The First Edition Is Poor

[Al Mirpuri]

I think the first edition is poor but I do hope it gets better and I am sure it will. There was nothing innovative in it. I think as more and more people contribute it will get better no doubt.

However, it is a grand idea to have an Internet magazine and it will no doubt succeed.

[tek]

What are the names of your articles?

[axioma]

[ QUOTE ]
What are the names of your articles?

[/ QUOTE ]

this is a very poor argument in general, and it annoys me every time i see it being used.

the poster was entitled to his opinion, and was overall positive about the magazine.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi axioma:

You need to understand that this poster always takes this type of shot at us. In the past he has referred to me as a "snake oil salesman." I would only be surprised if he made a comment that wasn't negative.

There are now a bunch of poker magazines out there. I suggest that he pick up copy of those and enjoy them.

best wishes,
Mason

[axioma]

ahh, i didnt know there was history there.

it was more the "well lets see YOU try and do X" argument that prompted me to respond, rather than any feelings about the first issue.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi axioma:

I actually think the first issue is pretty goood. There are several articles there which are better than anything you'll see in any other poker magazines.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Stork]

I as well enjoyed most of the articles /images/graemlins/cool.gif.

[axioma]

Mason,

I wasnt casting any aspercions on the magazine here. I was replying to tek's comment, which I dont agree with. Just to be clear.

Cheers.

[lastchance]

Compared to the junk in Cardplayer, 2+2 Mag is amazing. Shoots straight to the top of my list of poker-related things to read.

[BarronVangorToth]

When I first heard about the online magazine I thought I read that there would be five or six articles per installment. Not only did we get double that, but all of them were worthwhile and entertaining. Obviously we all will enjoy some more than others, but I can honestly say that each article I read I was happy that I did so. I can't say the same thing about other poker writing that I've read elsewhere....

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi axioma:

I understood that.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Leo Bello]

I enjoyed the initiative and the articles per se. The humour touch was most welcomed and while it has a part geared for begginers/intermediate players, I guess as a magazine it covers what is needed.
It is not meant to be a treatise on Poker but rather and interesting read and food for thought.
Congratulations.

[Siingo]

I liked it!!!!

I have read almost all of the articels (and soon all).. And that is something I usually do not even do if I bought the magazine!

Thanks!

[Al Mirpuri]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi axioma:

You need to understand that this poster always takes this type of shot at us. In the past he has referred to me as a "snake oil salesman." I would only be surprised if he made a comment that wasn't negative.

There are now a bunch of poker magazines out there. I suggest that he pick up copy of those and enjoy them.

best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

Dear Mason,

The first edition is poor and I judge it by a very high standard. The standard I use is the one set by Two Plus Two itself: It is something bordering excellence. My criticism in the original post stands.

I do not always criticize Two Plus Two and those associated with it but I do refuse to give uncritical acceptance to anyone. I say it as I see it.

I would also like to add that I have a very high regard of the Two Plus Two's authors as poker theorists (though not knowing them I cannot comment upon them as human beings) and have stated this on these forums regularly.

Yes Mason I have called you a snake oil salesman but that was in the context of your continuing publication of Sylvester Suzuki's book, Poker Tournament Strategies, which is probably the worst book on Two Plus Two's catalogue. The author did not even have the courage to put his real name to it.

As for the other magazines out there: You have a long way to go to catch up with cardplayer. You know it and I know it. So do the best that you can and let us hope it is good enough. I am sure it will.

Yours,

Al Mirpuri

[Al Mirpuri]

Dear tek,

I have as of yet submitted no articles to this magazine but do intend to do so at some point.

Yours,

Al Mirpuri.

[AngryCola]

[ QUOTE ]
My criticism in the original post stands.

[/ QUOTE ]

Shocking.

[ QUOTE ]
You have a long way to go to catch up with cardplayer.

[/ QUOTE ]

Cardplayer is a print magazine. I don't think they are trying to catch them....yet.
That being said, they wouldn't have to try very hard. Cardplayer articles by Scott Fischman aren't doing it for me.

Did you find his recent article to be informative?
How about Robert Varkonyi's recent works?

[Al Mirpuri]

I take on board your comments and agree that there seems to be a lot of less than great material in cardplayer.

[PktAcesSoWht]

I have not yet read the other replies to this post, but let me say you couldn't be further from the truth. I found the majority of the articles very interesting and good reads. I enjoyed all of them very much and cannot wait until the next issue. I liked it so much I turned some of my friends that are just starting out on to it so they could learn more.

The First Edition was very good, period.

[Mason Malmuth]

[ QUOTE ]
As for the other magazines out there: You have a long way to go to catch up with cardplayer. You know it and I know it. So do the best that you can and let us hope it is good enough. I am sure it will.


[/ QUOTE ]

Classic. Thanks for the encouragement.

MM

[ddubois]

I thought the Ed Miller article was extremely well-done. I went into it assuming it was be good, but it exceeded my expectations. I didn't expect to see an idea I had not seen expressed before, and the delivery with in a metaphor-esque style was eye-opening.

Schoonmaker had a fresh idea too, albeit not one of any utility to me. Nevertheless I thought it was an interesting perspective and worth my time to read.

Mason's artcle was surprisingly dissapointing, as frankly I couldn't follow his ambiguous use of pronouns nor his logic.

I didn't find the humor piece funny. I'm sure some people like it, but if it were up to me I wouldn't have these sorts of articles in the future.

The rest of the articles were in the reasonable/unremarkable catagory -- no worse than CardPlayer, but not much better either.

[rescuehfd]

I could not disagree more! I thiught it was very good and will continue to improve. The way I see it, the more articles about our game the better. Keep up the good work Mason and Crew, I look forward to your future issues.

Eric

[partygirluk]

Hi Mason,

I thought the first edition was disappointing and I have never called you a snake oil salesman.

There were many mediocre articles. 1 very bad article. A couple of good ones. Nothing penetrative. DS's article was nothing new, and could have been written by lesser poker minds than his.

The average standard was much better than Cardplayers. However, DN's articles in CP are better IMHO than anything in edition 1.

I think the general standard was too basic for my liking. I would quite like to say "play this hand with me" with DS and RZ, so we can see how a great poker mind works.

[cpk]

I wasn't overly impressed with the whole magazine, but I think the point-counterpoint between Jim and Ed was superlative and raises the bar for poker journalism. I look forward to more of the same.

Then again, perhaps my opinion is colored by the high quality of opinion and advice already available on 2+2. In some cases, this magazine seems redundant.

[andyfox]

In particular, Dr. Al's article provoked much thought and discussion and Jim Brier's comments about Ed's book, and Ed's cogent response were all far better than most anything I've read in any other poker magazine.

[SlantNGo]

Anything Ed writes is far better than anything I've read in a poker magazine.

[ QUOTE ]
Ed's cogent response were all far better than most anything I've read in any other poker magazine.

[/ QUOTE ]

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
As for the other magazines out there: You have a long way to go to catch up with cardplayer. You know it and I know it. So do the best that you can and let us hope it is good enough. I am sure it will.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok take the top 11 columns in Cardplayer this month and compare them to the 11 columns here. So which columns are you choosing out of Cardplayer? BTW I fully expect that you'll come up with some B.S. instead of actually coming up with some Cardplayer columns.

[Al Mirpuri]

If you want me to do something for you...then ask nicely.

[Tom Bayes]

I'm more positive than Mirpuri about Issue #1, but he's entitled to an opinion without being flamed.

Here's my take on Issue #1, comparing to CardPlayer magazine. I personally enjoyed 8 of the 11 articles in Issue #1, which is a higher rate than any issue of CardPlayer magazine. Even the articles I did not enjoy (Adams, Young, Sillers) are nowhere near as bad as the worst articles from CardPlayer. I even got a few chuckles from Granny Mae's humor column, although I could see how others might not have enjoyed it.

Too many CardPlayer articles are just shilling something and have no useful content. Any CardPlayer article written by Max Shapiro, Robert Varkonyi, Scott Fischman, or any Shulman is virtually unreadable. I've learned my lesson about reading any of the "cover" stories by Allyn Jaffrey Shulman, where I can learn how such people as Men the Master are comparable to Mother Theresa. Hellmuth articles are usually worth a read just for the unintentional comedy.

The best part of Issue #1 of the 2+2 magazine was the Brier/Miller set of articles. I feel that this idea (have a known poker authority talk about some differences of opinion with a 2+2 author, followed by that author's rebuttal) would be a great feature for every issue. I'd also like to see more articles that are mathematically based and would never appear in something like CardPlayer.

[imported_Robert Andersson]

I really enjoy reading this magazine. The article on positon is great!!!

Enjoy

/Robert