[dlowilly]

Originally posted on 11/24/2022:

Attention SBR Members,


We would like to address the questions surrounding the SBR Store and its plan going forward. Our initial goal in September was to offer a limited re-opening of the store for football season to give members a chance to redeem some of their betpoints. After reassessing, we feel that approach does not provide fair opportunity to the community as a whole, nor does it fit our long-term vision for a loyalty program.


The original Store and Pro membership programs were tied to SBR’s previous focus on the offshore sportsbook market. As we adapt and shift our brand focus to the regulated sportsbook industry, our community initiatives will evolve as well. With that in mind, we have made the decision that the Store will not re-open. We understand this news will cause some concern; however, we can assure members that betpoints will remain part of the SBR community. We are in the process of reshaping the loyalty program to better fit the product vision of the North American legalized market.


What will that look like? More details to come. But the main theme is connecting members to the best sports betting options and rewarding regular contributions to the SBR community with exclusive benefits.


We will touch on a few questions that members will likely have:


What value does my betpoint balance have?

- The betpoints you have earned will not go away. While points will not be redeemable for store items, they will gain access to unique rewards in the new loyalty program. Members with higher point balances will have more perks available to them.

- In addition, we will be introducing 3 more cash contests to the existing Beat The Bullseye football contest:

1. FIFA World Cup

2. NCAAF Bowl Games

3. NFL Playoffs

- Contests will be open to Pro members only


Will you get back to holding regular contests on SBR?

- Oh yes. This news will come as a big relief to both our members and dev team. We are nearing a move onto a new contest platform and away from the legacy platform. We will finally be able to kiss the errors, missing games and incorrect lines goodbye once and for all.

- The new platform will give us the flexibility to run daily, weekly, and season long contests across all major leagues with a variety of betting options (props included!). All with automated grading, leaderboards, and betpoint integration.


How will SBR Pro membership work with the new loyalty program?

- Pro membership will remain. However, we are working on expanding into a tiered system based on betpoint balance which will unlock different perks, for example: SBR swag, entry into exclusive cash contests, free plays at partner sportsbooks, and chances to win sports betting themed trips.

- We are looking at additional ways to gain pro membership and move up tiers, such as depositing at sportsbook partners, winning marquee contests & becoming a trusted community member.


How will members be able to earn betpoints going forward?

- Daily activity will continue to earn points and there will be regular contests with points and prizes up for grabs

- Quality forum content will be rewarded. We want the community to be a place that welcomes sports bettors both old and new. Posting a quality pick thread, lending a hand to a new member, reporting a site issue will earn betpoints.

- Furthermore, we want our members to be the voice of SBR and help power our trusted sportsbook reviews. That means incorporating meaningful feedback on your experiences with partner sportsbooks to help shape the grades and rankings. These contributions will be recognized and rewarded as well.


Moving away from the traditional SBR Store was not an easy decision to make – we realize what a big part of the community it has been for several years. Much like the re-branding you have seen across the website, the original betpoint system needs an update to align with the legalized betting landscape. We are confident that the revamped SBR loyalty program will be a benchmark in the industry and worth the wait.


Please understand the full details of the new program have not been finalized, but we will do our best to answer any questions you may have.

You can word salad all you want, but this sure reads like you bought a business and it's liabilities that you knew about and decided not to pay those liabilities or transformed them into something else of much lesser value you would be willing to pay. I don't really want trips, or free plays with rollovers at books I don't want to play at. I'd like to receive for my points what was available at the time they were risked and we didn't know the site was changing hands. You wouldn't like it if you bet a black $100 chip on a hand of blackjack and then get an oversized teddy bear when you win, would you?

It's a pretty scumbag thing to do, first by the previous owner John or whatever who knew this would probably happen, and you new guys who are making it happen, all the while and to my understanding running successful, moneymaking websites elsewhere. It's not a new thing on these gambling forums, the shadiness and the scamming by management, but my points were worth about 6k in bitcoin before you lot came to town so excuse me if I'm a little more concerned than those with 500 betpoint balances gleefully imagining new ways for them to get paid while larger balances get screwed.

Here's an idea. How about paying what's owed in bitcoin and giftcards first, THEN change to your new system to see if posters like it? Is it really that much compared to what you bought the business for?