[RIIT]

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Josem: If you and I have the highest level of control/access for our poker server computer then we win regardless - the size of the entity policing us is not an issue because we have god-like power over that entire computer. We can undo and/or manipulate anything on that machine. Until said policing entity catches us and takes away our license, poker server computer, and levies an enormous fine on top of our idiot heads. But then maybe we could write a book about the fastest way to kill a golden goose.

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FYP

Yeah, regulation will be unpossible...onaccounta it's not a live game.

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Regulation of site operators is very possible but not in a manner that involves policing inside the actual server box. Internal server policing is like policing speeders by having the officers actually do the driving for the motorist - and then of course you need somebody to police the police-driver and then you're right back to simple detection methods where you started in the first place.

You only need to do 2 things to police a poker operator in regards to the mechanics of the game itself:

a) detect skewing (of shuffles)
this is solved 100% with Player Determined Shuffling (PDS)

b) detect hinting (of players)
this is solved 100% with plain text message protocol and a dedicated 3rd party protocol analyzer able to detect hints sent to players.

If an operator is not skewing or hinting then the game mechanics are provably honest and any and all threads that begin with "this site is rigged" can be summarily dismissed.

Note that these things are detection level security. It does not mean an operator is physically prevented from skewing or hinting; it just means that they cannot skew or hint undetected. Right now there is not a single internet site with this level of security; and this doesn't seem to bother anybody.

In regards to regulating player behavior within the privacy of their homes: this is not possible given the current governmental limits of the major western democracies. The value of my personal privacy trumps any and all needs that any "socialist" has to control my behavior via the government only for the sake of attempting to implement the definition of online poker that suits them best. For those with this mindset: I call into question their entire genetic ancestry (as well as the value of their offspring present or future) for having produced a level of common sense that fails to understand the natural conditions of the internet where computers outnumber humans 2 to 1 and there is no eye contact between players. There are not english adjectives sufficient to describe my natural reaction to the inescapable fact we are the same species.

RIIT