World’s first “honor-based betting platform” connects people “who like to bet” and likens the site to “gentleman’s bets,” calling it “betting,” not “gambling”.
Betcha-dot-com is billed as America’s first P2P betting platform that connects “people who like to bet.”
It claims to work a lot like an auction site, minus the hassles and inventory. As a Betcha bettor, you: (a) offer and accept bet propositions on anything that comes to mind; (b) negotiate and counteroffer odds with would-be betting partners; then (c) settle your bets when the time comes — shipping, handling, and trip to the post office not required.
For bettors who prefer to place their bets and be done with it, they offer Pools. For legal reasons, betting on Betcha is done on the honor system — bettors who pay build their reputations (called “Honor Ratings”), bettors who don’t get dinged. The open, honor-based betting platform says it’s like “…an auction site, Las Vegas, a marketplace of ideas, and The Golden Rule — all rolled into one.”
Betcha.com claims that it’s a legal service under the premise that bettors are allowed to welch on their bets, meaning that there’s no gambling actually taking place. Users are given an eBay-style rating based on whether or not they pay up after losing a bet.
The site reads:
“Betcha bettors always retain the right to withdraw their bets and, for up to three days, not pay their losses. (Try that at a casino.) Therefore, they are not “risking” anything. No “risk” means no “gamble.”
The US Govt may have a different take on it’s legality but, the site claims it’s in the clear.
It writes:
IS THIS LEGAL?
Yes. There are at least five reasons why the Betcha Platform falls outside legal prohibitions against gambling. While most of them are technical legalese, one isn’t — it isn’t “gambling.” Although there are a few variations in syntax depending on the jurisdiction, the legal (and common sense) definition of “gambling,” at bottom, requires that you (1) risk (2) something of value (3) on the result of a future event beyond your control. Betting that doesn’t have all of these elements may be betting, but it isn’t “gambling” and, therefore, isn’t illegal.
You are already familiar with some betting that isn’t gambling. For example, if you run a race against a friend for $100, you control the outcome, so while you’re betting, you aren’t gambling. (Element [3] is not met.) When you make a handshake gentlemen’s bet for no money on a football game, you are betting, but not gambling, because nothing of value is at stake. (Element [2] is not met.)
Bets on Betcha are a third type. Unlike any other betting venue on the planet, Betcha bettors always retain the right to withdraw their bets and, for up to three days, not pay their losses. (Try that at a casino.) Therefore, they are not “risking” anything. No “risk” means no “gamble.” (This last reason, we think, is why mayors and governors can bet with impunity on the outcomes of Super Bowls and World Series and not get themselves arrested.)
Please note: This is our opinion only. Although (1) we spent thousands of man hours analyzing this and point and related ones, (2) our analysis encompassed U.S. federal law and the law of all 50 states, and (3) we are betting our very freedom that our analysis is spot on, it isn’t as though some Almighty Power came down from the heavens and deemed us “legal.” That’s not the way the law works.
Note how it emphasizes that this is “our opinion only” but, they may just have a valid argument here. If you aren’t forced to pay up, is it really gambling and will it lead to all the suicides and broken families that Congress regularly cites as the problem for internet gambling?
The site charges a $5-$10 USD fee for every $100 USD bet, and doesn’t limit users to betting based on its “…odds, spreads, and 
subject matters.”
When I browsed the subject matter offered it really is boundless. You can make a bet on the number of rehab trips per a specific celebrity for instance, or on whether or not the price of oil will go up or down today. You can make a bet on Rosie’s replacement for The View or whether Don Imus will return to radio. Will President Bush pardon “Scooter” Libby by August 30th, 2007 or will Barry Bonds be selected to play in the 2007 MLB All-Star game.
The site does seem like it may have something here but, as always, the Feds make the final call. The good thing is is that the risk is sort of minimal in that if for whatever reason you can’t pay up and choose the dubious “welch” option you can still make your house or cay payment and then hang up your betting jersey with a lesson learned. It’s not very honorable but, better than missing a mortgage payment.
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interesting business plan that if popularized would most likely be outlawed by updated legislation. thx for the post!
Probably right but yes is pretty interesting.
It is just a legal loophole that will be closed by updated legislation. I would HATE to to a person that gambled and find out I betted and lost against a mobster…then couldn’t pay!
The site may say I could just walk away but it would be kinda hard to walk with both legs broke!
Good thing I don’t gamble.