When Raises Raise Eyebrows

  We all know that type of person who considers themselves a "lone wolf". They gravitate towards leather clothing, Molly Hatchet CDs, and the type of monologues that may as well have been ripped from a Clint Eastwood, "Man with No Name" film. Though annoying, most people would rather deal with a lone wolf than with a couple of people who take the "wolf pack" approach to the game of poker.  There are a number of people who depend on cheating at poker instead of putting their faith in their own skill at the game. Many times these people work in concert, and tag team at the table in order to win. After the game they split the money and have a good laugh at the expense of the people they basically stole money from. Learning to recognize the collusion of cheaters at the table is important for any player.  Collusion as a means of cheating is usually something engaged in by a pair of players. The most common way they manipulate a pot is for the cheaters to get into a raising war with each other. Most players at the table, unless they are holding the nuts, usually can handle a confrontation with one maniac player, but when a couple of guys are trading massive raises, most players simply fold and let these two beat each other up.  Unfortunately in the case of collusion, these guys are playing with fundamentally one stack of chips, and their raises are meant to only scare everyone else out of the pot. This way they win all the money in the pot without any real opposition.  You may be at a table when a couple of legitimate maniac players decide to bump heads, and stacks, but when it is the same two doing this on a regular basis, this is a sign that something is rotten in Vegas (or wherever you are playing).  We all do our best to prepare a winning strategy for the game of poker, but unfortunately part of our strategy needs to include learning to recognize when something is wrong at the table. Your best laid plans can be easily beaten by a couple of players who think poker is a team sport.  Good Luck!