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Ethics

Posted By: Phil Simborg
Date: Sunday, 5 April 2015, at 12:58 p.m.

In Response To: Ethics (Brett Meyer)

I believe any seasoned or experienced player would find every one of your examples unethical, simply because you are lying when you say each of those things, and it is clear that lying is unethical.

But when you are not telling an out and out lie, it is very hard to determine when you have crossed the line. In virtually all cases of ethics, there is a huge, gray area.

For example, I do not think it is unethical to think for a while and pause for a while when you are about to give a cube that you know, for sure, is a huge drop, rather than just give the cube quickly. Yes, it could be construed by some that you are waiting to mislead your opponent into thinking that you are not sure it is a double in order to induce him to take it. But if you give sure doubles very quickly and not-so-sure doubles slowly, you are providing your opponent with help and information that he is not entitled to. So you should take some time on every double so that you are not providing your opponent with a "tell."

Now some may say that doing the above is just as much of a "lie" as saying out loud you are not sure about doubling when you know for sure it is not only a double but a big pass, but I disagree. You are covering up your thoughts about the situation when you intentionally wait, and this is, in my opinion, ethical.

Look at poker. If you have a big hand, you have every right to make it look like you have a difficult choice of whether to call or not, as that might get him to make another big bet on the next card.

So while your examples are, to me, obviously crossing the ethics line, I could give you dozens of examples that are gray, and there are no firm rules.

For example: I give him the cube (which I know is a take) and then reach for the scorepad as if to score it making it look like I assume he is going to drop. That is misleading and I am influencing his decision. Is that unethical?

He says the pip count out loud and he says it wrong, and I know he's wrong, and he says, "Well, I'm only down 6 pips, so let me think." I know he's down 12 pips, should I say something? Now, if I say he's right I am lying, and that would be unethical. But should I correct him? Probably not, but in our chouette we play pip counts are public, and in our chouette I believe it would be unethical not to correct as our norms are we help each other with the pip counts to save time.

We get into a game that is post crawford and we both forgot to put the doubling cube back on the board after removing it the previous game. He isn't doubling when he obviously should, but the cube was removed. Since I am partially at fault for not putting the cube back, do I now have an obligation to do so to remind him that he can and should double? I think this is a gray area. (Personally, when it is gray I will always try to take the high road as I would rather lose than have someone claim I took a shot at them or took advantage of them, but not everyone has to live by my standards.)

I could give dozens more examples. The point is, ethics is a gray area and we must each decide where we draw the line. One more reason I believe rules do need to be lengthy and definitive to eliminate as many of these gray areas as possible. This helps us all draw the lines and reduces hard feelings and conflicts.

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