Online poker players question game fixing

While players can get their poker fix by arranging games with their friends, more and more people are looking to Internet to get winning hand anytime of the day.\nMost students at least have friends who play, if they do not play themselves. However, some serious poker players call into question the validity of these online games. Adam Friedman, IU alumnus and competitor in the 2005 World Series of Poker, has little faith in these internet poker sites.\n"I am positive these games are fixed," Friedman said, "You can tell by paying attention to the hands people draw and how some people are betting." \nFriedman is a student of the game. He has been around a poker table long enough to know when something is not right. \n"Things that I never have seen playing regular poker will happen on a consistent basis in these online games." Friedman said, "The only advice I would give any player is to not get involved with online poker … it will cost you."\nJosh Ackerman, a student at the University of Colorado and an avid poker player, said he uses online poker as practice for when he sits down at a real table. \n"I play in the free games online." Ackerman said, "It is good practice without the risk of losing any money."\nIU Professor Chris Falk disagrees with Friedman's claim that online poker is fixed. Falk is an online veteran of four years, as well as a friend of Friedman. \n"If the word got out that the sites were fixed, no one would play," Falk said.\nFalk's explanation for the change of the online games style, as opposed to poker at a table, is a result of the anonymous nature of being online. \n"People are not worried about their tables making fun of their unusual play." Falk said, "Just the nature of being online will open the door for stupid moves."\nFriedman is doing a lot better than almost any online poker player can say. He has not invested any of his own money and still claims to be ahead by a "decent amount." He won a online tournament a couple years ago and has used that money to build on his earnings. \nHe does not really spend any of his winnings; he just uses it to stay in the game. \n"Money is a tool to gamble," Friedman said, "However, only play with what you can afford to lose."\nPlayers with Friedman's talent are few among many. The average student who plays casually could be setting himself or herself up for heartbreak, according to Friedman, the Internet poker sites bring in million of dollars every day, most of it coming from college students. These sites are hard to monitor since it is illegal for them to exist in the United States. All the sites are coming from Canada or overseas.\nFalk believes that within a few years several states will legalize running online sights within their borders. \n"It is just a matter of time before renegade states like Illinois, Georgia, and Alaska make online poker legal." Falk said. "They will make good money off these sights through taxes."\nWith the popularity of games like Texas Hold'em, the end to online poker seems to be nowhere in sight. Friedman suggests that hopeful players study games like Hold'em to make sure they can recognize a dishonest table. Friedman himself thinks Texas Hold'em is a rather boring game, but he is aware of its popularity among his peers. \n"These days, Texas Hold'em is to white suburban kids, as crack-cocaine was to them in the '70s," Friedman said. "That is the best thing I can compare it to"