Patent Application
20100069137
The instant invention is related to lottery games and in particular to a lottery game form, system and method wherein winning is determined by the outcome of an event.
Typically, the office pool game of picking “boxes” for an event such as the Super Bowl involves setting up a ten-by-ten grid of one hundred “boxes”, or cells, allowing players to purchase one or more cells for a given amount per cell, and assigning the cell to the player, typically by filling in the cell with the name of the player. After all the cells are assigned, the numbers 0-9 are assigned to columns and rows along the x and y axes of the grid. The two participants in the event, such as the two teams in the Super Bowl, are each assigned one of the axes. The event is conducted, and the last number in the score of each participant at a predetermined time, such as a particular quarter, halftime, and/or end of the event, is matched against the assigned corresponding number on the appropriate axis, and the x and y coordinates correspond to the winning cell. The player assigned to the winning cell wins a share of the pool of money paid by the entrants in the office pool game.
The drawbacks to this game are that only one player may select a given cell and the game is further limited in that once all the cells are selected and assigned to a player no further selections can be made. In other words, betting action is closed once the grid is filled with player names.
Typical lottery games require participants to correctly pick numbers (3, 4, 5 or 6 numbers), which may win if the selected numbers are drawn from a larger pool of numbers. Typically, numbers are chosen from a computer coded card which is then presented to an authorized lottery agent. Lottery tickets containing the selected set or sets of numbers are then generated by a ticket generator. Players also may opt to “quick pick,” i.e., have their selections made for them by a random number generator contained in the lottery ticket machine.
The drawing to determine the winning numbers is conducted by means of a random number generating device such as, but not limited to, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,583,736, 4,796,890 and 4,813,676.
A particular problem which has faced numerous jurisdictions which sponsor lottery games is that of declining revenues and profits. There are a number of state lottery agencies which are running deficits due to increased competition for players. With the proliferation of lotteries, states and Canadian provinces have aggressively campaigned to receive a larger share of static lottery revenues.
It would be desirable to provide a novel lottery game which would increase player interest and which would help to increase the revenues of a lottery which adopted and sponsored the game. It would also be desirable to provide a lottery game that could be used that is based on the outcome of an event such as but not limited to the Super Bowl, wherein an unlimited number of players could make selections.
In accordance with the present invention, a lottery game system employing a novel lottery game form is disclosed. The lottery game form includes at least one grid of cells that contains indicia such as numbers, x- and y-axis headers that each contain information corresponding to different contestants and a space for receiving information related to the contestant's possible outcome of an event, wherein a winning grid cell is the grid cell that corresponds to a coordinate of the x- and y-axes generated by the outcome of the event between the contestants. The information relating to the possible outcome of each of the contestants may be a number zero or greater, and in one embodiment, from zero to nine. It is contemplated that the numbers relating to the possible outcome of each contestant may be randomly ordered such as, but not limited to, by a number generator, during or after the outcome of the event. The lottery game form may optionally further include designated recording areas and designated boxes in which data and information may be recorded.
The grid may correspond to one stage of an event. It is contemplated that when there are one or more stages in the event, a plurality of grids may be used, each grid corresponding to one stage or period of the event.
It is contemplated that the lottery game form may be accessed by a player through different type of media. For example, the lottery game form may be presented on a slip of paper, or electronically via a wide area network and/or a remote access system.
It is contemplated that the event may include such events, but not limited to, a sporting event, a talent contest, an intelligence test, a financial contest, a reality entertainment event, an election contest and a voting event.
In accordance with another embodiment a lottery game system includes a means for providing access to at least one user to the lottery game form discussed herein; a means for accepting from the at least one user at least one wager and a selection of one or more grid cells by the at least one user on the lottery game form; a means for recording the wager and selections by the at least one user into a database; and a means for comparing the selections of the at least one user to an outcome of at least one event to determine whether the selections of the at least one user match the winning grid cell. The lottery game system may further include one or more of a means for providing a confirmation to the user of the recorded selections and wager, a means for providing a payment to the user if the user has won, and a means for requesting from the at least one user information regarding the identity of the at least one user and payment information.
The lottery game system may include providing access to the user of the system via a printed form, a wide area network or a remote access system. In one embodiment the network may include at least one user computer coupled to at least one server computer on a communications network, the server computer storing data accessible to the at least one user computer and software to provide requested content to the user computer. In one embodiment the remote access system employs communication of alpha numeric data with a server selected from the group consisting of a kiosk terminal, telephone, personal digital assistant, pulse code system and web TV.
The user may be requested to input information regarding identification of the user and payment means. Once the user has decided to play the lottery game or a grouping of the lottery games, and provided the requested information, the user may access a game page which presents choices and accepts the user's selection for the given game or games. Once the user has input his or her selection, the user may be asked to confirm the user's selections. The user is then sent a confirmation of the user's selection and payment, and in some embodiments, a ticket or an entry identification number, preferably by email. The user then waits for the conclusion of the event for the winning grid cells to be established.
A lottery game method, employing the lottery game form disclosed herein comprises substantially the steps of providing access to at least one user at least one lottery game form discussed herein; receiving the at least one lottery game form from a player that has selected one or more grid cells; associating each of the x-axis and y-axis headers of the lottery game form with a different contestant in an event; assigning information related to the first and second contestant's possible outcome of an event in the space for receiving same in each of the x- and y-axis header; awaiting the outcome of the event; determining a winning grid cell that is the same grid cell that corresponds to the coordinate of the x- and y-axes generated by the first and second contestant's outcome of the event; and comparing the grid cell selections of the player to the winning grid cell to determine if the grid cell selections and winning grid cell match and thereby won.
In one aspect, the lottery game of the present invention generates excitement for players because the winning numbers hinge on the outcome of an event. The criteria that form the basis for winning are objective and verifiable elements. Therefore, users of the lottery are assured that the winning combination is not “fixed”.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel lottery game in which the winning combination is not solely the result of a random number generator, but is instead based at least in part on the outcome of an event such as but not limited to competitive events including sports games, races, intellectual competitions, dance competitions, political or other elections, stock market results or the like.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art when the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention herein is taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For the purposes of illustrating the various aspects of the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms that are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
In this document, for the purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one having ordinary skill in the art, that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known features may be omitted or simplified so as not to obscure the present invention. Furthermore, reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearance of the phase “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
The lottery game in accordance with the present invention is described herein with respect to an embodiment including a football game, however this embodiment is for illustration purposes only, and it will be understood the present lottery game may be employed with respect to any suitable contest, including but not limited to elections, dance competitions, and the like, or other events such as the results of financial markets and the like. The lottery game of the present invention is particularly well-suited to games that may easily be divided into periods or stages, and during which scores higher than nine (9) are frequently observed. However, the number of cells in a grid may be modified to accommodate the particular contest with which the lottery game is employed.
In accordance with one embodiment a lottery game form 2 includes a grid 100, an x-axis header 300, a y-axis header 400, and information 500 associated with the x- and y-axes headers 300 and 400 each corresponding to the contestants, the headers 300 and 400 further including spaces 310 and 410 for receiving information related to a possible outcome of an event. The grid 100 includes rows 110 and columns 120 containing grid cells 200 which may be assigned indicia. The grid 100 may include the same number of rows 110 and columns 120. The number of rows 110 and columns 120 may vary and may correspond to the number of possible outcomes to an event. For example, as shown in
In one embodiment the x-axis header 300 may be situated along the left and/or right edge of the grid 100. In another embodiment the x-axis header 300 may include a plurality of spaces 310 that correspond to the rows of the grid 100. The lottery game form 2 may include a plurality of boxes 320 in which text and/or information corresponding to an event may be recorded. For example, as shown in
The y-axis header 400 may be situated along the top and/or bottom edge of the grid 100. In another embodiment the y-axis header 400 may include a plurality of spaces 410 that correspond to the columns of the grid 100. The y-axis header 400 may include a plurality of boxes 420 in which text and/or information may be recorded. For example, as shown in
The lottery game form 2 may optionally further include one or more designated recording areas 500 in which data may be received and/or recorded. Now referring to
The lottery game form 2 may optionally further include one or more designated areas 600 in which text and information may be recorded. In one embodiment, each grid 100 of the plurality of grids 100 may have a designated area 600 containing information that identifies the period or stage of the competitive event that corresponds to the grid 100. In another embodiment, additional designated areas 600 may contain information such as, but is not limited to, the event that corresponds to the plurality of the grids such as the identification of the event, the participants of the event, the place of the event, the date of the event, the odds of each contestant winning or losing, or the like.
The lottery game form 2 may be in a medium capable of recording and transmitting data such as, but not limited to, a slip of paper, an electronic form displayed on a computer and/or television screen, a remote access system employing a communication of alpha numeric data with a server selected from the group consisting of a kiosk terminal, telephone, cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, pulse code system and web TV, or through a wide area network such as the Internet.
In one embodiment the lottery game method may be accessed by players via a plurality of networked computers, such as, for example, a user computer and a server computer which are coupled together on a communications network, such as, for example, the Internet or a wide area network. The lottery game form 2 may be distributed to the networked computers by means of computer software. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that this process involves communication through routers and other network components in addition to suitable servers, as is dictated by the particular network environment.
The lottery game system may include providing access to the user of the system via a printed form, a wide area network or a remote access system. In one embodiment the network may include at least one user computer coupled to at least one server computer on a communications network, the server computer storing data accessible to the at least one user computer and software to provide requested content to the user computer. In one embodiment the remote access system employs communication of alpha numeric data with a server selected from the group consisting of a kiosk terminal, telephone, personal digital assistant, pulse code system and web TV.
The user may be requested to input information regarding identification of the user and payment means. In one embodiment, the user may be provided with a payment form with designated areas to record various types of information. For example, the payment form may include designated areas to record a reference to the event that the accompanying lottery game form 2 is being employed for, personal information, the wager amount, fees, and the form of payment. The payment form may also include a signature and date lines.
In one embodiment, when the system is accessed by printed forms, the user may fill out the lottery game form 2 in print form, such as, but not limited to, a paper slip, a computer readable paper form, a paper punch card or the like. The user may identify the selected grid cells 220 on the lottery game form 2 by marking the grid cells 200 by suitable means well-known in the art. For example, pencil or pen may be used to fill in grid cells 200 represented as boxes or circles, punching a hole in a punch card where the holes correspond to a grid cell 200, or the like. Once filled out, the user may give the user filled-in lottery game form 2 to a lottery administrator. The fee and wager, and optionally the payment form, may also be collected by the lottery administrator at this time. The lottery administrator may input the information into a lottery game database by various means well-known to those skilled in the art. For example, the user filled-in lottery game form 2 may be inserted into a lottery machine that scans and reads the lottery game form 2. Once the user filled-in lottery game form 2 has been recorded into the database by the lottery machine, the lottery machine may provide the user with a confirmation such as a receipt or ticket. The receipt or ticket may include such information as, but not limited to, personal information, details of the particular lottery game, the wager amount, and the list of the selected grid cells 220. The user then waits for the conclusion of the event for the winning grid cells 230 to be established.
In one embodiment, the lottery machine may be a computer that is programmed to access the database and compare the user's selected grid cells 220 to the winning grid cells 230. For example, one or more lottery machines may be coupled to at least one server computer on a communications network, the server computer storing the database accessible to the at least one or more lottery machines.
In another embodiment, when the system is accessed via a wide area network or a remote access system, once the user has decided to play the lottery game or a grouping of the lottery games, and provided the requested information, the user may access an electronic game page which presents one or more lottery game forms 2. The electronic game page may present the user with choices and accepts the user's selected grid cells 220 for the given game. Once the user has input his or her selected grid cells 220, the user may be asked to confirm the user's selections. The user may then be sent a confirmation of the user's personal information, the wager amount, a list of the selected grid cells 220 and payment and other information. In some embodiments, a ticket or an entry identification number may be provided by email. The user then waits for the conclusion of the event for the winning grid cells 230 to be established.
In another embodiment when the remote access system is telephone based, a series of voice prompts may direct a user to provide the necessary information to play the lottery game, including, but not limited to, the personal information, the selected grid cells 220, the wager amount and the form of payment. A user may provide the information by alpha numeric input (e.g., using keypads) or by submitting the information via a voice recognition program or talking directly with a lottery administrator.
A lottery game in one embodiment may include a plurality of game forms 2. Each game form 2 may represent one stage or period of an event. In one embodiment as shown in
A lottery game method is provided in which the lottery game form 2 as discussed hereinabove may be employed. In accordance with one embodiment a lottery game method may include the steps of providing access to at least one player at least one lottery game form 2. If the player decides to participate in the lottery game, the lottery administrator receives from the player the at least one lottery game form 2 that is clearly marked with the user selected one or more grid cells 200 as selected grid cells 220. A fee and/or the wager to play the lottery game may be received at the same or later time. In one embodiment the lottery administrator may input the player's selections and optionally the fee and wager amount into a database, and optionally provide the player with a confirmation in the form of a printed receipt, email or the like. The method further includes associating each of the x-axis and y-axis headers 300 and 400 of the lottery game form 2 with a different contestant in an event and assigning information related to the first and second contestant's possible outcome of an event in the space for receiving same in each of the x- and y-axis header 300 and 400. After awaiting the outcome of the event, a winning grid cell 230 that is the same grid cell 200 that corresponds to the coordinate of the x- and y-axes generated by the first and second contestant's outcome of the event is determined. The method further includes comparing the selected grid cell 220 of the player to the winning grid cell 230 to determine if the selected grid cell 220 and winning grid cell 230 match and thereby won.
In accordance with one embodiment of a lottery game method a player may be provided with a plurality of lottery game forms 2. At least one grid 100 may be used for the lottery game method. It is contemplated that the number of grids 100 used in the lottery game method may be adapted to equal the number of stages or periods of the event resulting in an outcome. As shown in
In one embodiment as shown in
As depicted in
In one embodiment the lottery agent may require a fee to be paid by the player prior to entering the player's selected grid cells 220 into the database. Payment may be made by various methods known to those skilled in the art. For example, if the lottery game form 2 is provided on a single sheet, payment in the form of cash, cheque, credit, gambling chips or the like, may be made at the same time the player returns the lottery game form 2 to the lottery agent. If the player is participating via a remote access system or through the Internet, payment may be made electronically according to well-known methods known to those having skill in the art.
Referring to
It is contemplated that the possible outcome of an event may be based on various criteria such as, but not limited to, placement in terms of finish, scoring totals, timing of scoring, statistical totals, season-long criteria for team sports including wins, losses, total points (runs, goals, etc.) scored, total points. It is also contemplated that the possible outcome of an event may based on a stage or period of the financial markets such as, but not limited to, the daily stock price, the fluctuation of established market indices, change in foreign exchange rate, total number of stocks traded or the like. As will be apparent to the skilled artisan the outcome is well-suited to events in which the possible outcome may include a number from zero to nine, whether it be an actual score or a digit, such as a final digit of an actual score.
As shown in
In one embodiment at the conclusion of each stage or period of the event (for example each quarter of a football game) a grid cell 200 that corresponds to the coordinate of the x- and y-axes generated by the first and second contestant's outcome during the stage in the event is determined to be the winning grid cell 230. As shown in
Once the winning grid cell 230 has been determined, the winning grid cell 230 may be compared to the selected numbered grid cell(s) 220. The player(s) whose selected grid cell 220 matches the winning grid cell 230 are identified. In one embodiment the player with the matching selected grid cell 220 may be deemed the winner. In another embodiment the winner(s) may be allocated for correct selection of one to four grids 100 representing four different stages or periods of the event. For example the following prize allocation may apply:
When the winner(s) have been identified, the winner(s) may be notified by any acceptable means, including, but not limited to, posting on a paper or television screen, telephone, e-mail, postal service, facsimile and posting on the Internet. The proceeds may be paid out to the winner(s) that have properly identified him or herself.
The lottery game method may be conducted as a typical lottery known to those skilled in the art, in which a player pays a fee per game. A player may for example pay $2 to a lottery agent, make selections on the lottery game form 2 in accordance with the description herein and submit the lottery game form 2 for entry into the database by the agent. The lottery game form 2 may be machine-readable and a ticket is generated for the user containing the user selections. In another embodiment, the player may pay the fee electronically via a remote access system or through the Internet.
The following example is described with reference to
Teams: New England Patriots vs. New York Giants
In this game, the numbers in spaces 310 and 410 in the x- and y-axis headers 300 and 400 are randomly generated from 0-9 with no repeating numbers. The New York Giants are assigned the numbers on the x-axis spaces 310, the New England Patriots the numbers on the y-axis spaces 410.
Now referring to
Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/086,000 filed on Aug. 4, 2008, incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61086000 | Aug 2008 | US |
