Can't help you with Ipoker since I've never played there. But re: poker trackers: yes; you can pull up your stats for a particular sit N Go, and look at how often you got each particular hand. You can do this aggregately for all your SNGs.

What on earth is a 'rigtard' ? I don't think labelling people as being or not being a word which clearly doesn't exist is going to help matters.

When I say I make a living from poker, I meant for the past 2 and a half years, that has been my main source of income, that is what I do for many hours a day. For the first year and a half, playing on the cryptologic network I was doing absolutely fine, making good sums of money. Since my site that I played on moved me to iPoker about a year ago, I have struggled to make any real profit at all. I probably still make a little bit here and there, but it really is a struggle and I don't feel that I'm getting a fair return against the general level of idiot that the iPoker site is overrun with. I am now looking for other jobs because of this.

There are a couple of reasons I stay with iPoker, one of the main ones being the instant withdrawals I can make, whereas other sites quoted me timescales of 7-10 days which when I am strapped for cash as I am currently is no good to me. Secondly, if iPoker dealing is legitimate, then there must be problems with my game, which moving elsewhere wouldn't really help. I also don't feel running away from this problem to another site would help anything. I want to get to the bottom of my poor results on iPoker and find out what has caused them and what needs to be done to resolve this.

I genuinely cannot afford the £60 for software at the moment. I am not very good with computers, apparently some malicious software (is that right ?) tried to take over my computer. Antivirus software got rid of it but it has left many of my Windows files corrupt. Everything I need still works (poker, internet explorer, etc), but certain things do not, for example I cannot download anything at the moment. That is why I cannot get hold of any tracking software.

It's a big mess and a bit of a vicious circle. I cannot afford to fix my computer or get the tracking software but you lot are saying things won't improve until I get those.

As I keep saying, I pump thousands, (maybe even tens of thousands), of pounds a year into iPoker, so I don't think me coming to them and asking them to help me get to the bottom of this is asking too much, when it is my livelihood at stake. As much as these big poker companies think they are just there to take as much money as possible, with no responsibilites, I don't believe that is the case. You can't take £10,000 plus off a person and then just turn round and go, 'You're struggling to buy food. Not our problem. Let us know when you have some money again so we can have some of it.'

I'm not a problem gambler, erratically turning up and betting here there and everywhere tilting off lots of money. That would be different. I'm a poker player. I turn up every day and give my best to produce decent poker. I play a lot of players who produce utter, utter rubbish. So, I am really confused as to why I'm barely scraping a profit. I've looked into it as much as I can from my end, now I'm trying to seek help from other people, mainly iPoker themselves to solve this.

Well, it evidently does exist. We get a lot of them on this thread and their postings are pretty idiotic. I was just trying to reassure you that you do not seem to qualify.

Online poker continues to become harder as players learn more. It's entirely possible that your inability to make any reasonable profit stems from the improvement of your competition.

I'm afraid this indicates an absolutely appalling attitude and ability with regard to money management. How do you think people who have to wait a month at a time to get their money cope?

Even if you don't want to play on another site in the main you could at least try playing a few hundred hands to see if you notice the same apparent anomalies.

Although, as I said before, if there were such anomalies on any major site this forum would be literally overrun with people screaming about it.

You need to get your computer sorted out - reloading Windows may be the answer.

You keep saying you think asking ipoker for help is not asking too much. Quite why you're telling us that I'm not sure. They are the only ones who need persuading. However, I don't really know what you want them to do. All they can say is that they've checked their deal and found it's OK. They're certainly not going to pay someone to go through your hand histories and give you free coaching.

All ipoker can reasonably be expected to do is verify that their deal is fair. As stated above, if it wasn't this forum would be awash with people telling us.

Other than that you need to sort out your financial situation, get your computer in 100% working order and get software that will perform the analyses that will enable you and others to see if there are any egreguious leaks in your game.

First of all Wiki, i assume you're an intelligent adult. As I was clicking on your 'rigtard' link, I was thinking, 'surely this isn't a link to urban dictionary is it?' Unfortunately it was. You're not stupid, you know that's not a valid source for proving the existence of words. We're not children so let's not throw made up insults about, yeah ? (I know you weren't calling me that, but you're insulting whoever you do believe to be a 'rigtard').

You're correct about what iPoker can do. That is what I am asking them to do. I don't believe, 'we have a certificate you know' is proof of anything. Does this mean I can go to iPoker and say 'I have a certificate saying you owe me £100,000. You have to pay me.' I'd like to see some statistical evidence. That to me would be proof.

As I said, it is an awkward situation, where I'm stuck in a bit of a vicious circle, but I really feel iPoker have a responsibility to take this (and a lot of other things) a lot more seriously.

I added the link to urban dictionary so that you could look the word up, not in order to validate it. The word evidently exists - it's used a lot in this forum. If you do not want to read material that that contains words that are not in the Oxford English Dictionary, then, seriously, 2+2 is probably not for you.

So no one is allowed to use a word that can be used as an insult in any context?

Mentioning that you did not appear to be a rigtard was not capricious. Some of your posting seems to lean that way but, for the moment, you don't seem to qualify.

However you are beginning to show at least one rigtard tendency: you are repeatedly ignoring things that you are told and carrying on with an argument that only make sense if the assertions have been rebutted.

In particular it has been stated several times that if there was anything wrong with the deal at any of the big four sites this forum would be awash with posters screaming about it. A lot of people would analyse available hand histories and, if the complaints were justified, an almighty eruption of indignation would be certain to follow.

And yet you keep posting saying you don't think it's too much to ask to expect ipoker to 'do something'.

There is statistical evidence. Count the number of threads in the first hundred in this forum and see how many even suggest that ipoker has an obviously unfair deal. (I say obviously since you seem convinced that you get far too many of certain pocket cards.)

It's a statistically very small number.

Interesting but it's really they who should be told your feelings, not us, as we are not in a position to do anything about them.

Welcome to the internet where not every term used is in the Oxford Dictionary. Don't be a nit.

How you rely on poker to make your living and don't have a decent enough computer to run tracking software is beyond me. Don't you understand you are at a serious disadvantage and simply by not being on par with other pros are probably losing out on multiple times more money than it would cost to get a new computer?

EDIT: Slow pony. Dammit Wiki!

How dare you call someone a louse egg!

It's funny, the term nit is so embedded in my head that it didn't even cross my mind that it itself is one of those internet terms.

It really isn't. I think your use here was the shortened form of nitpicker, which is a fine dictionary word, originally derived from lice but distinct in its meaning today. Nit can also be short for nitwit (which you might have meant) and that's also a fine dictionary word. Both of these are different from the "nit" used in gambling slang, which was actually around way before the Internet too, meaning an overly cautious bettor. I have no idea why.

The only definition of nit in the dictionary is the bug one AFAIK, but I'd imagine the gambling term came from nitpicker. Didn't know when it originated though.

Wow, this was quite shocking. A site doesn't owe you anything in terms of money, they give that to you in the form of bonuses, rakeback/VIP and value added tournaments.

If this is seriously the situation you're in, ask your skin to help. They should limit your playing capacity and help refer you to some professional help.

FTP not sure if you said this but when you addressed your concerns to ipoker, what did they say?

I didn't say every word should be in the Oxford English Dictionary. We're adults having an adult discussion. I don't believe using made-up, childish put-downs is necessary or beneficial to the discussion in any way.

I'm not ignoring anything I've been told. I'm trying to take everything on board. I absolutely agree with you that if iPoker was unfair, it would surely have been discovered by now. But, as I explained, I am merely trying to investigate every possible reason as to why I am not making a profit against seemingly bad plays and bad players. I am also only telling you what I personally witness. Until I have statistical evidence otherwise, then I won't rule things out. I'm talking about statistical evidence in terms of hand histories, not number of posts on this forum as you suggested. I don't think that's an unreasonable attitude to take.

I have told iPoker about my feelings, believe me. As I said, I'm doing everything to sort this.

Their support team is a bit slow and don't really know much about poker.

I'm still trying to get them to understand what my concerns are and not just send me a general, pre-written, irrelevant response.

I didn't say they owed me anything in terms of money. They have a responsiblity to people's security and well-being and in terms of proving they are running a legitimate site.

As I explained earlier, I am not a problem gambler. I am a poker player. The two are not related in any way. I don't see what sort of professional help you are suggesting or how limiting my playing capacity would help my situation ?

If you are struggling to buy food and still are spending a lot of money on poker then you have a problem. Maybe you weren't referring to yourself with that comment, it wasn't clear.

Again though, why haven't you invested in a better computer and tracking program if this is how you make your living? It makes no sense at all.

I'm scraping by from week to week. I'm not going hungry or anything, but I don't have much to live off.

I'm making more than I lose at poker, so don't see how I could be considered a problem gambler. I consider it my job, I play at the same levels all the time, take regular breaks, don't really 'tilt' any more, no signs of problem gambling at all.

I don't have any money at all to invest in the tracking software, let alone a new computer. If I have a bill to pay, I play poker until I earn the money to pay it. I also have lots of debts which are more pressing than a new computer. It's not a great situation, but i genuinely believe I can turn it around, if I didn't believe that I would have given up long ago.

I don't know why this is in this thread, but here's some friendly advice. Until such time as gambling income can consistently and completely replace the income from a regular job, AND you have a bankroll big enough to withstand normal variance, AND you have a separate pool of at least 3 months income saved for living, AND you have a proven winrate that sustains that bankroll after taking out your living money, until all that happens you should get a job. And educate yourself on risk of ruin and bankroll requirements for your game of choice. If you can't buy a $60 tool for doing your professional job, you are just fooling yourself.

.

this.... the rule I was taught before quitting my job was to have 40 buy ins available for the stakes I play (cash games) and 6 months of living expenses saved up. If you don't have at least something close to that, you're not playing responsibly if it's your only income.

And some of these recent posts are the primary reason why those guidelines are important. When not properly rolled, every downswing is going to sting more than it should. Even more discouraging that you're looking for answers in the wrong places in terms of suspecting the cards aren't falling properly instead of just accepting variance as a regular part of poker and focusing on playing your optimal game. Seriously, focus on your game and stop with the silliness. And think long and hard about whether it's responsible to even be playing at all right now.

If you have to investigate into hand frequencies and how you're running, take some responsibility and do the work. Holdem manager has a free trial. Pokertracker has a free trial. If your computer isn't capable of running those programs, you have a sad situation on your hands. Load the hands onto a friend's computer if it's that important, but I can't accept this stuff about your computer not being capable of doing the analysis (yet somehow is capable of running a poker client) and that the site has some sort of responsibility to you here when it comes to analyzing your hands.

This doesn't sound like the kind of computer setup on which I'd feel safe playing online poker.

To be fair it sounds as if he was in this position and things have deteriorated. This could very easily happen as the games harden.

You are entitled to your opinion. However, as you have come here seeking help I'm afraid you are going to have to put up with the mores of the people here.

You may not like the term 'rigtard' but it usefully describes a type of poster that we get a great deal in this thread - one who is convinced that the deal is rigged, has no evidence, and for whom no amount of logical argument will shake that belief. I was merely trying to reassure you that you have not fallen into that category - yet.

I would, nonetheless, recommend that you stop obsessing about a single word that does not, at the moment, seem to have any relevance to the crux of the issue. Obsessing about irrelevancies is bad for your game.
I would suspect that what has happened is this:

You used to play against a field of very bad players and a few moderate ones. Against this field you made a reasonable profit (what the definition of reasonable would be in this context is a matter for you).

As the general player base has improved the moderate platers have improved slightly and are taking a greater share of the losses of the weaker players. The weaker players have improved slightly and so there is less to win. The nett result these two changes is that your profit level has gone down to a point where poker playing is barely viable to produce a living.

This could have happened in barely perceptible stages as players improved generally, or it could have happened suddenly if there was in influx of players who are a little better that you.
You may not think its unreasonable but not everyone will agree. The chances that ipoker's deal has gone bad are extremely low. The chances that you are facing better players is extremely high. I would say continuing to concern yourself with something that is improbable when your time could be better spent improving your game is not reasonable behaviour. YMMV.
Please let us know their response.

No it does not. If he was in a position where he had foreseen variance, he would not be in the situation where he seems to be unable to sort out his computer, and where he cannot find a way to get PT/HM. It is more than obvious to me that he does not know what the variance of his game is. Let alone anything more complicated than that basic piece of knowledge. Also, it is obvious to me that he does have a problem, as he keeps going around in circles trying to catch his tail. He is given solutions, but he does not take them; basically because he finds it is much more exciting to run around in circles (nice, it never ends! woof!) People who enjoy vicious circles -> people who have problems with gambling. If he didn't sort it out in real life, let it alone in the game. Yo-yo person. And I am old enough to put people in boxes when I think they are ready to go in, and not feel guilty about it. Experience has its advantages...

"...Now ev’ry gambler knows the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing what to keep..."

FTP: Let the tail go.

S.

Ok then, if you're not a problem gambler, surely there must be an easier way for you to make a living? As was previously suggested, get a job and play part time, when the part time playing is enough to supplement the job move into it full time. You will then be very comfortable.

You cannot infer that from what he has said.

A general improvement in the player base whilst you stand still or improve at a slower rate is NOT the same thing as variance but its effects can be the same in the short to medium term.

If he's suffering from variance then things will eventually improve of their own accord.

If it's a general improvement in the player base, they won't.