Originally posted on 06/13/2013:

I made one of the first posts on SBR. In fact, I may have made the very first post but that fact is lost to history. I've been here since Day 1 and have posted regularly although my positing output is considerably down from when I first started. I feel I am in a very good position to make some comments.

I tend to agree with the OP's main contention. We can disagree on how bad it is has become but the OP is generally right. Right now, the only thing keeping this forum afloat is the point program. Quite honestly, I see little point in logging in and posting unless I get points and play trivia. The current state of off shore gambling for Americans is horrible. It's prevented me from depositing anywhere because of how difficult it is too deposit and how dangerous it has become. If I am not gambling then there is little reason to post. I still trust the SBR ratings over any other ratings that are available but am less confident in SBR's ability to be impartial with the books that are advertising here than I was a few years ago. About 5 years ago SBR was rock solid with their ratings...now I've just come to accept that every now and then a book that is rated high by SBR--and a possible advertiser--is going to go under. It's a landmine for Americans and I cannot expect SBR to know every single detail.

Another problem is that SBR has lost many of the personalities that helped build the forum (e.g. JJGold, BigBoyDan, Mudcat, Pags, etc..). It's a lot like the WWF of the 1980s/90s ERA which had great character development and story lines but has now become pathetic. In the old days of the forum, there use to be good banter among posters about gambling and sports, serious discussions about the games and different sportsbooks, gambling techniques (e.g. line movement, middling, scalping, hedging, power ratings, etc...) but all those talks are usually secondary now if they even exist as such discussions have been replaced by more pop culture/non-sports gambling talk that dominate the forum. Part of the problem is when you have more and more posters it creates an environment where everyone wants to stand out. Because virtually nobody can stand out as a gambler since almost everyone loses in the long run, standing out now basically requires receiving attention through non-sports gambling ways which is the antithesis of what a sports gambling forum should be about. In the early days, it was never like that. There was a mutual respect among posters and collaboration and teamwork in breaking down the games. And edge for one, was an edge for all. Those days, it was much easier to be successful at betting on sports online. It really is close to impossible to make it online as an American sports bettor. Don't believe anyone who tells you they are "killing it" and "making a fortune" and "the books are my ATM machine" most of the people who are saying these things are compulsive liars.

The reality is ALL business fail in the end, some sooner some later but they eventually all end. I think the golden age of the gambling forum is over. Depositing is a nightmare. Withdrawals are headaches often times loaded with fees and long waits for the check to arrive which may or may not bounce. The number of books available are limited for Americans making things like line shopping nearly impossible. Even if you have multiple books, there is a good chance that many of them have the same vanilla lines. I think it is best at this point to just make gambling something for fun done occasionally for big events (e.g. the Super Bowl, March Madness, World Cup, etc...). I think at this point SBR just needs to reinvent itself into a general sports talk/pop culture forum if it has not already.

The only way I think that sports gambling forums can ever get back to the way they use to be is to legalize online sports gambling in the United States. But since it is so obvious and easy to do, we know that it will never get done since Congress is too pathetic to do that. And even then, it would be heavily taxed which is the "American way" for everything.