2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Accounting

Our financial statements are prepared using the accrual method of accounting as generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the following entities:

Name of entity	State of Incorporation	Relationship
Black Ridge Oil and Gas, Inc.	Nevada	Parent
Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. (“BRAC”)	Delaware	Subsidiary(1)

⁽¹⁾ Wholly-owned subsidiary through October 10, 2017, the date of BRAC’s IPO, after which it was consolidated as a variable interest entity through August 9, 2019, the date of BRAC’s business combination. BRAC was renamed Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. (‘AESE”) on the date of its business combination and all references to the surviving entity following the business combination are hereafter referred to as such.

The Company had determined that AESE, following its IPO, was a variable interest entity (“VIE”) and that the Company was the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The Company determined that, due to the redemption feature associated with the IPO shares, that the IPO shareholders were indirectly protected from the operating expenses of BRAC and it had the power to direct the activities of BRAC through the date BRAC afforded the stockholders the opportunity to vote to approve the proposed business combination. Therefore, BRAC’s operations are included in the BROG’s consolidated financial statements herein through August 9 2019. BRAC’s IPO shareholders are reflected in our Consolidated Financial Statements as a non-controlling interest through BRAC’s business combination on August 9, 2019. Under guidance in ASC 810-10-05-8 (“Consolidation of VIEs”) the Company’s management has determined that BRAC, following its merger, should no longer be consolidated for financial statement purposes as the Company no longer had the power to direct the activities of BRAC. Following BRAC’s business combination, the Company’s investment in AESE is accounted for using the cost method as AESE no longer was considered a VIE and the Company now owned 12.4% of the outstanding common stock of AESE. All significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated in the preparation of these financial statements.

The parent company, BROG, and BRAC, for the period it was consolidated, are collectively referred to herein as the “Company” or “Black Ridge”. The Company’s headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota and substantially all of its operations are in the United States.

Reclassifications

In the current year, the income, expense and cash flows from BRAC during the period they were consolidated have been classified as discontinued operations. For comparative purposes amounts in the prior periods have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation. Additionally, the assets and liabilities from BRAC are shown on the balance sheet as assets and liabilities for discontinued operations.

Segment Reporting

FASB ASC 280-10-50 requires annual and interim reporting for an enterprise’s operating segments and related disclosures about its products, services, geographic areas and major customers. An operating segment is defined as a component of an enterprise that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and expenses, and about which separate financial information is regularly evaluated by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources. The Company operates as a single segment and will evaluate additional segment disclosure requirements as it expands its operations.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Environmental Liabilities

The Company was formerly a direct owner of assets in the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry is subject, by its nature, to environmental hazards and clean-up costs. At this time, management knows of no substantial losses from environmental accidents or events which would have a material effect on the Company.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash equivalents include money market accounts which have maturities of three months or less. For the purpose of the statements of cash flows, all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less are considered to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost plus accrued interest, which approximates market value. Cash equivalents on hand at December 31, 2019 and 2018 were $-0- and $2,312, respectively.

Restricted Cash and Securities held in Trust Account

The Company had $2,312 of cash equivalents and $141,304,995 of marketable securities on December 31, 2018 held in the Trust Account which was restricted for the benefit of the AESE’s IPO shareholders to be available for those shareholders in the event they elected to redeem their shares following an approved business combination.

Cash in Excess of FDIC Insured Limits

The Company maintains its cash in bank deposit accounts which, at times, may exceed federally insured limits. Accounts are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) up to $250,000 and $500,000, respectively, under current regulations. The Company had approximately $-0- and $1,119,770 in excess of FDIC and SIPC insured limits at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts.

Income Taxes

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities based on differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities using the enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to be recovered. The Company provides a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets for which it does not consider realization of such assets to be more likely than not.

On December 22, 2017 the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Tax Reform”) was signed into law. As a result of Tax Reform, the U.S. statutory rate was lowered from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018, among other changes. ASC Topic 740 requires companies to recognize the effect of tax law changes in the period of enactment; therefore, the Company was required to value its deferred tax assets and liabilities at the new rate. The SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 108”) to address the application of GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain effects of Tax Reform. The ultimate impact may differ from the provisional amount, possibly materially, as a result of additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions the Company has made, additional regulatory guidance that may be issued and actions the Company may take as a result of Tax Reform.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Under FASB ASC 820-10-05, the Financial Accounting Standards Board establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. This Statement reaffirms that fair value is the relevant measurement attribute. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements as reflected herein. The carrying amounts of cash, accounts payable and accrued expenses reported on the balance sheets are estimated by management to approximate fair value primarily due to the short-term nature of the instruments. The Company had no items that required fair value measurement on a recurring basis.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives of three to seven years. Expenditures for replacements, renewals, and betterments are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred. Long-lived assets are evaluated for impairment to determine if current circumstances and market conditions indicate the carrying amount may not be recoverable. The Company has not recognized any impairment losses on long-lived assets related to continuing operations. Depreciation expense was $872 and $9,472 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Revenue Concentration

All of the Company’s revenue earned came from management fees earned through its management services agreement with BRAC, which ceased as of December 31, 2019.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes management fee income as services are provided.

Basic and Diluted Earnings (Loss) Per Share

Basic earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”) are computed by dividing net income (the numerator) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period (the denominator). Diluted EPS is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares and potential common shares outstanding (if dilutive) during each period. Potential common shares include stock options, warrants and restricted stock. The number of potential common shares outstanding relating to stock options, warrants and restricted stock is computed using the treasury stock method.

The reconciliation of the denominators used to calculate basic EPS and diluted EPS for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018
Weighted average common shares outstanding – basic		1,600,484		1,600,484
Plus: Potentially dilutive common shares:
Stock options and warrants		862		–
Weighted average common shares outstanding – diluted		1,601,346		1,600,484

For 2019 and 2018, potential dilutive securities had an anti-dilutive effect and were not included in the calculation of diluted net loss per common share. Stock options and warrants excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS because their effect was anti-dilutive were 34,204 and 37,245 of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

Under FASB ASC 718-10-30-2, all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, are to be recognized in the income statement based on their fair values. Pro forma disclosure is no longer an alternative. Amortization of the fair values of stock options issued for services and compensation totaled $100,526 and $310,731 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The fair values of stock options were determined using the Black-Scholes options pricing model and an effective term of 6 to 6.5 years based on the weighted average of the vesting periods and the stated term of the option grants and the discount rate on 5 to 7 year U.S. Treasury securities at the grant date and are being amortized over the related implied service term, or vesting period.

Uncertain Tax Positions

In accordance with ASC 740, “Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”), the Company recognizes the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be capable of withstanding examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. These standards prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. These standards also provide guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition.

Various taxing authorities can periodically audit the Company’s income tax returns. These audits include questions regarding the Company’s tax filing positions, including the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income to various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposures connected with these various tax filing positions, including state and local taxes, the Company records allowances for probable exposures. A number of years may elapse before a particular matter, for which an allowance has been established, is audited and fully resolved. The Company has not yet undergone an examination by any taxing authorities.

The assessment of the Company’s tax position relies on the judgment of management to estimate the exposures associated with the Company’s various filing positions.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") that are adopted by the Company as of the specified effective date. If not discussed, management believes that the impact of recently issued standards, which are not yet effective, will not have a material impact on the Company's financial statements upon adoption.

In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases. The amendments in ASU 2018-10 provide additional clarification and implementation guidance on certain aspects of the previously issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (“ASU 2016-02”) and have the same effective and transition requirements as ASU 2016-02. Upon the effective date, ASU 2018-10 will supersede the current lease guidance in ASC Topic 840, Leases. Under the new guidance, lessees will be required to recognize for all leases, with the exception of short-term leases, a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis. Concurrently, lessees will be required to recognize a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. ASU 2018-10 is effective for private companies and emerging growth public companies for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The guidance is required to be applied using a modified retrospective transition approach for leases existing at, or entered into after, the beginning of the earliest comparative periods presented in the financial statements. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2019, and the standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s combined financial statements and related disclosures.