I was trawling the player forums earlier and came across an interesting discussion about online sites being rigged and bad beats etc. Apart from such claims being slightly moronic (we are regulated), one user posted this, its a quote from one Roy Rounder.

There are two types of bad beats:

BAD BEAT #1…

When you catch a monster hand but lose to a BIGGER
monster hand.

For example, let’s say you’re holding pocket Aces
and the flop hits A-6-6. That means you’ve got a
full house.

Your opponent goes ALL-IN… and you call. You
think your Aces are the best hand but they’re NOT,
because your opponent has pocket sixes, which
gives him the four-of-a-kind.

BAD BEAT #2…

When YOU have the best hand and your opponent has
the WORST hand but your opponent GETS LUCKY and
wins the pot.

For example, let’s say you have pocket Aces and go
all-in. Your opponent calls with pocket three’s.

The flop hits 2-4-5 and the turn card is a 6,
giving your opponent the STRAIGHT and causing you
to lose the hand.

Now that’s a bad beat.

And let’s face it, the SECOND type of bad beat–
the one where your opponent gets totally LUCKY and
outdraws you– is the kind of beat that just plain
SUCKS. And ****es you off.

In fact, the second type of bad beat is the kind
you REMEMBER the most too. When someone says, “Hey
man, how did your card game go?”, the first thing
that will come out of your mouth will be the story
of that bad beat.

Am I right?

Now here’s what’s interesting…

MORE BAD BEATS HAPPEN IN ONLINE POKER THAN IN
“REGULAR” OFFLINE POKER.

Literally, you’ll see more bad beats happen in an
online poker game than you’ll see at a local cash
game or in a casino.

If you play both online and offline poker, I’m
sure you agree with this statement.

So what’s going on here? Why would it be this way?

There are two popular “theories”…

1. Online poker is rigged.

2. There are more hands per hour, therefore it’s
an ILLUSION that there are more bad beats.

My opinion is that BOTH of these theories are
WRONG.

Here’s why:

First off, I genuinely believe online poker is NOT
rigged. I mean, c’mon… Do you REALLY think these
multi-billion dollar casinos would need to RIG
hands?

They make their money from tournament entry fees
and rakes… and trust me, they’re making plenty.

OK, so what about the second theory?

Well, I do agree that there are more hands per
hour in online poker than offline poker. There’s
no disputing that.

But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason…

Because my belief is that there are MORE bad beats
that happen per X number of hands ONLINE than for
offline poker.

For instance, let’s say you played 100 hands. And
let’s say you caught two really bad beats for
every 100 hands at a casino. That’s 2%.

In online poker, you’re likely to catch FIVE or
even TEN of those really bad beats per 100 hands.
That’s 5-10%.

So the fact that you’re seeing MORE hands doesn’t
explain the HIGHER PERCENTAGE of bad beats.

Still with me?

OK, so now let me give you MY “theory” about this.

It’s not really a theory. Just good old simple
logic, actually.

Here it goes:

The reason there are more bad beats in ONLINE
poker is because the very NATURE of online poker
leads people to PLAY DIFFERENTLY.

The CARDS and ODDS are the same.

It’s the PLAYERS that aren’t the same.

What I mean is that for online poker, a LARGE
portion of players adopt the style of
LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE.

Translation? Manic.

They act irrationally… play hands they shouldn’t
play… and bet way too aggressively for most
given situations.

Why?

Because online poker isn’t as “real”.

The money isn’t as real. I mean, heck… the
casinos give you so much “free” money when you
sign up, how COULD it feel real?

The cards aren’t real. The chips aren’t real. The
table isn’t real. NONE OF THAT STUFF EVEN EXISTS.

All you see when you play online poker are some
silly little animations. And you hear some
“clickity-click” sounds of fake chips.

That’s it.

Nothing else.

Period.

And if you LOSE a game, all you have to do is make
three or four mouse clicks and you’re INSTANTLY
playing another game.

And hell, you can PLAY ten games at once if you
want!

You can literally play poker against 100 players
AT THE SAME TIME!

It’s a different world, my friend.

Now… let’s get back to the bad beats.

The FACT that players are LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE is what
leads to the SITUATIONS where bad beats happen.

Here’s why:

1. Players bet their draws more or call large bets
with draws or OK hands (i.e. bottom pair).

2. More players are involved in every pot.

3. The pots are bigger, since players are more
aggressive.

When these conditions COMBINE TOGETHER, it creates
an environment where there are a lot of BIG POTS
and bad beats.

It’s not that the cards are “rigged”.

It’s that the betting patterns and playing styles
are DIFFERENT than what you’re used to.

And when you combine that with the fact that you
see more hands per hour, it inevitably leads to
seeing a lot more “crazy” hands and bad beats than
in regular poker.