Quote from: Stephen Gornick on November 15, 2012, 05:46:04 PM

Quote from: Staring Owl on November 15, 2012, 04:26:45 PM

And that comes from the site of the owner of Bodog, so he should know a thing or two?

Two words: House edge.

No, sorry. Four words. Add two more: Provably Fair.

Most state-operated lotteries pay out in the range of 70% or less of the lotto ticket/wager revenue. I don't know the actual number for a fact, but most of these state run lotteries are audited and when you dig you can find their reported results for each jurisdiction. If you believe they aren't cheating and can trust the audited numbers, you'll probably end up with a number in the 70% range.

BitLotto pays out 99%. I do know this number to be a fact as I see the blockchain and know exactly how many tickets were purchased. I can perform the calculation to independently determine the winner, and I see the payout transaction. Thus I can conclude that player returns when playing BitLotto are 41% higher than when playing MegaMillions (99% versus 70%).
- http://www.BitLotto.com

SatoshiDICE has a 98.1% payout (before considering transaction fees) which means they keep the 1.9% house edge. Today I can go through the blockchain and verify that every single wager ever made to SatoshiDICE (ever, like all the way back to their April launch) was calculated correctly and paid out correctly. I can prove that SatoshiDICE is operating fairly.

In Vegas casinos, the most widely used gambling options (e.g., slot machines) might return maybe 96%, and most are in the 94% or 92% range. Someone needs to pay for the security cameras, fake volcanoes and free booze. They only way for a physical casino to function profitably with better odds is likely to cheat somewhere. (Or so I've read. I don't gamble much and am not tuned in to the casino industry )

The only reason SatoshiDICE isn't paying out 99% is because they aren't being squeezed by a more aggressive competitor offering a 98.9% payout. That day will come. Because with an increase in play, both SatoshiDICE and some other competitor(s) can still operate profitably on a lower house advantage without cheating (which isn't really an option as it would be exposed them and they'ld lose all credibility in a matter of days.)

bitZino doesn't publish the odds to each of their games, I don't believe. But the odds can be calculated. For blackjack most of the rule variations are ones that favor the player:
- http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/rule-variations
- http://www.bitZino.com

So I can't say that bitZino games (blackjack, video poker, craps and roulette) have payouts that are higher than a Vegas casino has because I haven't seen the odds (or performed the computations myself) but I would bet that bitZino can always beat Vegas casinos due to having such low costs, on a relative basis. (Unlike bitLotto and SatoshiDICE, we don't know bitZino's revenues or profits. I'm going to conclude they are still nowhere near recovering their investment for development but like D&T mentions, they probably didn't build all that intending to profit in 2012 but instead did all that beautiful HTML5 and rock solid back-end work for the returns they could see in 2014 or later, which could be substantial.)

Another provably fair game I'm enthusiastic about is King Coin. The odds for that were just calculated (thanks doogius) to be in the 96% range. That makes me less enthusiastic about the game than I was originally, but again, those odds can be increased (which can be verified independently) and hopefully this entertaining visual game can join the stable of online gaming where provably fair gaming using Bitcoins beats any other online gaming options.

And that's what the owner of Bodog either doesn't realize (which I doubt) or wishes to not tout until he figures out a way to make some money from it. He's welcome to try. The barrier to entry for building an online casino game is not beyond what a skilled developer operating solo as as "nights and weekends" project can produce. But with it being provably fair, math gives that alternative the same credibility as what gamers used to count on ... the polished look and feel that established gaming companies provide.

There's a huge industry that has no idea that they are going to be sharing part of their lunch:
- http://www.bulletbusiness.com/mobilegambling/index.php

Thanks for the Kingcoin shout-out, Stephen. The URL for those interested is http://kingco.in.

Stephen, I plan to make the game odds better and the game more fun by introducing a jackpot slice with a very high payout. I hope that--along with compatibility on more devices!--will increase your enthusiasm for Kingcoin! I also plan to publish the odds on the site.

Sanjay