Gaming Tips

In light of a recent failure, I thought it would be important to post these helpful hits to players and investors alike.

Background
If the site is relatively new, look into statistics of the site. BTC wagered, bets, betting limits. If a site has a high limit betting limit but yet very new, it is probably a scam. Generally speaking, a site that is new with no profits will not have the ability to fund large winnings unless the owner has a large investment themselves. If this is the case, ask for an address with a signed transaction to verify the funds. I may be mistaken, but I believe most sites limit the max bet to .5% to 2% the site bankroll.

Do a look into the history of the domain, where it is hosted, the the services the website offers. Is the game custom coded or a script? Look at the design quality, the quality of the front end code. Test the scripts for holes. Search Google. A site with a higher build quality is more likely to stay around way longer than a script. Scripts are just that. They come and they go. They depend on third party apis, are not reviewed by the owner, and may feature numerous flaws. (There was one floating around that had a backdoor)

Look into the forums. What is the support history? Email support to test their response times?

Test the withdraw system by depositing a small amount and withdrawing. Did you get your balance. What was the address history?

Provably Fair Manipulation
Many bitcoin games offer a provably fair system. Although these systems may appear to be provably fair, a site owner still has the ability to manipulate the outcome. Let me explain. If a player is using the same client seed with the same exact odds, the server seed can be pre calculated before the roll to ensure a loss. This is not provably fair, rather Pseudo Probably Fair. A way to combat this is frequently change your client seed, odds, margins, and bets. As the seed is pre calculated, anything outlined after the user will allow the user to through off the system. If a site has this method in place, almost certainly flipping your bet will ensure a win.

If a site uses a static secret seed, this method could be used by manipulating the client seed. As a site owner, exploring the database, users almost never change their client seed on their own.

Thoroughly test the provably fair system on a site that you are not familiar with before you wager anything of value. If the site has a free play option, in other words, the ability to play a game with zero investment, be sure to chart the the loss vs win outcomes. Generally, there may be a small variance, but anything abnormal is a tell tale sign to stay away. Also, look into sites that have been validated by third parties.

Small Play
When you do decide to take the leap into playing on a site, be sure to play with smaller amounts until you have built up confidence. This way, if things do go south, you did not have much at stake.

Ideally when investing, do not invest large amounts unless the owner can prove financial being. Do not invest large amounts into sites with small bankrolls. This may give the owner a shiny green light to run.

Overall, be safe, have fun!!