[Deptheads] Strategicon: Cheating feedback

[Eric Burgess]

davidhu3 at gmail.com is his email address.

On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Tim <Tim at stugiii.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>     I suggest that the GMs remind
>         all player's to be transparent in their accounting.
>
>     On 4/20/2011 12:03 PM, Neil Figuracion wrote:
>
>
>       Hey folks,
>
>       I'm re-posting this message from Chris Johnson, who is one of the
>       folks who has reported some instances of alleged cheating in our
>       board game tournaments. I've also spoken with David Zevin who has
>       said some similar things.
>
>       >From the reports, the most we can conclusively say is that he
>       makes many mistakes and may be taking advantage of confusion and
>       distraction at the table. While no one is sure enough to
>       decisively say that David Hu is cheating, both reports are certain
>       that he has made significant mistakes in his game accounting.
>       There has also been some suspicion laid on his shuffling during
>       the Mega Dominion tournament. As a player who lost to him in a
>       round, I did watch him and ask that everything be played
>       transparently, though I never considered that he might have been
>       top-decking.
>
>       So here's a course of action and I present it here to allow for
>       some feedback:
>
>       1) I will contact David Hu and alert him to the suspicions that
>       are being raised. He will be welcome to participate in our
>       tournaments on a probationary status. I will make sure that he has
>       the understanding that he must be completely transparent in his
>       accounting during each transaction. Any further complaints of
>       obscurity or possible error will lead to more drastic measures.
>
>       2) All of the GMs will be alerted to David Hu's probationary
>       status. Otherwise, there is no way to enforce this measure.
>
>       3) Dominion tournaments and other deck-building tournaments may
>       have an optional "shuffle and cut" rule to be employed at the
>       behest of any players. This will be offered to players at each
>       table and only through a complete "nay" vote will each round play
>       without.
>
>       I still don't have David Hu's contact information.
>
>       Any other thoughts? Thanks for your time!
>
>       twenty-three-skidoo,
>
>       Neil Figuracion
>       Fad23 <http://ideasthatglow.blogspot.com/>
>
>       Here's the repost:
>
>       Sorry, this will be short and sweet (for unpleasant
>         values of sweet).
>
>         I've played a number of games with David, and observed him in a
>         number
>         more, and discussed his behavior in a bunch more with other
>         people. In
>         all cases, he aggressively splashes/grabs money and/or resources
>         into
>         and out of the supply, in such a manner as to make it difficult
>         to
>         track if he is properly doing the transaction.
>
>         In a number of cases, where it has been verifiable/calcuable, he
>         has
>         *not* done the transaction properly; either under-paying, or
>         taking
>         too much change. In a close game, filled with good players (of
>         which
>         David clearly is one), that is often enough of an edge to ensure
>         victory.
>
>         In a couple of cases, I've set myself up as the banker, to
>         address
>         this issue, and watched him carefully. Rather than hand in his
>         resources and receive any change in an orderly manner, he's then
>         waited 'til I was "distracted", and then awkwardly
>         reached/lunged
>         across other players to do the same thing. He's been caught
>         making
>         "mistakes" in those circumstances too.
>
>         This behavior has been observed by a number of people, in pretty
>         much
>         every game he plays (and not only at Strategicon). In Dominion
>         (the
>         mega tournaments), people who play poker professionally have
>         reported
>         him dealing from the bottom of his deck, and purposely poorly
>         shuffling, to keep his good cards clumped, etc.
>
>         This guy clearly has a problem, and a quiet word to the wise is
>         long
>         overdue, and will hopefully put an end to this behavior.
>
>         Whether or not he is actually actively cheating, he is giving
>         every
>         appearance that he is, and that needs to be addressed, even if,
>         by
>         some miracle, he isn't actually purposely cheating (and is just
>         consistently making "mistakes" in his favor, in every game he
>         plays).
>
>         If this behavior continues, I and others are going to have to
>         start
>         calling him out, and "warning" the people playing against him to
>         be on
>         the lookout. I would very much prefer not to have to do that.
>         It's
>         unpleasant for everyone involved, and should not be necessary.
>
>         Thanks
>
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>       "Among
>             our chief weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless
>             efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope…” -
>             Cardinal Ximinez
>
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