uday, on Jun 27 2005, 05:21 PM, said:
Thanks for posting the link to the report in the Tenerife bulletin.
It seems to me EW accused NS of cheating. NS denied. Appeals committee agreed with EW because they didn't like NS explanation for why J
♦ played.
Does this mean, whenever ANY pair makes an anti-percentage play, their opponents may accuse them of cheating and unless a "good" explanation is given that will be upheld?!
Even assuming EW believed NS to be cheating, that doesn't necessarily mean they were. Even if the committee believed NS to be cheating, I think it entirely wrong and unfair to make a decision simply on the basis "EW accused you of cheating and your reason for playing the diamonds that way was not rational" [my paraphrasing]
The committee's reasons say EW believed information was passed and suggested a possible means. NS gave "unconvincing" reasons which were deemed to be "self-incriminating" (the reasons are in the bulletin linked to and don't seem all that self-incriminating, unless you mean, they may have been irrational?).
Are bridge players required to be robots who always make the "correct" play? And correctly deduce whether there opponents are likely to be in the same slam thus justifying an anti-percentage play?! Or are they permitted to sometimes make wrong or irrational or anti-percentage plays and get a "lucky" result? Go with a gut feeling? Play the Ace and fortunately drop a singleton king or the like? Mistakenly think the opponents may be in the same slam? Aside from the fact that there may be rational reasons to make anti-percentage plays as others have noted (e.g. you expect opponents to be in same slam and need a swing). One of Buratti's comments were that diamonds were always badly divided in the tournament so he expected them to be 1-3. Now, that may be irrational but so what? If a player carries a rabbit's foot or four-leaf clover will they be punished for being irrational?!
The message here seems to be, if like Buratti and Lanzarotti you have a bad reputation, you better never, ever, make an anti-percentage play. No matter what you feel, no matter how tired you are and difficult it may be to make the correct percentage decision. Even a momentary impulse like to play the jack of diamonds after thinking a while, that's wrong, having given into a moment's impulse and played the jack you should have treated it as an exposed card and tried to make the "right" play instead...etc.
I like playing blackjack, upon rare occasion I'll make the "wrong" decision just based on a gut feeling (like, I hesitate to admit it, I once split tens -- but it won
). It's wrong, and irrational. May the casino then refuse to pay me because to make such a wrong or irrational anti-percentage play which happens to win on one occasion I must be cheating?!
If you're going to punish NS for cheating, I think in fairness you need some evidence of cheating other than "EW believed they cheated and gave a possible explanation, and S play was the wrong play and his reasons unconvincing unless he had UI" [paraphrased]. Weren't there other witnesses? I mean, if you're going to punish them, ask the vugraph operator etc. what he or she saw.
I don't think that an appeals committee, hearing only from EW and NS, was the proper forum for dealing with a disputed accusation of cheating (if there had been an admission, sure). What this decision says is that ANYONE playing against Buratti-Lanzarotti should note any situation in which the "wrong" play is made, and then accuse them of cheating.
Please note, I agree it's quite possible that NS did cheat. But decisions regarding such serious allegations of cheating should not be made on a "EW said - NS said" basis!!