Just in time for the 2018 SuperBowl, Ethereum Gambling Site BlockOdds has sprouted up, attempting to lure betters away from traditional sports book, with counter-party betting built with Ethereum smart contracts.

Counter-Party Betting Build On Ethereum

Traditional sports books make bets against the house, with spreads and moneylines calculated using proprietary algorithms to ensure a house edge. BlockOdds is changing this formula by allowing participants to create their own spread to entice other users to counter-bet. Once the bet is taken it is escrowed in the smart contract until the end of play, essentially cutting out the house.

Ethereum Really Shines At Financial Disintermediation

Dapps like BlockOdds show how Ethereum really shines at financial disintermediation. Sports betting patrons across the world currently rely on dubious sites to get their fix, forcing them to store huge sums on the site, and the jump through hoops to withdraw their winnings. With Ethereum’s web3 injected directly into the site through a chrome extension called MetaMask, Ethereum is held in a personal wallet that lives in the browser, until a bet is placed.

Upon placing a bet, MetaMask then sends ether to the contract, which lives on the Ethereum Virtual Machine, where the bet winner is determined by the contract code. The Winner can then move their purse from the contract directly back into their MetaMask wallet, without jumping through the usual hoops.

While a simple premise, this betting game illustrates the power of Ethereum and web3 at allowing the transaction and escrow of real funds within a seamless user experience. Very shortly we will see this type of environment become commonplace in e-commerce, social media, and even online banking. The power of trust-less exchange will reshape the internet, and how people interact with business and each other.