Great website idea!

[chromate]

I was just reading through our local paper where I saw an article about a local dentist that's set up a really nice website. Basically, the guy is having problems selling his £300k home. So he's turned it into an online competition to win it, selling 6000 tickets at £100 each.

The good bit is the way the competition is done... You have to watch him take a shot on his pool table, then try and predict where the cue ball will end up. Obviously, the closest guess will win the house. Because of the way it's set up, he's not being forced to operate under any form of lottery licensing.

Apparently he has a patent on the idea and he's now in negotiations with several big corporations that want a piece of the action.

Check out the site here: www.1002win.com

[Mike]

lol, what an idea. He'll earn £600k :o

[Jaffro]

Clever clever, i wonder what the patent says exactly.

[incka]

I can't see of him getting a patent for raffling a house, so it must be something about the way he's done it...

[chromate]

It's not a raffle though. And it's not a plain lottery either. That's the clever thing about it. They didn't give the exact figures, but he expects to hit 6000 entries before the close date. What I really like about the idea is that a lot of people will find it tempting enough to enter considering the prize. The fact that you determin your chances of winning by estimating where the ball will end up just adds to the attraction.

I'm sure there would be some bod coder that could write some code to work out as close as possible where the ball will go. I mean, all the angles are there and there's probably just about enough frames to work out the velocity of the cue ball. The only thing that's hard to judge is the spin he's putting on the ball when he strikes it. It looks like he's giving the ball some back spin.

I'm sure it could be worked out mathematically :) I'm not putting up £100 of my money though. 6000 guesses must cover pretty much all of that pool table! haha Some person would get closer just by chance.

[chromate]

Having said that, if you were quite confident that you knew roughly where the cue ball is likely to end up, you could buy 250 guesses and scatter them around that area, massively increasing your chances of a win.

[MarkB]

You'd also have to figure out if the table he's using has any level problems ;) Although, to be honest, he'd be better off if it was as on-the-level (erm, the comp, not the table;)) to get more entries from people who know nothing about pool :)

GREAT idea though, but I don't see how he can patent it - it's like the 'spot the ball' comps that used to be in the paper, really, just in a different medium.

[chromate]

Yeah. You'd also have to figure out the speed of the cloth and how bouncy the cushions are :) There are too many variables involved really.

I don't really see how he can patent it either. But that's what the paper says and it must be true because he's doing deals with corporations that want to use the idea.

[Mike]

Where have you heard about this patent chromate? I really can't see him getting it, can you?

[chromate]

It says in the paper that it is patented. And, I can see him getting it because it's probably not a patent on the whole idea, but rather a key element of the whole scheme. I don't know what though. Mail him and find out if you're interested :)

[Jaffro]

yea there's no way he can patent the idea thats just insane. it must be a particular aspect of what he's done.

there's a thing down here to win a house for £5 thats becoming very popular just by word of mouth i think. although i'd recon they could double it at least and it would still be as attractive to anyone.

i think 100pound is quite tight for a general lottery, but because this guy has done it as an almost skill game it makes it more worth while. this guy is making double what his house is worth, thats quite impressive - well if he sells all the tickets.

[chromate]

Even if he doesn't sell all the tickets he will make a nice amount of money. If all the tickets don't sell, he gets to keep 30% and the remaining 70% goes to the person with the closest guess.

[Jaffro]

i dont get that.

what? 30% 70% eh? surely whatever happens the closest person wins the house and the bloke takes all the money, maybe to pay off the mortgage?

[intelliot]

This is not a new idea, I've actually heard things like it before.

Reminds me of the joke about a guy with a horse he couldn't sell because it was dead. He sold raffle tickets, promising that the winner will get a horse. When the winner finds out the horse is dead, the guy just gives him his money back ;)

[Jaffro]

haha thats a good one