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At a recent televised poker game, Mike Matusow relayed a story about how he and Howard Lederer were discussing the RNG (Random Number Generator) after a player on Fulltilt said Mike should talk to support about how bad the RNG is on the site. Matusow, not knowing what the RNG was, asked Howard Lederer what they meant by RMG.
Mike said, “What is that, the Random Money Generator?” to which Howard laughed and replied, “no they mean the Random Number Generator – RNG.”
Although Howard and Mike (both principles/owners/board members at Full Tilt poker) got a good laugh out of Mike’s misnomer, as the old saying goes, no truer words were ever spoken in jest.
Mike making jokes about the Random Money Generator may be a lot closer to the truth than a random NUMBER generator!
Why? You may ask, it is well known that many online poker sites deliver constant bad beats and players are constantly screaming online poker is rigged! However, the truth behind all of this is also well known as the FullTilt RNG flaw.
In an effort to curtail cheating and collusion, the software developers of FullTilt (as well as many other pokersites) have implemented anti-cheating and anti-collusion software. It is that software that actually makes determinations about hand showdowns and who will win a pot.
The algorithms take the fairness and skill out of the game and turn the online poker game into a lottery. This is the reason it is often difficult to make a good play that works in a live game or explains often why nobody willing folds to their draws.
If you know you are going to make a flush or straight, would you fold?
The fact is that certain hands win more often online then they do in real life. For example, straights and flushes are made in a much higher frequency online than in live play. Furthermore, because of the algorithms, more ‘draw heavy’ boards are dealt out, keeping the action to a maximum effect.
It is not coincidence that Matusow would call the RNG a Random Money Generator, simply because that is what it comes down to. Mike, along with Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey (among other pro’s) all have a stake in Full Tilt and all receive sizable compensation from the poker site.
Of course, there must be a question as to whether the algorithms used can be subverted to an advantage by players if they know what to look for. The answer is YES! If you understand the algorithm and the patterns used by the software, you then have the ability to win based on the use of that algorithm.
Of course, many experienced and professional players will claim there is nothing unusual, and that the sites are dealing truly random decks. They prefer to blame their bad beats and poor performance on bad players who pick off their bluffs and call them down chasing.
Listen up! It is not the bad players! Online Poker is rigged by a computer program which is easily manipulated by the site or by any intelligent player that knows how it works. I personally believe the online poker sites should revert back to the software they were using before the anti-cheating and anti-collusion programs, at least then you knew when you won you were winning because of your skill!
Nevertheless, since the poker sites are not willing to make changes in their practice, the only viable option is for players to learn the way the algorithms work, and level the playing field back in our favor! On the other hand you can keep playing the sites as always and hope nobody sucks out on you, as Mike and Howard laugh it off about your contribution to their Random MONEY Generator!
Read more about Discovering the algorithms used in online Poker