Online cheating - am I taking it from behind?

[mauisupaman]

Aside from computer hacking and that sort of thing how much of an edge do you suppose that a couple of guys communicating with each other on one table can have over other players (via cellphone or instant messaging)? I'm sure it happens and sometimes while playing on 15-30 party I can't help and worry that I'm on the receiving end. I've seen some strange betting patterns and odd hand histories to add to my suspicion. And how well can online poker sites protect against computer hackers? Please direct me to a thread on this topic.

A hui hou,
Adam

[tek]

Ask yourself if you'd play a live B & M table if there were three guys at the end showing each other their hole cards in the middle of a hand...

[mauisupaman]

I'd assume they'd have a significant edge. So why do so many of us play online? How can you protect against that?

[JasonP530]

here are my thoughts:

People continue to play because they win. No matter how many people are colluding, if you continue to win, well then they arent doing a good job. There are so many bad players, that it makes the games so profitable, even if some are colluding.

That being said, I dont think that many people are colluding. You tend to notice some weird happenings at the table, and would notice if someone is always raising then folding etc. In addition Party Poker takes some steps to try to prevent cheaters. From what I understand, it is difficult to collude properly, and done incorrectly, can cost you money. In holdem, there is not as much to be gained from colluding as in omaha and 7 stud, and colluders would almost certainly be forced to play only one table.

These are the natural solutions I see to the problem of colluding.

[Piers]

[ QUOTE ]
Aside from computer hacking and that sort of thing how much of an edge do you suppose that a couple of guys communicating with each other on one table can have over other players (via cellphone or instant messaging)? I'm sure it happens and sometimes while playing on 15-30 party

[/ QUOTE ]

Here are some ways you can improve your results at online poker.

1) You can think more deeply about each decision. While not in a hand you can concentrate on perfecting mental models of your opponents to improve your intuitional judgment.

2) Cheat, by having multiple accounts, or sharing information with colleagues.

3) Play more games. Add as many games as you can physically handle.

4) Spend all your spare time searching the Internet for softer games. Ideally you want to always be playing in the softest games on the Internet at your chosen level.

You can do any of these but you cannot do all of them at once. The critical resource is your own processing ability; you need to decide how you are to partition its use. If you spend some of your processing ability cheating then you cannot be doing something as or almost as lucrative.

It is possible to ask which is the best way to use some of your idle processing ability. In the short term there might be times when the highest EV option is to cheat, however as you have to give up something somewhere else it is likely not by much. Every one will be different here as there are factors that vary greatly from person to person.

However we are considering the effect on another Poker player of cheating.

Any way a strong player takes more money out of the system is bad. It is the amount of money the player takes that is the problem, not how he takes it out. So if a strong player plays better, cheats, plays more games or constantly dilutes the best games it does not matter much they are all bad.

Well almost anyway. The main problem with cheating is the PR effect. Cheating that no one knows about is fine, it’s when it becomes public knowledge and puts people off playing that the problem occurs.

[M2d]

Brah, don't worry. I don't think you're as much of an unsuspecting e-mahu as you think.
As has already been pointed out, it's tough to collude correctly, and most of the ones who decide to do it seem to be in it for the quick fix rather than the long haul. as such, they are sloppy, weak and easily avoidable. I've run into a couple of pairs of these guys in the party 5 games, and the overriding similarity is that they were all terrible players. Sure, they extract a premium when they hit their hands, but they often are laying odds to chase as well as costing themselves money in other ways. I've seen one case where the idiot colluder #2 (IC2) raised IC1 and shut out the field (about four others) in order to trap one player in between the two of them. IC1 had a flopped top full and wasn't likely to have been drawn out against.

I haven't reported any of these cases because, well, they sucked, and I didn't want them to leave my games.

I'm not saying that they couldn't take a toll, but, as currently practiced by the majority of slimeballs on party, their play, if anything, helps the aware opponent.

[mauisupaman]

Howzit Matt,
Still on the mainland? Time to come home, but then all you can play in online, and underground.
A hui hou,
Adam

[ShamaLamDingDong]

YOU AREN'T BEING PARANOID ENOUGH! Convert all your money to gold and head for the mountains!

SHAMA LAMA...DING DONG!