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Collusion absolutely provides unfair advantages (which is why it's against the rules). Poker is a game of incomplete information. The more information you poss
by icey 16y ago
Collusion absolutely provides unfair advantages (which is why it's against the rules).
Poker is a game of incomplete information. The more information you possess, the better your odds are of making the right decision.
So, in the instance of 2 poker bots colluding on a table (the 4 suits are (c)lubs (d)iamonds (s)pades (h)earts):
Bot 1 has Ac5h and discards pre-flop (no money spent)
Bot 2 has KcQc and calls.
Player 3 calls
Player 4 calls
All other players discard
The flop comes up: 5c 10c 9c
At this point, Bot 2 has an excellent hand (a King-high flush), but it doesn't have the best possible hand; it's vulnerable to a higher flush due to the Ace. However, the because bot 1 & 2 have colluded, it knows with 100% certainty that it has an unbeatable hand and can play accordingly.
This is a pretty weak example, but it's the easiest I could think of without assuming any knowledge of poker. Having knowledge of cards that have been in play significantly increases a player's ability to make decisions in a way that give that player an unfair advantage.
- daeken 16y ago> it knows with 100% certainty that it has an unbeatable hand While your example is a good one, the bot actually doesn't have an unbeatable hand. Another player could have trips or 4/5 of a straight flush and hit a better hand (quads or a straight flush) on the turn/river. Or the board could pair twice and give someone a full house. Unlikely in any case, but not out of the realm of possibilities by any means.
- icey 16y agoHaha damnit, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out!
- jpwagner 16y agoanyone with 130k hands would've caught that :) but seriously, he means if the board is like: 2c 3c 7c Tc 4h, (not that he'd get much value from the guy with the lone Jc, though) think of how easy squeezing is with two colluding bots.
- icey 16y agoThe problem was that I changed the example after typing everything up. The first contrived example I came up with used a hand that Bot 1 wouldn't have realistically thrown away. My fault for not proof-reading :D
- tomjen3 16y agoThanks, it didn't occur to me that you can discard pre-flop.
- btilly 16y agoA more subtle example involves advertising. You want both to remain at the table. One is getting low. Then they both bet into a pot aggressively, everyone else drops out, then the richer one folds and the poor one shows the bluff. Now money has been transferred, and the table thinks one of the bots is a loose player.