I'm interested in any information any of you have on computer use, collusion and other things it would be good to know about.

1. I hear that there is software that lets you know which of the players in a tournament are good players (have a good record of results) and which are bad. This sound handy and doesn't seem like cheating to me. It seems a bit like the 'fish lists' that tell you which players are weak.

2. I hear there is software that actually interacts with the Party Poker and other sites' software and advises you on plays, probabilities, etc. This sounds like a worry... surely that gives the user a huge advantage? I was furthermore told that some sites actually openly condone the use of such software, perhaps because they can't stop it anyway? Other sites it doesn't work on. Anyone know much about this? Which sites are computer free, which want to be but aren't and which ones are definitely clean?

3. What information can you get on other players? For example, if you play in a tournament and don't reveal hands that you don't have to, can other players still get access to what you held after the event? Or are concealed hands just recorded as "Gattaca doesn't show"? What is private and what isn't?

4. On a related topic, how much collusion is said to be going on and are some sites better than others for clean games? Any particular limits where it is more common. What is the best protection against it?

5. Have any of the online sites ever been seriously charged with manipulating the 'randomness' of hands? The sites which are not making much yet from volume might be tempted to plant their own players to clean up with rigged hands. I'm not suggesting this happens, just wondering what the 'word on the street' is about this sort of thing. I don't want to be the naive fish who finds out after a year of losing that 'everyone' knows you shouldn't play certain sites' or 'everyone knows you must have a software program to be competitive' etc.

I hope the games are still relatively clean. Any information appreciated.

Gattaca.