Manipulated platforms

leomarinho · Jun 12, 2026

Hey guys do you know if there are or have there ever been manipulated poker platforms that the player can't win or is this an urban legend? hahahahah

Snake2007 · Jun 12, 2026

I believe that everything these days is manipulated, especially gambling.

Bakti213 · Jun 12, 2026

leomarinho said:
Hey guys do you know if there are or have there ever been manipulated poker platforms that the player can't win or is this an urban legend? hahahahah

I think it's a fact too

G0930 · Jun 12, 2026

leomarinho said:
Hey guys do you know if there are or have there ever been manipulated poker platforms that the player can't win or is this an urban legend? hahahahah

Yes pokerrooms been acused of fraud in the past.

Full Tilt Poker:
Indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 for bank fraud and money laundering during the infamous "Black Friday" crackdown. The DOJ later revealed that the company operated a Ponzi-like scheme, with executives secretly taking millions of dollars in player funds for themselves and leaving the site unable to pay out its players.

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker:
These sister sites were at the center of massive "superuser" or "God Mode" scandals. Insiders and executives used illicit software to see opponents' hole cards in real time, effectively defrauding players out of more than $20 million

Pokerstars was also accused but they cleared their name , bought Full Tilts debts to players, offered them to import their FullTilt accounts to Pokerstars and refunded millions to players

fundiver199 · Jun 12, 2026

G0930 said:
Full Tilt Poker:
Indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 for bank fraud and money laundering during the infamous "Black Friday" crackdown. The DOJ later revealed that the company operated a Ponzi-like scheme, with executives secretly taking millions of dollars in player funds for themselves and leaving the site unable to pay out its players.

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker:
These sister sites were at the center of massive "superuser" or "God Mode" scandals. Insiders and executives used illicit software to see opponents' hole cards in real time, effectively defrauding players out of more than $20 million

Neither of these scandals were about a "manipulated platform". One was, as you say, a Ponzi-like scheme (meaning deposits were put at risk), and the other was a case of some employees cheating in the game. A similar scandal has also happened recently on GG Poker, with the only difference being, that the cheaters were not working for GG Poker but were somehow able to hack into the system and see equities before showdown.

hardongear · Jun 12, 2026

G0930 said:
Yes pokerrooms been acused of fraud in the past.

Full Tilt Poker:
Indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 for bank fraud and money laundering during the infamous "Black Friday" crackdown. The DOJ later revealed that the company operated a Ponzi-like scheme, with executives secretly taking millions of dollars in player funds for themselves and leaving the site unable to pay out its players.

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker:
These sister sites were at the center of massive "superuser" or "God Mode" scandals. Insiders and executives used illicit software to see opponents' hole cards in real time, effectively defrauding players out of more than $20 million

Pokerstars was also accused but they cleared their name , bought Full Tilts debts to players, offered them to import their FullTilt accounts to Pokerstars and refunded millions to players

Never played much at Full-Tilt so actually didn't have any money on their when that went down but enjoyed watch the epic battles between the high stakes guys. What I time to be alive man. Tons of respect for Pokerstars for that move as they didn't have to do nothing. Sad how Pokerstars ended up after being sold but still the site I trust and respect the most partly for this plus my 21+ year history there with zero issues.

Loved UB so a big F**K YOU too Russ Hamilton you POS for ruining it for the rest of us.

Cheers!!!

G0930 · Jun 12, 2026

fundiver199 said:
Neither of these scandals were about a "manipulated platform".

Since when is god Mode/ superuser not some kind of manipulation? 😅

G0930 · Jun 12, 2026

hardongear said:
Never played much at Full-Tilt so actually didn't have any money on their when that went down but enjoyed watch the epic battles between the high stakes guys.

Haha me too. I maybe lost 50c I won in freerolls

hardongear said:
What I time to be alive man. Tons of respect for Pokerstars for that move as they didn't have to do nothing. Sad how Pokerstars ended up after being sold but still the site I trust and respect the most partly for this plus my 21+ year history there with zero issues.

👍🏼 Also my number go to for over 15 years.
Times change...I still have the PS account but use it rarely.
Won more at GG in 3 years anyways than in all the time at PS .
Highly possible I just sucked for the first decade playing online poker 😅🤣

moraeskvmi · Jun 12, 2026

Sometimes the problem might be where you click the buttons.

hardongear · Jun 12, 2026

G0930 said:
Haha me too. I maybe lost 50c I won in freerolls

👍🏼 Also my number go to for over 15 years.
Times change...I still have the PS account but use it rarely.
Won more at GG in 3 years anyways than in all the time at PS .
Highly possible I just sucked for the first decade playing online poker 😅🤣

Yeah I currently don't have anything in Pokerstars either kinda on a break but have just over $50 sitting in both GG and WPT that's been in both quite awhile now. Currently with summer here not much desire to play much.

Haha well there is a lot to be said for experience and no offense meant at all Pokerstars maybe not what it once was but the players their are some of the toughest to be found anywhere no matter what stakes one plays. I consider myself very very very lucky to still able to be a winning player. Not sure I can still win at 50nl full-ring thou it's been a bit.....but I still hold my own in longer blind MTT's and up too 10nl full-ring. I find both WPT and GG softer then Pokerstars but then you're talking over 400k in traffic at G G so I'd expect it to be softer. No idea why WPT is softer with their small traffic....I'd think they'd be more like Pokerstars and tougher.

With that said I'll give a shout-out to the CC Freerolls on WPT....their tougher then WPT MTT's up tooo $5 buy-ins

. This forum has pretty decent players in it's freerolls. Tbf my sample size in both freerolls and buy-in events is pretty small only recently in the past year started playing there.

Cheers!!!

G0930 · Jun 12, 2026

hardongear said:
experience and no offense meant at all Pokerstars maybe not what it once was but the players their are some of the toughest to be found anywhere no matter what stakes one plays.

In some games maybe yes.

hardongear said:
I consider myself very very very lucky to still able to be a winning player. Not sure I can still win at 50nl full-ring thou it's been a bit.....but I still hold my own in longer blind MTT's and up too 10nl full-ring. I find both WPT and GG softer then Pokerstars but then you're talking over 400k in traffic at G G so I'd expect it to be softer.

👍🏼

hardongear said:
No idea why WPT is softer with their small traffic....I'd think they'd be more like Pokerstars and tougher.

Lol yeah I wish I could play there. Isn't available in Austria

hardongear said:
With that said I'll give a shout-out to the CC Freerolls on WPT....their tougher then WPT MTT's up tooo $5 buy-ins . This forum has pretty decent players in it's freerolls

Definetly ! I regularely am in the top 10% in micro mtts with thousands of players
But beating just 50 from CC is actually much tougher.
I appreciate that competitive environment 👍🏼

hardongear said:
. Tbf my sample size in both freerolls and buy-in events is pretty small only recently in the past year started playing there.

Cheers!!!

Try the daily freebies at GG . Honestly never been easier to built a bankroll from zero.
I especially like the Mystery Battle royale games.
Close to 10K winnings in them..
Almost twice as much than I won in MTTs so far

fundiver199 · Jun 12, 2026

G0930 said:
Since when is god Mode/ superuser not some kind of manipulation? 😅

Its players cheating not the site itself being rigged or “manipulated”.

Alex Houngan · Jun 12, 2026

Whenever someone loses a huge pot to a player with only 2 outs, the first thought is always that the RNG must be rigged. It's hard to say whether some platforms have ever been manipulated, but bad beats happen everywhere. Even in live poker you can see absolutely crazy hands, and in those moments you could just as easily start thinking the dealer is involved somehow. Most of the time, though, variance is simply brutal.

anbu210 · Jun 12, 2026

There have been cases of unlicensed or dishonest poker sites over the years, but they are the exception, not the rule.

Most major, licensed poker rooms rely on player trust and undergo audits of their RNGs and security systems.
When players feel they "can't win," it's usually because of variance, tough competition, poor bankroll management, or simply not playing a winning strategy.

That said, I would avoid unknown or unregulated sites and stick to reputable platforms with a long track record.

In my opinion, the bigger concern today isn't rigged cards—it's things like bots, collusion, and RTA tools, which legitimate sites actively try to detect and remove. ♠️

bremp555 · Jun 12, 2026

I think there have definitely been shady operators in gambling history, but the idea that major poker sites are secretly programmed so players can’t win doesn’t really hold up.

A platform only survives if winning players exist and withdrawals keep happening. Usually what feels “rigged” is the combination of huge volume, faster dealing, and variance hitting harder online than live.

That said, I do think it’s healthy to play on established sites, keep records, and trust data over emotions. If after 100k hands something looks impossible, investigate. After 500 hands… it’s usually just poker doing poker things 😄

marco198121 · Jun 12, 2026

I saw something absurd yesterday with an idiot going all in with 7-3 in the blind that I've never seen before, but until proven otherwise, there are no premeditated things in the systems.

veszmo · Jun 12, 2026

I don't have a firm opinion. Logically, manipulation makes no sense, but sometimes interesting things happen.

Jyco · Jun 12, 2026

I think there have probably been cases of manipulation at some point, whether intentional or not. Sometimes past errors or technical issues may have created situations that looked suspicious.

That said, I’d recommend sticking to well-established poker sites. That way, you don’t have to constantly worry or be paranoid about whether everything is manipulated. The major platforms have a lot more scrutiny and a lot more to lose if something were unfair.

machinm19 · Jun 12, 2026

The only one I can think of is Ultimate bet where their was a group of employees and contacts who could see everybodys cards and used this advantage to fleece users but that site closed years ago.

A kiravio · Jun 12, 2026

Snake2007 said:
I believe that everything these days is manipulated, especially gambling.

In any game someone has to win, does the winner have something special 🤔 or are we getting into incredible theories? You know...

Magnacarta · Jun 12, 2026

leomarinho said:
Hey guys do you know if there are or have there ever been manipulated poker platforms that the player can't win or is this an urban legend? hahahahah

Do you mean that its actually rigged or are you referring to the way a game plays in comparison to in real life because it is a simulation? For example straights feel way more likely to happen on online platforms than in real life but this is purely anecdotal coming from me

Sunz of Beaches · Jun 12, 2026

moraeskvmi said:
Sometimes the problem might be where you click the buttons.

What?

leomarinho · Jun 12, 2026

G0930 said:
Yes pokerrooms been acused of fraud in the past.

Full Tilt Poker:
Indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 for bank fraud and money laundering during the infamous "Black Friday" crackdown. The DOJ later revealed that the company operated a Ponzi-like scheme, with executives secretly taking millions of dollars in player funds for themselves and leaving the site unable to pay out its players.

Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker:
These sister sites were at the center of massive "superuser" or "God Mode" scandals. Insiders and executives used illicit software to see opponents' hole cards in real time, effectively defrauding players out of more than $20 million

Pokerstars was also accused but they cleared their name , bought Full Tilts debts to players, offered them to import their FullTilt accounts to Pokerstars and refunded millions to players

O fato de algumas salas terem sido pegas fraudando jogadores no passado mostra que desconfiança não é teoria da conspiração. Isso não prova que plataformas atuais sejam manipuladas, mas prova que fiscalização, transparência e auditorias independentes são essenciais para a confiança dos jogadores

leomarinho · Jun 12, 2026

I agree that these are different cases, but for the player the main point remains the same: the integrity of the game has been compromised. Whether by employees, hackers, or the company itself, the result is that people played without fair conditions.

leomarinho · Jun 12, 2026

Sunz of Beaches said:
What?

I didn't understand it either

Manipulated platforms

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