K, so I have this Idea of creating a site that follows the premise of a typical split the pot. I.E. people buy tickets for a certain amount and then the winner receives half of the money that is spent on tickets.

But, I have a couple of twists on it. One is that half of the money (that is now mine) goes to the charity of the winner's choice (a total of 1/4 of all the money). Another twist I was thinking of involved having multiple winners to draw more players. So, if I said there would be a 2 winners, each winner would receive 1/4 of the money and 1/8 of the money goes to the charity of their choice.

So to make it less confusing as to who gets what in the end:

total money = number of tickets sold* price per ticket

1/4 goes to winner a
1/4 goes to winner b
1/8 goes to winner a's charity
1/8 goes to winner b's charity
1/4 goes to me

and then you can see how it would change depending on how many winners I say there will be (with me always receiving 1/4.

Another incentive I would use if the 'pot' gets to a certain amount I will donate 10% of my earnings or something.

What do you guys think?

Where I live that would be illegal. Lotteries are strictly controlled and any gambling system (which is what you propose) would need licencing and lots of financial supervision. That means you can't run off with any of the proceeds.

Why does this forum attract so many crooks with devious schemes or is it the lack of supervision that allows them to post?

Good idea but most would consider it a form of gambling. Have an attorney review your business plan to see if it passes the local ordinances.

How would you go about verifying every charity a user enters in is legitimate?

I have thought of similar ideas. My goal was to allow users to 'submit' something (lets say a picture to dumb down my idea) for $1 and allow ratings and reviews to enable a "winner", who then splits the cash with the site.

Is that just as illegal as above or is it different because of the service being provided and it not just being a lottery?

sounds like a great idea, but u should speak to a lawyer before proceeding.