Patrick Hodges, Thief: The Endgame

[walterzuey]

This was forwarded to me by someone on the Scrabble mailing list yesterday, but I'm rebroadcasting here for my poker-friends who have asked whatever happened with regards to " Patrick Hodges, Thief". I knew the outcome last week, but didn't want to say anything until it became public knowledge.

Mr. Hodges is forbidden from playing in a sanctioned

Comments

[qaqaq]

Excellent outcome. Thanks for starting the process of getting this guy out of Scrabble.

I have to think there's a good chance he won't return to tournament play at the end of this period; surely even he has a level of shame. (Plus, I doubt he wants to spend $500 for the privilege of returning and having his rating drop 150 points in a hurry.)

[lordiceman]

Only 150? :)

Tremendous graph, Jaygee. He certainly got a much tougher sentence than I anticipated. Kudos to the NSA for getting this one right.

[blindspot888]

I guess I am the only one (here or on cgp) who thinks the sentence was too light. Three years is about right but it should include clubs for the whole time too. The opportunity to essentially rebuild his rating for 2 years before rejoining tournaments is huge, it effectively makes it just a one-year ban.

I also do think it's highly likely he'll return. Never underestimate the gall of people who do this kind of thing...

[lordiceman]

Letting him back to club play after a year isn't that big a deal. If he's genuinely interested in legitimate improvement for a 2011 comeback, there's plenty of ways he can do it without visiting a sanctioned club.

He should be required to employ a designated tile-drawer, pending approval of the director. Forget this nonsense about the hat. It also won't stop him from palming blanks, New Orleans-style.

[evwhore]

I don't know PH, so just speaking generally, people are capable of an amazing amount of shame-resistance. So who knows...