Hey guys,

Myself (co-creator of Scrap.TF and Marketplace.TF) and Sneeza (the creator of TF2Outpost) collectively own Welp, LLC. You may know (well, you probably don't) Welp as the creators of SweetStakes.tf. Outside of that, I also co-own Scrap.TF, which is one of (if not the) most successful websites with regards to TF2.

Previously, SweetStakes.tf has sponsored the production crew of the i55 TFTV coverage, and we're looking forward to working with the competitive community further.

Welp has just acquired Saloon.tf from Cherry, and we're very optimistic about where we think we can take Saloon, both in terms of the site's growth but also how we can help grow the TF2 competitive scene into something truly great.

So what changes?

Immediately, nothing. All existing staff, moderators, etc. will (should they so choose) maintain their positions on Saloon. Cherry will be taking an advisory role for as long as he likes. We have a shortlist of improvements we want to make to the website, but they're all UX improvements, we don't have any immediate large structural changes planned.

Some changes I can confirm are related to how you deposit, bet and withdraw items (using the Sweetstakes item deposit system), as well as a more accurate pricing model for items (I understand there are some issues presently with item prices being inaccurate; we have plans to change this). We also plan to support unusual items in future.

Edit: to clarify, the "sweetstakes system" refers to how items are deposited, not the actual sweetstakes betting. You'll still bet the same as before!

Eventually, we plan to take a fee (~5%) from certain matches, but rest assured that this won't just go straight into our pockets. Sponsorships, fundraisers, etc. are all things we plan to support with Saloon. If you thought the i55 production was spot-on, let's see what we can do next year.

If you have any questions, feel free to post here. I'll try to answer whatever I can, within reason.

Thanks, Geel9