Sam Soverel, Luis Suarez & Ethics in Sport

Hi Guys, loved the most recent podcast, especially the conversation of the Sam Soverel controversy.

I think you guys quickly identified the correct solution: a hard-and-fast penalty rule that does not require tournament directors to try to infer motive behind a player's action when handing out penalties.

As a soccer fan, this immediately brought to mind the famous Suarez handball. (The story, in brief: in 2010 Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez committed a blatant intentional handball in a game versus Ghana, knocking away the ball as it was about to go in. He was ejected from the game, but Ghana missed the resulting penalty and Uruguay went on to win. In the aftermath, many people determined that while unethical, Suarez had in fact made the correct decision, saving his team from certain defeat and giving them a chance at the win).

The question it raises is this: if a rule like the one you discussed had been in place at this year's 50K final table (let's say a 3-orbit penalty), and Sam Soverel had determined the EV of folding out of turn was greater than the negative EV of missing 3 rounds, is it the correct play? If our rule does not take motive into account, are we OK with Sam declaring afterwards that he mucked out of turn on purpose to maximize his EV? If he was being staked, does he have an obligation to act unethically if the decision maximizes value to his intestors?

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Like I said, I think I agree with where you guys came down on this one, so my only question is: are we OK with a world in which a non-professional making an honest mistake, and a pro shooting an obvious and intentional angle are treated the same?

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Cheers, keep up the great work!