2006-04-22 22:39:12
How Players Abuse Disconnect Protection
|
So on your favorite online poker site, you have probably brought up the Real Money No Limit Hold'em Tables and noticed that some of them will say "No Disconnect Protection" and "Disconnect Protection." The question is, what is Disconnect Protection, and how do some players abuse it?
Basically, Disconnect Protection serves to protect people who lose their connections in the middle of a hand. Let's say that you are involved in a big pot in $5/$10 No Limit Hold'em. It is a heads up pot between you and another person, and after the turn card is dealt, there is $500 in the pot. The river comes, giving you the nut flush, but disaster strikes! Your internet connection goes out just as your opponent is pushing the rest of his chips into the pot! What happens now?
Well with Disconnect Protection, here is what happens. Your opponents river bet is returned to him, and the hand is played out, with no more money going into the pot. So, in this case, with Disconnect Protection, you would win the hand and the $500 pot, and your opponent would have his river bet returned to him.
Without Disconnect Protection? You time out, and your opponent wins the hand without you showing your cards.
Now the question is: how can Disconnect Protection be abused?
Let's say that you are involved in a big pot. You hold AK of diamonds, and the board is 7 10 9 Q, with three diamonds, giving you the nut flush. The way your opponent is playing his hand, you are pretty sure he has a set, probably QQ. The river comes a Q, pretty much the card you wanted to see the least. Now you are losing the hand to any Q, or any pair of 7's, 10's or 9's. Your opponent immediately goes all in for the rest of his stack. Now how does one abuse this situation?
Let's say that you THINK your hand is still good, but you don't want to call down a 3k bet. If your table had disconnect protection in this situation, you could purposefully disconnect, in order for the hand to play out without having to call down that HUGE bet. If he's bluffing, you will win the pot. If he indeed has a Full House, the hand will play out with minimal damage to your stack.
Obviously this is unethical, and if you do this, you will be reported to the poker room. This is how people abuse Disconnect Protection; watch out for it.
Filed Under: Miscellaneous Poker Articles
|
