I used to run a series on online seminars, and there was one question that always came up, and unlike most people, I never avoided the question. The question was, "Is online poker rigged?" Before I answer or give my opinion, I want to give a little history of my online life:

I started off like most people many years ago on Paradise Poker when they ruled the roost. Most people don’t know this now, but Paradise Poker was the biggest and best, and there really wasn’t a close second. I also wasn’t that good at poker at the time. Oh sure, I beat the games I played in locally, so I thought I was a winner, but I was a loser online. I was sure it was rigged and posted as such on RGP when I cared enough. After all, it couldn’t be me. <READMORE>

After a long hiatus, I deposited $300 on True Poker. Tournament poker was just starting to get big, and there were a lot more bad players. I had a little more money at this time, so I shot up in limits fast. I wasn’t concerned about blowing my $300; I would just redeposit or not play anymore. I have never deposited any money online since that $300 initial deposit.

Within about a week, I was up about $5k and decided to play some Aruba qualifiers on UB, and I won the trip on my first attempt. Within 2 weeks, I won 2 more and got cash for those wins. I was up almost $20k from my original investment, but truthfully I still wasn’t that good. I was timely and better than the field, but I really got better later on.

I cashed in that first event for $4k or so, but I was one of the chip leaders after the first day and there was a lot wrong with my game. It was undeniable, though, that something was right.

I met many of my current friends at that event, and I left Aruba with a lot of phone numbers and IM’s. When I got home, I tried to discuss poker with anyone who would listen, and I ended up mostly talking to Shawn Rice (westtexasman) and Chris Savage (brsavage). Between the 3 of us talking, we changed all our lives--just Google their names to see what I mean.

Now back to if online poker is rigged or not. In a lot of ways, it is the wrong question to be asking. The very fact that you would occupy your thoughts with that one idea means that you likely will not analyze your hands, talks to friends, or try and better your game. That is what we did. Instead of worrying about bad beats, we talked daily about hands and situations. UB had a satellite for the Stone Cold Nuts, a $2k entry, and between Shawn, Chris, and myself, we won that about 50 times. Every night, one of us would win. We usually traded a small percent, so every night we made each other money, and everyday we analyzed hands.

Then came Aruba, and those satellites were worth $10k. We won 35 of them for a staggering $320k in profit. It got to be so ridiculous that people didn’t feel that they had a chance, because the same people kept winning over and over. UB also guaranteed the prize pool that year, so between a small group of about 10 players, we personally changed the value structure of that tournament.

This post isn’t to brag. What I am attempting to show is how much work we all put in to continuously bettering our game. We found our niche and exploited it, just like any good poker player should. We have all had varying degrees of success since then, but if you are worried if online poker is rigged, you really are asking the wrong question. The question you should be asking yourself is what do I need to do to become a better player? Trust me on this--the second question is much more profitable.
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