Re: Soft Play
Soft play in a social game doesn't bother me too horribly. Yeah, it would be nice if couples jammed pots against each other when appropriate -- but in most social games there are all sorts of people who dial it up and down depending on who they're playing. (College roommates; neighbors, etc.) Sometimes they're extra eager to bust out an old rival; sometimes they wanna let a pal live a little longer. Heck, in the WSOP main event this year, hardened pros softplayed against some 91-year-old geezer with a hearing aid, letting him last a couple hours longer because no one had the heart to bust him out.
For a $40 buy in at a home game, I'd rather play against nice people and accept this as the price. If I want cut-throat action against people I don't care for, then it's time to go to a casino.
Signaling, however, strikes me as intolerable, even in a home game. The way you policed it FAST strikes me as totally right. I realize it's just one step further into the gray zone of collusion. But there's a key difference. Now people aren't just adjusting their internal win/loss stakes with a buddy. They're actively combining forces to try to hurt everyone else's performance.
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