GGPoker will soon randomize seating for late tournament registrants to prevent max late registration collusion. [Image: PokerGO.com]

“More decisive” solution to the problem

GGPoker has announced an upcoming software update designed to prevent collusion. In a post on its official subreddit, the world’s largest online poker room said that the update, aimed at preventing late registration abuse in multi-table tournaments (MTT), is on the way “sometime this month.”

more common among MTT regulars than among people who are simply recreational buddies

The poker room said that the “predatory behavior” – groups of friends or associates registering at the same time in order to get seated together – is much more common among MTT regulars than among people who are simply recreational buddies who happen to register together.

“GGPoker has warned players suspected of this behavior for quite some time, and our warnings usually have been heard and acted upon,” the poker room assured, adding that the software update will solve the problem “more decisively.”

Group stall tactic

The issue is called “max late registration,” and it happens both live and online. It is essentially what it sounds like: a player registers for the tournament at the very end of the late registration period. By doing this, they begin play closer to the money bubble at the expense of having a shorter stack relative to the blinds and other players who have accumulated chips.

At GGPoker, groups of players have been known to take advantage of late registration in order to get themselves into a prime spot for colluding. By buying in at the very end of the registration period when all tables are full (or perhaps when there is a single seat open), they all get seated at a new table together. From there, they all limp into the pot, then use the maximum time permitted for every decision as they check it down.

Take a look at this recent social media post, which seems to show this tactic in action in a GGPoker tournament:

The hand is on the river, nobody has folded, and the pot size equals one big blind-sized bet from everyone plus two antes. They are betting as little as possible and taking as long as possible to try to sneak into the money.

Randomize!

GGPoker’s solution is to change how it seats players who register late. Once the update is implemented, players will be seated randomly, even at full tables.

As GGPoker explained in the Reddit post, in both live and online MTTs, tournament directors (or in the case of online poker, the software), typically put a late-registering player in an open seat, if one is available. With the update, the software will pick a random table and if there is not a seat open, it will move someone to an empty seat elsewhere. That way, those who want to collude with the max late registration tactic won’t be able to, as they will be spread out across many tables instead of all being seated at a new table together.

Though the issue here is with online poker tournaments, max late registering is a very common strategy used by live pros, not only to join the competition closer to the money, but also to avoid the strain of a long first day.

GGPoker said that it understands that some tournament players could be frustrated if they are forced to move to a different table before their table naturally breaks, but “believes it is necessary to ensure the integrity of the game.”