BBC - Online Poker Cheats (Article/Broadcast)

[Simmo!]

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Program is on BBC Radio 5 Live tonight at 9pm GMT.

Mr Broadbent is one 25,000 players recently awarded compensation after falling victim to Chinese card sharps on the world's largest internet poker site, Pokerstars.

In July of this year, the Isle of Man based company refunded $2.1m (£1.63m) to disgruntled customers and has now pledged to step up its security.

 

[GrandMaster]

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Program is on BBC Radio 5 Live tonight at 9pm GMT.

It's 9 pm BST or 8 pm GMT.

 

[winbig]

Is there any way to stream it?

 

[Simmo!]

It's 9 pm BST or 8 pm GMT.

Erm....9pm based on whatever the current time in the UK is. Basically 4 hours and 4 minutes from the time of this post

Is there any way to stream it?

You could try this. Normally the BBC limit streams to UK users but it might work:

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[GrandMaster]

Try

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Programmes are usually available for a week afterwards as well.

 

[winbig]

Thanks...I ended up at

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, but it was just a blank page, so I guess the blocks are in place I tried both IE and FF..

Any chance someone in the UK could record this and post it somewhere?

edit: read post below

 

[winbig]

Try

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Programmes are usually available for a week afterwards as well.

This one worked..Thanks!

 

[nisosbar]

Just the tip of the iceberg, IMHO, but not unique to Pokerstars. I think all the sites have many collusion rings. I stopped playing poker quite a long time ago, not because I don't enjoy it, but because it's become too much of a slog, necessitating complicated software assistance, flow charts, quantum statistical analysis - and frankly, I think these are simply red herrings - and that ultimately the biggest reason people lose is the fact that the tables are packed with colluders - probably 50% or more. I mean, it's not like the Chinese just got this idea from nowhere. Clearly, collusion is a huge problem in online poker.

 

[4 of a kind]

Online poker collusion has been going on since the first poker room launched. I remember being asked not long after Party Poker launched by a good live poker player at a private club if I wanted to join his collusion ring. He explained that everyone hooks up to a private server with head sets and actually talk in real time to each other while all sitting at the same table. He also explained how several other members were standing by ready to enter the game when active members would pull out of the game derailing detection. He also said they stayed away from the big money games cause the pool of different players were too small. He never mentioned how good or bad they did, or how they eventually chopped up any profits.

Once I didn't show interest we never spoke of it again. Whenever I saw him and asked how it was going he'd smile and acted like he didn't even know me. I never was able to get his last name or screen name to report him.

 

[Simmo!]

There's a slight irony IMO in the way things are shaping up. It strikes me poker (or any game) against other players is far riskier than playing against a dealer (or a computer) on Blackjack or Roulette for punters because of collusion and stuff like the UB scandal.

Yet because Poker has become more socially acceptable, many of those empowered to make decisions seem to overlook this fact and see casino as the evil twin. Presumably they factor in addiction, but is poker any less adicting than Blackjack?

 

[winbig]

I prefer live poker to online poker any day...you hear about all these 20 something internet poker millionaires that play 24+ tables at a time....sorry, but that's not poker. imo, that's no different than playing bingo. You're just playing the cards, not the people. Where's the challenge in that?

 

[nisosbar]

There's a slight irony IMO in the way things are shaping up. It strikes me poker (or any game) against other players is far riskier than playing against a dealer (or a computer) on Blackjack or Roulette for punters because of collusion and stuff like the UB scandal.

Yet because Poker has become more socially acceptable, many of those empowered to make decisions seem to overlook this fact and see casino as the evil twin. Presumably they factor in addiction, but is poker any less adicting than Blackjack?

Yes, it is ironic - I cash out far more often and more profitably from casinos than from poker sites. Once I stumbled upon this fact (since I didn't play online slots and such until a couple years ago), it didn't take long to realize that I'd been a sucker probably since the first game I played online. I'll still play but I play much tighter online than IRL, which spoils much of the fun.