Pokerstars Bonus

SITE:

Pokerstars is the 2nd biggest online poker site and some players would say the best. They have the best tournaments of any site as well as great customer service. Their ring games are also very nice although Pokerstars has a reputation for having good players. They have micro-limit games for beginners who don't want to play with fake money.

BONUS:

Pokerstars doesn't offer sign-up bonuses but they do offer 20% reload bonuses up to $120 about 5 times a year where you redeem the bonus by earning FPP (Frequent Player Points) and you can easily check the status of your bonus at the cashier.

TOURNAMENTS:

Pokerstars has been an innovator with online poker tournies and currently has the best ones. They have single table Sit N Go's as well as 2 table Sit N Go's. They have re-buy tournaments which are good if you want a chance to win a big prize for a small entry fee. They have great multi-tables - sometimes they have up to 1,500 people so the prize money is good for players who finish in the money. They also have some freerolls but not too many.

POINTS:

FPP (Frequent Player Points) can be used to enter tournies or buy stuff

SOFTWARE:

Their software is great. Players can play 5 tables at once and can take notes and look at player stats and can also customize their icons. The softwre also allows you to transfer money to ther players. They also have high-speed tables for those who are impatient for other players to act.

COMMENTS:

HomePokerGames Admin
July 11, 2010
what program is that from?

also you might want to shrink the pic before uploading it

Syn
July 11, 2010
Yes, Pokerstars is definitely rigged: :p

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/760/starsq.jpg

These are only recent hands as I lost my big old database... If you think Stars is rigged wait till you try Full Tilt, Ipoker,etc...

managra
April 10, 2010
if pokerstars is sooo great then why are so few pros there?At the bottom of the lobby is an icon showing pros online.Anyone seen joe cada play there??Why do the pros mostly play private rooms w one another?They have to play on tuesdays and you will find them at the 25 cent tables.Who is jovial gent?In a wpt event or wsop event there are thousands of pros so howcome theres not at least 100s on pokerstars at a time.Maybe 100 or so if the sunday millions tourney is on but other than that???Bottom line pokerstars is like a new partner whos a gold digger.They are so sweet when you deposit your money but try to ask insightfull questions and see how fast your playing privelages are removed.I know Because even after a profitt they removed my privlages!!!!

managra
April 10, 2010
Pokerstars is so corrupt..If people post a hole card hacking program.Then why dosnt pokerstars have them charged?or have the articles removed?If people are posting the site as being corrupt or fraudulent then why dosnt pokerstars have people charged with libelous or slander?Because they CANT!!!It is so simple .If I have a dollar and you have a dollar and we bet.. one of us has 2 the other 0 same in poker the better players win over time and the population of players decreases.If you make your money from the rake then if player volumes decrease so would the rake.The only way to ensure the rake is to increase players increase pot sizes or plain and simple use algorythims that reward the lesser players poor play to ensure the rake.Daniel Negreneau only plays for 25 cents at pokerstars unless he is in a private room w his friends.So hes willing to play for 100gs in a private room but only 25 cents otherwise at pokerstars.
When i ask pokerstars these questions directlly they will not comment or answer.They have gone so far as to restrict or remove my "privelege" to play there.I made an orriginal 25$ deposit and made maybe 500$ over 2 years.What I have seen is that money is made by less than 5%.I am one of those 5%.The bad beats coolers and suck outs are incredible!!The better bluff i made the worse my cards got playing heads up untill i would recieve the same 95 72 74 j2 62 over n over then a pair of jacks vs j 10and inevitably evertime i mean at some critical point of a game bingo three tens beats 2 jacks ..k ace all in on the flop is beaten over n over by k9 calling and bang the turn hits a 9 80% of the time.I have been called all in by 72 or 75 with three of a kind on the flop only to see the opponents cards as 72 or 75 and thinking what an idiot only to watch my money go the other way after the hand.It is all geared toward the rake.Rob from paul to pay peter.I think thats called a ponsi scheme.I will be making a complaint to my international rcmp division this next week regarding fraud and theft.Has anyone seen the computer company posts that say no current computer has the power to create all the combos of a deck of cards.And using some algorythims can cause the right play to lose??poker has always been corrupt.Signaling,corrupt dealers.Bad programs hacks and cheats with insiders corrupt at every level.If it seems to good to be true.....I wonder if my donation to the haiti fund acctually went to haiti.Why was the ept targetted and half the final table monies robbed durring the event..gees pokerstars not saying anything!!!ASk support any of you support@pokerstars.com why they dont go after the hacker programs listed on you tube or google.Will they address weather a computer has enough memory to create a trully random shuffle?If people are printing or saying falsehoods why dosnt pokerstars go after them?THEY WILL REFER YOU TO A FORM LETTER AND THAT IS ALL YOU WILL GET FOR A RESPONSE.If you question further they will tell you straight out that they will no longer answer your questions!!!!dosnt sound like someone w nothing to hide.Sounds more like somthing is rotten in the state of denmark!!

VA Poker
November 6, 2009
The "cash out curse" is purely psychological. Let's say you play NL50 and you have 4k in your account but need to withdrawal most of it for living expenses. So you take 3500 out and leave 500. Now you only have 10 buy ins. At this point you are not only playing scared for fear of going broke but you are noticing every single little piece of bad luck you run into. If you have 100 buy ins in your account and you lose 1 or 2 on a bad beat you aren't going to let that bother you much. However, when you only have 10 buy ins, and then you lose one or two, that suck out becomes a much bigger deal to you.

I've yet to hear anyone who talks about the cash out thing ever give a reason why a site would do that. Do they really think they just get pissed every time you take money out and make you lose out of vindictiveness? Not only that, how would they even do it? What if you're playing HU with a guy who also just cashed out? Do they cheat both of you and just take the money off of the table? What if there is a ring game and half the guys have cashed out recently and half have not? A lot of these guys who think its rigged have a very narcissistic point of view. As if Pokerstars of Fulltilt has a team of guys working round the clock to manipulate the RNG in hands where a party involved has made a recent withdrawal from their site. They would have to spend so much time, energy, and money to do that and I can't see what they could possibly gain. These sites have multiple individuals that literally keep millions of dollars at a time on their site. Some of these sites are literally worth more than a billion dollars. Our cashouts of a couple hundred or couple thousand bucks means nothing to them.

reelbigbeags
November 6, 2009
This is to all on online poker being rigged with a cashout curse:

First, I am not an employee of the company, simply a college student who turned to poker to test my mathematically and reading abilities.

I've been playing for about 2 years now, and have gotten seriously into the game. Last August, I won my first tournament for $1600, cashout out 1500, and lost my remaining bankroll. Since then, I felt like I was on a run of really bad cards.

I started playing again a couple months ago, and earlier this week won my second tournament for $4550. I cashed out $4500, leaving $300 on there.

Since then, I've made some deep runs in a couple tournaments, and one or two final tables. The cashout curse, while believable, does not exist IMHO. Bad cards come, but you have to wait for things to turn around.

As for online poker being rigged, I really think it's not.

A) Why? Poker sites make SO much money, there's no explination as to why they'd rig it.

B) If you haven't noticed, with a solid game you can make it deep in many tournaments.

C) The "Big Stack" Advantage deep in tournaments also isn't true. At both tournaments I've won, I was the ss all final table. Also, as a big stack in tournaments, I take just as many bad beats as I do when I'm on push/fold as a ss. It happens sometimes, and learning to take the fluctuations of the game is part of learning to be a solid player.

VA Poker
July 9, 2009
Denethor

That is a good point about the high stakes games being more risky to mess with because the players are much more serious, experienced, and financially invested in the games. Maybe thats why the only internet cheating scam that has been exposed was in the high stakes level? I hadn't really thought about it that way but it makes more sense than what I said especially considering that the nosebleed cames have capped raked which are actually very low so, because of that and volume, the sites probably make more money off of low stakes than high. I know all of that goes against one of my original points but I just thought about it.

As far as the bad beat thing; I wasn't saying more loose play means bad beats are any more likely, as you said you get more hands in online so if anything the numbers over a given number of hours should be more what you'd expect because you get larger sample sizes than live. However, the VOLUME of bad beats obviously greatly increases with more hands and loose play. Thats all I was trying to say, and some people don't understand why the see a bad beat every 5 minutes online and one every half hour live. The see a bigger VOLUME of beats and thus think something is wrong. Players tend to notice bad beats and sometimes an increased volume can be mistaken for a greater percentage of bad beats because all the hands that don't end in bad beats tend to go unnoticed. Take your flush draw thing as an example. The guy who chases every single time isn't going to increase his odds to hit a flush by doing so. However, that guy is going to hit ALOT of flushes, he'll miss twice as many as he hits obviously but if he chases everytime he will hit a lot. The problem is that you aren't going to see his cards when he misses. So a lot of times it seems like a guy hits every draw when in reality he is missing a lot too but you aren't seeing his cards in those hands. Again, its just a volume thing, the more flush draws chased, the more flushes hit. Anyone who plays live and online will tell you they see 2-3x as many flushes online. I think that is expected only because people chase flush draws 2-3x as often as they do live. So its not increasing the likelihood of a completed weird draw but it does increase the volume of such hands.

The part about which players get screwed over and why is the part that really gets me. Every poker player, live and online, thinks they are the unluckiest guy in the whole wide world. How many guys do you know that claim they NEVER win a 50/50 pre flop race. Do you think these guys really NEVER win a 50/50 race? Or the guys that ALWAYS get rivered. Do they really never make hands on the river, are they really always on the losing end of that? The nature of hold'em makes everyone feel unlucky. Couple that with the human nature of quickly forgetting your good fortune and letting thoughts of your bad luck linger and all of the sudden things don't seem right. Take all that, mix it in with the fact no one can see or really know for sure in these sites are on the up and up, and you get the inevitable accusations of rigged websites. For a lot of guys it ends up being a self fulfilling prophecy. Look at whatodds, he wins on other sites and still plays on FTP and loses even though he's sure its rigged. He could be losing on FTP for any number of reasons but I don't see how he could possibly win going into every game not only thinking he's going to lose but be cheated in the process. Everyone has days where they feel like it is impossible to win and thats when you take a break. So if you are sure you can't win at a certain site, for any reason, why keep playing there?

I just honestly think that with all the statistical databases it would be really hard for these sites to have rigged RNG's. Also, rigging in the way a lot of people here describe would be a lot of trouble considering the fact that these huge poker websites can constantly make a ton of money by being completely straight up. Also, alot of the things people accuse them of can be explained by the nature of gambling/poker. They have been accused by many of tilting the odds in favor of loose players to keep them in the game. Otherwise, why would losers play people ask. Losing poker players will ALWAYS play. FTP doesn't need to cheat to make sure of that. Half of these guys are just there to gambe for fun and don't even really care one bit about winning. The other half think they are about to break through and start winning any deposit now. Either way they are coming back reguardless.

Denethor
Couple Thoughts... July 9, 2009
VA:

I've pretty much decided that I'm not cut out for poker as you know from our discussions. Online is the best option for my geographic area, and I wanted to become more accomplished before venturing into a live setting, anyway, but if what I'm experiencing is an accurate representation of live poker, then I'm no good and am not getting any better. If anything I'm getting worse. The more I learn and the more I try to think things through, the worse my results.

Poker abilities and experience aside, though, I have a different perspective on a couple points of your post. These are just some different conclusions based on different thinking rather than any claims as to how things should be played or anything.

In regards to the argument that messing with the low stakes wouldn't be worth the trouble, I think most people who claim things aren't on the up-and-up usually agree that low stakes would be the area where the most people play and where oddities would be least likely to be noticed. Few people at that level would be using tracking software, and most probably don't have much live experience to which to compare. Start messing with things in a high-stakes game, and it would probalby get noticed right away.

The question of why the sites would target those who post here is a chicken-egg thing. People are posting here because they feel they aren't getting a fair game. But, again, I think the issue isn't that the sites would be designed to target certain players or even actively target a certain type or group of players. The assertion is simply that the dealing being less than random would benefit certain players/types of players while harming others. If draws are completed more frequently than they should, then it only stands to reason that anyone who chases draws will benefit while those who don't would be on the losing end.

I know a lot of people say that the more hands dealt, the more unlikely hands/bad beats. Statistically, though, that shouldn't change the likelihood of anything. If anything, the increased number of hands should increase the sample size seen by everyone and decrease the variance. Saying that more players means more bad beats would be like saying that having one thousand people each flip a coin would result in the results being further from 50/50 than having just one person flip one coin.

Additionally, the idea that looser players would result in more unlikely hands seems a bit off to me, as well. Just because more players chase draws doesn't mean that they should hit any more often. Even if a player chases every flush, he still shouldn't hit it more than odds dictate. Again, if anything, more chased flushes should mean a larger sample size of hands that go to showdown. As long as the odds hold up, then more people chasing draws should mean more wins by their opponents playing sound poker when the chasers miss - not a higher chance of draws being completed.

Anyway, just some alternative perspective. I went into poker thinking the results should be more reliable (not necessarily predictable) than they apparently are.

VA Poker
April 2, 2009
All of you people who relentlessly complain about these "rigged" sites really need to take a deep breath and think about it for a second. The main 2 sites people complain about here are full tilt and poker stars and most of the players complain seem to play fairly low stakes (not to degrade them I play pretty low stakes myself). My point is that these two sites have HUGE cash games on them where they make big rakes. So you guys think they make all this money off of these big games but still for some reason hire programmers just to screw you over in a 10 dollar sng? Also, if these sites were "rigged" for every single person they screw over on every single hand there has to be another player who benefits. Why would the sites just pick everyone who posts on this forum to screw over? They make the same rake off of everyone they could care less who wins. If you play online you see 2-3x the hands you do live and the play is 2-3x as loose. That makes for LOTS of bad beats. People just play differently online because they don't have to worry about getting read when they are bluffing and don't have to worry about being embarrased when they turn over garbage. There is an unwritten rule in poker that you don't accuse anyone of cheating unless you are SURE of it. I think the same should be said for these sites, alot of us play there and win money and we don't like seeing everyone crying that its rigged because you took a bad beat. So I ask all you complainers, why you? Why did they pick you out to screw? You guys act like they screw everyone which is impossible. You are probably the same people who thinks everyone is staring at you when you walk down the street. Grow up, if you don't like internet poker or think its rigged, just don't play. No one ever made you play, if I thought the game was rigged I'd never gamble a single dollar in it.

HomePokerGames Admin
April 1, 2009
That's what I figured. Thanks.

mrkromer
April 1, 2009
The five aces thing is fake; I saw this awhile back and we looked it up. Funny, but not real.

mike

HomePokerGames Admin
March 31, 2009
anyone have details about that tourney?

Cowman3340
March 31, 2009
http://www.rnrh.net/images/blog/poke..._five_aces.jpg

PlayBaby
February 11, 2009
I just played the play money table again. The second hand, the flop was 10 10 10, next card was 10, then J. So the board was 10 10 10 10 J! What are the odds of that! What a joke, AC is 2 hours from me, might just have to drive there if I want to play legit poker.

PlayBaby
My RiverStars story February 11, 2009
I'm new to poker, so I just play playmoney. I do know the game, and have also played a while on bodog. I have dominated the crap out of the play money tables. I have had a few bad beats, but I have about 60K play money in only a couple of weeks. PokerStars invited me to a few freerolls, and I finished like 1500 out of 4000. They sent me free $5 credit last week, so I played it this weekend. Well, I think I got up to $5.25, and then went to $0. I played .01/.02 tables, and honestly I can't believe this garbage. I had about 5 winning hands. I was able to survive about 10 hours with the money. So many bad hands, just not believable. Went on yesterday play money tables, took 2000 chips to 12,000 in 30 minutes. Whats amazing to me is that no site is legit, maybe the mob is involved and runs the legit sites out of business with threats or something. Anyways, I'll wait and see if they send me any money again, I'm not giving this scam any of my money.

fredrostein
February 5, 2009
Just for clarification purposes, Potripper, the guy on AP, who was identified as one of the people cheating (he used an admin account that could see the hole cards of everyone at the table. This account was SEPARATE from his Potripper account), was a software programmer or a high level employee who had access to this account. Apparently the account that exposed the hole cards was used in testing and through negligence or insidious means, was left active after the site went live. This hardly constitutes the "cheating" or "rigging" that many people claim happen on a daily basis. I just felt that everyone should know who doesn't already. I am still undecided about the actual nature of these sites, though I can testify that a close friend of mine had made several thousand dollars of Full Tilt in SnG over the last few months, even after cashing out.

thomas.shawn
November 25, 2008
I've ALWAYS thought PokerStars was a Hoax ... thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one

ALL ARE RIGGED
November 18, 2008
The Rebuy tourneys are a joke. Mid stack lost 3x in a row on the river going into it a 80%+ favorite each time.

Playing tight or even normal doesn't work, you have to either be a donkey like the million other players there or suffer bad beat after bad beat... and then they try to make the argument that it's a game of skill. Total BS! All sites are running juiced software, you are just a statistic and their program will make sure you pay up.

2HighIsTheNutz
November 8, 2008
Months ago I was ranting about juiced games at Full Tilt Poker in the FTP forum on this site. I switched to Pokerstars after getting completely fed up. Out of curiousity, I lurked in this forum and was surprised to see the same sort of complaints.

If you people are getting worked this bad at Pokerstars, then don't even think about going to FTP. I've now played ~500 hundred tourneys at Pokerstars and have had nothing but a good experience. My ROI is about exactly what would be expected with solid TAG play and tournament strategy. I slink back to FTP for a game or two just to see if maybe my game has just improved, but it's always the same s*** EVERY time... it never fails.

FTP: just last game holding A-10 in the small blind, only one limper from early position. I complete to set up a trap if it presents itself, otherwise I can get away without looking like a pussy. I have a tight image, so I know that if an A hits the flop it will be easy to bet out and figure out where I stand. Flop comes 10-10-4. Of course I check in order to check-raise because I know this limper will bet out to try and buy it. Of course he fires out 1/2 the pot - standard. I raise him 3x pretty certain he's going to have to fold. But he calls, big blind gets out of the way. I put him on a flush draw (there's two hearts out there) or something like 10-J. Turn is a 2. Now I fire out the pot - and he re-raises me all in! I'm like WTF - does he have pocket 2s or 4s? Based on his prior play, that just doesn't seem to fit right with how the hand has played - the 4s are really the only slight possibility in which case I still have outs. Well, I feel like I've got the best hand and he's getting cute with a flush draw or a weaker 10. I call. Idiot has 7-7. River comes 7. I mean, this kind of s*** happens at Pokerstars, sure. And you can make a lot of money off idiots making that kind of play. But on FTP it is the rule, and they always hit.

mrkromer
October 16, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomePokerGames Admin

The problems with using the AP/UB fiasco as supporting evidence is that the culprits were players and former employees who were able to crack the system. Even though many people patted themselves on the back for supposedly being correct about online poker being rigged, that didn't prove anything about the sites themselves. 99% of the "online poker is rigged" crowd are accusing the sites themselves (hence the "Riverstars" and "Jokerstars" labels) of being corrupt. Pointing out that cheating occured doesn't validate that point. To me, having a few selective games (out of the billions of hands) being rigged is nothing close to being a systematic problem.

Second, his point was that almost all losing poker players think the sites are cheating when they lose. This list of poker losers runs to about (literally) tens of millions of people. Even if there were people who did lose because of some type of online rigging, this doesn't validate the other 99.999% of people who lost because of lack of skill.

Regardless, if a site with that much money floating around has nothing in place to keep former employees from cracking the system, they are to blame and you might as well call them cheaters. Just my opinion.

Beyond that, I certainly agree that the majority of losers haven't been cheated; they just aren't good. But I still think there is way too much chance of any of us getting cheated at any given time online for us to try to say that the sites aren't or can't be rigged.

mike

HomePokerGames Admin
October 14, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrkromer

Quote:

Originally Posted by sackmaster95

This has been the most entertaining read I have had all week. The suggestion that PokerStars is in any way rigged is probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Ever think the reason you see so many bad beats is because you see about 3 times as many hands per hour as physical poker? And have you actually thought about the implications of rigging a whole database to somehow knock out small stacks, take your bankroll back after a big victory and give you the "cashout curse"? You really think PokerStars cares about rigging their games when they're making huge rakes from their 20,000 or so tables and tournaments and SnGs? Stop blaming your bad luck on unfounded conspiracy theories and accept the fact that you'll have a bad run once in a while. All the pros have had their pocket aces cracked, multiple times. All the pros have had bad runs. And if you're the person who attributes a bad beat to "Jokerstars", I will begin a personal vendetta against you that will culminate in me taking your whole stack. Get over it.

Yeah, and I guess you didn't get the memo about the poker site employees who cracked the system and were ripping off hundreds of thousands of dollars on AP or UB, I forget which. Nope, no way you could rig anything online. Reality check, if man can program it, man can manipulate it.

mike

sackmaster95
October 14, 2008
This has been the most entertaining read I have had all week. The suggestion that PokerStars is in any way rigged is probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Ever think the reason you see so many bad beats is because you see about 3 times as many hands per hour as physical poker? And have you actually thought about the implications of rigging a whole database to somehow knock out small stacks, take your bankroll back after a big victory and give you the "cashout curse"? You really think PokerStars cares about rigging their games when they're making huge rakes from their 20,000 or so tables and tournaments and SnGs? Stop blaming your bad luck on unfounded conspiracy theories and accept the fact that you'll have a bad run once in a while. All the pros have had their pocket aces cracked, multiple times. All the pros have had bad runs. And if you're the person who attributes a bad beat to "Jokerstars", I will begin a personal vendetta against you that will culminate in me taking your whole stack. Get over it.

PokahPlayah
April 2, 2008
I've come to the conclusion that all major poker sites have their random card generators completely and utterly scccccrewed. I know we all know this but yet we keep playing, while I have ne way. I used to complain about PokerStars soooo much and ended up in FullTilt. Fulltilt blows my freaking mind. It's way worse then pokerstars, as bad as pokerstars was I still won, though went through a lot of bad beats. But like someone said about winning something then losing during your 48 hour bull*^&* hold on your cashing out. I won a tournament at roughly 1000 dollars, and decided play some heads up games, the cards people were pulling on were just un frickin believable, in an hour or two of playing HEADS UP I lost to two different straight flushes with the better hand pre flop betting not to mention a million other stupid bad beats. So I was fed up and went to Full Tilt. It's even WORSE 80% of the people play like complete and utter donkeys calling draws n stuff.... but they catch them all the time??!! I think they just cater to casual poker watchers and dreamers, cus when i first started playin from watchin it on tv I played like a complete moron because I thought the random hands they show throughout a tournament on tv had taught me something.. but it almost seems they REWARD them on fulltilt. Maybe it's so bad and unlucky players will come back, but my bad luck on fulltilt has just blown my mind. Even though I had lots of bad beats on PokerStars I won more so through aggressive play then actual cards, but I find people on fulltilt just make the dumbest calls I started playing tighter so I got no cards and got bled dry by their stupidness... I think Im done with online playing. I have had a theory that people's luck is applied in a multi-tier way on these sites. Say there are three tiers of "luck" from the deck. If you've been winning you will be knocked down to a 1, if youve been losing you're a 3, and you're just being average you're 2. Two 2s going heads up will be true odds, a 3 against a 1 will almost always win, and well you get the drift. This would balance out the skill difference between casual or dumb/wanna be players and real players who actually study and put effort into their craft.
It's just a theory, but I've had thought of it long before I ever read any of the rants of other people like me and I wasn't sure if I was just nuts like my friends thought I was. (I didn't read any of the stuff other ppl wrote for a long time cus im lazy and avoid forums and what not on the net)

Hunter
March 2, 2008
Follow up: I meant, no conscience of course. Couple of hours later I have lost the $50,-. Now what did I do wrong? I tried to cash out, which didn't work because somehow magically pokersnobs needs 48 hours to do some magic with your deposit before you can make a cash out. So I tried, and decided to play. To prove my point, the $50 was gone in an instant. I was weak. I have to much time on my hands on a Sunday afternoon. Considering there are about 130000+ players at times, that is a lot of fraud for just one poker room. I had already learned my lesson, and I only deposited 25 euros, but still, its a waste. My fault. Even if this fraud is discovered somewhere in the future, they are already to rich to care, so we lose anyway. Again, don't bring yourself down because of people that claim they win all the time, it isn't possible if you're a daily player, unless you've signed some shady agreement to lie or play for the house.

Hunter
March 2, 2008
Rigs are real, smart people know that. However, in the case of PokerStars you can use it to your advantage if you've never played there. Like PartyPoker, where I turned $50 in to $300+(cashed out), I thought I'd give PokerStars a spin. Deposited 25 euro's, but unfortunately I never got past $75 of which $50 is left. Time to make a cash out of course. If you have never played at a certain poker room, just deposit some money, try to double it up and cash out. Its a good way to make a quick buck every once in a while without getting cleaned out entirely. Just stop playing when you lose the ability to win hands, no matter how good your holecards are. Another thing: ignore people that give you a hard time because you know poker is rigged, they are just people that are paid by poker rooms to bash your views on this, they are everywhere, just ignore them, they are bad people that have conscience whatsoever.

yleecoyote
March 1, 2008
Just finished a 10+1 tourney at jokerstars. After reading the blogs here I decided to chart the game. Starting with 5000 chips, I was able to double it up to the first break. During the next two hrs ( 2 breaks )about 72 hands I had two hands that were callable. Torney started with 2100 players and I survived to 460 out 0f 520.My chip count had now dwindled to 3500. They then gave me 2 hands in a row - AsKc and finally AdQd. I of course called raises with both and of course was eliminated. This is a pattern I see every day. I agree , Poker Stars is Joker Stars and we are fools to play there. Too bad, because I am retired and have nothing else to do but I hate playing against a stacked deck and don't enjoy playing for nothing.

yleecoyote
February 29, 2008
Ever notice how many hands that you fold would have been winners? They will throw you a couple of those in a row setting you up for a suck in.Also have you ever noticed how the cards will favor the chip leaders late in a tourney ? Otherwise tourney would go on too long.

yleecoyote
February 29, 2008
I see others have had the same observations. I am a retiree who enjoys poker and would like to think pokerstars is legit.But it is not. I generally play in low or mid level tourneys and have seen the same thing happen daily for about a year now. I will usually seem some good cards at the start and then nothing for almost 2 hours. When you get close to pay off or slightly into,those " remarkable" hands start showing up.You are either forced to call with a suck hand, (and I laugh because I know it will lose), or you will be ground out by the blinds.The same thing happens whether playing holdem or omaha h/l. I have also noticed that after making a deposit you get somewhat good cards for a short time. You may even win or come in the money in a tourney, but then you will be dead for the next month. It happens too often to be just coincidence.

flukie81
February 18, 2008
just hit tile tables.

KROOK RAT
Rigged Schmigged ? January 3, 2008
AHWWww...Finally so nice to read a post from one of the owners of PS or another addict even posting denial to himself ! LMAO

KROOK RAT
God Help Poker January 3, 2008
Oh my God ...This "Jokerstars" ,as players there call it ,is so obviously programmed for eliminating low stack ( probably 98 % ) for next rake that those who now know simply call with anything if they have more chips...sick site. Someone said it should be called Satanstars.com ..lol ..It is unbelievable to know this is allowed on the internet at all and that not even Governments/Law cannot stop these criminals from take and National advertising etc. It is also UNBELIEVABLE that the REAL PRO's and WPT are involved / promoting these RIGGED SIGHTS...WOW !! Personally , since trying this and finding out like other unknowing / trusting suckers I have eyes wide open on the scary world of internet poker and disrespect totally for all Pro's who accept money from those involved. To all my friends of REAL SHUFFLED /DEALT /LIVE CARD POKER ... STAY AWAY and do not promote this EVIL .. Or let us all get together and come up with a sight that somehow has a real dealer on camera for every table !! They will then be out of business and we will be on our cruise ships enjoying our success... Grab a deck call some friends and enjoy a real poker game ......GL P.S .. If anyone has found anything close to a trustworthy online sight and can prove it please let us know so we can have a good chuckle !

lucid
December 28, 2007
There is no debate. If you have played more than 500 hands at this site and you cannot tell it is rigged you have no I.Q. Of course if you are a stooge for the site you have no scruples. If you actually can't tell that it is rigged you are the kind of person that would catch the cabana boy balls-deep in your girlfriend and say he's just a nice guy. This site has no connection to real poker and the folks running it are infected viral pustules.

lucid
December 28, 2007
There is no debate. If you have played more than 500 hands at this site and you cannot tell it is rigged you have no I.Q. Of course if you are a stooge for the site you have no scruples. If you actually can't tell that it is rigged you are the kind of person that would catch the cabana boy balls-deep in your girlfriend and say he's just a nice guy. This site has no connection to real poker and the folks running it are infected viral pustules.

billythebody
October 18, 2007
Let me respond to the last poster who posted this; " When I return my luck changes--first hand: A A. I go all in. How do I lose? Jacks full of deuces--but first my aces tripped on the flop." I don't understand what that means. If you hit a set of aces on the flop, there is no way possible that jacks full of 2's could beat you in that hand since you'd have aces full.

This is more proof that Pokerstars is rigged. If Aces full loses to Jacks full, then you know the site is really messed up. LOL.

mrkromer
Bad Beats October 1, 2007
Recently I wrote on here about winning $2200 in a big tourney and then placing in 2 sit n gos immediately after, saying that the cashout curse isn't true. However,

Since then I haven't placed in 15 sit n gos in a row and have seen some of the sickest bad beats there can be, for example:

My AA against 55, flop 553, turn A, river 3.
My AJ against KQ, flop KQ10, turn blank, river Q.
My A2 against 45, flop A34, turn 5, river 5.
My AA againt AQ, don't remember flop, but turn and river Q.

I went back and studied my previous 25 sit n gos, and my first ten I cashed in 6. My next 15, none. Out of those 15, 9 times I was first out.

Can someone throw a little decent professional advice my way? Am I just in a bad streak? Have I probably gotten too loose since my big win?

All my sit n gos are either $10 or $20, 9 or 18 people.

I appreciate any comments that aren't riddled with sarcasm. Thanks,

mrkromer

bad_dog76
September 25, 2007
I find it very interesting how on these boards you'll get 1 response like this. Where the guy (or gal) calls these other posters "whiners" and "losers" and "if you can't take it quit playing". Why is it hundreds of players from all over the place, who have no connection tell almost the exact same story?
I swear people who come on here and defend the sites are employees of these sites.
Nobody on here thinks their aces can't be cracked or they can't lose to runner, runner. It's the frequency of these events that makes all online poker sites suspicious

bad_dog76
September 25, 2007
Anyone who has played online poker knows there are plenty of donks who call off a chunk of their stack with gut shot and flush draws, bottom pairs, hands like Q6 and J3 suited etc. However, this is extremely helpful in live games.
Because of the online poker boom, I've found I make a lot more $$$$ hitting the casino on weekends.
There are so many people who play the way they play online. Calling off $30 raises with a gut shot straight draw or chasing flush draws to the river and barely EVER hitting. These bad players get a dose of reality when they hit the casino and are swallowed up and embarassed by better players. Online poker helps you in live game action.

bad_dog76
September 25, 2007
Let me respond to the last poster who posted this;

" When I return my luck changes--first hand: A A. I go all in. How do I lose? Jacks full of deuces--but first my aces tripped on the flop."

I don't understand what that means. If you hit a set of aces on the flop, there is no way possible that jacks full of 2's could beat you in that hand since you'd have aces full. Look this site (and almost every other online site) certainly has some incredibly horrific and inprobable beats but don't lie about it.

stainpouch
September 24, 2007
Ok. I've played pokerstars for about four years. I concluded within weeks of starting that the site was rigged, so I don't play for much (I prefer face to face) and have around 13 million fake chips. Lately, it's become such a burden to recharge, it's hardly worth it. The site has a real mix of utter nitwits, geriatric cases, children, drunks, drunken children, and a quite few good players, too.

Here's my tale of high and low. In Omaha H/L I am dealt 10 10 4 4. I raise a bit. Flop: 4 4 5. Quads flop--wonderful. I slow play them, a low chaser or two(I guess) raises some--the pot remains modest but few fold. Turn 10. River 10. Double quads in the same hand. I come from a poker-playin family and I've been at it since I was six--I'm now 53--and friends, this does not happen.

More recently in a holdem tournament I was dealt J2 twenty-two times over about a hour and a half. After the fourth or fifth time I started keeping track--with a record J2 FIVE HANDS IN A ROW. Blinds eventually caught up to me and I began thinking that J2 suited wasn't so bad--but of course it is--but at this point it's hard not to fall into a rage. I sat out and had a cigarette. When I return my luck changes--first hand: A A. I go all in. How do I lose? Jacks full of deuces--but first my aces paired on the flop. These are the most extreme beats I've had--but recently have had MANY MANY MANY very bad ones.

My advice: play face to face--if you're thinking that online poker (or especially pokerstars) will give you the practice you need think again. When you're on the rise PS will flatter you into thinking you're leading a charmed life--when they discover you're not chipping in--they will pull the rug. In addition, playing online causes one to fall into bad habits--you'll start telling--and you'll quit looking for them yourself. But really, the biggest problem with all online poker is that you can't watch eyes on the flop, you can't see the tell--couple that with nitwits and a juiced deck and you might as well pack it in.

PS I walked into my son's room the other day and he and two buddies were all playing PS at the same table with different computers, of course--but they were all running from my single router.

Forget about it.

PS Hey Bad Dog--you're right--well I lost somehow! Two jacks came--he must have hit quads--I was so disgusted I just closed the window and went to bed.

mrkromer
July 18, 2007
Make no mistake about pokerstars, you can win money there. I used to bitch and moan about horrible donks and rigged games, but then i became patient, found the game I was comfortable with (1 table sit n gos) and am doing much better with cashing and winning. I have to admit I have won more money at live tables, but you're just going to be dealing with a lot more gamblers online than in person, you have to adjust!!!

chelsearule1
July 17, 2007
soo many donks on this site i get q8 suited i raise to 60 bb re raise me another 80 i call flop is qj7 i bet he calls turn is 8 i check he bets i call river is 2 i check he bets i call he has 9 20 for straight he re raised me the min pre flop with 9 10 im calling any min raise with any 2 cards but jokerstars like donks,played 7 tourneys and about 500 hands i didnt get a pp higher than 10s even when i try and bluff they are calling me with ace rag rigged site if ur dubm and stupid this site is for u

billythebody
June 12, 2007
I've been a steady customer of online poker since 2004. I have played on several of the sites, including Party Poker, Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Bodog. After the online-gaming ban was implemented by the United States government, I have been forced to play at Pokerstars for the better part of the last year now. I'm certainly not a professional player, but I'm certainly above average and I definitely know a good hand compared to a bad one. I must say I have come across many of the following gripes I am about to list about Pokerstars on the other sites as well, but since I've played at Pokerstars the most recently, I will refer to that. Here are some observations I have made that I can basically confirm as truth after seeing it happen way too often over the past 3 years:

1. The cash out curse is REAL! I can't tell you how many times I go on a good run, decide to cash out some of my winnings, and then just go down the tubes right after, forcing me to cancel my cashout since I want to continue to play, which then results in me losing everything....forcing me to deposit more eventually.

2. Isn't it a little coincidental that in almost every multi-handed pot, each player hits a big piece of the flop every time? One person will flop top pair with top kicker, another will hit bottom 2 pair, one will be on a flush draw, and the other will be on an open ended straight draw. It's absolutely ridiculous.

3. The river almost always reverses the leader in the hand everytime. No matter how dominating your hand is on the turn, your opponent always hits their one outer to weasle the pot away from you. It's almost a given on Pokerstars, which is often aptly referred to as Riverstars.

I know some pundits say "Aww, you're just a bad poker player" or "Big deal, you got unlucky, deal with it." Sure bad beats take place, whether it's online or in a live casino. For what it's worth, I witnessed my personal worst bad beat last weekend at the Hawaiian Gardens casino. My buddy went all in with 88 and got called by QQ. Flop was Q 2 7 (no flush draw.) My buddy was probably at 1% to win the hand. An 8 came on both the turn and river to overcome all the odds. As you see, I do realize bad beats can happen anywhere, but in the world of online poker, they occur more often than not. Online poker defies all odds and logic. I (used to) love online poker because it gave me the ability to play on my own terms in the comfort of my own home. But after witnessing several years of undeniable proof that the average player can't beat the Pokerstars bots, I highly recommend to anybody thinking about registering with them to reconsider. It will save you lots of money in the long run.

mikeholdem
April 20, 2007
Do not play here for real money. this site is not legit as they claim. I lost my first 3 tournys i played here with ace high flush all of them to str8 flushes, and i also lost 2 more tournys with fullhouses to quads. I played on this site for 2 hours. you can't compare online to casino games in the amount of hands played and the fluctuations that go with them but this was pretty unbelievable. I have been playing poker holdem to be exact weekly for ten years and have never seen a str8 flush in any of my games ever. I have seen quads like 4 times. now I am sure that I have played a lot more hands in ten years of poker play than I played here in two hours. This site is so sad. I also wittnessed ace king vs ace blank multiple times and I would say that ace king lost about 90 percent of the time. also multiple runner runner cards to someone who would call with crap and not even have a draw after the flop would hit perfect turn river to make a powerful hand while risking all their chips to do so knocking the poor guy who flopped trips out of the tournament. It was just rediculous. So if you play here just remember you have been warned.

oilyrealtor
Yes, Pokerstars are stealing their client's money January 30, 2007
They're not happy with just the rake. Why should they be when they can triple their profits just by inserting robot players and rigging the hands?

I played twelve single player turbo tourneys, 25+2 entry, yesterday. I saw bad beat after bad beat. In fact if you went in with the best cards you were 65% certain to lose.

I was in one tourney where I observed 9 showdowns of which I was involved in 2. Out of the 9 the best hand won just once.

A few days ago I played 2 tourneys simulatenously..one rather suspcious "player" was in both tourneys, won them both and with 85% bad beats.

Of course it's not just Pokerstars although they're pretty awful and pretty "out front" with some of the outrageous stuff they pull.

SOMEONE PLEASE FIND ME AN HONEST POKER SITE. All I want is a random deal and real human players who don't work for the poker company. I want a poker company that is happy with the rake.

maggiespaw
January 11, 2007
I have played at Party Poker and Full Tilt and this site is by far the best. You do not get the bad beats you do at TILT. No wonder they have the best players sponsoring them.

cue
Rigged Schmigged December 27, 2006
I've scanned through each and every poker site forum here and guess what? Virtually the same posts in every one. "It's rigged", "Bad Beat", "improbable", "incredibly bad runs".

So should one conclude that every single poker site is rigged?

No.

Come on. When you consider the 100,000's of hands per hour dealt, it is extremely likely that some seemingly "improbable" events will occur. And very often the victims of these events find their way to forums like these and cry like a baby about how unfair and "rigged" the site is. But if you had postings from every player on the site you'd find that these "call foul" posters would be drowned out.

Life is full of improbabilities, and sometimes it's your life that it happens to.

I've played on PokerStars for 3 months now and have not experienced anything like what I see complained about here....and yes I've had very bad beats, but I've also learned from them and improved my play over time. I've incorporated a lot of discipline and read and re-read poker theory books. The combination of these things and the experience has taught me the difference between a good player and bad player.

Yes, even good players get bad beats, and sometimes often enough that it feels like you're being toyed with.

But don't buy this "site is rigged" argument. I'm sure you complainers have a poker site of preference, but look at the forum for it....betcha you'll find the majority of postings complain about how corrupt it is.

So what can you say?

A lot of these posts seem to imply that even with the "rigged" sites ... YOU GUYS KEEP PLAYING!!

STOP PLAYING POKER IF YOU CAN'T DEAL WITH IT!!!!

BabyDii
Should I keep my faith??? November 17, 2006
Hello all,

I am just a beginner and only played on the site for about 4 months. I heard many rumours that it would be rigged but I didnt know what to belive.
Today the most amazing thing happened to me sitting at this table I got poket pairs AA, QQ, KK in a row! I try to play properly every time by raising. First 2 times they go all in on me I call. Both had poket 9. Both times another poket 9 on the flop which gave them 4 of a kind! The third time I do it again raise he goes all-in I think alot but i about the money at this point, I was just curious too see so i call with kk ...and what can i see poket 9 again in his hand and a nine on the river! Well I'd really like to belive some other players took such a bad beat 3 times in a row...
Just not to feel lonely!
And to gain my trust in PokerStars again!
Good luck all!

HomePokerGames Admin
October 22, 2006
that sucks, especially in a tourney

smoke9
Donkeys look like geniuses on PokerStars October 22, 2006
I just lost 3 times with pocket aces (all in preflop) in 1 tourney on PokerStars... NOT BS. I am so distrought over it I did a search and found this site. Reading the posts has somewhat consoled me. In the tourney, I had built my stack early on to about 3500, when I get AA. Guy goes all in for around 2000, I call, he has QQ. He rivers a Q. OKAY well it happens right? Pocket aces CAN lose. You are ONLY a FOUR TO ONE FAVORITE over another pocket pair before the flop, but it can happen. But if I get them again, watch out haha because surely they will not lose again (uhm...WRONG). Now I build my stack back to about 4000 by a half hour into the tourney. I am playing very well and feeling good. I have put the loss with rockets behind me like you should. You have to forget about that bs. Well, I get AA on the button. Guy in early position goes ALL IN with about 2800. Boom I got you boy HAHA woohoo. I can't fold this of course, so I call and he shows 88. Oh I'm gonna whoop up on those snowmen YESS. First card on the flop is an 8. No, an ace does not come to save me. So, stunned, I'm down to like 1200 when I should have been chip leader of the whole tourney right now. OK, wow, well I don't even want rockets now haha *grumble*..... But of course I do AGAIN about 40 mins into the tourney. I have about 1100 in chips left, I go all in, get called by JJ. Flop is 4 K Q. Turn is 9. River is 10. So I lost with pocket aces 3 times within like 40 mins and it took me out of an otherwise successful tourney. I have never gotten beat twice with pocket aces in whole day of playing on other sites. And I took a sh*tload of unbelievable beats on PokerStars back in late '05 so I stopped playing there, but never posted on a forum about it because I thought it was a fluke. I vowed I would never go back, and look what happens when I break that vow. Call me a pussy or whatever for whining about this, but I want to see how well you take it when this happens to you. And it will if you play on PokerStars. Anyway, to wrap this up, listen to the people on here, they know what they are talking about. Only play on PokerStars if you are a donkey and usually the underdog when you get all your money into the pot, because you will come out a surefire winner on PokerStars.

bad_dog76
Hahaha! August 31, 2006
That sounds about right dude. One other thing, since they told me abour their RNG being "legit" and only if I saw patterns should I be concerned well I started to notice a pattern. Almost anytime someone goes all in preflop with a pocket pair (Not aces) against someone with an ace and ace will hit the board. I told them about this and they sent me my hands history LOL. They said in coin flip situations I won 8 out of the last 14 hands. What does that have to do with my question? Coin flips could be 22 vs 76. They avoided it at all costs. It had gotten so predictible I had pocket 9's one hand and just called the BB someone then proceeded to go all in, I folded, then predicted the flop would come AKQ. It came AKQ. 2 hands later I saw someone go all in with KK vs A3. I then predicted an ace would hit the board, like clockwork, flop came A 3 9, so as usual pocket kings were no good. I'd strongly suggest not playing here but if you choose to, when you call a preflop all in with two 10's you better hope you're not up against an ace or you'll lose.

Unregistered
Donkeys rewarded HERE! August 31, 2006
I had a few bucks left in this account so I decided to play a couple of SNG multi table tourneys. ABout half way through I have 2,700 chips guy to my right has 3,200. I'm dealt J10 in the BB flop comes J 10 6. He bets 500 I go all in he calls with Q8 LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Turn Q RIVER 9 LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Of course anyone good player would call over 80% of their stack with a gut shot str8 draw. Next tourney is even better. 15 of us left. I have 4,500 in chips guy to my right has 8,500. I'm dealt A7 call the BB. Flop comes 227. He bets 2000 I go all, he calls. HE HAS KQ no draw, no pair but of course on this joke of a site he hits a King on the river. If you're a DONKEY or a FISH this is the site for you. Constantly rewarded for awful play. It's no wonder that NO PRO represents their site. Play at Full Tilt much, much better site!

bad_dog76
Follow up to JokerStars August 10, 2006
To follow up om this, I emailed pokerstars about these ridiculous beats and all they say is people run in bad luck streaks. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Are you kidding me? That's your excuse? Three times in a row where I have an overpair to 2 undercards and I lose. It's bad luck? Sorry bad luck is losing one of those three hands (KK vs. Q10) (JJ vs 910) (10 10 vs 76) I wanna know what the odds are of losing those hands 3 times in a row?

The guy told me if I saw a pattern there'd be a problem and that I should be happy that I lost those hands. He said if I won those hands everytime there would be a problem? What?

On another note, I was playing in tournament where 2 people were telling each other their hands so they wouldn't bet into each other. This was when there was 4 of us left. It was pretty obvious they wanted it to come down to those 2. Telling each other "I hit it" or I have a Ks when 4 spades were on the board. I emailed them about this as well and they told me it takes weeks to process cheating.
Again what? How hard is it for them to look at the tournament chat,when I give them the tournament number and the two players names involved, and see they were telling each other their hands. Nothing will be done. They're all talk and no action. It's a bunch of smoke and mirrors

bad_dog76
JokerStars August 10, 2006
LOL! Some of the worst players in the world reside right here at pokerstars. I decided to leave this joke of a site after three consecutive awful beats in 2 tournaments.

I had around 7,000 chips another player had about 800 and one other had around 6,000. Blinds are 200/400. I raise BB to 1,500 player with 800 goes all in, the other player raises me to 3,000. I go all in, he calls has Q10. Flop comes Q 9 6 turn 10 river 3. So i lose most of my stack. left with about 1,000 chips I'm dealt JJ I go all in only to be called by someone with 9 10. Flop comes A 10 A turn 9 River 10 LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! The guy has literally no outs but some how catches on the river.

Finally the last tourney I played in, the blinds were 100/200 I had around 2,800 player to my left had 3,200. I'm dealt pocket 10's he goes all in I call. He has 76. Flop comes A 3 5 turn 9 river 4.

I know bad beats are a part of the game but when I lose three consecutive hands where I'm a good 87% to win, that's a little strange to me.

Vicfats
August 5, 2006
Maybe that is a lesson to quit calling raises with aq which I'm sure you did at least a couple of those times

chelsearule1
July 13, 2006
dont ever play on this site about 80% of the players are donks who catch lucky i raised 100 b4 the flop with ak one caller flop was 876 both checked king was the turn i bet 180 he called river was 5 he checked i checked he had 34 offsuit called 100 raise preflop with 34 and on the turn drawing dead to a 5 but if i had a 9 he would lose what a donk.

Unregistered
April 8, 2006
so the site went form the best to being unplayable in 6 days?

chelsearule1
April 7, 2006
i take it back i have had aq last ten times every time someone has ak every time i havent hit a queen once,then i get ak vs aj he hits jack on theriver no one ever play online for real money biggest joke online call with rubbish u hit joke.

chelsearule1
March 30, 2006
i have played on 10 poker sites i rate this the best one by a mile.

Unregistered
October 20, 2005
I have been to many site's and PokerStars.Com is the best all around On-Line.

For all you that complain about one account, Its to stop peeps from chip dumping to others or to there self. Your IP is matched to your account name to stop this. Any site that allows this is asking for thiefs.

As for the so called bad or good FLOPS, I ran the numbers from the history reports. They are as close to real as you can get.

As for the fish. You just have to deal with them like any other site. They could have a advantage in the beginning, Cause they have never been at a real table, they learn quicker to read players habits. But they have no idea of odds, So they lose in the long term. Like someone said your going to see more Flushs, Straights and Full house's cause they stay to the end which gives the preception of the River card being fixed.

Give it a 9

pokertoker
August 30, 2005
Here's something to think about when you're wondering if PokerStars (or any online pokerroom, for that matter) is "rigged". Think back to when you first signed up for PokerStars (or whatever room). Weren't your hands great? Didn't you feel like Poker God? Have you noticed that all the poker rooms have VERY STRICT policies about existing players altering their accounts in any way whatsoever for any reason? I wonder if maybe that's not a "rule" because the sites are slanted in order to get their hooks really deep into new players before they suck them dry.

fishfried
August 21, 2005
I won $500 off a 100 deposit the first day I played. I was absolutely clueless. Naturally I lost it all and then some.I've got very good since then - 6 months ago. I rarely make mistakes now if at all, though I'm no master at stealing blinds, or sniffing trips or whatever psychic insight you need for 'the edge'.In these past 6 months, I've had 2 good days and god knows how much I've pissed away the rest of the time.I'll only talk about Pstars - Party Poker was so bad, on 3 occassions I've gone 80+ hands without seeing a pair on a flop!In poker stars last sunday for example, I played in about 15 tournaments, and in 4 of them I went 30-40 hands without a winner. Of those tournaments, my game ended all but twice when I went all in with the best hand, in most of those cases after the flop, and was sucked out. Action flops for sure. My favorite personal anomalie - pair of 4s, 4 consecutive hands. some math wizard want to give me the odds on that?as for the quads though - one table i saw quads 8 times in a couple of hours (held them 2x myself). but I haven't seen them since, in weeks.those statistical anomalies can indicate a bad random number generator, not necessarily a fixed game. However, the action flops, the % of river winners, seems absurd. While I can't guarantee it's fixed (could be that I'm just the unluckiest guy in the world), I do want address the 'anti-conspiracy theorists' who argue why would they rig it when they make money off the rake?my god that is so ludicrous - why do people steal cheat and lie period, instead of being happy with what they go? why make a billion when you can make a million? get a brain. Gambling is an addiction, and they know people will keep coming back, especially seeing how often bad players are rewarded. 'maybe it's rigged, but next time i'll play so perfect I'll get paid'.How would you go about it? I would embed logic that tracks players by every means possible - IPs, bank acct numbers, and most of all frequency of deposits - and select losers to drain on a continual basis. Throw em a bone once in a while, keep em coming. This isn't wild conspiracy - it's the way con jobs have worked forever. Particularly in the gambling world. That said, i'm stupid enough to keep trying. play your worst and take my money on pokerstars!

jupitert
August 17, 2005
I played at party poker for about a year, hit it big (for me at least) in March of this year. I won $8100 in a span of 2 weeks, cashed out and then began too see the most unbeleivable bad beats ever. So after months of giving my winnings back, I signed up at Poker Stars(about 2 weeks ago). I deposited $50 and in my first hour at the .5/1 NL table I was up to $250. In the next week i was up another $100 and had the original $50 up to $350+. It was so relieving to see good cards hold up, as on Party I would almost always get my money in with the best hand but would lose to some ridicolous beats. So last Friday night I withdrew $50 and it has been all down hill. I kid you not, in a 2 night span I was dealt pocket pairs 22 times, and not once did I hit a set--on all 5 community cards. That seems abit unreal, being stats say you hit a set 20% of the time when holding pockets. Anyways, I am now down to $94 in my account and I am curious to see if this withdraw curse is for real on Stars as well as Party.

GHETTO
August 16, 2005
sorry i forgot to tell you all that i was talking about pokerstars if anyone finds a better site to play poker for fun and for cash please tell me

GHETTO
August 16, 2005
It doesnt have enough chips per hour and people get to many unrealistic card to often

EXCELLENT!!
August 16, 2005
GREAT SITE!!!!! Very realistic Cards

anonymous
August 9, 2005
oh yeah, this little tidbit as well, after the guy goes all in with nothing, I asked him what the hell he was doing, his reply is "I was priced in", seriously, he has $1300, calls a $120 raise preflop and he's priced in....ROFL

anonymous
August 9, 2005
Well, I believe I have to throw my 2 cents in as well. I must be honest, I have read these reviews many times for many different sites, I was never going to post anything myself but after the last month has gone I must steer anyone clear who is thinking of putting any money into online poker! I deposited $25 one night to test Pokerstars out...(be it, this is after I have gotten reamed multiple times by Party Poker)...and I made $300 the first 2 days! I mean I was placing money everywhere...if I was in a sit & go, i got to top 3 no problem! Just playing good solid poker seemed to be working on pokerstars, I made as much in 2 days as i would make a 5 or 6 at work..so I was happy for the time being. That's when it got ridiculous, and for anyone who says "people who say online poker is rigged are sore losers"....I would love for you to sit at a table with me for one night and see what I see! Take this hand for example, and my only conclusion from this is that this guy is either a total retard when it comes to poker or he knew what was coming....anyway I get dealt KK on the button, I raised 4x the big blind preflop and was called by the big blind, flop is K-9-4, I dont slow play trips so I raise about the size of the pot...so after I raise 4x the big blind and bet the pot on the flop, my opponent comes over the top all in...at this point i'm loving it...so I call the cards flip...just to recap...I have KK - flop - K-9-4 opponent comes over the top...I REPEAT over the top all-in and shows A10, I was cracking up, but not for long, guess what boys and girls turn Q river Jto give him a str8...now I ask, either this fool was tired or he knew what was up, either way i'm tired of watching internet poker sites reward bad play so my play has moved to my casino where I dont have to battle with a B.S. computer that wants as much rake as possible. I used to read these msg's all the time hoping to find a legitimate poker site but I want everyone reading this to know that there is no legit poker site, they are all there to make money plain and simple...and they can kiss my A** becuase they will never see another dime of mine...PEACE

Scootman
August 6, 2005
Well either Pokerstars is rigged or somebody has a hold of a cheat sheet (maybe a spreadsheet file of games and the winning hands...that's always been a strong rumor). I don't buy the whole 'bad luck' thing that others are saying. These are the people who have 'good luck', so they're not objective to what others are going through. I've lost too many good or at least satisfactory hands against the bad beat players who go in with squat and end up with the chips (or money on the real money tables). There is no cure against them. I tell the truth in poker...I play my cards. It works for me at the casino, but it doesn't work online (especially on the free tables) because there's nothing to lose. On the free money tables, people can lie all they want and at the end of the day, even if they've lost, they still have that Porsche in their front yard. There aren't many players (at least smart players) that will do the same at the casino. Anyway, my point is that liars are more popular today than ever before. Just check out reality TV or the government (I won't say which one, but take a guess). Pokerstars rewards liars. I rate it a 2 only because it allows you to transfer chips to other players. Whenever I win something (which is rare because you guessed it, the liars usually win or at least get lucky on the turn and river), I send my chips over to my dad or my mom. They like playing Pokerstars more than I do, but then again, they both have no problem with lying. I guess the casino's different because its controlled (not all-in) and it doesn't have a cheat system which I'm sure Pokerstars has (no other way to explain those who always win. Nobody's that lucky).

Man who hates rigged poker
August 2, 2005
odds you flop full house to your opponents 4 of a kind: (assuming you both ALREADY have a pocket pair, which is, being generous about a 1 in 10 odds you are up against an opponent where you both have pocket pair)His/her odds: Pocket Pair to hit quads on the flop, 3 cards to come, 2 outs then 1 out, 2 / 50 * 1 / 49, .08% 1 in 1250Your odds: Pocket Pair to hit full house (paired board and you hit trips) 3 cards to come, one has to be your card 2 / 50 * 1(any card) * 3/48(that other card to pair on the board), .24% 1 in 416I did some rounding but those numbers are fairly accurate, at least within .1% which is enough to prove my point...now odds you hit BOTH of those at the same time (you vs them) is 0.08 * 0.24 = 0.0192 = 1 in 5100 hands or so.that means that 1 out of every 5100 times you and your opponent heads up have pocket pairs preflop, one of you hits quads and one of you hits a full house... 1 in 5100 * 1 in 10 (for hitting pairs preflop against your opponent), 1 in 51000... I've played about 28000 hands on pokerstars in 8 months (2 hours a night, one table sometimes two, 60 hands an hour, assuming I play EVERY day for 8 months, I didn't).so I havent even seen enough hands to warrant seeing that combination going by the probabilities... but low and behold, I see it at least once a night on my table, sometimes two...I could go and talk about all the other ridiculous flops to raise rakes, but I wont... that site is rigging the flops... but to be fair, it rigs it randomly towards any players, so if you always play the same, and never go all in, you can be a break even player with some luck.it is however possible to see the bad beats coming, and just always fold all big hands and make small bluffs (thats how I see people making money online) and that is actually a valid real life strategy too on very tight tables. but from what I've seen, they are definitely rigging action flops. good luck all on that site.

Daddio123
August 1, 2005
In one tourney ($1.20 buy in) a player got pocket aces three times in a row.... the odds of this occurring are approximately 10.7 million to one. In the same tourney, a player got quad aces one hand and quad queens the next hand.... the odds of this occuring are about 17 million to one. The odds of it occurring in the same tourney are about 20 trillion to one. I have seen 7 Royal Flushes in about one year of playing... Difficult to calculate the odds of that, but to the best of my calculations, I would need to play 24 hours per day for one year, at a nine person table, with all nine players playing every hand all the way to the river in order to see 7 Royal Flushes. Yes, bad beats are bound to happen here and there, but there is something about PokerStars that is not right.... So, if you want to give you money to this site, go ahead, but after it is gone, remember that you were warned. I deposited $50.00, and I am sorry that I did.

kk7ca
July 19, 2005
I don't know what the fuss is about. Pokerstars works well. These ppl complaining about 4 of a kinds popping up regularly? I've been playing on here for quite some time, and I hardly see 4 of a kinds. And I see ppl with low pairs or high card. The ppl who complain don't understand odds, and get upset by a bad beat. Bad beats are bound to happen here and there. With so many ppl playing on the site, you are bound to come across ppl who play against the odds. Learn to accept it and move on. In the long run, the good players will make money. But of course, poker is like sex... everyone thinks they are good at it, when in fact, most ppl aren't. That's my 2 cents. Later.

Narcotic6996
July 12, 2005
I can only give this a 6 rating b/c i havent played other sites. I have read just about every one of the post above. Some of you make sense and some of you wouldn't know if a garbage truck crashed into your living room. I can not comment on the whole "cheating," and "rigged," flops. I've seen some wild ones. I have been beaten with crap and i've dominated the playing field with crap. I win just about as much as i lose. These bad beats happen everywhere. My pocket aces have been slaughterd by pocket 4's or nines for example. The other day im playing in a casino in louisiana. my hand 2s-4s. my opponents hand 5s-10s. the flop is Ad.3s.5d. i flopped the nut straight. the other guy flopped a pair. i bet big, he calls, the turn is 9s. this time i bet bigger knowing that for the moment i still have the best hand. he calls, the river is another spade. now i have the nut flush which i didnt care for. i was happy with the straight. nothing on the board could beat the straight until the spade came out on the river. i check on the river and so does he. he turns over his flush which was better than mine, but not by much. i asked him why i he kept calling, he tells me he thought i was bluffing. after losing most of my chips on that hand i play a few more until i decide that i have to make a move. i go all-in with 9d-3d. the other guy had KK. i catch a 3 on the flop and one on the turn so beat his KK with a set of 3's.9-3 is never an all-in hand suited or not. in fact it should never even get to see the flop unless your limping in on BB or SB. i lost 900k in one hand on pokerstars the other day only to have my Kc.8c beat by Ac.Jc."FLUSH" it was a huge hit. Crazy thing is...im just as likely to get beat by that flush on any other gambling site there is. One really cool thing that i like about PS are the 40k tables. of course PS didnt make the 100/200 tables to be played this way. Their many number of fans came up with a few ways to win enormous amounts of play money chips. the "rules" on a 40k table are as follows. you buy-in with 40k, after being dealt your hole cards, you have two options. Bet your whole 40k pre-flop or fold. sounds simple enough right? well it is. Not a whole lot of skill involved just pure luck. you either hit or you dont. i was suprised to see so many pots get taken down with a high card ace or king, and you can lose 500k in 10 minutes or win a million in 10. Ive done it both. i've only been playing on PS for about 4 months, and it is great. however, there are some extremely bad players also. you would think that after earning enough chips to never have to sit back down at a 5/10 table, the players would have got better, and for the most part they have. but some of these people resort to buying play money chips with real money. and playing on the 100/200 and winning by chasing and making bogus calls. so much for having to earn your way to the million plus club. im going to wrap this up now. if your interested in getting in contact with me. my unprofessional e-mail address is jeff.jcjones1108@gmail.com. thanx and good luck to everyone

Flick
July 12, 2005
Can anyone direct me to a site that doesn't cheat? I'd be happy to play when the house doesn't stack it. Hell I'm a programmer..I'll write my own if these pricks can't be fair

Tep
July 10, 2005
Well I've been playing poker online and off for a very long time now and my review on pokerstars goes as follows. As far as choice, games and graphics POKERSTARS is excellent! However if you like throwing your money into a flaming barrel to keep the pretty light going then by all means go with pokerstars. In all the time I've been playing poker I've never ever ever seen such bad beats. 4 of a kind comes up on the SAME table, 3 count it 3 times in (estimated) 20-30 min. I'm no odds expert but this is high, I know it, my buddies know it and so does anybody who has played poker long enough to recongnize this. Houston or Big Slick gets baited by fish hooks...once in a while yeah okay, sure. Not (again estimated) 5/6 out of 8/9 times. American Airlines (AA) is almost guaranteed to lose which is in no way correct. IE: I get (9h Ah)a flush ace high from the flop = kh 10h jh...BB and SB have already called my excrutiating blind raise and after the flop I raise again...SB folds BB re-raises he has 8s8d...i think he has a flush too but lower.Then tells me before the turn quote "the tides are about to turn" ???????????????????? dealer, turn brings 8c I go All in... he calls. I see his trips unworried by his assanine comments since I had the flush and he had trips. The river brings js.????????????? Now this guy has a big bank roll so he can't all out just suck right? So what made this guy call my huge blind raise and post flop raise with 88 and with a flush draw on the board??? A lot of foolish people with 1 thought going at a time might say your a bad poker player or you just seen too many hands to tell anymore. People will say now why would a 353 million dollar company with a 10 billion dollar IPO cheat it's players? Simple, why does a 400 million dollar casino rig their machines. ----> To STAY IN THE RED. They do not want to be slightly up or even. <------------- Counting the rakes from all the games and sign up fees for tourneys exceeds only by a minimal of what they spend weekly or monthly on site fees. The remainders goto checks/cashouts/payouts. Where's their money? I'll tell you! The more tourneys that finish quickly the more money they make so they have to give out better flops and cards. Cash tables, because you have an "unbeatable" hand the site knows you'll bet high. If everybody folds the rake is not as sweet. The more people with hands to contend with the hand you hold means a bigger rake of course. A large portion of pokerstars high stakes/low stakes game players are aphiliated with pokerstars in one way or another. Also there is no complaints against winholdem users as of date???? Why does every other site scan for this and not PS??? Do not get mad at this entry, do not discredit what I say simply because you have not shared my experience(s), and please do not throw a "your playing with better players on pokerstars". If anything the no limit tables should be avoided at all costs. I can also say with assurance pokerstars has the biggest ensamble of fish I've ever seen. Not just fishing for 1 pair but their second all the way to the river with zero or 1 outs betting extremely high for the cards they hold. No staight draw, No flush draw...pure fishing. You will find this VERY common on all tables from .01/.02 centers to the .50/1$ tables. Often you will hear players talk like they know what you have. Some even go as far as telling you an intricate hand and what you hold just shy of telling you the suit or suits to avoid reporting them or getting really suspicious. Like I said I've been playing pretty dam* long here there and everywhere. NOWHERE NOWHERE NOWHERE have I seen such extraordinary beats, calls with cards that won't win but do...like 8-3OS. Truely I find this site a joke...party poker coming in second and Empire poker not even falling in the same categories, since I feel my time there was more REASONABLE on the beats I took and gave. ;) I could go on forever with my findings however I'll just hear a bunch of, your crazies, you suck at poker that's why, or whatever clever minds can brew up in latter times. All I'm trying to do is stimulate the minds of those who will not come to terms with online poker having it's "secrets". IT DOES. It's kind of the same thing as being ignorant to 100 billion galaxies estimated in the universe. We live in ONE galaxy 9 planets, and someone is going to convince me that we are the only living beings in our ENTIRE universe. People there is 99 billion other galaxies besides ours. Never thought of it like that did you? Then think a little more with and through your experience and education of the game when playing it to determine what's just not sitting right and when you get bad beat "fairly". Really start to observe. Don't just look for bad beats because you lost. I'm not out to destroy pokerstars nor will i with a little web entry. However the more people that look for this, the better chance of finding solid exploit(s) to stand up in court. Believe it or not the crime of casino theft wheter internal or external is enforced by the RICO statutations set forth by the federal government. However Online gambling this does not hold true FOR NOW.

pokerstars is best!!!
July 10, 2005
I couldn't agree with Riverwarrior's post about UB more. He is definitely right about UB being bogus. Pokerstars is a great site. Good play is rewarded. Unlike on UB where, like he said, somedays' heads up I struggle just to make a pair, and other days i can't not pair up. It is ridiculous. Stick to Pokerstars...still the best site out there. Anyone who complains about Pokerstars truly does not know how to play because this is just about the one and only site where i do not feel that i am being cheated!!

wizardofroz
July 9, 2005
I may bore you guys with my diatribe, but here goes. I've played internet poker for about 3 years now, and I think in terms of hi/lo limit games, variety of tourneys, Pokerstars is the best I've come across. And, as far as freerolls go, what do you expect? Something for nothing? The reason you have to beat 3000 to 4000 people in those is that it is geared towards cheapskates, with the hope they may invest REAL money in the future. As far as the sites I've frequented, Ultimate Bet would rank as the worst due to 3 people regularly FLOPPING flushes, or the CONSTANT AA vs. KK matchup. But in terms of all the poker sites I've played at, they ALL have some things in common: They want the BAD players to keep coming back, since that is their cash cow. As for decent players, which I consider myself, they are a lot harder to permanently drive off, since they have experienced some sort of success in the past. And at all these sites, my success usually comes IMMEDIATELY after I open an account, just to give me a taste of winning quick cash. And even though I believe bad beats happen almost as much in LIVE play, I DON'T believe that any computer program is completely random. The goal of any business is to make as much money as possible, even if it means bending the rules a bit. And EVERY computer program is made by man, and man is inherently greedy. That's why I ask regular LIVE Blackjack players if they would play the same money on internet BJ, and they almost always say NO! Internet poker follows the same premise: Even though you are competing against other players, the house is ALWAYS looking for the best way to maximize its profits. And if this means letting new players win early, letting bad players regularly outdraw you, then I have come to accept this. On a conluding note, 2 of the biggest problems I have with Pokerstars is that first, it is hard to win BIG pots back-to-back (seems like the hand after I win a big pot, I get "set up" with the 2nd best hand) And secondly, if the UNDERDOG makes a "bad" play with a big raise, he gets rewarded more than he should with a big pot. Hope this write-up helps. BTW, if you chat with someone or read an article from someone that has NOT played internet poker ("pro" poker writer John Vorhaus comes to mind), and he offers his analysis (good or bad) on internet poker, pay NO attention. They are commenting on something they have NEVER experienced. Good luck at the tables, so long as it's not at my table.

rktekt
July 9, 2005
I can't get a simple payout of $200 from them... been over 2 months, the service personal are rude, basically daring me o sue them.... anyone else?

NORGE!!
July 7, 2005
pokerstars is the shiznit!!!!!!!

RiverWarrior
July 1, 2005
Well guys i have played at UB mostly and i can tell you it's rigged!I'm a good player and i know my game is good but on UB i go on streaks but when my streak gets to good then i'll get nothing in cards or when i do get something i'll miss the flop everytime or when i do hit someone will hit harder etc .. Don't even mention the tournies, grr .. one player is favoured over the table and i see it always.. one player always hits no matter what while everyone else struggles not to mention building a stack here consistantly in near impossible! Then i can mention heads up play, lol what a joke! Some days i just hit, hit, hit everything that i feal sorry for my opponent then other days it gets reversed where i can't even hit the board hardly like maybe 20% with all 5 cards out while my opponent hits 90% of the time, wtf!?? and not only that he keeps hitting trips, flushes, straights etc constantly and this is heads up!??!! while i'm struggling to even get a pair!!! Just before i'm playing heads up and some guy got and i bs you not 7 pocket pairs in 10 hands while i get 2-7o etc constantly.Now how does this relate to poker stars you say. Well everything i said for UB is the opposite at stars. Sure you'll take a beat or 2 but the card distribution is normal! so is the flop! The site is well designed and overall i have nothing but praise for stars. Good players are rewarded here and suckers are not. No wonder a few people here say stars is crap etc .. I think in reality they suck because me personally, my good play is overall rewarded here and i think it's fairly easy to make money here.On UB though, forget it. The cards come out biased to the point where you will win then lose then win then lose that you can never get ahead and thats fine because i learnt my lesson! and my lesson at other sites as well! Poker stars is the only site if your a good player PERIOD!

Nobody
June 12, 2005
Guys, please stop this nonsense about rigged sites. The only (proven) way sites stole player's money is much simpler than making biased shuffle - PokerSpot was the most prominent example. I'm 100% sure that _none_ of the big rooms is intentionally rigged; as for Stars' - I had doubts about them at some point (after a bad beat streak obviously) and asked them to send me the whole history of my play there; when I've got it, I made all kinds of statistical analysis with it (and I have a degree in maths) - and came up with nothing beyond statistical expectations. So until somebody will provide a mathematical proof (rather than emotional "he got one-outer, it should NEVER happen, at least not to me") - I won't even consider such a possibility. Face it, guys - bad beats is an integral part of poker. And those who cannot deal with it, just should not play poker, ever - there are other ways to have fun in life.

juliuslt
June 1, 2005
just read Party's review and what do you think? yes it is the MOST rigged site and you should go and play on PS or UB or other sites which are ok but Party is all about cheating:) funny...:)

juliuslt
June 1, 2005
It's funny how all people think about poker sites. I have just read UB review and then read PS. It's funny every site judging by reviews is most rigged:) in UB review everyone adviced to go to party or PS because UB is "MOST" rigged. here there are a lot of people telling to go to UB or Party because PS is most rigged. im sure that when ill read Party's review everyone there will be saying to go to UB or PS because Party is "Most" rigged:) its funny:) i play at PS a lot and now im loosing 4 months in a row i lost my bankroll...but still game is not rigged...i made a lot of mistakes last couple of months and suffered couple of bad beats...that happens on any site or at any casino...thats poker...you have to deal with it or not play at all...longstreak is all that counts...im up from playing poker i have my profit...i have a terrible loosing streak now but you have to deal with it...

Vivid
June 1, 2005
Amazing bad beats only way to keep people from chasing a gut str8 draw and getting is 2 go all in on the flop. dont play limit games you will get chasers and probably lose. overall bad card engine.

proholdemcardplayer
May 26, 2005
I not one to just jump out and give a perfect 10 to anyone except bo derrick. Pokerstars is the best online card room period. Regardless of what the yahoos above say negative about pokerstars being crooks. It is not true. Even though it is based in san jose, costa rica, the site is american owned and run. There is too much at stake. Too much money to be made to risk illegal alterations with the shuffeling algorythem software. It is very apparent to me that the above players speaking of crooked dealing have not played cards online very long. At 100 hands per hour online, compared to at best, 30 hands per hour in a brick and mortor room, it can seem to be very extreem highs and lows. Especially at fixed limit high-speed games. This magnifys the bad beats where i can relate to the thinking of the players saying these things. But believe me the other end of this spectrum is also magnifyed. A rush of good cards against your playing foes is a feeling like no other felt in poker. In fact it is impossible to experience this type of rush in a brick and mortor card room. Theres just to much time in between hands for it to be felt like an online card rush. Take it from me, an online professional cardplayer that has played real-money online poker over 100 hours per month since 1997, the site is 100% on the up and up, no crooks, no shady dealing; only the best tourneys and overall best cash game cardplayers anywere on the net today. I do have one thing that might help the sceptic newcomer to the recent online poker explosion. Read the book, "killer poker online”, crushing the internet game". By; john vorhaus. Also purchase and download a good realtime player tracking & analyalsis software program which runs along side your table window, constantly updating you with new information about your opponents play. The more you play against them the more precise and useful it becomes. It is always learning, but most important, unlike us it does not forget. Things like there loose/tight, aggressive/passive aspecks, there betting patterns and tendentcies, which games they normally play in and how much money they have won or lost, against you and overall. This is very very important, because it is impossible for your human brain to remember as well as a 250 gigabite computer hardrive. If you are serious about playing holdem online you will notice the information provided by these types of programs to be so good you will wonder how you ever won a single dime playing online before. It’s a fact that one or more of your current table opponents are using this valueable knowledge against you. You must level the playing field in order to win in the long run. We all know that poker is all about the long run. Yes, anyone can win for a session or two. But winning in the end is not luck! The informed skilled player with his fair share of luck will always come out on top. I don't want to provide the names of these software programs here as i am not an affiliate with any of them. But as of may 2005 there are three that i can recommend to you, depending on which site(s) you play. Just shoot me an email. I am not going to make a penny from them; i am just a promoeter for the good of the online game. I am not saying that there are not dishonest sites out there, because there are. But take it from this 40 year old texan, who has made well over 1 million dollars playing online poker over the last 5 years. Pokerstars is as honest as they come and in my opinion has no equal for there tourneys. Lots of different types, sizes and structures, and best of all, there high payout freerolls. Note: if you’re just starting out or new to the online game. I do not recommend that you play at pokerstars mid to higher limit games or you will regret it! The players are just that good. There are many sites with much softer, easyer to beat games out there. Remember this one little fact, even if you forget everything else that i have stated above. Knowledge of opponents play, table selection, and good mind & money management. You will get out of online poker only what hardwork you put into it. Good luck! Email: jnies15@aol.com

common sense
May 5, 2005
The randomness of the cards seems ok at Poker Stars, not like UltimateBet. Poker Stars is pretty stingy on their freerolls. They let thousands of players into them and only the top 9 finishers get an entryinto the next level. That's not good compared to other sites. One thing I really like about Poker Stars is that in Hold'em when playersare all in before the flop and no more betting is possible, the softwaredeals the flop AND THEN PAUSES. It's a short pause but it buildsexcitement because you can see what cards everyone needs. Some othersites that just flash the cards by in this situation can take A BIG HINT! I've done some programming and I'm shocked by the sites thatflash the cards onto the board, clear the board, and then pause witha blank table before the next hand. That's bad programming. It'smuch more realistic to do it like Poker Stars does and it makes the gamemore interesting. Come on Poker Stars, put some money in your freerollsyou cheapskates. Players will just use the money on your real moneytables anyway.

FT.
April 19, 2005
I have played at Party, UB and Stars. Stars and Party have equal numbers of good and bad players, but I notice the terrible plays being rewarded far more often on Stars. I played there for 7 months and will not be returning, though I did win two MTT's during my stay, I have to say that both times I was rewarded for bad decisions. I won't get into the rigging debate but I will say that I, personally, believe that something about this site is not on the level. I would highly recommend Party (just as many fish, but they are rewarded far less often in my experience) or Ultimate Bet (MTT's are even better than the overrated ones on Stars) but would not recommend PokerStars in any circumstance.

PaulsGTO
April 12, 2005
Hi Guys Paul Again,As a gambler we all no doubt recognize and accept the "laws of average" factor.It cannot and will not be denied. I play Blackjack at a local casino. I usually play at the $25 minimumtable for hours at a time. I have seen dealers go on fantastic streaks of luck as well as players. Suddenly a reversal of fortunes surfaces and it goes vice versa. The same trends occur when I play in the casino's poker room, I can go an hour, sometimes more without getting involved in a hand, no viable pockets to even play loose with. While online I experience the same trends. I go bad and then suddenly I get a rush of winning pockets. As for the droughts occurring after money withdrawals from online poker rooms, it's just a coincidence. I would love to blame my droughts on rigged software. The other night there were over 80,000 players online at one time. Now just how in the world do you figure they singled you out? Out of the entire population of "players currently online" do you suppose any software can do that?!!!They can deliver weak pockets which I refer to as a "lags" because they delay your game as any good poker player will bide his time and wait, wait, wait and wait some more if need be for a viable hand.The community board may be a tad juiced as well, but then again it is going to lose for you and win for you in turn, as the "laws of average" kicks in again! Same thing at a Blackjack table when a player does the opposite move with his/her hand as he should and then the dealer instead of making a solid hand, BUSTS! Nobody wants to kick the lame player unless the dealer makes a 21. Same thing in online poker rooms. You seem to remember the "bad beats" more predominantly than the hands you committed the bad beat on yourself. Human nature, we are basically negative creatures. Some more than others, thus the constant complaining and finger pointing. A decent comparison for the online community boards would be looking back to when you were learning poker as a kid, remember when deuces were wild? That creates excitement and more possibilities for everyone's hand involved. Again, it works for you and against you within the guidelines of the "laws of average". It's how you play the winning hands that differs the winners from losers.Maximize your wins and minimize your losses. It's just that simple. Rigging? Yes. But not individual conspiracies! Well guys/gals that's the way I see it.

Mr.Greedy
April 12, 2005
fantastic comment paul. Everyone mistrusting the Pokerstars software is frustratet because he lost money to better players or just cant accept that bad luck is part of the game

fastfeowl11
April 9, 2005
i dont think its coincidence that poker stars players do well in major tourneys. they trust the software (as i do) which is so much better than partypoker. but the competition is very stiff. but i think its merely a testament to pokerstars quality that good players want to play here because they know theyre skill will be the deciding factor not some horrible suckout

sharktooth
April 5, 2005
paul you are sooooooooooooooo right if poker players learned the game better they would be complaining lesswhat is your name in the poker site i don't want to play against u lol

PaulsGTO
April 4, 2005
PokerStars, PartyPoker WHATEVER! They are painstakingly similar in just about all areas. I have played at both for a lengthy period now. To pick one as a favorite over the other would be bias. I play brick and mortar at a nearby casino in Niagara Falls, NY. It's only 25 minutes from my home. I have been playing Poker for years now. For all you numbers people, I am sure you'll agree with me on most of the following issues.1. Number of hands vs. number of badbeats. Of course you are going to see some strange calls, badbeats, all-ins and you're also going to win and lose in roller coaster fashion while playing Poker online, because online play is literally 10 times faster than brick and mortar. With that in mind and considering you see 10 times as many hands per hour of play, you are going to see many more "against all odds" plays. You will also witness more "badbeats" and more ignorant play. If you calculate TOTAL number of hands for both brick and online play you would arrive at the same outcome..2. Badbeats happen online, occurs at my Casino just the same! I was recently playing in a No Limit game, brick and mortar, I had pocket Aces, the game was low key, and I would rate it fairly loose. I am in late position, 3 players before me just call, (no signs of slow play) I have only the blinds to consider, I decide to make them pay to see the flop, I push to $300 to avoid getting caught slow playing myself. Small blind drops as do the other 3 shooters, Big Blind calls! OK, he is proud of his pocket pair, that's precisely what I want. Assuming all flush and straight draws properly removed themselves from the hand we see the flop. Comes Ace, Five, Seven (rainbow). I shove my remaining stack in, about $360, three rockets, wow I am counting the pot already. BB calls me! OK, I have a rich stubborn wanna be poker player that is playing pride not Poker! Fourth was a 2 and river was an 8. This so-called Poker player had a 4 6 off!! No misprint! A 4 6o! I had to stop counting "my" pot and relinquish it to BB on what has to be the worst "badbeat" in my Poker career! This guy yanked a straight out of the Poker Heavens! Wouldn't have been as painful if he would have made a full house with a medium pair but, 4 6o! Get outta town! Sure, he is ignorant in Poker, sure he will drop his bankroll, (probably the same day) but I had to take the hit at the moment. I had to go home and complain to the gambling god's, "why me"? My point, Badbeats are just that, Bad! I have never found any good in a badbeat yet. They can and will happen online and in brick and mortar just the same. 3. Rigging online; Not happening. Why would these (PS & PP) highly profitable online poker sites have to rig the play? Poker has taken this country and the entire free world for that matter by storm! They are certainly not hurting for players. They win no matter what you do! So why risk being evaluated by professional companies and being tagged as "rigged"? What does occur and "player beware" is the most basic cheating, player collusion and phone or Instant Messaging cheating. That happens at brick and mortar as well. Physical signals at brick and mortar are commonplace. I have complained to Pokerstars about player collusion in single table sits. They informed me of their state of the art software that detects the frequency of players playing together, above average. The query they could not respond to was, "phone collusion" and the ongoing Instant Messaging problem. That I'm afraid is up to the individual player to detect and duly note in the "player notes". There are high speed areas to cramp the cheats style, but I doubt that has any real effect on the outcome.Pokerstars or Partypoker. . . .pick your site. Stay focused, absorb the good with the bad, have confidence in your ability and shake off those badbeats, it's all part of the game! One word of advice, playing in large money rooms most definitely increases the probability of collusion, etc. Stay in smaller priced rooms and enjoy yourself. Don't quit your day jobs either! I can be yelled at, PaulsGTO@adelphia.net

Gareth
April 4, 2005
I have only played at Party Poker so far. But was considering Poker Stars. The card dealing on all sites seems odd at times (Thats poker) but having measured it on Party Poker (Over 1,500 hands)it is about spot on with probability. None of the 4 aces losing to a royal flush nonsense. Only gripe about Party poker was paying up on affiliate accounts. Still owe me over $1,000 and making loads of excuses as to why not to release the money. (Your players have not given us enough money yet!) Any more stories on PP failing to pay up?

a4pointdude
March 25, 2005
i want to get into the tpokerstars game but i cant not because it says there is already a name in this game but i have never olayed this before and i want to my name is leai

PDKeesee
March 18, 2005
I am still skeptical about online poker in general and this includes pokerstars. I have won tourneys here which paid a few thousand dollars, but I have also seem some really crazy beats. Today I flopped nut flush just to lose big pot to 4 of kind on river, two hands later I flopped nut strait just to lose to full house on river and it was the same guy who won the pot both times. And those were just two hands. But they just happened to be the two biggest hands I played all day. Same thing happened day before had two straits both for 50+ dollar pots both cracked by river flush, both flushes caught by same player, but consisted of 4 flush cards on the board by time river came. also witnessed 4 of kind aces being beaten by royal flush. I like their software, and have been a loyal supporter so far, but this bad beats and lucky draws are starting to wear on me and make me wonder. When I first started playing alot I won alot. This is when I won tourneys and ring games. Now I cant seem to win much at all. Ohh I get a couple hundred dollars up then the bottom falls out. Just makes me wonder a bit. Not sure how much I am going to continue to play there or at any other online site for that matter. I have slacked off quite a bit lately and I am thinking of just keeping it live from now on.

BaWlZ
March 9, 2005
I agree with the people above when they say that the software is rigged to give people better flops. I'd have a better chance of winning the super7 then hitting 4 of a kind twice in one tourney. The rigging of this software is done so that poker stars can get more money going into the pot so the rake is higher thus giving them more money. Unfortunately, this isn't entirely accurate/realistic. A real downer :( I'll certainly never play for real money on poker stars, not with this software.

The Joke's on Me
March 8, 2005
JokerStars, not PokerStars. Many of my friends have signed up for accounts, but all have been smarter than me and have since removed their accounts. I am still on, fighting, in hopes that I will win big enough so that I can cash out happy. This site rips you off. There is no way in hell that you can lose to multiple full houses, straights, AND flushes...all in a single session. STAY AWAY from this site. Pacific Poker is a much better site if you are looking to make any real money. The players there are generally loose.

mrjaguar
March 2, 2005
DO NOT PLAY HERE. this is the worst site I know, their software is rigged to produce "action flops" all designed to get your money in and increase the rake. Oh...and just in case your wondering they can close your account at any time without warning and without paying you any moneys due...i know. they have one office in the UK and other is in greece...so legal action is all but impossible to regain your stolen funds. they dont even get a one rating but they dont have a 0 on here!!DO NOT PLAY ON POKERSTARS...DO NOT PLAY ON POKERSTARS THEY ARE CROOKS AND THIEVES...email me if you need the details

Unregistered
March 2, 2005
Stealing Your Money Make Them Regulate

Orbit333
February 24, 2005
Just started playing yesterday, logged several hours on it so far. Well, one thing it has classy software. Was very easy to navigate around seemed to be a solid server. Play was consistent with what you would expect from average/good players. Not a lot of maniacs which was nice. You can play solid poker here and not get burned. Site has great looking graphics and you can manuever around the site with ease. Everything looks so crisp and professional. Beats the look and feel of Party/Empire by a long shot. Since this was my first day I cannot evaluate customer service, tournaments (although they sure have a lot of them), etc. A very pleasant experience and I will continue to go back to PokerStars often.

riray.
February 7, 2005
Software and ease of use is a 10...the rating is downgraded by the "random" card draw. It seems the site has a slot machine mentality when it comes to whether you win or not. I play mostly tourneys, and I always go on streaks of losing every time to winning every time, determined by which side of the 2-outers on the river you are on after all-in bets. Would not recommend to the good player, too much luck involved at this site, the worse you play, the more you get paid off.

_DHL_ masterydiver
January 29, 2005
I have played at other poker sites and feel pokerstars is the best, however im now having problems signing on to pokerstars. I deleted pokerstars from my computer and did a re-download, but now everytime i try to open the pokerstars icon a screen apears with the words "internet conectivity failure", what does this mean and how do i get back on pokerstars???? I've tried everything

jools101
January 18, 2005
playing there as i type this out. All i can say about the freerolls is they last a really long time 6hrs + . Then you get entered into the next game which is a different game than the one you won to get there for only $100. But its still a fun site

prankster35
January 6, 2005
There is no poker site better than pokerstars...pokerstars is the best. i've played on many sites including party poker, pacific poker, absolute poker...etc..and they do not even come close. pokerstars has the best tourn and sit & go play, they have the lowest stakes to the highest stakes, the site is amazing compared to the other crappy sites. i really don't understand why party poker would have more players...trust me, if u play on pokerstars you will not play on any other site again. The site is also very organized, making it easy to find the table you are looking for. this is the site for true poker players.

cheeseman67
January 1, 2005
Pokerstars is unrealistic. The percentage of hands won on the river is unbelievable. guys pulling inside straights and four card flushes. Sometimes I think the order of the cards are predetermined. I think aftermy bankroll is depleted I will look to another site. If you like to chase hands this is the site for you.

yjzep
December 30, 2004
The ppl cryin about bad beats need to realize that its not some scheme of the site. With tens of thousands of players do you really think that they care if you or someother monkeyfish wins that 40 dollar pot? if that player loses and dont come back, someone else will fill their place. The reason for the bad beats is that tons of terrible poker players with no respect for the odds(and seemingly their own $!!) will call you to the 91st river with a stupid inside straight draw even in the face of an ace or worse. These same people wouldnt dare show their faces in a B&M cardroom. Try playing high stakes or a decent buy in tourney and these beats decrease drastically as most bad rec players will be out of their league. Ive been in some intensely tight games, and seen(and-i admit it)pushed on some really big cheese. Thats poker though. And no, I am not a winning player who is satisfied, I am down right now. I just think that they have enough buisiness with the moneymaker/raymer connection on espn every night, and wouldnt go through that much to bad beat you out of a tiny pot to keep 1 small limit player.

roseypalmer
December 29, 2004
i can not stay connected on this site to save my life. the support is also terrible. try party poker or ultimate bet if you want a site with alot of players.

bustyafool
December 29, 2004
lube your but with vasoline and bend over cause they will hit ya were the good lord split ya ! the software on this site is the worst iv come across yet.

KaNgOL
December 29, 2004
Davishi, the reason you saw all those winning hands and no high cards or pairs win is because its play money and everybody calls the whole way with anything..if no one ever folded 72 or 95 or whatever than every hand youd see more straights, flushes and boats..

big fan m.s.83
December 21, 2004
This is has got to be one of the most realistic poker sites on the web. The different number of availble tourneys, sit 'n' go's, heads up, play money, satellites etc... Theres something for everyone. good site

Davishi
December 10, 2004
I'm assuming that the cards dealt are the same in play money as in real money. If this is true, then this Poker program is ridiculous. I've just played about 2 hours of this with play money, and let me recount to you the last 11 winning hands...four of a kind sevensthree of a kind sixestwo pair aces and jackstwo pair kinds and jacksstraight ten to acethree of a kind ninestwo pair four and fivestwo pair seven and tensstraight ten to aceflush spade high card acetwo pair kings and jacks I have not seen anyone win with a pair of something, or a high card (and i know this because the winners always show their hands because there are other peeps still in at the end), and four of a kinds occur almost every fifteen minutes. I'm sorry, but no way is my real money going to be fueling this unreal card dealing machine.

runtmc30
December 9, 2004
This site is the worst. It seems to reward bad play. Players that play a 49 or 5T offsuit are consistently rewarded with running straights or running trips. You can do everything right (flop top pair, bet it on the flop and turn and then get sucked out by someone playing a junk hand - this happened to me 3 times in 5 hands). It seems like they encourage and frequently reward this type of play to draw more people into the pot, thus guaranteeing larger rakes. And all these type of beats started happening to me after I started withdrawing my winnings. Winning on site is a byproduct of luck more than skill. This site is pure evil.

daniel, dan, dannyw2252
December 5, 2004
i like the site, it has good software and alot of nice tournys. they could fix a coouple of things like the bad beats( u should never lose wiht 4 of a kind more then once in your life i have done 3 times on this site) and the people that work toghter at sit and goes they have to fix that

AstroHeader
December 1, 2004
They still rule the online poker world. They have class and follow through on payouts. More than I can say for other sites, hmmm hmmm Party?? hmmm hmmm Sorry got bad payouts caught in my throat.

Storer52
November 28, 2004
too many bad beats

ShaZongVang
November 27, 2004
Good poker site. One of my favorites. Good tourneys and poker play. Also you can add a picture. Good stuff. A+

Doc3
November 26, 2004
Great Site probably one of my favorites. Only problem I see is the tournaments can get way too large and Im not talking about the freerolls but the actual money tournaments. Yah its great if you place, but competing against 1K to 3K of players is ridiculous. Otherwise theres not much else to complain about.

mitch
November 11, 2004
i do not like the 9 player tables ithink 10 or 6 would be better. i would like to see cheaper tables. and a help card for learners. but the games are all great. and the wait time is short if you want a game. i also do not like having to play multi turnies if i am in one and the other starts i want a choice to cancle the latter.

the truth
October 25, 2004
Good software which encourages good players to the site which makes for lousy ring games. Not a good place for beginners or those trying to build a bankroll.

vegasholdem.tripod.com
October 16, 2004
decent site; could be better if they had minitabs.

jew
October 16, 2004
i turned 1 dollar into over 4,000. doesnt that say enough? its easy as hell to make thousands

zagmar
October 5, 2004
by far the best poker room i have played at. the only problem is that the site is full of sore losers. more so than other poker sites. great graphics. recommend for everyone, except people that cant deal with losing their money!!!

ToeJamX
October 4, 2004
Great site, trying to win real cash through freerolls is an impossible task though. If ps would do something like ultimatebet's jackpot this site would be the best there is. The player's here are very, very tough. I put in 100 real dollars about three weeks ago and have managed to turn that into 500, but it's been a slow go. One other thing I've noticed is the winning/losing streaks. I guess that's the way the game goes, but I've played for 6 straight hours in a split game, and not won a single pot. Then again, I've won 15 (no lie) pots in a row in an 8 player game. This seems a bit strange to me.

K0beace
September 23, 2004
great site, only thing is the one accont per somputer and the bad beats

lyle
September 14, 2004
great all around, but without warning or explanation my plaing privledges were revoked.

puritania
August 21, 2004
Nice graphics, but i have never had this many bad beats for huge pot sizes.

wenturi2
July 20, 2004
For anyone who says that pokerstars players are the best, they are way off. The best players may come from pokerstars, but they are rare in the field. Plus both WSOP winners aren't even considered good players on pokerstars. Pokerstars sends such a huge field they are bound to get the winners. The worst players are also on pokerstars bc it is so popular. Ultimate bet has the most experienced players overall. For multi table tourneys, Pokerstars is by far #1.

chitowncubs
July 16, 2004
I would have to say Pokerstars.com #1 in my book. I've played at so many sites its unreal. They offer so many different tourneys. Which include freerolls , rebuys , WSOP etc.. They have about 3 freerolls each day. They are nice , but way to hard to win. So many people. Like 6000 + each freeroll and the only thing u get is top 9 to another tourney. Not a good deal. They have alot of tables starting at pennys going up to like 100/200 the high rollers. Just an A++ site.

evilhemp76
July 16, 2004
I like pokerstars. But a few details bother me. Like absolute poker, they only let you change your pic once,which i dont understand. They only allow one account per computer which baffles me also. They dont let you cancel your first account either if you want to start a new one. Good cards dont seem to matter because pokerstars has the most bad beats ive ever seen on a poker site. Pokerstars has good promos,freerolls and decent software and support. To bad they dont fix the minor problems and give the user more control over their account.

Unregistered
July 13, 2004
Great support, good software, OK games as they are full of very good players which makes things tough.

kk.
July 7, 2004
Everyone's favorite. The best interface and best customer service. Tons of reloads. The only reason i dont give it a 10 is because the players here are the best online. This is bad if you want to make money. It is goo dif you want to develop skills and move your game to a higher level (the last 2 WSOP champs came from Stars)

stupid joe
July 2, 2004
where is a good place for freerolls? thanks in advance i like pokerstars, but they pulled my chat priv without a warning

james
June 19, 2004
THIS IS THE BEST SITE ON THE NET. I UESED TO PLAY AT PARTYPPOKER But now i play at pokerstars because of the freerolls. I mean i won a freeroll. Then won the tourney that i got in to free. And i got a 100 dollars. Ive turned that 100 dollars into 18000. Partpoker do not have freerolls. They have multi table play money tourneys. Where if u win all u get is like 12000 dollars in playmoney. That weak. Parypoker is garbage compared to Pokerstars. JAMES P.S 4 OUT OF THE FINAL 9 AT THE 2004 WSOP CAME FROM POKERSTARS. THAT STANDS FOR SOMETHING. NEARLY HALF THE FINAL TABLE CAME FROM POKERSTARS. WHAT GREAT PLAYERS THEY HAVE.

PokerFoos
May 27, 2004
There are so many players here, it is a royal pain to enter any of the freerolls. You are competing against 3000 people, and then the top 9 get free entry into another tournament at the end of the week. Often, this tournament is a different game than the one you beat to get to it. Needless to say, it takes a long time to play in a freeroll here. One cool thing is you can upload your own picture and everyone at the table sees it. If you are looking for freerolls, look elsewhere.

MasterMmmm
May 25, 2004
I have to say that I havce not played too many sites, but this is definitely the best by far.

Phil McCracken
May 15, 2004
EXCELLENT site, great tournaments

Tom Delgado
PokerStars March 4, 2004
Software is excellent, there are good freeroll tournaments every few hours, and I enjoy the overall atmosphere of the pokerroom. EXCELLENT site.