Free Poker

Online poker has gotten a bad rap over the last few years. Media stories of irresponsible teenagers bypassing age verification efforts and losing thousands on their parents credit cards or getting swindled out of millions in online poker deals gone bad are seemingly common on the radio and TV. The fact is that there are a lot of myths that surround online poker. Most of which are false or highly exaggerated by anti-gambling interest groups. In this article we will separate fact from fiction.

Myth: Online Poker is illegal

Truth: In the United States there is no federal legislation in effect that makes playing online poker illegal. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that was passed a few short years ago only holds provisions over the gambling sites themselves and the financial transactions they enter in the American marketplace. Recently legislation has been proposed to repeal this act and actually completely legalize a regulated online poker industry inside the borders of the United States.

Myth: Online poker is rigged for people to lose

Truth: This is one of the most far-fetched poker myths out there. The poker site themselves have literally zero interest in who wins or who loses on their tables. As far as revenue goes the only money they make is the small fee taken from each pot known as the “rake”. On top of that, the majority of online poker rooms are independently inspected by 3rd party gaming regulating organizations to test the sites’ random number generators. This ensures a random deal of cards and the overall fairness of the games.

Myth: Most online poker tables have cheaters or robots on the tables

Truth: Like most myths out there, a myth in itself is usually an exaggeration of some sort of true story. There have been isolated reports of bots that are used to play on online poker tables. Fortunately the game of poker is so complex that these bots rarely if ever make any money and are usually immediately found and banned by the poker rooms. If you feel you have been cheated playing online poker contact the support or security teams of the room and they will get to the bottom of it. If there is evidence of cheating you will be given a full refund of your losses.

Myth: Poker is gambling. You’ll always lose money in the long run

Truth: Poker is a game of skill…period. The reason why you see the same players making final tables on ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker and other televised events is because they are good! If poker was simply random gambling then you wouldn’t see these same people over and over again. Is there some level of gambling in poker? Of course there is. No amount of skill makes you immune from bad luck, but if you make the correct mathematical decisions while playing poker you can and will make money over the long haul.

Myth: Once you cashout money you start losing

Truth: This is what’s known as the cashout curse and it’s far from true. The reason this myth probably seems true for some people is that most players cashout money when they are ahead. It only makes sense that if you have a big string of good luck that the pendulum will swing back the other way eventually. There is no “cashout curse”. Again it would be bad for business for the poker sites to employ such tactics.