[catatonic]

couple of times recently I have been deceived by opps making marked hesitations when following suit with a singleton
it occurs to me that a slight tweek to the programming would prevent this ; if the programme automatically followed suit in tempo with singletons it would not be possible for anyone either to set out to deceive or to have a dreamy moment ; if this were done and there WAS a pause due to the server or the internet , then there would be no questioning the ethics of the player concerned ...they would not have done it !

[han]

If there is a fixed time for the play of a singleton then you might be able to spot it, which wouldn't be fair either. Perhaps a random 2-4 seconds pause would be best, but I don't know how difficult that would be for the programmers.

In my opinion the best solution is to find ethical opponents.

[helene_t]

You can (ask opps to) set auto-play singleton on if you want. Has the disadvantage that it is apparent that you might have a singleton when you play the card very fast. Not sure if this gets noticed, you have the network delay anyway.

I don't think it's an issue. There are so many ways to cheat, hesitating with a singleton is only one of them. You can still hesitate with a small doubleton. Most hesitation will be due to people reading email or brewing coffee or walking the dog.

Life is too short for worrying about cheating, IMHO.

[catatonic]

well , I would have said that the most common interval before a card is played is something like 500 milliseconds ; set the autoplay at this and it would not be possible to judge whether or no it is an autoplay

[Rossoneri]

helene_t, on Feb 26 2008, 12:07 AM, said:

Most hesitation will be due to people reading email or brewing coffee or walking the dog.

That, or what happened to my partner yesterday while we were playing a tourney: His mother decided to conduct a fashion parade in front of him.

[helene_t]

Lol, reminds me of the Terry Reese anecdote.

[jillybean]

wbf said:

Proprieties 73 D. Variations in Tempo or Manner
1. Inadvertent Variations
It is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain steady
tempo and unvarying manner. However, players should be particularly
careful in positions in which variations may work to the benefit of their
side. Otherwise, inadvertently to vary the tempo or manner in which a
call or play is made does not in itself constitute a violation of propriety,
but inferences from such variation may appropriately be drawn only by
an opponent, and at his own risk.

2. Intentional Variations
A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of remark or
gesture, through the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating
before playing a singleton), or by the manner in which the call or play is
made.

I think 73D1 is particularly relevant online with the numerous outside influences that can effect tempo. Intentional variation is especially hard to prove.

It aint broke, dont fix it

[Rossoneri]

Which is why one of my regular partners refuses to read into any tempo by the opponents, and when someone hesitates for a long time, he usually types something like "lagtest" just to make sure it isn't a connection problem.

[finally17]

Rossoneri, on Feb 27 2008, 06:50 PM, said:

Which is why one of my regular partners refuses to read into any tempo by the opponents, and when someone hesitates for a long time, he usually types something like "lagtest" just to make sure it isn't a connection problem.

I try and completely ignore it as well. It is so often clearly meaningless that it becomes quickly impossible to tell. I seriously think that anyone who thinks differently and lets hitches affect them is just fooling themselves. But regardless, people say often "I did X because he hesitated to play at Y."

The only time it's reasonably highly likely to be indicative is when a card is played exceedingly fast and this is out of character.

[the hog]

helene_t, on Feb 27 2008, 05:32 PM, said:

Lol, reminds me of the Terry Reese anecdote.

Yes Helene, but the story goes that Reese apparently knew about the bet beforehand.