Good on you @littlescribe I did the same thing a little while ago. I resisted bots for so long and ultimately decided to try them out. I lost out the first few times, now I know what to look for to make my money back in terms of voting power.

Don't feel bad or guilty, you're just playing the game like everyone else is. Until the Steem developers fix this broken platform, bots are the only way to be seen and heard.