This has really got into my head. I haven't played poker all day, considering whether I wanted to stay at Full Tilt or not.
I think the thing that bothered me is the fact that the deck isn't fixed and so every action has a consequence of the result of the hand. Anyway, I Googled around and found a couple of forums discussing it. Some people were a little bothered, likening FT to a slot machine. Others reckoned it didn't matter one bit because you were going to get a random card anyway and you didn't know what it was. It also affects everybody and someone said it was all 'quantum', which sounds funky. lol
I did find one little article that appeared to be from someone at Full Tilt who seemed to know about the program. He actually said that it wasn't just the actions of the table you were playing at that affected the next card, but in fact the actions of other tables had an influence too.
This at least takes the burden off a little from the thought of "If I called 2 seconds earlier would I have won?". It also means that you didn't necessarily fold that winning hand. Folding 8-5 and seeing a flop of 8-8-5 is never nice, but knowing that the fact of you just calling would have changed that flop and so you might have lost anyway makes it a little easier to swallow I think.
So on reflection, I have decided I am happy with how Full Tilt handles the deal. The fact it shuffles after every round doesn't matter. You still have to play the cards that are dealt and not the cards that might be dealt. And the odds of that elusive Ace hitting are equal whether the deck is fixed or a card is pulled at random from the deck.
I also think that perhaps I have been over reacting to the beats and suckouts I have seen. I'd like to thank PKR Nation and Dodgey for once again helping me see sense. I really need to play live to get a feeling of what is normal. I am watching as much live poker as possible at the moment. (Thank you YouTube. hehe)
So I went and played again at Full Tilt tonight and duly won my $20 STT, so I am a happy bunny again.
If anyone is even remotely interested in following my progress on Full Tilt in the SnG's, you can see how I am doing on
SharkScope - The Largest Online Poker Tournament Results Database. Just search for TrueForm 5 (that's Trueform <space> and the number 5) at Full Tilt. You get 5 free searches per day. If / when you find me it can also list my last 8 results in the options menu. Last week it was full of -$22 all the way down, totally red. Thankfully that little downswing appears to be over and it looks a little healthier now
Good luck at the tables (and I apologise for my whinges - but it's my way of letting off steam)