I played this hand at Paradise Poker a few minutes ago. Was I the victim of collusion? I had 9d Ts in late position. No raises before flop. Flop comes 6s 7s 8c–I have flopped the nut straight. SB checks and next player bets–I raise player to my left and others call. Turn 2s–the flush draw gets there? SB bets: I call and player to my left calls. River comes Kd SB bets: I call player to my left raises SB re-raises; I fold the show down SB has 10 high straight just like I did, and player to my left mucks his hand. I requested a game history and saw that player to my left was holding AKo. I say that the player to my left did not have a raise in the first place; furthermore, the SB cannot possibly re-raise with the 3 flush cards on the board. What do you all think?
Answer 1:
I have read several of your books and value your opinion. That is what Paradise Poker said too. Guess that I am not ready to play online holdem. If you have time to reply again. I put the AKo raiser on making the flush on the turn and waiting until the river to raise. Would you have called in my place?
Answer 2:
I think if you put REAL money in a cyber game where you can’t see or hear your opponents, you may as well play a 6/5 video poker game….its probably smarter.
Answer 3:
This is almost certainly not collusion. If it is, it’s poorly devised. Players are not always afraid of flushes, especially knowledgeable players. And while a raise with A-K (top pair and an ace) may seem reckless, it doesn’t appear to help the partnership if there were one. And it is likely to do harm. The A-K came all that way hoping to draw out by making a big pair. He caught perfect. I think honest players need to base their suspicions less on the fact that opponents played poorly (or even irrationally) when they suffer a bad beat and more on whether the specific actions would seem to help those opponents if they were colluding. On the other hand, you’re right to pose the question, and you need to always be on alert for collusion wherever you play poker. Better safe than sorry.
