![YOU.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmbeebZPBEvRdYR2MGXRT2gyu8ShjunmTLECDoDNokhAj5)

<br>Even before SteemHunt launched their SteemHunt token offering I wrote about them as a potential way to [earn extra Steem](https://steemit.com/steemit/@moneyhacks/noobs-don-t-hang-onto-your-steem-power-delegate-it) and also suggested small Steemit accounts would do better delegating and using a service like this rather than trying to earn SBD via curation rewards, but this has all changed.

In a **GENIUS** move the crew over at SteemHunt began the [process](https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemhunt/announcing-hunt-token-airdrops-for-steemians-smart-media-token-project) of opening up the potential for an SMT later in the year and people began delegating in huge numbers. 

The reward for delegating SP was a split of the daily SteemHunt Tokens on offer.

So just until a few days ago, there were still opportunities to earn some SteemHunt Tokens for even small delegations but then Steemit Inc dropped over 1 Million SP on SteemHunt and the delegation opportunities have now dried up.

But you can still earn SteemHunt Tokens for participating in the community, like listing product hunts, reviewing existing ones or even upvoting other SteemHunt's via their platform.

## Gaming SteemHunt

<br>So, up to a few days ago SteemHunt was being 'gamed' for the huge upvote rewards, you'd receive for being at the top of the SteemHunt heap. People were using bots to upvote themselves and often at the last minute.

I tried a few Steemhunt's to test out my theory and although making it to 3rd place one day I thought it wasn't too bad until I came back a few hours later and I'd been shuffled down to 10th place.

Something smelt fishy.

So I investigated it a little further and it appeared a lot of the upvotes and even posts were coming in over the final few hours.

At first, I thought this was because the community was rallying around SteemHunt, but it didn't take long to realize there was a strategy being played out.

Of course, I wanted to see how far they'd go, so I wasted a lot on upvotes myself to get near the top of the heap and then had a plan to upvote with a bot in the last few minutes.

To my surprise, there was already another well know SteemHunter waiting for his Bot upvote to realize a few hours later. Damn, they were more organized than I thought.

Fortunately, they didn't realize I too was playing their game and managed to jag the Number 1 SteemHunt for the day.

Now before you go off blowing Steam about how unfair this was, most of the top 10 for that day had used a bot to upvote their SteemHunt.

I was just leveling the playing field.

It worked, and fortunately, this maneuver also flagged this 'Gaming' issue to Admin who had previously turned a blind eye to the issue.

Yes, it was an issue and was actually hurting the platform, so I'm glad it has gone, but unfortunately, SteemHunt is still being 'gamed'.

## The New SteemHunt Game

<br>The new way SteemHunt is being gamed is seemingly through a legit voting circle of high profile Steemians, and once a hunt quickly passes the $10 mark, it's out of the reach of most other SteemHunters. (Ony 5% of Steemians are actually Minnows or higher)

Now I haven't looked into this latest 'game' a great deal but when the same accounts keep popping up near the top of the SteemHunt list with the same high voting values it's a sure sign something is amiss. Plus, one of those people constantly near the top is also the same one I encountered sniping SteemHunt's with bot votes.

And with a huge upvote of over $200 for the Number 1 SteemHunt, it's well worth getting even more organized.

Sadly, for the people who are genuinely trying to support the platform with content, their voice will never be heard.

It feels like the DTube upvote rush all over again but it doesn't need to be like this.

## Fixing SteemHunt

<br>Now SteemHunt is a great idea, and is actually working better than the platform it was based on.  [ProductHunt](https://www.producthunt.com) on average gets only 10-20 product hunts per day whereas [SteemHunt.com](https://steemhunt.com) is getting well over 100 Hunts per day.

#### SteemHunt is a HUGE Success!

<br>But that said when people keep adding Product Hunts and getting no return for it, they'll eventually lose interest and move on.

And right now if you don't rank in the Top 30 hunts you might as well not bother as the reward distribution is heavy skewed to the Top.

Here are the SteemHunt upvote values from last night

1 - $222.12
10 - $37.41
20 - $5.85
30 - $1.17

So if you were in positions 30-130 you might as well not bother and rather look to a site like [BlockDeals.org](https://blockdeals.org/) were you can earn at least 50 cents per post even with their low vote value.

But it doesn't need to be this way.

SteemHunt needs to learn from the lessons of DTube, and begin distributing their votes more evenly so 100th place still gets a moderate reward for their efforts.

Or even bump the winner of the previous nights SteemHunt down the list to ensure others can rise to the top occasionally.

Otherwise, greed will take over and people will just get more organized. In fact, I'd be surprised if there isn't already a SteemHunt discord group planning how they'll support each other to 'Game' SteemHunt in a new way.

Money and greed aren't mutually exclusive.

## The Challenge

<br>So far the **SteemHunt Team** has made all the right moves and appears to be adapting quickly to the threats of gaming the Hunt list.

Although I even noticed low quality (under 80 word) posts reaping the high rewards, so the mods need to check more diligently before approving SteemHunts.

Even if you keep changing the goal posts people will always find a way to game the system, especially with a huge incentive of over $200.

However, if you lower the top incentive, suddenly it's no longer a game when you're only fighting for a few extra dollars by leaping up a spot on the list. Then people might start acting like a community and upvoting other quality SteemHunt's rather than trying to game it for themselves.

And personally I'd still try for a top vote worth $30 knowing that even at position 100 I'd still likely jag $5 for my efforts, wouldn't you?

That way you'd get 100 people spreading good vibes about SteemHunt rather than 80 people telling others to not bother because it's being gamed.

So hopefully the SteemHunt Admin continue to press forward with this amazing idea and keep adapting to the 'gaming' threats before the whales discover how easy it is for them to get free money on this platform.

Only time will tell, and if this is the first time you've heard of SteemHunt, then get on board and start collecting a few SteemHunt Tokens today! 

But if you aren't a dolphin or higher, it might not be the best use of your time unless you have a decent curation circle willing to upvote your hunts.

<sub>Image: Pixabay</sub>