Hmmm how you do you think it would take a script kiddy to write something for this, with the winnings being $1000?

*how long do..

Quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster
So, each player lays out some cash and the winner gets the jackpot. Your "game" sets it up and administrates the payout like a bookie and potentially takes a cut on each game instance. I don't see this as any different than people betting on the outcome of a pool game in a bar. It's called gambling. Depending on your location, that may be either illegal or heavily regulated. This is where the "you need a lawyer" thingy comes in.

There's a crucial difference depending on whether it's the pool players themselves who are paying/winning money, or people watching. The latter is what we call gambling, but the OP asked about the former.

The difference is between "games of skill" and "games of chance" - gambling laws tend to restrict the latter. That's not to say that the former is unrestricted by laws, you'd have to check, but it isn't necessarily the same thing as gambling.

I believe that this is why many of those phone-in contests you see have some ridiculously easy question, in order to make it a "game of skill"...

Quote: There's a crucial difference depending on whether it's the pool players themselves who are paying/winning money, or people watching. The latter is what we call gambling, but the OP asked about the former.

You can bet on a horse race or you can bet at a poker table. Both are gambling in all the jurisdictions I know of. There is no difference.

Quote: The difference is between "games of skill" and "games of chance" - gambling laws tend to restrict the latter.

The moment you wager money on the outcome of an event in the hope of winning even more money, you are gambling. It doesn't matter if you have some or no control over the outcome of that event.

Quote: I believe that this is why many of those phone-in contests you see have some ridiculously easy question, in order to make it a "game of skill"...

That is the special case of a "sweepstake", which is technically a lottery. There is no fee to enter a sweepstake, unlike what the OP is proposing.

Slightly unrelated. It would be neat to make a bet on yourself in any kind of multiplayer gaming, but i'm not sure $100 is a particularly viable price point. If this is legal you aren't going to get anyone playing unless they can also play for free until they become comfortable betting, and then most newbies wouldn't make the jump to pay-to-play unless it was very small - think starting at 1$ per game or less.

Next, how do you stop cheating? Even games with constant updates like multiplayer half life and such are rife with cheats, agreed that a 4X game would be considerably tricker to cheat at but you cant underestimate human ingenuity. With money involved, you would need to have a rock solid support structure, including complete game logs, 24/7 support and admins watching over big money games. I bet it's tricky to get a fair cut that gives you enough to fund this.

Anyhow, if the game is good then I would probably have a go at this. I just wonder how you'll make any profit.