($1.75) (!) Possible collusion?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (8 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Button (t1375)
SB (t1660)
Hero (t3020)
UTG (t1390)
UTG+1 (t1560)
MP1 (t1435)
MP2 (t1000)
CO (t2060)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG calls t30, UTG+1 calls t30, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, MP2 calls t30, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: (t150) 7/images/graemlins/club.gif, K/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, <font color="#CC3333">UTG+1 bets t30</font>, MP2 folds, SB folds, Hero folds, <font color="#CC3333">UTG raises to t1360</font>, UTG+1 calls t1330.

Turn: (t2870) J/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>

River: (t2870) T/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>

Final Pot: t2870

I am very new to online poker, so this may be very clearcut or I may be living in Disneyworld. In any case, the two villians in this have VERY similar names (jb_nb0507 and jb_kb0242)

The guy with Q9 might be an utter donkey who was just going all-in for the hell of it (remember this is a $1.75 tournament). But the no hand, no draw and the similar names lead me to think that they had some sort of arrangement in which one of them donated their chips to the other, and the runner-runner straight was an unexpected accident. Should I report this, or am I seeing monsters under the bed?

[bigt439]

I think you would make more money busking than colluding at $1 sng's. I guarantee you this was not collusion. It maybe, MAYBE, was two buddies deciding to get allin whenever they could, but trust me, no one is trying to profit through cheating here.

[applejuicekid]

What were the hands?

It is possible. I doubt it helps them very much though. I wouldn't report them. They will probably lose all their money soon enough.

[applejuicekid]

Why can't this be collusion?

I agree colluding the $1 tourney's is stupid and not worth the effort, but I wouldn't underestimate the stupidity of these idiots.

[ QUOTE ]
What were the hands?

It is possible. I doubt it helps them very much though. I wouldn't report them. They will probably lose all their money soon enough.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whooops. I didn't realise the converter didn't show their hands.

The one who pushed all-in had Q9, and the caller had K8

That's what I was thinking.

Any colluders worth their $1.75 wouldn't choose near-identical names anyway.

[Matt R.]

The names are enough to convince me that it's likely collusion. Just because it's a $1.75 buy-in doesn't mean people won't cheat -- I'd expect more obvious cases (here) at these levels since it will likely go unchecked. My guess is it's 2 kids (or 1 with 2 accounts, is this possible?) trying to build his bankroll up easily by dumping chips to win a tourney.

Just a hunch though, I'd report it anyway just based on principle. No harm in having the site check it out.

[psparkyuk]

Maybe the names were automatically generated by the site and have not been personalized yet. I got a name something like these on one site I registered at.

I also think that dumping chips like this would reduce the combined expected returns of the two players, so you actually gain here!

Psparky

They just donated EV to everyone at the table, I don't see how this is collusion

[MegaBet]

lmao

[pergesu]

If your buyin can't even get you a happy meal, you shouldn't worry about collusion.

[Fatdogs12]

[ QUOTE ]
If your buyin can't even get you a happy meal, you shouldn't worry about collusion.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now this post made reading this thread worthwhile.

I won't even worry about collusion at the 20's unless it is happening to u all the time.

[lorinda]

You don't have to report it as cheating, you could ask support if they could look into it.

There's no harm in asking, that's what your rake goes towards.

If people are going to practice cheating, they might do it in a $1 game. The fact they suck at the moment isn't relevant, they may get better.

Lori

I dont see how chip dumping is +EV. Anyone care to elaborate on how it is?

[lorinda]

It's not.

Edit: A lot of people think it is. IMO if the intent to cheat is there, they should be stopped before they learn to do it properly.

Lori

[neuroman]

That's pretty suspicious, and I would also report it on principle.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

It's not the money that bothers me. Even in a game I am playing for free, I don't want people cheating (even if it isn't effective)

I reported them to Pokerstars support, haven't heard back yet.