Hi everyone,

We have added a support chat on XBet.IO for your convenience.
If you have any question regarding XBet.IO and how to use it, or just want to talk about the world cup and the NBA finals, we welcome you to XBet.IO chat.

Thanks for pointing that out.

It is now more prominently displayed.

XBet.IO displays the updated state of the market for each line, including the odds and wagers. To view it from the page you linked, click on the match you are interested in and press on the "market" button next to the market you wish to explore.

Odds presented on XBet.IO are the best odds that you will get for any bet. In the market view, the information is more detailed.

Come be a part of bitcoin history:

Bet on the opening match of the Brazil 2014 world cup between Brazil and Croatia.

The match will start in a few hours and you have the time to get to know the new decentralized way to make user based bets on the bitcoin blockchain.

The match will demonstrate our automatic system and failsafes - the result of the match will be displayed on XBet.IO with streaming live updates.

Minutes after the match is over, users will have the chance to report if XBet.IO has made a mistake and displayed the wrong result. If a line is reported. it must go through manual authorization, and until that happens, a result will not be broadcasted and the funds will be held in escrow by the bitcoin network.

If you haven't tried it out before, here is our 1 minute demonstration:
https://xbet.io/how_to_bet

Come be a part of bitcoin history:

Bet on the opening match of the Brazil 2014 world cup between Brazil and Croatia.

The match will start in a few hours and you have the time to get to know the new decentralized way to make user based bets on the bitcoin blockchain.

The match will demonstrate our automatic system and failsafes - the result of the match will be displayed on XBet.IO with streaming live updates.

Minutes after the match is over, users will have the chance to report if XBet.IO has made a mistake and displayed the wrong result. If a line is reported. it must go through manual authorization, and until that happens, a result will not be broadcasted and the funds will be held in escrow by the bitcoin network.

If you haven't tried it out before, here is our 1 minute demonstration:
https://xbet.io/how_to_bet

The website is mearly a user friendly interface to display the results of matches and coordinate between users' bets to match.

Bets are settled on the blockchain and are placed through users' private wallets, whether using a federated node of Counterwallet or from bitcoin-qt with open source counterparty software on it.

Funds are held in escrow so you do not have the vulnerabilities of traditional centralization.

You can view the state of the market on XBet.IO by pressing the "market" link, that is available next to each line inside a match page.

In XBet.IO you are required only to fill out your address and the amount you would like to place as wager.

The 10 that is already there is the "odds" field. To determine the counterwager that will fit the odds that you wish to take, XBet.io presents an "odds" field that fits the display standards of the betting industry.

Odds are filled for you to match the most attractive offer corresponding to your bet type, however, you can change Those as well.

For example, if you place a "Back" type bet, with "amount" set to 10 and "odds" set to 4, you are in fact placing 10 XCP as wager, and 30 XCP as counterwager. That means that if another user, or users place a "Lay" type bet, with odds matching yours or better, at the sum of at least 30 XCP ( 15 from one user + 15 from another is fine too), your bet would be fully matched at the odds you chose.

More information about "Back" and "Lay" is featured on XBet.IO by pressing the "i" symbols next to the "back" and "lay" labels.

A well put answer, thank you cityglut.

You have asked valid questions and we are providing the answers on our dedicated thread.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=645313.20

Important questions were asked about XBet.IO and we will address them here.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=395761.msg7273811#msg7273811


The odds that are displayed on XBet.IO are one of two:
1. User based odds that are open and can be matched by anyone on the network.
2. Odds that are backed by XBet.IO in order to create a market for the first user to place a bet in a new market.

You and you alone choose your own odds, other users can choose to accept them.
If you place a bet where you expect to receive 2 XCP for every XCP that you place as a bet, you will never be matched by a lower offer, only by a better one. The relevant odds for such a bet are those decided by the first user that has placed his bet.

BTC is used as a means to get XCP and as a way of securing the bet. Your bets, other users' counter bets, the pot and the XBet.IO fee are all in XCP. Actions made using XCP are actualy very small bitcoin transactions and so they cost around 0.0006 BTC.
When you place a bet, you place your XCP in the hands of the network. XBet.IO can only publish the winner of an event, and collect the fee in xcp. The pot goes to the winner of the bet. If a user placed a bet and did not find a match, those funds are returned to him without any fee. XBet.IO can't do anything that will change this course of events. The pot will always be devided between users and the fee is always predeclared.

This is one of the features XBet.IO is all about-

You control your money. There are no deposits or withdraws made because XBet.IO does not store your coins. We recommend using the open source free wallet called Counterwallet.

Counterwallet integrates smoothly with XBet.IO and makes betting easy and safe.

Of course, there are no deposit / withdraw fees or delays.

This is a fine description of the way XBet.IO works.

Regarding the open questions:
Matches is enough, if it will surpass it, it will also be matched. In that case, the odds chosen by the first bet, will be the relevant one.
The fee is taken only when a bet is settled.


The unmatched parts of the bet will return to the user if the bet expires. The expiration is set to happen at the end of each match.

As posted by 001sonkit, our fee is 1% on all bets.

This is not visible on our site and we will make sure to add a section covering it.

Compared to old betting sites, that take 5-25% of every bet, this is a great improvement so there is no attempt of concealing the fee, but more to emphasize other features such as having the option to place both "Back" and "Lay" bets.

This is a good idea. added to our "to do" list.

This is a good idea, we have added it to our "to do" list.

We do provide liquidity on the market, our goal though, is for users to bet amongst themselves.

+1

Thank you amy_bit

For the first time it is now possible to perform Bitcoin-based betting in a decentralized fashion, meaning without the need of entrusting your funds in the hands of a third party – all wagers made using our application are held in escrow by a smart contract until the bet is settled.

Live on XBet.IO

1  minute demonstration:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yxrn7_xbet-io-how-to-bet-anonymously_sport

Among the benefits:
Secrecy:
Users have complete anonymity when using our services.
 
Security:
Users' funds are kept safe at the protocol level – thanks to the use of Bitcoin 2.0 technologies, the users are not required to transfer their coins into the custody of any application, and there is no centralized party that holds and manages users funds (no Mt.gox etc').
 
Transparency:
Because the application works using the Bitcoin Blockchain, all of its actions are visible to anyone and can be retraced by anyone with great ease.
 
Reliability:
The Counterparty protocol, which is the Bitcoin 2.0 protocol in which XBet.IO is implemented, is based on secured Bitcoin transactions, thus utilizes the Bitcoin network's highly secured and dependable features.
 
General Bitcoin benefits:
The use of Bitcoins holds numerous advantages over fiat currency (such as $, €, etc') - anonymity, independence, no inflation, cryptographic security, instant payments for any amount, and much more. Up until now, Bitcoin did not reach its full potential in existing large scale thriving industries, in which its special attributes gives it a distinctive edge and especially in the field of sport bets. The existence of a distributed and cryptographically secured system in which the operators of a betting application, or anyone else for that matter, have no ability to take / confiscate users funds, but can only decide which one of the participants is the winner of the pot is what distinguishes the XBet.IO application from any and all other sport betting websites, whether Bitcoin-based or Fiat-based. Introducing the sport bets industry into the world of Bitcoin can elevate the Bitcoin economy to great new heights.
 
Better odds:
For any wager, there is a counter wager, commonly referred to as 'The House wager' or 'Lay'. In old fashioned betting websites and casinos, the user bets against the house in the fixed unattractive odds determined by the 'House', and so the 'House' gains if and when the user looses. The XBet.IO application synchronizes users' bets and allows users to choose their own odds and bet directly between users. There is no middleman, thus all arbitrage revenue is there for the users to profit.
* In order to kickstart the application, counter wagers will be made on behalf of the XBet.IO application for bets that are- a. within the odds presented by the website as a non-organic odds (organic, meaning that a verified bet has been placed by a user); b. in lines where no odds-attractive, organic bets exist. This mechanism was set in place for a double purpose – both to allow users to know the real world odds for their wager and to ensure that the first attractive betters of every line will always have their offers matched for at least a portion of their wager.

 
What wagers can I make?


How many times did you get to see a match and said to yourselves "I don't know who will win, but I know there will not be a tie"? In the XBet.IO application you can choose to wager on the option that you think will happen and also for the opposite option, meaning everything but the specified result. For the aforementioned case, it is possible to place a bet that will award you with the pot in case of a draw (placing this kind of bet is called 'back', meaning that you are 'backing' the possibility of a draw),  or alternatively, you could place a bet that will award you with the pot in all cases except the draw, which means that it does not matter which team wins, as long as the result is not a draw, you will take the pot (placing this kind of bet is called 'lay', meaning that you are 'laying' an opposition to the possibility of a draw).
The XBet.IO application currently receives matches from all the major soccer and basketball leagues, including the 2014 world cup in Brazil. At this time the XBet.IO application analyzes results from over 200 different leagues from dozens of countries.
During the summer, the main event will be the 2014 world cup in Brazil, and the NBA finals.
Incorporating additional lines, sports and countries is already in play.
 
How to make a bet?
Check out this one minute tutorial and you will be good to go:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yxrn7_xbet-io-how-to-bet-anonymously_sport
1.       Browse through the various lines available on the XBet.IO application until you find one that you want your make your bet on.
2.       Insert the details of the bet that you want to make (your betting address, wager amount and your desired odds. All other details are preconfigured to match the bet type which you have selected).
3.       Paste the bet code in your account at Counterwallet.co and hit send.
Done!
Your bet has now been placed and can be matched by other users from the Bitcoin network.
 
Since the XBet.IO application is based on the Bitcoin blockchain, and implemented using the Counterparty protocol, in order to use it, one must acquire some Bitcoins and as many XCP as one would like to place as wagers. All wagers, counter wagers and pots are denominated in the form of XCP, which is the native currency of the Counterparty protocol. It is possible to acquire XCP through a traditional exchange service, such as BTER.COM (http://bter.com/trade/xcp_btc) or POLONIEX.COM (https://www.poloniex.com/exchange/btc_xcp), and it could also be purchased using Counterparty's built-in decentralized exchange.
Placing bets, buy/sell orders on the decentralized exchange, and many other options are made easy through a free service called Counterwallet- a user friendly online wallet, built by the Counterparty protocol original developers.
 
Some of our future plans:
1.       Incorporating additional sports, starting with tennis and horse racing.
2.       Incorporating global events.
3.       Expanding the betting possibilities for each single event.
4.       Binary options.
5.       Issuance of the XBet.IO application on top of the Counterparty protocol.


What is new since the PRE ANN?
As you might have noticed, a test version on testnet was publicly available since may under the name CounterSports.com. Since then, we have made the following enhancements:
Improved UI.
Integrated fully with Counterwallet.
Added the NBA finals and other basketball leagues.
Changed domain, logo and branding.
Completed intense testing on the application.

Live on XBet.IO

1  minute demonstration:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1yxrn7_xbet-io-how-to-bet-anonymously_sport

edit:
Place your bet using Counterwallet - https://counterwallet.co

What does the press has to say?

http://www.bestbitcoincasino.com/xbet-io-enables-sports-bets-using-blockchain-and-counterparty-xcp/


Users' content
http://jpja.net/2014/06/counterparty-adds-betting-to-bitcoin/
http://knircky.blogspot.com/2014/06/peer-to-peer-sportsbetting-in-5-steps.html
Reddit : http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/27u0u7/peer2peer_betting_with_bitcoincounterparty/
Added chinese language support (credit goes to amy_bit)-
counterparty中国志愿者论坛出品：如何使用xcp参与bet
http://8btc.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=5750&page=1&extra=#pid16181