Sell, Sell, SELL!
No banners for US players
Increasing moderation
Focus less on forum, more on line service and poker
JJgold in Vegas
John never had this vision when he first started SBR. At the time, he just wanted to have the best gambling related forum and cater to the offshore books, which he did very well for quite some time.
His plan was a good one. He built a clientel of players/posters, charged them $200 a year to be a "pro" and then also got affiliate kickbacks on their play. In return, he gave out SBR points and offered merchandise from the store that could be purchased with points only. Over time, he found his niche. SBR became the biggest online gambling forum.
All along, he was also getting money from offshore books for advertisement. So now, he's getting money from the players/posters ($200/year) and from the books (advertising, affiliate kickback)
This is the part I've been most critical of over the years as it is clear there is a major conflict of interest in regards to what this site was supposed to offer, being an advocate for the player. Even though the 2012 SBR Bash Sponsor, BetIslands, ended up screwing over a lot of SBR "pros". In fact, this was an eye opener and wake up call for John. Now, not only were offshore books risky for players, they were now risky for him.
But things changed elsewhere as well and John realized this. As the gaming industry landscape changed in the US, he realized he could potentially be sitting on his kids retirement if he played his cards right. Well, he's still playing his card and hoping things shake out a certain way.
And when they do, SBR is sold. And it will be sold to a person or company that has then wealth to get John that Yacht he's always dreamed about
What this means for the future of SBRforum? Probably not much. It seems to already have slimmed down quite a bit as they focus their resources elsewhere.
I do however expect more and more posters will turn to alternatives such as TinyChat and Facebook Chat. I think SBR has failed to keep up with this trend, even though they have a chat room, with minimal effort it could be a much better one. But they limited who could use it and then over moderated it and ran the entire bunch away. A group that was almost exclusively pro and were responsible for quite a few site hits. This angle I don't understand.
Congrats Johnny Boy
Looks like you'll be sailing the seas in no time
No banners for US players
Increasing moderation
Focus less on forum, more on line service and poker
JJgold in Vegas
John never had this vision when he first started SBR. At the time, he just wanted to have the best gambling related forum and cater to the offshore books, which he did very well for quite some time.
His plan was a good one. He built a clientel of players/posters, charged them $200 a year to be a "pro" and then also got affiliate kickbacks on their play. In return, he gave out SBR points and offered merchandise from the store that could be purchased with points only. Over time, he found his niche. SBR became the biggest online gambling forum.
All along, he was also getting money from offshore books for advertisement. So now, he's getting money from the players/posters ($200/year) and from the books (advertising, affiliate kickback)
This is the part I've been most critical of over the years as it is clear there is a major conflict of interest in regards to what this site was supposed to offer, being an advocate for the player. Even though the 2012 SBR Bash Sponsor, BetIslands, ended up screwing over a lot of SBR "pros". In fact, this was an eye opener and wake up call for John. Now, not only were offshore books risky for players, they were now risky for him.But things changed elsewhere as well and John realized this. As the gaming industry landscape changed in the US, he realized he could potentially be sitting on his kids retirement if he played his cards right. Well, he's still playing his card and hoping things shake out a certain way.
And when they do, SBR is sold. And it will be sold to a person or company that has then wealth to get John that Yacht he's always dreamed about
What this means for the future of SBRforum? Probably not much. It seems to already have slimmed down quite a bit as they focus their resources elsewhere.
I do however expect more and more posters will turn to alternatives such as TinyChat and Facebook Chat. I think SBR has failed to keep up with this trend, even though they have a chat room, with minimal effort it could be a much better one. But they limited who could use it and then over moderated it and ran the entire bunch away. A group that was almost exclusively pro and were responsible for quite a few site hits. This angle I don't understand.
Congrats Johnny Boy
Looks like you'll be sailing the seas in no time
Mayan, don't leave us hanging, guey. We need to know if we are in the culo pumping business or if we have migrated to pumping pussy. Import, Export or Importer/Exporter.
