Golf Moderation & "No Betting Rule"

Degag

It seems to me that the moderation in the golf forum is gone a bit OTT at the moment.

Currently there are 85 posts in "The Open" thread and by my calculations, there have been 3 red cards, 1 yellow card and a 1 week ban handed out.

Why? The posters in question posted that they had backed X golfer at X price.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's in the forum rules and all and there was even a thread started with a Poll here where the forum voted not to allow betting talk (even if we can't see the results)

I think I did see the result though and if memory serves me right (and it may not, I may be quite wrong) it was quite close.

Greeboo, the thread starter and golf moderator also stated in post 26 that the poll was to stay open for 10 days - yet it ended on 23/7/12, on the 8th day after the thread/poll was open. Rather convenient I think?

There also didn't seem to be a lot of opposition to no betting talk in that thread. I think that most people wouldn't mind betting talk being allowed - therefore I have opened this dialogue. Forgive me if I should have posted this in the Golf forum first but this seemed to be more appropriate.

Zaph

I can see the thread with the poll, but I haven't been able to find where the mod specifically stated that there was to be no talk about betting. Do you have a link so I can see exactly what was said?

Degag

Zaph wrote: »

I can see the thread with the poll, but I haven't been able to find where the mod specifically stated that there was to be no talk about betting. Do you have a link so I can see exactly what was said?

Not entirely sure I follow, but it's in the forum rules here

The thread with the cards etc handed out is here

Zaph

I saw the charter and the poll, and from what you're saying the mods decided after the poll that there's be no betting talk. However the charter does permit it in the Golf Betting Mega Thread, so I'm just trying to see where it was posted that betting wasn't allowed after the poll, and how the Mega Thread came into existence if betting talk was banned.

Degag

Zaph wrote: »

I saw the charter and the poll, and from what you're saying the mods decided after the poll that there's be no betting talk. However the charter does permit it in the Golf Betting Mega Thread, so I'm just trying to see where it was posted that betting wasn't allowed after the poll, and how the Mega Thread came into existence if betting talk was banned.

From what I understand, the Golf Betting Mega Thread was created after the banning of betting talk on the main forum - which is all well and good - but I feel it is a bit much to be giving Red cards and one week bans to poster's who says they had a bet on a golfer in any other thread on the forum.

Zaph

To be fair, the charter is quite clear that all betting talk is to be kept in that thread. Whether the penalties for breaching the charter are harsh or fair is really a matter for each infracted or banned poster to dispute in the Dispute Resolution forum. I don't post in the forum much and have no interest in betting, so I have no real opinion on the issue. But if the charter says betting talk should be posted in the Mega Thread only, well then I don't see how people can complain if they are infracted.

Beasty

More background in the last Feedback thread on pretty much the same subject

ArmaniJeanss

Beasty wrote: »

More background in the last Feedback thread on pretty much the same subject

One of the admin (dades) suggestions in that feedback thread of mine above was that there would be discretion in handing out cards for this offence. There'd been a lot of yellow cards for it and I'd linked to an example.

Yet tonight we have a straight red card for someone with 7 posts for posting the rather bland

seanog_athlone wrote: »

Anyone get Steve Palmers Racing Post tips for the Open today?

when the correct mod response would be

golfmod wrote:

maybe try this here gambling thread or the gambling forum, we don't really encourage gambling talk in the main british open thread. Welcome to the forum.

I think the plethora of reds is incorrect.

Degag

Zaph wrote: »

To be fair, the charter is quite clear that all betting talk is to be kept in that thread. Whether the penalties for breaching the charter are harsh or fair is really a matter for each infracted or banned poster to dispute in the Dispute Resolution forum. I don't post in the forum much and have no interest in betting, so I have no real opinion on the issue. But if the charter says betting talk should be posted in the Mega Thread only, well then I don't see how people can complain if they are infracted.

I understand and agree with what you are saying, however, this is why I have raised this thread - It is feedback. I for one feel that gambling talk should be allowed in other threads than the Megathread.

I can see how someone posting big lists of golfers they have backed could be annoying for some but i feel it is extremely harsh for someone to get banned for posting a comment about how someones price is too high/low etc either as a standalone comment within thread or as part of a wider comment. I would post general chat in the Major threads and as part of said chat it quite natural to refer to gambling imo.

I didn't see the thread that Beasty posted before. If what is said there is true - that the forum voted to keep gambling talk - then it seems clear to me that the end decision was for the Mod(s) benefit rather than the Forum's.

Zaph

Degag wrote: »

I didn't see the thread that Beasty posted before. If what is said there is true - that the forum voted to keep gambling talk - then it seems clear to me that the end decision was for the Mod(s) benefit rather than the Forum's.

I'll have a read of that thread shortly and then I'll probably need to discuss it with various parties. I'm not dismissing anything you've said above, it doesn't seem unreasonable, but I need more info on the other side of the argument before we can see what we should do next.

blackwhite

Degag wrote: »

From what I understand, the Golf Betting Mega Thread was created after the banning of betting talk on the main forum - which is all well and good - but I feel it is a bit much to be giving Red cards and one week bans to poster's who says they had a bet on a golfer in any other thread on the forum.

The ban came from someone who posted about their bets after the mod had put a warning in the thread. For stupidity alone a ban was warranted.

The golf forum is for talking about golf, not about betting. Every major championship there is an influx of posters who want to talk about gambling on the forum, and who disrupt it for people who want to talk about golf.

There's both a gambling forum, and a specific gambling thread on the golf forum. If posters can't comprehend that gambling chat should be kept to those areas then IMO they deserve any infractions that are handed out.

Slicemeister

Big downside to this is they're not enticed to frequent the forum in the future. Another banned this evening when a warning would've sufficed.
A newbie coming in on an icebreaker such as "I backed such and such" deserves a bit more leniency imo.
Maybe they have the charter tab closed.

PhlegmyMoses

Rarely post in feedback threads but here goes. The golf forum encapsulates all the negative sides to moderation on a big forum.

Heavy-handed, over-zealous and by the book. Hiding behind a charter rather than being dynamic and allowing discussion to develop. Mod warnings abound, for even the most basic and not inflammatory threads.

Golf is one of the biggest participant sports in the biggest age demographic on this site. Yet the forum is relatively dead and slow moving. I know I've been put off because half the threads you click into have some condescending mod warning written in the least self-aware language possible.

Full-disclosure so I don't come across as a bitter person who has an axe to grind. I have never been banned from the forum and think I've received one yellow card about a year or two ago, so I haven't seriously fallen foul of the moderation there. Just a casual observer

Calhoun

How sure are you its relatively dead, for a site the size of this its currently ranked at 17th most popular in June. I mean it breaks no records but considering the amount of forums it ranks pretty high.

Degag

Zaph wrote: »

I'll have a read of that thread shortly and then I'll probably need to discuss it with various parties. I'm not dismissing anything you've said above, it doesn't seem unreasonable, but I need more info on the other side of the argument before we can see what we should do next.

Hi Zaph, have you had a chance to look at this yet?

Zaph

Sorry Degag, I should have come back to you on this. The issue is currently being reviewed in the admin forum as part of a wider discussion involving a number of other items that affect the site, not just the Golf forum. It definitely hasn't been forgotten about.

Degag

Zaph wrote: »

Sorry Degag, I should have come back to you on this. The issue is currently being reviewed in the admin forum as part of a wider discussion involving a number of other items that affect the site, not just the Golf forum. It definitely hasn't been forgotten about.

No problem, Thanks.

keith16

Just adding my own 2c. I got a two week ban some-time ago for requesting a stream.

This was at a time when streams requests were largely tolerated on the likes of Soccer and Rugby.

I dunno, the forum just seems to run in it's own little vacuum.

Degag

Hi Zaph, I'm sure there has to be some sort of feedback at this point?