Quote:
Originally Posted by TChan
Whoa... fascinating article.
I'll still never forget something said to me during a limit cash game a while back. When I first took my seat, the player next to me turned to me and grumbled, "Careful, I think these folks are all working together." And I thought,
oh he's one of THOSE people. Move up where they respect your raises, buddy. Of course, I soon felt his pain: we both played until dawn and got stuck by a good 40 big bets each.
My favorite hand was the last one I played before I stood up: Seat 9 (UTG) limps. Seats 1 and 2 limp behind, Seat 3 folds, then Seat 4 raises. Seat 5 calls. I'm in the SB with two black queens and 3-bet. (No one in Seat 7.) BB in Seat 8 cold calls, everyone else calls all the way around.
Flop: AK6.
Well, dammit. I check. Seat 8 bets. Seat 9 raises. Seat 2 folds but Seats 1, 4 and 5 all stay in for two bets. I fold. Seat 8 calls.
Turn: 5. Check to Seat 9, who bets. Four calls.
River: 5. Check to Seat 9, who bets. Seat 1 now raises. Three cold calls plus the Seat 9 overcall.
Five-way showdown:
Seat 8: K
8
Seat 9: K
6
Seat 1: 7
5
Seat 4: 9
9
Seat 5: A
7
Yes, Seat 1, who cold-called for three bets both preflop and on the flop, won 33 big bets by chasing down running fives.
Obviously, I had a good laugh about this with some friends, but someone asked the same question as that poor sap next to me: some of the plays are so bad that it's suspicious... are you sure a few of those players weren't working together to try to run you down? (My answer: if they are, I hope they keep trying.)
No, the other players weren't teaming up (or they would have done a better job at it). However, that article explains why so many six- and seven-handed pots certainly
seemed like shenanigans were going on. So Morton's term "implicit collusion" is great. Or maybe it should have been "unintentional collusion."
Awesome read, TChan, thanks for sharing.