In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Your kinda contridicting yourself, you use SS to gain information on a player. This is the reason your using it. So it it gives back stats of a massive winner you can make assumption about there play, likewise if someone is a big loser. Why did you feel the need to look on SS, to gain an advantage. Quite honestly it's normal behaviour. If a friend is on a live FT table you may tell them players to watch out for or you may give them an heads up. But the fact that these are available is not a good thing. How would you like if they had all the data regarding your cash games. Do you think this should be make common knowledge. Do you think it would be good for online cash poker is this would be made available. Sites must publish results somehwere so it can be mined, obviously sites do not publish cash game results. The thing is why not and what is the differance. Why does it have to be public knowledge regarding tournamnet placing but cash games do not get published. I would hazard a guess and say the sites want to protect customers and maybe some data laws regarding player accounts. But anyway, could you imagine if sites released cash game results! OMG Posted by rancid
I honestly don't know the answer to that, short of guessing.
But I must pick up one point, which has been stated in numerous Posts.
It's really a matter of nuance, wording, & interpretation, but.....Sky Poker do NOT "publish" results as such.
I need to emphasise that - it is NOT published.
It must be available to those who search, via "data scraping" or whatever, or via GaryQQQ's method (in fact I don't even know how he finds them!) but the information is not published by Sky Poker. It's there, it must be, or how else can they get it, but that is different to results being published as such. It is published by Sharkscope, of course.
The information they use is taken from the site, not published. There is a subtle but impoortant difference.
When this debate started, several people expressed surprise that Sky Poker "gave" Sharkscope this information. They do not. It is "taken". It is not taken with "consent", either, it is just taken.
There is no relationship whatsoever between the Online Poker Sites & Sharkscope. Nothing is agreed between the two parties, no money changes hands either way, Sharkscope simply lift the info & use it for their own ends.
One interesting thing I have noticed on Sharkscope....Most players showing as winning a lot on Sky are losing on virtually EVERY other site they play on. That is a very strange and interesting fact. Posted by VickiPKR
Hi Vicki,
Sorry, but I don't believe that is a "fact" as such. More an urban myth, I suspect.
Tikay, Sky Poker post the information on a publically accessible online tournament lobby. That's publishing it. They might not be posting it up intending it to be retained forever but that's irrelevant. Once that information is made publically available it's fair game for anyone to reproduce it, so long as it's not subject to copyright.
Scope aren't doing anything that journalists, researchers and all sorts of others don't do every day.
other than my own results the only real thing i use ss for is when i meet an unknown playing unorthodoxly it's good to know if that player is particularly good and therefore to be careful about so in this case it disadvantages the better player besides ss is flawed as others have said my scope is 1000s below reality i think i leave it up to fool peeps into thinking i'm more of a fish than i really am i do not think it is in the same league as HUDs at all as it is so blunt and inaccurate and gives no info on game play so with all due respect to the OP or is that the old man i'm just not that fussed what i think is important is for peeps to know that sky does not "provide" the data direct for sharkie to use - they have to go get it Posted by GELDY
Please, less of "the old man"......
You are correct in the other enboldened point, & a very important point it is, too - Sky poker do not wilingly provide such data to ANYONE, & neither do they give their consent for it to be used by anyone.
I think this was a general misconception prior to this thread. The info, I mean, not my age.
More intrigued as to why sites publish MTT/STT results but will not publish cash game results. Tikay ? Posted by rancid
I honestly have no idea.
There ARE sites which DO publish Online cash game performance, but as far as I know, they do NOT publish cash game performance by players on Sky Poker. Think it is just the "global" sites.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Are they actually published at such though? Is it not a case of them just literally accessing all the lobbies same as how GaryQQQ would? I don't know which one it is, I'm asking ^^^ Posted by Lambert180
I pay for a Sharkscope subscription, have always been very open about it. It costs me about £9 per month for 150 searches a day plus all the filters and other info non-subscribers don't get, good value imo. As an MTT specialist it's more of a luxury than an essential, I like having the info but I could easily do without it. Self analysis is one of it's main uses for me, as demonstrated in my recent BR challenge. It tells me nothing about how any particular opponent may play. My notes are much more useful for that. The most likely way it'll boost your profit is if you use it for table-selecting STTs, something I don't actually do that often. I like having Sharkscope, though I'd happily sacrifice it if it were deemed bad for poker. While it remains available to everybody I'll continue to subscribe. I hate it when I see chatbox abusers quoting Sharkscope stats. That's its biggest negative as far as I'm concerned. If Sky bring in an opt-in policy like other sites I'd be cool with that. I'd opt in so I can continue to self analyze. Not sure if I'd still subscribe, it would depend how many others opt in. Posted by GaryQQQ
Perfect "balance" there.
In fact, it exactly reflects my personal position, too. I use it, for my own ends, but if it were no longer available, I'd not bat an eyelid. Really, in the greater scheme of things, it's not a big deal to me either way. Interesting subject, though, as to how people seemed to think it works.
When I do Community Posts the morning after big events to big up the winners or whatever, - Super Roller, PRIMO, UKOPS or whatever - I generally use Gary's thread to find that info, & I generally mention that I've done that.
Ditto when I research stuff for the Shows I do. If I can't find it on Gary's thread, then I visit Sharkscope & find it there. The Ch 861 Team do much the same, I believe.
How do I find the winner of a big Sky Poker Tourney on Sharkscope? I just 'scope one of the regulars, such as TommyD, Mattbates, Solack, etc, they generally play the big tourneys, so via that route, I can find what I'm looking for. Odd that, if you think about it, but thats how I do it.
I honestly don't know where to find the info on our site, incredible as it may seem.
I personally don't mind sharkscope, however, I have to agree, I think there should be an opt in rule rather than an opt out policy. When I joined Pokerstars sharkscope were not allowed to show my stats unless I opted in. One or Two questions i would like to ask......... 1. How does the information that sharkscope scrape become public information in the first instance? 2. Can disclosure of this information be stopped somehow within the software? 3. If sharkcope are not allowed to show stats from pokerstars players without opting in, then why does the same rule not apply to Sky Poker? I realise that once information becomes public and is without copyright, it can be used for all manor of things, but we should really be asking how this information is released/obtained and is there anything that could or should be done about it.. Posted by POKERTREV
Morning Trev.
I believe the rule on Pokerstars remains the same - you have to opt in. I'm not sure on that, though. Think I opened my 'Stars Account in early 2002 - 12 years ago!
I used it a lot at one time, but I've not been on there for years. I'm told it has grown a little......
I built - & then quickly lost - my first Online roll on 'Stars. I turned $200 into $27,000, then back to zilch again. Ugh @ the memory. The biggest SNG on 'Stars - which was my thing back then - was $100! Yup, I was a High Roller in those days. Now I rarely play bigger than £11, lol.
Now, your 3 questions.
Q1. I've no idea, see my various previous replies. They get it, I assume, in the same way as GaryQQQ &, presumably, others do.
Q2. I don't think it could or would be stopped by a software tweak, no. I believe 888 just went to Sharkscope & said "stop publishing results from our site". I don't know, but I would assume it would have been a legal matter. "Stop it, or else" sorta thing. Presumably ditto PokerStars &, in some instances I believe, Full Tilt.
Q3. I don't know. I suppose it is possible that they will consider that option though. I am not party to their thoughts on this, but I don't believe this situation was "allowed" to happen as such, it just did! It was always so, sort of thing. Maybe they will address it now, maybe not, I don't know. I just fetch the tea at Sky Poker, they don't allow me near the seat of power. Very wise, imo.
If I were king for a day, Radiohead fashion, I'd change all sorts of things, lol. Get rid of Orford, for starters. Waste of space.
The information becomes public because all tournament and SNG lobbies are public. Dunno how scope's software works in "scraping" that. Would anyone really want tourney lobbies to be secret? Not knowing who is in the tournament unless you're in it yourself? Posted by BorinLoner
Even if Sharkscope were not permitted to collate publish players results (unless opted in) it would make NO difference to how we all see the Tourney Lobbies & results now.
Any action would be by enforcement, maybe legal, "stop doing it", but certainly not by software tweaks.
I stopped playing on 888 because it no longer appears on sharkscope. If sky are thinking of doing the same then I will reluctantly spend my time elsewhere. So hopefully this thread is not implying that it will! Ger Posted by gerardirl
Well whatever happens, if anything does, I hope you & others remain at Sky Poker, that's a given.
But.....
No business can stand still, all businesses have to change, evolve, do new or different things.
Every single time these things are done, a few souls abandon ship, or are lost overboard, but new players come on board. The key is to get a net gain, or reduce a net loss.
A good example is the new software. Some don't like it, some won't use it, & a few will be, sadly, lost to the site. But that is not a reason not to have new software. If the business logic of ANY decison results in a net gain, then they have to do it, even though some pain will be enccountered.
Interesting you stopped playing on 888 because of their Sharkscope stance. 888 have been one of the big "gainers" in Online Poker in the last few years. Why? Because they have taken a very strong line to protect their recreational player base.
I use ss like most but it's mainly just to check my own progress but agree with rancid-ban the lot of em!!! On another note, if sharkscope get this data from sky (and the rest) and then sell this information and the statistics they derive and it's less than 100% accurate, why don't sky (and the rest) gather their own 100% accurate data/statistics and sell it to their own punters? Something seems morally more wrong with this but it is essentially the same thing! Posted by jdsallstar
They do not & would not (any or all Online Sites) because it would be against their better interests so to do.
Imagine a HUGE net loser, a so-called whale, & the site they play on readily sells or makes available that one of their Clients is a huge loser? He'd not stay long, would he?
Gaming sites often say, or advertise "Mr So & So won £100,000 last night", just as the football pools people used to if you did not tick the "no publicity" box. I can't imagine any Gaming Site would wilfully say "one of our players, Mr So & So, lost £100,000 last night"!
That's just how the gaming world goes round, whether we like it or not.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Well whatever happens, if anything does, I hope you & others remain at Sky Poker, that's a given. But..... No business can stand still, all businesses have to change, evolve, do new or different things. Every single time these things are done, a few souls abandon ship, or are lost overboard, but new players come on board. The key is to get a net gain, or reduce a net loss. A good example is the new software. Some don't like it, some won't use it, & a few will be, sadly, lost to the site. But that is not a reason not to have new software. If the business logic of ANY decison results in a net gain, then they have to do it, even though some pain will be enccountered. Interesting you stopped playing on 888 because of their Sharkscope stance. 888 have been one of the big "gainers" in Online Poker in the last few years. Why? Because they have taken a very strong line to protect their recreational player base. Posted by Tikay10
"We play different"
With my lack of patience, I struggle with that line every time I hear it.
Clever angle they've used with their advertising I think.
The sports star, rather than the 'pro' that may only really be known to very keen poker players, to advertise the brand.
Pokerstars, as quick as ever with these sort of things, now seem to mix it up. Covering both sides, I guess.
Celebrities to encourage the recs. Top pros, to appeal to the regs.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Even if Sharkscope were not permitted to collate publish players results (unless opted in) it would make NO difference to how we all see the Tourney Lobbies & results now. Any action would be by enforcement, maybe legal, "stop doing it", but certainly not by software tweaks. Posted by Tikay10
I must admit my knowledge of copyright law is a little shaky, however as far as I'm aware, only intellectually or artistically creative works can be copyrighted.
That would mean that Sharkscope doesn't need permission to reproduce information in the public domain, as long as it doesn't reveal any of the various poker sites' software or similar things. The opt-out in place for other sites would therefore not be enforceable in legal terms. Presumably scope only complies with these requests to avoid the expenses it would incur in having to defend a legal case. I doubt very much that the poker sites could possibly win such a case.
Publishing tournament results in this way is little different to the Telegraph publishing a table of the Premier League on a Monday morning. The information of who won, who lost, etc., is publically available. The Premier League has no ability to prevent people discussing the results of it's matches. The result is not the property of the premier league, even though footage of the game is. The same is true of poker sites.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. :
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Yup, fair comment - but they SELL that information! PS - You CAN hide it, as some other Online sites already have stopped Sharkscope doing so unless the player chooses to opt in, or that is as I understand it. "It's OK as long as people know when they sign up they are being tracked". But they don't. Do you think a poker newbie KNOWS that? There is nothing in Sky Poker's T & C's which says "another site may publish your Sky Poker results unless you specifically opt out". Sky poker do not knowingly allow it, it just happens. For the record, yeah, I like Sharkscope, too, but that's hardly the point. Posted by Tikay10[/QUOYE sharkscope should be banned why should the average player have his/her results shown too all and sundry? if people want too know how good/bad u are they should play you and build up they,re own knowledge of you.not look for advantages on other players through third party sites.which sky doe,s not condone..whatever way you look at it it is cheating and defeats the purpose of skys refusal too allow huds and other poker helpers..this is what makes the average player wonder if online poker reallty is fair and random! why should players who play the game for fun have they,re results published on a site that openly supports allsorts of different ways too basically cheat the average every day player?the so called better players should not need these sites if they are so good anyway.i remember not so long ago when sky did the rake the rake promotion and all the so called top players of sky where up in arms at the fact these players where going too receive the the same privileges that they had and where worried about if they would be able too win as often as they had been. the reason i like many others play on sky is the fact they don,t support these sites. But as i have asked before why has sky not tried too stop sites like these publishing results from skys games/tournaments. as if sky want too keep the trust they have from normal recreational players they must keep it fair and unhindered as it is supposed to be on sky...as the way it is it seems like sky is happy too allow 3rd partys too publish sky players results even although sky doe,s not support 3rd party interference....or so they claim..i also note it is the so called better players that are all for sharkscope! i wonder why that is?if you are as good as you think you are the only info you should have on a player is the info you have gained by playing your opponent not using what is basically a tool for stalking opponents? thats just my opinion....p.s if other sites can make sharkscope have too have players opt in before they can publish results why has sky not done the same?after all sky prides itself on having a level playing field!and not allowing 3rd party software too run alongside its own software? Posted by churchy18
I don't believe it is something they have ever previously considered, or addressed. It would, however, be consistent with their line on 3rd party software & the like.
I can only explain how things are, & I don't know what view the Business has, or what it may or may not do, I'm not part of any decision-making process, I just fetch the tea & bikkies.
I do believe the thread, though, which WAS my idea, because I get so many PM's from people being uppity about various aspects of Sharskscope, has been good for all of us. Excellent, in fact. I'll send myself a memo in the morning.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : I must admit my knowledge of copyright law is a little shaky, however as far as I'm aware, only intellectually or artistically creative works can be copyrighted. That would mean that Sharkscope doesn't need permission to reproduce information in the public domain, as long as it doesn't reveal any of the various poker sites' software or similar things. The opt-out in place for other sites would therefore not be enforceable in legal terms. Presumably scope only complies with these requests to avoid the expenses it would incur in having to defend a legal case. I doubt very much that the poker sites could possibly win such a case. Publishing tournament results in this way is little different to the Telegraph publishing a table of the Premier League on a Monday morning. The information of who won, who lost, etc., is publically available. The Premier League has no ability to prevent people discussing the results of it's matches. The result is not the property of the premier league, even though footage of the game is. The same is true of poker sites. Posted by BorinLoner
I don't have a clue as to the legalities of the matter, but it matters not. The issue of "Copyright" is not really germaine.
If an Online Site wants to stop Sharkscope publishing their info, they can. We know that, because at least 3 sites already do, & I know of several others considering the same stance. I'm not sure the legal detail is relevant. If a site wants it to stop, I assume they can make it happen. The "how" is of no interest to me, because it is not relevant, imo.
I'll answer any further, new, or relevant questions tomorrow, as I'm working tomorrow night, so I'll be in the Office from mid-afternoon.
Now, I got to update my DYM thread - BADDD news today - & as today is the last day of the month, go try & reach 4,000 Reward Points. PLO8 DYM, anyone? Jeez, I got proper beat up yesterday, ugh.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : Well whatever happens, if anything does, I hope you & others remain at Sky Poker, that's a given. But..... No business can stand still, all businesses have to change, evolve, do new or different things. Every single time these things are done, a few souls abandon ship, or are lost overboard, but new players come on board. The key is to get a net gain, or reduce a net loss. A good example is the new software. Some don't like it, some won't use it, & a few will be, sadly, lost to the site. But that is not a reason not to have new software. If the business logic of ANY decison results in a net gain, then they have to do it, even though some pain will be enccountered. Interesting you stopped playing on 888 because of their Sharkscope stance. 888 have been one of the big "gainers" in Online Poker in the last few years. Why? Because they have taken a very strong line to protect their recreational player base. Posted by Tikay10
My poker motivations have changed over the years and for me the goal I enjoy most is competing on leaderboards in sharkscope. I subscribe with sharkscope yet 888 removed everything without notice or any care for its customers that signed up for sharkscope. If sky do choose to remove their stats from sharkscope I hope they give good notice to its customers that have paid for sharkcope to see their sky poker stats.
In Response to Re: Thinking out loud - Sharkscope. : My poker motivations have changed over the years and for me the goal I enjoy most is competing on leaderboards in sharkscope. I subscribe with sharkscope yet 888 removed everything without notice or any care for its customers that signed up for sharkscope. If sky do choose to remove their stats from sharkscope I hope they give good notice to its customers that have paid for sharkcope to see their sky poker stats. Ger Posted by gerardirl
I think Sky will just make it so you have to Opt in.
Sharkscope is available for free (5 free searches a day) to everyone. If a person does not know about it, that is not the fault of the other person who has used it to gain some useful info. It's like some people know about 2+2 and the poker clinic here and if they read often there, then their game will improve, as opposed to those who do not, or some people know of a good mtt book that will naturally help improve their game, as opposed to someone who does not know about this book.
Sharkscope in my opinion does not give an unfair advantage, as a good player should already be able to recognise a bad player, good player etc. All it tells you is if someone is a losing player or not, it will not help you play 'optimally' vs the said player as it teaches us nothing about the way the player plays, however reading posted hands in the clinic might give us an advantage upon how a person thinks and plays his/her hands and enable us to have an advantage.
Comments
But I must pick up one point, which has been stated in numerous Posts.
It's really a matter of nuance, wording, & interpretation, but.....Sky Poker do NOT "publish" results as such.
I need to emphasise that - it is NOT published.
It must be available to those who search, via "data scraping" or whatever, or via GaryQQQ's method (in fact I don't even know how he finds them!) but the information is not published by Sky Poker. It's there, it must be, or how else can they get it, but that is different to results being published as such. It is published by Sharkscope, of course.
The information they use is taken from the site, not published. There is a subtle but impoortant difference.
When this debate started, several people expressed surprise that Sky Poker "gave" Sharkscope this information. They do not. It is "taken". It is not taken with "consent", either, it is just taken.
There is no relationship whatsoever between the Online Poker Sites & Sharkscope. Nothing is agreed between the two parties, no money changes hands either way, Sharkscope simply lift the info & use it for their own ends.
Sorry, but I don't believe that is a "fact" as such. More an urban myth, I suspect.
Scope aren't doing anything that journalists, researchers and all sorts of others don't do every day.
You are correct in the other enboldened point, & a very important point it is, too - Sky poker do not wilingly provide such data to ANYONE, & neither do they give their consent for it to be used by anyone.
I think this was a general misconception prior to this thread. The info, I mean, not my age.
There ARE sites which DO publish Online cash game performance, but as far as I know, they do NOT publish cash game performance by players on Sky Poker. Think it is just the "global" sites.
In fact, it exactly reflects my personal position, too. I use it, for my own ends, but if it were no longer available, I'd not bat an eyelid. Really, in the greater scheme of things, it's not a big deal to me either way. Interesting subject, though, as to how people seemed to think it works.
When I do Community Posts the morning after big events to big up the winners or whatever, - Super Roller, PRIMO, UKOPS or whatever - I generally use Gary's thread to find that info, & I generally mention that I've done that.
Ditto when I research stuff for the Shows I do. If I can't find it on Gary's thread, then I visit Sharkscope & find it there. The Ch 861 Team do much the same, I believe.
How do I find the winner of a big Sky Poker Tourney on Sharkscope? I just 'scope one of the regulars, such as TommyD, Mattbates, Solack, etc, they generally play the big tourneys, so via that route, I can find what I'm looking for. Odd that, if you think about it, but thats how I do it.
I honestly don't know where to find the info on our site, incredible as it may seem.
Morning Trev.
I believe the rule on Pokerstars remains the same - you have to opt in. I'm not sure on that, though. Think I opened my 'Stars Account in early 2002 - 12 years ago!
I used it a lot at one time, but I've not been on there for years. I'm told it has grown a little......
I built - & then quickly lost - my first Online roll on 'Stars. I turned $200 into $27,000, then back to zilch again. Ugh @ the memory. The biggest SNG on 'Stars - which was my thing back then - was $100! Yup, I was a High Roller in those days. Now I rarely play bigger than £11, lol.
Now, your 3 questions.
Q1. I've no idea, see my various previous replies. They get it, I assume, in the same way as GaryQQQ &, presumably, others do.
Q2. I don't think it could or would be stopped by a software tweak, no. I believe 888 just went to Sharkscope & said "stop publishing results from our site". I don't know, but I would assume it would have been a legal matter. "Stop it, or else" sorta thing. Presumably ditto PokerStars &, in some instances I believe, Full Tilt.
Q3. I don't know. I suppose it is possible that they will consider that option though. I am not party to their thoughts on this, but I don't believe this situation was "allowed" to happen as such, it just did! It was always so, sort of thing. Maybe they will address it now, maybe not, I don't know. I just fetch the tea at Sky Poker, they don't allow me near the seat of power. Very wise, imo.
If I were king for a day, Radiohead fashion, I'd change all sorts of things, lol. Get rid of Orford, for starters. Waste of space.
Any action would be by enforcement, maybe legal, "stop doing it", but certainly not by software tweaks.
But.....
No business can stand still, all businesses have to change, evolve, do new or different things.
Every single time these things are done, a few souls abandon ship, or are lost overboard, but new players come on board. The key is to get a net gain, or reduce a net loss.
A good example is the new software. Some don't like it, some won't use it, & a few will be, sadly, lost to the site. But that is not a reason not to have new software. If the business logic of ANY decison results in a net gain, then they have to do it, even though some pain will be enccountered.
Interesting you stopped playing on 888 because of their Sharkscope stance. 888 have been one of the big "gainers" in Online Poker in the last few years. Why? Because they have taken a very strong line to protect their recreational player base.
Imagine a HUGE net loser, a so-called whale, & the site they play on readily sells or makes available that one of their Clients is a huge loser? He'd not stay long, would he?
Gaming sites often say, or advertise "Mr So & So won £100,000 last night", just as the football pools people used to if you did not tick the "no publicity" box. I can't imagine any Gaming Site would wilfully say "one of our players, Mr So & So, lost £100,000 last night"!
That's just how the gaming world goes round, whether we like it or not.
That would mean that Sharkscope doesn't need permission to reproduce information in the public domain, as long as it doesn't reveal any of the various poker sites' software or similar things. The opt-out in place for other sites would therefore not be enforceable in legal terms. Presumably scope only complies with these requests to avoid the expenses it would incur in having to defend a legal case. I doubt very much that the poker sites could possibly win such a case.
Publishing tournament results in this way is little different to the Telegraph publishing a table of the Premier League on a Monday morning. The information of who won, who lost, etc., is publically available. The Premier League has no ability to prevent people discussing the results of it's matches. The result is not the property of the premier league, even though footage of the game is. The same is true of poker sites.
I don't have a clue as to the legalities of the matter, but it matters not. The issue of "Copyright" is not really germaine.
If an Online Site wants to stop Sharkscope publishing their info, they can. We know that, because at least 3 sites already do, & I know of several others considering the same stance. I'm not sure the legal detail is relevant. If a site wants it to stop, I assume they can make it happen. The "how" is of no interest to me, because it is not relevant, imo.
All done for now, I think.
I'll answer any further, new, or relevant questions tomorrow, as I'm working tomorrow night, so I'll be in the Office from mid-afternoon.
Now, I got to update my DYM thread - BADDD news today - & as today is the last day of the month, go try & reach 4,000 Reward Points. PLO8 DYM, anyone? Jeez, I got proper beat up yesterday, ugh.
Enjoy your weekend.
My poker motivations have changed over the years and for me the goal I enjoy most is competing on leaderboards in sharkscope. I subscribe with sharkscope yet 888 removed everything without notice or any care for its customers that signed up for sharkscope. If sky do choose to remove their stats from sharkscope I hope they give good notice to its customers that have paid for sharkcope to see their sky poker stats.
Ger
Sharkscope in my opinion does not give an unfair advantage, as a good player should already be able to recognise a bad player, good player etc. All it tells you is if someone is a losing player or not, it will not help you play 'optimally' vs the said player as it teaches us nothing about the way the player plays, however reading posted hands in the clinic might give us an advantage upon how a person thinks and plays his/her hands and enable us to have an advantage.
Just saw this typed in a tournament chatbox by somebody who regularly posts on this forum;
**********: surprise surprise scope fish