my first live tourney

so i played my first live tourney at the weekend and has put me off a bit..i live in nw england with nearest casino 20mile away, biggest game of week is 40pounds and gets around 100 entrants winner gets just under 2grand, i enterd and it was so blatently obvious 3 people at my table were in calusion giving each other the sly stares and frowns and prob other things i didunt pick up on, even when the floor man came over to move the bloke who was in theBB to another table, this fella gave floorman a small frown a little shake of the head and a nod in my dirrection, the floor bloke ditherd round the table for a couple of hands then when i was in BB he gave me the tray for my chips and told me i had been moved to another table, i just said a bit strange that mate, he just said you were in BB so you move withought looking me in the eyes cause he knew i was onto there game. one of the 3 caluding blokes even gave a little fist pump to his cheating buddy. on the oter tables it was defo going on between the regs but not quite as obvious. it was prob in my best intrest to move off that table anyhow. what do you guys think of this, i gatherd they were all regs knowing each others names and stuff. dont know wether to enter again... thanx for listning.. oh yeh came 18th trips over trips knocked me out, but not before i knocked the main calluder out, money started at 14th.:itsme: ..

Wish you good luck next time and congrats for almost making it to the bubble.

I have very little experience playing live.

It'd be interesting to see what other experienced live players' comment would be regarding the colluding play.

Do regs usually do such things?

I have played live many times and can for sure tell you that it s common colluding among Regulars in local small casinos where there s not many entrants.. here in germany in a local Casino i have seen some of the ppl in one table twitching n doing some strange eye contacts with each other .. but i played few games like kill Phil style which they hate so much... but if there is 100 ppl entrants in one game then it is not much possible .. but here the max cap is 33 Players so ya that can be very bad and -ev for us to play

well, it is not unusual at all for regs to know eachother's names and be friendly with the floor staff. They might even have a tiny bit of sway with the floorstaff and while not 100% legit it is a pretty minor thing if a floor decision is pretty close they might side with the reg. NOT because of collusion so much as trust, they know this person, they know this person knows and understands the rules, they have to make a ruling and they have to use all the available evidence to them. When all other factors are equal then the good reputation of a reg might tip the scales. And if the reg has a bad reputation with the floor staff, it may tip the scales the other way.

But what you are talking about doesn't really sound like collusion to me, it sounds like you are uncomfortable with live poker. There are lots of stare downs and such in live poker, all the time.

The one thing that sounds weird is the floor person NOT moving the next BB when he was supposed to, and then moving you instead. They shouldn't do that.

However, I don't think that was collusion. First off, if there was a group of colluders at that table they would want YOU to stay since you are their most likely mark.

Also, the type of "group collusion" you are talking about isn't really prevalent or profitable in tournament poker. it is more of a cash game technique. Where they are splitting winnings and their main goal is to fleece you of your money and so 1 guy in the hand might jack up the pot with trash in order to run you into his buddie's aces or something like that.

In a cash game 1 "fish" at the table can be profitable for the entire rest of the table, and so they might "slow play eachother" and concentrate on you. This is not really the case in tourneys.

But if you really feel like you were being cheated, and you feel like the floor staff was in on it, then you shouldn't go back there. Most places I've been to are very honest. I've played live poker in over 30 casinos now and only once did I feel like something was a little bit "off"

Good regs dont really do that as they are more interested in their own EV more that others.
I used to stake 3-4 guys in a weekly tour of about 130 players. I would frequently bubble them as my equity even staking them and allowing them to cash was depreciating vs enabling them and furthermore I cared more about winning than their scores.

Agree, most regulars or house players do collusion often.

I had experienced many times. What they do, they will divide the winnings after the session.

Be vigilant, If you notice such tells, avoid and run at once.

Congrats on your live play result, it is a good start. You have to be hyper-sensitive when playing live and if two or more players are friends (the regs ...) you will probably catch it. That does not mean collusion, it means they know each other. If you see signals and feel that the casino is allowing collusion, talk to the floor person that you have a concern. Not a complaint, but a concern. They will investigate.

Here is a practical idea: move up to a stronger tournament. :boxing:

Specifically qualify for the WPT online for very little money. You can be reasonably sure that collusion nonsense is minimized at that level, if not non-existent because all of the players are out for blood

I play inexpensive qualifiers and have made a number of WPT events and I have to say it is an amazing experience. Your poker *will* improve and when you cash (it will happen ... :beer: ) the amount will literally dwarf the 20 pound entry fee tournaments.

good job and good luck on your next tourney .. i remember these good days of just starting off playing!!!