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  The first thing most infants hear when they pop out of the womb is their mother screaming in pain and blaming their father for the current situation. Soon after the yelling is over, and we are lying in the arms of our mom and dad, our ears are assailed with another verbal onslaught that is more benign, but potentially more damaging: fairy tales. Just joking. But it's true fairy tales can be damaging.



  Fairy Tales are stories that involve wolves who like picnic baskets, trolls who prefer bridges to low income housing, and bears that shun mule-deer in favor of porridge. These stories usually have some sort of life lesson that most of us will find out are complete bunk when we reach high school or college. One of the biggest of these lessons that fall down in the real world is that cheaters never prosper.



  In reality cheaters do quite well. For an example, take a look at the Oakland Raiders and all the championships they won with what some claim is less than legal tactics. Cheating is even a part of poker, so those of us who choose to play the right way have the responsibility of being vigilant in order to keep our sport clean.



  A good example of a time where cheaters didn't manage to run away laughing was during a World Series of Poker satellite tournament that was hosted by Harrah's in July of 2006. In this 10-player, No Limit Holdem mini tournament, the prize up for grabs was a seat at a proper WSOP event. This is no small prize considering the fact that seats generally cost $10,000. Three players who didn't think they could win fair and square decided to take a little short cut down Collusion Avenue.



  In this single table event, three players were acting as a team. Each player started with $1000 in tournament chips. Almost as soon at the tournament began, one of the three cheaters raised $950. This big raise prompted everyone but his two buddies to fold. His friends each went all in. As soon as they had all their chips in the pot, the guy who raised, suddenly folded. The other two went to the showdown, and one of them came away with almost $3000 in chips. These three basically found a way to hand all their chips to one player, giving him a 3 to 1 advantage over the rest of the table. This big stack is a huge advantage in this sort of small tournament.



  In the words of Judge Judy, "If something doesn't make sense, there is something wrong". It didn't make sense for a player to raise nearly his entire stack of chips, and then suddenly fold. Vigilant players at the table sniffed out the collusion, and immediately called for a foul (if yellow hankies were available, they would be flying all over the place). Harrah's investigated, and found that there was some cheating going on. Not only were the players kicked out of the tournament and casino, but they have been blackballed from all future WSOP events. After the drama had completed, the players who were victimized by the cheaters were given their chips back and things settled down.



  Cheaters are going to get by; it is just the way of things. Players with integrity can keep them honest by being vigilant and catching those who take shortcuts before they become an antonym to the cliche of "cheaters never prosper".