ak aq shoot outs and 6 flushes inside twenty minutes………….I won and I complained. I complained because I want to beat my fellow cards players fairly not wait until its "my turn". Every this will happen action that the doubters have said happened to me on three sites win a little then get rivered (I always play a turn ending card game if possible) every time. Change sites and repeat. I play high valued points based tournaments and yes I lost and yes I to bad beats but never in the same numbers and I never know when I am going too win i expected the aa when I got the kk and expected to win!
New players would have love it and would be back for more and more….but if beaten everytime they jump in on the turn they would stop after there first deposit. It is rigged but not to lose to get a balance set of winners…so that s rigged then… I want to win because I won not because I could not lose . And just for the record my last game (freeroll as I took my money out) ended because my better than the other flush and the (made) two pair lost to another full house!…………….12 cards go write to someone who has not played for real!