If you've ever seen the movie you'll understand what I'm talking about but basically... With me living in California... What's the legalities concerning: Setting up some sort of contest (really it's like a betting site) where people place there bets that something will happen by/on a certain day. And then whoever gets the closest to the actual day (without going over) gets some percentage of the total pot. Me and my friends have found ourselves in a situation where we could do this, and it would be rather funny at the same time... A good example is in 40 days and 40 nights a website is set up where people bet on when the main character will shoot his load by... And it takes off (b/c it's kind of funny) and the betting gets rather enjoyable. So I guess this breaks down to is there someway this wouldn't be considered gambling so that I wouldn't get into trouble for taking/giving money to the winners... Or am I basically out of luck and gotta let this idea go down the drain? Thanks for your help DP'ers.
I wouldn't say let it go down the drain, but I would definitely refine it...Use existing models of what you want to do, use their laws and systems and streamline your outfit...Do a business plan, consistent with the start of ANY kind of business, and give yourself a realistic POV of what this thing can do...
The U.S. Congress just formally stated that online gambling was illegal. If you want to do something like this, you could make it a contest and profit off of advertising of some sort, or by selling text links.
He's not talking about online gambling. The issue is OPERATING a gambling-oriented facility. That's always been illegal without a license.
Gambling: betting or staking of something of value on the outcome of a game or event. (Britannica). All the elements are present in your scheme. So it is gambling. Why not make some virtual money to bet? If you still want to make money out of it, you'll need a domain outside the US.
That is incorrect. Where your domain resides is a common thought fallacy among webmasters. It's where you are standing that matters. He could open a gambling service in hell, but if he's standing on U.S. soil, he's breaking the law and subject to arrest and prosecution.
why dont you form a system where you buy points and you use points to bet? Does this still count as gambling?
Using virtual points to bet would probably be a decent way to get around the law. You would need to offer a way to get the points for free though. Like, you could give them 1 free point for signing up and maybe have it like a PTR where they could earn 1 point per so many emails read. I would get off shore hosting just to be safe though.
What do they get for the "points" then. In the end people are really only interested in the money... either way, I would run from anything that is considered gambling...
As to trying to get around the law, no, exchanging cash for virtual points doesn't do this. Is it still gambling if you go into a casino and buy chips? I wouldn't try to get "cute" since we're talking about you going to prison--unless you like that sort of thing.
And what would that solve? If you read my earlier post in this thread OR if you follow the gaming industry, you'll see that where your site is hosted means little.
I was just stating that this was a precaution he should probably take to slow them down if they ever chose to come after him. You could look at the model of Prizee.com for what I am talking about. They sell maxpacks so that there players can make money to bid on prizes. Free members can get small amounts though.