Quote Originally Posted by bjsaust
Lol, they're all random and they're all audited to confirm they are.
When online poker was first launched, there were some problems with the randomization of a couple early sites. They were 99.99999% random, but not quite 100%. It's a mathematics technicality and was not exploitable by the players. But mathematicians and computer scientists have worked for years perfecting randomization procedures, and the problem was quickly solved.

The last thing an online casino needs is a lack of randomness. It would chase away business. They only make money if the population of gamblers thinks their software is unbiased and secure.

Security issues have plagued Absolute and UltimateBet, but they stem from company insiders setting up "superuser" accounts that can see everyone's hole cards. If you keep your eyes open on these types of forums, you'll quickly learn which sites are reputable, both with regard to randomness and security. How they handle the monies in your accounts (withdrawals, etc) is also an issue, and some sites are better than others. FTR has a fairly extensive review of each of the major poker sites. See the blue tab at the top of this page (3rd one from left).

Poker rooms are "buyer beware," and smart gamblers will only frequent sites with a solid record of fairness, security, account integrity and customer support. The same is true for rakeback sites and other gambling related sites.

Bottom line: the cards are dealt in a mathematically random way in online poker, a fact which is NOT typically true in live games where the deck is often not reshuffled sufficiently for true randomness.