[Hman]

I like the contest just as it was.

Except get rid of non-Pros after week 6.

Actually I like this idea.

Set a deadline-week in which one must become pro to be eligible

[ArunSh]

Actually I like this idea.
Set a deadline-week in which one must become pro to be eligible

They had that in prior years - wonder why they did away with it, seems very logical.

As for what others are saying about lower weekly prizes and higher end of contest prizes - I actually would prefer the opposite! Granted I'm probably biased by the fact that I've never cashed in the end of contest prizes in all the years of this haha.

But with the format this year, those of us who were eliminated from cashing in the end of contest prizes (which is obviously like 90% of people in the last few weeks), we had to go 6-0 for the week or it was meaningless. That's what I really didn't like - even in past years when you were eliminated from the main prizes, you still could win something weekly even by going 3-2 which was nice. Now, that only applies if you go 6-0 which is obviously rather tough to do. So yeah that's why I really preferred the prior format.

[funnyb25]

Getting rid of the non pros in this type of promotion contest will never happen unfortunately.

[Lex_icon]

Remove the non pros from the official rankings or mark them with an asterisk or something.

Why not reward the second half season too?

BTC prizes instead of betpoints

Btw, i loved pick 6 and i think that is way better than BTP

[BigOrange]

1. Charge a $100 entry fee (This will slow down the Non-Pros creating a ton of ghost entries)
2. Kick out Non-pros after week 8
3. Let BigO win a few close games next year! (I see to lose every close game in this contest every year)

[stump]

Pros only from day 1

[playersonly69]

Well I agree that the units won each week changed the way that I selected my picks.

I did win $600 one week for finishing first and I was 2 points away from winning another $600 another week. However, my 5-1 that week won me nothing. I actually made $120 in bitcoint in the 2 weeks that I kept it in my wallet

I agree that action points is the best way to break ties. If anything, that would be the very BEST handicapper for the week

[tradeout]

Only one suggestion:

No cash prizes at all for non-pros, just points/freeplay.

[Nickelchip2]

Before the Contest:
I was new to sports betting and outside the semi-annual trips to Vegas to place a few bets, I was a newbie. Sports betting is beginning to become legal in the states close to where I live and thus was gaining my attention. Now from my experiences of playing poker, I've come to understand that there is a learning curve involved with learning a new "hobby". This contest has afforded me the opportunity to practice and learn. I earned a couple of 'Pick 6' bonuses, and even won a monthly NBA handicapping contest here on SBR. With those 3 wins, I have been able to turn those freeplays into 2600 betpoints, once I get to 3,000 I will trade that into becoming pro.

SBR allowed me to practice sports betting without a cash outlay. It allowed me to become familiar with lingo, terms, the way lines work, different kinds of bets, fundamentals of handicapping etc...It took the scarieness away but I was still having fun rootin for my picks.

* Would have I used SBR if it wasn't for this contest?
Hard to say, but most likely eventually. When I was starting out, all the sport gambling 'info' sites all ran together in my mind and felt all the same. SBR stuck out because I could win a realistic prize without risking any money, which got me started in sports betting. Plus I liked that a tout service wasn't getting jammed down my throat.


*Would have I paid $100 to play in this contest? NO

*Would I pay a $100 to be a pro, after being in the contest? YES

My point being, if it wasn't for this contest I probably wouldn't be here now.
I will say, that after I got the hang of the contest, You had a choice to make each week with the 2X selection. You could put the 2X selection on a + side wager and go for a 6-0 in the hopes of winning money or you could put the 2X selection on hunting for Pick 6's. I always put my 2x selection on what I thought could get a 'Pick 6' bonus. I had 5-2X selections get a Pick 6 but only 2 of those covered (2-1-2). I figured that with being a non-pro, going 6-0, and winning money was basically a lottery ticket, so I focused on getting freeplays to work towards obtaining a membership. I would have every intention of going 6-0 but with having to find +money sides in order to reach the money, gave the contest a crapshoot feel about it. I do understand that line shopping is an important part of being a successful handicapper but it's hard to capture that skill in a weekly contest. Line Shopping is a skill that shows its prevalence after the long haul.

*In future contests I would offer more pro memberships with less cash, as prizes for the non-members.
The cash prizes at first was a hook for me but I then realized it's hard to win cash, not impossible though.

*I didn't like the idea of action points being a tiebreaker, and still really don't understand what action points are or how they are formulated.

*Having +side bets are part of the contest is okay, but the problem was that the +side bets seemed only to be available once the new contest lines opened for the new week, and those +side bet lines would disappear quickly once released.

*Having more picks to be made weekly, would cut down on the importance of having the +side bets, yet still keep line shopping as part of the contest, while cutting down the importance of tie breakers. Say like making 8 picks instead of 6.

*Have different contests for college and pro, or different divisions within the same contest. Let's say someone was really good at picking college games maybe that could be a side contest off the main contest.

*Having to make half your selections from college and half from pros. I think that would also cut down on the number of 6-0's as the NFL is more difficult on average.


Overall I had fun with the contest and look forward to more of them. Thanks A Lot!!!

[mikejamm]

Before the Contest:
I was new to sports betting and outside the semi-annual trips to Vegas to place a few bets, I was a newbie. Sports betting is beginning to become legal in the states close to where I live and thus was gaining my attention. Now from my experiences of playing poker, I've come to understand that there is a learning curve involved with learning a new "hobby". This contest has afforded me the opportunity to practice and learn. I earned a couple of 'Pick 6' bonuses, and even won a monthly NBA handicapping contest here on SBR. With those 3 wins, I have been able to turn those freeplays into 2600 betpoints, once I get to 3,000 I will trade that into becoming pro.

*Would of I played in this contest if it was pros only? NO
*Would of I payed a $100 to become a pro just to play in this contest? NO
*Would I pay a $100 to be a pro, after being in the contest? YES

My point being, if it wasn't for this contest I wouldn't be here now.

Yeah, you wouldn’t be here now, because you’re basically a fuk’in non pro leech who wants something for nothing! All of us made a $100 donation to turn pro and it’s because of cheap broke dik fuks like you, who ruin the contests for legitimate SBR Pros who’ve supported and contributed to the site.

Our argument as real SBR pros, is that you and several hundreds like you, NEVER DO FUK’IN TURN PRO! You play in our contests, sometimes with multiple fake entries and collect when one of them hits and never contribute jack shit! A prime example is you’ve been here since last June collecting points and playing in Pro contests, try’in to “win” enough free points to turn pro for nothing.

Well Newsflash cheap fuk, you only get to keep 3000 points max as a non pro, and you can’t use them the 1st time to turn pro. You still have to make a $100 donation to one of SBR’s many charities in order to turn pro the 1st time.

Bottom line. No non pro should be allowed to compete for cash prizes. Period! It’s an insult and a slap in the face to long time PRO charitable contributors here. And the deadline to turn pro should be in week 4, one fuk’in month and not a day longer!

A minimum post count of 250 posts should be required before being allow to participate in any contests. This would cut down on fake accounts and make it easy to spot bullshit if some ghost is posting one word gibberish shit in order to meet the post count minimum.

The only prize besides 1/2 prize free plays that should be awarded to non pros is a Pro membership, only if the post requirement has been met, and only on contests where the cash prize is a $100 or more.

We’re not here to support your fuk’in “hobby”, we’re serious gamblers who gamble with real money, well most of us anyway, with the exception of a few air betting fuk’in morons like Seaweed.
At some point you gotta stop being a fuk mooch and get in the game for real, or just be another loser non pro Seaweed douche bag that nobody gives a fly’in fuk about or takes seriously.

[2ndchance]

Wow I actually really like that post count idea. That would cut all the ghost out of here that sign on in the last min. They probably won’t do it though which I don’t understand sbr knows how to cut ghost out but yet don’t do a simple rule that would be obvious it was ghost accounts. Sbr rocks though just saying !!

[cincinnatikid513]

make it beat the bag was too hard to win stuff this contest had to go 6-0 with plus money picks to win weekly prizes or at least 5-1 to win a free play, over 2000 entries too hard to win weekly prizes, was better with beat the prick where all u had to do was beat the prick to get free play points

also go to action points make all lines -110 so it's not a gimmick contest forcing people to pick + money lines to win money

[TheGuesser]

This contest was great. BTP was great. So why not combine the 2? Pick 6 just as it was this year, and BEAT THE BAG in the same contest, since Jimmy is participating and promoting it. This way many more folks can get Betpoints if they can Beat the Bag, and they have a chance to get some betpoints even at 4-2 or 3-3. You can eliminate the totally random random pick 6 point giveaway, and substitute BEAT THE BAG.

[thetrinity]

A complete dart throwing shit show.

For sure have the weekly prizes determined by record, then action points as the first tiebreaker.

More picks need to be given per week if prize structure doesn’t change.

Make one game a pick 6 game if need be.

[7deuceoff$uit]

Way too many people were joining the contest up until the very end. There should be a cut off date early on for entries. Give the broke dikk non pros a cut off date to become pro, and then boot them on that date. Maybe sprinkle in some more points for pros only while you allow broke dikks to play for half their season.

[chidondollars]

Drew this year formats is good but +units a week should at least win 100 SBR Free play.Week 10 max for non pro to turn pros.

[RudyRuetigger]

*Would have I paid $100 to play in this contest? NO

*Would I pay a $100 to be a pro, after being in the contest? YES

you still arent a pro bro

[harthebar]

Just curious. If you know. How many ghost entries do non pros average a year .I get that's why they are in for a promotion view .... I think week 12 is way to long. More like week 8 sounds better . .

[Roger T. Bannon]

Go back to BTP format using Jimmy the Bag or SBR Drew and give out free plays. If you want more people to win money, just make the payouts lower and have more places. Turning the contest into a basically weekly contest was not very popular. I think one of the things people really like about the contest is where they are in the standings which was really taken away with this format.

SBR's goal is to have as many people win as possible and the posters goal is to win as much for themselves as possible. The two are not a match but the old BTP was very popular.

[PD77]

I like the idea of using action points instead of total units for tie breakers. If you can’t do that let us play ML dogs up to +150 or greater. The weekly contest was over as soon as you lost a pick.

[trytrytry]

First thanks for another generous and great 2019 versionl
suggestions however:
BTP format using Jimmy the Bag or SBR Drew and give out free plays. kick out non pros early

[2ndchance]

Weekly prizes better I think had something to look forward to. Over all is very hard to win so I would diffently not lower weekly amount. This format though was way to hard to even win anything weekly all I did was look for plus units press them and move on. No research nothing as I already new I wasn’t going to win unless I hit all these plus unit plays I didn’t even want to bet. Kinda took the fun out of the contest press and pray and move on this year.

[thechaoz]

Just curious. If you know. How many ghost entries do non pros average a year .I get that's why they are in for a promotion view .... I think week 12 is way to long. More like week 8 sounds better . .

I laugh when I see the leaderboard. I almost never recognize any make at all if any.

They just mass sign up and take every combination of a sub set of games

[hawkeye 16]

A format that gives points prizes to more people each week. When a lot of people win points each week, it also drives other forum activity 7 days a week during football season.

Something that keeps players interested after 1 loss.

Base it on Action Points instead of units so there is no requirement to pick a +odds selection to have a chance of winning the week.

Bigger prize at end.

No cash prizes at all for non-pros, just points.

Definitely like that first suggestion - felt kind of silly going through the choices and making sure to pick one + unit wager (a pick I often didn't really want/know about). But in order to win the week, that was a necessary thing to do. So yeah, I like the action points suggestion in that regard for deciding ties between folks who have the same record (and same result in the 2* pick).

As for bringing new users to the site - that's quite understandable. As I said, whatever they win though, the first $100 or first 3000 points (or a mix of the two if that ends up being possible, first $50 + 1500 points) should automatically go towards turning them pro. Only after they've won enough to turn themselves pro should anything go directly to their pocket. Given that (at least this year) they only won 50% of the prize, that would incentivize them even more perhaps to go pro early on rather than having to build up twice as much in winnings before automatically turning pro.

Some good ideas. Even though I got lucky to win a weekly share a couple times. (which I'm grateful for), the having to pick a +105 on a spread on some college game, kinda turns it into a lottery.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for my winnings, but I think spreading the weekly wealth around will help the site's activity.

Also, duplicate accounts need to be closely monitored. I saw two handles with basically the same name in like 82nd and 83rd place at one point.

I know I haven't posted as long as some of you other guys, but I do think I've made some contributions.

It shouldn't be fair for people to multi-account though, especially to some of the people that have been around a long time (not me yet) . How you fix that I have no frikking clue.

[ArunSh]

I laugh when I see the leaderboard. I almost never recognize any make at all if any.

They just mass sign up and take every combination of a sub set of games

I wonder if this does happen - whether in the old contest or new one. Basically if someone has enough ghost accounts, in a set of six games just pick every combination. Assuming they had enough accounts (32 in old contest, 64 in new one) - they could ensure that they would have a 6-0 entry every week.

Seems unlikely that this is being done - way too much trouble and too many accounts for such a small benefit (while this might ensure you have a 6-0 entry every week, ensuring you can have any of these accounts finish near the top at the end is another thing!). But the fact that there were so many more entries this year than past years does make one worry that stuff like that might be going on.

As usual, those who are playing by the rules are the ones who get hurt by this is the sad thing. So whatever is necessary to crack down on multi-accounters sucking prizes from legitimate folks (like the poker panama crew), should be done - whatever the cost!

[Optional]

It shouldn't be fair for people to multi-account though, especially to some of the people that have been around a long time (not me yet) . How you fix that I have no frikking clue.

So many hours of staff time went into trying to police it this year too.

They did a lot better than some of us feared in policing it. But there has to be a better way for next year.

Tough to come up with a foolproof system when we want to see the contest bring in new blood to the site as well though.

[rickie65]

Before the Contest:
I was new to sports betting and outside the semi-annual trips to Vegas to place a few bets, I was a newbie.
*Would have I paid $100 to play in this contest? NO
*Would I pay a $100 to be a pro, after being in the contest? YES

Yeah, you wouldn’t be here now, because you’re basically a fuk’in non pro leech who wants something for nothing! All of us made a $100 donation to turn pro and it’s because of cheap broke dik fuks like you, who ruin the contests for legitimate SBR Pros who’ve supported and contributed to the site. At some point you gotta stop being a fuk mooch and get in the game for real.

Jeezuz Jammer give the guy a break. He finds the site, starts checking it out and seems to like it and may or may not ever go pro but AHole responses like yours might turn more people away then the $100 to go pro. The idea is to get more pros here not push them away. How many of us actually went pro as soon as we found the site?

[hawkeye 16]

So many hours of staff time went into trying to police it this year too.
They did a lot better than some of us feared in policing it. But there has to be a better way for next year.
Tough to come up with a foolproof system when we want to see the contest bring in new blood to the site as well though.

It's kind of a "damned if you do, and damned if you don't situation." I've definitely enjoyed my couple years of posting here. I've lurked on this forum and the RX (back in the day), since the early years of offshore. I just never posted before the last couple years or so. The BTP contest made me go Pro and post once in awhile. We could use some new blood though, but good quality posters. I'll let you guys try and figure it out.

[Vortexx00]

Love the contest SBR. Much better then BTP. Only thing I would like to see is Non-Pros getting no cash at all for Weekly or Halftime prizes. They just win points or freeplays. And make the deadline end of week 8 to become Pro. Also maybe add a 3x pick. That would make it very interesting imo.

[seaborneq]

6-0, 5-0-1, 5-1, maybe 4-2 should win betpoints or cash every week if a guest handicapper(BTP concept) is used and doesn't go 6-0. Eliminate any parts of the contest that requires hitting all of your picks to win anything, I went 6-0 three consecutive weeks and had very little to show for it. Very little. Couldn't even break the top 10 in ANY of those weeks. Unacceptable. Make it so that a 6-0 week means winning something big!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise let's just cap for fun.

[captrobey]

I hated this new contest . I loved BTP because you had a chance to win something every week. And if you went 5 -0 and the prick went 4-0 you could win a lot of points. Every year i got some points. I got no points this year . I did not even bother after the first couple of weeks. BTP was one of the reasons i re-upped as a Pro every year.

[ArunSh]

6-0, 5-0-1, 5-1, maybe 4-2 should win betpoints or cash every week if a guest handicapper(BTP concept) is used and doesn't go 6-0. Eliminate any parts of the contest that requires hitting all of your picks to win anything, I went 6-0 three consecutive weeks and had very little to show for it. Very little. Couldn't even break the top 10 in ANY of those weeks. Unacceptable. Make it so that a 6-0 week means winning something big!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise let's just cap for fun.

Going 6-0 three weeks in a row got you very little? Jeez! That's depressing to hear. I haven't gone 6-0 ever (or 5-0 in past years) lol. I'd be ecstatic to do it once, much less three weeks in a row! But to hear you get very little for it probably because you didn't pick a plus unit bet - ugh!

Yes BTP type format please, even if it's Beat the Bag or Beat the Boss or Beat the Sauce or heck Beat Drew! Just beating someone haha!

[seaborneq]

Going 6-0 three weeks in a row got you very little? Jeez! That's depressing to hear. I haven't gone 6-0 ever (or 5-0 in past years) lol. I'd be ecstatic to do it once, much less three weeks in a row! But to hear you get very little for it probably because you didn't pick a plus unit bet - ugh!

Yes BTP type format please, even if it's Beat the Bag or Beat the Boss or Beat the Sauce or heck Beat Drew! Just beating someone haha!

There has to be an end goal of winning something. Going 6-0 should have meant something to anyone who did. It didn't. Just blah blah here's a cookie. It's like winning the lottery and getting 5 bucks. No contest can withstand that for a prolonged time.

[pabonaparte]

A format that gives points prizes to more people each week. When a lot of people win points each week, it also drives other forum activity 7 days a week during football season.

Something that keeps players interested after 1 loss.

Base it on Action Points instead of units so there is no requirement to pick a +odds selection to have a chance of winning the week.

Bigger prize at end.

No cash prizes at all for non-pros, just points.

I like this idea. However, since there is a hard 3k cap on betpoints that aren't useless (if you are a non-pro), that cap should be waived on a case-by-case basis for the winners of Pick 6 weekly prizes. So if a prize is 4000 betpoints, you (as a non-pro) get to keep all of them - but only if you submit a PRO application within 7 days.

If non-pros with big betpoint balances have their excess points removed manually by an admin, my idea should be viable.

[pabonaparte]

There has to be an end goal of winning something. Going 6-0 should have meant something to anyone who did. It didn't. Just blah blah here's a cookie. It's like winning the lottery and getting 5 bucks. No contest can withstand that for a prolonged time.

Disagree with this.

It's competition against several hundred players, not against a bookmaker. If you want more than a cookie for going 6-0, you should deposit to Pinnacle or 5Dimes and try to beat them. You are confusing a free contest with real life gambling.