Considering how relaxed most people have been, in regards to Trendon Shavers aka Pirateat40 (causing most of my frustration) I find Matthew's situation to be a bit 'scape-goatish' under the circumstances.
Does Matthew really deserve to be punished to the extent he currently is being punished ?
In the original bet thread Matthew offered up his own reputation as collateral.
Anyone (including myself) who renigs on their bets will be labeled a scammer on the forums. Theymos will retain the IP addresses of everyone who has committed here and as you are marked a scammer for not paying, you will also be reported to the bitcoin police and tracked. For this reason, it is important that you do not bet more than you can afford to lose. Considering the high probability of fraud from newbie sockpuppets, only established 250+ post users will be allowed to participate, unless they participate through an escrow who will hold their coins. This is up to them to find the escrow although many posters in this thread have agreed to act as such.
His reputation is his own to enhance or squander, so if he decides to cheapen it I'm going to honor his choice.