Patent US 5,575,474

A computer system that allows people to place, accept and settle bets for the purpose of communicating. The system cuts out the middleman, sometimes referred to as the bookmaker, allowing bettors to bet with each other directly. In addition to allowing people to place, accept and settle bets, the system enables people to settle disputes and change bets. It also allows people to place special types of bets for the purpose of demonstrating probability estimates. The system allows people to to link bets to ordinary statements that are also entered into the system.