Deception Detection: Trade Advice

First I'd like to say I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often as usual, this will probably be the frequency of my posting: twice during the week, and one or two over the weekend.

Onto the article! Now I'm gonna tell you another way to act deceitfully to help you get an edge on the competition.

Hopefully you are in an active league, where trade offers are constantly flying around. Plenty of people are not confident in their abilities to judge trades, so they will ask fellow league memebers advice on trades.

The correct thing to do in if a league-mate asks you advice on a trade, is to analyze the deal, see how the players fit into their respective teams, and then give an honest answer. However, fantasy sports are not for people who stay inside the lines. . . lying, acting deceitful, and bending the rules are all within limit. I mean, if a person is unable to judge a deal themselves, that means they do not have enough confidence to judge a deal themselves, and who doesn't enjoy screwing with people with low confidence? I do not endorse straight-out cheating by the way, because then victory will not taste as sweet, however bending the rules is certainly within limit.

So here's the example: It's a couple days after draft, season has not started yet. You feel pretty good about your team (because you prepared) but you noticed that John Johnson has a very decent team, which you are afraid to play. Well, the next day John Johnson asks for your advice on a trade completely horrible for him. Normally you'd say that the trade is horrible reject it immediately. You are in a deceitful mood however, and since you would not mind seeing John Johnson's team get a little worse, you recommend he do the trade. Well, he ends up doing the horrible trade, and at the end of the season you finish 3 points ahead of him. Seems worth it to me doesn't it?

That's a bit of an extreme example, and its very unlikely the person you give fake advice to finished just behind you, making it worth it. But hey, you never know, I've been in some extremely close league's before, and this one simple move can make all of the difference.

Of course, be aware of anyone else doing this to you, although I would doubt anyone else knows about this strategy. . . unless they read my blog as well. (wouldn't that be something?) That's it for today, check back soon for more insght.

Cheers!

Paul