Insider Information: All poker rooms are rigged

Hi, my name is Esko and am a finnish software engineer - i am on vacation in Italy now and took some time to write this post.
Until the 31st of december 2007 i have been working at one of the major poker sites as a programmer and now that my contract has expired i would like to share some simple info with you that should make you more aware of what you're dealing with.
Ever wondered why so many times you see AA vs KK preflop? Why you or your opponent hit that straight at the river? Why more often than it ought be fish playing with rags flops a monster?
All poker room's random card generators are not as random as you'd expect them to be: let's say they're SEMI-random. I'll explain in simple words how it works, at least how the one i've been programming and revising works.
Out of 100 hands (i use 100 to simplify) dealt, at least 50 are completely random - we used a complex algorythm to generate the cards which i won't explain in detail - what happens to the rest of the hands? Well they're semi-random because at times at least 2 players (randomly chosen) get one of the following: suited connectors, connectors, ace-x suited, AK or big pocket pairs and at the same time the flop gives both (or more) of them good odds for improving their hand or a made hand. Then the engine does the following - algorythms may vary whether it is a ring game or a tournament - it favors the stronger player, the one with the most chips. But remember, it is not always like that, but the odds are in his favor let's say 60/70 out of 100 times. At times, instead, just to mix things up, it favors those who play with rags like Q7 or 36 giving them made hands at the flop , just to make it more likely they will slowplay, get called and then go all in at showdown.
Other times the game looks like a regular game but then comes the miracle river, i.e. a card that would make one player the flush and the other the full house...
Well, this is a simplification, the overall trick is very complex and very subtle to detect, but what it does is essentially make tourneys finish faster and make ring games get richer pots with players busting out sooner and looser players stay in the game and make the game go more crazy than it otherwise would be.
I repeat, the system works in very subtle ways, but the main outcome is this:
Faster tourneys=more tourneys x hour=more people buying in=more $$
More people busting out in ring games=more $$ deposited
More loose play="Any two will do" mentality=more $$ coming in as rakes
And don't come telling me about game commissions, random generators checked out etc.etc. - it's all bullshit - besides being the algorythms very subtle (yet effective) thus not easily detectable, some commisions can be easily manipulated, tricked, bribed etc etc. -
What is detectable is the outcome: more monster hands being flopped, more AA vs KK preflop all-ins, more "miracle" river cards etc.etc. but what commissions are approving are the seemingly "random" card generators (rember: the cards are random but the outcome of the hand is not!), not the odds they get out of 100.000 recorded hands Wink

so although the end of day stats show that the game is clearly rigged because of the clearly impossible high number of monster hands clashing with one another, your average poker room has a RNG commission-approved, fish players are happy because * at times * they win big with rags at the flop and good players are happy because * at times * their solid play works and they get called to the river. Well, it's your old casino system at work, (if they guy next to me hit the jackpot, it could happen to me too) but in poker rooms it is disguised as a fair and truly level and random game between players, as if the house was just there as a service provider.
Tip nr.1: If in a multi table tournament you're a short stack, your chances of making it to the money are much lower than what you think.
Tip nr.2:Be aware to go all-in preflop with KK because it is likely someone else will call you with AA!
Tip nr.3:Be aware to go all-in preflop with AA (especially if you're a short stack Wink

)- the big stack next to you will call with 22 and flop a set or a flush more often than what the odds say!
So, in the end, forget Doyle Brunson's SuperSystem, Phil Hellmuth's Play like the pros and even Poker for Dummies when you're online, because at your poker room the outcome is more doomed by chance than what your Odds Calculators say and the house has a big edge, and is not a mere spectator dealing cards.

P.S.: And what about the pros playing at some major sites? well you think they are featured for free? Of course they get paid to play at that site, shut up about odds and praise that room on gambling magazines: oh look! Mr. XYZ plays at ABC! if he plays there it must be a great site with a truly fair game!

Wow, you have no idea, do you? Just the wording in your post tells us that you have no clue what you are talking about. Tell you what mister Algorithm expert, why don't you lose the laymans terms and speak the speak. We have enough guys here that know a thing or two. Show us some proof.

And your theory's as to why they would cheat, are not the reasons for cheating.

You are hidden behind a fake name, so name some names, and some sites. Post some examples, for one, why would a multi million dollar business allow someone with this info, run out a contract?

with so many people who play seriously using tools like PokerTracker and whatnot, don't you think communities like FTR and 2+2 can fairly easily refute whatever you're claiming? Isnt there a handy tool that shows you how often you were dealt AA vs KK?

in any case i do not understand why people like you make such massively long troll posts.

Hi Esko,
why havent you used your Mersenne twister pseudo card generator to go and pwn high stakes?

If the game is truly genuine then professional poker players would at least show some profit from the games played online, right? Wouldn't they have the edge over the fish?

Then explain me why many pros playing online tournaments show miserable results?
Isn't this a proof that online poker is doomed by chance?

Just a few regulars at Full Tilt

I'm not allowed to post links but check yourselves on official poker rankings . com (remove spaces)

Chip Jett: profit=zero
Karina Jett:profit=zero
Erick Lindgren:profit=zero
Layne Flack:profit=zero

this makes sense because I couldn't figure out how online poker rooms made money.

Care to consider tip 2 and tip 3 again? It may help when you post this on 2+2.

Even if you didn't speak like a 10 year old no one here is going to believe if you if you don't post any proof. Admin's please delete this post as if it deters fish from depositing, we all suffer for it.

From cardschat . com

I know a programmer who helped create the Poker Stars shuffle.According to him it is rigged as its a necessary evil from a business standpoint. Though not rigged for a specific individual the hands are rigged in a number of ways.First and foremost,80% of players on Poker Stars are bad poker players,the kind that call big bets on low percentage hands,or will even raise themselves on a bad hand.If it fell according to normal percentages the poker sharks would drain such players and drain them real quick.If a bad player was contstantly losing his butt he would get frustrated and not come back.If the 80% of bad players all left,so goes 80% of the sites profits with them.By rigging it to dish alot of bad river beats it gives bad players who should have folded out a more even playing field with the sharks who would have taken all their cash.Its not just about bad beats either.Your chip count matters especially in tournies.In a tourney if you have the highest stack in the hand being played its programmed for the come from behind beats on 4th or river 70% of the time if the higher calls the lows all in.You'll see it happen constantly a hand where a lower chips goes all in preflop with pocket aces and a high stacks calls with like a 4 and 5 off suit.Flop dishes a 3rd ace with king and ten,last two cards 2 and 3 to give it to the higher chip caller with the ace to 5 straight.By rigging it this way it puts the odds with higher chips regardless of who had the percentages to win but keeps it so in the long run all the low chip callers do get some hits to block the arguement its rigged.Thats the key is to rig it at a certain percentage this way a trend don't happen all the time,the low chips can still hit the high chip at 30% to quell any arguement that its plain out rigged for the high chip (which technically it is if its going to give it to him 70% of the time regardless of what high chips came in with).You'll also notice if you pay attention that the first 4 cards flopped are often two of two different suits to leave flush possibilities for multiple hands going into the river,and often these also have a straight draw potential in their to keep the max amount in the hand betting big.Many times that final river card in these situations will dish a flush but with a card that also gave another caller his straight.Its by design this is not a coincidence.The program is alot more complicated then people even realize.

The endorsements of this site are paid for endorsements with the companies taking Poker Stars at their word of how the shuffle works,these companies didn't pay any programmer to comb through the program and actually see how the shuffle happens in reality.I asked the exact same question to him as people here ask,why would they risk rigging it if where people could figure it out and stop playing there.He said "Simply put,the general masses are really stupid and are willing to trust any business unless there is clear cut proof of rigging.As long as the low chips don't get bad beat every single hand they all in they can't claim its always rigged for high chips,as long as bad river fish don't win on the river everytime people can't say the rivers are rigged so thats why you rig it at a certain percentage so its not really able to be proven cause anyone can win the hand even if the percentages are fixed based on chip count and table action as opposed to the percentages based on the cards.He even told me of a time the program hit a glitch and all tournies for the day had to be shut down while they figured out what happened with the program.In dealing its usual drama hands to keep table action high in a tourney,the program miscalculated and threw a 5th ace.I actually looked it up on search engines to see if anyone ever spoke of this and found a screen shot of the tourney he was talking about http :// wtfpokerstars . ytmnd . com (remove spaces). They had to fine tune the program to make sure it didn't misread whats left in the deck again but the rigged drama flops remain in play,thats part was never altered.I asked him how they could get away with it if they were caught red handed,explanation "Well if people who saw it want an explanation its simple,tell them it was a hacker who compromised the shuffle and make the guy who got the five aces sign up with a new screen name and inform him if he talks about what happened in game rooms,specifically mentioning that the 5th ace came from Poker Stars end and not from some program he was using,he would be banned".

So to sum it up they rig the site cause they know they can and its not just to make a few bucks,over the course of a year the way its programmed it generates them multi millions more in profits and its done in a way that can look questionable too many but can never really be proven.They bank on the majority trusting them unless actual positive proof can be shown its rigged (which it never can be unless a hacker got into their program and actually spelled it out for us exactly how the shuffle is working).If you read message boards all over the web you will see they made the right gamble cause the majority of people stick up for them and say "its not rigged,that would be stupid what could they gain from that?" The answer is they gain alot from that and by keeping it rigged specifically by a certain percentage to give the bad rivers and such,its kept so that the sharks can't take all the bad players money but at the same time the sharks will still get their own share of wins to keep everyone happy (or so they theorized).I play there myself,just the free money for fun and to watch to see if the trends he spoke of is true and the way the flops happen with alot of river beats,and specifically alot of higher chips players getting bailed out of low percentage hands on the river and it is very consistent with the system he explained to me.So you can all debate about if its rigged or not.I will go with the words of an actual creator of the shuffle.He had to sign a secrecy form on how the shuffle works so that the prgrammers can't speak publicly and compromise the sites integrity.I on the other hand am just a friend of his and signed nothing,just relaying what i heard to keep players informed and save them from having their money stolen from them *winks*

Insider,

Even if what you say is true, if it's rigged equally against all players, is it still rigged?

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Insider Information: All poker rooms are rigged