Initial impressions are extremely important, and if yesterday's experience in the $25 NHC Qualifier on Derby Wars.com is any indication, I'm declaring this nascent operator the big winner among online contest sites.
The technology behind the site appears top notch and I found to be user friendly. Aside from its far-sleeker appearance than otherwise functional venues such as NHC Qualify.com and Horse Tourneys.com, Derby Wars.com does some little things that I found helpful. Instead of having to shuffle back and forth between pages, most of the contest features I need to access are on one page. The ability to change on the fly with my selections, view my ultimate picks and outcomes, and see the leaderboard all on one screen was extremely helpful. In addition, the player chat feature can be interesting to follow and makes for a more-personal experience than other sites.
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| Where it all happens the next three Friday nights! |
In terms of the contest flow, I loved that the 12 races moved rather quickly -- especially appealing for a time-constrained guy like me who appreciates that the contest wrapped up in 2 hours, 15 minutes. Quick decision-making was a fresh break, too, from some contests that take 4+ hours to get through, or where the organizers pick two tracks with races going off almost concurrently. The flow of Friday's contest was a huge plus, in my consideration.
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