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.