Gambling Machines: Linden Lab Allows Gambling

I noticed the sticky thread about gambling machines seems to have disappeared. Is it possibly because Linden Lab doesn't want to admit it not only allows gambling but facilitates it by allowing it to be advertised and that its anti-gambling policy is just a farce? I just tried my friends new Devil May Care and Zyngo machines as a lark and these are basically 1 or 2 steps above traditional slot machines. Not only does Linden Lab turn a blind eye to these machines but it allows them to be advertised in the classifieds. The gambling machine sticky clearly pointed out these games are gambling games and why they were gambling games under Linden Lab's own poorly promulgated anti-wagering policy and now it is gone. I'm beginning to hope Linden Lab gets nailed under the UIGEA with this uneven handed and foolish approach.

Probably got scrubbed by some automated timeout for lack of posts. In terms of enforcement I think the reason that enforcement is sporadic is A) LL just doesn't have the manpower to properly look at reports as fast as they come in, and B) many residents (myself included) refuse to report things since they disagree with the ban and want no part of it so in theory machines could stay around awhile before even being reported and once they are reported even if they are reported repeatedly it could be a long time before LL actually looks at not to mention acts on such reports.

If you would like to flame me about my stance on not reporting gambling machines I find please direct all complaints to /dev/null or to 127.0.0.1 because I have a mute list and I know how to use it.

Which has better payouts? Devil May Care or Zyngo?

The gambling sticky might have been pulled for other reasons. It was posted by Strife and had listings from residents. I would not call it LL policy, in fact it seemed to go against LL policy by naming games that were legal or illegal (yes I know, they aren't against the law, but against the TOS).

Actually, LL DOES allow Zyngo and DMC. They agreed with the creators of those games that they are SKILL BASED, which is allowed.

There is about as much skill involved in those games as playing tic tac toe and far more chance involved. Games like Hold'Em and Omaha require much more skill. That being said, it only shows how illogical Linden Lab is because there is NOTHING in its anti-gambling policy which implies let alone explicitly states that having any amount of skill influencing the outcome grants a game an exemption if there is an element of chance akin to random number generation involved. If it were true then Hold'Em would have it hands down over those games in terms of skill versus chance.

Given that its impossible to police gambling games in their entirety, Linden is left with two choices:

-Ignore the UIGEA completely. Near guarantee that US Banks will stop payments to Linden Labs, rendering 60%+ of their player base unable to pay for the service.

or

-Do a 'best effort' with the UIGEA. It wont eradicate 100% of gambling devices, but Linden can claim its attempting to comply with the rule in good faith.

What other options do they have?


I'm not familiar with Zyngo or DMC, but from the gambling FAQ:



The full text of the Anti-Gambling FAQ is located here: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/08/09/anti-gambling-policy-update-faq/

I think what happens is that Linden Lab cares only to the extent of how much trouble they will get in. Card games (esp. poker and blackjack), sports betting, and I would guess lottery betting are illegal in all or part of the U.S. They get state/federal attention and so they're illegal in SL. If there was a ZyngoStars.net web site making a lot of money from a bunch of people playing, the FBI would probably shut it down and then it would be against the TOS in SL.

This "games of skill" crap they talk about is just that, crap. It's just stuff they say that they think covers them and lets us still play some games.

--Hugsy

check this out



when the dust settles maybe, just maybe the US will play with the rest of the world and LL can let us have our gambling back

Some interesting follow on links on that thread too

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/19/gambling_survey_2007/

"Overall, Brits viewed gambling as something of a sin, but still considered it to be an activity that consenting adults should be allowed to enjoy."

hehehehe us Brits, naughty but nice!

/327/79/203896/1.html

In case anyone's interested. It's just not stickied any more. Search IS your friend.

In fairness, online casinos also only care in as much as whether they will get into trouble or not.

That what Regulatory Compliance is all about.

(/me butts out of the thread cos it is too fractal caring about online gaming regs in lunch hour at work!!!!!)

Zyngo and DMC are SLOT TOURNMENTS why they are expempt from the ban is kinda wierd.

they use random number gen's to make the random boards, they use random number gen's to picks random numbers to match your card. After 20 rounds of playing this 'slot' machine whoever has teh highest score wins the money that everyone chipped into the pot.


its a slot tournment, the same as played in many casinos around the world.

but for some reason its the only legal gambling left in second life


why?


the world may never know

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-22,GGLG:en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=slot+tournament&spell=1

"any game involving random number generation"


So, has anyone seen the source code for DMC and Zyngo? Is it truly a RNG involved? *winks*

I miss Zaphod.

Yes, he had the right mix of knowledge, humor and flaming snippiness that seems to be lacking lately.If we could get Ray to be more flaming, we may be able to fill the void.......

Yeah cos more bitching is really what this place needs.

(Note for those who don't know me = sarcasm)

Who doesn't know you?

Most people.

I unstickied the thread because it had been a long time since anyone had posted to it and I try to keep the number of stickies down. I thought by now everyone would know everything they wanted to know about the gambling ban. It has been like 5 months. If they haven't read a sticky in 5 months they are unlikely to start.

I'm going to keep the quicktime sticky until January just to make sure people have seen it.

Aren't you supposed to be on vacation, Strife?