Re: Collusive Entanglement
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Do you think that there is some probability that opponents strategies could inadvertantly mimic those collusion ones above? Especially when you consider that opponents who tend to be agressive are much more likely to produce "collusive entanglement" situations?
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Her's a situation I run into in home games all the time. (10-20 with a half kill and 15-30):
2 people who know each other well get into a raising war on on the flop, and after everyone else drops out, they just check it down the rest of the way. If I am in the hand, they will bet the turn and river.
I no longer play in these games, even though I know they are just being nice to each other and not splitting up the money later. The problem is that it feels so much like collusion, that I get taken off my game. This is what makes the game unbeatable for me. It is otherwise a good game with terrible players.
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PS In the Phat Mack hand, while this is what I term collusive entanglement, even there, its beatable. AA would show a profit.
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It is interesting, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to me that your concept of 'collusive entanlement' is actually one of the main reasons why good players win. For example:
Let's say that in a given hand if you want to prtoect your hand, you will need to c/r the flop. In order to accomplish this, someone else will have to bet after you check, preferably the player on your immediate right. If this player bets, he has actually helped you to beat the field by cutting everyones odds for their draws when you make it 2 bets back to them. This is something you couldn't do by yourself, and without his assistance you would lose this pot quite often, as well as lose a number of bluffing/semibluffing opportunities.
In conclusion, it seems like 'collusive entanglement' cuts both ways. If you can employ the help of the table, you are essentially getting them entangled with you, but if not, you will be entangled with them. The difference lies in the control of the entanglement. If you can control it, you'll win. If you can't, you need to get lucky to win.
I hope this made sense to someone else.
Dov
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