A. If a player programs during a tournament, the System will pick up on it, and the player will be Disqualified.
Therefore the reason is not due to programs.
B. In pop out the player who goes first always wins with perfect play, as in Normal 7x6 Games of connect 4
either learn Pop out, or don't participate.
I can perfectly state, Pop Out is a lot easier to pick up on, than the traditional 7x6 game.
But for the a more challenging game mode, normal is the one to pick.
Finally to add, I would prefer a tournament where its 2 games set, like in the curling tournies.
Or maybe a 3MB, 5MB or even 7MB Tourney for the more Advanced players. Then the Developer could take new board sizes into consideration, this will definatly bring a lot of old players back, and would certainly be nice for myself and others to learn new board sizes.