random thoughts and thoroughbred selections

Friday, December 02, 2005

Ninety-Nine Problems, And An Ad Ain't One

First off, just a quick word of thanks to all my friends who offered a quick "that sucks" when OJ went under. I'll have more to say on this later (and none of it will be shitting on AJ or Gawker, this was a good experience), but seeing as I tried to quit in September, I consider October and November basically just free money, and December to now be the Month of BG. So that doesn't suck, right? On that note, those that mentioned that "at least I'll have more time to write to my own blog" get some thanks too. That's flattering, and yes I'll take advantage of that and try to rekindle the spark I've been missing for awhile now.

So today, I'm going old school. I'm at work, I've got Notepad up, and when I've got a few minutes to spare, I'll knock out a few sentences here and there. Deal?

One of the hallmarks of this poker blogger community is we've been thankfully (almost totally) free of bullshit attitudes and trollish behavior. Unfortunately, at this point we seem to have landed someone in our midst that might be our breakout dickhead.

I don't know where this behavior comes from, really. Maybe it's a natural outcropping of those early/mid twentysomethings who grew up in the message board culture where everyone's defensive and ready to assume the worst in people the moment something quirky flies across their radar. See, the thing is, in the message board culture you're going to find a half dozen people to scream the same criticisms you're shouting, and you're going to create enough noise to get your point across.

Not with us.

We're not above critical thinking and opinions that clash with the current groupthink. Hell, this is poker we're talking about. There's not usually a single right answer to any question you want to ask. Where we start to run into problems is not at all whatsoever with your opinions, just so we're straight on that. The problem is the underlying attitude and the slight undermining of trust you're engaging in prior to meeting all of us for the first time.

If you wanted to snipe at members of our group from the outside, feel free. Just don't expect to be embraced and play our little reindeer games. Where we start to run into issues with you is that you've signed up for WPBT events, and you complain. You book Vegas and want to play in our tournament, but are engaging in some sort of alienation campaign to make sure everyone knows ahead of time what a shitty time you'll have with an assorted group of hammer-dropping filthy shills you don't trust and won't read anyway. So fuck us then, right?

I was talking to someone last night who was wondering if we shouldn't just rescind the invite to the IP tournament next Saturday. I said "no." Let him play. If he comes and has a crappy time, whose fault is that? If he comes and makes no friends, whose fault is that? If he washes his own ass right the hell out of this accommodating and welcoming group of people, whose fault is that? He has pissed off the guy setting the whole thing up, true. But we've always been a community that embraces the new people. The Vegas trip never had a closed invitation list. Not last December, not this June, not now. If you want to be a part of what we're doing, just try not to shit where you eat, alright?

The latest gripe by this guy is pretty ludicrous, and reminds me of the one blogger on the periphery of our community with whom I have a beef (Pundit). As a matter of fact, it wouldn't shock me in the least if this guy is actually that guy, just under a new name. That's very likely not true, but there are some stylistic similarities. Like the high horse. Here's a quote from his anti-advertising rant:

Some poker bloggers are pretty bad about this, posting a lot of banners on their site and asking readers to wade through them to get to the content. Some even go as far as including ads in their RSS feeds. Many post messages talking about sites they play while including affiliate bonus codes � one can�t really get a good feel for honesty of reviews with these types of posts.

IMO, this works against the very nature of what a weblog should be/was designed to be � it�s supposed to be about the individual content. That�s why I spend at least an hour a day reading through weblog postings � the content; grassroots content that simply can�t be found elsewhere.

So, just as I did earlier, I�m going to weed out all of the commercial/ad-posting poker blogs from my blog roll and my RSS feed reader. I�m sure I�ll find the same thing as before � weblogs with some of the best content do not make their readers wade through ads.

Emphasis mine on the "weed out" comment. His blog roll currently contains Paul Phillips. Period. Some roll. Were he willing to link people up on a roll, I'd link him up here. Forget that though, you're not missing anything by not clicking in to his site.

His comments on that post feature BONUS CODE TN_SPACEMAN and AFFILIATE SHILL AL CAN'T HANG making their cases for the bloggers who accept ads. There's a salient point that's missing from both their arguments, however:

PART OF BEING PERSONAL AND INDIVIDUAL ON A BLOG IS ALLOWING YOUR BIAS AND OPINIONS TO PERMEATE YOUR WRITING.

Are we supposed to be journalists here? Do you really think that when you land on my page you'll get content devoid of opinion (My ex-wife is a lazy lying cheaty-cheater. Discuss.)? Is Instapundit impartial? He's one of the most well-known bloggers out there, does his having a blog mean that - in your book - he shouldn't fellate the President because he should be above that sort of shilling?

There are plenty of reasons to avoid certain blogs, and shameless shilling belongs on that list. But there's a fundamental difference between a spam-blog and a guy who is in a position to accept a couple of banner ads. Here's a thought - don't click an advertiser's link or sign up to a site using an affiliate code. Ever. Don't support the advertisers if you don't want to. But don't discount the content for those of us who have been approached and are in a position to scratch out a couple bucks a month with the support of an advertiser.

By the way, by your logic the following sites should now be Talibanned from your RSS aggregator, and should never be visited for their nefarious ad-based bias: ESPN, CardPlayer, CNN, your local newspaper, Weather.com, and every-fucking-other commercial website out there, including thousands of terrific and engaging blogs who take an ad or two.

My very first ad in the three plus years I've had a blog was for Full Tilt, which you'll see in my right-hand sidebar. I wouldn't accept a deal for five times the amount FTP is paying from Noble Poker or Titan or Empire for a few reasons. One, I don't play at those sites and don't believe you should be either. Two, I believe that if a poker site has their fingers on the pulse of what their players want, they'll pay attention and deliver. We've seen that with bloggers hired by FTP and PokerStars, both sites are rolling out new stuff that interests serious poker players. Three, I want Otis and Hank and Hanel and (yes, even) Rini to work for spots that are making money, to have long-term employment doing something they love, and I wish to do whatever I can to keep them in positions of influence with those companies. These guys will improve your online poker experience, period. If it's not with their blog content (which it is), it'll be with their suggestions to Lee Jones and Howard Lederer. These sites "get it," and I want a good experience playing online poker. To wit:

PartyPoker: We're the big boys on the block, we're just here to make money for our shareholders
Stars/FTP: We want to know how to help you enjoy playing online poker. What can we do for you?

I'm not the least bit impartial about all this. You should be playing at FTP. You should be playing at Stars. Period, point blank.

That statement, by your logic, means that I am a worthless shill who writes nothing worth listening to, so why bother? I may not have even a minimum of self-esteem most of the time, but on that point alone I know you're wrong. Fuck respecting your opinion on this one, you're dead-ass wrong, and I'm not interested at all in hearing a justification. Your opinion is valid, but it's dirt-fucking-dumb. On another (unrelated?) topic, Astroglide's on sale at Amazon today. Just FYI.

No one's asking you to love every poker blog out there. Hell, there are plenty that are patently unbearable. But no one's asking you to come play with us. You've got the same offer everyone else has - you're either going to be a valuable and contributing member of this community, or you should just stay on the outside looking in. Your choice.

[>>]posted at 10:22 AM by BG - click to email
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