Czuch: Using a program to analyse what's already happened in a game isn't illegal but using one to make your moves most certainly is.

I also think that a 30% rake-off is high. Ih fact it's considerably higher than on any of the proper gambling sites. But then Fencer isn't competing with these; this isn't a gambling site. I rather think these tournaments are just to add a flavour of excitement for those that want it. True, there will to be people going into these tourneys blindly but I suspect that most of the ones who have a decent chance to win will know what they're doing. Those with no chance would be in it for the fun and would have already written off 100% of their stake anyway. A win for them would thus be a huge and unexpected bonus!

I seriously doubt that there's the makings of a big scam here. For a start these tournaments aren't going to be flooded by people and money, plus they'll take forver to complete, just like ordinary tournaments. So I'd say the opportunity is a small one. If someone were consistently winning (especially in a luck-based game) then sooner or later they'd come under scrutiny and would likely be found out. But assume that these problems don't exist and someone was able to win a lot without detection .. there's then the problem of "laundering" the Brains - finding people who'll fork over the cash to the scammer instead of purchasing through Fencer. That's likely to be a lot more work that it's worth.

As a comparison of sorts. At VogClub, a non-gambling Chess/Backgammon site there are also money tournaments (Vog "tokens" equivalent to 1 cent). These have an entry fee of 2 tokens and a stake of 10 or 50 tokens. The 10-token ones have a high rake-off (20%) but 12 cents is cheap enough that you wouldn't care too much. Despite this they're very underpopulated. I've played in three-player tournaments (and lost to a beginner! ). I'd imagine that here, when people realise that it costs $1.50 to enter a money tourney, they will see it as only an occasional treat.