Starting a Bitcoin Gambling Network

[Jake]

Hello everybody,

I'm planning on creating a Bitcoin Gambling Network, and I need some advice on which games I should choose, what types of payouts, etc. If you could please just leave some advice on this thread, I'd highly appreciate it.

Should I also make a Bitcoin Gambling Pool? Each hash is a ticket, and if your ticket is chosen then you win? Should there be an entry fee? Let me know.

Thanks,
Jake

[Desolator]

Someone already did it and it's somewhat popular but not extremely so.  People don't like long odds.  100 people entering and 1 winning isn't real popular.  If you made people send in a payment up front then did an operation with odds more similar to blackjack or any other casino table game, that would make more sense.  But why code an entire game when you can emulate roulette? Give every entrant a random "ticket" that's black or red.  Don't let them choose, that's too fraud-suspicious.  Then when "drawing" time comes, have a random function pick red or black (or base it on something to do with the current block if you want to be even cooler) and if red wins, everyone with a red ticket gets 1.95x their bet and same with black.  Or just say double their bet with a small percentage transaction fee.  Now that would be popular.

[Jake]

Someone already did it and it's somewhat popular but not extremely so.  People don't like long odds.  100 people entering and 1 winning isn't real popular.  If you made people send in a payment up front then did an operation with odds more similar to blackjack or any other casino table game, that would make more sense.  But why code an entire game when you can emulate roulette? Give every entrant a random "ticket" that's black or red.  Don't let them choose, that's too fraud-suspicious.  Then when "drawing" time comes, have a random function pick red or black (or base it on something to do with the current block if you want to be even cooler) and if red wins, everyone with a red ticket gets 1.95x their bet and same with black.  Or just say double their bet with a small percentage transaction fee.  Now that would be popular.

Well I don't just want to do the pool thing, I want to create casino games. The pool was only an idea.

Should I make roulette, black jack, poker, etc?

[pletoss]

Should I also make a Bitcoin Gambling Pool? Each hash is a ticket, and if your ticket is chosen then you win? Should there be an entry fee? Let me know.

I don't see the appeal of this. How would it be better than solo mining?

[Jake]

Should I also make a Bitcoin Gambling Pool? Each hash is a ticket, and if your ticket is chosen then you win? Should there be an entry fee? Let me know.

I don't see the appeal of this. How would it be better than solo mining?

Well you would be able to make a giant amount of Bitcoins, if your hash is chosen.

[pletoss]

Well you would be able to make a giant amount of Bitcoins, if your hash is chosen.

I still don't follow. Is the idea for the "gambling pool" to actually mine and therefore have participants submit proof of work hashes? Or is the idea for participants to buy in - in which case, i don't see how hashing is relevant.

[Jake]

Well you would be able to make a giant amount of Bitcoins, if your hash is chosen.

I still don't follow. Is the idea for the "gambling pool" to actually mine and therefore have participants submit proof of work hashes? Or is the idea for participants to buy in - in which case, i don't see where hashes come into play.

It was a gambling pool idea, it's just an idea. I plan to focus more on casino games.

[repentance]

Well I don't just want to do the pool thing, I want to create casino games. The pool was only an idea.

Should I make roulette, black jack, poker, etc?

Who is your target audience?  I suspect that a lot of people are going to be more willing to play games which involve some degree of strategy, like poker and black jack, than games of pure chance. 

The online poker community has taken some serious hits recently so people are looking for new places to play and new ways to fund playing (there's actually a thread about Bitcoins on one of the bigger online poker forums).  On the other hand, the recent dramas in the online poker world mean that establishing trust is going to be a major issue for new providers, so you'd need to think about how you're going to do that.

[MountainMan]

I can't imagine a better way to attract the wrong sort of attention.

[Jake]

I can't imagine a better way to attract the wrong sort of attention.

What do you mean by this?

[repentance]

I can't imagine a better way to attract the wrong sort of attention.

What do you mean by this?

The US department of Justice recently took action against a number of overseas sites offering online poker and the third party payment processors who were transmitting payments to and from customer accounts.  While the US isn't the whole world, there are still a lot of legal issues to navigate when offering online gambling, no matter where it's based.  It's an industry which is already under significant scrutiny, so you need to be aware of the potential for serious legal consequences if you're not very careful about how you establish and maintain any such enterprise.

[MountainMan]

Unorganized gambling is dangerous. People do not have the ability to discipline or control themselves when presented with opportunity for short term gain, regardless of apparent risk. Humans are wired to downplay risk and overestimate their own ability to handle risk. This has been proven over and over again in every aspect of human life that I'm not going to bother posting references.

Organized gambling is a net negative. It engenders games, by its very nature, that favor the house. This capitalizes on the aforementioned human weakness, but in a very nasty way.

To make it short and sweet: gambling destroys wealth.

If you want to make money destroying other people's wealth, I call that bad business all around.

Also, if the US government does this, then I think they're not gonna hesitate to squish any significant activities on the part of the BitCoin network to facilitate gambling.

I've seen what gambling does to communities in the real world. Very, very few people are responsible enough to overcome their natural urge to ignore risk.

If you're morally ok with bending the ignorant over and taking their money, then I'm not gonna argue with your right to do so.

Not saying that all gambling is always wrong, or that it can't be made to work, just that it's got the potential for unmitigated destruction of wealth, with all that attends it... addiction, depression, suicide, divorce, lost wages, drugs, petty theft, and so on.

If you can make it work without enabling and initiating those things, then go for it. Otherwise, take a step back and think real hard.

[xxxcoin]

If you have no previous experience running a gaming site then Bitcoins will not be a secret sauce to bring you automatic success. Starting any new business without experience in that industry is a sure way to fail.

[Donald_Norman]

Just be careful you are following the rules of the areas. Even offshore gambling sites need to play by the rules of the jurisdictions that they extend their services to. This is why Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were attacked by the DOJ. Banning US IPs and requesting passport information I think is what you need to do to remain out of jail, otherwise there may be implications. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advise and do not take it as such. It is just a cautionary post to you. Definitely speak with a proper lawyer in the proper field.

[bitcon]

i would like to see a bitcoin cage fighting game.   pay BTC to enter the fight and the winner comes out richer.   then we can send all grudges from this forum to the cage...

[Fiyasko]

Definitly roulette, I made a thread asking for it and i was handed FRENCH roulette, Lol go look at the thread, It completely died after that post

[bitcon]

yea roulette also.  did a google search for bitcoin gambling and i could only find dragon's tale...  no traditional casino sites accept bitcoin yet i guess...

[Jake]

I'm planning to do roulette, it's hard to make in PHP though.

-- Thanks for all the advice way up above, I appreciate this.

[Kivvi]

I can't imagine a better way to attract the wrong sort of attention.

What do you mean by this?

The US department of Justice recently took action against a number of overseas sites offering online poker and the third party payment processors who were transmitting payments to and from customer accounts.  While the US isn't the whole world, there are still a lot of legal issues to navigate when offering online gambling, no matter where it's based.  It's an industry which is already under significant scrutiny, so you need to be aware of the potential for serious legal consequences if you're not very careful about how you establish and maintain any such enterprise.

yup this sums up all of my feelings on the issue.  Most likely any attempt to run a site as such could/would land you in jail in some country.

[dejesus.eulaann]

If you make your own gambling you should aware all the procedures and posibilities..

DO NOT make it as a pyramid..It works only from the start..