Poker Forums

No, not a whinge about anything, just something that occurred to me as I was tidying up my hard drive.

When I first started playing online poker, I had, something like five royal flushes in the first month or so and a couple more in the weeks that followed.   Unlikely, I know, but that's kind of the point.I've had none since, and only one straight flush. In fact I think I've only seen 2.

So does this show that online poker is rigged, trying to get me excited and tempt me deeper into it's sticky arms? Not to me it doesn't.

I've got screenshots of two of the the royals and they are prime examples of why a bad player is more likely to see a big hand than a better one. I've not got the full hand history for either, but in both cases, it's clear that I was chasing a flush/straight draw when I had nothing else going for me and a better pair potentially out there.

Not always wrong, but back then I don't think anything would shake me off a hand like that. These days then I'd hope there were situations that I could lay those hands down. (note I say could - I'm still playing freerolls mostly, so would is a different matter).

Hey, yep, I hear ya! Just wanted to say that the other day I played a terrible player who kept getting great hands....I guess it all boils down to coincidence...but enough to royally 'pyss' ya off!

By the way, I can't believe you had 5 royal flushes in one month... in the year's I've been playing I've only seen one opponent come up with one.....truly rare!

Hi, I got a royal flush six months ago. But does it count when you are already all-in after the turn, you have a flush which is beating a pair of kings with an A kicker, and the river ices your cake, royally speaking?

Me: J-10c
Opponent: A-Ks

Flop: Qc-??-Kc
Turn: 7c
River: Ac

I only remember because I didn't shut up about it for about two weeks. That was the first one I'd ever seen but SINCE THEN I've seen no less than five other royal flushes, including one I dealt that beat two full houses!

But getting back to the topic, the last one I saw involved an amateur in a 9-handed $20 pub cash game, maybe three weeks ago. The flop was K-J-10 suited. Two people raise. He goes all in. Everyone folds. He shows royal. He had two people raising into him and he went all in, picking up a whole lot of calls and minimum raises. No one could believe it, in fact the first guy that raised was seriously contemplating calling (I don't know what he had). I told this winner that he'll never, ever get a better hand in poker. He didn't really seem to mind.. and he was out two hands later.

Bad players getting better hands is riduculously unlikely over the long run. Just because you got five royals early in your playing time is no reason whatsoever to expect this to continue. On average, they happen once in every X hands, with X being a large number. So with variance, some people will get more in a short span, but the rate will regress toward the mean.