Integrity Poker

Honest online poker - No Super Users - No fixed games

This brand new site is here to inform of a forthcoming solution to a major problem with online poker

cheating

Do you trust online poker sites?

Are you suspicious about the integrity of online poker?

Do you find it impossible to win consistently online?

Do you suspect that you have been the victim of Poker Super Users - players that can see your pocket cards and the next 5 cards before they are dealt?

Most of all

Do you want to play on a 100% honest site that guarantees no Super Users, no pre programmed outcomes and absolutely no dishonesty.

If you are suspicious about the honesty of online poker then please read on. This site could, and I am determined it will, change your future in the game.

First let me point out that I am not selling anything, I am not offering poker strategy, lessons, ways of cheating or any ‘Get Rich Quick scheme’ aimed at making the seller rich but not you the poker player.

This site, Integrity Poker, offers the most significant breakthrough in online poker since its conception and is for the benefit of all online players. A first class honest poker room in the near future that will eliminate Poker Super Users and will guarantee the integrity of the cards.

No matter what level you are at or how seriously you take the game there is one thing that is absolutely paramount. You need and deserve an honest game, a fair game, and a level paying field. You should be able to have complete faith in the integrity of the game you are playing in. You need to be confident that an unlucky run is exactly that, an unlucky run. You should be confident that no player at your table is computer generated by the site, no player has an unfair advantage and most importantly no player knows what your cards are or what the next card will be before it is dealt.

Surveys have shown that most online players do not trust online poker sites. Lets face it you do not have to be a descendant of Einstein to recognise when something is not quite right.

You may or may not be aware that only a couple of years ago two well known established poker sites, were found to have Super Users playing on their sites. Potripper was one of the username's involved. These Supers User accounts were created, used to steal chips from genuine players then abandoned and new accounts created. They could see the cards of every player at the table and were either playing themselves or supplying the information to an accomplice who was playing. The advantages are obvious and suffice to say they deceived players out of large sums of money.

Several Super User accounts were discovered on this and the sister site. There are links about this on the 'interesting links' page. (Worth a look if you are not already familiar with the case).

So, it has been proven that the technology exists on poker sites for some senior staff or possibly individuals involved in the software development and implementation to use a Super User account that allows them to see all players pocket cards. it has been claimed that this facility is necessary to supervise and check honest game play. I agree that it would be useful and necessary for post game checks. i.e. auditing the game after the hand is finished. But as this technology is available to use during the hand we have to rely on trust that it will not be abused.

Now, I'm sure that 99% of poker site staff are totally honest and totally unaware of any dishonesty occurring on their site. Though it is a real possibility, I am not suggesting that the owners of the sites are dishonest. I suspect that it is skilled technical staff out to make a personal gain or one or two senior staff who benefit proportionately from the sites profits either in wages or bonuses. I do not rule out systematic dishonesty at the highest level in some sites but I doubt it would be the case on the majority of sites.

There is greed, corruption and dishonesty in every walk of life. The current financial crisis has shown just how far some people will go to make money. If the opportunity exists, and we know it does because of the two known cases, then some will take it. 

Or are we to believe that online poker is the only totally honest industry? That an industry worth Billions is completely clean. No corruption, no greed?

Initially I gave the industry the benefit of the doubt. I trusted the claims stating that 'due to regulation and audits all sites had to be honest'. I trusted claims such as 'poker sites make millions so they don't need to cheat their players', and 'they have too much to lose' etc. 

However, after playing over a million hands of online poker it is clear to me that the current levels of regulation and auditing are as ineffective as the worlds financial regulators were in preventing the financial crisis.

I suspect that the two publicised cases of Super Users are just the tip of the ice burg. They were, if the press reports are accurate, only discovered due to an administrative error within the Poker Company when the full player records were sent to the enquiring player. Do you think that these sites or any other for that matter will ever send out the same comprehensive information again?

The rigged game.

Many online players are convinced that the game play itself may well be  manipulated and that the cards are not always being dealt in a fair and random manner.

At present all online poker sites use a Random Number Generator (RDN) to electronically shuffle and deal the cards. They have advanced over recent years so the cards dealt by this method should be totally random as is the case with a real pack of cards. Therefore randomness should not be an issue.

The problem is that they are open to being programmed in an unfair way as indeed slot machines in casinos can be programmed to pay out less than they take in.

It has been alleged that they are programmed so that certain user names, either highly privileged staff members or computer generated players receive more winning hands than genuine players. 

It could be used to give new players and periodically, long term players, winning runs. Its these winning runs that keep players coming back.

Many online players have concerns when they have decent runs where they can build a bank roll only for it to change. This change is usually instant and relentless. A short winning streak becomes a long losing streak where it is virtually impossible to win a hand no matter what they hold. AA, KK, sets, straights, flushes and even full houses are out drawn with unbelievable regularity.

This has happened to me over and over again over the last few years. It is an unmistakable pattern and has nothing to do with the way I play or the decisions I make.

When we deposit our hard earned cash on a poker site we do so in the belief that it is an honest site and that we are playing against other genuine players like us, some good, some bad. We expect to get a balance of the luck and believe that our knowledge of the game will, over time, allow us to have an edge over lesser players. However, for that to happen we need an honest game, an integrity based system that favours no one. 

It only takes one or two dishonest individuals at any site to destroy the integrity of that site and it can happen without the owners and top administrators having any knowledge or involvement.

In fact there does appear to be credible evidence that the big sites are aware of dangers and risks and do take it seriously implementing measures in an attempt to prevent them. I am sceptical at just how effective those measures are.

It does appear to me that no matter how good or how skilled you become you are highly unlikely to make a profit over the long term because your losing runs will always be longer and deeper than your winning runs no matter how well you play. 

If, over all, you are losing, and I believe 99% of online players are, then is it because you are just not very good at poker or are you consistently playing well yet consistently losing.

Depending on your personal experience, your views will lay somewhere between totally trusting to absolutely fixed. My own views are off the scale. Having played over a million hands of online poker at many stake levels I consider myself well qualified to recognise when statistical probability is broken with unrealistic regularity. Not just over a few dozen hands or a few hundred, but over thousands of hands over and over again.

I will explain.

Poker is a relatively simple game to learn. Memorise the hand rankings and you can play poker. However to become a good player you need to master many subtle skills such as:-

Basic poker odds (the statistical likelihood of you hitting your hand when on a draw);

Position (of you and your opponent)

Hand range (yours and your opponents)

Pot odds and Implied odds

EV (expected value)

Raising and re raising

fold equity

Texture of the flop (danger flops), are there visible straight or flush draws;

Bet sizing

When it's relatively safe to slow play and when its not

When you are more likely to be able to bluff successfully

Continuation bets

The power of the check raise and when to use it;

When to bet and when to check the river (value betting and thin value betting)

Identifying the type of players at your table i.e. passive, aggressive, loose or tight; etc and how to adjust your play accordingly.

Your table image and how to benefit from it, i.e. what will be your opponents action based upon their opinion of you.

How to mix it up to confuse.

Maintaining discipline and avoiding tilt after a bad beat or beats.

Bank roll management.

and so on.

In the short and even medium term luck, either good or bad can play a huge role in terms of connecting with the board and the timing of your big hands. 

If no-one else hits a hand or attempts a big bluff then you are unlikely to get paid off with your big hands.

If your opponent keeps flopping two pair, sets, straights, flushes etc. you are going to lose most of those hands. There is nothing suspicious or fixed about that. It's just honest natural variance.

So what is the fuss about?

Over many sessions and thousands of hands luck should pretty much even itself out. Therefore making the right decisions should be a winning strategy over time. It's statistical probability, the likelihood of a particular outcome occurring governed by the Law of Large Numbers (LLN).

For example, If you spin a coin 20 times a perfectly balanced result would be 10 heads and 10 tails. However, we know that is unlikely to happen because natural variance will occur. So we may see a 9/11 or an 8/12 split etc. It would not be surprising to see a 5/15 split over this sample size.

Over much larger sample sizes the statistical variance should reduce significantly and over many thousands of samples it should reduce to less than 2%. Basically, the larger the sample size the more that variance will reduce aligning results closer to a 50/50 split and closer to a 0% variance. (The Law of Large Numbers, LLN). For more information on LLN click the link in the above menu.

It is the LLN that ensures casinos make a profit. European roulette wheels have 37 numbers including the 0 but the house only pays odds of 35 to 1. This gives the house an edge of 2.7% (most U.S. wheels have doubles zero's making 38 numbers which increases the house edge to 5.26%). Now, although gamblers can get lucky over a small to medium number of spins, over time and many thousands of spins the variance will reduce turning the house edge into profit. Which is why in the long run gamblers will lose. (human nature also plays a role).

So what has this got to do with Poker?

As stated, over thousands of hands your good cards and bad cards, lucky runs and unlucky runs, bad beats and good beats should balance out. Basically, poker odds should, over thousands of hands, be very close to statistical expectations. Then your success or failure will purely be down to your ability and skill level in comparison to your opponents. In the long run, making correct decisions based on poker odds and taking into account the rest of the skills listed above should pay off. On an honest site this would be the case.

The whole problem is that in my informed opinion this doesn't happen. Online poker appears to be manipulated. 

The best hand just fails to hold up anywhere near statistical expectations.

There are many good, competent players who are continually losing online not because they are making mistakes or are being outplayed but because they are continually out drawn by weaker hands.  

I have tried raising concerns with some poker sites. They appeared to refuse to accept that there could be any cheating occurring. They refer to unlucky runs and bad beats, inexperienced players getting lucky and variance. They explain that you see more hands online compared to live poker therefore you will experience more bad beats. This is true, but it is all the more reason why poker odds and statistical probability should apply. (Remember LLN, The law of large Numbers). Their explanations cannot come close to justifying what I witness in online poker rooms.

They claim that even if Super Users did exist they would only be operating in high stake games. Well, I believe that is the last place they would operate now. In order to remain under the radar of most of the top experienced players and honest security staff I believe that Super Users now operate across all stake levels except maybe very low or micro stakes. Even using their technology to play low and medium stake cash games or tournaments they can easily reap an annual return in excess of several hundred thousand dollars, pounds or euros.

If the large Poker sites refuse to accept, at least publicly, that cheating, other than collusion, can occur then they are highly unlikely to be able to detect and prevent it.

It's an unfortunate fact that without access to the software and all of the computer records on a site it is extremely difficult for a genuine player to prove they are the victim of dishonest activity. It is easy for them to preach that they are an honest site and that their games are honest and to genuinely believe that their games are honest. That does not at present guarantee that all of their games are in fact honest.

Cash out curse

Many players claim to suffer from relentless bad beats immediately after cashing out. JJ loses to QQ, QQ loses to KK, KK loses to AA, AA loses to a set of 10's, sets of 10' lose to runner runner flush, etc. etc.

Just a coincidence no doubt. The site surely wouldn't do this after players cash out, would they?

Hopefully one day an insider will blow the lid on the corrupt minority within online poker, but in the meantime: 

The solution  

Over a year ago I began researching and planning the launch of a 100% honest poker site.  A superb, user friendly site based on the principals of Honesty, Integrity and Fairness.

It has to be a site where players can have complete confidence that the others at their table are genuine players like themselves. Some good, some not, but none of them having an unfair advantage.

I have a fool proof method, my Integrity Detection System (I.D.S.) of ensuring that Super Users or cheaters cannot operate on Integrity Poker.

I will be able to guarantee that no members of staff or computer programmers involved in the set up or hackers will be able to benefit from being able to see other players cards or by previewing the next 5 cards to be dealt by the number generator. For obvious reasons I cannot elaborate right now but my Integrity Detection System will ensure that all games are honest. Without it running an honest site would just be wishful thinking.

I.D.S will detect anyone using technology to view other players cards or previewing cards before they are dealt and will render this activity fruitless. it will be impossible to profit from this activity even by chip dumping to avoid suspicion. (A Super user accumulates a huge number of chips by cheating then deliberately loses them to an accomplice whom he is in communication with when the accomplice informs him he has a big hand). 

It will work regardless of whether the individual viewing the cards is playing at the table themselves or passing the information to another player by phone. They will be detected.

Therefore, I am confident that many players will notice a difference in their performance on Integrity Poker because some of those bad beats will simply cease to occur. 

Many in the industry claim that 97% of poker players are losing players. This means that only 3% are winning over all. I suspect that it is even less than that for the reasons I have mentioned. Clearly not all players can be winning players, however, I believe that on a totally honest site that figure will increase significantly.

Even where real cards are shuffled and dealt online there is still opportunity for cheating to occur.

Ensuring that the cards dealt have not being pre-programmed or rigged is only half the battle. Computers are still be used to collate and transmit the images of the cards to home computers therefore the possibility for cheating by viewing all cards at the table will exist.

However I.D.S will detect and prevent dishonesty whichever system of dealing is used.

That is why Integrity Poker will have the safest games on the internet coupled with a determination to investigate any allegations of suspicious play with an open mind and a quest for the truth. Transparency will be a priority.

About me

I am a recently retired Police Officer with 30 years experience. I have firm principals based on honesty, integrity and fairness. I hate injustice and would never turn a blind eye in order to profit personally. I am quite a passionate and determined person and have the tenacity to see a job through to the end whatever it takes.

To me integrity is more important than money, although I have always believed that any company that adopts these principals and looks after its customers and staff will prosper. These values are more important than ever if companies want to rebuild trust that the current financial crises has eroded due to individual and corporate greed.

I pride myself on my sense of fairness and common sense and I apply logic to my opinions and decisions. I have not arrived at my conclusions on this site lightly. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I believe Elvis is dead, there is at least a 50% chance we did land on the moon, Kennedy probably was shot by Oswald, and on a serious note the Twin Towers were definitely the work of terrorists and not an inside job to justify the war. 

Oh, and crop circles are the work of man and not aliens.

Reasons why Integrity Poker will be a success

Currently, the large well known poker sites are making tens of millions in profit each year even though surveys have shown that most Poker Players do not trust online sites. That is a substantial number of potential customers for an honest site. I am confident that experienced players will notice a significant improvement in their performance when playing on Integrity Poker as the cards dealt will be as random as they are in a real game, with no manipulation. 

Integrity Poker will offer standards of excellence and game security not seen before in online Poker.

No members of staff will have an opportunity to use Super User accounts to cheat genuine players.

There will be no computer generated players programmed to receive better cards than genuine players or programmed with any other advantage. 

No player will have their username biased or programmed to receive cards from a particular range. 

The random number generator dealing the cards will not be programmed to increase certain outcomes such as KK running into AA or to artificially produce action flops. It will deal honest, totally random cards 365 days a year and not just when an audit is due. 

An INTEGRITY department will supervise, investigate and ensure a fair game for all. This department will be the bedrock of the site and will be personally monitored by me. 

My Integrity Detection System will detect Super Users or anyone previewing the cards regardless of whether they are playing themselves or transmitting the information to another player by phone or internet. It will also ensure randomness of the cards.

Integrity Poker will be more than just a 100% honest site. It will be an attractive playing environment with excellent features, (I promise, there will be no silly gimmicks). 

The tournament structures and their satellites will be among the best available, allowing good players to use their skills while giving new and inexperienced players the chance to develop theirs. Turbo tournaments are little more than lotteries. Although they have their uses, the better structured tournaments (with deep stack and long blind structure) are where you will develop the skills needed to improve your chances of winning or going deep in the big money livetournaments such as the World Series of Poker, The European World Series, The Aussie Millions, EPT, and many more. 

The user interface will be the easiest and fastest for finding your chosen games and will be more logically displayed with better features. 

A significant portion of my personal profits will be used to offer unique player rewards and to assemble a team of Integrity Poker Players to take on the world!

Integrity Poker will be successful by delivering the greatest playing experience coupled with a guaranteed standard of honesty. 

Integrity Poker will be a truly great site to play on. 

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If you are seriously suspicious about the site you are currently using then your suspicions may well be justified. I firmly believe that although there is a minority of individuals involved their misconduct reaches throughout online poker and the best way to prove it is to launch a 100% honest, fair site and let players see for themselves. 

There is a desperate need for a visual constructive injection of honesty and integrity into online poker which addresses the fears and concerns of many online players.

In keeping with my promise for a totally honest site, Integrity Poker's slogan is :-

"All players are created equal and shall remain equal".

 View: Integrity Poker's Guarantee

This site is brand new and will, I expect, draw reaction from some established Poker sites and from sites with vested interests through advertising agreements. I expect some of these individuals will attempt to discredit the content of this site. They have been rigorously defending and denying allegations of cheating for years and are experts at it. However they need to bear in mind that when intelligent people learn the game of Poker and learn it well, only to witness unbelievable runs of bad beats over and over again, they do not need me pointing out the obvious. They will work it out for themselves.

Have you noticed how many entries there are on forums attacking anyone who places a post stating that online poker is fixed. They always try to claim that the bad beats are more to do with bad play. There is method in these individuals replies to honest held beliefs. That is to discourage as many people as possible from raising the subject. Well, I urge intelligent players who are convinced that the integrity of the sites they are playing on has been compromised to voice their opinions. If you are confident that you have sufficient experience to know when things are not right over thousands of hands then speak out.

I promise you that 95% or more of the entries attacking you will be from people with a vested interest in portraying online poker as an honest game. There are staff at various sites who spend their time looking for these entries so they can respond in an insulting way. (I am receiving them in disguised emails) The vast majority are not winning players as they pretend to be.

Open challenge. Any individual who claims to be consistently winning at online cash Poker over a 12 month period or more and is prepared to prove their honest ability under controlled conditions can contact me via the contacts page and you will be given the opportunity. The result will be published on this site.

Note: This site has just attained search engine optimisation so progress should follow soon.  

Ways You can offer your support and help to speed up the launch of Integrity Poker.

Register your email to ensure you are informed of progress and go live date and to show your wish to play on a site based on honesty, integrity and fairness. There will be special player rewards for the first 500 registrations.

1. If you are planning on buying anything online such as a book, music, an LCD TV, a washing machine, clothing, sports equipment, or virtually anything, then you can do so via this sites link to Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk You will be viewing their full up to the minute product range and you pay Amazons great prices (the largest and arguably the most trusted and respected online retailer). Integrity Poker gets a small referral commission on every purchase made through the link but there is absolutely no additional cost to you. (my step son has just paid £12.99 for a pair of Sennheiser ear phones for his ipod. He has seen them on sale locally for £40.

2. If you own a web site or know someone who does, no matter how small, you could post a link to this site. If your site is poker related then I am happy to exchange links.

3. If you would like to invest then please register your intention. This is a superb opportunity to get in at the beginning and see your investment spiral. The growth rate should be many times your investment in a very short time and continue to grow. You can find the section on investing in the menu or via the following link: Investing

Please Explore this site

There is a link to a great Poker Odds calculator on CardPlayer.com, a Poker shop selling poker merchandise including some great books, chip sets, cards, table tops, belt buckles and more. There is an 'interesting links' page containing must see links about Super Users and cheating and my own section on the subject.

There are some interesting links to online Poker Magazines and to Amazon.co.uk. and Amazon.com. You can also read the Article I posted on Poker forum in early 2008. I believe it may strike a chord with many of you.

Do you have any interesting Poker stories/opinions/experiences? Send them in for inclusion in the Your views/articles page. Have you identified Super Users? Do you have evidence of cheating?

I would appreciate your feedback regarding the content of this site. Believe it or not, prior to launching this site I deleted large sections to reduce the content of the main article. Tell me your opinions. Is it still too long? This is an important subject so it is vital to get the balance right. The survey/feedback form is very quick to complete. There are just 3 questions and your comments are optional. 

Integrity Poker Survey/feedback

I will soon be looking to include a poker forum and develop a regular feature from at least one top grade professional player.

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Please note: In September 2008 The Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada concluded that between May 2004 and January 2008, Russ Hamilton, a professional Poker player and ex WSOP champion was the main person responsible for and benefiting from the multiple cheating incidents (Super Users) whilst associated with Ultimate Bet's affiliate programme. 

Although I have included links to these events displayed on other sites and have spoken about them throughout this site I have to declare that they do not in any way prove that cheating is still occurring on Absolute Poker or Ultimate Bet now.

I include the links to corroborate my claims that the technology exists. 

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of the links as they are just that, links to other sites. 

All of my views on this site are my opinions gained from thousands of hours of online Poker at most stake levels. I am not making any allegations against any particular site and am not stating that the owners of online sites are actively involved in any dishonesty. Every online poker player has to make up their own mind as to whether the games they participate in are fair.

However I believe that complacency and a refusal by many sites to accept that the problem exists poses a serious threat to genuine players.

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Conclusion

By now you may be of the opinion that I would advise you not to play online poker. Or to wait until the Integrity Poker Room launches and only play on my site. Well I won't. I will not tell you to give up something which you love doing. I would just advise caution. A few bad apples spread around does not mean everyone in the online poker industry is corrupt. There are many working hard to prevent dishonesty.

However I believe that 99% of online poker players past and present lose over time and that a significant amount of their losses are due to dishonesty. Often players seem to do well when they first start playing but things then change over the long term. However the best way to learn, progress and master the different strategies of this wonderful game is by playing. (yes it's a catch 22).

Therefore I will just recommend (strongly) that you allocate yourself a sensible realistic online budget and stick to it. Don't get carried away by jumping up in stakes if or when you have a good run and certainly do not do it during a bad run in an attempt to regain your losses. More than likely you will just lose more, faster. Develop your game as carefully as possible accepting that the chances are you will lose over time, and be aware that there are elements out there in the murky waters of online poker who have sharp teeth an unfair advantage.

In the mean time please support this site and help provide an honest environment where you can concentrate on your game without being cheated out of your bank roll.  

Integrity Poker is Coming! 

Are poker sites fixed?

Register your email I can assure you that your email address will not be sold or given to any third party so you should not receive any spam or junk mail.

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