Yes, sometimes I feel like Paradise Poker’s messing with my head. Of course, when a bad beat happens to me, I can’t believe how BAD that player is. I type "nh," which means "nice two-outer." But when I put a beat on someone, I realize I’m a genius. And I also realize that, if I played with better players, they wouldn’t put themselves in a position to put a bad beat on me. Sounds great! Let’s go sit with the pros. Then I won’t have to worry about my aces getting cracked by 6 4 offsuit. I’ll have bigger problems to worry about.

Here’s another spin on online poker being rigged that I’d like to throw out there. Some days I believe it, some days I don’t. Instead of the usual “winning too much leads to crazy bad beats and cold cards” theory, some days I think the site intentionally creates action flops that hit several hands available (folded or not) in order to create more action. The site also makes sure that draws make it. The players involved are irrelevant. Why would a site do this? Entertainment value. Players get bored seeing top pair kicker wars, whether or not they are in the hand. But if more hands are won by flushes and full houses, with capped rounds between, then we’ve got a party that people keep coming back to! It also improves the rake.

I haven’t done any statistical studies on this. I can only offer anecdotes. I understand that online poker (especially low limit) has looser players that call more often. That may explain why weak hands beat stronger hands more online, because in a B&M room, those hands don’t stick around as much to suck out. Another thing is that, when that happens, it tends to stick out more in a player’s mind and it gets an inordinate weight attached to it. But something still bugs me occasionally, like I’m in the Matrix. One thing I (think I) realize is that I haven’t seen a third of the flopped quads in a B&M room that I see online on average. Another thing is when I fold a marginal hand online, the flop winds up hitting it over the head much more than in the card room. “Damn, shoulda played that.”

On the other hand, of the four royal flushes I’ve seen, only one was online. The highest hand I’ve ever hit was in a card room, and it happened like something a poker site would rig up. I hit a King-high straight flush on the turn with a single ten of clubs. My opponent, of course, had the Ace of clubs. That was fun. Another eerie Matrix-style hand I played was at Bellagio. At the river, I had a straight flush. One opponent had the Ace-high flush, and the other had a full house. How’s that for action? Stupid me, they both checked to me and I checked it down because I didn’t realize I was suited. Thankfully, the dealer did.

Any thoughts on poker sites intentionally creating action? I’d love to see some PokerTracker stats to support/shoot down my theory, so I know what to think. Give me the red pill.

Scottiek