1.  Things They Say:   “New accounts will win at first.  Then the winning will suddenly stop.”  This is a myth of one’s perception and not terribly true of online poker;  more likely to happen in other online casino games.  The people who keep insisting that new accounts always win have evidently never played blackjack.  (Ouch!)

2.  Don’t try to sign up for more than 1 account at a poker site or casino.  It’s regarded as cheating,  even if you didn’t have the slightest urge to cheat.  And some sites will not accept more than 1 account signed up from the same computer.  For instance,  a husband and wife who both play poker both opened accounts at an online poker site;  the wife,  knowing her husband was playing at this site decided she’d like to have her own account there too.  She signed up without problems,  but then the site found the previously established account from the same IP address,  and froze the wife’s account.  Then her husband came to the computer and logged into his account.  The site immediately froze his too.  …… If an individual really did intend to sign up a second account for himself,  sometimes the casino doesn’t find the 2 accounts until the person tries to cash out,  then it’ll freeze his winnings.  Don’t sign up twice.

3. The Cashout Curse.  This is more of the Things They Say,  namely,  that once you have the nerve to ask for the money you won,  you’ll find yourself losing for a good while.  This losing streak may be due to the player’s perception of the game.  There are great practical differences between online games and live ones;  in live games there can be a tendency to maintain one’s same playing style,  while in online poker there is the reverse.  In a live game the player gets to see his opponents,  which can make him more comfortable and feel a measure of control the online player doesn’t.  (Although many online players triumphantly say there are  “online tells”  and all sort of things that make up the difference.)  An online poker player’s strategy is more likely to change dramatically depending on his wins/losses.  In addition,  the poker site has sometimes a limit to the buy-in and once that’s gone,  the player is shut off.  Thinking to stretch out his cash,  his play loses needed aggressiveness,  and that,  in the end,  doesn’t help him at all.  He should’ve played like he REALLY wanted to.

4. The Quads Scandal.  This appears to be more myth than substantial complaint,  an accusation that certain online poker sites turn up quads about twice a day or more,  when the odds of their occurring in a pat hand of 5 cards are 1:  500-600,  depending on the game played.  While there is plenty of disagreement about this,  the multiple quads appearance is,  in our opinion,  due to a short-term statistical anomaly.  And many players reporting seeing so many quads are simply poor historians.