Members of the Vitriolic Hall of Fame argued hard against it but lost out to the membership who had grown weary of their cheating. I certainly miss the days when I played mostly with my preferred partners - I was able to get much better games more often on the site - but, I don't miss the cheating.
Here are some excerpts from my posts in last year's expired 500 Boys forum thread.
Those few champs of late who haven't regularly and consistently rotated their partners, who suddenly disappear as soon as they win their gong only to reappear with their "preferred partner" when they lose it, are sticking out like sore thumbs and are looking decidedly sad and silly.
The culture of "preferred partners", with the associated possibility of cheating, is dead. Long live rotation.
Here are some excerpts from my posts in last year's expired 500 Boys forum thread.
- How to get to and stay #1 the hard way:
- Challenge top players to rotating foursomes and win more than you lose.
- Don't use MSN or any other form of private communication with your partners during the games.
- How to get to and stay #1 the easy way:
- Find a "preferred partner" who will communicate with you during a game using MSN or some other form of private communications and cheat like hell.
- Try not to MSN the other members in the game by mistake but if you do lie like hell.
- Refuse to rotate partners or find a believable excuse not to do so. If challenged lie like hell and tell everyone you have always rotated - even before it became common practice.
- Find a friend who doesn't care about elo to throw games to you in a locked room. If challenged - lie like hell.
- If you can't get a friend to do this then buy another membership or two. These can be used to bolster your elo and to reduce the elo of your rivals. Use the second account to win games off your rivals and then logon in a locked room with both your accounts and quickly forfeit several games to yourself. I call it the "runtaj" maneuver after the two silly members who perfected it. Oh, and of course, lie like hell when discovered by telling everyone it was for a member of your family or a tactic to get Richard to improve the elo system. Hehe, most of the membership will believe you - try it!
- Disappear every time you are #1 and only reappear to practice steps 1-4above until you are #1 again. If challenged lie like hell and tell them your PC isn'tworking or some other lie that explains why you can't play a lot.
- Find a third cheat and really have fun playing bent rotating foursomes -some say three players vs one is better than sex or chocolate. Its like picking on the new nerd in school. There are several cheats who are happy to throwgames for you whilst partnering your opponents - that's how they get theirkicks. Newer members are particularly juicy and they never suspect what isgoing on. More experienced members find it easy to spot so be careful. Ifcaught, guess what? Lie like farkin hell!
- If you need to lose a game to regain #1 because you haven't lost for a few days pop in for one game with a good player and lose only one game. Then lie like hell about having to go somewhere else and get the hell out of there! Good honest players are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs unless your"preferred partner" or second account is at hand.
- Whenever someone mentions the "C" word in the forum immediately post that you have never cheated; that there is no more cheating on the site anymore; and, that you have heard that there used be be some cheating before but you have no idea who it was. Accusing them of cheating is also a good move.
Those few champs of late who haven't regularly and consistently rotated their partners, who suddenly disappear as soon as they win their gong only to reappear with their "preferred partner" when they lose it, are sticking out like sore thumbs and are looking decidedly sad and silly.
The culture of "preferred partners", with the associated possibility of cheating, is dead. Long live rotation.
2 comments:
If you agree to a rotation, play out three games at the very least (i.e. one rotation). If for
some reason you can't, advise the other players IN ADVANCE you have some time constraints. Then they have a free choice whether to get involved in the game or not and it
doesn't appear like you're cutting and running just because you've won a couple.
[A few years ago} people had become so obsessed with rankings they were going to all sorts of lengths, ranging from the extreme (false accounts, msn cheating) to the plain unsporting (refusing to play unless with preferred partner, stategically leaving afer a couple of wins). Rotation has ended all this in my view. It promotes a culture of inclusiveness and ensures a fast and furious change of rankings. It substantially eeduces the possibility of msn
cheating. It also gives all players a fair chance.
As Daffers points out above, the rankings have changed rapidly since rotation became the dominant culture on this site. None of us want a return to the bad old days.
Rotation is a welcome mode of play and there are no members I have played lately who do not take this option. I don’t believe people need to commit to 3 games minimum – I think this is unreasonable, especially when the first game goes has 30 hands or so, or when “life” so inconveniently interferes with my 500 profession.
We all play and call differently and the process of becoming acquainted with the differing conventions can become tiresome when establishing the conventional conventions of your partner. Now that there is such a large amount of members who play regularly this is more the case, and will continue to be, as this site has improved its service substantially and has an increased attraction. I probably partner 40+ people a week and have a working knowledge of 120+ members. I’m not complaining, but some patience is needed and I
applaud the regular members who, by their patience, banter and friendship make this site
an enjoyable place to play
As much as I like and generally prefer rotation, I also occasionally like having a battle with established partners against established partners. I hope this – when consensual and appropriate – continues as for me, these are my favourite battles.
Cheating used to be a part of the culture of the game on this site. For my part, I openly admitted that I had cheated, but also said that this was usually within a certain context and was also, and importantly, in the past tense. I was one of the few who did admit. Many members who had cheated however did not admit their guilt and faced no consequences
for their actions – I did and was understandably blacklisted. I think I have “done my time”,
the penance has been acknowledged, and most members now play me knowing that whatever else I am not a cheat. I firmly believe this culture has disappeared from the site, or else no one is game to do it with me for whatever reasons there might be. Last night two members agreed to play with
me and my mate, knowing full well we were at the same physical address and could well have cheated. That it wasn’t a concern was really appreciated. I hope the talk of cheating disappears as I have observed the culture has moved on. It would be great to have the
insight and debate of past forum posts recorded in stone, but am also glad that some of that baggage has been erased and this site has become more civilised: my behaviour
included.
The past few months has seen an improved site. I hope 2008 will see this trend continue. I call on all members to bury their grievances if they have been addressed and reconciled. A grudge is somewhere you park your car. Happy playing all.
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