Notice how i didn't say i WOULD BE at the top every month, I said i would make it my DUTY to be at the top. Meaning i would play through downswings like never before to get to the top.

I find it hard to get all the details in the title normally. Its easy for standard spots, but when the **** hits the fan it normally takes too many words to make it work. Putting the buyin in is probably a good idea though (I certainly take it into account of what I am saying depending on the buyin).

I like the hand of the week, there is normally something that gets everyone going that could benefit from some of the top guys chiming in on. Hopefully they can provide solid reasoning and not give a terrible answer like "lol bad" (which sadly at least half the posts from HSMTTers in this forum are). If we suggested a sweet hand or 2 a week we should be able to get proper responses.

Challenges are always good, the leaderboard idea is certainly interesting, but could cause lots of problems (I can see threads quickly degenerating into my e-dick is bigger than yours).

Splitting the forum is bad for the reasons provided, but I think maybe allowing some overlap with HSMTT might be good (so a good hand from $50 and up could go in HSMTT, but a simpler decision up to $200 could go here).

Perhaps having a stickied AK/JJ pre thread would be nice as well with some sort of system to filter out the occasional truly tough spot into its own thread. Those 2 hands produce so much of the noob clutter.

I would also love to see us (and HSMTT) try to come up with a few new, more modern, anthology threads. Things like "At what stack size should you go pure pushbot?" and "should you have a shoving and 2.5xbb range when shortish?" could be fleshed into some solid threads for the anthology as from my reading of this and HSMTT the answers you will get fall all over the map.

some team challenges between SMTT regs and HSMTT regs at middle ground levels?

a $50 team challenge for bragging rights sometime??

so we get our asses kicked but would be awesome sweating/railing potential...

Like to get some more cross posting from the HSMTT guys...

private 2p2 allstakes tournament ftw. - ultimate bragging rights for that imo.

I suggested a mid-stakes forum some time back and the reaons for not doing it then were just as valid when pointed out to me. I do think that changing the stakes may be useful (to 50+ being HSMTT as suggested), or perhaps by buy-in and/or size of prize pool. Not sure of size in this suggestion but many of HSMTT players will play 50's and large field 20s... they just know to post that question in HSMTT.

Love the idea of teaming/challenges.

This. and I'm as guilty and the next guy. Got to admit... you all know each other in HSMTT and it's less "gentle", but that's beause you know each other. The posts here should be more "patient"... except when it's Ssync.

Fwiw though... I don't think it's all that bad here most days. But I'm not new.

Love the title.

Having people think before they post because of the threat of public shaming is a good thing imo. When I was new, getting told I was an idiot a couple times was one of the best things that happened to me, because it let me know where I was as a player and I stopped trying to convince everyone that I knew stuff. New posters should, for the most part, just be grunching hand threads and not arguing with better players about how to play the hands. Once they realize they know enough that they're usually in agreement with said good players, then they can feel free to debate them on the rare occasions where they disagree.

Also, gobbo if you would like to help organize/write any of the suggested ssmtt features I offer my assistance.

I feel like this is directed at me. I also feel that people all being in agreement on something is the dumbest way to analyize a hand ever.

Even if just for the sake of stirring up intellectual discussion on something someone should ALWAYS play devils advocate when it comes to poker and represent the other side or thought process going into the opposite decision. You may look at something differently if and when you have to explain something to someone who is being ignorant (like me) instead of completely disregarding what they are actually saying and going "your wrong stupid"

I agree, guys like nath used to make it so I'd read my posts 2 or 3 times to makes sure I didn't say anything dumb because I knew I'd get called dumb if there was something wrong in it. Makes you really think about the hands and learn quick if you don't want to get flamed.

I strongly disagree that you should always agree with the most respected players. You should always question everything in poker even if you agree with it. Questioning and disagreeing and discussing DIFFERENT ideas is how you leanr. If you are afraid to disagree you have stopped the learning process.


For the record just because someone says something contradictory to an idea does not mean they dont agree.

JJJ is kind of right here but not completely. Yes, you shouldn't agree with the "respected posters" just because of who they are, but disagreeing just to disagree is also wrong.

Kind of a hijack, but I still dont know if you were leveling about folding aces preflop because "you had a feeling" and " all in preflop with AA against 2 opponents is a coinflip". Was that a level or were you being serious? I feel like thats a major reason why people are throwing stones at you so perhaps you could clear it up.

Jakejackjake,

You seem to be taking this as a personal crusade aginst you. This is not the case. Of course discussion and debate is healthy, we'd look pretty stupid if we just sat about agreeing all day. - (we'd be content im sure, but probably not very good poker players.)

Thinking of things from different angle is what makes these forums so good and what (in general) makes us better poker players. We are willing to adapt and try new lines/ways of thinking, trying to find a better or more +eV spot everytime. Obviously this cannot always be the case and in certain situation we'll agree to disagree but on the most part the conclusion that we do agree on is generally going to be the best way possible to play the hand.

I was being serious because the next prize spot difference was about the size of my ENTIRE bankroll at the time. My first deopsit was 50$ this was one of my first tourneys on stars and the next prize spot was more then a hundred over the spot that I would have been taken out in.

It was not however because of a feeling. It was purely econimical. Aces against two opponents one with a pocket and one with say JT suited is just fractions over 60/40 so it wasnt a coin flip but its not crushing either. So I chose to fold and try to hit the next spot.


I know you should never be result oriented but that fold is the only reason I hit second

JJJ, you need to stop taking everything so personally. I could go back and find 3 or 4 other quotes from posts JUST THIS MORNING where you were butt-hurt over something someone said that didn't even necessarily have anything to do with you.

Sometimes, even in poker, there is a right answer. Some plays are just clearly +EV. Being "devil's advocate" in those situations to "help learn and analyze blah blah blah" is counterproductive. It's like watching political "journalists" who insist there must be two sides to every story, while ignoring the obvious merit (or lack thereof) of one side or the other.

NO PLAY IS POITIVE EV EVERYTIME Your saying if you makje the move everytime its positive EV right? like as a whole in the long term scheme of things. well cool but if you only make it at the right times and not the wrong ones its even more positiv. that is what you should be striving for not mechancial decisions like oh I have to shove here. ICM say shove ahve to shove wheres the shove button. what i mean by no play is positive ev everytime is that playing kings is clearly positive EV but if you somehow knew the person had aces it would be negative that time... I know you will never know I was just making an example of this


also hahahahahahaha butt hurt. You are funny.


Also peope dont express the reason they just say "shove imo"


wtf good is that?

Okay, thanks for clearing it up. And I agree with el-dusto.


edit: reading the post above, wtf are you talking about? How can a play be both positive and negative EV?

CBorders are you serious? Every hands a winner and every hands a loser. You absolutely must feel kenny rogers in your soul!!!!! It is positive overall but there are times when you are behind with the same play and will lose. Is there really never a time when you made a call with a huge hand you knew was behind? Well if you KNOW your behind its negative. What I'm saying is you can increase your edge by knowing when a normally positive play is not best.


Is there no belief in solid reads. Three nights ago when I laid kings full of jacks down to kings full of queens called my opponents hand out loud and hes a friend of mine so he showed me I was right was this a very bad lay down? Does a good lay down not exist?


I AM SORRY FOR HIJACKING I WILL NOT COMMENT IN THIS THREAD ANYMORE UNLESS ITS ON TOPIC THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPECTED OPINIONS!

JJJ, if you feel so insulted by this forum, please create a new thread and let's discuss it in a gentle manner. You're hijacking a very important thread IMO.

Meh. SSMTT is fine IMO. It actually reads quite similar to uNL in the cash game forum and it doesn't really seem like there is a real need for a "middle stakes" MTT forum.

If you really want to improve SSMTT, you should require people with say over 2000 posts in SSMTT to reply to every thread on the front page every time they log in. That includes you Gobbo .

Okay so I don't mean this completely seriously, but I do. The best way to improve a forum is to DO IT YOURSELF. Seriously if this many people (I count 68 posts at the time of this writing) feel strongly about a need for improvement in this forum, then get out there and improve it yourself. That means improve your post writing. Make more posts. Make more threads. Hold others among yourselves to a higher standard. Treat new posters with respect but be prepared to refer them to the FAQ and the Anthology as needed. If you don't want to see newbie posts filling up this forum, then let 1 "correct" response be enough. Don't make a 40 reply long thread about folding AA PF in the first hand of the WSOP. Then make your own threads! If you think you have great ideas and great questions and are tired of old one's and ****ty one's MAKE YOUR OWN.

To paraphrase Ghandi, "Be the change you want to see in the forum."

There are plently of dedicated players here and clearly people want to improve the forum. This thread is filled with good ideas that require very little work from Gobbo...so get out there and do them!

Sherman

Personally I think we need to have a constant open mod spot with rumors flying around saying that all of the best high stakes players are currently the frontrunner. I've seen more posts from high stakes regulars in the last 24 hours than I've seen in the 3 months prior, it's fantastic!

Anyways......back on topic...fixing the forum. As far as flaming new people goes, I'm an equal opportunity kind of guy, and you say something I think is outright ******ed I am going to flame you much more than if you just say something I somewhat disagree with (noobs and vets alike). There is absolutely nothing wrong with ripping into someone who is making colossal mistakes (As I fully expect others to do to me).

Just think of the way a coach deals with players. When they make a huge mistake they get chewed out into to next week, small mistakes get a gentler "come on you're better than that, get back out there and do it how you know it should be done". So when someone shows up in the forum asking so remedial level bs, I see no harm in tearing them a new one, maybe they'll actually study up on some poker theory as not to get embarrassed next time. It is "social darwinism" at its finest, we want the weak and timid to go away and the strong to survive, thats what makes our forum better.

As far as a MSMTT forum, I like the idea but I don't think its necessary. The strategy posts on SSMTT mundane sometimes, but very thought provoking at other times. I think having a "Standard" thread would be great for those of us who just need a quick bit of reassurance (it happens to the best of us in those dreaded downswongs). Obv having an active mod will clean up alot of the bs that clutters the forum now and should allow for alot more strategy discussion (It sucks now having to go through 20 different posts to find 1 that actually has some strategical merit).

Gobbo you've got one hell of task ahead of you, but you've also got the support of alot of good posters should you need it. Feel free to drop me a PM if you need anything dude.

I think at the very least, putting the buy-in of the particular tourney in the title of the post would help this forum out 10000%

Also, trying to stop huge e-penis battles, where one poster will call out another on his sharkscope/ opr results, and then crow on and on about their own stellar ROI.

If you use the 2+2 convertor, the the BI is already done for you.

As for the second thing...Does that really happen?

sherman...he said in the title of the post and I tend to agree..buy ins/ turbo or non turbo and SNG MTT or not all should be clear as possible without opening post