Improving the game: Recommendations all Poker site operators should consider

The first thing I want to clarify is that some of these recommendations may be unrealistic or unpractical from an operators standpoint because they come from a players perspective. Regardless, players and operators want the same thing, to keep the games going and to keep players playing. With this goal in mind we set out to write our player friendly recommendations for sites to keep players content and active. If you would like to comment on these recomendations, please visit ITB holdem and contribute.



Make a commitment to keep the games fair, and show your customers the results!

The games will only continue as long as they are considered fair and beatable. As stories of bots and collusion becomes more prevalent the game quality will surely suffer. Sites need to make examples of cheaters, and instead of suppressing stories of cheaters, they need to make them public! Seizing a few large accounts from cheaters and having a freeroll tournament with the money would do wonders for site's security image.

Lower the rake, and make rake back legal and available to all!

On a hand per hand basis, online Poker has a lower rake then you would find in a brick and mortar casino. However, the fact that many more hands are being player per hour means that money is leaving the table at a lighting pace! This rate makes the majority of low stakes games unbeatable and how can players continue to play if it is impossible to overcome the rake?

At this time, certain deals exist where players can get a portion of their rake refunded to them monthly from an affiliate, also known as rake back. However, these deals often require players to have never created an account on the site where they are trying to establish rake back because in order to get it, players must create a brand new account. This creates an incentive for people to break the rules of the site and create an additional account or create identity fraud. Instead, sites should realize the importance of rake back and give people the option of deleting an old account and create a new one so they can too benefit from a rake back plan.

Establish a system to check identities and make sure multiple accounts are not being funded from one source!

It is amazing that people can multi account tournaments and get away with it! Sites have the capability to catch these cheaters if they just tried! Shouldn't it trigger certain alarms if one Neteller account is funding multiple player accounts on the same site? Making it more difficult for cheaters to fund their accounts should be a top priority because it makes it much more difficult to cheat.

Work Together on issues of security!

It is long past time for poker sites to share their intelligence as it relates to specific accounts accused of cheating. There needs to be an INTERNET BLACK LIST where proven cheaters are tagged and forbidden from cashing in, everywhere. Sure, cheaters are likely to take other steps to continue playing many of which would be related to identity fraud, a federal crime. Give them a rope and let them hang themselves!