The Bitcoin Lottery

[anthony_]

I am addicted! I just keep losing.

[1714100098]

1714100098

[DaMan]

We updated to the latest server version and now the transfer fee's are dramatically reduced.

thx bitcoin developers!

[DaMan]

All calculations regarding fees are updated now. Formerly all payouts were less the transaction fee as stated on the website. But since we watched the server log of the latest server version it is proofed that the bitcoin server used 0.0005 btc in 90% of all payouts. We calculate with 1% and in most of the cases the fee is lower than the minimum of 0.0005.

-> RESULT:

• we removed all fees
• payouts are raised from 154% to 155% and 224% to 225% (because 1% fee was removed)
• all payouts are excactly the payout percentage (even if some players send bets like 0.1099999 btc there might be a difference because of rounding the values.

-> Jackpot:

• we have a new Jackpot peak: 9.4351 BTC

Kind regards,
DaMan

[DaMan]

There were many postings on marketplace. To keep this thread complety I will post here, too.

I will try to explain my thoughts and system. If there is a better way I will change it, no problem.

First version of the game:

• 1 account for bank and jackpot
• initial setup: 20 btc added
• one roll 1-100

The jackpot was won 1 time by gordon with about 3,6 btc

The Problem:

I used only one account for playing and jackpot. So if some people win the bank balance gets lower and so the jackpot does. Because it is the same account.
With that system and the winning percentages of 180 and 270% there was no chance to raise the jackpot and make the game interesting. The win/loss percentage was round about the 50%. There was an alert message integrated that will stopp the game if the bank account value gets under 5 btc. Because at that stage the system could not guarantee that all payouts can be processed. In fact the bank balance varies between +/- 30 percent. I would call that well balanced.

I got some feedback and ideas from players and decided to change it.


Version 2

• seperate account for bank and jackpot
• two rolls: one for normal playing, using the bank account. one for the jackpot.
• adjustment of the rates: 154% and 224%

Benefits:

In each round, a fixed percentage can be added to the jackpot. The jackpot will increase steadily and is therefore independent from the normal game.

Problems of version 2:

The fees were deducted from the win. it was also stated on the website. The calculation of the charge transfer was not exact.

There was again some feedback and it was time for the next version.


Version 2.5

• fees are lowered from 3% to 1%, because of the new server version


Version 3, current

• seperate account for bank and jackpot
• two rolls: one for normal playing, using the bank account. one for the jackpot.
• fees were removed, and all fees are paid by bank account
• adjustment of the rates: 155% and 225%


Why two rolls:

The idea was that people who lost their playing round still have a chance at the jackpot.

Rolling system:

playing round: you roll 0-99 (in fact you can roll a 0! and a 99!)

if you rolled:
• 0-49 = no win
• 50-89 = win class 1 (155%)
• 89-99 = win class 2 (225%)

So there are 100 possible rolls.

The jackpot roll:

• 1-100

If you roll the 100 you will receive a 90% jackpot payout.


Winning system example with 2 rolls:

Jackpot value: 0.5 btc

If you bet 1 btc and roll a 60 in the regular round, you will receive 155% of your bet -> 1.55 btc.
If you jackpot roll a 100 in the same round, you will receive the profit from regular round plus the jackpots 90%.

Total payout: 1.55 + 0.495 = 2.045 btc


Winning system example with 1 roll:

If you roll a 60 you will receive 155% payout and you have not a second chance to get the jackpot in this round.


But if I think it's really better to roll only once ;-) It may helps to increase the jackpot.


What happend to the bet values:

Your bet = 100% to bank account.

to Jackpot: 10% will be moved to the Jackpot account
System fee: 5% will be moved to the system fee account (thats my cut: 0.005 btc per 0.1 btc bet)
The rest of 85% remains on the bank account.

The bitcoins on the bank account will be used to pay all transfer fees and winning payouts. If the bank account was less than 10 btc there will be a red warning display that maximum bets of 1 btc are probably not covered. The same message appears for 0.1 btc bets if the bank account is less 2 btc.

That was my approach and the current system. I hope I could clarify some processes. If there are further ideas, corrections etc. -> let me know.


@Auspician:
Extrapolations do not easily perform, as the system and the percentage of shares through user feedback have changed 3-4 times since its release last week.

Until now, the Jackpot was won 3 times. 1st Gordon, 2nd Hyper, 3rd Valdez.

@bitlotto:
I think there is no demonstration the the jackot can't be rigged to go to me. Bitcoin is so anonymous

As long as Bitcoin is anonymous and the transactions are not traceable and there is no unique user IDs, I think it is not possible to deliver a unique proof. If someone can verify the identities of users and transactions the Bitcoin project failed. But personally I would like to have a little bit more informations about transactions. To create a unique account for every user to verify who send/receive a transactoin is not very useful.

At this stage I like to use a modified quotation from slush:

In theory, as the service operator, I could keep the jackpot for myself. I'm not going to do this, but I completely accept that people do not trust the service operator. It is their freedom of choice, and Bitcoin is about freedom.

It is important to me that you understand that my interest is not the jackpot. My interest is that the site is used a lot and people play a lot. My cut are 5% per round, thats my interest.

Of course I have to look that the bank account is balanced. If the account falls too quickly, I either have to reduce the profit rates or say goodbye to the 50%. If it rises slowly, one could raise the profits, or increase the maximum bet value.


The possible next Version

• one roll for winning & jackpot
• a first statistic page

The thing with the hash I have in my mind, but so far had no time to occupy myself so thoroughly.

Kind Regards.

[trueimage]

the site looks great, nice design.

[DaMan]

Thank you!

If I have a look at the statistics there should be a good chance to get the jackpot in the next 40 playing rounds. But hey, thats onl a guess. 65 rounds played without since I enabled my little statistics page. I have to put it in the right form tonight and than it will be accessable on the website.

Kind regards!

[stergium]

nice work
tried, failed.
it was fun though.

[DaMan]

We had to reduce the 50% winning chance to 40% because it was not possible to cover the winning payout in the long term. I was hoping it would work, but in normal playing operation, it is not possible.

The statistics page is on the way!

Kind regards!

[DaMan]

Statistics page ready: http://bitcoin.dyndns.info/bt/statistics.php

Please note that the statistics unfortunately starts from today 19:23 h, because I did not save some of the required data fields in the past. I added the fields this evening and I hope it will work now. I have to check the jackpot winner display in the history list as soon as the next player wins.

Kind regards!

[TheBitMan]

The odds of winning keeps changing...

[DaMan]

Do you mean the odds display on the statistics page? If so, thats correct, the winning odds will be calculated based on the real win/loss data.

If you mean the homepage -> due to some requests the winning chance was changed back to 50% for tonight and the class quotes were changed to 130% and 160%. The profit should be the same as before with 40% winning chance and slightly increased winning percentages. There are some people who want to test this.

Personally I am not sure what would be the right way: more wins and lower payout percentages or less wins and higher payout percentages. Some players told me it was more fun if there would be more lower wins, instead of less wins with higher payout. The profit should be nearly the same.

Its hard to find the perfect values.

For testing purpose the lower bet value of 0.01 btc was integrated now. But I am not sure if that makes really sense. Anyway it's nice for new people to test the system. (Note: If people bet 0.01 btc, there was no chance to win the jackpot. The jackpot is only accessable with 0.1 or higher bets.)

Kind regards!

[DaMan]

For your interest:

Regarding the last night with three jackpot wins in short time, we had to increase the rolling range to 200 to give the jackpot a better chance to grow.

Anyway there is always a chance to win the jackpot two times one after another, but we would like to keep the jackpot wins rare. So it can rise to a really interesting value. I think the rolling range to 200 is still to low, but we'll give it a try.

After two weeks of watching and testing the beta period should be over. It seems the system works nice and there are no errors.

So this is the final setup:

********************************

UPDATE -> 22. Jun. 2011 21:44 h (CET)

Bet minimum: 0.1 BTC
Bet maximum 1.0 BTC

Win Class: Roll 100 - 200 = 150% payout
Jackpot Class: Jackpot Roll 200 = + 90% jackpot payout[/b]

-> See details on website. http://bitcoin.dyndns.info/bt/

<- Update end

********************************

If there will be a surplus revenue, the revenue will be transfered to the jackpot account.

And btw: If you like to test the lottery, you can send a low bet from 0.01 to 0.09 btc. Some people requested that. If you play in minimum bet mode there will be no chance to win the jackpot, because the minimum bet system rolls only from 1 to 199. Everything else works like the regular gameplay.

Kind regards!

[DaMan]

Jackpot Update: 6.2767 BTC

[DaMan]

Congratulations to Billybob, who won the Jackpot with 10.63 Bitcoins!


I had hoped the jackpot would go higher, but with a rolling range of 1-200 it seems it isn't possible.

Now I have a question:

A. Would you like a small jackpot like that one (about 10 btc) and win more often (like now)?

B. Or should we increase the rolling range and offer a much bigger jackpot, which is really interesting?


For comparison, the winning chance of a real lottery house like real lotto is far higher and about 1:14.000.000.

We have 1:200 right now. Should we leave it like that? Or should we raise it at 1:500 or 1:1000?

What do you think?

Kind regards!

[TheBitMan]

Congratulations to Billybob, who won the Jackpot with 10.63 Bitcoins!


I had hoped the jackpot would go higher, but with a rolling range of 1-200 it seems it isn't possible.

Now I have a question:

A. Would you like a small jackpot like that one (about 10 btc) and win more often (like now)?

B. Or should we increase the rolling range and offer a much bigger jackpot, which is really interesting?


For comparison, the winning chance of a real lottery house like real lotto is far higher and about 1:14.000.000.

We have 1:200 right now. Should we leave it like that? Or should we raise it at 1:500 or 1:1000?

What do you think?

Kind regards!

I think we should win more with a smaller jackpot

[DaMan]

Maybe I expressed myself wrong.

It's all about the jackpot. The normal game remains as it is. You might just win the jackpot a little more often rather than less often a really big jackpot.

[TheBitMan]

Maybe I expressed myself wrong.

It's all about the jackpot. The normal game remains as it is. You might just win the jackpot a little more often rather than less often a really big jackpot.

oh..well I rather it more often but I don't represent everyone..

[DaMan]

Player Feedback: »Why don't use even/odd number to identify the winner?

top or flop?