Bitcoin Forum

So, let's discuss and see the result, it looks like they should be really popular with bitcoin... There are really lot of them on this forum and it looks like it is a longterm trend.

What is it?

It's like a pyramid scheme where every participant send their money awaiting that the amount sent will return twice and he isn't last in the waiting line, so somebody else can add something to the pot...
Example:
User 1 sends in 0.25 BTC; 0.25 BTC remains in pot
User 2 sends in 0.5 BTC; User 1 receives 0.5 BTC; 0.25 BTC remains in pot
User 3 sends in 0.75 BTC; User 2 receives 1 BTC; 0 BTC remains in pot
ETC.

The rules may vary :).

For me, it has the same risks as playing on market... I made merely equal profit on Mtgox and some DT games here....

Please explain what this is.

Sure, now you can read quick explanation of this scheme in the first message.

Me, personally, I don't like any pyramids at all, but for a moment, I can't stop myself to play with it as far as I see that one of them or another is good enough to multiply my bit-savings.
I don't like this trend because it may involve tons of frauds and, generally speaking, gaming and gambling should be always limited, especially in the internet (because of children)...

A Bloody Business

 No, nothing criminal about it... You just have to chose the right moment to get in, if you don't have confidence in something, you always could stay away. I made up only 8 BTC in past 2 days and this is really good start for me to play with.

So long as everyone knows exactly what it is, I seen it as no different to any other form of gambling. That's what it is really, just gambling

Just as is implied, they are great if you understand game mechanics and get in early enough to get a payout.  Otherwise you lose it all and it sucks.  There really is no easier way to double your early mining earnings though.

There are still nobody to hate them.... I really wonder why, it should be some people who lost something somehow....

I've probably lost more than I've won on them, but it's nice gambling regardless.

I believe all threads promoting them on this forum should be removed. And any listing of such "schemes" should be illegal. The reason....

Someone dared to compare pyramids to gambling here, nothing could be further from the truth. As someone who has been working with slot machine development, i can tell you the simple difference: On a gambling device the player has exactly the same chance of hitting big regardless of: if it's on an early play, or if it happens after 1million plays. In contrast to a pyramid scheme: chance of getting something out depends on how early you got in.

Therefore a pyramid scheme does not offer same chance to everyone, something gambling does.

Needless to say, from a legal point of view pyramids are no less illegal than silkroad, we really don't need any more of that it makes Bitcoin seem unserious and illegal.

 So, you know, the point is that in games like DT with a pure pyramidal scheme (at the moment there are plenty of them with more randomization) you just have to predict how long it could be profitable enough to return your money... It's just like hippodrome at my point of view...
 I lost much more money on gambling... I even have impression that there are no way to win anything in casino... Here, judging on my own experience, I have a chance at least...

What happens if user #1 sends 5 BTC and user #2 just 0.25?

Pot would be 5.25, but user #1 should get 2 x 5 = 10 BTC back.

Does this mean the creator of the game loses 4.75 BTC then?

Wouldn't it be quite easy to scam the Game-creator like that if you send two transactions from different addresses really, really quick after another?

Seems fine to me!

As long as there is an upper limit, it could be an interesting gamble. However, the risk to lose everything should make people aware of betting too high. The waiting list gets longer and longer though and at some point people just stop caring. To keep it sustainable, you would need like a 1/2 chance that you actually get paid or are skipped. Or maybe on a payment, the next person that will get paid is randomly selected (until enough btc is collected, he will get paid, and another random person will be selected). But that would make it more like a lottery, with the choice of amount you want to win...

As long as they are clear on how it works and the risks involved, i don't mind them; though i guess forbidding such games would be like childproofing a stove, an attempt to keep people that don't know better safe from getting harmed with somthing obviously dangerous

I heard through the bitvine (made that up) that Donald Trump is endorsing a new MLM where the downline is paid with...wait for it...bitcoins. Notice that Double Trouble and Donald Trump have the same initials.

Here's my "for real" take on this. I think we should concentrate our creativeness on other worthwhile endeavors that don't include sex, gambling (risk taking), drugs, etc.--just plain ole commerce. After the proverbial ball gets rollin', the before mentions are welcome to join the crowd along with religious and political concerns.

I'm not tryin' to police anything, it's just that I have a lot at stake. The 1.16 BTC I have in my hand tooled leather wallet is drivin' me crazy because I'm not sure how much of it to spend and how much of it to save as an investment.

From my point of view, all uprising economies have pyramidal period ...  The only question here is "extremely rich soil" for them in bitcoin economy....

The initial "investor" in these scams is the one who starts it with a few of their fake accounts (which is why there are so many threads, they are spammers, not popular at all). There is no pool of money, early people are reimbursed double by the payments of people who later buy in. Actually, the original person likely put in nothing, so it's pure profit for them. The list of people waiting to get their money back from new suckers will get longer and longer until the scammer who started it has their money, gets bored of sending payments around, and closes it, leaving suckers high and dry.

And most are.  It's up to the end-user to understand the game.  But to be fair, I have see two of these 'games' change the rules after receiving deposits.