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You are the Tournament Director Series 3: Soft Play or Must Call?

This one was posted by masterjackblack on the Mob Forum and happened at Aspers Casino in Newcastle in the regular Sunday £100 freeze out. There were 11 players left with 10 places paid. Blinds were 1000-2000 and player A, in middle position, raises all in for 2400. It is passed round to the big blind. Player B in the big blind, who is a friend of player A, has mountains of chips and is chip leader. Player B makes a small speech along the lines of, ‘I have a very bad hand’, and deliberately tosses his hand directly into the muck. The dealer suspects collusion and calls you over to handle the situation. What do you say or do?

Matt Savage:
While it may be soft play we cannot force a player to put additional chips into the pot. I would make a general warning to the table that soft play is not permitted.

Thomas Kremser:
If I am at the table before the cards touched the muck, I would force the big blind to call because it is the purpose of a tournament to knock out players. If the cards are already in the muck I would give a penalty to the player in the big blind to sit out for 1 round. This would be a clear case of soft play.

Dave Lamb:
I may not like the play but as the TD I cannot prove that B would have played this hand differently against any other player. It may not be the smart play, but I cannot dictate whether the player must call.

Jeff Leigh:
Having been informed of what the dealer had seen and heard I would then speak to player B and ask him why he had passed his hand for so little chips and on top of this compounded his glaring “non-call” by making a comment which actually highlights what he did. In all honesty I would be prepared to deal him out of the game for at least 2 or 3 rounds, whether in these circumstances this would penalise him more than the other players would be debatable (baring in mind his chip stack), but there cannot be any doubt that what he did was wrong as he didn’t act in his own self interest. It really wouldn’t matter what cards this person had as the odds he was getting for another 400 points would render his actual starting hand as irrelevant.

Jack Effel:
I’m totally against talk at the table between players in the middle of a hand. However, I don’t see an issue here. The main reason is that Player B did not disclose the contents of his hand, just that he had a very bad hand. It’s possible that he did not want to take the chance with a weak hand (e.g. 2-7) even for $400 more. I would be suspicious, but still the same it would not warrant a penalty in my book. I’ve seen inexperienced players fold in a tournament in the same situation for 1 additional chip. I would remind Player B to be careful of the table talk during the play of hands, and keep an eye on the table.

Thomas Lamatsch:
In this situation I would give a penalty of one button round to player B, because of soft play. If his hole cards just slightly touched the muck and I can be 100% verify, that these are his cards I would force him, in the sense of the game, to call the Allin raise of player A.

The Mob Verdict

Soft play of this nature is not a lesser offence than other forms of cheating. Far from being a misdemeanour it is a hard core offence. There is a common misconception that is somehow victimless. Nothing could be further from the truth. If player A makes the money as a result of his friend's help then someone else is robbed of their rightful prize.

Of course there can be a fine line between soft play and weak play but this was nowhere near that line. It is rarely possible to be absolutely certain that an action like this is deliberate soft play but player B gave about as clear cut an indication of his motives as you are normally going to get, and probably left no one at the table in much doubt. In fact it sounds as though he wanted to be sure his friend knew he was being helped and knew enough about the rules to try to excuse his actions.

Amazingly there are many players who do not realise that soft play is wrong, much less that it is an offence and we feel that it is the TD's responsibility to clarify this issue and help end 'same village' culture by issuing clear warnings and appropriate penalties.

There are a few difference of opinion amongst the TDs ranging from doing nothing, giving a penalty and the Thomas’ even forcing a call. The exact action in a case like this must be at the discretion of the TD who should be well placed to judge what is appropriate. We would definitely give at least a verbal warning, and are sympathetic to the idea of making player B sit out for a round or so. We would also keep an eye on the table and on these two players in particular.

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