Retired... Sitting is the best workout, as long as I am on a run at a poker table. I've played cards since I was like 6 years old, in California, South Korea, the Philippines, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
I hate cheaters and flawed internet random number generators, the RNG, that favor any player and the technicians and web sites who manipulate the odds simply over the status of a player.
I retired from the enforcement side of gambling. Yes, that's what I did for more than 8 years after a 30 year run as a peace officer. So a fair game is all that I look for as the game is the challenge and playing the game is the success of the challenge.
I'd enjoy to see internet actual cash games and gambling common and legal in all jurisdictions, HOWEVER...as long as the hackers cheat and manipulate even these "free" internet based games, I can see where they will never be permitted.
Examples are:
When a player gets the same hand two or three times back to back multiple times during a tournament or a cash table. This immediately tells me the computer generated RNG is skewed and flawed.
When a player misses the flop, turn and river 16 out of 16 times with players having 12-19 outs. Missing that many times is an indicator that the game has been manipulated by the sites web administrators to favor a player other than the drawing player.
a. To show this, checking the player stats to see if they purchased any "free chips", or certain programs that award players an "enhanced, zoom or boosted play" are indicators of a type of fraud, i.e. manipulation of the odds to favor a certain player. A good website design should not award a boost, a zoom or anything that accelerates a patrons game play or payout.
Multiple players with the same IP address or router number and collusion at the same table. (If I can do it, you can, and I have in the past, so I understand it is possible).
If the perception of the player that there is a cheat in place, without oversight, regulation and enforcement that has punishments, these games will never pass muster of any enforcement division let alone the regulators overseeing the action.
I've witnessed these cheats occur on every site that I have played on since 2005-2006... from the original "Black Sunday" at Poker Stars, (they still owe me $21...lol) to Pure Play (defunct), Zynga, NLOP, to even the WSOP sites and even right here on Replay.
Id enjoy seeing a starting nation wide or world wide .01-.02 NL cash table or a tournament buy in at every jurisdiction. Up to... say no more than a $5-$10 buy ins... and maybe a internet based world or national championship with a buy in that is varied based on the actual income level of the player.
A player, depending on income levels that should be checked and verified, cannot exceed spending more than say... a maximum of $400 a day or; $800 a month and again based on actual verifiable income levels of that specific individual player. This would help with compulsive gambling issues.
I still enjoy the game, but as one who understands how manipulation is and has been going on, these sites and web designers will continue to insure that internet based gaming will never be permitted on a mass scale for real cash and real money...fiat or crypto.
In the meantime, absent these issues... Lets play. Have a great time. Call out the cheats when you see them and insist on a honest game from the website and designers.
The players, you and I, can achieve success and help create a good honest website without the designers manipulating the game and bring everyday gaming with real time, and bring real rewards to the internet.
We demand better. The game designs can be better and will be better... but we got to call out the B.S. and push your elected to permit internet gaming... as long as it can be honestly regulated and totally eliminate the "cheats".
Reward good play and behavior