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As Stack Exchange grows well beyond the core S[OFU], some limitations of the rules for tags are becoming exposed. With the launch of the Poker.SE private beta yesterday, some additional limitations became exposed. There was a Meta question for how one should go about adding specific details (e.g. the game stakes) to the title, and I chimed in that that's what tags are for. However, it was noted that, for instance, I use to represent $1/$2 NL, but that could just as easily mean 1¢/2¢, €1/€2, etc.

If we can't get a full-blown implementation to solve everyone's tag problems, can we at least get the dollar sign to cater to our large American audience?

Note that this has been asked before a while ago, but that didn't get much attention and didn't seem to have as important or specific a use-case.

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    I'm not a poker player -- does the monetary unit matter strategy-wise? I would have thought not unless you're giving people financial advice.
    – user154510
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:20
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    What about Canadian, Australian, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars? >:(
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn Mod
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:21
  • @MatthewRead There can be a slight difference between say pounds and dollars, but I'm less concerned about that. I'm more concerned about sensibly differentiating between micro stakes and standard stakes. There's a HUGE difference between $.50/$1.00 and $50/$100...I don't think it works well without a symbol in there.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:29
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    @Michael regarding searching/ignoring/Favoriting/subscribing to tags... would [micro-stakes] or [standard-stakes] make more sense than specific unit values?
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:48
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    @ConradFrix Although doing as you suggest does serve a purpose, the boundaries are often ambiguous and it's important to have the specific information somewhere. It was proposed that all questions of this type would include the specific stakes information in the title itself. That just screams to me of a poor way to do what tags are supposed to do.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 17:56
  • A problem that I see with this approach is that not everyone can easily type a euro sign. I think nearly all keyboard layouts have a dollar sign somewhere, except maybe Armenian and Cyrillic keyboards...
    – dreamlax
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 23:31
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    I think those that have a need to type such signs typically can.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 1:06

2 Answers 2

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Tags do not seem like a good way to accomplish what you want.

The purpose of tags is to make things more categorically searchable. Why would someone want to do a search for a specific monetary amount using the tag system, and how would they go about doing that? It doesn't make sense; the tags are far too specific, and would be useless as search articles.

Conrad Frix's suggestion of using [micro-stakes] and [standard-stakes] tags makes more sense. You can describe in detail what these terms mean in their Tag Wiki descriptions, including the currency symbols.

Make sure you include [stakes-micro] and [stakes-standard] as synonyms, so that the tags are easily discoverable by new users.

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  • Why would someone want to do a search for a specific monetary amount using the tag system? Because a large percentage of their experience is in a specific game. Personally, probably 90% of my live-play experience is at one specific level. When looking for questions about my game, I don't want to look for [low-stakes], I want to look for [$1/$2] because that is the game I play.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:35
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    So what would prevent people from creating an infinite number of tags for an infinite number of ranges? What happens if I make a new tag for [$1/$3] or [$2/$5], because that is my preferred range? I strongly suggest you consider Conrad's suggestion; I strongly feel that this is an abuse of the tag system, and is not how the tag system was intended to be used (to document minute details).
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:39
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    I don't follow you; there does not exist an infinite number of stakes that are played. There should absolutely be a [$2/$5], [$5/$10], etc. These are actual games that exist...the tags are basically a label for the type of game being played, not the size of bets I like to make. These aren't minute details...it's basically the name of the game that is the subject of the question.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:44
  • What would be an example of a game name that incorporates a monetary range?
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:44
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    I play primarily $1/$2 NL Hold'em. I almost never play the next level up: $2/$5 NL Hold'em. I'd like to look at the former and not the latter. Isn't this exactly what tagging is for?
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:46
  • Do the game rules change between the two stake levels? Wouldn't questions for any level of NL Hold'em generally apply regardless of the stake level?
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:47
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    The players are different, therefore the strategy might be different. I hope Poker.SE is for more than questions about rules...if it's merely to ask about rules then I don't think it serves much purpose.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:49
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    At a minimum, I would suggest that you open a question on Meta.Poker.SE asking for suggestions on how to deal with this. Your question here presumes that adding symbols to the tag system is the best way, but I see all sorts of unintended consequences happening if we do that. Note that Math.SE survives quite well on plain-text tags, even though their subject matter is highly symbolic.
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 20:54
  • I think that question exists and is what prompted me to come here in the first place. Of course there's no consensus yet as the site is barely 24 hours old. Even if it turns out that this is not the solution to this particular instance, my point still remains that more symbols should be allowed in tag names.
    – Michael McGowan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 21:01
  • Note that the question you linked on Meta.Poker.SE is not available to the general public, since the Poker site is still in private beta.
    – user102937
    Commented Jan 12, 2012 at 21:42
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I came to this from the original Poker meta question that prompted it. Given the discussion that led to this, I do not think support for additional symbols in tags are the appropriate solution.

The main issue is micro-stakes vs. standard stakes, as the difference between denominations (say British Pounds vs. U.S. Dollars) has much less of an impact on strategy.

Micro-stakes can have its own tag, with a generally agreed-upon definition clearly identified in the tag wiki (e.g. "Micro-stakes are for games where blinds/betting structure is based upon values less than $1/$2 U.S Dollars").

Any question relating to micro-stakes can be identified both in the title (either with "Micro" or an agreed upon abbreviation such as "MS"), as well as with the [micro-stakes] tag. Standard stake denominations can use their own tags, such as the proposed [1-2nl]or `[3-6l]'.

This will allow favorites and searches by tag to be used in the way expected by the tag system, without creating unnecessary complexity. The specific denominations of micro stakes have little impact on the strategies, as I understand them, so consolidating them under a single tag would seem sufficient.

Those interested in standard denomination games are going to be unlikely to look for unusual currencies (i.e. I don't know how many people are going to be interested in a tag for 300 peso/600 peso games), and the variations between more common currencies aren't likely to have a major impact on the strategies. All specific denominations could be assumed in US dollars, with clarification in the Tag Wiki and FAQ.

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