Improving FTR - Get to work, dammit!!
FTR is the best damn poker forum in the world. Bar none. But even so, FTR can get stale. Same posts, different author. Same ideas, same discussions. The constant recycling is good and bad. Good for noobies who just got here or those who just started hanging out in a new strategy forum, but bad for those of us who have posted in "bankroll management" threads over and over and over. The advantage of FTR is that it's a community that actually talks to each other. Very little flaming. Lots of regs answering posts from noobies and beginners. Solid critiques on game play and every other topic related to poker, all directed by those interested enough to start a thread. And it's FREE. The only disadvantage at FTR is that we often say the same things we've said before, but less perfectly than they've been said the past.
Ask not what FTR can do for you, but what you can do for FTR!!
Suppose we develop a coherent way to recycle "vintage" posts so we can stop reinventing the flat tire. Suppose we add "new" content by bringing great "old" content back into view. That helps noobies and those of us who may have missed it the first time. We can also leverage the learning of great FTR players from "back in the day" when they were playing closer to the levels we're playing now.
Too often on FTR, we start from scratch with a thread, but instead of reinventing the wheel, we do a half-assed job. The reinvented flat tire. Most of us only check the top ten current posts in any forum. But we can also help other FTR guys by pointing out great threads from previous months and years. In less time than it takes to reply, we could post three relevant links to threads that cover the topic much more thoroughly than we have time to. And when we're stumped, we can still contribute something valuable with a related thread link.
I have a dream, that some day, 20 or 30 FTR microstakes hobbiests, like myself, will be actively recycling vintage FTR content through new threads and making it easy for newcomers to dig deep into all this great content we have archived. Here are two recent posts of mine where I linked to vintage threads the person could read and benefit from: (1) Cbetting and Semibluffing, my reply is 4th post in thread, and (2) Working on postflop play, my reply is 5th post in thread.
Your job is to make FTR better!!
Here's how noobies like you and me can help. Start an operation thread, and in a post near the top have a "links" post you can edit over and over. When you find a truly valuable but non-digest/unstickied thread, link to it with a short description of its value. Here's a link to mine: Operation Winning is a Habit. The 2nd post contains dozens of links to great FTR content. As you can see, the text I have there describing the content is easy to paste into other threads and can help them know what to look for.
This is so cool, even noobies can do it. Confused about what advice to give? Just paste in a couple of links on topic that really helped you. Leave it at that. How do we find thread links to store there? Here are some ideas.
1. Search your old posts.
Go back a few months and see what threads you posted in and learned from. When they are top notch, keep the links somewhere - like your operation thread. If a thread really helped you improve or caused a revelation, it will likely help someone else. It will also help you identify your FTR icons - the players whose posts and threads you really respect. If you aren't already keeping a mental list, start. Check the digests for ideas. I have many, and this list is in NO WAY complete, but I like reading stuff by Fnord, Spoony, Eupho, 500lbgorilla, Renton, jyms and so forth.
2. Search recent posts by your FTR icons.
Click on their "profile" button at the bottom of any post they make. On the profile page, there is a link to "find all posts by ___ ." Click it, and scan the middle column for threads they initiated that are in the forums that cater to your interests. Anything these guys post in the Beginner's Forum is generally meant for teaching, and is generally good. Find a good thread? Reread it and link to it.
3. Search OLD posts by your icons.
Same as above, only click the last pages and start reading. Example, Fnord's will show almost 100 pages of posts (15k+ posts - ZOMFG!!). Currently, click on page 97 and see his posts from when he was playing 25nl. This helps in two ways. First, you'll identify a bunch more FTR icons, and listen in as they talk to each other, when they were learning what we're learning now. Second, you'll see that only 2 or 3 years ago, these guys were where we're at now, 25nl or 50nl, and you'll see how far they've come. Their posts are good, but not so long ago they were struggling with questions we can almost answer now. You read the threads and see 3 or 4 guys you know are solid now talking about cbetting, when to check/call vs. when to bet/fold, river bluffs, and so forth, and they're discussing at a level that is similar to our current level. You know that those thoughts and discussions helped them become better. Read and learn. Link to anything interesting.
The current FTR icons learned from the SuperIcons. Read Fnord's old posts, and you'll find Gabe posting two whole sentences instead of two words, and replying to questions rather than only posting once per thread. I'm not bashing Gabe - he still posts a lot and his thoughts on poker are solid. It's just that you get a better idea of how he thinks about poker from the time when he was more active in the low limit forums and the beginner's forum. Don't complain that someone like Spoony or ISF is less active than he used to be, go find his stuff from when he was here 24/7.
4. Learn to use the search engine.
I'm not a huge fan since I get a lot of irrelevant hits, and the FTR interface is kinda slow. But if you learn to use AND/OR in your search queries, you'll soon be able to search the content coherently. Example: you're thinking about cbets when you have a big draw. Enter "cbet AND draw" in the search. You'll get about 20% of the hits that are meaningful discussions on topic and that apply to your game/level.
5. Read OLD posts from the forums.
What forum hits your specialty? SSNL? FRNL? MTT's? Go there and click to a couple hundred pages back from the recent posts. Scan the threads posted a year ago on FTR. If your specialty is 6max, go to the short handed forum, and check the posts from 2007. There will be lots of good info that is still relevant.
A few more things:
A. Don't leave FTR for another forum, even 2+2. Sure, I VERY occasionally check another site, but I find that most of the great content and ideas from the other places either find their way to FTR (thanks to the FTR icons) or have already been discussed at FTR. IMO, FTR is the BEST poker forum anywhere, and it has the best record of solid players posting replies to beginner's and intermediate players that ACTUALLY help them improve their game-specific issues. Let's keep it the best - noobies, it's time for us to do our part!!
B. You'll learn a ton from all the legwork - it's worth it to read some of the golden oldies. Yes, online poker has changed in the past year or two. But K9s is still K9s, maniacs are still maniacs, and value town is still located at value town. No offense, but in "current" threads, I often have trouble distinguishing between comments from "great" players and "mediocre" or "bad" players. By reading stuff from a year ago, you have an "acid test" to apply to the posts - pay special attention to someone who has moved up, become professional and generally kicked some poker ass over a 9-month period or a year.
Just my $.02. It's my 1,000th post. I thought I should contribute something meaningful. Since I suck at poker, I thought I'd try to propose a way to improve the accessibility of the great content on FTR.
