Quote:
Originally Posted by funkyj
The question is not whether data mining can be completely stopped but, if we want to prohibit data mining, what do counter measures cost the poker sites verses the benefit they confer?
I agree with your logic, but it seems we have a different view on how much datamining can be reduced.
You suggest that site countermeasures can bring it down to a small "acceptable" level. I am saying that's impossible. The genie is out of the bottle. The tracking tools like PT3 and their HUDs are too good, too many people like using them, too many people feel dependent on them. These people are willing to pay for data. So this provides the market. The market is large enough to support at least a half dozen professional datamining services. These services employ technical experts who are not deterred in the slightest by such amateur defenses as "disabling dealer chat" etc. The harder it gets to datamine on your own, the greater the value these services provide. Countermeasures are
good for business! And anyway, even if observer datamining were utterly impossible, they can always fall back on the syndicate approach.
I'm saying you can't stop it by choking the supply without eliminating the demand. And futile efforts will have collateral damage. Innocent players will get swept up, their accounts suspended or seized. The site security departments will have less time to watch for collusion and other forms of fraud. And all this for nothing.
The alternatives I see are:
* ban HUDs, or
* allow name changes, or
* declare that datamining is not an "unfair advantage" after all
-pyg