Is pokerstars known for this bad-faith practice

[andrei111]

How could it happen that, after entering tournament at pokerstars App and having played two plays, with the second being winning, at one 6-player table, I was moved to another 6-player table, at which all subsequent hands but one were so weak I was out-of-luck completely, till all chips gone.
Is this automatic reshuffling done at will of pokerstars algorithms or is pokerstars staff known for doing such things on purpose?
Even though I played free chips, I consider it a pretty big deal, for if the system is set to cheat for nothing, I wonder how much an extent of cheating expands when there are real stakes in real money or people of pokerstars are involved?!

 

[fundiver199]

All poker sites move players around to secure an equal number of players on each table. Letting some tables run with 9 players and others with only 6-7, because someone busted, would not be fair. As the tournament grow larger due to late registration or shrink due to players busting, tables have to be opened and closed, which also lead to players being moved. I do not know, exactly how the distribution of players is done, but I am very sure, it is done by the server without human interaction. There is no reason to waste manpower on something, a machine can do much better.

 

[SouthernCroix]

That can happen on virtually every online tournament on all available platforms.

 

[andrei111]

All poker sites move players around to secure an equal number of players on each table. Letting some tables run with 9 players and others with only 6-7, because someone busted, would not be fair. As the tournament grow larger due to late registration or shrink due to players busting, tables have to be opened and closed, which also lead to players being moved. I do not know, exactly how the distribution of players is done, but I am very sure, it is done by the server without human interaction. There is no reason to waste manpower on something, a machine can do much better.

I thought about that. The problem with accepting that it was strictly server/software/algorithm-related thing is that, after the win I mentioned, I was the top player, with 12+k balance, at my 6-player table, with all others below 10k, some far below... You don't take top player off the table to shuffle him around - you do it with someone at the bottom or let's say in lower half... So, I'd say there is about 95% chance it was done with human/manual interference and the rest 5% chance of algorithm malfunctioning...

 

[Bird173]

Man if that tilts you off you have no idea what an online grinder sees on a daily basis. It boggles the mind really but that’s poker

 

[paintedbynumbers]

I think the original poster is on to something. I was in a tournament today (the $10 knockout tourney) I was also chip leader at my table and had won my last 3 hands. Had just knocked all but 300 chips from a guy who had a $24.90 bounty and was looking forward to beating him. I get moved to a table where I am now low stack and can't catch a face card to save my life. Finally I get QQ and a guy with JJ shoves all in and rivers the Jack. People can say "that's poker" but it really isn't. With the ammt of times fishy things happen on Pokerstars it's more bingo than poker lately. Also count the ammt of times an Ace hits on the flop. 8 out of 10 is the average. If there wasn't an Ace on the flop the board would pair. We talked about it in the chat and at least 5 of us agreed that something was up.

 

[fundiver199]

You don't take top player off the table to shuffle him around - you do it with someone at the bottom or let's say in lower half...

Why should being the table chip leader give you a special right to not be moved to another table? It is easier and in my opinion also more fair to do a random shuffling. Say a table need another player, because it has dropped to 7, and 12 tables are full. Then you just randomly pick one of those 12 x 9 players and move him. No need to make it any more complicated than that. To be honest you are overthinking this quite a bit

 

[hugh blair]

It is a nightmare when your close to the money card dead and short stacked just on the blinds and new table puts you on the blinds again next hand.
Sometimes this table change benefits us though giving us more hands until on the blinds again if we are honest though it is luck of the draw.

 

[fundiver199]

It is a nightmare when your close to the money card dead and short stacked just on the blinds and new table puts you on the blinds again next hand.
Sometimes this table change benefits us though giving us more hands until on the blinds again if we are honest though it is luck of the draw.

Good point. So in my example the most fair solution is to pick a player, who was on the same seat, which he will be moved to, relative to the blinds.

 

[dregan]

I think you're wrong about the honesty of PokerStars. There is no need to do as you think. It just so happened that you were given a bad card. The card is issued randomly. Sometimes for a long time there is no good card.

 

[COMIRRR]

It's fate, my friend! Do you want to sit at a table and win only you? We, the others at the game table, talk to each other and get you out of there! And so you lost your luck until next time.

 

[Psyanide14]

Doesn’t sound fishy to me. All sites move players to rebalance tables so you don’t end up with one full table and with with 3 players for example. Sounds like you just got a bad streak of hands which sucks but is normal. You will always get way more junk hands than premium hands.

 

[Oxinthewater]

Yep, normal as others have said. You have to be dynamic and adjust to the changes.

 

[rj_montana]

All poker sites rebalance the tables as players get eliminated until there is only a final table remaining.

 

[DS3]

It is a nightmare when your close to the money card dead and short stacked just on the blinds and new table puts you on the blinds again next hand.
Sometimes this table change benefits us though giving us more hands until on the blinds again if we are honest though it is luck of the draw.

Exactly. In the last two days I have twice been low stacked on the BB and then moved to another table to sit immediately on the BB again (taking a third of my stack). It can be infuriating.

However, there are way more examples when I have been moved as the low stack about to face the BB and then find myself protected for another orbit at the new table, providing me opportunity to increase my stack or cash.

The other factor to bear in mind is that as players exit and the field shrinks it is inevitable tables will feature more players with larger stacks and there is a growing chance you will be moved to face chip leaders.

 

[andrei111]

Why should being the table chip leader give you a special right to not be moved to another table? It is easier and in my opinion also more fair to do a random shuffling. Say a table need another player, because it has dropped to 7, and 12 tables are full. Then you just randomly pick one of those 12 x 9 players and move him. No need to make it any more complicated than that. To be honest you are overthinking this quite a bit

As you might see, I was rather trying to figure out through public opinion if pokerstars are known for practice of targeting table leaders who do not belong to their close networks and cliques to make them lose the earnings in lieu of cashing them out. 😁 I'd agree that arbitrary instances here and there don't mean much, but if it becomes somewhat predictable result for table leaders, then such info would facilitate better judgement in many others...

 

[Scroooob]

How could it happen that, after entering tournament at pokerstars app and having played two plays, with the second being winning, at one 6-player table, I was moved to another 6-player table, at which all subsequent hands but one were so weak I was out-of-luck completely, till all chips gone.
Is this automatic reshuffling done at will of pokerstars algorithms or is pokerstars staff known for doing such things on purpose?
Even though I played free chips, I consider it a pretty big deal, for if the system is set to cheat for nothing, I wonder how much an extent of cheating expands when there are real stakes in real money or people of pokerstars are involved?!

It is all about balancing tables, especially at the beginning of tourneys expect to be moved around a lot. It isn't just pokerstars.

 

[Puerta2005]

indead it has bad faith......if i play de sunday million and a freeroll.....all the bad beats goes to the sunday millon and on the freeroll i am run like a god.

 

[ios]

OMG I had the same in many many tournaments on PS. When I have good start, passive table who is afraid of my stack suddently poof! and I'm reseated. Usually just right next to a monster, so I can't be aggresive. I really hate it.

 

[MorMeg]

Pokerstars algorithms are so powerful this terrible practice spills into live tournaments too

Excuse my sarcasm but come on man! If I read correctly, you were in a play money tournament? This would imply a rather expensive IT professional had nothing better to do than to meddle in a play money tourney and to somehow move you around with no purpose other than to ruin your fun. Possible but how likely does that sound?

Btw I don't even play on Pokerstars.

 

[pltelles]

I am also irritated when I move the table, especially when I have already picked up the opponents' game mode. But I do not believe that this is done by human action. Imagine how many tables take place at the same time, somewhere between 500-1000. Look at the cost for pokerstars to put employees all the time controlling players' table changes, it doesn't make sense.

 

[fundiver199]

What is a little annoying though is the fact, that with the current software once you get moved to another table, your position in the tournament and remaining players is no longer shown. Like "138 out of 375". There is a simple fix for that though. Open the tournament lobby, close your table (ignore the warning your hands will be folded) and then click "take your seat" in the tournament lobby to open up the table again. But come on Pokerstars. How difficult can it be to fix this bug? You are after all the largest poker site in the world

 

[amatola]

always funny in PKO games when vill gets hit by an all-in and losers, disappears to another table when on 1/2 a BB. You can hear the whole table going NOOOOOOOOO

 

[horscht22]

I think its a normal procedere to move players to different tables...As some people here already said, its for table balance and when u picket, then u picked...Sometimes it can be helpfully, when u change from a table full of sharks to a table which is like a fishbowl wher u are the shark

 

[Elfina777]

Pokerstars, an honest room with a good reputation for many years and everything that is written about it, about bots and deception, I do not believe and I advise everyone to play in this room.