Personally, despite being aware of their bad reputation, I gave the site a try, but with certain limitations, and solely for entertainment purposes. I managed to withdraw my funds, but it's not something I prefer to use consistently.
You got really lucky to be honest with you. Am guessing that you cleverly stuck to small amounts since they usually scam big amounts from their customers based on all the scam accusations against them.
Bitcointalk as a forum is not advertised anywhere, so several people out there do not have the slightest idea that such a forum exists, most who join this days is either through research or someone recommended this forum to them directly.
That's true. I learnt about this forum myself several years though I wish I learnt about it way back in 2009.