Recently a number of betting games including sports, chess, cryptocurrency trends, etc. have populated Steemit with great participation. The community likes these activities and it has benefits for sharing the wealth to a broader audience. However, with any such game involving currency there are risks of fraud.   

There have been accusations, concerns, and questions about fair play, proper payouts, and accuracy. Such situations, regardless if they are true or not, bring to light a potential weakness in our platform and community where people are or could be victimized. Here is an example of one such thread.   

We all want our community to be strong, open, and healthy. If we are to allow such games-of-chance to occur, I believe it is in the best interest to make sure those who are administering the games are doing so in a fair and transparent way. This builds trust, reputation, and better experiences for users of Steemit. 

Security against fraud 

I know a bit about protection from fraud. If we, the Steemit community, want to minimize the risks, we have to look at our options. We can attempt to Prevent, Detect, and Prosecute fraudulent activities.  Given our distributed platform, with strong anonymity, and direct transfer of immediate assets, it presents some challenges and opportunities. There are some technical and behavioral Prevention mechanisms we can evaluate. With the strong openness of the blockchain, we have excellent abilities to Detect fraud. However the ability to prosecute offenders and recover ill-gotten-gains they have reaped is much weaker.  Transfers of assets are not revocable and the banning of accounts is somewhat meaningless as the person could just create a new account and start over.

What should we do? 

I think this community should debate the different prevention options, which will take some time and consensus. More importantly, I think we can establish certain detective and deterrence standards NOW which will benefit both the community as well as the administrators of these games.   

There are a number of creative and potentially effective preventative technical and behavioral controls which could improve the situation.  Automated blockchain contracts, bonded 3rd party administrators, asset holding parties/trustee, vetted hosts, open source scripts to automatically dispense payouts, etc. are all interesting.  The downside is prevention mechanisms do require consensus, resources, and oversight.  It can be challenging but there are lots of opportunities we should explore.  Alternatively, these may never really be resolved due to a lack of consensus and based upon our decentralized nature, unless the Dev’s step in with technical enforcement mechanisms.  So I say, while we explore preventative controls, we act to immediately improve trust and accountability.

Recommendations for Transparency and Accountability 

All games must be fair and transparent. We should immediately institute the following rules for all game administrators. This will allow for clarity to players and auditability for verification. Such actions build trust, reputation, and contribute to the brand value of the game and host, therefore benefit all legitimate actors.     

Proposed Rules for games of chance on Steemit  

1. Instructions and requirements for playing the game must be stated in each game post. It must be clear to what are the options, criteria to determine winners, and when results will be posted. 
2. Administrative overhead costs and player payout percentages/amounts must be stated in the post. It is okay for the host to receive benefit, it just must be clear what that is ahead of time. 
3. Results of the game must be posted (as is specified by #1 rule above).  The results will be a separate post from the host account and include the following: 
   1. The outcome of the game. Ie. the wining condition, team, or event 
   2. A list of player’s usernames of the winners  
   3. The amount paid to the winners 
   4. The date the winners will receive (transfer) their winnings - will show up in their account
   5. Total fees allocated to the game administrator (see #2 rule above) 
4. To offset the efforts necessary to publish the results post, it will be allowed that all upvote earnings for the "results post" itself should go to the game administrator (host). This will give an opportunity for players to directly contribute both upvote value and reputation gains to the host.  It is also a forum to raise issues and challenge results.  
5. For any game of chance posted on Steemit, which does not follow these rules, members will provide a link to the rules to educate the host and allow them to withdraw/edit their game to show compliance before downvoting.    

The "results post" directly contributes to the host’s honesty, credibility/reputation, and transparency. It allows for a quick audit by individuals or oversight communities to verify legitimacy and fairness.   

For repeat offenders who choose to skirt the rules or not comply with fairness, the community should use the reputation tools and vocalize warnings to other members. This is intended to minimize the profits that fraudulent actors will gain. It will also open up opportunities for competition by a fair operator to gain community favor.      

What does the community think?  
When should such rules be enacted?
Would you support these controls?   

Full disclosure: I participate in these games as well, but do not run or administer any of them. I have received payouts for guessing the correct future condition. (you can see if you go to my account - https://steemit.com/@mrosenquist/transfers )