I’ve seen poker players blame the dealer for their “bad cards” and I’ve seen players run (yes run) to a chair that was recently vacated by a player on a winning streak in order to turn up their “luck”. I’ve seen online players complain that their “doomswitch” is turned on (a “doomswitch” is the fictional concept that the online poker site will flip a switch on you, from their end, to ensure that you go on a losing streak). When sincere, these are truly sad displays to bare witness to.

Of the four myths, this one takes the cake for “Most Outlandish”. The fact is, the major online and/or casino venues are run by billion dollar corporations– many of which are traded on public stock exchanges. It is preposterous to think that these businesses would attempt to “rig” or otherwise tamper with their random card generators for such little gain, because any such action would likely be caught immediately and sink them*.

All major poker outfits (whether online or casino based) are regulated and under the scrutiny of Gaming Commissions as well.

*Yes, in the past, there have been some “scandals” with the seedier online poker sites (which you will not be playing on), but this myth has little to do with reality and A LOT more to do with losing players (read: bad players) in absolute denial of the fact that they are not exactly the “sharks” they’d like to think they are. In fact, any player that “cries wolf” like this is undoubtedly a complete novice– someone not only with unhoned skills at the game, but an obvious and total lack of conceptual understanding as well. By the way, fwiw, the aforementioned scandal (Ultimatebet) was caught and all affected players compensated.

The crux of the matter is, when you’re dealt a hand like aces, you are going to win 85% of the time with it. Eighty-five percent (this is me, spelling it out… literally). Not 100%. Not 99%. 85% people! That means, despite being dealt the best hand possible, you are still going to lose with it about 15% of the time over the duration of your poker career. You don’t win or lose with any particular hand more than anyone else.** Comprehending this, it should not be that shocking when your aces lose to kings (or worse) once in awhile. You should expect this to happen (15% of the time no less)!

But that’s not what happens a majority of the time. Instead of losing with their aces 15% gracefully, some players (I know this isn’t you, you are smarter than this) have an absolute conniption. I’ve seen grown men throw tantrums that would rival the most outrageous of 2-year-olds.

If you do understand the game of poker and judi bola terpercaya, and go into denial about your actual skill level, you could become one of those players that run around crying “Poker is rigged!” to avoid dealing with the real issue.

“I must complain the cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.” -Jonathan Swift

Although such antics can be entertaining to watch (YouTube “The Best of Phil Hellmuth” if you haven’t seen an adult lose his shit in a poker hand yet) , to say the least, but it’s these players (who don’t quite “get it” yet) that perpetuate this damaging myth. These “players” piss and moan about their “aces getting cracked”, their “bad beats” & how their mother didn’t hold them enough. To them, when they lose with a big hand online– it’s not because that’s the way it goes sometimes (although that is precisely the way a knowing player sees it)… to them “poker is rigged!” And, unfortunately, it is this myth that does the most damage to online poker– by instilling fear into potential online players and the public at large. Ugh. Can we put this one to rest already?

“Without understanding the realities of the game we love it is impossible to become successful at it.”

Like most conspiracy theorists, all logic has left the building and they are clinging (with tooth and nail) to their “stories”. It’s not just poker. People with these tendencies tend to act out this behavior with the other aspects of their life as well. This is to their detriment and the detriment of those closest to them (who the hell wants to hang out with an Eeyore?). Call them pessimists with “victim mentality”, if you will. Either way, let’s just be grateful that we know better.

(Nerd and/or Metaphysics Alert) While random card deals and random card generators online are going to be random, fair and correspond within the normal standard deviations of statistical data there have been studies (click here to access Princeton’s publication showing the affect on global events, like 9/11, on random number generators) that indicate that our consciousness may affect the physical. If this is true, and if thoughts/beliefs/conscioussness are measured as self-generated electricity that could potentially electromagnetically affect machinery, then this is something to at least consider. If the study holds water, it makes a case that players with “negative energy” (pessimists, bad beat re-tellers, etc) may in fact get worse cards more often (and vice versa). So look on the bright side people, your external & material life may depend on it.