Official Contest Rules

These Official Contest Rules govern every contest on ADYTUS and are part of, and incorporated into, the Terms of Service. Where these Rules and the Terms differ on a matter specific to a contest, these Rules govern for that contest. Individual contests may publish additional rules; those apply on top of these.

1. Definitions

• Directive — the single question a contest is built around.
• Contest — a skill-based competition on a directive, with a published entry fee (which may be zero) and a fixed prize table.
• Seat — your entry into a contest, taken by paying the flat entry fee (or joining free).
• Contest Vouchers (“CV”) — in-contest play credit with no cash value, granted identically to every entrant.
• Conviction — CV you hold on a side of the directive.
• The show — the scoring phase: a series of rounds in which the Oracle re-scores the debate.
• Multiplier / tier — a difficulty factor frozen when entry closes (rule 5).
• Prize table — the fixed dollar prize for each paying rank, published before entry.

2. What every contest publishes before entry

Before its entry window opens, a contest publishes:

• its directive;
• its entry fee (flat, identical for every entrant, and possibly zero);
• its prize table — fixed dollar amounts by final rank;
• its seat cap and minimum fill, if any; and
• its schedule — when entry closes and when the show runs.

These terms do not change once entry opens.

3. Entering

• Pay the flat entry fee — or enter free where the fee is zero — to take a seat. Every entrant then receives an identical grant of CV.
• One entry per person per contest. Multi-accounting and shared accounts are prohibited (rule 10).
• Your seat and entry fee are final once the entry window closes, except for the refund cases in rule 8. CV never has cash value and can never be withdrawn as money.

4. The show — where the contest is won

When entry closes, the show begins: a series of scoring rounds. Each round, the Oracle re-scores the debate and publishes its current lean and its reasoning. Between rounds, entrants may rebalance their conviction across the sides of the directive.

Conviction you hold on a side is banked each round you hold it. Holding a side early and through the swings compounds; moving onto a side late banks little. This is the skill: reading the debate and committing before the outcome is obvious. Conviction is not final during the show — only your seat is. CV that you do not commit to a side does not bank and does not score.

5. Difficulty tiers

When entry closes, the contest measures consensus— the majority side’s share of all committed CV — and freezes a difficulty tier and CV multiplier for the whole contest. Backing a closely-split field is harder and pays a higher multiplier:

The multiplier is frozen once (it can never change afterward) and affects CV scoring only. It never changes the prize table: prizes are fixed dollar amounts keyed to final rank and nothing else.

6. Settlement, scoring, and ranking

1. The final round of the show decides the winning side.
2. Your score is the conviction you banked on the winning side, multiplied by the contest’s frozen tier multiplier. Conviction banked on the losing side does not score.
3. Entrants are ranked by score, highest first. Ties are broken by a fixed, deterministic rule so that every rank is unique.
4. Prizes are awarded strictly by that ranking from the published prize table. Ranks beyond the prize table receive no prize.
5. All CV then expires. CV never converts to money and is not carried between contests.

7. Prizes and payout

• Prize tables are published before entry and never change mid-contest.
• Identity verification (KYC) is required before a prize is paid; payouts go to the verified recipient through our payment providers. See the AML & Identity Verification Policy.
• You are responsible for any taxes on prizes; where required by law we report and may withhold. See the Risk & Fair-Play Disclosure.
• Prizes forfeited for a verified rule violation are not redistributed unless a contest’s published terms say otherwise.

8. Refunds and voids

Entry fees are refunded in full, to the original payment method, when:

• a contest is cancelled before its show runs;
• a contest does not reach its published minimum number of entrants; or
• a technical failure or suspected manipulation forces the contest to be voided.

Otherwise entry fees are final once the entry window closes.

9. The Oracle

Rounds are scored by an automated evaluator (the “Oracle”) under a rubric fixed before the round. It runs deterministically and its scoring is replayable, so a result can be re-verified rather than taken on trust. There is no external event and no random element in the outcome — a contest is decided by participant skill. We may pause, void, or re-run a round affected by a technical fault or suspected manipulation.

10. Fair play and disqualification

Operating more than one account, entering a contest more than once, colluding, using automation or bots, and attempting to manipulate, jailbreak, or inject instructions into the Oracle — together with the other prohibited conduct in the Terms of Service — may result in disqualification and forfeiture of entry fees and prizes for the affected contest, and further action under the Terms.

11. Corrections, disputes, and final authority

Settlement under these published Rules is final, save for a manifest technical error, which we may correct. If you believe a result is wrong, contact support@adytus.com promptly. We may amend these Rules; a change applies only to contests that open after it is posted.