So, in theory betting on future events can be a useful practice for establishing an epistemic record, “putting your money where your mouth is”, etc. However, I recently noticed an issue—most forms of betting appear to be illegal in the state of California, including not just sports betting but also “casual bets.” In fact, if such bets are conducted online or have more than $2500 at state, they are actually felonies!
(After this issue came up in a recent conversation elsewhere, someone asked a lawyer about the matter to confirm, and the lawyer’s opinion was that this was indeed illegal but unlikely to be enforced.)
To me, this poses a major obstacle to conducting these sorts of bets and makes me much more reluctant to do so. Are there any good methods for avoiding such issues that people are aware of? (For instance, I’ve heard the idea posed before that you bet in the form of conditional donations to charity—I don’t think this actually gets around the relevant issues but would be interested in hearing more proposals like that if people have them.)
[Question] How to Legally Conduct “Rationalist Bets” in California?
So, in theory betting on future events can be a useful practice for establishing an epistemic record, “putting your money where your mouth is”, etc. However, I recently noticed an issue—most forms of betting appear to be illegal in the state of California, including not just sports betting but also “casual bets.” In fact, if such bets are conducted online or have more than $2500 at state, they are actually felonies!
(After this issue came up in a recent conversation elsewhere, someone asked a lawyer about the matter to confirm, and the lawyer’s opinion was that this was indeed illegal but unlikely to be enforced.)
To me, this poses a major obstacle to conducting these sorts of bets and makes me much more reluctant to do so. Are there any good methods for avoiding such issues that people are aware of? (For instance, I’ve heard the idea posed before that you bet in the form of conditional donations to charity—I don’t think this actually gets around the relevant issues but would be interested in hearing more proposals like that if people have them.)