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to learn about sign-up bonus codes [1] first or you may miss out on some
lucrative cash bonuses.

*Is it legal?* As of this writing, the issue is ambiguous in most U.S.
states and at the U.S. federal level. Most of the cardroom sites are
operated from the Caribbean or Central America, often with some presence
in Canada. Existing laws tend to target illegal gambling operators
rather than the players, but since the online operators are out of reach
there is political pressure to modify this approach. In the U.S.,
several federal bills have been proposed that regulate or forbid online
wagers. The latest tactic is an attempt to outlaw financial transactions
that are related to online gambling. On the other hand, in the U.K. the
government has been moving in the direction of legalization and
regulation. You're on your own until legal systems catch up with this
new technology.

*Is it safe?* The jury is also still out on this one. There are a number
of risks:

   1. The ease of collusion among players. The magnitude of this risk is
      a matter of ongoing debate, but it is possible for your opponents
      to communicate secretly or even be the same person.
   2. The possibility that the cardroom will not honor a redemption
      request, that is, will stiff you when you ask for your money. (A
      few of the early sites folded holding player deposits.)
   3. The chance that your personal financial details, such as credit
      card number or NETeller ID, are stored insecurely, allowing either
      a dishonest cardroom insider or external hacker to obtain them.
   4. The possibility that the game technology is not secure, allowing
      others to compromise the game's or site's integrity. This could
      take any number of forms, from others knowing your cards, knowing
      what cards will be dealt next, changing what cards will be dealt
      next, or even impersonating you and withdrawing your money. (In
      the early days of online poker, a security consultant cracked the
      poor shuffling algorithm [140] of one of the poker dealing
      software packages.)
   5. The possibility that the underlying game technology is programmed
      to deal an unfair game, for example, by failing to shuffle
      randomly. This is a popular topic among losing players; see the
      discussion on the cash-out curse .
   6. The possibility that an insider at the cardroom will take
      advantage of existing security flaws or secretly create new ones
      to favor their accomplices during play.
   7. The chance that a cardroom insider will compile records of your
      play and reveal them to your opponents for strategic or tactical
      analysis.
   8. The chance that you will be found guilty of a crime in some
      jurisdiction, perhaps not even your own, simply for playing. For
      example, if your internet traffic is routed through Virginia, as
      much of it is, are your internet activities subject to Virginia law?
   9. The chance that authorities -- somewhere -- seize your money,
      either while deposited or in transit, and then place the burden on
      you of demonstrating why they should return your funds.
  10. The chance that opening an offshore account will bring other
      aspects of your life under the scrutiny of authorities, for
      example, by increasing the chances of an IRS tax audit.

You might notice that many of these risks exist in real cardrooms. It is
likely that some risks will be greater in the online world and that some
will be lesser. For example, several of the online cardrooms claim to
apply collusion detection algorithms to the database of hand histories.
And a popular form of online poker is the heads-up game, where collusion
is impossible. It may turn out that the cost of collusion is lower in
the online world. In the area of game software integrity, most of the
top online cardrooms have engaged auditing firms to provide independent
validation of the fairness of their dealing algorithms. That's
reassuring. But still, the legal questions are fuzzy and you have to
judge for yourself whether you can accept the risks.

Copyright * 2004 Michael Maurer. Unauthorized copying prohibited.
Contact info@rgpfaq.com  for
permission to redistribute.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      5.2 What are some advantages of online poker over cardroom poker?

Author: Jim Geary
Last updated: May 1999
Copyright * 2004 Jim Geary
The official and up-to-date version of this answer is here [141].

What are some of the advantages of playing poker online?

    * You don't have to drive to a casino.
    * You can play in your underwear.
    * You can smoke at will/breathe clean air at will.
    * You don't "have to" tip the dealer.
    * You can sing along to your headphones without disturbing anyone.
    * Internet poker often lends itself to many players who have never
      been inside a casino and thus may not be that sophisticated in
      their play.

What are some of the disadvantages of playing poker online?

    * Your opponents may easily share information about their hands on a
      communication channel to which you are not privy.
    * Your opponents may play their hands in a collusive fashion via a
      communication channel to which you are not privy.
    * Your opponents may actually be the same person.
    * There is no way for you to know for sure that the above are
      occurring.
    * There is no way for an online poker operator to prevent these from
      occurring.

If you don't care about your money, the advantages outweigh the
disadvantages. If you do try to win money, you may have difficulty doing
so. This is not to say that it is impossible. The games may be
incredibly weak. The games that you land in may be completely straight.
You may be an incredible player. However, proceed with caution.

Copyright * 2004 Jim Geary. Unauthorized copying prohibited. Contact
info@rgpfaq.com  for permission to
redistribute.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      5.3 How do I find out what games are available and how many tables
      are active at each online site?

Author: Dennis Boyko
Last updated: Oct 2002
Copyright * 2004 Dennis Boyko
The official and up-to-date version of this answer is here [142].

Poker Pulse, http://www.pokerpulse.com/, is an independent poker
tracking portal showing close to real time counts of money players and
games from many of the top online multi-player poker rooms. The Poker
Pulse main page shows you the current real money ring game, players and
real money tournament players at may sites. In addition to the player
counts you can see a break down of the types of games at each site (e.g.
number of hold'em games, number of omaha games, number of stud games and
1 on 1 games). There is a details page for each of the poker rooms
covered, that shows you the current count of games with an average pot <
$10, average pots between $10 and $30 and average pots > $30 plus other
room specific details. Poker Pulse also features weekly chart features
showing poker action graphically. Past chart features have included
plots of peak and average player counts at each of the tracked rooms
versus the hour of the day.

Copyright * 2004 Dennis Boyko. Unauthorized copying prohibited. Contact
info@rgpfaq.com  for permission to
redistribute.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      5.4 What is the online "cash-out curse"? Is the curse evidence
      that the sites are rigged?

Author: Bob Dainauski
Last updated: Oct 2003
Copyright * 2004 Bob Dainauski
The official and up-to-date version of this answer is here [143].

A number of people have reported the same bad experience with online
poker: They win for a while, but once they cash out some winnings they
seem to run bad and bust. To some people, this is solid evidence that
online poker must be rigged; that by cashing out some winnings, players
incur the wrath of the online operators, who will set a switch on the
player's account, dooming them to lose thereafter.

Is the "rigged theory" the best explanation for the trends that people
are observing?

Read the rest of this article [144] (290 lines). /[Editor's warning:
this article contains logical arguments.]/

Copyright * 2004 Bob Dainauski. Unauthorized copying prohibited. Contact
info@rgpfaq.com  for permission to
redistribute.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      URL Reference

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[6] http://www.rgpfaq.com
[7] http://www.rgpfaq.com/links.html
[8] news:rec.gambling.poker
[9] http://groups.google.com/groups?group=rec.gambling.poker
[10] http://www.recpoker.com
[11] http://www.liveactionpoker.com
[12] http://www.conjelco.com
[13] http://www.barge.org
[14] http://www.quizkids.com/wrgpt/
[15] http://games.cs.ualberta.ca/poker/IRC/
[16] http://www.pokerportal.co.uk
[17] http://www.seriouspoker.com
[18] http://www.gocee.com/poker/
[19] http://www.jazbo.com
[20] http://www.posev.com/poker/index.html
[21] http://www.fekali.com
[22] http://jimgeary.com/poker/POKER.HTM
[23] http://www.playwinningpoker.com
[24] http://www.johnnydpoker.com
[25] http://www.loukrieger.com
[26] http://www.fullcontactpoker.com
[27] http://howardlederer.com
[28] http://www.coonrod.com/scot/poker.html
[29] http://www.geocities.com/mississippi_seven/
[30] http://www.wptfan.com
[31] http://www.twoplustwo.com/forum.html
[32] http://www.unitedpokerforum.com
[33] http://www.thepokerforum.com
[34] http://www.pokerineurope.com/forum/index.php
[35] http://www.pokerpulse.com
[36] http://www.thepokerproject.com
[37] http://www.pokerlistings.com
[38] http://www.whichpoker.co.uk
[39] http://www.pokerpages.com
[40] http://www.pokerschoolonline.com
[41] http://www.cardplayer.com
[42] http://www.homepoker.com
[43] http://www.homepokergames.com
[44] http://www.learntournamentpoker.com
[45] http://www.poker.net
[46] http://www.pokersearch.com
[47] http://www.poker1.com/mcu/mculibrary.asp
[48] http://www.poker1.com/mcu/mculib_rules.asp
[49] http://www.pokercoach.us/RobsPkrRules4.htm
[50] http://pokerworld.com/rules1.htm
[51] http://www.thepokerforum.com/tdarules.htm
[52] http://www.rgpfaq.com/basic-rules.html
[53] http://www.rgpfaq.com/split-pot.html
[54] http://www.rgpfaq.com/first-time-cardroom.html
[55] http://www.conjelco.com/wllh.html
[56] http://www.rgpfaq.com/tournament-basics.html
[57] http://www.rgpfaq.com/books.html
[58] http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html#The%20Theory%20of%20Poker
[59] http://www.seriouspoker.com/seriouspoker/
[60] http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html
[61] http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html#Fundamentals%20of%20Poker
[62] http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html#Super%20System
[63]
http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html#Hold'em%20Poker%20for%20Advanced%20Player
s
[64]
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[65] http://www.conjelco.com/
[66] http://www.onlinepokerfaq.com/books.html
[67] http://www.seriouspoker.com/reviews.html
[68] http://www.jetcafe.org/~npc/reviews/gambling/index.html
[69] http://www.gocee.com/poker/books.htm
[70] http://www.rgpfaq.com/magazines.html
[71] http://www.gocee.com/poker/pokermag.htm
[72] http://www.rgpfaq.com/software.html
[73] http://www.gocee.com/poker/pokersoft.htm
[74] http://www.poki-poker.com
[75] http://www.wilsonsw.com
[76] http://www.masque.com
[77] http://www.ouzts.net/iPoker/
[78] http://www.acespade-software.com
[79] http://www.brecware.com/Software/software.html
[80] http://www.pokerstove.com/
[81] http://koti.mbnet.fi/jraevaar/pokercalculator/
[82] http://sourceforge.net/projects/pokersource
[83] http://www.twodimes.net/poker/
[84] http://www.hotpoker.com
[85] http://www.rgpfaq.com/glossaries.html
[86] http://www.conjelco.com/faq/rgpglossary.html
[87] http://www.conjelco.com/pokglossary.html
[88] http://www.seriouspoker.com/dictionary.html
[89] http://www.planetpoker.com/games/dictionary/index.asp
[90] http://www.diamondcs.net/~thecoach/RobsPkrRules3.htm
[91] http://www.rgpfaq.com/home-poker.html
[92] http://www.pokermike.com/poker/
[93] http://www.gamereport.com/poker/index.html
[94] http://www.rgpfaq.com/holdem-rules.html
[95] http://www.rgpfaq.com/omaha-rules.html
[96] http://www.rgpfaq.com/chowaha.html
[97] http://www.coonrod.com/scot/poker/chowaha.html
[98] http://www.rgpfaq.com/mississippi-stud.html
[99] http://www.rgpfaq.com/pot-limit.html
[100] http://www.rgpfaq.com/halfpot-limit.html
[101] http://www.rgpfaq.com/kill-pot.html
[102] http://www.rgpfaq.com/straddle-bet.html
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[104] http://www.rgpfaq.com/burn-card.html
[105] http://www.rgpfaq.com/stud-no-cards.html
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[108] http://www.rgpfaq.com/ranking-why-flushes.html
[109] http://www.rgpfaq.com/odds-holdem.html
[110] http://www.poker1.com/mcu/mculib_odds.asp
[111] http://www.posev.com/poker/holdem/strategy/outs-abdul.html
[112] http://www.rgpfaq.com/odds-stud.html
[113] http://www.rgpfaq.com/omaha-num-hands.html
[114] http://www.rgpfaq.com/shill-prop.html
[115] http://www.rgpfaq.com/dead-mans-hand.html
[116] http://www.rgpfaq.com/holdem-skills.html
[117] http://www.rgpfaq.com/holdem-preflop.html
[118] http://www.posev.com/poker/holdem/strategy/preflop-abdul.html
[119] http://www.posev.com/poker/holdem/strategy/balance-abdul.txt
[120] http://www.rgpfaq.com/tournament-strategy.html
[121] http://www.conjelco.com/poker.html#Tournament%20Poker
[122]
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[123] http://www.rgpfaq.com/tournament-implicit.html
[124] http://www.rgpfaq.com/rake-low-limit.html
[125] http://www.rgpfaq.com/barge-etc.html
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[130] http://www.google.com/groups?th=bfeebbb1a255711c
[131] http://www.google.com/groups?th=76cf9b6c4a47cd80
[132] http://www.rgpfaq.com/wsop.html
[133] http://www.harrahs.com/wsop/
[134] http://www.conjelco.com/wsop.html
[135]
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[136] http://www.harrahs.com/wsop/tournamentsched.html
[137] http://www.rgpfaq.com/ircpoker.html
[138] http://www.rgpfaq.com/online-poker-basics.html
[139] http://www.neteller.com
[140] http://www.cigital.com/news/index.php?pg=art&artid=20
[141] http://www.rgpfaq.com/online-poker-advantages.html
[142] http://www.rgpfaq.com/poker-pulse.html
[143] http://www.rgpfaq.com/online-cashout-curse.html
[144]
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