My thoughts on improving the Micro-Limit Forum

[John White]

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the forum. I started reading because I felt a bit over my head. I had a few hundred hours at B&M (Commerce Casino, California) where I played 3/6 because I needed the higher limit to "keep down the bad beats." I started playing online to cut down on the gasoline bill and had some good, lucky days. I even jumped up to 5/10 and had a $500 session. Then started to watch it dribble away. I dropped down to 1/2, and still lost. What the heck was going on? I was barely playing 10 hours a month when in the space of 100 hours, I bought and read SSHE AND read Bison's "Notes on Notes" post (which alerted me to the utility of Pokertracker). A trial version download, switch from Pokerroom's java client, a new micro strategy, 7K hands, and here I am, an objectively-measured winning player at my limits.

I can't ever imagine giving back enough to cover what I've received, but I'd like to continue posting questions, answers, and thoughts. And suggestions. So here's my first suggestion post.

1) No more Bad Beat stories. If you suspect a bad beat, posting the hand isn't a bad idea, but don't include the results. If you include the results, it's just a bad beat post.

2) Cut way back on pre-flop hand selection questions. I've looked back at some of the questions I've felt comfortable answering, and most of them were "was calling w/JTo too loose?" I think it's rude to assume that people will regurgitate previously published material back to you. A valid question might be, "I know SSHE says to <foo>, but my read on the following players was <bar>. Do you think the following play is justified?"

3) Concentrate on post-flop play. This is the area that can improve the most for most players, so stick to a published hand selection and work on playing well after the flop. Posting hands to the forum is great when you've made a good play pre-flop, but are troubled by the situation and/or the play after the flop.

4) Use pokertracker. Not only should you use it, but you should post the relevant stats (# of hands played with, VP$IP, PFR%, AF) about the players you're up against in the hands that you're asking questions on. At the very least, when you say you've only played 40 hands with a person, it helps to quantify your "no reads" comment.

5) Ask questions about plays you don't understand. Reading other threads and asking for a clarification on a play is a great learning tool.

Thanks again to anyone and everyone who's offered me advice. I still need it.

[Ajax410]

This post should get read by all posters of this forum. Especially pre-flop questions. I can understand a few questions regarding preflop hand selection (mainly involving speculative hands with a lot of limpers...no one has really come up with definitive evidence that a raise or call is better here) but the fact is, a post asking about JTo UTG isn't really contributing to the forum - especially when there have been so many questions like that (we're all guilty of this) and any book will tell you basically the same thing.

Post-flop play is the most important, and most complex, part of this game. None of us who play at the micros are masters at it, but we should certainly all try to help each other. The fact that I can post a hand and get criticized (with great arguments) makes me a better player - and makes anyone who reads the animated discussions better players too.

Pokertracker is, in all honesty, a must have for all players. I cannot tell you how many times it has paid for itself over and over again over the past month and a half (I used it for tournaments before then, but it's really a lot better for ring games). If you don't have it, and you want to improve your game, go get it. Period.

And John - thank you for your insight on this forum. Everyone brings some insight - and I really enjoy reading your take on hands...

Ajax

[John White]

[ QUOTE ]
This post should get read by all posters of this forum. <snip>

[/ QUOTE ]

You're very kind Ajax. I'm wondering whether there's a way we can ask for certain posts to be sticky? I'd vote for Bison's "Improving Micro-Limits" and "Notes on Notes" as required reading for all posters...

[davelin]

We need to have a series of posts that will cover common-seen, not super straight-forward situations. For example -

1) Missing the flop with your overcards in EP
2) Missing the flop with your overcards in LP
3) Single-, double-overcards your pp on the flop
4) Single-tone flops
etc.

Just a thought.

[John White]

Or a single document where we put a summary of the thread with pointers to the original. Cleaner to have one document if it's possible.

[JustDerek]

All of the above are IMO really good ideas.

I'm a newcomer to these forums, and I was delighted to find them. I have already picked up several pointers that I am sure are helping me to improve my game. However, I often find myself unsure of which posts to read since so many of them seem almost indistinguishable from one another. I have a lot less time than I wish I did to read/post here, and I suspect there are many others in the same boat. Thus, anything that could help to reduce the "forum clutter" would benefit everybody.

The idea may strike some as elitist, but I'd be in favor of having a simple quiz based on Pre-requisite Reading Material (PRM) as a condition of posting on some forums. The quiz need not be too long or too cryptic - say, about as difficult as the section quizzes at traffic school (shut up! I'm a good driver! I am ! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ).

Of course, all of this would require a certain amount of labor for the webmasters, forum administrator, and/or whomever they entrusted with the task of compiling the PRM and the quiz. It may be all too easy for me to just float this kind of idea out there even though I've only been on here for a couple of weeks, so let's hear what you all think. [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[Ajax410]

The idea is that this is a community where we can all learn. When I came to this forum, there were situations where I considered myself strong in, that I now know I was misplaying. The fact is, the forum is designed as a tool to learn - you don't reject people because they aren't as knowledgeable.

As a college student, I have all too much time to carouse this forum, but I understand it's frustrating for people with less time to constantly see posts with little content. That having been said, I think making some posts sticky is a great idea - but this forum should never be taken out of the hands of the posters. We're here to learn and educate...not to keep people out.

Ajax

[John White]

Ajax is probably right on this count. If the community gets into the mode of replying with pointers to the posts in question, then you'll see an immediate behavior correction after a single bad post.

[JustDerek]

Yeah, I guess the idea does seem to run counter to a forum that is intended to be inclusive. Nevertheless, the idea of having some fundamentals-based "sticky" posts that are easily accessible would be a big help.

[RustedCorpse]

[ QUOTE ]
A trial version download, switch from Pokerroom's java client, a new micro strategy, 7K hands, and here I am, an objectively-measured winning player at my limits.


[/ QUOTE ]

I deem your sample size insufficient. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]