I would say yes and no.
First of all you should realise theres people out there willing to do anything to win. Its also important to know that theres many ways of cheating or ways of playin against unfair
odds.
Only just yesterday i read an article on this website that
partypoker banned over 120 bots from their site and that theyve taken millions of cash in total from all the bots in a certain time amount. IMO, having to play against bots/A.I. is in short, rigged. where the bots come from does not matter because the only ones affected are the real players like you and me. I mean we got to prove we arent a bot when making posts or signing up.
Even in
casinos it is known that people play together to beat the odds. If you have the nuts u cant possibly lose but this is a medium rare occurance so youre up against unfair odds when people do this. This doesnt happen that much in live games, but it does happen alot more online and just like any crime, the % of people gettin away with it is higher than those that dont.
So is online poker rigged? I hope that the owners do not rig it and im willing to give them the benefit of doubt, but the fact that there are malicious people out there trying to rig the game is a well known fact and its alot easier for them online.
Some players do make the weirdest plays and calls, gettin bamboozled really sucks but so do we sometimes. Luck will Always be a big factor. Its still a game of chance and you dont even need a hit to win.
In the end i think the issue is more about poker programs that do the thinking for you or for them and makes them call or play a certain hand because the program calculated the probability of that hand winning on numerous factors. If you are the one that doesnt have the program or the better program is IMO facing an unfair advantage. You are not allowed to have a cheatsheet in live games in any kind of form, but online you are allowed to in most rooms and even if you werent, who can control you 100%?
This is offcourse a very skeptic opinion but i dont think it is any less true. Has it stopped me from playin online? No. I have never lost enough to stay angry for more than 5 seconds and since im not a pro player by as long shot i like to blame my losses entirely on myself as my skill is not high enough to fully understand whats going on.
I do wish there was a report player option which could be reviewed by a bot before it is reviewed by staffmembers. and if there is an option like this, i havent cared enough to use it.
Have a nice day and i wish you strong hands