grapes
05-07-2003, 11:24 AM
I've been playing seriously online for years, and have never been too worried about collusion. I've never been at a table where I seriously suspected it either. But I've had a few beginning players ask me about it recently, and it got me thinking.
First, where would collusion be most useful to the colluders, and damaging to the other players? My guess would be Omaha, where there are 4 cards that can be shared with a fellow cheat, and the hi/lo games, where two players who know they they have the nuts each way can jam without fear of being quartered. I would be especially afraid of pot limit omaha or o/8 for big money, as I hear they play on some European sites.
I don't think collusion would be very useful at holdem or stud (assuming there are only two of them). Sure, sometimes knowing what two dead cards are can have an effect, but probably not too often and not very big. When both players are in the hand, sharing their hand values doesn't seem to make much sense in most cases...
Further, I think that most people who would resort to cheating would be losing players -- and if they can't play well enough to win by themselves, there is a good chance that collusion won't do much good, and they may even do worse by cheating.
Anyone ever seen seen it happen online (with some kind of proof)? I would be very interested to see how different sites deal with suspected colluders, how much evidence they need to ban them, if they don't just ignore it if no one complains.
First, where would collusion be most useful to the colluders, and damaging to the other players? My guess would be Omaha, where there are 4 cards that can be shared with a fellow cheat, and the hi/lo games, where two players who know they they have the nuts each way can jam without fear of being quartered. I would be especially afraid of pot limit omaha or o/8 for big money, as I hear they play on some European sites.
I don't think collusion would be very useful at holdem or stud (assuming there are only two of them). Sure, sometimes knowing what two dead cards are can have an effect, but probably not too often and not very big. When both players are in the hand, sharing their hand values doesn't seem to make much sense in most cases...
Further, I think that most people who would resort to cheating would be losing players -- and if they can't play well enough to win by themselves, there is a good chance that collusion won't do much good, and they may even do worse by cheating.
Anyone ever seen seen it happen online (with some kind of proof)? I would be very interested to see how different sites deal with suspected colluders, how much evidence they need to ban them, if they don't just ignore it if no one complains.