An Interview with the LCB Network
LAS VEGAS, NV (The Spread) – Chances are that when you first started gambling, you sought out sites like WizardofOdds.com and WizardofVegas.com.
Bettors know that there’s more that goes into wagering on casino games and poker than just sitting down at a table and allowing luck to take over. Strategy, money management and, ironically, understanding the odds of winning are involved if you want to have sustained success and avoid the pitfalls that many gamblers stumble into when they don’t know what they’re doing.
That’s why sites like WizardofOdds (WOO) and WizardofVegas (WOV) were born. As Joshua Chan of the LCB Network tells us below, WOO is the oldest gambling advice sites that he knows that has the most authority within the betting industry. That’s why when the original owner of WOO and WOV was having financial troubles, the LCB Network reached out to ensure that WOO and WOV would continue to have its place among gambling advice sites.
But unlike many takeovers, the LCB Network wanted to keep the brain and the backbone behind WOO and WOV in place. They understood that without the original owner Mike “The Wizard” providing that same great content that he always has, the sites wouldn’t be what they are today. So the LCB Network sought to keep Mike in place while improving the site’s functionality and reach (i.e. less clutter and more user-friendly interfaces).
Below is our interview with Chan and the LCB Network on what was the motivation behind the purchase of WOO and WOV, why keeping Mike in place was important, and what the immediate plans are for improving the sites.
The Spread: What was the motivation to purchase?
JC: WizardofOdds.com (WOO) is the oldest gambling advice site I know of and has the most authority within the industry. When I started gambling online I used the site as a guide to the popular casino games like Blackjack and Video Poker on how to maximize the odds of winning, so when we noticed on the WizardofVegas.com (WOV) forums that Mike (the wizard) the previous owner of the site was having financial troubles I emailed him to enquire if he would consider selling. The idea being that with a site with that much history and great content that it would be a great addition to our network, we could also use some of our online gambling expertise to improve the sites even further.
The Spread: Has the transition of Wizardofodds.com and Wizardofvegas.com gone smoothly?
JC: While negotiating the purchase of the sites, we met with Mike many times and one of the conditions he had was at least a three-year contract to continue to work full time on the content mainly on WOO. We already had in mind to keep Mike on as he is the wizard! So with Mike still creating 95% of the content it has been a very smooth transition as we have been able to focus on improving the backend with no interruption to the normal operation of the site.
Some of the members at WOV had concerns that everything would change and the site would be cluttered with banners, but we have shown them that will not be the case and have already removed the largest banners on the site and are working on making it mobile friendly as 40% of the visitors are on mobile.
The Spread: Were there any unexpected challenges taking possession of such a respected brand?
JC: Luckily nothing in the first two and half months, it has been smooth sailing and Mike has been a pleasure to work with as well as the previous developers and Mikes right hand man JB who creates the free games on the sites.
The Spread: Do you have any changes planned for the site?
JC: We have plenty! We are working on organizing the content so it is easier to find all pages on each subject, we will launch a blackjack sub home page this week. We are also re-designing WOV to be more modern and mobile friendly. We have a new logo for WOO that we took to the forum to get feedback which will go with a lighter version of the site we are working on. We also have plans to expand the smaller two sites that came with the sale, Lasapuestas.mx and Wizardofmacau.com. And much more but first things first.
The Spread: What will be Michael Shackleford’s role under the new ownership?
JC: He is primary content creator for WOO and what this means is more content will be published by Mike as he can now focus all his time on his real passion rather than managing the sites, I know he sleeps much more soundly now.
The Spread: What does the future hold for Wizardofodds.com and Wizardofvegas.com?
JC: The future of the sites are now guaranteed to be long and fruitful one, with more quality content than ever before and more hands improving the sites.
The Spread: Does the LCB network have any new acquisitions coming in the near future?
JC: The network also purchased GamesAndCasino.com this year and we are rebuilding it as well as being in the middle of a total rebuild of LatestCasinoBonuses.com so we do not have many more resources to spare but that being said we are always interested in purchasing quality sites but nothing is currently in the pipeline.
For more information about WOO and WOV, please check out their websites at WizardofOdds and WizardofVegas. There you can find more background on Mike, get information and advice when it comes to gambling, as well as use the site’s gambling calculators to help improve your odds of winning.