Following is my feedback after playing on Poker Baazi for more than 3 years sometimes even 10 hours a day.
- Game play
Poker baazi claims to be the best poker site in the country where skill based players can win. In my opinion skill in poker means I have a better hand I should win with that much confidence, let's say 70 % fav to win will win 70 out of 100 times. This does not happen on poker baazi. Upon discussion with poker baazi team, they were unable to define what skill is in poker. They also told me that mental skill and folding best hands is also part of skill so that I don't get bad beats. This is absolutely unacceptable. In my opinion the RNG certification provided on the website is too old (7 years) and I also read that they have not audited the same year on year.
This site will always favor players who deposit big amounts of money. Small players have no chance to win here. It will feel like initially that you are winning but then you will start recieving sick bad beats which don't happen in live poker with the same frequency. The argument made by pros and regs will be that it is variance and part of game. However, in my experience the variance is only downside. You will take 5 hours to make 10 k but not even 1 min to lose it. Additionally if you deposit money the software will favor you and as soon as you withdraw you will face a downswing like no other.
- Tools- They have recently introduced a bad beat counter where they show the number of bad beats given and recieved. With no industry standard and benchmark, the management has decided that the criteria for bad beat is 20 %. For example at the time of all in if your Winning chances are more than 80% and you end up losing only then will poker baazi classify it as a bad beat. However, this is completely biased. I'm definitely sure that if they change the threshold to 70%, it will reveal the nature of scam on this platform. I have had multiple conversations with customer support who don't seem to understand it. In my opinion given lack of clarity and subjectivity Poker Baazi has no authority to claim that this is a common benchmark for bad beats. Their analysis is not based on historical data rather a marketing stunt. They have on multiple occasions cited this tool to incentivise people to join their platform since it shows fairness. The rule is applicable to plo5 and plo6 variants as well. For people who play these formats regularly will not that probabilities don't run so skewed in plo5 and plo6. In twice run tables I have many times been 75% to win , but have ended up losing both runs. This happens always in pots greater than 100 bb. However pokerbaazi fails to acknowledge them as bad beats when they clearly are. Upon request of the data that in how many instances has it happened to me pokerbaazi cited a technical reason that they don't store probabilities in their system. This is fishy and points to a scam to me. Additionally in my opinion bad beat criteria should not only include the number but also the money that was involved in the hand. You will find that bad beats recieved money is atleast 20x times the money won by giving bad beats. Upon discussion with player relations they were mute to this observation.
Poker baazi should not be allowed to run this tool to incentivise people.
Promotions and offers. According to poker baazi team, promotions and offers and randomly generated and are dynamic in nature for example tournament tickets , cash back , bonus chips, leaderboards etc. however this could not be further from the truth. It is a common practice on poker baazi to discriminate players and provide offers of cashback to selective players to incentivise them. This cashback often comes in form of cash Monday to Monday and is over and above leaderboard winnings. These are side deals that the player relationship managers have made with only certain players. Often the cashback provided goes up to 25-30 k monthly if you are playing 50/100 stakes. I have screenshot to prove that it is being provided however, when I approached poker baazi they first said they have no such offers. Upon providing them the evidence that they are giving to selective players , they said it is only temporary, however players are recieving it for last 8-10 months every week. I have no way to have this information completely but I know it's happening. I have calls recordings and email records to prove that they changed their stance when I presented them with proofs.
Customer support. All customer support and player relation team members are not only incompetent but also ungrateful fucks. They talk as if they have all the authority and in reality they have no authority. No knowledge of the game, they speak the same thing over and over again. They are often hesitant to disclose their designation and the work they do. They will pass on your complaint/query around in which you will end up wasting time explaining to each person individually often with the same response "we understand your concern we will get back to you" they rarely close any query efficiently. Over and above that if our money is generating rake for these fucks they should arrange call with senior team members as priority if at their level they can't resolve the issue. This never happens. Basically they are chilling on your money and calling it the best poker site because that is what they are paid to do. Nothing else.
Some of my thoughts will not resonate with few people who end up winning on this website. I'm sure they also cannot put hand on their heart and say it's the best poker site. I have dedicated considerable resources both money and time to this platform and my experience couldn't be further from pleasent. This is a complete scam run and promoted by multiple platforms and ambassadors like Shahid kapoor in the country, without realising that it is ruining lives of lacs of people.
My recommendation would be to never trust this site and waste your future. I'm a PhD in finance from one of the best institutions in India and understand to a fair extent the nature of gameplay here.
