is online poker rigged or am i just unlucky?

[ras]

endlessly being beaten. Begin with group 1 (AA, KK, etc.) cards, try to protect, get beaten. See others play every hand, win, beat me when i get outdrawn, usually on the river. Seems a bit strange, not to mention a waste of money!

[PoBoy321]

The short answer is no, poker sites aren't out to get you.

The long answer is that this is something that belongs on the probability forum. You will run into variance where no matter how well you play, you'll end up having your good hands outdrawn on on occasion. Other people would be able to help you more with this, but basically, you WILL lose sometimes. That's just the fact of the matter. I forget who said it, but it's been said that no poker player wins all the time, and anyone who says they do is a liar. Just accept the bad beats and keep playing your best and in the end you'll finish out on top.

[ras]

thanks for the reply. i sometimes wonder when i will be in the black. i find it hard to believe that anyone can win enough to be ahead, over a period of time. It seems that it takes an inordinate amount of luck, as well as playing well.

[elwoodblues]

[ QUOTE ]
The long answer is that this is something that belongs on the probability forum

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know about that. Note that the only options posed in the question are "rigged or unlucky."

[Onaflag]

Online poker is not rigged and you are not unlucky and playing is not a waste of money for many players on these forums. I am not the most experienced person who will read this, but a winning player nonetheless. You use the phrase "Group 1" as if that is all you play without regard to other information at the table.

If I got pissed every time my aces or kings were busted when I really thought I had the best hand, I could not survive. "Group 1 Hands" are STARTING hands, not ENDING hands. You have to learn how to play after the flop. SSH is the best route for that.

Drop down to a more comfortable level where you can think of the chips as chips, not bill money. Read/re-read SSH and get some experience. I would be mighty surprised if your post does not get blasted to the high-heavens for the "rigged" comment.

Have you analyzed your play in something like PokerTracker? You should. Heck it's free for the first 1000 hands or something like that, so why not? You'll need 50,000 hands to make any sense of the numbers, but 1000 will tell you if you're even ready for cash games.

Good luck.

Onaflag.........

[ras]

thanks for your comments. have read SSH and others. Do not feel uncomfortable at levels $10/20 on down. have poker tracker, although have not bought it yet. understand that hands go on after flop. I see alot of calling stations that luck out and beat me. hard to believe and accept as "ups and downs" of game. hard to believe that if i follow books people suggest, i get beaten so often, especially at the river!

[MowrMowr]

writing style strange. kinda like it though.

[Al Schoonmaker]

Lou Krieger and Arthur Reber have an article at cardplayer.com on this subject. I believe the word "paranoia" is in the title.

It would be absurd for websites to cheat you. They make wonderful profits, and cheating would destroy them.

Al

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
endlessly being beaten. Begin with group 1 (AA, KK, etc.) cards, try to protect, get beaten. See others play every hand, win, beat me when i get outdrawn, usually on the river. Seems a bit strange, not to mention a waste of money!

[/ QUOTE ]
Nothing like yet another bad beat post disguised as yet another the sites are rigged post. Yes, the sites are all rigged. It's a vast conspiracy against you. We all belive that, yet we continue to play there. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[CORed]

You suck at poker.