[Dodoubled]

You guys ever read the book "Bringing Down the House," by Ben Mezrich? It's about the MIT blackjack guys who learned to count cards and took Vegas for a couple mil. Over time, the casinos began to recognize those guys and kicked them out of the casinos. Their faces, names and aliases were eventually put in the Griffin book, which was, at the time, the guide all the casinos used to recognize cheats.

So what did these guys do? They went to smaller, off-the-beaten-path casinos and continued to play. And when they were caught there, they continued on down the track. And in essence, JD, I think this is what you're asking, in relation to online poker. In other words, when your online ID is discovered and you're revealed to be a good player, is it ethical to stop, change gears (and your screen name) to try and convince others that you're not really who you are?

Is it ethical? I don't know. I'm not sure I ever actually learned what the true meaning of "ethics" is. We had a lot of discussions in my journalism classes about what was ethical and what was not, and I never really understood the class because the answers seemed to blow in whatever direction the wind was heading (or whatever mood the prof was in that day). I also learned that what was "ethical" in my opinion wasn't always what the talking heads believed.

I think poker players of the old school consider a lot of things the young bucks do these days to be unethical (i.e. all the trash-talking, insulting, grandstanding and other B.S.), and a lot of that behavior is born online. But hell, the young guys are winning. Remember that Molina kid? I wonder if the fact that he won $330,000 at the WSOP gave him the right to embarrass his family's name on TV (which is pretty much what he did with his antics). His folks didn't seem to care, however.

I guess my definition of ethical is this: "Is it something I'd be willing to do, and more importantly, is it something I'd want to have done to me?"

If I were playing someone online and he took me for a couple grand, and later on I found out I had really played a pro, I'd be a little mad, sure. But then I'd realize that the whole idea in this game is to make money, and in the end, that's all he was -- some guy just trying to make a buck, using every legal advantage he can -- just like those MIT guys.

Isn't that what this game's all about, anyway?