[casual_games] tournament games

[jonathan at gametrust.com]

Hi Lennard,

Game Trust operates cash tournaments on leading sites like MiniClip and
Shockwave.com, so I can provide some legal clarification on the subject.
 
As the name would suggest, "Skill Gaming" is based on "games of skill," as
opposed to gambling, which is based on "games of chance." Though both
activities involve game play, money, and winnings, there is a fundamental
and well-established difference. This difference is best explained in the
definition of gambling found in several Bills proposed by the United States
Congress.

"Gambling means the staking or risking by any person of something of value
upon the outcome of a contest of others, a sporting event, or a game
predominantly subject to chance, upon an agreement or understanding that the
person or another person will receive something of greater value than the
amount staked or risked in the event of a certain outcome." Gambling depends
upon the outcome of "contests of others" or "games predominantly subject to
chance." Skill game tournaments are defined by contestants directly
participating in the outcome of a game that is predominantly determined by
their abilities and skill, not chance. 

Statutes of the 50 States generally follow the foregoing concept, though
some (only 8) specifically outlaw skill games or put very low limits on the
amount that can be won. We simply deny deposits from these areas.

The majority of games can be 'skillified' (as we like to call it ;-) through
careful feature and scoring adjustments, and integration with our secure
platform. We also have several other tests we run on games to ensure that
they are skill-based. 

Please contact me directly if you're interested in offering your games for
cash tournaments or running a turn-key skill-gaming and community site
yourself.

Hope this helps...

Jonathan Greechan | Game Manager 
Game Trust, Inc. | www.gametrust.com 
jonathan at gametrust.com  | 212.367.7336 x126
MSN: jonathan at gametrust.com

-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Lennard Feddersen
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 3:23 PM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: [casual_games] tournament games

Maybe this has been covered before I showed up...  Is there a site that 
can inform me or can somdebody give me a short description of the 
legalities behind giving away prizes for skill based computer games?

Thanks,

Lennard Feddersen
CEO, Rusty Axe Games, Inc.
www.RustyAxe.com

Lennard at RustyAxe.com
P. 250-635-7623 F. 1-309-422-2466
3521 Dogwood, Terrace, BC, Canada, V8G-4Y7

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