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150 brains to enter, and you have to get 2nd place to win your 150 brains back.
Plus 30% of the brains entry fee doesnt go back into the prize pool?????
Can someone tell me what sense these brain tournaments make? Am I missing something here? I mean especially in non luck games where anyone is free to use a program, that makes them even less sense to me?
Walter Montego: Of course it is okay, such sponsored tournaments (without an entry fee) are already supported.
About gambling, I don't think any kind of gambling happens here because even if you pay Brains to participate in a tournament, you cannot win a real money. And to create an event with a prize is absolutely legal.
Is it still OK to sponsor tournaments and not charge an entry fee? Is it possible to sponsor part of the tournament and have an entry fee too? Who determines the payouts? I assume the tournament creator.
As for the gambling aspect of charging entry fees. In California it depends on a few things. What game or sport is being played and if the money collected from the entry fees is lessthan the amount paid out. If more money is paid out than collected or exactly the amount collected is paid out it is generally not considered gambling. Of course if the game is a game of chance as defined in the California Penal code, this doesn't matter and it is gambling. Which may or may not be against the law because some forms of gambling are legal in California. If less money is paid out than collected and it doesn't cover expenses then it works differently too, but it's not necessarily gambling either. Compare playing darts, pool, cribbage, or blackjack for prize money. There's all sorts of legal things that have to be decided in this crazy state that I live in to determine the legality of each. Plus, believe it or not, the location of the event! This makes a big difference in California. I know, I know, our legislature obviously has had too much time on its hands. Betting in a place that has a license to sell alcohol for onsite consumption is almost always against the law and yet some tournaments are legal even in that case. And of course some bars sell California Lottery tickets. And there's also charitible types of gambling like some Bingo games or drawings.
As for this site, even if it is illegal it be hard to imagine anyone getting busted for it. It's not like the site itself is set up for taking bets on a game or running a sportsbook. Collecting fees and paying them out to the participants in games that require more skill then luck is a far cry from being an online casino. If you take a cut in any of the tournaments Fencer, it might be construed as running a casino, though I feel that's a stretch. And if I have my own turnament and award all money collected, or if I do it like I did the only time I have so far and just put the prize myself and let all that want to join for free, that certainly should not run afoul of the law. Are any of the games offered on this site considered games of chance within California? I sincerely doubt it, but even if one is, your site is outside of California. Other states might have different laws. There's a few left that don't allow most forms of betting whether or not it's a game of skill. Wagering is wagering and they consider it gambling. How's Czech Republic view it? Anybody you know betting on the Super Bowl's outcome tomorrow? That's one of the biggest betting days of the year in the United States. You'd never know that betting on sports is illegal in almost every state from the amount of money that's being laid down on the game.
Ok... So, I guess what stops alot from being is created is that there aren't alot of brains out there yet, which means not many will even sign up for it.. I bet somewhere down the line there will be alot more brains and most tournaments will involve brains.. not that that is a bad thing.. I was just thinking "out loud". :-)
It costs nothing to set up as far as i understand. However tpo participate you have to pay the brain entry fee that the user defines! Lowest starts at 50 brains i believe.
What is the "cost" of setting up a brain prize tournament??? The link on the server news doesn't mention this (unless I missed it!) I'm sure it must cost something, otherwise everyone would probably make all tournaments this type? no?
Just noticed that in a recent started random gammon tournament, that each game within the tournament is random. (for my 4 games, 2 are race, 1 nack, and 1 crowded) I was thinking that it would be 1 random picked game for everyone to play. Not that I'm complaing, but found it an interesting surprise.
Honestly, I don't see much difference between buying brain and buying pocker/roullete chips.
You use both of them to play and get back then back if you win. Later on, you exchange them back to money/service.
On BK:
memberhips = money
brains = money
So membership is money valued service which and since you use brains to purchase something brains can be considered as money
and then you can go to another discussion of gambling.
So I don't think using brains as an entry fee completely eliminates possibility for gambling opportunities.
It depends on country and lawyers opinion. In addition, good lawyer can convince the jury ...
So why not just have is as before: give membership as a prize?
Comments are more then welcome :)
KotDB: You have expressed this most eloquently. And if it's a draw in a single game, then the best (ie the higher-ranked) player should proceed to the next round. Thankyou for your excellent contribution.
Fencer: Yes, that is a good solution to be used by those who create tournaments. But it doesn't address the point I'm making, which perhaps I can clarify with a hypothetical situation.
Suppose there is a single-elimination chess tournament which uses normal games. Suppose it's a prize tournament, with a one-year Rook membership at stake. Player A is playing against player B in a semifinal round, and A's rating is slightly higher than B's. Their game reaches a position in which a draw is likely, and A becomes worried, because a draw would eliminate him from the tournament.
Now suppose that at the same time, A is also playing a game of chess against player C. This is just a regular game, not part of any tournament. Suppose A and C have both played well, and have reached a very interesting middlegame position in which any result is possible. Maybe A has a slight advantage.
But then A realizes that if C wins, it will cause A's rating to drop below B's, which would mean that in the event of a draw in the game between A and B, A would advance to the final round of the tournament. A considers the possibilities, and decides that he'll gladly give up a few ratings points to have a better chance at winning a valuable prize. He therefore begins to play poorly in his game against C. Maybe he even resigns prematurely.
Some might say that C should be pleased by this; after all, he won! But if C is like me, he will be upset, because a win isn't worth much if the opponent was trying to lose. C doesn't play games for such meaningless wins; he plays for the experience of trying always to find the best move, the best strategy, against a strong opponent who is doing the same. And C feels that he has been deprived of what could have been an excellent game, simply because the structure of a tournament (in which C was not participating!) gave A an incentive to throw away a game.
In my view, it's best if the rules of a tournament or other competition never give players an incentive to lose. Therefore I would prefer that the higher-rated player advance in the case of a draw.
Granted, situations like the one I've described probably will not occur very often, so I'm not inclined to worry about this much more. But I wanted to make this concern clear so that it could be considered for whatever it's worth.
KotDB: The solution is to play tournaments with multi-win matches. 1-win match is almost equivalent to a normal game but draws are not counted to the result.
Fencer: Agreed, but the point is that if the lower-rated player has the advantage in a tournament game, this creates an incentive for players to intentionally lose non-tournament games in order to improve their chances in the tournament.