BJ21.com too commercial?

[Sonny]

There were a few comments in a previous thread (now deleted) about bj21.com being too commercial. Does anyone have any comments or experiences regarding that? I have never been a GC member but I’ve always wondered what I was missing. Is it worth it? Is there too much hype or too much self-promotion? Are the archives useful? Should I finally take the plunge?

-Sonny-

[Chianti]

I have been a member of Green Chip for several years and the only commercial content I have seen was the one or two times Stanford Wong asked the collective if they thought it was a good idea for PiYee Press to begin selling specific items. There is very little self promotion by the authors recommending their books to novices asking "which book should I buy?" As for are you missing something, yes. The archives alone are worth the price of subscription. My recommendation is to take the plunge.
Chianti

[KenSmith]

I agree. BJ21.com is a good resource.

[QFIT]

Originally Posted by Chianti

There is very little self promotion by the authors recommending their books to novices asking "which book should I buy?" Chianti

This is because the authors have been chased off by Stanford's policy of allowing personal attacks against authors but censoring the authors. This is why I no longer allow him to sell my software.

[Automatic Monkey]

My experience with BJ21 has been that there are a lot of mean-old-man type counters there and they don't seem very welcoming towards part-timers or new players. There is also a very busy "Politics" section there. You know what kind of feelings that is going to engender, and those feelings do indeed spill over to the blackjack areas. Unlike the ZenZone which is more difficult (but not impossible) to take seriously.

Furthermore, even though it is a pay forum not accessible to the outside the pros there are extremely paranoid about discussing advanced techniques openly, even more so than they are on these free boards. So I'm not sure that paying for Green Chip membership is worthwhile, although CBJN certainly is.