This website and why I love [censored]

[Mason Malmuth]

[ QUOTE ]
I think Mason sold 10,000 books or so in 1997. Last year he sold 400,000.


[/ QUOTE ]

Just to be precise, in 1997 we sold 16,623 books compared to 435,818 for 2005.

Best wishes,
Mason

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think Mason sold 10,000 books or so in 1997. Last year he sold 400,000.


[/ QUOTE ]

Just to be precise, in 1997 we sold 16,623 books compared to 435,818 for 2005.

Best wishes,
Mason

[/ QUOTE ]

I was under the impression that you always kept this type of information private.

[durron597]

[ QUOTE ]

I was under the impression that you always kept this type of information private.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, this IS the mod forum

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Dynasty:

I believe in being totally truthful about everything we do. When's that the case, there is virtually never any reason to be secretive.

On the other hand, Two Plus Two in many ways has operated "under the radar" screen when dealing with many other entities in the poker industry and in poker publishing. I believe that this is one of the reasons that we have grown at the rate we have since it allows us to stay well focused on exactly what we need to do and on what is important -- non-self weighting strategies applied to our business model.

So even though we don't go around loudly announcing these numbers, which by the way we feel are well beyond anything we could have reasonably expected, there is no reason to be secretive about them either.

Best wishes,
Mason

[andyfox]

Wow. Congratulations, Mason. While some of us have had problems with the quality of the language, or the bindings, in past years, none of us has ever had a problem with the quality of the information in the books, and your success is proof of that.

A big thank you, once again, for making poker more enjoyable and profitable for those of us fortunate enough to consider ourselves a small part of the 2+2 community.

Though I'm a moderator, I'm not really very involved with 2+2. I've met a lot of great people through 2+2. I was not aware of the ElaineMonster controversy until today. My reaction to the whole thing was "how sad." There were a lot of things that were distressing, but worst of all, to me, was the criticism of the way you run your businesss, particularly this website.

How can people possibly know what your priorities are? How can they know how successful you are or how important $ are to you compared to other things in life? I wonder how many of them have published and sold 400,000 books in a year?

Part of it, of course, is the anonymity of the internet. It's easy to be vindictive, or critical, or accusatory, or just plain rude when you're talking to a machine rather than a human being. It's especially easy when you do so under the veil of anonymity. I made the decision from the very beginning to post here under my real name. I want to take responsibility when I make a mistake.

When I've had to PM posters on the politics forum to warn them about unacceptable behavior, I've made it a point to introduce myself to people I don't know and to tell them a little bit about myself. The most egregious violators have been the ones most hesitant to even tell me their real name. They prefer to remain anonymous because it's so much easier to be a jerk when one does so.

But the general point Mat makes, and that I believe I remember you making in the past in an essay, is, alas, true. Poker attracts some ugly people. And the internet boom has meant a younger group of people than the poker community has been in the past. I don't think it's the lament of an old fart like myself to comment that young men, making large amounts of money, operating in solitude in front of a computer screen for many hours at a time, and operating under anonymity, are prone to be among the ugliest.

My general impression of OOT is that it's a sewer that I prefer to stay away from as much as possible. That said, I think it's the most popular forum here, so I understand (or, I should say, I think I undrstand) why you've tolerated more there than would be tolerated in the other forums. I see where you say you'll be looking at it a bit more closely in the coming weeks, and I wish you well in whatever decisions you make.

Again, congratulations on the tremendous success of 2+2 and thank you again from this modestly successful poker player.

Andy

[Mat Sklansky]

It would have to be a natural evolution and would require many more people (like over a thousand at any given time) than are curently going to the Other topics section. It's an unlikely dream probably. And it would occur piecemeal, hopefully more like the evolution of sports and politics than the lounge.