Malkovich Betting

[Kirby]

I was thinking about it a little bit, and I was wondering if people would be interested in a form of "Malkovich Betting", where a virtual currency could exist and be assigned to each user. They might start out with say 1000 points. During Malkovich games, users could wager (in the hide brackets) about whether they thought a particular user would win or not.

At the end of a Malkovich game, maybe an admin could determine how much money each person gets, and update the involved users' profiles. Perhaps the currency could be a non-editable field in the user's profile - kind of like the GD posts field, but non-editable by a regular user.

Does this sound like an interesting idea?

[Joaz Banbeck]

It is ok by me just as long as it is made very clear that these units are not convertable to real cash.

[Solomon]

I think the idea is interesting, but I also think it's excessive and, more importantly, emphasizes Malkovich games for something that they're not. To me, betting emphasizes fierce competition and winning, when these Malkovich games are not about winning at all like tournament games. Though don't get me wrong, that's not to say that players are not trying to win.

Rather, the focus is on learning/teaching. I've always looked at Malkovich games as a learning resource with some entertainment on the side rather than the casual online ranked games which are more competitive. While betting may work well for such online ranked games like on Tygem, I feel that if it were to be implemented on Malkovich games, it would...well, taint its image if that's the right word usage.

[Kirby]

...I feel that if it were to be implemented on Malkovich games, it would...well, taint its image if that's the right word usage.

Hmm, I didn't think about that. Maybe it's not exactly the right setting for betting. I'm trying to think of a modification to the idea, but I can't really think of anything right now.

[rubin427]

I think any popular system that allows betting (whether on Malkovich games, or otherwise) would have to be automated. Most likely custom PHP with a custom database. It would be a LOT of work to keep on top of the accounting for a betting system manually, imo.

More on topic, I don't think betting on Malkovich is proper. players are already on their honor not to peek at their opponent's strategies... adding the pressure of betting and there will soon be accusations of cheating, which could compromise the entire purpose of the games.

[fwiffo]

My biggest concern would be who is going to volunteer their time to do all that bookkeeping?

[Kirby]

My biggest concern would be who is going to volunteer their time to do all that bookkeeping?

I could do it - I have tons of free time

But as some have expressed, betting might not be inline with the spirit of the Malkovich games... So it seems like a bad idea. :-p

[mic]

So, what about betting in ladder games?