Topic: Lottery guy bets entire BTC fortune and ... loses? :) - page 5. (Read 6621 times)

-All payments go to the same address: eg. http://blockexplorer.com/address/1D9c6qLKRjxh7xbyv6MBUcBFJHDFeDQpsg
-all .25 payments can be verified (some bought for 1 btc before big BTC price changes - tickets still valid and .75 returned- check their addresses and you can see .75 payment from me)
-each transaction has a unique hash - can't change it as it's part of Bitcoin blockchain
-total jackpot size can be verified by adding .25 tickets or looking at received BTC in blockexplorer (accounting for a few who over paid)
-draw then ends - tickets are all set in stone in the block chain each with a unique hash
-winner is determined by a hash of block hash + mega millions numbers to prevent a miner trying to increase odds by not submitting a block if it doesn't work for them -the hash is totally unpredictable and impossible to manipulate unless you can manipulate the USA mega millions lottery (impossible)
-using a set algorithm the winner is determined based on their payment hash (method is set and can't change)
-payment can only go to the person who sent the ticket -look at blockexplorer and payment can only go to that address -that's why using Bitcoin on their own computer is so important. I can not send to any other address!!
-there is no way I can cheat!!!

It's cheat proof. If you can think of a way I can pay myself without everyone noticing I'll give you all the BTC I own!!

I looked at bitlotto.com, and it doesn't look anything like what I described.  Maybe I am missing something.

Tell me again how it's provably honest?
More specifically, tell me how I as a potential lottery ticket buyer can make sure that the lottery has paid out to a real lottery ticket holder, and not a shill?  (Maybe you bought a ticket under some other wallet, and simply paid yourself, for instance.)

Not trying to make a false accusation, but I failed to see that "provability" with a quick scan of the bitlotto.com page.

EDIT:
"If someone runs a betting site, and he loses a very public bet in a forum and fails to pay up, can you trust his betting site?"
If that makes you wonder just read the whole thread. (I hate editing my posts but I feel forced because the initial post was edited to make it appear like I can't be trusted) Bet was not lost! 


Done. Have you seen bitlotto.com? TAABL also did something similar a while ago. There is also btclottery.com. The reason I didn't go with just block hashes are because a powerful miner could increase his odds a tiny bit by not submitting a block. Everything I do can be monitored with blockexplorer and it's impossible for me or any of the players to cheat. The winner is beyond my control.

Jackpot for July 6 will probably be worth over 1,000 USD.

Edit of my edit:  I think this is an entertaining thread.  It starts with a discussion of how a Bitcoin Lottery could be run. After several messages, in message #4, a user who runs a lottery claims that it is cheat-proof, and bets his entire BTC fortune that I can't think of a way that he can pay himself without everybody noticing.

I proceed to give a method of how he can do that.  Some people agree and others disagree. 
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not accusing him of any wrong-doing; I'm wondering what consensus opinion is.

But it does bring up an interesting dilemma.

If someone runs a betting site, and he loses a very public bet in a forum and fails to pay up, can you trust his betting site?


A provably honest lottery site could be one that bet on the hash of an upcoming Block.  The Hex value of the Block Hash (or the last few digits) could be bet upon.  If you can name the last hex digit of block 131300 (or some future block, 2 blocks into the future), you get a 15 to 1 payback on your bet.  Name the last 2 hex digits, and get a 250 to 1 payback.  Bet correctly that a certain 3-digit sequence will appear somewhere in the Block Hash, leading zeros excluded, and you get $250 (or whatever makes it a near fair bet).

People can see payments into the lottery in the BlockExplorer, and can see payments out (which should be predictable, odds-wise).

You could even make it provably honest as a para-mutual, growing bet (like Power Ball or MegaMillions).  You buy a "lottery ticket", and your lowest numerical payment address recorded in the transaction is your entry.  If your payment address, written in hex, has its last N hex digits matching the Block hash, you win.  Otherwise the jackpot grows.  Users can watch BlockExplorer to verify that previous payouts were made.  (Of course, you can never prove that the Lottery Company won't run off on this next bet....)


The only real issues that I see with this are if there's a chain split.  So maybe payouts are delayed by a day to help fight that case.



Somebody get to work on this!