OddsForge
Edge Cases & Resolution Rules
What happens in unusual scenarios — no winners, lopsided pools, cancelled markets, and more.
No Winners (Winning Pool = 0)
This scenario happens when everyone predicted the losing side — nobody picked the correct outcome.
What Happens?
The market still resolves normally. Since there are no winners to pay out, the platform handles the funds as follows:
- 5% platform fee is deducted from the total pool (sent to platform admin).
- 95% is refunded proportionally to all traders (the losing side).
Example
| Pool | Amount |
|---|---|
| YES Pool | 0 USDC |
| NO Pool | 10,000 USDC |
If YES wins (No one traded YES):
| Component | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | 10,000 × 0.05 | 500 USDC (→ platform) |
| Refund Pool | 10,000 × 0.95 | 9,500 USDC (→ NO traders) |
Each NO trader gets back 95% of their original trade. For example, if you traded 100 USDC on NO, you receive 95 USDC back.
No Losers (Losing Pool = 0)
This happens when everyone predicted the winning side — there's no losing pool to distribute.
What Happens?
- No fee is charged (5% of 0 = 0).
- Everyone gets their original trade back — a full 100% refund.
- No one profits and no one loses. It's as if the market didn't exist.
Few Winners, Many Losers
This is the highest-profit scenario for contrarian traders. When the minority is correct, they earn enormous returns.
Example: Massive Multiplier
| Pool | Amount |
|---|---|
| YES Pool (1 trader) | 100 USDC |
| NO Pool (many traders) | 10,000 USDC |
| Total Pool | 10,100 USDC |
If YES wins:
| Component | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Fee | 10,000 × 0.05 | 500 USDC |
| Prize Pool | 10,000 × 0.95 | 9,500 USDC |
| Your Payout | 100 + 9,500 | 9,600 USDC |
| Multiplier | 9,600 ÷ 100 | 96x return! |
Many Winners, Few Losers
The opposite scenario — when most people predicted correctly, the profit per winner is small.
Example: Small Profit
| Pool | Amount |
|---|---|
| YES Pool (many traders) | 10,000 USDC |
| NO Pool (few traders) | 100 USDC |
If YES wins:
| Component | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Prize Pool | 100 × 0.95 | 95 USDC (split among 10,000 USDC of YES trades) |
| If you traded 100 USDC | 100 + (100/10,000 × 95) | 100.95 USDC |
You'd profit less than 1% — reflecting the low risk when the outcome is near-certain.
Market Cancellation
A market can be cancelled by the admin before resolution in cases such as:
- The event was worded ambiguously and cannot be resolved fairly.
- The event was cancelled or didn't happen (e.g., a game postponed indefinitely).
- Technical issues with the market setup.
Cancellation Rules
- 100% refund — all traders receive their exact trade amount back.
- No fees charged — 0% platform fee on cancelled markets.
- Refunds are processed automatically via the smart contract.
Resolution Integrity
To prevent double resolution or manipulation:
- Atomic resolution: The market status is checked and updated in a single database transaction. If two resolve requests arrive simultaneously, only the first succeeds.
- Admin-only: Only authenticated admins can resolve markets. The resolve endpoint requires a valid API key.
- Immutable outcome: Once resolved, a market cannot be re-resolved or changed.
Summary Table
| Scenario | Fee | Winners | Losers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal resolution | 5% from losing pool | Trade + share of prize pool | Lose entire trade |
| No winners (winningPool = 0) | 5% from total pool | N/A | 95% refund |
| No losers (losingPool = 0) | 0% | 100% of original trade (no profit) | N/A |
| Market cancelled | 0% | 100% refund to all | |