Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

This issue may have already been covered, but i am new to 2 + 2.

I was recently heads up in a 200 (approx) MTT when the other player disconnected. I slowed down for about a minute, but then deceided to steal every pot. After a few minutes the other player returned, and argued that i had been unfair to him (amongst other things). To be hhonest if i were in his position i might say the same thing.

When the table is full and a player disconnects no-one thinks twice about stealing blinds. MY question is, is it ethical to steal blinds after the other player has disconnected when they are so big heads up in order to win tourny? I did give him a little while to connect.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Is it ethical? No

Would I do it? Maybe [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

there was a pretty good discussion on this in some past post...I dont think it is a yes or no answer. I think it is reasonable to give the person a little time to get back...but at some point, I think you have to draw the line. Question is, where is that line? I mean do you wait 2 minutes? Or do you wait 30 minutes?

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

There's a range here:

On one end of the spectrum you can wait out your time-bank each and every hand, giving the person maxium time to reconnect. This would be overly 'nice', and you should be commended for doing so.

On the other end you can "decide to steal every pot" like you did. This, while legal, is crappy. (which also means unethical, I think).

In the middle, you could be giving reasonable time for each hand before calling / raising.

So in short, if you're doing everything in your power to steal the blinds while the other guy is disconnected, you're angle-shooting, which isn't too ethical, imho.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

If it were a major tournament (I wouldn't be playing, but) I would say no one would argue that you were being dickish if you waited until you got the time warning on each hand. That gives your opponent 15-20 seconds per hand, give or take. In the end, of course, their connection is their responsibility.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

I think you should sit out a reasonable amount of time to give the guy a chance to reconnect. Maybe 5-10 minutes or so. If he doesn't reconnect by then, it's his fault for not having a backup connection available.

I had this happen to me head's up in the FTP 163 once. I disconnected right as we got head's up. In the time it took me to reset my cable modem and reboot my computer, about three minutes probably, he had won the tourney by insta-raping my blinds. Pretty crappy IMHO but not much I could do about it. I did go out and buy a new cable modem, which did wonders for disconnects.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

This isn't really the ethical answer, but it would depend on whether I liked/respected the player or not.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

If we all lived on Walton's mountain then no no-one would do it. However, tourneys involve a good deal of luck.

Here, YOU were lucky, HE wasn't. Happily accept it when luck offers to help you out. I'd rape his blinds and if he reconnected and wind him up about to try and tilt him.

Why? cause he'd done it to you in a shot.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Sit out and give villain a chance to reconnect.

The blinds just travel back and fourth.

It's good for your poker karma.

After a reasonable amount of time, 15 minutes, reconnect and
proceed.

~loose

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

There are some times when I would do it, other where I wouldn't. I play almost exclusively mid buy-in MTT's on Stars and I have a job. During the week most of the MTT's I play start between 6 and 8PM EST, and have very large fields. If I'm lucky enough to get HU in something, it's usually 2-4AM, I really don't feel comfortable waiting around for an hour, but if I knew the person I was HU with and respected them I would do it. If someone made it back before they were blinded out I would offer a chop based on their equity when they disconnected, if they didn't make it back, I feel bad for them but I can't really do anything about it. It would be unethical to my employer to show up on 2 hours of sleep because I sat out for an hour while some guys internet provider was down.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

its poker...you should doo whatever it takes to win

i really dont understand ethics in poker

its not like business where being unethical can come back to hurt you...unless you beleive in that karma crap

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Yeah I mean I wouldn't do it in a 180 (it's come up, I sat out) but I mean if I were HU in the million or something I'm not sure how strong my convictions would be.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Well the answer seems obvious to me.
Get the money...Its not steal, you play by the rules. A player is not here, you can do whatever you want.
Cmon, do you think your rivals will do this for you ? Most of them probably would not.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

I guess there's a difference between being honourable and being ethical.

Honourable: Sitting out until the other guy comes back.

Ethical: Giving the other guy a reasonable amount of time to come back, and then slowly taking blinds. (waiting 5 or 10 seconds each hand, etc).

Non-Ethical: Angle-shooting by immediately doing everything in your power to make things happen to maximize your gain. (i.e. insta raising every hand).

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

would you say the same thing if you were a 5:1 dog at the time?

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

I misunderstood the question originally and voted wrong.

Anyhow, I think that if you are going to play online poker you are taking a risk that your connection will go bad. Therefore, I don't think it is unethical at all to steal the blinds when a player disconnects. Both players are taking the same risk. It's called gambling.

Sherman

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

I sat in a 100 HU SNG. He obv disconnects like 5 minutes into the match. I wait around 15-20 minutes for him to return. He finally comes back and doesn't even say ty. I was like maybe chat banned or w/e, who gives. But he disconnects again, and I insta rape his blinds. He comes back and I finish the match off.

Moral: While I was sitting there folding, I felt honorable, but once he came back I felt stupid cause he was literally disconnecting every hand and it took forever for him to just check (basically his entire timebank.) He prolly had a [censored] connection and that's his fault, but if it's just a one time thing, I wouldn't have been that upset.

Moral: prolly do it in a big tourney or w/e where the money means a lot, but don't do it if its a hu sng or w/e cause your wasting your valuable time and its only 1 buyin.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

This has happened a couple times in smaller S&gs Ive played in. I usually type in that I will give him 3 or 4 minutes or whatever and then after that I will be taking the blinds since Ive got to get going. One thing to remember is that while he is sitting out the clock has restarted and blinds are moving up. Why should you suffer from higher blinds once he comes back when it is no fault of your own? In a bigger MTT I would probably do the same thing.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

If it's stars, he automatically gets like 3 minutes for the first hand then 2, then 1, iirc. That's plenty of time to call a friend or get a backup connection going.
I am not playing poker to make friends and I don't want to let the blinds escalate while I wait. Take what you can get.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

[ QUOTE ]
I misunderstood the question originally and voted wrong.

Anyhow, I think that if you are going to play online poker you are taking a risk that your connection will go bad. Therefore, I don't think it is unethical at all to steal the blinds when a player disconnects. Both players are taking the same risk. It's called gambling.

Sherman

[/ QUOTE ]


agreed.

that said, if i were in the situation, i'dbe a 'nice guy' and take maximum time each hand before i raised.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

My experience is in HU sngs which may be a bit different. My initial reaction, because of who I am, is that I would wait a few minutes to let the person come back.

However, anytime I have been disconnected the person has immediately started to take my blinds. So when they disconnect, I'm not gonna let it become unbalanced and not take their blinds. That's how I've been looking at it anyway.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

How do your answers change when 1st is $300k as opposed to $3000?

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Mine doesn't change no matter what the stake. Poker is about capitalising on luck by making the correct decisions.

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Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I misunderstood the question originally and voted wrong.

Anyhow, I think that if you are going to play online poker you are taking a risk that your connection will go bad. Therefore, I don't think it is unethical at all to steal the blinds when a player disconnects. Both players are taking the same risk. It's called gambling.

Sherman

[/ QUOTE ]


agreed.

that said, if i were in the situation, i'dbe a 'nice guy' and take maximum time each hand before i raised.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is my default too. I take the max time before making my action each turn. If after about 30 minutes the other player hasn't reconnected yet then I'm not going to sit around and play slow any longer.

I have a backup internet connection that I pay a monthly fee for just for this situation. If other people don't want to do the same that's fine but complain then when it happens then.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

anyone who doesnt insta raise and blind the person out is a brake even/loosing player [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

If I don't like the person I raise as much as possible, guaranteed.


Otherwise, maybe not.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Insta raise

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

Probably wouldn't timebank, but I'd wait till the 15 second warning came up each hand before raising.

Re: Stealing blinds whilst disconnected
 

[ QUOTE ]
Is it ethical? No

Would I do it? Yes [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]