Randomness of the shuffle: As with other types of Internet gambling available, many critics question whether the operators of these games — especially those residing in jurisdictions away from many of their players — could be engaging in fraud themselves.

Online discussion forums and blogs feed on allegations of irregular play, including non-random card dealing, maybe to favor house-employed players or “bots” (poker-playing software that appear to be a human opponent), or to give a bunch of players good hands (thus inducing them to increase their bets and the rake), or just to keep new players (and fresh money) from getting discouraged and leaving the game. But there isn’t anything more than anecdotal evidence to backup these claims, and others have argued that the casino rake is sufficiently large that these abuses would be unnecessary as well as foolish. Many people state they see lots of “bad beats” with big hands pitted against other people all too often, and at a rate which seems a lot more than in a live game. This may be the result of card rooms dealing more hands each hour. Since an online player gets to see more hands, their chances of discovering more improbable bad beats or even randomly large pots is increased as well.

There is a failure of many new players in understanding that there can be many variations in the game of poker, as in many card games, whether played online or live. The standard deviation, even for the players that are the best, for each hour of play, can be 50 times the hourly profit that is expected, or more, which means that long losing streaks can be experienced by even the best players.

On the other hand, when those who are new to the game have a run of bad luck they are susceptible to blaming cheating when simple variance is more likely the probable cause. [citation needed] Many Internet gaming rooms are certified by accrediting bodies like the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and major auditing firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers which ensure the equity of the random number generator, shuffle, and payouts for some sites.

Collusion: The usage of more than one account by one player, or collusion between players is involved in mundane cheating. The occurrence of collusion is not only found in play online, but can occur in any game of poker with three or more players. Most rooms where poker is played regularly look for such behavior. For instance, during 2007, PokerStars decided to disqualify TheV0id, the winner of the main event of the World Championship of Online Poker, for the breaching their existing terms of service.