So What Do YOU Want?

So all the recent driving time lead me to ponder many things in my monkey brain, which inevitably leads to plotting, which leads to me coming up with new projects to keep myself really, really busy with, constantly.

One of the things I was pondering got jogged a bit by a post from Quest of a Closet Poker Player and a comment from fairnbalancd.

I've been thinking about using one of my dormant domains for a site that's geared towards more collaborative, instructional stuff, but in a really nuts and bolts fashion. I shy away from silly Poker Boot Camp/The Crew/Hendon Mob connotations, but I think there'd definitely be some value in setting up a site for serious players to get better. No bullshit, no wearing of kids gloves, no stroking egos. Just very nuts and bolts content and tools designed to help you play better poker.

As far as the focus, it'd be a hybrid blog/forum site. There'd be a fair amount of posting of hand histories and reviewing of play, as well as posting and dissecting of PokerTracker stats. There'd also be the chance to get individualized coaching/mentoring/whatever cheesy word you want to use, as far as shadowing people as they play, reviewing play in general, and other such things.

In the beginning it'd be heavy on the limit HE side (largely since that's the only thing I can pretend to have any expertise in whatsoever), but there'd also be room to discuss anything you wanted, as far as MTTs, SnGs, NL HE, Omaha, Badugi, what the hell ever.

At the moment, I'm seeing as a semi-closed venture, as far as how open it is to the general public. I think it'd be doom to open it up to any yahoo, and quickly degenerate into 2+2 savagery, but at the same time I wouldn't try to be all that cool and exclusive. If you have a blog, cool, you're in. If you're in and know someone else who'd be interested, cool, they're in. That sort of thing.

There also might be the chance to offer rakeback and propping opportunities to members, later on down the road. There's also the potential to pool PokerTracker data and player notes and other such things, as far as fringe benefits for members, as well as member-only freerolls and bonus promotions and what-not.

It'd likely suck up a lot of time, especially in the beginning, but I'm cool with that, especially if I'm not working a day job. I'd likely strongly encouraging people to sign up via my affiliate links if they're trying a new site out, but that's not crucial. As for the individualized coaching stuff, I'm thinking about being a little more hard-assed in that regard, and requiring that people sign up via an affiliate link first, and that they play a minimum number of hands per month. It'd be a low number, like 100-200 raked hands, etc., just something to weed out obvious mooochers who want their play reviewed and want advice but don't contribute back to the site or otherwise make up for the amount of time expended on them.

Here's the part where I need input. First things first, would there be any interest in such a thing? (It's okay to say no, if that's what you think, as my heart isn't necessarily set on this idea.) If such a site was being built, what functions would you like to see, apart from a forum? Is private messaging important? Chatting?

Or, in a more general sense, what would you like to see in such a site, if it was being built from scratch? Are current sites like 2+2 and blogs and others missing the boat in some regards, or do you pretty much get what you want from the online universe, as far as improving your game?

Many thanks for any input.