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Topic: BitLottery (Read 2132 times)

legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
January 11, 2012, 03:44:12 PM
#21
As I stated above:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.680818

the first and repeated question you are going to get is "how do we know you are not selecting your buddy's ticket to be the winner".   

Even if you release the code that selects the winner, or even if you released all of your code, this does not prove you are randomly selecting the winner.

It looks like you may be kind of new around here so you many not know that due to the irrevocable nature and relative anonymity of Bitcoin transfers many members of the Bitcoin community have been personally ripped off or seen others be ripped off in many different and creative ways.  This means that the customer base you are dealing with, your customer base, is a lot more skeptical and paranoid than the general public.  You really need to know and understand this and take it into consideration in any new Bitcoin venture.  Your points that people generally trust and believe certain things in the general population, while possibly true, have no purchase within the Bitcoin community.

Your competitors have found ways to get around this by having an external publicly available and publicly verifiable way to select the winner.  You are and will continue to be at a huge disadvantage to your competitors until you solve this issue.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 11, 2012, 12:50:36 PM
#20
I think, I would be more than happy to post the code on how the winner is selected. And some documentation about the code, however I would be hesitant of releasing all of the code in case somebody created a rip off of the site. But we all trust our local game shows / lotteries in our normal currency, and also draws in our own currency, so why shouldn't it be trusted in a crypto currency. As I previously said I am here purely to provide some fun and a members of the public a chance to win, hence why would I want to cheat the system? The cost of the lottery itself is covered by the 5%, that is good enough for me.
donator
Activity: 848
Merit: 1078
January 10, 2012, 07:28:56 PM
#19
For transparency, you may wish to consider posting your code up. I'm not sure what other reassurances you can offer to others though.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 03:30:05 PM
#18
Hi Again,

Blocks are all updated now. Get involved still only 3 tickets sold, good odds!
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 03:21:12 PM
#17
Hi All,

If you have made a deposit today and it hasn't appeared in your account yet please do not panic. Unfortunately the daemon stopped running on the server randomly earlier today, I have restarted it now and I am waiting for the blocks to download (currently 19% and incrementing quickly). Once this has been completed and any deposited funds have been confirmed they will appear in your account. I will post again after this has completed.

 
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 10:34:02 AM
#16
Hi,

Yes the current odds for winning are 1/3, but, at the same time the prize is 0.27 BTC :-).

But feel free to signup for an account and give it a go!
newbie
Activity: 8
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 08:00:22 AM
#15
Hi,

Well it is the first week we have run the lottery, and so far we have sold a grand total of 3 tickets, so although the winnings would be quite small, you'd be in with a good chance so far.

WOW. So the odds of winning right now are 1/3 ?

Nice !
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 02:42:07 AM
#14
Hi,

Well it is the first week we have run the lottery, and so far we have sold a grand total of 3 tickets, so although the winnings would be quite small, you'd be in with a good chance so far.
newbie
Activity: 8
Merit: 0
January 10, 2012, 02:02:05 AM
#13
How many people are entering each draw at the moment?
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 09, 2012, 04:39:37 PM
#12
Hi,

This is in no way a ponzi scheme, pyramid scam or scheme.

Why?
Because we are not promising you a return on your investment. We are clear and open that this is a complete gamble. Just like a normal lottery and relies on chance of being the ticket that is drawn. It is like any other raffle or draw, and the prize is the money paid in from all of the players. And there fore this isn't a ponzi or pyramid scheme. If this was a pyramid scheme or a ponzi it would literally say "Invest in our amazing scheme and we will guarantee a payout and you just can't refuse... Buy Buy Buy!!!!". But we are not. It is a clear defined game which involves complete chance and is a complete gamble.
newbie
Activity: 8
Merit: 0
January 09, 2012, 03:55:14 PM
#11
Is this another one of these ponzi / pyramid scams / schemes ?

newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 09, 2012, 03:20:11 AM
#10
Hi Simon,

Once you are logged in go to your account. Deposit some BitCoins using the deposit wallet address. Once these have been transferred and confirmed 6 times they will appear in your account. Then you can purchase a ticket. If you win your winnings will be placed in your account which then need to be withdrawn using the withdraw tool on your account page.

Regards

BitLottery
sr. member
Activity: 423
Merit: 250
January 08, 2012, 11:10:15 PM
#9
How do I buy a ticket? I logged in, but I can't find where do buy a ticket.

Thanks
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
January 08, 2012, 09:19:54 PM
#8
I like this Luck thingy game.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 08, 2012, 11:54:25 AM
#7
Wohooo. The first BitLottery ticket has just been sold, bringing our jackpot this week so far to 0.09 BTC. Ok not a big one, but if we sell a few more tickets the odds will be pretty good and you could win some BTC.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
January 08, 2012, 10:01:58 AM
#6
Well maybe if we publically display the database IDs of each of the tickets purchased. We then place all of these into a big box and pick one out at random live on webcam? This would help the randomness and also add a different interactive sort of scope to the lottery. But on the whole basically it is a trust thing, and I'd like to think there is still a little trust in the world. I am not here to rip people off or to take the piss. I just want to learn a little and make a little and create an enjoyable BitCoin Lottery. It is like anything with BitCoin, if you buy a cardigan on BitCoinClothes.com how can you be sure you'll ever receive it? You have to have some trust and accept not everyone in the world is out to get you. It is the same with BitCoin mining, how do you know the pool owner won't run away with all the coins? I don't know enough to be able to replicate what is on BitLotto, but the joy of BitLottery is you can pay out to an alternative wallet, great if you use an online wallet, it is small and friendly, and the people behind it and hopefully the players too all have good intentions.
Ok then, enough said.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 08, 2012, 09:47:10 AM
#5
Well maybe if we publically display the database IDs of each of the tickets purchased. We then place all of these into a big box and pick one out at random live on webcam? This would help the randomness and also add a different interactive sort of scope to the lottery. But on the whole basically it is a trust thing, and I'd like to think there is still a little trust in the world. I am not here to rip people off or to take the piss. I just want to learn a little and make a little and create an enjoyable BitCoin Lottery. It is like anything with BitCoin, if you buy a cardigan on BitCoinClothes.com how can you be sure you'll ever receive it? You have to have some trust and accept not everyone in the world is out to get you. It is the same with BitCoin mining, how do you know the pool owner won't run away with all the coins? I don't know enough to be able to replicate what is on BitLotto, but the joy of BitLottery is you can pay out to an alternative wallet, great if you use an online wallet, it is small and friendly, and the people behind it and hopefully the players too all have good intentions.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
January 08, 2012, 09:41:04 AM
#4
The very first question that comes to mind, when it comes to BTC lotteries:  how can you pick the winner so that everyone can know for sure that you did not cheat (pick your own entry or pick you buddy's entry)?

I really like the way they pick the winner at http://bitlotto.com/ because anyone can verify exactly which ticket should be the winner from the publicly available algorithm and publicly available information.

Quote
The winning numbers will come from a SHA256 hash. This will ensure that no one, not even BitLotto, can manipulate who wins. The winning hash is a SHA256 hash of: luckyblockhash+lotterynumbers (no spaces or + sign) Lucky Block hash is the hash of the first Bitcoin block in the Bitcoin network with a timestamp after 00:00:00 UTC (On date of the draw). The lottery numbers come from the Mega Millions drawn a few hours later. A draw of: 07,19,39,41,55 (low to high) Mega Ball 21 would be entered as: 071939415521 in the formula.
 This method makes it impossible for anyone, even BitLotto, to manipulate who wins. And since the ticket hashes are publicly known, along with who sent it, it's impossible for BitLotto to fake a payment to a wrong person.
 

You say you pick the winner at random - but how can we know for sure?

I for one will not buy a ticket from a closed system where I cannot personally verify exactly which entry should have won and exactly how much they should have gotten.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
January 08, 2012, 08:14:54 AM
#3
This has been toying on my mind alot. At work I am running 2 racks of servers for BitCoin mining and I am currently donating to Cancer Research UK via Cheque. However I can understand a UK charity is not the best for a global audience. One possibility is that the winner chooses the charity on a weekly basis. Or the charity is rotated every 6 months to one that users vote for. What do you guys think?
hero member
Activity: 546
Merit: 500
January 08, 2012, 08:10:24 AM
#2
Interesting. I may give it a shot. Which charity do you intend to donate to?
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