[sunek]

Hi

The posting about random generators made me wonder about how the different poker sites use random generators. I am a master of computer science so I know it is possible to make a computer generate random numbers in a way that makes it impossible for a human (or computer for that matter) to discover any kind of patterns in the numbers generated.
So unless the people who made the random generators at the poker sites were complete idiots, and there is no reason to believe they are, it is safe to assume that the pattern of these random numbers can not be discovered by anyone (even the people who made the random generator).
So it is impossible to “guess” how the next deck of cards will be shuffled.

But there are at least two different strategies to pick the cards that are dealt and the cards for flop, turn and river:

1. The smart way. All cards are randomly picked from a “pile” of cards when a card is needed. The reason I call this method smart is that no matter how clever you are you will never be able to determine the exact flop, turn and river for that particular hand.
2. The straight forward way. All cards are placed in a stack in random order just like when you shuffle the cards in an offline card game. The problem with this approach is that it will be possible for people with the right skills (hackers) to access the stack of cards and see the flop, turn and river from the split second the first card is dealt.

Does anyone know which approach the online poker rooms are using?

By the way even though it is possible to cheat if the poker rooms are using approach number 2, the cheater will probably be sentenced to prison if discovered, since the crime will be similar to hacking a bank. And I guess that will scare most players from cheating this way.

I hope that this posting made sense.

Regards

sunek