If I turn the real money into fake currency will it still be gambling app?

Question

My client wants to build some sort of gambling app. I said to him Google Play does not allow gambling apps and they will get removed.

I also mentioned that maybe like Facebook Poker, if you include fake currency which would be purchasable with real money maybe it would not be considered gambling application.

Here is his game idea:

I want to make an app that people get on and put money in and raffle money, it's like gampling/raffling . Let's say I raffle 20 bucks and you put in 1dollar/99c to try and win the raffle but only after 20 people have put in the raffle will began. If 20 people don't join within a certain amount of time they get refunded. So 1 dollar plus 20 people=20 dollars I get 10 profit and a lucky winner gets 10. We can set smaller to bigger raffles. It will be a fun addictive app. the whole world will be on it.

So if I implement these changes would this new application still be considered gambling application?

Google play Gambling terms

Answer 1

The app you describe sounds illegal to me.

Specifically, it sounds like a lottery. According to this site:

[In the state of Ohio]

A lottery includes three things: (1) chance, (2) prize, (3) and consideration. To successfully run a contest or sweepstakes and not an illegal lottery, you must eliminate one of these factors. A contest, for example, eliminates chance and a sweepstakes eliminates consideration (typically an entry fee). You must be careful, however, that you are actually eliminating one of the three factors.

Your idea of substitute currency is making its way through the courts right now. In a case involving the video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive where players compete for skins which have a real-world positive trade value.

Answer 2

It's really your client that should be asking these questions.

Writing the app is perfectly legal. So you can enter a contract with that client to write the app and deliver it to them, ready to be put on the Google Play store or the App Store (entering a contract needs to be done carefully, obviously). I'd make 100 million percent sure that the contract states clearly that you have zero responsibility if the app is rejected or removed for non-technical reasons, and that the legality of actually selling and running the app is also not your responsibility.

The reason is that I very much suspect that running the app might be illegal, and that the chances of getting it permanently on one of the stores are rather slim. And solving those problems is outside of what a software developer can competently do.

Answer 3

The google play terms say, in relevant part:

For all other locations, we don't allow content or services that facilitate online gambling, including, but not limited to, online casinos, sports betting and lotteries, and games of skill that offer prizes of cash or other value.

It seems to me that any sort of token or "fake money" which is convertible back into currency or into goods such as a prize would be a "thing of value" and thus such an app would not be accepted by google play (except in the limited set of jurisdictions), whether it was legal or not.

Laws on exactly what gambling is illegal vary widely, and you haven't said what jurisdiction you would be operating in.

As anothe answer said there is nothing illegal about writing such an app, restrictions may well apply to running it, and particularly to charging money or accepting winnings from it. But those will vary depending on the country and state/province. A license might be required.

Answer 4

Not a legal answer but a possible business model.

Parties can agree to bet real money based on fake money. You just charge to host the game. If your game facilitates tracking transactions in a way that make it easy to balance to real money you may attract a set of players willing to a use fee.

I would be similar to a poker room that takes no rake. Players bet with real money. You just charge by the hour for the seat. Poker in Oregon is kind of like this.