RE: [ba-poker] Ethical guidance needed

["Dave Horwitz" <dhorwitz(deleted the rest)>]

Tomium(deleted the rest) wrote:
> "Here is my ethical question: Is it OK to have a friend
> look over  my shoulder while I play online, and to
> discuss the hands with my friend  while I am playing
> them?"   
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would it be okay if your friend had never played poker? 
> Would it be  okay for you to show him what a straight is
> and what a flop is and how to get an account and whatever
> else?  I'll assume your answer is yes. 

What if your friend noted that you had 5 consecutively
ranked cards (without know it had any significance) and
you had missed it while looking to make your flush?
    
> In order for this arrangement to have the ability to
> change from being okay to being not okay, it would mean
> that the parameter you are using to judge okayness is not
> the ACT of discussing hands-in-progress with friends, it
> is  the NATURE of the discussion.  Enter heaping
> subjectivism. My view is that  if you think you did
> something wrong, then you did, and if you don't, then you
> didn't.       

I don't think the situation changes depending on the
other person. It's simply a question of another person
being involved or not.
I'm not sure what to think about the last part... Some
think that part of the game of poker is to cheat. Does
that make it ethical? Just for them? Ignorance is no
excuse for breaking the law. Does that apply to poker
ethics? 

My view is that poker is a game defined by rules and
the ethical way to play is by the intent of those rules.

-Quick