First of all as many point out, it is not rigged and it does not change the players EV. Cheating might be the correct word, since the player definately is cheated visually.
And it is an insult to have the player pick a card when this
picking game is rigged since the card you pick will be switched to the allready predetermined card, this is what I would call the definition of the word 'rigged' in an online card game.
But how far does this go and what other games is also rigged the same way. (not serious, just examples with other games over this same principle)
1.Slot doubling(also predetermined if you pick suit)?
2. When opening the roulette table, has it been determined you would loose the first 50/50 bet no matter what you bet on and then show a number to
match the predetermined outcome.? This IS actually the same situation and I am sure roulette-lovers would now realize the magnitude of this 'non-changing EV rigging'.
You can also take this to the extreme as applying the same predetermined win/loose/tie to blackjack(simple example without splits/doubling etc.) where each probablity is equal to the mathematical probability the cards would give assuming optimal strategy for the current game. So if you are pre-determined to loose, now matter how you play (non optimal) you would still loose. If you are destined to win the cards would be stacked so optimal play would win.
This game does have the same EV/variance etc, but would the BJ players fancy this? I know of course that this is not the case, but this is just
an example over the excact same principle.
So YES, if this pre-determined doubling indeed is true while still pretending to a realistic card game with unknown outcome , I find this very severe.
This also reminds me of rumours of old B&M slot machines where the win was determined first and then they would show a winning combination matching that. It does not matter (EV) if the probablities for win/win-size are correct according to the game, but it removes all the fun from slots knowing this, since
the mystery of the spinning wheels now are obsolete.
Zoozie