4 ms·

That's easy to get around. I don't want Duke to win the NCAA Tournament. I will pay you $X to insure against that happening, but if it does, my insurance policy

by basseq 10y ago

That's easy to get around. I don't want Duke to win the NCAA Tournament. I will pay you $X to insure against that happening, but if it does, my insurance policy kicks in to the tune of $Y.

droopyEyelids 10y ago
Imagining the competing school insuring themselves against the loss in prestige/recruiting that would come from that loss
SilasX 10y ago
You mean easy to get around if that's what the law actually said? Sure, the distinguisher I gave doesn't easily translate into cheaply applicable test that law enforcement can use; it's more for identifying categories of activities that look more like gambling vs insurance so that lawmakers can identify which are worth banning. It's hard to externally identify that on individual cases. With that said, given appropriate modifications, your example could legitimately be called insurance. If - There were a quantifiable decline in prestige from the loss (per sibling comment), and - the payout were low enough that the insurer thought that you'd still prefer winning to loss+payout, and - this were a common enough thing Then yes, it would look a lot more like insurance and merit being regulated like that and less like gambling.
- basseq 10y ago
  Here's an interesting and topical example: the "billion dollar bracket" challenges you're seeing right now with the NCAA Tournament are all insured. The company offering the "prize" isn't going to be out $1B if someone hits a perfect bracket; they've got insurance to cover the event that someone wins. (The cost of that insurance is rumored to be around $10M.) http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/14/buffett-insures-billion-dollar-bracket-madness.html http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/14/buffett-insures-billion-dolla... Those challenges are all free, though you could get really deep and argue that consumers are paying incremental value for providing email addresses and marketing leads to the customer.
  - basseq 10y ago
    By the way, this example is really fun because you can re-word it to: "I'll bet you $1B at 100:1 odds that no one will get a perfect bracket."

by basseq 10y ago

That's easy to get around. I don't want Duke to win the NCAA Tournament. I will pay you $X to insure against that happening, but if it does, my insurance policy kicks in to the tune of $Y.

droopyEyelids 10y ago

Imagining the competing school insuring themselves against the loss in prestige/recruiting that would come from that loss

SilasX 10y ago

You mean easy to get around if that's what the law actually said? Sure, the distinguisher I gave doesn't easily translate into cheaply applicable test that law enforcement can use; it's more for identifying categories of activities that look more like gambling vs insurance so that lawmakers can identify which are worth banning. It's hard to externally identify that on individual cases. With that said, given appropriate modifications, your example could legitimately be called insurance. If - There were a quantifiable decline in prestige from the loss (per sibling comment), and - the payout were low enough that the insurer thought that you'd still prefer winning to loss+payout, and - this were a common enough thing Then yes, it would look a lot more like insurance and merit being regulated like that and less like gambling.

basseq 10y ago
Here's an interesting and topical example: the "billion dollar bracket" challenges you're seeing right now with the NCAA Tournament are all insured. The company offering the "prize" isn't going to be out $1B if someone hits a perfect bracket; they've got insurance to cover the event that someone wins. (The cost of that insurance is rumored to be around $10M.) http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/14/buffett-insures-billion-dollar-bracket-madness.html http://www.cnbc.com/2014/03/14/buffett-insures-billion-dolla... Those challenges are all free, though you could get really deep and argue that consumers are paying incremental value for providing email addresses and marketing leads to the customer.
- basseq 10y ago
  By the way, this example is really fun because you can re-word it to: "I'll bet you $1B at 100:1 odds that no one will get a perfect bracket."