Probably most people use the New Posts button to save time and to see what's new on the forum, however I recently discovered a handy way to screen what pops up when you hit the New Posts.
If you're not interested in, for example, The Paddock, and don't want to see new posts there, simply go to your UserCP, then under the Settings & Options category on the left, select the Edit Options button, then scroll all the way down to the Miscellaneous Options. You'll see that in the last window on the page, called Forums to Exclude From View you can highlight any subforums or areas that you're not interested in, and where you don't want to be informed about new posts. You can still search these areas, or manually browse them, but you won't be notified of new posts in them.
If you're not interested in, for example, The Paddock, and don't want to see new posts there, simply go to your UserCP, then under the Settings & Options category on the left, select the Edit Options button, then scroll all the way down to the Miscellaneous Options. You'll see that in the last window on the page, called Forums to Exclude From View you can highlight any subforums or areas that you're not interested in, and where you don't want to be informed about new posts. You can still search these areas, or manually browse them, but you won't be notified of new posts in them.