Rob,
I have enjoyed reading your posts.
I always thought that your target market, poker players, is a group that are not appreciative, have no value for money and do not want to put in any real work for reward. You appeared to have staffed up quite heavily with poker players which did sound off an alarm bell in my head.
Your typical customer is most probably not prepared to pay any kind of premium for customer service and the grief you received for putting on the generous $25,000 free roll, ooooops as a matter of goodwill you increased this to $31,000 which most people seemed to think that was the least you could do, left me at a loss for words. In fact, I would venture so far to say that those causing a fuss will not spend very much, if any amount, on your site.
Introducing a new online site in todays market is a tough challenge. You hit the nail on the head when you said you are paying people to do a job but you end up doing it yourself - just like getting a dog and then barking yourself! I hope that you can address this by getting your management team to step forwards to address the challenge you face. This is not a ride which can carry passengers.
My fingers are crossed since even with your business skills and personal wealth, you will need some luck.
Best regards
