I agree with most of what's been written.

* The advertising postings are a bit of a nuisance, however it's a small price to pay and Pro-pun have every right to as they are the ones who have invested in the forum.

* The time and effort to moderate is well appreciated and worthwhile in my view. There is no doubt this is the best forum on the web. Most of the others are nothing more than dribble and personal slanging matches between contributors who ego's have clearly outgrown their racing brains.

* This is not a criticism of this forum, but forums in general. There does not seem to be a place for those to go who are interested and wish to engage in serious form and punting principles discussion. I see forums as an opportunity to share knowledge and also learn something in return.

As an avid semi-pro Black Jack player for many years I found the the forum set up on BJ21.com unreal. There was a public forum for anyone, but then the green chip and black chip forums for more serious BJ students. The green chip forum costs $12US per quarter to join but was well worthwhile. It contained serious players interested in discussing detailed concepts to improve your game. The black chip forum was $100 and was open by invitation only. It was the next level again and included some of the best minds and players ever to sit down at a table. Experiencing the discussion in that forum was something to behold.

Alas there is nothing like that for horse racing, at least in Australia.

As an example, Rogan posts the fields for the upcoming major races and then a host of people reply but with nothing more than a one line tip for the race. There is no discussion as to why they think that way. I have nothing against people doing this and people are not obliged to divulge their reasons but personally i see little point sharing a simple tip, what do we learn from that?

As someone interested in sharing my own knowledge and learning from others wouldn't it be far more beneficial if people actually posted with their thoughts on how the race will be run, who they think the main chances are, what elements of the horses form they see as positive and negative, how they think the best way would be to bet the race etc. etc.

Wouldn't we all learn more from this productive discussio?

My two cents worth anyway.