Quality Of This Forum

Bluetonic

Just wondering do people think that the quality of this forum has diminished somewhat lately?

Seems to be a lot of johnny come latelys who simply post up a horses name, the track it running on and the time. Nothing else. They give no reasoning on their opinions.

What value does this or these posters add to the forum? Theres a number of stickys at the top of the board which outline how to use the boards. Recent posts (the last number of weeks) seem to ignore these totally.

Will the growth of wannabet ultimately lead to this forum becoming a wastland?

samo

Have noticed a huge amount of posts as described above recently - very annoying and ultimately dont serve very much purpose. I always enjoyed reading why a particular selection hd been chosen as leads to a good understanding of why a the horse or trainer might get a good run due to previous form etc and its a shame that this seems to be stopping now.

Have been meaning to check out wannabet and just had a little look - looking very good lads but hope this forum gets back to its best as well.

fr wishy washy

I really shouldn't be here!

For a start there are way too many stickies at the the top of the page pushing all the active threads too far down.

This time of year is always a bit slow as you get the flat season tailing off and people (posters) being on holiday etc.

The more racing forums the better.

fade2black

First off...I'll un stick some of those threads in a bit, there does seem to be a lot alright.

I also agree with you about the forum. I don't actually think it's anything to do with wanna bet though because that in itself has been slow to get going. My main reason for losing some interest in this place is the growing number of users, which has been pointed out, who come on say I got word for so and so, the horse loses and we don't hear from that person for a week. I tried to clamp down on a couple of things like this but was ultimately getting abused for the effort...so took a step back. From my position now I look at the forum and it's begining to look like a betting shop filled with a large percentage of mug punters.

Incidentally, some of the newer posters can be traced to posters who have appeared on this forum before. The excuse of we work in the same place etc means it's not so easy to be 100% sure so very little is actually done about it. I was getting suspicious about someone tipping a horse, it wins at 6-4 and then suddenly people who've never posted on the forum before ome on to sing the person's praises.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, lemme know what you think should be done to fix matters and we'll try and do it.

masterK

I really shouldn't be here!

There's probably very little you can do about people just posting horse names with no other reasoning. I never bother reading them and couldn't tell you who's decent and who's not as I just cast them all into the one boat.

I don't really know what the future of this forum will be and what will be the role of Wannabet, I think it's fairly pointless them both operating as much the same thing with the same people posting the same things on both. I'd like this to become a horse racing discussion forum with selections/tips etc. being exclusively reserved for Wannabet.

Robin1982

Have ONE "pin in card" thread where all these tips go into.

Personally, I'd love to see more discussion on handicapping and betting techniques. But the responses to questions I've posed previously have gone unanswered so I'm not that hopeful.

Tush

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

Surely the reason someone posts up a horse is because they fancy it,and what others do with it is their own business,I have seen it all before,the old I know the owners,trainer,jockey,bull****,if you fancy it and you want to post it well and good,and the reason you are posting it is because you fancy it.I am only new here and have gone through the tips and there is a hell of alot of tips without reasoning by a hell of alot of people (no names mentioned)but at least they are not just taking without giving a little back.

Thats my daily rant for today,Cmon Hilltime !!!!!!!!!:D

fade2black

Tush wrote:

Surely the reason someone posts up a horse is because they fancy it,and what others do with it is their own business,I have seen it all before,the old I know the owners,trainer,jockey,bull****,if you fancy it and you want to post it well and good,and the reason you are posting it is because you fancy it.I am only new here and have gone through the tips and there is a hell of alot of tips without reasoning by a hell of alot of people (no names mentioned)but at least they are not just taking without giving a little back.

Thats my daily rant for today,Cmon Hilltime !!!!!!!!!:D

That really made no sense to me...I'm not sure what side of the fence you're on.

masterK

I really shouldn't be here!

Tush, the point is that others would be interested in hearing why you fancy it. Have you found some solid formlines that give it a chance, is the jockey/trainer in form, or did you just stick a needle in the paper and that's why.

Do you see the problem, when people just post names it's impossible to know if they even have a reason. It's also impossible to distinguish those who have put the effort into studying the form from those who just make up selections at random.

Also the whole point of these boards is discussion. If all we end up with every day is a list of horse names what benefit is that to anybody as most people won't bother reading them.

Sizzler

I really shouldn't be here!

Not that Ive been around that long folks but for my tuppence worth I think sometimes punters can come on and understandably in some cases can actually get a tip and have no foundation and it might skate in, people on the forum should be bold enough to make their own choices in that case if they are going to back it or not.
I think though that rule should apply to people who have some sort of history on the forum and not just steam in and say "put your house on this", if thats they way its going then people are going to lose interest and it'll create problems

Its good to see punters put the effort in though and get it right, by studying the form, catching onto handicap opportunities etc

masterK

I really shouldn't be here!

Sizzler wrote:

Not that Ive been around that long folks but for my tuppence worth I think sometimes punters can come on and understandably in some cases can actually get a tip and have no foundation and it might skate in, people on the forum should be bold enough to make their own choices in that case if they are going to back it or not.
I think though that rule should apply to people who have some sort of history on the forum and not just steam in and say "put your house on this", if thats they way its going then people are going to lose interest and it'll create problems

Its good to see punters put the effort in though and get it right, by studying the form, catching onto handicap opportunities etc

If somebody has a tip with no foundation than they should just state that just that. With tips being passed on you should really state the reliability of the source. How difficult is it to write "Got a tip for Horse X, didn't get any reasons but source usually decent"?

Tush

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

Point taken masterK,but the name of the game is gambling, and a person should be able to make his or her own mind up whether to back a tip or not.
Racing post gives you hot trainers,jockeys,form etc,and if you cant read it,well then you should not indulge in betting.

Sizzler

I really shouldn't be here!

Tush wrote:

Point taken masterK,but the name of the game is gambling, and a person should be able to make his or her own mind up whether to back a tip or not.
Racing post gives you hot trainers,jockeys,form etc,and if you cant read it,well then you should not indulge in betting.

Yes, agreed, an addendum I was too lazy to write earlier

Dun laoire

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

masterK wrote:

If somebody has a tip with no foundation than they should just state that just that. With tips being passed on you should really state the reliability of the source. How difficult is it to write "Got a tip for Horse X, didn't get any reasons but source usually decent"?

Thats a good idea masterk. I suppose i can be classed as a "johnny come lately" and to be honest i have thrown up a few tips that came nowhere i think bar maybe one (beleive me i hate posting up a tip and then it comes nowhere). I like browsing this forum and when tips are given sometimes i will throw a few euro on them and other times i dont bother. The only reason i do post tips is to give something back.

scojones

Have ONE "pin in card" thread where all these tips go into.

Tush wrote:

Point taken masterK,but the name of the game is gambling, and a person should be able to make his or her own mind up whether to back a tip or not.
Racing post gives you hot trainers,jockeys,form etc,and if you cant read it,well then you should not indulge in betting.

True, but one of the reasons for this forum is to help people learn, and just giving a horse with no reason or discussion is not going to do that. I don't want this forum turning out like OLBG.

Tush

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

sjones wrote:

True, but one of the reasons for this forum is to help people learn, and just giving a horse with no reason or discussion is not going to do that. I don't want this forum turning out like OLBG.

Ok buddy,well then the only answer to this problem is to start coming down on those who post without reasons.But in saying that anyone can say its a reliable source or its from the stable and so on.................,I judge a tipster on merit,ie previous tips he or she has posted.

fr wishy washy

I really shouldn't be here!

One possible solution (but it might be a bit harsh) is to keep any tips to just a single thread thats added onto each day thus avoiding the clutter of a different thread (sometimes) for every tip.

I find threads that talk about general Horse racing more interesting than seeing half the page consisting threads of "tips".

scojones

Have ONE "pin in card" thread where all these tips go into.

Ok, I'm adding a poll to hear what everyone wants.

dvdfan

I really shouldn't be here!

Some Ideas:

You could also merge several stickies into 1, just put them under a general heading with a thread that has links to several of the previous stickies, this would be nice and neat, and after all how often do you see posts in any of the stickies. I know the forum charter needs its own sticky but info such as tools, betfair explained and useful websites etc could be all merged into 1 thread and called something like Exchanges,tools and useful websites or something similar.

I agree that the tips posting issue is a problem and the rules clearly state not to do this, but to be honest these days nobody reads rules, its too boring and imho until you accept this i think posting 100 stickies wont solve the problem.

One thing that could help, or at least trial it to see is to put a simple code something like this:

Run a code that checks if the user has 10 or less post (THE PROBLEM IS CONSISTENTLY PEOPLE WITH 1 OR 2 POSTS), if they do when the open a new thread or reply to any thread it will auto fill the text box in large red font, with a quick and to the point message:

DO NOT POST TIPS OR SELECTIONS WITHOUT PROVIDING A REASON SUCH AS FORM AND/OR TO STATE HOW RELIABLE THIS SOURCE IS. Please refer to the forum charter for more details if your unsure.

This would be a simple code and you see it all the time when filling out forms, like when it says please enter comments here, you could also have a code that will auto delete the message as soon as someone clicks on the box to write.

One thing i dont think you should consider is like what the soccer forum does, you have to post an application saying exact words to be accepted like "i have read the rules and agree to them", any variation of the exact wording is apparently enough for your application to be ignored and to this day a couple of months after an application i havent got a response and i wouldnt bother going back because if thats what the mods are like then i dont want to be part of that forum.

Anyway ill shut up now and think someones previous suggestion that one board should become a discussion forum and one become a selection/tips forum is the way to go. Otherwise 1 of the forums may become a grave yard, just like the Betfair/Betdaq scenario where people will go where the most liquidity is or in this case whichever board has the most active users which will be the most likely place to get a question answered and the other board may become extinct. So i think its vital that each boards has a uniqueness and they dont compete with eachother like one of the posters said.:)

fade2black

I already merged some stickies this morning.

wb

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

I think our mods should create a sticky called:

"Tips...... without any reasoning whatsoever"


As soon as someone posts a tip without any reason, a moderator could move the post to the sticky.

If the sticky proves to be profitable in the long term, I will follow it.

I will offer 1/10 on that happening.

dvdfan

I really shouldn't be here!

wbailey wrote:

I think our mods should create a sticky called:

"Tips...... without any reasoning whatsoever"


As soon as someone posts a tip without any reason, a moderator could move the post to the sticky.

If the sticky proves to be profitable in the long term, I will follow it.

I will offer 1/10 on that happening.

Ill put my house, the kitchen sink and me shirt on that @ 1/10:p

wb

Ban tips with no reasoning or backup altogether - this is a forum for discussion!

dvdfan wrote:

Ill put my house, the kitchen sink and me shirt on that @ 1/10:p

Have you any reason for that.....

frodi

I really shouldn't be here!

I'd hate to see the forum go the way of the soccer forum with restricted access. I'd prefer a "No reason tips" thread or immediate bannings with no warning for any poster posting same.

Not that any one would have much interest in my choice of donkeys.

samo

frodi wrote:

I'd hate to see the forum go the way of the soccer forum with restricted access. I'd prefer a "No reason tips" thread or immediate bannings with no warning for any poster posting same.

agreed!