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Proposal: Poker

Poker questions can be very specific, so I was wondering whether or not it is appropriate to allow arbitrarily detailed questions or would they be considered "too localized." For instance, the following question has a score of 10 from the definition phase:

KK on the button. Raised PF, was check raised on J75 rainbow flop. What's my line?

I'm assuming that such a question would also include tags to indicate which poker game (e.g. Texas Hold'em), the stakes (e.g. $1/$2), the betting structure (no-limit, pot-limit, or fixed-limit), that it's a ring game (as opposed to a tournament game), and perhaps whether it's online or live.

Of course comments can ask for further details (e.g. how much was the raise or what information is known about the opponent).

It has been hinted that such detail would not be appropriate on the board games site.

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I think it is perfectly fine to include as much detail in the question as necessary. Yes answers can include abstractions, but a given hand can be abstracted in many ways and it is probably best to let the one answering include the proper level of abstraction relevant to his or her response.

Indeed, I think the only way to produce a vibrant community is to explicitly allow such questions. This will allow users to become engaged as they can ask specific questions relevant to them while still learning a lot from reading other questions that include abstractions in the answers. I would be disappointed to see the referenced question either closed as too localized or as a duplicate of a variant that instead had a flop of say "Q64".

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Too localised is no longer a close reason.

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The first sentence from my answer that you used as a hint is

I think you should ask your question on B&CG, vetting questions on meta prior to seeing how they actually play out on the main site isn't the best plan as far fewer people will see it here.

As a moderator of B&CG I welcome specific poker questions. We have quite a few specific questions about Bridge hands now.

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  • We've gone over this before. You don't currently have a community of expert and enthusiast poker players to answer questions. You think if we just start asking good questions then the experts will come running. An expert in Texas Hold'em does not in general self-identify as a "board and card game" player...he is a poker player.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Oct 24, 2011 at 20:09
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    Remember that poker is a family of games and not just a single game. Texas Hold'em is to Poker.SE as C# is to Stackoverflow. A C# or Java expert probably identifies as a programmer, not a C# expert (although there are exceptions just as some identify as Hold'em specialists). So C#-overflow is too narrow, and Computers-overflow is too broad. You are trying to tell us that C# and Java are on-topic at Computers-overflow, and I'm telling you that Computers-overflow will never attract the experts in C# and Java. Getting the experts is critical to any Stack Exchange.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Oct 24, 2011 at 20:09
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    @MichaelMcGowan - My answer here was written mainly to refute the last line of your question. I tried to fit it into a comment, but needed a little extra space. If you wish to read into it more than that, you are welcome to. But as you said, those discussions have been had elsewhere.
    – Pat Ludwig
    Commented Oct 24, 2011 at 21:37
  • I don't think you refuted the last line; I'm focusing on your suggestion for the asker to generalize, "...I would prefer not to see 3 questions that differ only in that the players hand is tens/jacks/queens." Answerers cans generalize, but I think it's wrong to force askers to.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Oct 24, 2011 at 22:06
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    @MichaelMcGowan How do you get "force" from "I would prefer"? Either way your splitting hairs. The main thrust of my answer to that meta question was "I think you should ask your question" Talking on meta or here on Area51 is no substitute for real questions from people who want answers. As I've stated several times, as moderator of B&CG I welcome specific poker questions. There's nothing left to do but to see what the community thinks is appropriate by asking the questions
    – Pat Ludwig
    Commented Oct 24, 2011 at 23:55

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