Poll- Who would pay for membership to keep the forum open?

[tezzadiver]

I`ll start with a resounding yes.

[tezzadiver]

Why would I pay? Because this forum has been an amazing continuous source of valuable information for me and I`d hate to see it go.

Secondly, It would keep most of the trolls and spammers off, with a good base of professional players sharing knowledge.

Thirdly, Why not give something back to a site that has given us so much? A small price to pay for the information I`ve garnered.

Please feel free to put your thoughts on this in replies.

[Grant2600]

I'd definitely pay.

It's a real shame that the forums are closing , I am just a beginner card counter and joining this site not too long ago really boosted my motivation, not to mention the brilliant people here on the site. This forum has been one of the few websites I have been able to get good answers from, however I understand and respect the reasons for the site closing, and hope that we as a community are able to find another good site that we are able to hop over to so we can all keep in touch.

[aslan]

I'd like to have a site, but not necessarily this one, unless someone other than Ken would run it. It seems obvious to me that Ken wishes to move on to other things, and I would not want to do anything to hold him back. If it could be handed over to others, fine. Or, if others could build their own similar website, fine. Maybe, Ken would be helpful in showing someone the ropes-- I can't speak for him.

It would be hard to find someone with as much character, dedication and professionalism as Ken, but then, there are many people of very high integrity, skill and knowledge right here on the board. I hope someone here sees operating a blackjack board in his or her future. I will be the first to subscribe.

[BJgenius007]

Membership is not the solution. The site will get less contents at higher cost. Most likely the site will head to a slow death because the paying members dry out eventually.

Right now blackjackinfo is the top Blackjack site on traffic because the fresh message board contents lure people in on daily or weekly basis. Once the message boards are gone, I doubt the static contents could do the same to the site. Ken did not take advantage of the current high traffic. He should sell more advertisements by joining Google AdSense to make this successful site more profitable for him, then hire staff to do all chores for him. Eventually all he needs to do is to supervise the right people who can have the same jobs done.

[KenSmith]

Originally Posted by BJgenius007

He should sell more advertisements by joining Google AdSense to make this successful site more profitable for him, then hire staff to do all chores for him. Eventually all he needs to do is to supervise the right people who can have the same jobs done.

Just so you and others considering using Google AdSense to support a message board, gambling theme sites and prohibited by the AdSense terms.

Profitability has never been the issue for me though. The site has been pretty successful in that regard, though the message boards never directly contributed much to that.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Originally Posted by KenSmith

Just so you and others considering using Google AdSense to support a message board, gambling theme sites and prohibited by the AdSense terms.

Profitability has never been the issue for me though. The site has been pretty successful in that regard, though the message boards never directly contributed much to that.

You are right about Adsense. Right know it is very tough to make money with Google Adsense. The only way right now is if you are a big box selling something or Wikipedia or if you are paying for Adwords. No more free organic traffic. I have been with Google from the start early 2002 back then we were getting 1 to 1 1/2 million hits per month. First it was Florida update 2003 that took us down and now we have Panda. Checks use to come by Fed Ex you know what that means. Today we are reduced to about 250,000 a month and peanuts.

[Most Interesting Man]

AdSense is there to create the illusion of making you money while Google is the one who collects. Sound familiar?

[WRX]

It doesn't seem that the amount of revenue that the site generates is the issue. Ken has pretty well said as much.

[BrianCP]

You can still make money with adsense through youtube....if you can make videos that get views. The most successful youtubers actually make a living through it, but that is only because they get a couple hundred thousand views a video or more.....and they up load videos at a minimum of once a week.