[stigmata]

Mason

Interesting & somewhat reassuring comments. However, I have to believe that the presence of the interent changes everything.

I have looked at the Russ Georgiev website, and whilst it is mostly hyperbole, he does give some pretty heavy hints at how online collusion can be achieved. Essentially you would need to set up multipe accounts (with different name/bank details etc.) with the major poker sites. You would then set up a "boiler-room" using proxy servers to convince the Poker site that your computers were physically distant. You would change accounts often, so that 2 colluding accounts rarely played at the same time.

Playing high-stakes online poker, you will often be in a short-handed situation of a team of 3 or 4 colluders (in the same room, or the same person) against one honest player.

All of the above is well within the means and expertise of certain East European and Russian hacker/mafia groups. I
guess the question is how much extra EV a talented team will achieve? I do not feel qualified to answer this question, but would anyone like to hazard a guess? If the reward is big enough, it is only a matter of time...