Originally Posted by glutenfree
Flip collusion between teamed up players (i.e. clear cheating) is a tough sell imo. Part of the problem with that sell, is that it doesn't take much brain power to look at the formula for leaderboard points, and understanding how PLO equities work in terms of running closer together, determine getting all in a lot will generate big points. A lot of people have no doubt figured this out before the first hand of the promo was even dealt. So if player A decides they are going to try and GII a lot on 20PLO during this promo, and players B, C, and D all reach the same conclusion and game plan... when they are on the same tables together then what you describe seeing will happen organically, without any contact, planning, or teaming up being necessary. Do they know what's going on? Sure, of course... while player A is working his gameplan, it won't take long for him to see that player B is doing the same exact thing. But that's not against any rules, as long as they don't coordinate and team up. It's just like 3 handed in a tournament when a short stack shoves the BU and both blinds call. They may well check it down trying to eliminate the all in and secure their pay jump... most players understand this line of thinking, all 3 players will understand exactly what's happening as the hand progresses, but there's nothing against the rules in them choosing to play their hands in this way. Now, if the SB says to the BB preflop, "hey, just call and let's check down and try and bust him" that's a clear violation of the rules, clear open collusion, and any TD worth their salt (or site investigations team) would sanction the small blind player for this.
In other words, observing the behavior, which is obviously going on, is one thing... but proving they are formally working together to collude is another entirely, since the promotion itself promotes this exact line of play and savvy leaderboard hunters will be doing this. How can you tell if A and B are formally working together behind the scenes, or just organically playing a relatively obvious strategy without any pre-planned coordination or communication?
I guess you can start with A and B are always on the same tables together doing this, across many tables. But I think that's still not any real smoking gun. Assuming each are of reasonable intelligence, they can both probably see that the other guy gets it, they're doing the same thing, so I'm happy to sit them as much as possible to further my own goals.
Could it be proved? Yes. But I think that proof would be exceedingly difficult.
(To be clear, I personally have not played 20PLO at all during this promo, I am not speaking from personal experience, just sharing my thoughts on the matter)
