Patent Application
20250232648
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with remote and online betting. More particularly, the invention describes a rapid betting platform where users have an opportunity to rapidly place replicating bets to copy that of other users.
Betting on sports and other events is a multi-billion-dollar business. Casinos, for example, have large sports and event betting parlors for attracting bettors. These parlors display the bets that a person may make on various sporting or types of events. Large displays are typically used to inform the players of a multitude of events and current bets. Information on these displays is constantly changing to reflect changing bets. Bets may be placed on most major sports, including professional and college football, soccer, baseball, basketball, auto racing, and ice hockey, as well as cricket and rugby. Further, bets may be placed on various sports tournaments, including the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships and World Cup Soccer. Also, bets may be placed on other types of events with multiple possible outcomes, including, for example, a selection of the winner of a reality television show (e.g., the Survivor reality show), election results, weather events, the winner of the next United States Presidential election, or any other type of event.
In general, gambling is understood as wagering, or betting, of money or something of material value (also referred to as “the stakes”) on one or more projected outcomes of an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager, or bet, is evident within a short period of time.
A variety of betting arrangements are known in the field, such as fixed odds betting and parimutuel betting, which frequently occur at many types of sporting events, and political elections. In addition, many bookmakers offer fixed odds on a number of non-sports-related events, for example, the direction and extent of movement of various financial indices or election results. Interactive prediction markets also offer trading on these outcomes, with “shares” of results trading on an open market. One of the most widespread exemplary forms of non-sports gambling involves betting on horse or dog racing.
The Internet and the increasing availability of broadband services have led to the expansion of local betting to include remote users or bettors (these two terms are used herein interchangeably), giving rise to a proliferation of online betting and gambling. In general, to participate in online gambling activities, such as placing bets on the projected outcomes of sporting events, a user must open an account with an online betting platform, which typically includes a deposit or credit account. Once the user's account is open, validated, and funded, the user may participate in online betting activities using the funds or balance available in his or her account. Over time, the user may deposit additional funds into or withdraw funds from his or her account.
To establish an account with an online betting platform, a user typically completes an account application, which must be approved by the online betting platform administrator. For a deposit account, the user typically completes an online account application and funds the account through a credit card transaction with the betting platform or by physically mailing a check, cash, or similar payment to the betting platform. For a credit account, the user may be required in some cases to mail particular items, such as a credit card or bank statement, for example, to the online betting platform in order for the betting platform administrator to determine whether to approve the account application.
It is reasonably easy to follow just a few events when betting online. However, once the number of possible betting events increases, a typical user may have a tough time understanding all the details of betting on an individual event given a broad variety and a rapid succession of updates accompanying each event. In addition, studying each of the available events and their possible outcomes is a time-consuming process, which limits the ability of a user to place many bets in a short period of time. One way to resolve this difficulty is to allow that user to replicate bets by others, especially those that the user trusts or follows.
The need exists, therefore, for a betting platform that is configured to service both types of users: those who prefer to make their own original bets, as well as those who may elect to join other bettors and copy their bets for themselves, replicating at least some or all of the details and conditions of the bets created by other users.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome these and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a novel betting platform accessible to a variety of users with different user preferences.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a betting platform that allows rapid placement of multiple bets in a short period of time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a betting platform allowing placement of individual bets with a single motion, gesture, or another single input by the user.
A rapid betting platform of the present invention may include a server accessible via an electronic communications network such as the Internet by a plurality of registered users via their respective electronic user devices. The platform server may include a controller operating at least one or more electronic computer processors, as well as a memory with at least one database.
As contrasted to the prior art, the present invention is advantageous in that the controller is operatively interacting with the plurality of electronic user devices associated with individual users, wherein each electronic user device may be configured for executing the following steps:
Importantly, the user-configured stream of bet records consists of two streams of bet records. The first stream of bet records may include all or the individual user-selected subset of public bet records by other users. In embodiments, each public bet record is characterized by an original public bet by another user and previous replications thereof, if any, by other users of the rapid betting platform. To create an original public bet, another user may select at least one projected outcome of a selected event, bet a first wage on the selected at least one projected outcome, and designate the bet as public and visible to all users of the betting platform.
The second stream of bet records may comprise all or the individual user-selected subset of private bet records. Similar to public bet records, each private bet record is characterized by an original private bet by yet another user and previous replications thereof, if any, by other users of the rapid betting platform. To create a private bet, another user may select at least one projected outcome of a selected event, bet a second wage on the selected at least one projected outcome, and designate the bet as private and visible to only one or a group of other users of the betting platform, as defined by the creator of the original private bet. This group may include the individual user, in which case the private bet will be presented to the individual user as well.
Subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not obscure the present invention.
One or more different inventions may be described in the present application. Further, for one or more of the invention(s) described herein, numerous embodiments may be described in this patent application and are presented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments are not intended to be limiting in any sense. One or more of the invention(s) may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from the disclosure. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the invention(s), and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical, and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the one or more of the invention(s). Accordingly, those skilled in the art will recognize that the one or more of the invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the invention(s). It should be understood, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) nor a listing of features of one or more of the invention(s) that must be present in all embodiments.
Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the invention(s).
Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.
When a single device or article is described, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of more than one device or article.
The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the invention(s) need not include the device itself.
Each user may go through a one-time user registration process setting us a user account, log-in information, and user preferences, such as filters as described below in greater detail. The user may then be allowed to fund the account with an initial amount of money using preferred or multiple currencies as set by the platform administrator 40.
The electronic communication network 30 may be organized using wired communications, wireless communications, or a combination thereof, as the present invention is not limited in this regard.
A variety of electronic user devices may be used in conjunction with the present invention. Examples of such devices include personal computers and laptops 20, tablets 22, smartphones 24, smartwatches 26, etc. Advantageously, but not necessarily, such devices may include a touch-sensitive display, which allows for rapid betting by a single touch action, such as swiping, as explained below in greater detail. Each electronic user device may be configured to facilitate a log-in process by a registered user 10. Upon logging in, the electronic user device may be configured to display user-configurable information suitable for the individual user 10.
In embodiments, it may be advantageous to maintain a continuous wired or wireless connection between the electronic user device and the server 40-so as all relevant betting updates are rapidly transmitted as notifications to the user and all betting actions by the user are rapidly transmitted to the server 40 for registration, vetting and further disposition. In other embodiments, the intermittent connection between the electronic user device 20 and the server 40 may still be permitted, given that the bet is received on time and prior to the expected outcome of the event being known and communicated to other users.
Server 40 may comprise one or more individual controllers operating one or more electronic computer processors. The server 40 may further include one or more memory units housing one or more databases configured to store a roster of registered users, a roster of events, and other pertinent information necessary for the operation of the betting platform of the present invention. The server 40 may be operated and monitored by the platform administrator 45.
In embodiments, information about events and bets based on these events may be generated by the server 40. In other embodiments, such information may be transmitted by other bookmakers and betting dealers, in which case the server 40 may be configured to aggregate betting information from one or several other sources. The server 40 may further be configured to present betting information to the users 10 in a single unified manner as described, for example, in our other co-pending patent applications in greater detail.
The betting platform described herein is advantageous as compared to other known betting platform for a number of reasons, mainly because it allows for rapid replication of original bets by other users and therefore provides an opportunity for many people to place a large number of bets in a short period of time. One example of this process is schematically illustrated in
Shown in
An original bet, in general, may be created by another user and specify at least one selected event, at least one or more of the projected outcomes of the selected event, and a wage the other user placed on the selected outcome. Once the bet is created, a user may have an opportunity to designate the bet as either public or private. In case of a public designation, the bet is visible to all users of the betting platform. A private designation specifies one or more other users of the platform who are notified and given an opportunity to view the original bet by that user.
Given the two types of bets as described above, the individual user 10 may be notified about all public bets as well as all private bets by others that include the individual user 10 in the list of private observers. This notification may occur in real-time or shortly after validation and acceptance of other bets by the betting platform of the present invention.
In further embodiments, the individual user 10 may be notified about bets by others even before they are formally accepted by the server, in which case this information may be presented to the user as a record of a bet in a draft form. Knowing that other users are drafting their bets may provide the individual user 10 with an additional information advantage by anticipating that other bets will be accepted and formally validated from their initial draft status.
User 10 may further have the option to view all the public bets 52 and available to this user private bets 53. One or more filters may also be provided to the user 10 to limit the stream of incoming bet records to only those that fit user-specified criteria. In one example of such a filter, the individual user 10 may elect to view bets from selected other users of the platform. In another example, individual user 10 may elect to view bets only for a certain type of events, such as games in one particular sport or another. In a further example, the individual user 10 may select to view only events with outcomes slated for a certain period of time, such as during the present day or during the present week. In other yet examples, the user 10 may elect to view only events with wages within a certain predetermined limit, and so on.
User-adjusted filters may be organized to apply to either public bets or private bets. In further embodiments, individual filters may be applicable to all bets, both private and public as the invention is not limited in this regard.
The incoming stream of bets 51 may include information about not only the original public and private bets but also about any bet replications that may have been made by other users of the platform, which may inform the individual user 10 about betting activity of others with regard to one selected event or another.
The electronic user device 24 may be further configured to allow the user to rapidly adjudicate the top bet record with a single action, such as replicate it for themselves, adjust the wage amount, reject the bet, like the bet for coming to it at a later time, etc. as described below in greater detail. Once the top bet is adjudicated, the electronic user device 24 may be further configured to: (A) communicate to the server 40 of the acceptance or rejection by individual user 10 of the currently presented bet record, (B) archive the currently presented bet record, and (C) presenting the next bet record 50 of the stream of bet records 51 for adjudication by the individual user 10.
Each bet record presented to the user may be updated from time to time or in real-time to reflect additional bets placed by other users. The individual user 10 may further be provided with an option to review the most current bet information for the selected events after they were initially presented to reflect the most current updates.
While it may be convenient for the individual user to view the stream of bet records as a stack-up of individual record cards, other methods of presenting a plurality of bet records are also contemplated by the present invention. The card stack-up may be convenient for a user when the electronic user device 24 has a small screen, such as a smartphone or a tablet. For users with large screens or electronic user devices equipped with multiple screens and displays, a plurality of bet records may be resented as a matrix of bets so more than one bet record may be fully viewed at the same time.
The betting platform may be operated to continuously accept various original and/or replicated bets from multiple users of the platform and notify other users associated with the same event until a certain cut-off point, for example, a predefined time or a predefined state of the event. Typically, respective users are informed as to the cut-off point in advance, so they have an ample chance to make their bets. One example of a cut-off state of the event may be a start of a horse race or, in other examples, a finish of a horse race. Typically, all bets are collected well before there is a determination of the specific outcome of the event.
Once the event outcome has been determined, server 40 may be configured to determine the outcome of each placed bet on that event and to determine a monetary remuneration to be transmitted to the accounts of the winners. All users who placed a bet in a certain event may be notified about the actual outcome thereof and the disposition of their bets.
One further example of such limits that may be set in the “other settings” tab on the user interface screen is selecting a cumulative maximum wagering amount, which is not to be exceeded. This limit may apply to a certain time period, for example a “not to exceed” limit of bets per day or per week. In that case, no additional rapidly replicated and/or original betting may be allowed upon the user reaching the predefined cumulative wagering amount.
The betting platform may be further configured to allow the user to see a history of all placed bets by that user as well as a history of all transactions involving the user's account. In other embodiments, a user may be given an option to see several or all of his/her current bets and their respective status. In further embodiments, record cards associated with each accepted bet may be sorted by the time of expected receipt of the event outcome so that the record cards with the events closer to their respective outcome are shown on top of record cards with bets that will be adjudicated at a later time.
In addition to adjudicating incoming bet records as described above, the electronic user device may be further configured to allow the user 10 to create an original bet of their own by selecting at least one event, at least one projected outcome of the event, a wage amount placed on the at least one selected projected outcome and designating the bet as public or private. In further embodiments, the “settings” tab for the user may be adjusted to only present the user with certain types of events available for betting, such as certain sports. The “settings” tab may further allow the individual user 10 to select a default wage amount that will be placed on each bet unless it is individually adjusted prior to finalizing the bet.
A single user may place more than one original bet on the same or different events. The home screen may present all of the various original bets of the same single user (stivebet632 in the example seen in
Various currency units may be used for the betting purposes of the platform of the present invention. The server 40 may be configured to accept a local currency, such as a total pool of 10,950.32 Georgian lari shown in
The user may have an option to see all data for the expanded bet record card by activating a full view thereof, such as shown in
The home screen of
One key advantage of the betting platform of the present invention is the ability to instantly place or reject a proposed bet with a single action. In one non-limiting example, swiping the bet record card in one predetermined direction may automatically cause the action of placing a replicating bet by the user, as illustrated in
In addition to this rapid binary disposition of a proposed bet (Accept/Reject) using a single action, in this example, swiping the record card to the left or the right, an additional single action may be used for further possible actions, such as designate the bet record card as LIKE BET card.
A single action rapid betting is not limited to the swiping action of the record card off the screen. Other examples of a single gesture, voice command, or another single action may also be used for rapidly accepting or rejecting bets of others. One example is a voice recognition feature that may be configured to recognize ACCEPT or REJECT voice commands for a respective further action. Other similar voice commands may also be included in the list of recognized commands, for example YES and NO, etc. Similar commands in other languages may also be included as part of the operation for a typical user interface of the present invention.
In further yet example, a video camera on the smartphone or a tablet of the electronic user device may be configured to recognize a single motion or a user's head for at least a binary command input. For example, nodding of a head may be recognized as an ACCEPT BET command, while turning the head left and right may be recognized as a REJECT BET command. Similarly, suitable hand gestures may also be recognized by the video camera of the electronic user device as input for at least a binary disposition of a proposed bet.
Moreover, a user may be given the option to provide a custom personalized gesture or action for accepting or rejecting a bet, such that the invention is not limited in this regard.
Once the top bet record card is decided upon by the user, the user interface may be configured to automatically remove the top bet record card from the home screen and present the next record card to the user. Using a single action for accepting or rejecting a top proposed bet on a home screen can advantageously allow the user to place a large number of replicating bets in a very short period of time.
The user interface of the present invention may be more flexible than simply facilitating accepting or rejecting the same bet placed by others. In embodiments, the user may be provided with an opportunity to adjust the wagering amount for the bet that is of interest to the user. Clicking on ADJUST BET button, or in other examples double clicking on the record card may bring a dial for wagering amount adjustment, as illustrated in
The betting platform of the present invention may be configured with a great deal of flexibility and adjustability by individual users as to what each user likes to be notified about and see other bets for.
In a further example, the user may select only bets and events filtered by an adjustable value of min and max coefficient 162.
In a further example, the user may select to only see a limited number of events 164.
In a further yet example, the user may select to only see bets within a specified range 166.
In a further yet example, the user may select to see only events and corresponding notifications for certain sports 168, and/or certain leagues within each selected sport. Other similar user-adjusted filters may also be provided by the platform administrator 45 to the user and changed from time to time to make them best suited for the current circumstances.
Finally,
It is contemplated that any embodiment discussed in this specification can be implemented with respect to any method of the invention, and vice versa. It will also be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention. The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein. Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.
All publications and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. All publications and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Incorporation by reference is limited such that no subject matter is incorporated that is contrary to the explicit disclosure herein, no claims included in the documents are incorporated by reference herein, and any definitions provided in the documents are not incorporated by reference herein unless expressly included herein.
The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.
As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. In embodiments of any of the compositions and methods provided herein, “comprising” may be replaced with “consisting essentially of” or “consisting of”. As used herein, the phrase “consisting essentially of” requires the specified integer(s) or steps as well as those that do not materially affect the character or function of the claimed invention. As used herein, the term “consisting” is used to indicate the presence of the recited integer (e.g., a feature, an element, a characteristic, a property, a method/process step or a limitation) or group of integers (e.g., feature(s), element(s), characteristic(s), propertie(s), method/process steps or limitation(s)) only.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
As used herein, words of approximation such as, without limitation, “about”, “substantial” or “substantially” refers to a condition that when so modified is understood to not necessarily be absolute or perfect but would be considered close enough to those of ordinary skill in the art to warrant designating the condition as being present. The extent to which the description may vary will depend on how great a change can be instituted and still have one of ordinary skilled in the art recognize the modified feature as still having the required characteristics and capabilities of the unmodified feature. In general, but subject to the preceding discussion, a numerical value herein that is modified by a word of approximation such as “about” may vary from the stated value by at least ±1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 15, 20 or 25%.
All of the devices and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the devices and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the devices and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims a priority date benefit from an international patent application No. PCT/US21/56765 filed on 27 October 201 with the same title, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2021/056765 | 10/27/2021 | WO |
