[paalf]

I think this topic has been here several times. How to dismiss cheating playing at BBO? Have we to be play with friends? Think at is silly to pay dollars to play tournaments and several times there is players cheating.

I am not an novice, in my cards I am saying I am an expert, and I think that is ok regarding an Norwegian Championship i Bridge.

But, my english is better talking that writing

[inquiry]

 paalf, on 2014-April-14, 17:06, said:

I think this topic has been here several times. How to dismiss cheating playing at BBO? Have we to be play with friends? Think at is silly to pay dollars to play tournaments and several times there is players cheating.

I am not an novice, in my cards I am saying I am an expert, and I think that is ok regarding an Norwegian Championship i Bridge.

But, my english is better talking that writing

Welcome to the BBO Forums, Paalf.

First, there is no doubt that there is cheating on BBO. In team games, main room, etc, there is little that can be done other than try to play with people you trust. Second, in the events you pay money to play, some are supposedly cheat proof. The duplicate games, of course are not cheat proof. However, BBO has an active cheating program using both humans and software tools to help find and remove cheaters. The directors help too by reporting suspected cheaters. Players can also help, by discretely reporting suspected cheaters.

Pay close attention to the word discretely in the previous sentence. We do not allow people to publically accuse people of cheating. Simply write to abuse at bridgebase dot com with your concern (include a hand or two, or at least an event you believe cheating occurred in). Or if you prefer, you can write to me at inquiry at bridgebase dot com and I will see that report gets to the right people to investigate if cheating has occurred.

I can tell you for certain that many, many people have been remove for cheating and investigations are ongoing daily. I don't like paying dollars to play in events where there is cheating, but as we see, even in world championships with real cards cheating is going on. Don't let possibility that cheater might exist destroy your enjoyment of the game,

[the hog]

Who cares? It just makes declarer play and defence more challenging.

[Vampyr]

 the hog, on 2014-April-14, 20:42, said:

Who cares? It just makes declarer play and defence more challenging.

Probably the problem is worse in bidding if your opponents always do,the right thing. And in defense etc it's more than "challenging" when the opponents get to a seriously odds-against contract that makes on a double-dummy line.

[billw55]

Cheating in online play is trivially simple. Just communicate by other means: cellphones, chats, facebook, etc. So it can never be eradicated. But constant vigil by the BBO team certainly helps.

Quote

Who cares? It just makes declarer play and defence more challenging.

I do. It makes play and defense more challenging, but often unrealistic. There are many lines of play that work because opponents may do the wrong thing. If these never work because ops are cheating, I am not getting good feedback that I can apply in real play.

[kenberg]

Actually, as most of us play, it would be pretty easy to cheat in f2f games also. Back when I played more I recall once or twice playing with screens, but it was rare. Most of us play the old fashioned way. I doubt very much that my opponents pay any attention at all as to whether I do or do not adjust my glasses during the bidding, or just how I detach a card from my hand during the play.

The problem with on-line play is, of course, the relative anonymity. I'm kenberg and, not surprisingly, my name is Ken Berg. But I may well be playing with someone from Canada against a pair from maybe Spain and Australia. None of us have met. This format test people's seriousness.

Perhaps it would help if we all made it clear that we are happy to explain our bidding or our line of play if either opponent has a question. This is delicate. A question is not an accusation, but it can sound like one. There was a time in f2f play where I pulled partner's slow double. At the completion of play I spread my hand and said "fwiw, I was pulling regardless of the speed of the double". The opponent's looked at the hand and accepted what I had said. Of course on most hands I would regard it as improper to pull.

A community of trust can be built be accepting that there are sometimes situations where trust seems naive. We should be prepared to explain our actions without taking offense. And our opponents should be prepared to accept that we are straight until the evidence is plain that we are not.

[Bbradley62]

 inquiry, on 2014-April-14, 18:55, said:

Simply write to abuse at bridgebase dot com with your concern (include a hand or two, or at least an event you believe cheating occurred in). Or if you prefer, you can write to me at inquiry at bridgebase dot com and I will see that report gets to the right people to investigate if cheating has occurred.

The easiest way to do this is probably to review the questionable hand in your hand records and click on "Export Deal" then "Send to Member" and enter the name "Abuse". You could include the info as to the event and any other hand numbers that appear fishy.

[1eyedjack]

 the hog, on 2014-April-14, 20:42, said:

Who cares? It just makes declarer play and defence more challenging.

I care. I don't obsess.