This came up in the thread about cheating in chess. Someone said they were amazed that this appears so widespread then Xema said
Any ideas Dope?
No such thing, given that there are humans who would cheat at breathing if they could figure out how.
Cheating? Because if you cheated at cheating you wouldn’t be cheating 
Honestly I don’t know - even some of the most grassroots, ethically pure, no monetary reward sports will usually have some cheating bastard trying to get an edge.
This might be a stupid suggestion, given its reputation, but what about tournament poker? Grant me the reasonable assumption that the game is on the level (ie the house is not cheating), and the perhaps less reasonable assumption that no players are colluding with one another (not sure how much this goes on or what the impact of it is tbh), can you cheat your way to victory? I don’t see how you could but perhaps there are ways.
It would have to be a contest in which the design makes it impossible (or nearly so) to cheat, like a spontaneous performance contest or something like that. That’s why school teachers implement pop quizzes and have test proctors - to reduce the chance of cheating to as close to zero as possible.
But if it’s possible to cheat, people will cheat. People have both cooperative and competitive instincts. I would submit that cheating is an inherent product of competition, and in competition, people inevitably try to gain an edge. Cheating describes a situation in which “gaining an edge” violates either rules or conventions of fair play.
Correct. I have personally witnessed someone cheating in a friendly game of croquet, for example. It’s very rare, but “never” is a tough bar to clear.
I don’t think it’s a stupid suggestion, but there are ways to gain an unfair advantage (aka cheating). As you say, collusion is probably the most common. The most obvious way to do this is to never bet against your collaborator, thus decreasing both of your chances of being knocked out of the tournament. Even if just 2 friends get to the final table, it can have a significant effect. That’s why all (I believe) tournaments have some kind of “no ‘soft’ playing” rule. Simplest example is if all the cards are out and you have an unbeatable hand (‘the nuts’ in the parlance), if your opponent checks (i.e. does not make a bet), on your turn you must make a bet of some kind. The reason being, in this position you cannot possibly do worse by betting (if they fold, you win the same amount, if they call or raise you are going to win more). If you don’t bet, you will likely be sanctioned on suspicion that you are trying to help the other player(s) cut their losses.
Hot-dog eating contest?
Funnily enough, Kobayahi just accused Joey Chestnut of being a cheater.
Anyway, the only way you could have a competition with no cheating would be if you invented a competition with **no rules whatsoever. **Add even a single rule and somebody will find a way or reason to break it.
Living the longest.
John Steinbeck in Sweet Thursday claimed it was impossible to cheat in chess - the players know the game and the board so well that an attempt to fiddle with the board or swipe a piece would immediately be noticed.
Of course, he was writing pre-computers-in-the-toilet days. I guess you could have said ‘I need a toilet break’ and go and read a book or talk with your clever mate. (In fact, in serious chess, like say, World Champs, they used to have breaks after about 2 hours or so, and the players would spend the time analysing the current position and playing through some scenarios with their team members - trainers etc. It wasn’t uncommon for players to come back from a break and immediately resign if the analysis had shown their position was doomed if their opponent started some certain combinations - indicating they had also found the same solution).
Any sport or game is open to cheating. Here’s a thought - there are some basic skills you can learn about throwing a pair of dice to increase or decrease the odds of various numbers coming up. If someone was doing that in say, Monopoly, - would that be cheating? Or is it a valid skill? (And before you go to the next question, the casinos know all about this - hence rules about how you must throw, and they are watching very closely anyway).
I’m trying to think of a contest where cheating is impossible. Sorta like… when I was a kid, and my brother and I both wanted the last piece of meat/cake/whatever at dinner, my parents would decree that one of us would divide the remaining portion, but the other would pick first. at his was a simple and effective way to prevent disputes. So, is there a game that works on the same principle, where if you try to cheat you only give an advantage to your opponent?
Wait, what? There are? I’d like to learn more about that.
Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock?
That’s not a game, it’s a system.
I know it’s not a game. That’s why I suggested a “game that works on the same principle.”
OK. So, no, there isn’t one.
War. There is no cheating in war, because there are no rules in war.
The Game.
You guys just lost it, BTW.
Oh yeah. Someone had to say it.
You mean like Calvinball?
The only rule is any rule you make up can only be used once and never again.
The biggest competition of all: Staying alive.
Thus, the old adage, “You can’t cheat death.”