Bitcoin Forum

Is it possible to set one up? Everyone put in 1 BTC, and pick a winner?

there already a few of them afaik

an unregulated lottery would normally be something i would generally avoid, because i couldn't know for sure how many tickets were actually sold and at a minimum, the odds of winning would change as a result

but a lottery that uses a single receiving address per lottery draw means the bitcoin blockchain shows how many tickets were bought.  additionally, the proof of payment to the winner also appears in the blockchain.

assuming that the method of picking the winner(s) is based on a random event bitcoin becomes an awesome platform for running a lottery.

there are two problems though.  one is that the amount wagered is controlled by the lottery operator until it gets paid out.  maybe when these amounts get larger lottery operators will use some type of escrow.

the second problem is that this lottery requires the payout be sent to the originating address.  this means tickets should only be bought with funds sent from a bitcoin client.  if an ewallet service such as mybitcoin or instawallet even are used, someone else other than the ticket buyer will get the winning payout.

bitlotto is a monthly lottery that operates with full wager transparency as described above.  it keeps 1% of the amounts wagered (1% rake) and pays out 99%.  the algorithm ensures that there is at least one winner each month.  the draw is based on numbers from a national lottery.

btclottery is a set of weekly lotteries also with full wager transparency.  to win a certain number of numbers must match, depending on which lottery game was played.  it keeps 2% of the amounts wagered (2% rake) and pays out 98%.  the algorithms don't necessarily result in a winner, so each week the amount could rollover to a larger lottery size the following week(s).

Biggest problem is the owner can win himself on every draw and it would be impossible to know.

Wrong.

The neatest thing about BitLotto is that absolutely no regulation or checks are needed to prevent cheating by me. It's *impossible*! I'd have to actually alter the Bitcoin blockchain! Good luck with that!
-tickets are bought before the draw - each one has a unique hash - can't change it
-address for the draw can be looked up -eg blockexplorer
-number of entries can not be faked
-each ticket will have an address of who sent it
-AFTER the tickets are in, the draw is done using a hash of block data and Mega Millions numbers
-impossible to manipulate to get a certain person to win
-payments can only go to the EXACT same address that sent the ticket
-payments can be looked up to see if I paid

Even *IF* I played one day it would be impossible to help myself win. I have the exact same odds as everyone else. No government regulations required! I can't cheat. The most I could do is not pay or pay to the wrong person. I'd be crazy to do that as everyone would know right away and BitLotto would be over. It's in my best interest to keep paying so I can take the 1% as LONG TERM it's better for me.

IF I ever did steal. (And everyone would know it right away!) I welcome the authorities to arrest me for I have stolen and committed a crime. I'll never be able to cheat though even if I wanted to.

If you can think of any way, that if I play, I somehow have a better chance at winning I'd love to hear it!

No one would play the bitcoin lottery because there's such a low chance of winning.
The only reason people play the "real" (real in quotes) lottery is because they help fund schools.

My odds are the exact same as raffles. Not like national lotteries 1 out 30 million or so but about 1 in 150. Pretty much 1 out of however many tickets. I can guarantee a winner every month even if only 5 people play.