MempoolmadnessMempoolmadness
A few evenings ago, mempoolmadness caught me by storm. I really liked the idea of betting on blocks. After loosing a few rounds, I said to myself this is the final round also intending to bet harder. A few minutes went by and there were other players betting too. Suddenly, I noticed that my lighnting payments were being sent from my phone, but that according to mempoolmadness on my laptop's browser nothing arrived. I was not mad yet, because before playing, I did read the FAQ that mempoolmadness is not liable for lost sats.
Won block 936292, but mempoolmadness failed to payout the satsWon block 936292, but mempoolmadness failed to payout the sats
Due to the rush of the game, I kept betting on blocks only to confirm that my bets were definitely not placed, but the sats were gone from my mobile wallet. Then, I decided to visit mempoolmadness from my mobile browser (same device using my lightning wallet). This actually worked, I continued to play and bet. Until I noticed the same behavior from mempoolmadness again, where my sats left my mobile wallet, but my bets on blocks were not placed successfully. One last time, I opened a different mobile browser and used a private tab this time, after activating my VPN. Luckily, I could continue betting and just a minute passed, before I actually won the pot for block 936292, but the payment failed. I did see an error in my mobile browser that said "too many clients connected" (if I remember correctly) and that I should contact support. However, there is no support email address on mempoolmadness nor an indication to contact via nostr. To me it looks like mempoolmadness's nostr account is a bot that just posts notes about the current game. It also posted a note that I indeed won the block 936292
BackgroundBackground
I've been starring at my own mempool instance for so many years now. This gives me the (false-) impression that I'm particularly good at predicting the time of the next block. For me, its really fun to analyze the mempool, before choosing sat/vBytes for an on-chain transaction. After sending it, I then enjoy starring at the mempool waiting for the transaction to confirm and see if my "bet" was correct, without having to bump the on-cahin transaction again.
Lessons learnedLessons learned
- If you are vibe-coding stuff, particularly where your users will spend money, then make sure to have a quick and easy contact method on your website. If there are rules to whatever you have vibe-coded, then make sure that these rules are very clear for your users. For example, if mempoolmadness does not allow more than one device (client) to use the same npub, then update your FAQs accordingly.
- Darthy is right. Gambling is a perversion and I deserve this. However, IMO this game feels more like mining than gambling. You bet on the time of the next block, instead of paying for miners and electricity to find the nonce of the next block.
tldrtldr
I lost sats on mempoolmadness. IMO its okay that some sats are lost while betting on the time of the next block, since the game is still in its beta-stages. However, it makes me mad that I did not receive the payout for block 936292. I really enjoy the game and believe that payouts should not fail, no matter what. Unless there are clear rules for payouts, e.g. addressed in the FAQs.
SNs has been forced to require users to manually attach LN wallets to avoid the threat of state prosecution on the pretext of money transmission.
If we are to maintain and build the sats denominated nature of SNs we must attach and use LN wallets.
Why have you @1984 not done so?
By attaching LN wallets to both send and receive sats we protect, preserve and build the LN despite state pressure and obstruction.
Please attach your sending and receiving wallets and help support SNs maintain and build a strong sats denominated V4V social media platform.
Most participants have already done this- why not @1984 ?
Thanks for the headsup. I've attached a wallet with nwc now. Not sure how to only use sats from now onwards and not the CCs
If/when you succeed in attaching both sending and receiving wallets horse and gun emojis will appear next to your nym.
If enables all other users of the platform to verify that you have attached LN wallets to enable maximising your use of LN here on SNs.
Once attaching your sending and receiving wallets is successfully done then as many as technically possible of your transactions here on Stacker News will be automatically made P2P via the LN in sats.
Because some participants have not attached wallets there are CC shitcoins circulating and so sometimes when people zap you with them you and the SNs algorithm will use them by passing them on to their next victim.
But once you have successfully attached wallets you will have done all that can be done to maximise your support of the LN and SNs sats denominated V4V P2P economy.
There are guides on how to attach both sending and receiving wallets.
One of the easiest wallets to attach is coinos but others also work.
As you can see from the SNs homepage the vast majority of regular participants on SNs have already attached wallets.
Your post suggests you have a very good understanding of the technical aspects of BTC/LN so attaching wallets should be a breeze.
Looking forward to seeing you join the vast majority of participants!
I stopped playing also. I paid for a few minute blocks and someone else was able to take it after I already paid the invoice. Maybe that's how it works IDK
That's by design. If an opponent (another player) bets on the same minute, then they are now occupying that field and win if a block gets mined for that specific minute. The more opponents try to occupy a field, the higher the bets are for each player to keep occupying a specific minute.
I felt cheated that someone was able to take my spot. I guess it's similar to TX getting into a Bitcoin block.... I'm done with it but if it's understood that it's like that and you still want to play go ahead.
If someone places a bet on your spot, then they now occupy it. If you want to re-occupy it, then you simply bet again. Whoever occupies a spot while a block gets mined for that specific minute will win the pot.
I'd likely play again if their payouts would work. I clearly won a block and they posted the proof on nostr, but never sent me the payout for block 936292. Wonder how many other players had a similar and bad experience with their website's error handling and no response from support...
still does not quite completely kill my question; however, no further waste of sats necessary from @1984
could you explain "for dummies" what bets are offered ?
odds are the suckers' problems, obviously; however, if you're promoting some site [your post was almost highest zapped in the SN front page] then I honestly hope you can explain it well enough to justify the regrettable loss.
I'm definitely not trying to promote the website. Instead, warning and drawing attention to the fact to not play the game, because their payouts do not work. On top of that, I hope their intentions are good. If they are, then they could continue vibe-coding stuff like this, but being more mindful when handling money from other people online, or at least make the rules more clear. At the moment, I have not heard anything from their support yet. I just saw an error in my mobile browser to contact support, but no information about how to contact them, nor did I receive a response on nostr so far. I guess their nostr account, is just meant for advertisement of the game and not for support questions.
Players join each round by betting (trying to predict) in how many minutes the next block will be mined, 1minute after the previous block, 2min the previous block, 3min after the previous block and so on. Players can bet on multiple "minutes" since each minute is a field that can be occupied. If a player occupies the correct field and a block was found for that specific minute then they win and should in theory receive a payout in sats. Each bet starts with 1k sats. If an opponent (another player) bets on the same minute, then they are now occupying that field and win if a block gets mined for that specific minute. The more opponents try to occupy a field, the higher the bets are for each player to keep occupying a specific minute, and the more the payout increases if a block gets mined for that specific minute. If no player occupied the correct minute and a block is found, then the total amount of bets get included in the next round. I hope that answers your question.
I hope they're judging by header timestamps?
otherwise, there is no incentive for miners to scam bettors, turning the casino into a much more emotionally questionable venture, without actually improving antifragility of the ecosystem
Yes, exactly. They use timestamps
between those paragraphs, and your comments with OT; yes, perfectly.
thank you!
https://i.postimg.cc/zfg1ZssF/you-get-what-you-deserve.gif
https://stacker.news/items/1432156
https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzp7dvkzcrf3xpzalfshc5vw0nzlhslm0wwetuqc93gmh8jqpyx9lvqythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2ap0qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uqzq068vckskjqsg98td5fr69trdvjenk398e57f6ecaswa4r7skzjc4ldhx7