> Internet gambling. If I bet on something, I want the odds to accurately reflect the bets of all the players, and I want to be able to get my money out if I win.
I can't see why a blockchain would help here.
I don't like risk, but I do have recent experience with Internet "gambling" because the previous President of the United States of America persuaded his followers to bet that he'd actually won an election he lost, so I was able to make money answering trivia questions like "Did Donald Trump win the US presidential election in November?" (No).
Although there were some conventional bookies offering this bet, most of the money (as I understand it) went on exchanges, there were hundreds of millions of dollars in the exchange I used. On an exchange they're matching bids against offers, as you would on a stock market, you can either propose odds yourself or you can take the best existing odds somebody else has proposed on the other side of the bet. As with the stock market, when things are liquid enough it's possible to establish a small range of odds in which matches will occur right now, and over time that range changes.
It seemed to me that this offers everything you'd want, the assurance you'll get your money comes down to the institution offering the exchange, and its regulators, but it seems to me this would also be a problem for a hypothetical "blockchain" gambling system.
> but it seems to me this would also be a problem for a hypothetical "blockchain" gambling system.
It depends what form of gambling you're referring to.
A blockchain based roulette smart contract could provide absolute transparency to anyone placing a bet. The exact process which determines the outcome is known, and it cannot be changed. The assurance that you get your money is the smart contract.
A smart contract based prediction market, such as Augur, can offer similar transparency. You have the assurance that, should the market be resolved in your favour, you will get your money. The main concern is the governance structure which determines the outcomes.
I can't see why a blockchain would help here.
I don't like risk, but I do have recent experience with Internet "gambling" because the previous President of the United States of America persuaded his followers to bet that he'd actually won an election he lost, so I was able to make money answering trivia questions like "Did Donald Trump win the US presidential election in November?" (No).
Although there were some conventional bookies offering this bet, most of the money (as I understand it) went on exchanges, there were hundreds of millions of dollars in the exchange I used. On an exchange they're matching bids against offers, as you would on a stock market, you can either propose odds yourself or you can take the best existing odds somebody else has proposed on the other side of the bet. As with the stock market, when things are liquid enough it's possible to establish a small range of odds in which matches will occur right now, and over time that range changes.
It seemed to me that this offers everything you'd want, the assurance you'll get your money comes down to the institution offering the exchange, and its regulators, but it seems to me this would also be a problem for a hypothetical "blockchain" gambling system.