I thought I’d write my own little conspiracy thread, as I’m all "pokered" out at the moment.

I’ve noticed that it’s a reoccurring fact that on every forum there’s a mass of rigged stories. So many people stating that online poker is rigged but no evidence to back it up, therefore it’s just a wild accusation. Without evidence I find these accusatory threads to be mind numbing, so I thought I’d try and do a better job.

I only play ring tables and I only play Pokerstars and what I witness every single day is that there are some players that appear to be (for lack of a better term) "bulletproof". By this I mean they are wildly aggressive, most of the time raising with pure junk and always hitting the miracle flop. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember.

With all the threads about big stacks sucking out in the tourneys I thought "sounds familiar."
They must have got to be big stacked by sucking out right from the beginning of the tourney, rarely losing a hand. Sounds to me like my bulletproof buddies on the ring tables.

Now, when people witness these players the accusations start flying.

One common theory is that it’s a "house" bot/player put in place to skim money from the tables and generate action for the rake.
There is no evidence that can support this theory. If you believe it to be so, then online poker is probably not a good hobby for you as it will most certainly drive you insane with tilt. I choose to dismiss this theory as ridiculous.

Another theory would be the software is set up to finish tourneys/SnG’s faster therefore generating more revenue. Well, if that were true then why does the same thing happen on freerolls. I’m going to come back to this theory.

Lets try the "flaw in the software that is being manipulated by certain players theory".
Bulletproof players have been around as long as I can remember and I’ve been messing around with online poker off and on for 10yrs (ish). If there was a flaw you’d think more players would of found out about it by now or it would have been exposed a long time ago (with the exception of the POTRIPPER scandal).

Theory number 4 would be the new account grace period, I’m sorry to say it but I’m a believer and here’s why.
When I see these players I have a nasty habit of visiting a certain shall remain nameless "tracking site". What I’m finding is that a good 80%-90% of these players are relatively new accounts having played less than 1500 hands. What strikes me as strange is not only that these "new players" are wildly aggressive instead of trying to get a feel for the game but most if not all of them show to have played 30-50 hands of many different stakes. FL PL NL they play them all and every type of game too. They might be new players but certainly not new to poker.
I can accept that a small minority of players might play this way, trying to find a game/stakes they like but not the number of players I’m seeing.
It’s my contention that the problems you’re having in the tourneys/SnG’s are new account players too.
I just ran into two new of these players on the same table and it made my head spin.
I don’t make many notes on players but I do have a good memory and every now and then I see a player that was wild and crazy a few months ago and now they play passive.
I also noticed a player, I’ll call him "The Player" (made the Player part up because I don’t want to name names) he was running hot and then seemed to cool off, then disappeared and a new player showed up called (‘I’he Player) same pic, same location and guess what, bulletproof again.
Granted, sometimes you get an established player just plain running hot as was the case last night. Over $200 in 300 hands on the .05/.10 tables (insanely hot) but that’s the only game/stakes they seem to win at.
I play both kinds of players the same way. I move my cursor to the top right hand corner of the screen and click the little x and then find a new table. I have NEVER profited trying to play against these players and I’m assuming I never will, so why try?
This is why I choose not to play tournaments or maybe I should say very rarely. I can’t stand sitting there plugging away for 3 hours and then running into one of these players. They’re easy to spot and the only way to play them is fold and pray you get moved to another table where you have a better chance.

Another theory would be the software is set up to finish tourneys/SnG’s faster therefore generating more revenue. Well, if that were true then why does the same thing happen on freerolls


Ok, I think this one falls into the same category as the action flop theory. I’ve been in too many hands where we go 2 handed to the flop and both hit monsters. Perfect example was today when we go 4 handed to the flop, pre flop raiser has suited A, next KK, myself and the other player have 2 lower pairs (Omaha, I realize that if this was hold ‘em it would be a good idea to throw those low pairs away). Flop comes and pre flop raiser hits nut flush, next KK hits 2nd to nut flush, myself and the other player hit trips (sick).

I can’t prove it, I just see it happen so much that I choose to believe it (which means I don’t believe there’s anything random about the RCG). Some days are worse than others and it certainly appears to vary from day to day. When it’s running like this I love to "trap".

Some days it seems like 80%-90% of the nuts on the turn are getting crushed on the river 1 outers, 2 outers fl draws it doesn’t matter. When it’s running like this you’ll never see me check raising, I’m praying the other player folds before it gets to the river. Friday’s have been the big suck-out day for me lately. I play very little or drop in stakes because it’s too frustrating to see dumb play being rewarded. However, I recognize the fact that if it wasn’t for these horrendous donk out days it would totally discourage donk calls which is where I make most profit when the software is running more to my liking.

I think there’s a growing number of players that believe the RCG can be manipulated by min betting / min raising. I have about as much respect for these players as I do for short stacks (‘nuff said).

Hope I didn’t bore or offend anybody!!!!!