Legitimate US Poker Rooms
Are There Any Legit Poker Sites Left In The USA?
Online poker is one of the fastest growing online games in the world. The most popular poker game is Texas Hold’em, an action-packed, fast-paced poker game that sees the most action at online poker sites, as well as in the World Series of Poker. Since the onset of online poker, there have always been questions of ethicality and cheating. While this has caused many players to avoid online poker, this has been offset by the astronomical number of players that online poker has managed to attract. By offering the lure of quick money to millions of people in numerous countries all over the world, online poker has exploded into a worldwide industry. But with this explosion came many sites that look to exploit and manipulate software in order to rig the online poker games.
It’s not like cheating at poker is a new occurrence, cheating has been going on as long as the game has been around. From hands played in back-alley bar rooms to the World Series of Poker players, cheating has been an integral part of the world’s most popular card game since its inception.
With the advent of online poker, cheating is a much simpler task of simply changing or adding software code. With a few lines of code added to the system, specific cards can be dealt, hidden, or played. In this article, we will take a look at some of the most common methods that poker sites and poker players use to cheat in order to make money.
How poker sites cheat
There are numerous ways that online poker sites cheat or allow cheating to occur. All online poker sites use a random number generator to determine which cards will be dealt and played. However, some sites have implemented software that allows specific players to see other players’ hole cards. This type of cheating was discovered on several online gambling sites including Absolute Poker and UltimateBet.
Some sites have been caught using a shuffling and dealing algorithm that prevented specific cards from being played, while allowing others. The first online poker site, PlanetPoker, was exposed as using this type of cheat.
Malicious hackers sometimes infiltrate online poker sites, and implement harmful code into the system. This allows them to cheat other players, and win big. If the cheating is discovered, the site takes the responsibility and sometimes the blame.
Software vulnerabilities are another form of cheating, and it can be the most dangerous kind, as it can go undetected by both the site and players. However, if a skilled player notices the flaw, and is able to exploit it, he can have a real advantage over other players that don’t know the exploit exists. Since the site is unaware of the exploit, this type of cheating can go on for long lengths of time. This is why it is critical for online poker sites to employ the services of a reputable security company to perform vulnerability scans and penetration tests.
Player cheating
Many times it’s not the poker site that is cheating, but players. While most reputable online poker sites have software that is developed to catch and prevent cheating from happening, many sites have become overwhelmed by the number of cheaters, as well as their sophisticated cheating methods, and are unable to do anything about it.
The inability or unwillingness to stop multi-accounting allows cheating to occur. This is actually one of the common types of cheating, as it allows users to create multiple accounts. Then the player will position several of his accounts at the same table, and use these hands to control the action. Any new players that join the table will be taken advantage of, and will most likely lose their money as they are attempting to play against multiple accounts that are working together.
Most online poker sites have very little incentive to prevent cheaters from playing, as cheaters pay rake fees also, which keeps a supply of money coming in for the house. If a site completely eliminates cheating, the cheaters simply leave, and start playing at a site which does not have such strictly-enforced policies. In this way, sites can actually lose money, which leaves little incentive for the site to keep cheaters from playing the game.
Safe poker sites
While there is no guarantee that any online poker sites are totally legit, there are some that have been examined and labeled as legit by outside analysts. Take for instance PokerStars, which is the world’s largest online poker site, and seems to be the most reputable according to online blog and news posts. PokerStars uses an independent, third-party company called Cigital that uses their software to check the validity of the games on the PokerStars site. If the Cigital name sounds familiar, it’s probably because they are the company who cracked the dealing algorithm used by PlanetPoker when they were caught cheating in the earliest days of online poker.
While there are numerous online poker sites, it’s virtually impossible to tell which sites are completely legit. The best method to determine for yourself whether a site is legit or not is to do your homework. Perform a little research on the site, and use search engines to find information about the site. Check forum posts, online blog posts, user complaints, ratings and reviews, and any other material you can find about that specific site. If a high number of users have complained about dishonest dealings, you may wish to avoid that site. The same with a new site that has only recently been created. Look for established sites that have positive reviews, and have been around awhile.
Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker are two additional sites that have been touted as “safe” and “legit” by third-party analysts. As always, you should conduct your own research into determining whether a site is safe by checking reviews and ratings, and searching for positive or negative online posts about the company.
