Hi!

I´m a fan of largely self moderated forums. The group dynamics will take care of most things, the moderator coming in in very select places. The science forum is a good example. The mod doesn´t get into arguments with the participants, checks out for the worst sidetracks in the background and acts with finesse, even if he can use a little rude language - the rescuer in those cases are a little self irony. He´s not addressing any particular participant. You get a feeling he doesn´t think he´s better than anybody else, for real.

You have to remember you can´t criticize people in a degrading style even with humor.

Yes. In before ban...just kidding.

Waiting for thread to be moved before responding. ;-)

I would think this to be solely a matter of perception. Perhaps I'm looking at it from too deeply of a philisophical perspective. I say perception because it sure isn't like our Moderator is being a communist dictator by any means...sorry to anyone from a communist country that takes offense to said comment.

I would also tend to think that each forum is moderated at least slightly differently specifically due to the personality and philisophical perspective of the moderator associated with each forum. Once again I say that because it is going to be in part the moral code and expectations the Mod for each forum that dictates their involvement.

However, maybe I've missed something along the way, but I don't see Buzz as having crossed any lines with me. As my perception is that as long as things keep respectful and we act as adults, the freedom of information and ideas flow freely.

Just my opinion even if it is a little long winded.

from time to time yes....but i would rather it be over-moderated than under-moderated

Buzz is strict but he is also a very good mod and one of the most articulate posters I have ever seen at 2+2.

Just my 2 cents as a regular lurker.

+1

nope it's fine. The greens in this forum are very knowledgeable and are great at keeping everyone in check

don't want to comment on the OP, but in all honesty I find the O8 forum in general, kind of boring. Obviously it's not my right to expect to be entertained every time I visit this place, but it's my opinion nevertheless....

Lolz. Witty quote of the week. Take a bow.

Having lurked for a while, I feel I gotta throw in my two cents as well. A lot of the content/forums online are plagued by trolls. This forum has been a huge asset to me and I think that in part it is due to the Mods keeping it serious.
Also Hi guys.

My 2¢.....
I really enjoy reading this forum. There are a lot of good hands posted. Stuff that will really make you think. I agree that this forum is not fun. It transcends that. It is very enjoyable. I like the fact that I can sit back and read a post and if I feel like commenting, I can. I do not post alot because of a couple of differef several different reasons.

When I want "fun", I've got 4L.

I think it is a testament to how good the mods are by allowing this post to run. Not just to run, but to have the wisdom to refrain from posting.

Hi and welcome to the forum. And thank you.

My co-green-mods, Truthiness and Niss, are both excellent choices for mod, in my humble opinion, and we're really lucky to have them. All three of us have somewhat different personalities, and those are reflected in our decisions. All three of us are primarily Omaha-8 players and Omaha-8 forum posters, rather than forum cops. None of us are what you would think of as professional gamblers. We're all amateurs, but successful Omaha-8 players. Truthiness and Niss are both attorneys, excellent writers, and know their stuff about Omaha-8. I'm a retired college dean. I've been around the longest, but Truthiness and Niss have an equal say in the moderation of this forum.

I like this forum. It started out as the "Other Poker Games" forum, then that forum split into two forums (1)Omaha and (2) Other Poker Games.

Then the Omaha forum split into two forums, one for Omaha-8 and the other for Omaha-high. At that time, most of the Omaha-8 threads were about fixed-limit Omaha-8.

Gradually there have come to be more and more hand histories posted about pot-limit Omaha-8 and no-limit Omaha-8. And there still are fixed-limit Omaha-8 hand histories posted. My intention is to have the hand histories labeled as NL, PL, or FL, and when thread starters forget to do that, where I feel it is appropriate, I edit the thread titles to reflect the type of game. Obviously play is somewhat different (some would say completely different) depending on whether the game is no-limit, pot-limit, or fixed-limit.

Additionally play and considerations are different depending on the stakes involved. Micro stakes and not at all the same as playing with thousands of dollars in your stack. Even so, there are some general poker principles and some general Omaha-8 principles that apply to all three types of games and to different stakes for any type of game. Perhaps at some future time this forum will split again, into either
• (1) high stakes, (2) medium stakes, and (3) low and micro stakes, or
• (1) no-limit, (2) pot-limit, and (3) fixed-limit

We'll have a chance to decide that, as promised, at the end of this year. We may split at that time, depending on the poll and administrative approval, or we may decide to stay together for a while longer.

Regarding the question, "Is this forum over-moderated?" if there has been over-moderation, it's my fault. I'm stuck being me, and that involves always doing what I think is right, but that isn't always going to be what someone else thinks is right. And sometimes, in retrospect, I realize I was wrong in making some moderation decision. For what it's worth, it bothers me a great deal when I make some moderation decision and then realize it perhaps was not the best decision I could have made. It's fresh in my mind because it just recently happened.

You can liken it to a baseball umpire calling a close pitch a strike, and then realizing that maybe it was a ball. That's not really a good analogy because moderation decisions are not made with the same haste as umpire decisions, but something like that. On one day, after careful thought, one thing may seem correct to me, and then after several days, I can have doubts that it was.

Part of the problem is I cannot look into the future. I wonder, "Is that the end of it, or is it going to get worse?" If I think that's the end of it, I'll let it slide. No harm, no foul. But if I think it seems to be escalating and might get worse, then I'll move to stop it. And sometimes I simply make mistakes.

The more decisions any of us makes, the more likely we are to make a mistake. I think you have to bear with all three of us, Truthiness, Niss, and me. None of us get paid for moderating. We're all doing it because we like (or love) this forum. And none of us have an ulterior motive. We're all going to make decisions according to what we think is right - and everybody isn't going to agree with those decisions, any more than a batter and pitcher always agree on the correctness of an umpire's decisions.

Buzz

Edit - I had not read your comment when I decided to respond. Perhaps it would have been better if I hadn't responded. - Buzz

Especially when the batter is called on strikes...

I disagree. I love your responses. The time you obviously take to respond is greatly appreciated by everyone who reads this forum, and especially those that are looking for help.

Over-moderated? Meh, without the "moderating" we wouldn't get such great responses to our ?s and hands. So the fact that the mods post responses in the threads is more qualified-opinion-giving than moderating (not sure that even makes sense, but hey, I'm just an old freshman).

That being said:

Was going to respond (defend) but I think enough regs that I respect have chimed in.

I take a very hands-off approach. I want everyone to feel like they've had their say. That said, if it weren't for Buzz I don't think this would be possible. I'm been part of under-moderated forums and they become a train wreck. When I alter something you hardly notice, and it's for an act so egregious that action must be taken.

Buzz is a prolific poster and he knows his ****, and this gives him credibility. It is 95% because of him that the O8 forum is serious and actually has useful content. He has kept relatively strict standards in place since before I posted here, and the fact of the matter is that it works. Mods in the other forums at 2+2 have their own rules -- OOT and the politards, to name a couple, are much more loose. O8 is what it is, and while you can argue that the forum is over-moderated, I would have a hard time buying that less (or different) moderation would be better.

It is boring -- boring like a textbook.

Watch porn in the background for your jollies. Read the forum to help you think about and up your game.

I mean, you still read the forum, so that kind of says it all.

O8...
Nitty game, nitty players, nitty forum posters, nitty mods

I agree.

I don't know if anyone still cruises the pocketfives forum, but that forum was full of garbage when I read it a few years back.

i like this forum the way it is.

Overall, Buzz is a plus for the forum. A while back, during my very brief soujourn as a Guest CR pro, I had to look after their hilo forum. I wasn't a mod, rather I had to post content. It died pretty quick, as most hilo forums do, just because there were not enough posters and not enough responders. Buzz's diligence as an active poster and general 'on top of things' guy has kept this forum alive. However, the down side of this is Buzz dominates the forum, to an extent beyond the value of his opinion. The fact Buzz replies to everything, often comprehensively and clearly - his background as an educator is not surprising - gives his views a weight which they sometimes do not deserve when he strays into areas he is less experienced at. But for 99% of posters, having someone like Buzz who keeps the forum alive is much more valuable than the potential value of occasional posters who are turned off by Buzz's omnipresence.

Gl

Dd

I read this forum and pocketfives everyday. Its hard to ever find anything worthwhile to read on pocketfives. This forum is always full of good info and i think a lot of it is down to the work of buzz.

I wouldnt want this forum to turn into a train wreck like pocketfives so I think this forum is moderated spot on in general

+1

.... those wind up things are cute.

What would you choose to change d3? I assume you don't find it boring because of the level of moderation - so it's the content that doesn't quite do it for you? Or is it the tone of the posts, maybe a little too straight-laced for your tastes? Either way, it's not the in the mods gift to change that to any great degree, that can only come over time from the posters here. I doubt you are alone in your opinion, but as you are so active here it would be good to here you expand some ideas & see if there is any will to take the forum in a slightly different direction. Ps; ignore the advice to watch porn for your jollies whilst posting here, you will go blind!!!!!!

I'm concerned about that. I don't want to do that.

Very insightful!

It's not only true of me, but also true of any other individual who articulates well in writing.

I'm concerned about that. I don't want to do that.

I never wanted to do that.

I’m going to back off a bit, at least for a while. We’ll see if that works better.

Thanks to everyone who wrote words of support.

I'm going to lock this thread now. Thanks everyone for the input.

Buzz