ethics ? -

[texman]

My friend was recently at the Bellagio in 2/4 or 5/10 holdem and he sat at a table where several people (4-5 at least) seemed to know each other and would give chips to whoever had just lost a pot. He said it seemed like someone would call to the river frequently and he quickly lost money.

Now my friend is a great guy but a bad poker player and he always loses in our home games. But he wondered if what was going on was legit and/or if the dealer should have intervened.
Let me know your thoughts

[DeuceKicker]

It's probably legit in the sense that they weren't colluding/cheating. They were "pushing" chips back and forth to lower variance (though they may not think of it that way).

Some casinos allow it, some don't. The Bicycle, here in LA, has big stickers on their shuffle machines that say "No Pushing", but many of the regulars still do it.