BRIBERY AND COLLUSION

Yakup Çakmak

WHAT HAPPENED IN ISTANBUL IN MY FIRST WMCQ?

The act of giving someone money or something else of value, often illegally, to persuade that person to do something

you want.

CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY

Bribery

Agreement, especially in secret for an

illegal or dishonest reason.

Collusion

INFRACTION PROCEDURE GUIDE

A player offers an incentive to entice an opponent into conceding, drawing, or changing the results of a match, or accepts such an offer.

The decision to drop, concede, or agree to an intentional draw cannot be made in exchange for or influenced by the offer of any reward or incentive. Unless the player receiving such an offer calls for a judge immediately, both players will be penalized in the same manner.

MAGIC TOURNAMENT RULES(5.2)

Players may not reach an agreement in conjunction with other matches.

Players can make use of information regarding match or game scores of other tables.

Caleb Durward’s disqualification due to split/concede in PTQ Ohio, 2015

Bribery

Sebastian Thaler and Klaus Jöns’s disqualification due to discussing concede due to who has better chance in Top 8

Collusion

Bribery and Collusion causes the players which don’t deserve the “reward” to get the reward therefore upsetting the deserving players and causing community to corrupt.

The only way to enforce a rule is to punish its infraction by a penalty that is greater than the advantage you’re trying to get. If you’re trying to optimize your prizing, the only penalty suited is to get you out of the prizing, which is the end result of a disqualification. Anything else would make Bribery too attractive.

-Emilien Wild

INTENTIONAL DRAW:

A player accepting ID does this in order to get to Top 8. He does it in order to get more prize. Why this does not count as Collusion?

Intention draws the moral line....

Do only Players bribe?

What about Tournament Organizers, other Staff, Judges….

Splitting prizes is okay. But what happens if someone concedes after split?

Do we require “Split” in MTR and IPG?

PROS

-Most of the players don’t know and don’t want to know the difference between an innocent drop and bribery

-Sometimes there is no difference.

-Sometimes there is a player base who already wants to concede to the “guy”

-Less work for Judge!

CONS

-Bribery involves corruption. More corrupted community leads to a worse enviroment.

-Players eager to play/win in the tournament left behind by bribers.

-Players using the information of other matches or agreeing with other matches takes the chance away from players who are not involved in collusion.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE REMOVE BRIBERY//COLLUSION FROM MTR?

If you suspect a community is into bribery:

● Talk to Tournament Organizer● Talk to new players● Learn who is the favorite player

If you suspect someone bribing people:

● Let people watch the match.● Split tables away before top 8. ● Send someone if they go out.

Don’t forget: You have right to don’t let them go somewhere you can’t hear.

Drew Levin was playing for the Top 8 in Columbus and Craig Wescoe was jockeying for a top 16 finish. Drew won the match and then uttered the immortal phrase “[A friend] laid me on 50-to-1 for the Grand Prix and I took him on for $10.