Re-Intruducing btcLottery.com - The new weekly BitCoin Lottery!

[btcLottery]

Hey BitCoiners!

Update:  5/11/2011 - Originally the website was called "btMatch.com".  After a few people thought it was a dating service, I moved the site to http://www.btcLottery.com.  bcMatch.com will forward to the new site.  And all bets made before the move are secure, and verifiable on Block Explorer.

Update:  5/13/2011 - Alright after some embarrassment and reconfiguring, btcLottery.com has been revamped and relaunched.  Gone is the "bet as much as you want" fiasco.  Now there are three different games, and each is played using decimal numbers.  We take the hex transaction number from your bet's bitcoin transaction, and convert it to get your ticket number.  Winning numbers are drawn the same way.  In MATCH1, match one number, odds 1 in 10 to win.  In MATCH2, match two numbers, odds 1 in 100 to win.  Both MATCH1 and MATCH2 come in .01 btc and 1 btc bets.  There is a third game, MATCH6, in which you have to match six numbers, odds 1 in 1,000,000.  The cost is only .01 to play.  Sorry guys for all the issues starting up, but I have learned a lot and I think the site and the methodology is solid now.  Thank you for all your input!!

[mewantsbitcoins]

And there I was - thinking it's a dating service.. 

[btcLottery]

Write code:  check.
Check code:  check.
Secure wallet:  check.
Obtain website:  check.
Check spelling:  check.
Hearing right after launch that your URL sounds like a mega dating service:   

Thanks for the input, and i agree hahaha... 

[PwrLeveld]

And there I was - thinking it's a dating service.. 

I didn't read the entire thread title and thought cool lets see what they did with it. Then I realized.

[btcLottery]

Alright, I appreciate the input guys.... Working on a fix.  If you'd like to bet tho, the addresses are good.  I will announce the changes soon.

[SgtSpike]

Do I get a separate ticket for each time I bet?  If not, can I send from multiple wallets to get multiple tickets?

[btcLottery]

Do I get a separate ticket for each time I bet?  If not, can I send from multiple wallets to get multiple tickets?

If you send different bets from the same address, each of those bets will count as one bet for the full amount.  The reason is because your ticket number derives from the BitCoin address your bet comes from.

So yes, if you would like to purchase multiple tickets, then send in your bets from different BitCoin addresses.  Each different address counts as a different ticket / ticket number.

Good Luck!

[btcLottery]

Hey guys,

Ok.  First of all - big thank you's to mewantsbitcoins and PwrLeveld for their input regarding their thinking this was a dating service.  I get it, and your posts make total sense.

That being said, I have puchased the domain http://www.btclottery.com and it is now the official home of our website.

bcMatch.com will for the time being forward to btclottery.com.  Perhaps in the future, if someone wants bcMatch to create a dating service, I would be game to trade the domain for BTC.

Thanks again everyone!  And remember all bets previous to the switch are still safe.  You can verify that in Block Explorer and on the new site as well.

Cheers!

[PwrLeveld]

Just don't forget to change your sig.
I might be intrested in it as a business. Wait I hate dating and coding a entire website about dating would not be fun. Okay well I won't be buying that domain.

[bitlotto]

I was wondering how long till someone comes out with something similar to BitLotto!  I see I have some friendly competition. You kind of run it in a similar fashion to BitLotto. Allowing different tickets prices is an interesting feature! I think the hardest part will be getting people to play long enough for someone to win allowing you to prove yourself. The easiest game, Match 2 will mean about 1/256 will win. The other ones, you could have potentially thousands of bitcoins before you are required to prove yourself and pay. Match 4 and 5, may take a while to see...

I'll play your game if you play mine! (My odds are dependent on pot size and one person will win every month guaranteed with 1% deducted) 

Anyways, good luck and I'll be watching your lottery with interest...

[btcLottery]

I was wondering how long till someone comes out with something similar to BitLotto!   I see I have some friendly competition. You kind of run it in a similar fashion to BitLotto. Allowing different tickets prices is an interesting feature! I think the hardest part will be getting people to play long enough for someone to win allowing you to prove yourself. The easiest game, Match 2 will mean about 1/256 will win. The other ones, you could have potentially thousands of bitcoins before you are required to prove yourself and pay. Match 4 and 5, may take a while to see...

I'll play your game if you play mine! (My odds are dependent on pot size and one person will win every month guaranteed with 1% deducted)  

Anyways, good luck and I'll be watching your lottery with interest...

Consider it very friendly competition!  And I will definitely put 1BTC into your lottery.  Starting to think maybe we should create either a link ring that can be placed at the bottom of each member's pages, or maybe an official BitCoin Lottery Coalition?  One in which you must prove some sort of trust to be included in the list of BitCoin Lottery websites?  I've never done something like this, so I don't know what the best way to handle it would be.

I have seen your site, and you have paid out, so there is a building of trust there.  Glad you wrote here.

The original idea behind using the Hash160 (base16) was the odds were more down-to-earth, as opposed to using the original address numbers (base58).  a Match 3 game using base58 would have odds of 1 in 195,112.  Starting to think that maybe I should go all the way down to base10 (decimal).  The odds would be even more down to earth:
base58 (btc) - Match4 odds - 1 in 11,316,496
base16 (hex) - Match4 odds -  1 in 65,536
base10 (dec) - Match4 odds - 1 in 10,000

I don't know, any thoughts from the btc world?  Should I switch down to decimal conversion (base10)?  I'm new at this and don't want to wait forever to prove my trust.  

[btcLottery]

Hey BitLotto!

Just submitted my ticket!    number 161HQ8jB....
I don't think there would be an issue in putting that out there since there really can't be any cheating.  But just wanted you to know im in!

[FreeMoney]

Hey guys,

Ok.  First of all - big thank you's to mewantsbitcoins and PwrLeveld for their input regarding their thinking this was a dating service.  I get it, and your posts make total sense.

That being said, I have puchased the domain http://www.btclottery.com and it is now the official home of our website.

bcMatch.com will for the time being forward to btclottery.com.  Perhaps in the future, if someone wants bcMatch to create a dating service, I would be game to trade the domain for BTC.

Thanks again everyone!  And remember all bets previous to the switch are still safe.  You can verify that in Block Explorer and on the new site as well.

Cheers!

Haha, worth it I think since I thought the same thing. Granted in kind of a "could it really be?" sort of way.

[bitlotto]

What do you do if the one entry comes from multiple addresses?

[btcLottery]

What do you do if the one entry comes from multiple addresses?

Are you asking in reference to the ticket I purchased, which has two addresses listed in the "from" section?  I can tell you, at least in the purchase I made, that the "161HQ..." address is my "from" address and the "14vLV..." address is where a transaction fee went.  You can confirm this by clicking on each of those addresses and looking at the "Amount" column for each one...  Don't know if this answers your question tho..  Admittedly, I am new at this, if someone can confirm or educate me here I would be grateful...

[btcLottery]

Alright, I have decided that using hex (base16) for conversion of addresses to lottery numbers leaves the odds still too high.  Going forward I will convert all numbers to decimal (base 10).  I've suspended all games that have not yet received a bet, leaving only the Match3 game active.  That game will continue until a winner is announced.

Once a winner is announced and paid, I will switch to decimal conversion, and all games will return with the new format.

Here is what I wrote as an update on the website:

Update 2 (5.12.2011): After some discussion, it has been decided that using a base16 number as our number system leaves the odds still too high. Going forward we will switch to a base10 (decimal) numbering system. All BitCoin addresses to be used for players tickets and the winning number will be converted to base10 (decimal) using the php function located at http://www.btclottery.com/q/58to10. The function being used is on display on the page to assure there is no cheating.
For the time being, we are suspending the Match3, Match4, and Match5 games as the odds are quite high and noone has bet on them yet. The Match2 game, having received bets, will stay active until a winner is announced. Once the winner is announced, all games will return and all will be played with decimal conversions.

Now, here is the breakdown of the odds, based on which number system is used to do the comparisons of Player Tickets to Winning Number:

MATCH 2 (Match the last two numbers of your BitCoin address to the Winning Number):
base58 (btc): 1 in 3,364
base16 (hex): 1 in 256  (currently the active game)
base10 (dec): 1 in 100

MATCH 3
base58: 1 in 195,112
base16: 1 in 4,096
base10: 1 in 1,000

MATCH 4
base58: 1 in 11,316,496
base16: 1 in 65,536
base10: 1 in 10,000

MATCH 5
base58: 1 in 656,356,768
base16: 1 in 1,048,576
base10: 1 in 100,000

I am also considering a just for the fun of it Match1 game.  Odds would be obviously 1 in 10.  Might be a great action game  Considering that it would be almost guaranteed the prize would be split, it might make you consider more highly the option of betting more to guarantee a larger share of the pot.

Anyway, that's where we are today.  I appreciate all comments and suggestions, so let me know your thoughts!
Thanks!

[Scurry]

Tell me if my statistical assumptions are correct here:
I send 1 BTC to the Match 2 game, I get a 1:256 chance of winning.
I send 5 payments of 0.2 BTC (from different machines/accounts) to the Match 2 game, I get a 5:256 chance of winning, but I still only pay 1 BTC.

Are my prob and stats skills way off, or can I increase my odds of winning without actually submitting more money?

[btcLottery]

Tell me if my statistical assumptions are correct here:
I send 1 BTC to the Match 2 game, I get a 1:256 chance of winning.
I send 5 payments of 0.2 BTC (from different machines/accounts) to the Match 2 game, I get a 5:256 chance of winning, but I still only pay 1 BTC.

Are my prob and stats skills way off, or can I increase my odds of winning without actually submitting more money?

You, sir, have discovered a major flaw in the "bet any amount you want" theory I had going into this.  It was really meant to make it more interesting, but yep, your logic is right on and allows for massive cheating.

That being said, I am going to have to shut down the current game I have running and rething this whole thing.
I will refund all the bets to their original owners and rethink my strategy.

Thanks for the input!  And sorry to those who placed bets.  I will post proof of refunds here and on the website.

[Scurry]

Well damn. I'm glad I said something! Glad I could be of some service.

[bitlotto]

Here I race home in a panic to warn you as the flaw dawns on me and someone beats me too it! 

My advice:
-skip the whole different prices scheme. It is hard to work fairly.
-don't use their addresses for tickets -use transaction hashes, that way there is only one for each payment as sometimes as you'll see sometimes one ticket can have multiple from addresses
-1/256 chance of winning isn't too bad, just make tickets something like .2 each and pay out every time a winner

...if you have questions just ask...even though you're my competition  I don't mind helping as I think there is plenty of room for honest lottery sites and I am seriously considering partnering for promotion and such...