'Consultation over the Gambling Introductory Offer Loopholes board' blog discussion

woodcroft

Mr The Wig. I think you missed my slightly sarcastic winky smilie

Withdrawals coming in right now from 770's weekend reload. If people are happy to use a small proportion of their total winnings with this lot, accepting the risk:reward, then what is the problem.

People are encouraged to search any bookie before diving in, that's right there early in the introductory sticky.

Super_Dash

hamskdakamskbreadnjamsk wrote: »

My own experience looking back I feel was a negative one, and I wouldn't (and don't) advise any of my friends to get into this.

I don't think some of the users who do this casually can understand what this game does to users who do it compulsively. You are going to get a lot more people than you think who start off doing it for a bit of extra money and end up knee deep in casino bonuses.. EV or not it can have serious repercussions and as a result I don't advise my close ones to get into it, i'd feel a duty to do some type of monitoring.

A word about the reported posts. These issues wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that once you report something risky and its taken down, people take it upon themselves to re-post said content.

The way to save this board is to have at least one member of staff monitoring it at all times and i'm not sure if thats feasible.

JezR

Can we make sure spread betting posts are re-directed to the Savings and Investment board away from GIOL in future. Seems far more suitable as these are regulated by the Financial Services Authority and carry risk inappropriate to GIOL.

darkniven

Risk is everywhere on this site. It is how you mitigate the risk that matters and this website and forum do that very well in the clear explanations of how to approach all offers mentioned (and I'm talking offers across the scope of MSE here, not just GIOL).

For example, obtaining a credit card for balance transfers has risk, the risk being that the people involved may not use the card for a balance transfer, may spend on the card during the promotional period, or may just keep the card after the offer period, spend on it and add to their debt. Yet the site/forum mitigates this risk by being very clear about the risks involved and what to do about them.

There is no reason why this board can not continue in the same spirit of the site and forum; it just needs the application of some common sense and KISS methodology.

With each offer posted, ensure that there is a clear, concise explanation of how to partake of the offer, as well as the risks involved. This could be "policed" by only allowing posts to be shown after moderation to ensure that this information was included. Having been a lurker on the boards for a long time now (I'm, quite frankly, not a very good poster!) I know that the experience and enthusiasm is there to enable this - I'd be happy to throw my oar in, as would many others.

I've found this board to be more friendly, useful and with less of a "money snobbery" attitude (I'm truly fearful of posting of my mortgage worries on that board) and it would be a shame to lose this.

Rebrand, rethink and revamp. It's not the easiest option, but you would have a lot of support & help available to you, and you would retain the goodwill of the people who have been using this particular board to their benefit for a long while now.

JimmyTheWig

woodcroft wrote: »

Mr The Wig. I think you missed my slightly sarcastic winky smilie

You are right, Mr Croft, so I did.
The (worrying) trouble was what you wrote was too much like the things others are saying and meaning it!

Roland_Flagg

Only use offers from well know UK and Euro bookmakers, the kind that appear on Oddschecker website.
Any other offers will be closed by mods.
There are other forums available for riskier ways of making money from matched betting,
but that is not the job of this forum.

JimmyTheWig

darkniven wrote: »

This could be "policed" by only allowing posts to be shown after moderation to ensure that this information was included.

Do you think that this would be achievable with a group of volunteers? Every post to be moderated, or just every thread?

I'd like to think that trusted volunteers could do it, but I don't know. If not, I can't see it happening. I can't see MSE putting more money into this board at the expense of the true Money boards.

slgkid

Havent read the rest of the board but for the purposes of the "consultation" rather than a general discussion, here are my two pennies worth. There are enough warnings in the stickys in the GIOL board about this being prone to human error. Stoozing, ebaying, financial investment, buying things you dont need on grabbits are all prone to human error therefore having risk of losing money. I have never done matched betting but am working my way though the mass of information available. If you do not understand it then there is a risk. Is this not the ethos behind MSE? Read, understand, apply, have more money in your pocket at the expense of aggressively marketed "deals". I vote to keep this area of the forum alive and kicking.

darkniven

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Do you think that this would be achievable with a group of volunteers? Every post to be moderated, or just every thread?

I'd like to think that trusted volunteers could do it, but I don't know. If not, I can't see it happening. I can't see MSE putting more money into this board at the expense of the true Money boards.

I would envisage the initial post that started off the thread be subject to such moderation. If the information is valid and contains method and risk then sticky it at the top of the thread. The rest of the thread would then stay open to posts with moderation consistent with the other boards in place (removal due to abuse, spam, off-topic discussions etc).

The biggest problem is the one you've highlighted - could this be done by a group of volunteers? They'd have to be versed in MB theory/practice to ensure things were risk free. Plus have the time to keep on top of the workload.

I have to agree that, without people willing to help out in such a way, there isn't much hope for the board.

Another problem would be potential delays in offers reaching the board due to the moderation required. But that would have to be an acceptable cost.

Mat_P

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I'd like to think that trusted volunteers could do it, but I don't know. If not, I can't see it happening. I can't see MSE putting more money into this board at the expense of the true Money boards.

Would you like the same trusted stars of the board who ramped PRS or different ones ?