+1

I do play elsewhere from time to time, but I hate the Ignition/Bovada software and WPN has some of the same botting issues.

You honestly think you have an edge against the bots, the colluders and the non zero possibility of super users? Or have you just run well enough to stack the fish first?

Either way I think both of you are delusional.

Why so aggressive man?
Righteous indignation only goes so far when you have to make a living.
I played on Merge in 2015-16 when they were still recovering from absurd cashout delays that at one point reached 6 months. Add to that their ridiculous 5% cashout fee for btc. Then they banned me for winning as they did every other winning reg.
It's all relative, and as others have mentioned (and Joe Ingram just highlighted in his latest vid about WPN), the issues exist everywhere.

I was on merge during that time as well as before when payouts were actually much slower and when bitcoin deposits and withdrawals didn't even exist. I also got banned, tried on a different skin and was limited to 1 table thereafter. Your situation isn't unique.

I'm a bit frustrated and aggressive at how stupid poker players are. The best any poker player can do in this situation is vote with their feet. The bots have been on this site for years. PS and Ipoker kicked them off and they set up camp on BOL and other networks. Vote with your feet and weaker regs and fish will follow. Continuing to play gives the site rake, boosts the tables volume, and gives fish and weak regs a false sense of security,

Again, I honestly have no idea how you think you can beat the bots, the software, the colluders and the chance of super users for any kind of significant money.

is BetOnline a reliable site? How long they proceed a payout?

For one thing, yes I have consistent winning results on this site, although tbf most of the volume was from April-July of 2017, games do change, people get better, maybe there are more bots now, tougher to get seats, idk.

As far as your statement that "the best any poker player can do is vote with your feet", what exactly are the sites that get your personal "seal of approval" for legitimacy/rooting out bots/security/whatever else? Like every site has had issues with bots and some have had further issues with ethics (Pokerstars reneging on SE elite benefits).

And no that is definitely untrue regarding fish and weaker regs, fish mostly don't even know there are bots and are unlikely to switch sites based on the possibility of their existence, and weaker regs love it when other regs leave the site.

I also would like to know where you would suggest to play? Options are very limited.

The vast majority of my action on this network is 6max nlhe cash games, 100nl and lower. I've had very little concerns about collusion in the games I play. I wouldn't play their SNGs though. I've seen and heard from those who play them that collusion is pretty rampant in their SNGs.

I've never suspected playing against a super user. I have a pretty extensive database of the people who play in my games. Nobody is crushing so much that it looks suspicious.

You said something about their software. Their software is some of the most reliable I've played on having played online for over 10 years.

Yes there is a massive botting issue. I know who almost every one of them is in the games I play. I have a list with about 50 names. I table select to avoid the tables with multiple bots. This has gotten much harder and has really limited my action over the last few months. The bots are not unbeatable. They are just huge pains in the ass.

In the last year I've grinded up from 2nl to 100nl with an account that had less than $10 in it at one point. Over that period I've played over 200k thousand hands. I wouldn't be playing here if I couldn't win. The network certainly has some serious issues that would keep me from recommending it to most people. I just personally tend to prefer it over my other options.

I want to make it clear that BOL is one of the shadiest and most unethical poker sites around despite its "popularity". I actually think that they're in on the boting.

That said, you can't lump all poker sites and networks in the same category. The ones that are geared towards grinders and volume clearly don't give a ****. But there are numerous sites that have taken measures to protect rec players (which subsequently makes it harder for bots). That's fact.

Even still, it's as much our fault as it is the sites for letting bots and collusion to occur. It's simply unrealistic to expect an illegal poker site to have top of the line security. It requires the games to be self policed. I'd say 90% of regs are aware of bots, but not even 5% bother to report it to sites for review.

I mean ffs it took months and probably hundreds of emails from players and pressure from affiliates to get merge to accept bitcoin. I believe some of these rooms can change, but they need lots of pressure and emails about the problems in the games. Otherwise they ignore it.

Are bots a bigger problem in cash games than multi tournaments? And are there many bots in the mtts?? I have been playing for about 2 years and making enough money playing mtts that this is the only site i use. I get my money in like 5 days, hard to beat that.

I think bots are a bit harder to run in tournaments, because the situations are a lot more variable due to changing stack sizes.
Also think their hourly is a lot better masstabling low-midstakes.

**** is ****ed up ya'll.

Learned this the hard way with BOL

Has someone listed the screen names of suspected bots?

How's the botting situation for 25nl-100nl compared to WPN?

Hard to say since I primarily only play their mtts to get rid of vip points. There is certainly mtt bots, but complaints about mtt bots tend to be less than other formats.


What's that?


I keep a list of nearly 50 that play between 25-100nl nlhe. A few of them may play a little higher. I may post the list publicly at some point. Anyone who would like the list can pm me their nickname on the network and I'll send it to you.


I haven't played at WPN nearly as much, but the situation is similar from all indications.

This is the most depressing **** I've ever read. I guess there's no point getting into online poker in the US at this stage. Gonna pull my funds from BOL and switch to Global I guess.

I was afraid of that. How many Eastern Europeans on average do you see per table when you play?

I guess that might be the only choice now for players who can't play on Ignition, despite the ridiculous rake and lack of software.

Play where, on Chico? There is no location indicator on Chico, but my guess is that most of the regs and the bots are not from the US. I'd say at least 2-4 per 6max table. There is a lot of players from the Ukraine.

Let’s all take a trip to Ukraine and Belarus and peer in the windows of every home until we find the little chubby cheeked blonde haired punk kids and give them a whoopin

There's people botting from all over the world. There might be a higher concentration of people botting from that part of the world, but I don't know how to say that for certain. I would like to see the location of the bot accounts though.

I have no problem playing against the Ukrainian regs that aren't botting. Most of them seem like rakeback regs. Some are a bit better, but as long as they're not cheating I don't mind playing against them. I have conversations every now and then with the ones who are able to chat in english. They seem like good people just trying to grind out a few dollars like the rest of us.

lmao, i think lots of bots are from those countries because the VPN are cheap and plentiful.. They could even be Chinese or even USA players using Russian VPN or something.

What do VPNs have to do with Chico bots? I'm pretty sure people from that part of the world are allowed to play on the Tigergaming skin. I'm not sure why anyone other than someone multiaccounting would need a VPN to play on Chico.

Theres a bot-ring originally from Novosibirsk (Russia) and nearby cities, later also from Ukraine, but after couple of years or so they just put bots on VM's and other ip's such as France, UK, Italy, Spain

It's always smart to keep one account and internet legit and clean. Normally they will use the botting accounts on a VPN that will show them from somewhere far away from their own legit internet.

I don't be believe it's necessary to go to such lengths due to Chico's lack of security. It does make sense as a precaution on the bot user's end should the network start to take security seriously at some point.

Wouldn't using a VPN also require the account holder to verify identity and proof of residence to a place they are obviously not from?