Thanks Shari,
Most of what I was going to say you have covered already but I will give my take too.
After having a conference call with a group of people from the new management I am feeling far more comfortable about what they have planned, and working here.
1) Who now owns SBR?
No one wants us mods to discuss site ownership. We have not been told much more than the corporate name anyway, but I can share this much;
They are a legit looking corporation that appears quite large and is easily researched online. There are offices in both Europe and Nth America. They tell me they have a very large number of gambling website properties in their portfolio ranging across poker, casino and sportsbetting. Most of this is not USA focused at all.
I was told the parent company is prepared to invest a lot of money to ensure SBR's success.
More than 2 dozen new staff have been added to SBR's administration system, on top of the public moderators you already know. That's more than 30 staff being invested in for SBR. Just about all of these staff members also only found out about their new project around the same time we all did here. There is a steep learning curve going on, particularly in the hand over of the technical backend systems. Which is why it has felt a bit like a rudderless boat for the last month. We expect that to improve sharply in the next months.
The company expect big things and are willing to put in the money and resources to do it, is the main message about them communicated to me.
1a) Who still works here, doing what?
"SBR Forum" is a new person who is the main Admin contact. Problems with pro-memberships, prize payments and store orders and administrative issues should be directed to him. It's not my place to announce what his name is, but I'd guess he will introduce himself publicly at some point. He is overwhelmed with new things and systems to learn so please excuse any slow replies from him at the moment.
Shari is the forum mod manager. Security issues, complaints, anything to do with moderation policies can go to her.
LT Profits remains as the Contest Manager.
JOH remains as the Service Plays manager.
Spider was mostly assisting with contests and moderation. He is the main person PT has fallen upon for now.
I will be continuing to look after the Sportsbook & Industry and Bitcoin betting forums, assist with general moderation and do the complaint dispute resolution.
JJgold - no idea what his job is, clerking the files maybe? You'll have to ask him yourself if you want to know
We will also be getting one new moderator to fullfil the main Players Talk mod role that Hman was doing.
Mods all report to Shari. Shari and SBR Forum report to the new "boss" who's title is Editor-In-Chief. I doubt that he will become involved in day to day activity, but if you ever feel the need to reach out to someone above the rest of us public staff, you can email
forum@sportsbookreview.com for attention of the Editor-In-Chief.
2) Is SBR going to support USA Legal books only now?
The new owner has no connection to offshore and needs to draw a line under that aspect of the business to ensure that it does not negatively affect their deals with US states and licensed entities.
But we will still be helping with complaints about books from ANY mainstream regulated jurisdiction. USA, UK, Canada, Malta, Australia, Isle of Man, Curacao etc etc.
For people with problems with offshore books I will still be around and will do my best to help, or point people in the right direction, privately for now. But anything done officially on behalf of SBR will have to stop. I know that will disappoint some people, myself included, but the future is here and it's regulated. :\
3) Will my pro-membership still be valid?
The pro member system will stay and will be improved. A final decision has not been made on exactly what form it will take and it may take a few months before that does become clear. Deals need to be done before plans can be implemented.
The current tentative plan is to just blanket renew all pro members for a year until the system is in place.
4) What about Bitcoin?
SBR will still be supporting Bitcoin, have bitcoin info and offer help for new users, and use it for prizes. Will it be a store item like now? That is a decision that will be made before the store comes back online. No one knows or can guess that answer right now.
5) Are my points still worth anything?
Your Betpoints will be honored and will be worth at least their current value to pro members. I would not be happy to represent this company if that was not in their plans. They are not nickle and dime guys looking to save money at the edges. I am very confident this will happen even if it takes until next year to come to fruition. (which it very likely will)
6) How and when can I cash out my Betpoints in the SBR Store?
This is one I do not have much of an answer for right now. We will offer giftcards but that is the only item confirmed at this moment. Sport event tix were mentioned. I personally hope we can revamp and extend the sportsbook cash to everyone.
The store will not be back online before new year at this stage. Sorry I can't be more accurate than that right now. Best I can say is that it is seen as a key feature and it is planned to be be better than before.
7) SBR ratings and odds future?
All ratings will be reviewed one by one and re-ranked against the same subjective parameters. The hope is that SBR ratings will be seen across forumville as the best true and accurate ratings available once again. This is a huge job that requires a sportsbook expert to complete but it will be happening over the next couple of months.
The odds feed will be expanded and is planned to be the best free odds comparison service for each USA state available, in the way that we were the best free offshore odds compare service in the past. This can only happen as deals are done with each state and bookmaker so it will be an ongoing process over the next year or so.
8) Is moderation getting tougher?
Mods have been told too many touts and spammers are on the forum now. But there has been no specific instructions to change anything else. We have been told to keep the ship on an even course and do as we did before the changes.
But, key people who did most of the Players Talk modding like Genie and Hman are no longer with us, so you are now dealing with mods who are not used to watching Players Talk and dealing with the day to day matters. If you feel like one of us is getting anything wrong, please PM Shari so she can help get us all get on the same page ongoing. It will be a help if you do.
7) What else might be happening?
Larger and more exciting contest prizes. Probably a "bash" sooner than later. A lot more informational content for the site. Poker should come back way bigger and better than before soon
There is probably a few things I missed that were discussed but the main outcome for me was having learned enough to say all these things with some confidence they are all true.
I was losing a bit of faith in what was happening too, but now my enthusiasm and belief that SBR has a good future is returning. I hope this message helps do the same for you.
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Are we having a bowl contest this season?
Originally Posted by daneblazer
BiTeMe UsAdOj gave gauchojake 1 SBR Point(s) for this post.
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