Betting

Investing resources for hoped rewards based on a non-certain outcome of an event.

Betting is the act of risking resources for the chance of winning more resources than was used. The proportions between what is gained and what is risked is linked to the perceived probability of winning, but in the case where Betting is done by players this does not have to be close to the real probability.

Examples

Examples of Betting are easy to find among Gambling Games, e.g., Guts, Poker, and Roulette. While these typically make use of real-world money as the resource being betted, other games, e.g., Liar's Dice, show that other types of resources can be used which either only have value within the game or primarily have other values than monetary. Roulette shows an example where the probability for each outcome is static and knowable to players, and the relation between a bet and its rewards is set in advance. In contrast, a challenge in Poker and it's many offsprings is to be able to estimate one's probabilities of winning based on the actions of the other players (and reveals of cards in some variants). Further, in these games the relation between bets and rewards depends upon all players actions.

Using the pattern

Betting can be initiated by people using game resources as Rewards for winning a bet regardless of game rules. That is, the possibility of engaging in Betting can make people set up Self-Facilitated Games that are Meta Games which cause Extra-Game Consequences for the game whose resources are used. These Extra-Game Consequences are typically also Committed Goals. While if can be difficult designing a game against people engaging in these types of Betting, the presence of Game Element Trading or Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership can make this more likely since players can already be engaged in exchanging game elements. That Betting can occur on the outcomes of games make it further difficult to avoid the possibility of Betting Meta Games, and the participants of the Betting do not need to be the participants of the game, i.e., they can be Spectators.

Regardless of if Betting is done as a Meta Games or inherent in the game itself, it relies on that players have Ownership of Resources usable in the Betting. Typically, players need to have Gain Ownership goals as well, but these do not need to relate to the same types of Resources as used in the Betting, and the Betting can be for other things not necessarily perceived as Resources normally, e.g., determining turn order in games with Turn Taking (use of First Player Tokens show how turn order can be blurred into being more of a Resource). While Betting as Meta Games are open in the sense that players bring in Resources from outside "the game", the economy of the Rewards can open or closed also. In this fashion, closed means that the only Resources provided as Rewards are those provided by the Betting. Open in contrast means that Resources are added by the system. Betting in games where there is a "house" (i.e., a Dedicated Game Facilitators) this can be an amount based on what the players bet to increase the rewards available, typically be a simply multiple (i.e. an Arithmetic Progression) or a set value but other functions are possible. In games with NPCs without their own game states, Dedicated Game Facilitators can provide the illusions of these having their own Resources that have been added to those bet by the players. Allowing several rounds of Betting, as in Liar's Dice, allows for games based on Push Your Luck.

Another requirement for Betting to function in a game is that there is an Uncertainty of Outcome, at least for some players. This uncertainty can be caused or modulated by Imperfect Information that players can have, as well as Strategic Knowledge. When the number of Rewards is known to players in advance this gives players a certain level of Predictable Consequences even if they may not know who gets what Reward. Similarly, Predictable Consequences arise from Betting where there is an Arithmetic Progression for the Rewards provided based upon the bet placed. Bidding is a form of Betting that lets players compete against each other regarding who can make a trade; here the Uncertainty of Outcome arises from players not knowing how much other players may wish to bid (there may also be an Uncertainty of Outcome in exactly what is received in the trade).

Having the Rewards offered be of the same type as those used to place bets is a straightforward approach to implementing Betting in a game, but other types of Rewards can be offer. This makes the Betting function as a form of Converters. While Betting is typically about increasing Resources it could theoretically be about minimizing losses. One way of doing this would be to have an automatic loss of a Resources directly after the consequences of the Betting are concluding, meaning that players that have won would have minimized a loss rather than have a gain.

Betting can typically be handled rather quickly, making it typically be a basis for Quick Games, a rather distinct activity within a game, and an activity (or game) suitable for basing Tournaments around.

Consequences

Betting is action which offers Rewards based on the risk of losing Investments, and as such is a typical example of Risk/Reward. If the bet isn't immediately resolved, the pattern supports Anticipation and Tension due to Delayed Effects and Hovering Closures. Local temporary Closed Economies are formed when no Resources beyond what those betters have bet are used to provide the Rewards.

The decision on how to bet, and what to bet when several choices exist, can be seen as a form of Resource Management, and since the outcome of Betting interactions redistribute Resources, its use is also a form of Transfer of Control. This transfer functions as a form of Converters when not the same Resources are given as Rewards as are used to place bets. The use of Betting provides a Freedom of Choice in games given that Betting is about making choices. When it is optional to place a bet, this further advances the presence of Freedom of Choice but also allows players to select to have Gain Ownership goals, i.e., Betting also can support Player-Defined Goals. This is one source of Emotional Engrossment related to Betting, but another is the possible sense of Luck in situations where Randomness affected the event being bet upon. In the latter case repeated possibilities to bet, especially if previous Investments are locked, can instantiate Push Your Luck in a game. Betting can be a source for Gameplay Mastery when either the outcome of Betting is not completely based upon Randomness or being able to determine the probability of Randomness is beneficial.

Betting is a form of Conflict when is done against others, but it can also indirectly be related to Conflict if one is Betting on others failing or suffering negative consequences. If players can be tricked into giving up bets due to the actions of other players, the Betting allows players to engage in Bluffing against each other and rewards players having relevant Social Skills. Likewise, Betting rewards Social Skills if the Betting is related to distributing different types of Resources and it is advantageous to be able to figure out which players wants which Resources.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Anticipation, Bluffing, Closed Economies, Conflict, Delayed Effects, Emotional Engrossment, Extra-Game Consequences, Freedom of Choice, Gameplay Mastery, Hovering Closures, Investments, Luck, Player-Defined Goals, Push Your Luck, Randomness, Resource Management, Rewards, Risk/Reward, Self-Facilitated Games, Social Skills, Tension, Transfer of Control,

with Extra-Game Consequences

Committed Goals

with Self-Facilitated Games

Meta Games

Can Modulate

Gain Ownership, Resources

Can Be Instantiated By

Bidding, Gain Ownership, Game Element Trading, Heterogeneous Game Element Ownership, Ownership, Spectators, Uncertainty of Outcome

Can Be Modulated By

Arithmetic Progression, Dedicated Game Facilitators, Imperfect Information, Quick Games, Predictable Consequences, Strategic Knowledge, Tournaments,

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

An updated version of the pattern Betting that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design.

Acknowledgements

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