Web Site Encourages Gambling for Charity
April 21, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
A Web site is drawing gamblers looking not to win money but to donate to charity, reports the Financial Times.
Bet2give invites people to bet money by predicting the results of an event, such as who will win the Democratic presidential nomination. The winning bets go to whatever charitable organizations the winners choose.
The Web site has drawn 400 traders and donated about $1,000 to charities. Traders open accounts by purchasing play money and then deciding at what price to buy or sell shares that will pay $1 if an event happens and will be worth nothing if the event does not occur.
Emile Servan-Schreiber, a cognitive scientist who co-founded NewsFutures, an online prediction market that started Bet2give, says, “We are trying to leverage the immense interest in betting to make it a force for good rather than a quick profit.”
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