U.S. patent application number 11/129606 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-16 for online wagering system and method.
Invention is credited to Harry Platis.
Application Number | 20060258438 11/129606 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37419846 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060258438 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Platis; Harry |
November 16, 2006 |
Online wagering system and method
Abstract
A system and method to provide pari-mutuel wagering on contests
having large numbers of entrants. A series of wagering events are
provided on the system. Each wagering event is configured to
display a particular contest such as a large poker player
tournament. Each tournaments wagering event has a pari-mutuel
wagering option and an exotic wagering option. The pari-mutuel
wagering option allows users to wager on the top ranked individuals
in the tournament. For example, the top 50 players in the world
playing in the World Series poker would be listed in the individual
parimutuel wagering option. The pari-mutuel wagering option also
allows users to wager on the remaining 5000 players in the
tournament in various formats. The formats include categorizing
these players into groups organized for example, by last name, and
placed into alphabetic groupings. The exotic wagering options allow
for a pick six scenario, and exacta scenario, a quinella scenario,
and a trifecta scenario, other exotic wagering options are also
provided.
Inventors: |
Platis; Harry; (Mill Creek,
WA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HUGHES LAW FIRM, PLLC
PACIFIC MERIDIAN PLAZA, SUITE 302
4164 MERIDIAN STREET
BELLINGHAM
WA
98226-5583
US
|
Family ID: |
37419846 |
Appl. No.: |
11/129606 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/25 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/025 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Claims
1. A system for providing pari-mutuel wagering on contests having a
large number of entrants, said system comprising: a. a plurality of
wagering events each configured around a particular contest, said
wagering events including, a plurality of pari-mutuel wagering
events, a plurality of exotic wagering events, b. said pari-mutuel
wagering events each having a plurality of individual entrant
wagers, a plurality of group entrant wagers, said individual
entrant wagers provided for a first range of wagers on a plurality
of entrants in the contest, said group entrant wagers provided for
a second range of wagers on the remaining entrants in the contest,
c. said exotic wagering events each including a plurality of wagers
to choose a plurality of entrants to place in various positions
within the contest.
2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of
entrants placing in various positions in the contest include
choosing: a. six entrants to place in the contest, b. two entrants
to place in exact order in the contest, c. two entrants to place in
any order in the contest, d. three entrants to place in exact order
in the contest, e. many entrants to place in a particular
order.
3. The system according to claim 1 wherein said contests include a
plurality of poker playing tournaments, said poker playing
tournaments either online or live.
4. The system according claim 1 wherein said first range of wagers
is for: a. a series of top ranked entrants, b. a series of bottom
ranked entrants, c. a series of randomly ranked entrance.
5. The system according to claim 1 wherein said first range of
wagers is for at least 25 of a series of top ranked entrants.
6. The system according to claim 1 wherein said first range of
wagers is for at least 25 of a series of the bottom ranked
entrants.
7. The system according to claim 1 wherein said first range of
wagers is for at least 25 of the entrants.
8. The system according to claim 1 wherein said group entrant
wagers include a second range of 26 wagers for the remaining
entrants in the contest.
9. The system according to claim 1 wherein said second range of 26
wagers is further categorized alphabetically.
10. The system according to claim 1 wherein said second range of
wagers is further categorized by nationality.
11. The system according to claim 1 wherein said second range of
wagers includes a series of sub group entrant wagers, said series
of sub group entrant wagers further defined alphanumerically.
12. The system according to claim 1 wherein said second range of
wagers is further categorized by geographic location.
13. The system according to claim 1 wherein said second range of
wagers is further categorized by a ranking system.
14. A system for providing pari-mutuel wagering on contests having
a large number of entrants, said system having a wagering server, a
plurality of clients, the wagering server connected to a network,
the plurality of clients connected to the network and having inter
operability with the wagering server, the system further having a
plurality of contest sites, banks, cellular systems, and ATM
systems, the system further comprising: a. the wagering server
having a wagering application, the wagering application having a
wagering database, the wagering application having a plurality of
sub applications, the sub applications including a wagering front
end application and a wagering back end application, b. the
wagering database further having a plurality of class objects
including: i. a class of wagering back end objects, a class of
wagering front end objects, the class of wagering back end objects
including a series of input objects and a series of report objects,
ii. the class of wagering front end objects including a series of
account set up objects and a series of account display objects, c.
the wagering back end application configured to access the class of
wagering back end objects including the series of input objects and
series of report objects to create a plurality of wagering events
around said contests, said wagering events including pari-mutuel
wagering events and exotic wagering events, d. said pari-mutuel
wagering events each having a plurality of individual contestant
wagers, a plurality of group contestants wagers, said individual
contestant wagers provided for a first range of wagers on a
plurality of entrants in the contest, said group contestant wagers
provided for a second range of wagers on the remaining entrants in
the contest, e. said exotic wagering events each including a wager
to choose six entrants to place in the contest, choose two entrants
to place in an exact order in the contest, choose two entrants to
place in any order in the contest, choose three entrants to place
an exact order in the contest.
15. The system according to claim 14 wherein the wagering server
further comprises a contest site application, the contest site
application having a contest site database, the contest site
application accessing a plurality of contest site objects contained
within the contest site database, the contest site objects
including a contest site front end object, a contest site back end
object, the contest site front end configured to be run at a client
located at the contest site, the contest site back end object
configured to send and receive information to and from the contest
site front end client.
16. The system according to claim 14 wherein the wagering server
further comprises a banking application having a banking database,
the banking database further comprising a series of banking objects
including a banking front end, and a banking back end, the banking
application configured to be run on one of the client's located
within one of the system banks.
17. A system for providing users pari-mutuel wagering on contests
having a large number of entrants, said system comprising: a. a
plurality of wagering events each configured around a particular
contest, said wagering events including a plurality of pari-mutuel
wagering events and a plurality of exotic wagering events, b. said
pari-mutuel wagering events each having a plurality wagers divided
into a plurality of individual entrant wagers and a plurality of
group entrant wagers, said individual entrant wagers provided for a
first range of wagers on a plurality of entrants in the contest,
said group entrant wagers provided for a second range of wagers on
the remaining entrants in the contest, c. each wager in said
plurality of wagers having an entrant identifier, a currently
pooled wager amount, a currently calculated precut odds, and a
currently calculated post cut odds, d. the wagering event further
comprises a total currently pooled wager amount, a house percentage
cut, and a total pool post cut wager amount, where the post cut
odds for a particular wager are calculated by dividing the total
pool post cut wager amount by the individual currently pooled wager
amount, e. said exotic wagering events each including a plurality
of wagers to choose six entrants to place in the contest, a
plurality of wagers to choose two entrants to place in exact order
in the contest, a plurality of wagers to choose two entrants to
place in any order in the contest, a plurality of wagers to choose
three entrants to place in exact order in the contest.
18. A method for conducting pari-mutuel wagering on contests having
a large number of entrants, said method comprising: a. providing a
plurality of wagering events each configured around the particular
contest, said wagering events including a plurality of pari-mutuel
wagering events and a plurality of exotic wagering events, b.
providing for said pari-mutuel wagering events a plurality of
individual entrant wagers and a plurality of group entrants wagers,
c. providing for said individual entrant wagers a first range of
wagers on a plurality of entrants in the contest, d. providing for
said group entrants wagers a second range of wagers on the
remaining entrants in the contest, e. providing a exotic wagering
events each including a plurality of wagers to choose a plurality
of entrants to place in various positions within the contest.
19. The method according to claim 18 wherein the plurality of
entrants placing in various positions in the contest includes
choosing: a. six entrants to place in the contest, b. two entrants
to place in exact order in the contest, c. two entrants to place in
any order in the contest, d. three entrants to place in exact order
in the contest, e. many entrants to place in a particular
order.
20. A method for providing pari-mutuel wagering on contests having
a large number of entrants, said method providing a wagering
server, a plurality of clients, the wagering server connected to a
network, the plurality of clients connect to the network and having
interoperability with the wagering server, a method further
connecting a plurality of contests sites, banks, cellular systems,
and ATM systems to the network, said method further comprising: a.
providing a wagering application on the wagering server, the
wagering application having a wagering database, the wagering
application further having a plurality of sub applications, the sub
applications including a wagering frontend application and a
wagering backend application, b. providing in the wagering database
a plurality of class objects including: c. a class of wagering
backend objects and a class of wagering frontend objects, the class
of wagering backend objects including a series of input objects and
a series of report objects, d. the class of wagering front end
objects including a series of account set up objects in a series of
account display objects, e. the wagering backend application
accessing the class of wagering backend objects including,
accessing the series of input objects, accessing the series of
report objects, and creating a plurality of wagering events each
configured around the particular contest, said wagering events
including a plurality of pari-mutuel wagering events and a
plurality of exotic wagering events, f. providing for said
pari-mutuel wagering events, a plurality of individual entrant
wagers and a plurality of group entrants wagers, g. providing for
said individual entrant wagers a first range of wagers on a
plurality of entrants in the contest, h. providing for said group
entrants wagers a second range of wagers on the remaining entrants
in the contest, i. providing a set of exotic wagers including,
choosing six wagering events to place in the contest, choosing two
wagering events to place in exact order in the contest, choosing
two wagering events to place in any order in the contest, choosing
three wagering events to place in exact order in the contest.
21. A means for providing pari-mutuel wagering on contests having a
large number of entrants, said means comprising: a. a plurality of
wagering events each configured around a particular contest, said
wagering events including, a plurality of pari-mutuel wagering
events, a plurality of exotic wagering events, b. said pari-mutuel
wagering events each having a plurality of individual entrant
wagers, a plurality of group entrant wagers, said individual
entrant wagers provided for a first range of wagers on a plurality
of entrants in the contest, said group entrant wagers provided for
a second range of wagers on the remaining entrants in the contest,
c. said exotic wagering events each including a plurality of wagers
to choose a plurality of entrants to place in various positions
within the contest.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Ser. No.
______, filed ______.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] a) Field of the Invention
[0003] This concept deals with the area of betting referred to as
pari-mutuel wagering which comprises a betting system where players
wager on an event and the payout funds are distributed from a
common pool. In essence, the pari-mutuel wagering is a form of
betting where the losers' wagers are distributed amongst the
winners. Pari-mutuel wagering occurs mainly in horse racing, as
well as dog racing, or other state- and federally-licensed
racetracks. Additionally, pari-mutuel wagering occurs around
sporting events which are wagered on by private parties not
licensed by the government. This concept uses pari-mutuel style
wagering to bet on players within poker-related games and
tournaments.
[0004] b) Background Art
[0005] Wagering on sporting events such as horses, dogs, and other
types of racing is profitable and a popular sport itself.
Generally, individuals will decide to make a pari-mutuel bet or
wager on horses or dogs which will be racing in a predetermined
racing format. Betting houses exist where the racetracks allow
individuals to place wagers on, for example, a horse to place first
in a race, or two horses to place first and second in an exact
order in a race. Individuals place the bets, and depending on the
amounts of money wagered within the common pool on a specific horse
the odds are calculated. For example, a favorite to win would
likely have higher odds of winning based on the number of
individuals placing a wager on that horse, consequently the payout
will be relatively smaller because there's less risk associated
with wagering on the horse. Prior to any payout, the house or
racetrack will take a cut off of the top of the pooled wagering
which is essentially a service fee for holding the wagering
event.
[0006] There are many existing concepts which deal with how to
bring the racing track to users via an online system, as well as
improvements on the existing wagering systems. They include the
following patents.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,791 (McNutt) discloses an interactive
wagering system with totalisator selection. This patent deals with
off track betting on races at racetracks. Referring to Col.3 at
line 24, a system is used to provide an interactive wagering
service to users of various user equipment. An application can be
run locally on, for example, a set-top box, personal computer,
notebook, cell phone, or handheld computing device. The users can
receive real-time videos from the various racetracks over a
television wagering service. This might be over a channel or the
Internet. Racing data may also be provided by, as referred to Col.6
at line 3, information sources such as Axis pocket information
network, and other suitable data sources. Also, totalisators may
provide racing data, which themselves are computer systems used to
handle wagers made at racetracks, or off track betting
establishments and all use the interactive wagering system. The
totalisators generate wagering odds in real-time, the odds are
based on information on which wages are being placed, and are
provided by companies such as Amtote International and may be
associated with individual racetracks or groups of racetracks. With
regard to the system architecture of this patent, standard data
distribution and information systems include the use of servers,
satellite systems, cable systems, transaction logging equipment,
databases, management subscriber systems, computer networks,
Gateway interfaces, and the like. Suffice to say, the user of this
system would log on to the local network, which would provide
various race track betting options, as well as an account for the
user to bet and win or lose funds in the account based on the
outcome of the races.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,789 (Garahi) discloses systems and
methods for cross-platform access to a wagering interface. This
patent allows users to bet on various wagering sports. Referring to
Col.10 at line 63, the sport option allows the person wagering to
select different sports and may include an auto racing, basketball,
baseball, boxing, football, golf, horse racing, or any other
suitable wagering sports. Each wagering sport may present unique
wagering interfaces due to different relevant statistics pertaining
to each sport. Once a wagering sport has been selected, the person
wagering may be asked whether he or she wants the sport set as a
default for subsequent access to the wagering interface.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,488 (Paravia) discloses a gaming system
with location verification, the system provides an automated gaming
service to one or more players in a computer-based environment with
automated computation of wagers, payouts, and other gaming
parameters. This gaming system can be implemented over the Internet
and basically establish a virtual gaming environment. Accounts can
be set up as debit type accounts where players fund or replenish
the accounts in advance of the wagering using credit cards or other
payment techniques. The system can use a parimutuel or guaranteed
payout gaming format among others. Referring to Col.8 at line 8,
the automated gaming system may request information from the user
such as age, location, and other information to insure players are
not violating local laws or regulations by participating in certain
gaming events. This is part of the registration process. Further
down in Col.8 at line 50, the player makes wages deducted from the
player's account therefore ensuring that the system or house is
covered by the wager. Referring to Col.9 at line 15, various events
and games can be offered on the automated gaming system. Player
might view attributes and/or games and decide to place a wager on
one or more competitors participating in one or more games. For
example a basketball game may be played between Duke and UCLA.
Information which show point spread, minimum and maximum wagers,
payout amounts and other information. With the browsing finished,
players can place a wager and after the results of been verified,
the gaming system computes the payoffs to the various wagers and
provides these to the appropriate accounts.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,824 (Cannon) discloses a method,
apparatus, and system for providing a player with opportunities to
win a feature event award tied to a primary game such as a slot
machine, video poker, or other electronic gaming machines. The
feature event opportunity is earned by a player entering a live
contest, and playing a series of machines networked together for
qualification participation in the feature events. After playing
the qualifying events, and referring to Col.8 at line 60, when the
date for the feature event has arrived, any player qualified for
the feature event may be queried through a dialog box on a display
screen as to whether they wish to participate in the next feature
event. If the player chooses to make a wager in the upcoming
feature events, event credits or unit entries are detected from the
accrued pool of points for credits at the players gaming machine.
Wagering events as discussed further in Col.9 at line 40 may
include live events such as sporting events like horse races, dog
races, track and field events, ski races, vehicle races, track
races and horse races. Further down at line 50, players might in
addition to placing a wager for the event winner, may be allowed to
place a wager for second place, finish, show, or other type of
outcomes of the events.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,701 (Aronson) discloses a system and
method for providing fixed odds and parimutuel wagering which
allows the user to submit a wager to a fixed odds book or a
parimutuel pool using an interactive wagering application, as well
as a conditional wagering option. Referring to Col.16 at line 61,
as part of creating a wager, the application provides the user with
the ability to select wager options for the ability to designate a
conditional wagering option. The user may create a wager for a
specific race to be submitted to the fixed odds book. Also, the
interactive wagering application may automatically submit the wager
to a parimutuel pool if the user designated the wager as a
conditional wager.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,978 (Herman) discloses an events contest
method where a participant is selected from a predetermined size of
event competitors and the participant places a wager on a rank
selection where the ranking is based on a statistical index. In
Col.5 at line 39, at a predetermined point in the event or events
wagered upon, such as completion of the event for events, halftime,
or the like, and indexes calculated for each participant based on
the aggregate performance of the participants selections, meaning
that the participants in the wagering event choose game players
within each team and an index is the calculated to rank the
wagering participants score based on the aggregate performance of
the participants team game players within various categories. This
seems to be similar to ranking of individual players in a fantasy
sports game scenario.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,709 (Karmarkar) discloses a virtual
distributed multimedia gaming method and system based on actual
regulated casino games or virtual gaming and is provided at a
remote location either on or off site of the casino premises using
live multimedia video or restricted prerecorded video from
autonomous randomly selected live casino games. A remote player
station is included and has a display and other functions for
legally authenticating the remote player to place a bet. The remote
player station also provides gaming information to enable the
remote player to receive payout. Simplified wagering rules enable
the remote player to bet either for or against the actual player
using either a live casino multimedia video signal or restricted
randomized casino multimedia game video.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,150 (Mir) discloses a method and
apparatus for parimutuel historical gaming with instant payoffs on
actual past events. In operation, a player attempts to choose the
winners of an unknown past event, some information or skilled data
may be shown on the video display such as the relative past
performance of competitors, after the player makes a selection of
winners, the identity of the events is revealed and a video segment
of the events is displayed with the actual owners presented. If
player picks the correct winners, he qualifies for instant payoff
determined in accordance with parimutuel methods.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,307 (Krause) discloses a
casino/lottery/sports style wager and game for parimutuel racing
operations by using unique rules and formats to govern the wagering
on the parimutuel race and reflecting existing games from casinos,
lotteries and sports. Referring to Col.5 at line 16, the following
working components are offered to parimutuel race operators
including a blackjack fast or last game where players choose
whether the total of the starting numbers of the first four
finishing animals or the last four finishing animals will sum
closer to 21 without going over. Similarly, baseball game allows
players to bet on either the home team, meaning even-numbered
animals, or the away team, odd-numbered animals, or the finishing
position of each animal equals the number of runs scored by that
animal.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,900 (Geiger) discloses a method and
system for Internet-based competitive event prediction where
participants submit predictions of future events, obtain words for
correct predictions and suffer penalties for incorrect predictions.
Each competitive speculation is defined by number of future events
such as sporting contest, elections and debates, stock price
fluctuations and the like. Straight predictions can be submitted,
future combination predictions, and other variations. When an event
occurs, points are awarded or subtracted from the participants
point holdings.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,785 (Rossides) discloses a communication
system using bets which allows people to place, accept, and settle
bets without utilizing a bookmaker. The system enables individuals
to settle disputes, change their bets, and place special types of
bets for the purpose of demonstrating probability in quantity
estimates. Referring to Col.4 at line 53, the computer system
allows people to use bets efficiently by accepting and settling
bets for the purpose of communication. System allows people to post
bets, except, change, and settle the bets and thus also settle
disputes. A key object of the invention is to allow people to
express through the payoff odds what they think about the actual
odds.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,657 (Ueno) discloses off-track betting
systems where a receiver receives live racing from a race track and
displays the race to unspecified betters who can watch the race.
The betters are enabled to enter bets on the outcome of the race
through a television or fax. In Col.1 at line 53, the off-track or
online betting system is applied to a horse race, bike race, speed
boat race, or an auto race. Further in Col. 3 at line 52, the
invention enables betters to place bets on races run at every part
of the country, while watching them at home, thus avoiding traffic
expense.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0019] It is an object of the current embodiment to provide a
system and method for pari-mutuel wagering on contests such as
poker tournaments which have large number of entrants or
competitors entering tournaments.
[0020] The system and method utilizes a series of wagering servers
and clients connected over a network. Additional third-party sites
such as banks, cellular systems, ATM systems, and others are used
to transfer information and support the system and method.
[0021] The system and method utilize a wagering application which
accesses a wagering database.
[0022] The wagering application has a backend application interface
and the front and application interface. The backend application
interface allows the individuals hosting the wagering application
to customize it for varying sizes of poker playing tournaments.
[0023] The front end application is designed for individuals
wishing to pari-mutuelly wager on players within the poker
tournament. The users can access a plurality of wagering events or
options including wagering on the top-ranked individuals in the
contest to place first. Additionally the users can wager on
unranked players who may be playing in the tournament for the first
time and likely do not have a track record to be ranked. These
unranked players are accessible to be wagered on in various group
classifications.
[0024] The odds change on the various group classifications or
individually ranked players depending on the amount of funds
wagered on that individual or group to win.
[0025] Additional exotic bets such as pick six, exacta, quinella,
trifecta, and other type of bets which have been used in the sports
racing industry are also provided.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the wagering system,
[0027] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a casino wagering
tournament,
[0028] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the overall wagering system
architecture,
[0029] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the casino application and
database,
[0030] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the banking application and
database,
[0031] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the wagering application and
database,
[0032] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the wagering back end
application and database,
[0033] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the wager front end application
and database,
[0034] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the wagering application
homepage,
[0035] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
account,
[0036] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the wagering application
tournaments to view,
[0037] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
picking tickets,
[0038] FIG. 11A is a block diagram of the method of calculating
odds on large entry tournaments,
[0039] FIG. 11B is a block diagram of the method of calculating
running odds on large entry tournaments,
[0040] FIG. 11C is a flowchart of the wagering application showing
transfer of funds,
[0041] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
choosing individual wagers,
[0042] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
choosing field wagers,
[0043] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
choosing exotic wagers,
[0044] FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
placing wager amounts,
[0045] FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the wagering application during
transfer of funds,
[0046] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
viewing exotic wager options,
[0047] FIG. 18 is a flowchart of the wagering application user
choosing a multiple event wager.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0048] This concept deals with a process for enabling a web site to
allow individuals to make multiple forms of parimutuel online
betting and is designed around specifically poker tournaments such
as the currently popular Texas Hold'em and the World Series poker.
The concept is further designed to allow online viewers to place
parimutuel bets on existing online poker tournaments. This allows
staged parimutuel online poker betting based on predetermined
stopping points within the game play or tournament play. Other
forms of parimutuel betting on tournament or game play are also
provided.
[0049] Generally speaking, the current embodiment of the wagering
system provides for individuals to access a web site which has a
listing of poker tournaments currently scheduled or underway, and
within the poker tournaments lists the individual players and the
stage of the various matches being played.
[0050] Users of the wagering system can place a pari-mutuel style
wager on various poker players within the tournaments, or on
various exotic criteria which the wagering system web site
provides.
[0051] Now referring to FIG. 1, the wagering system 10 is generally
comprised of the wagering server 30 which is connected to the
Internet 11. Various outside components which have access to the
Internet 11 feed into the wagering server 30 or receive information
from the wagering server 30. These outside components include
desktop and laptop clients 12A and 12B, satellites 14, other gaming
servers 16, casinos 18, banks and financial institutions 20,
cellular phones 22, and personal digital assistants 24.
[0052] Instances of the wagering server's application can be run at
any of the various listed components; the application of which will
be discussed further below.
[0053] A brief discussion of the system architecture which
comprises the wagering server 30 will now be discussed. Referring
to FIG. 2, a wagering server 30 is connected to the Internet 11,
and the wagering server has within its memory a casino database 32
which correlates to a casino application 34, a baking database 36
which correlates to a banking application 38, and a wagering book
database 40 which corresponds to a wagering application 42.
Although the various databases are shown separately, it is
conceivable that these individual databases could be provided in
one single database such as a Microsoft.TM. Sequel Server database,
and the wagering server could easily be shown as a Microsoft.TM.
BizTalk.TM. server.
[0054] Similarly, the applications may run from a single database
and have various objects correlating to the applications for
implementation of instances of the applications.
[0055] Also, the wagering server system 30 can be ported to or
licensed to multiple affiliate server sites 16. For example,
authorized affiliates could have a system architecture of the
wagering server system 30 resident on their gaming and/or betting
servers 16 as seen in FIG. 1, as well as located on various
cellular network affiliates 22, and may also include affiliates
such as the Blackberry.TM. network which would license the wagering
server system 30 to run on their various networks and allow access
of the personal digital assistants 24 to the wagering service
30.
[0056] A land-based affiliate having the ability to run both the
backend and front end of the wagering server system 30 as discussed
below would be for example a single casino affiliate 18.
[0057] Referring back to FIG. 2, the affiliates as discussed above,
may have access to various portions of the wagering server 30 such
as access to the casino database 32 and application 34, the banking
database 36 and application 38, or the wagering database 40 and
application 42. This would be dependent upon the various authorized
or licensed configurations which the individual's hosting the
wagering server 30 might configure per individual
specifications.
[0058] Still discussing the system architecture and referring to
FIG. 3, a plurality of casino application objects 44 is provided to
enable the casino application 34 to operate. These casino
application objects 44 reside within the casino database 32 and are
accessed by the casino application 34 when the various objects are
initialized.
[0059] The casino application is provided to enable casinos 18,
FIG. 1, to have various customized casino or wagering applications
which would then integrate in it with the casino computer
systems.
[0060] Many times, the location of the tournaments for poker
playing occur in the various casinos such as the MGM Grand.TM.. It
is beneficial to have readily available client terminals 12, FIG.
1, located within the casino 18 for individuals who are following
the poker tournament and the various players within the tournament
to make wagers on the outcome of a game or the tournament by
utilizing the casino application 34.
[0061] Additionally located within the casino will be display
boards such as a large liquid crystal display device, or reader
boards.
[0062] Referring to FIG. 1A, a typical casino poker tournament 5 is
shown. Generally poker tournaments such as the World Series of
Poker.TM. will attract groups of players 17 upwards of 5000-7000
players or entrants. The type of poker match which will be played
is usually a form of Texas Hold'em, a very popular form of poker
currently being played.
[0063] The players will congregate around a poker table 15 and play
a specific game to progress in the tournaments. A monitor or
official 7 may or may not be present at the poker match, and during
the higher profile matches which might have celebrity-type poker
players, spectators 21 may congregate to watch the match. Prior to
the beginning of the play, spectators can make bets by using their
handicap skills to determine who would likely be a good person to
bet to win the particular match or to lose a particular match.
Further, spectators can view and access the reader board 9 which is
connected to the casino application 34. Also, after viewing the
particular odds for individual listed players 17 or within the
various betting options which will be discussed below, the
spectators or account users can enter in the desired pari-mutuel
wager on a various player 17 within or using the client terminals
12 located within the casino 18.
[0064] Referring back to FIG. 3, the casino objects 44 further
include a casino front end object 46, a casino back end object 48,
a display board object 50, a players object 52, a licensees object
54, a promotions object 56, and a credit transfers object 58, all
which can be used to create various instances of the casino
application 34 depending on the desired use at the various
locations such as within the casino or at a remote user
location.
[0065] While using the wagering system 10, individuals will need to
set up accounts to receive and to transfer funds during the
wagering process. To support such activity, and referring to FIG.
4, a series of banking objects 60 are provided which reside within
the baking database 36 and which are enabled in the banking
application 38. Generally, the banking application has a front end
and a back end, meaning that the front end deals with the interface
for account users and general public, and the back end enables the
individuals maintaining the wagering system 10 to implement various
configurable portions so that the wagering system 10 can provide
accurate information. Still referring to FIG. 4, the banking
objects include the banking back end object 62, banking front end
object 64, partner terminals 66, cashiers terminal object 68,
player account's objects 70, licensee's account's objects 72,
promotion account's objects 74, and credit transfers objects
76.
[0066] One of the main purposes of this wagering system 10 is to
allow individuals to wager pari-mutuel style betting on the
individual poker players within a tournament. To implement such a
service, a wagering application 42 has been designed as seen in
FIG. 5. The wagering application 42 resides in the wagering
database 40 which holds also a series of wagering objects 80.
[0067] The wagering application has two main components, wagering
front end object 82 and the wagering back end object 84.
[0068] Users of the wagering system 10 will generally see the
wagering front end application object 82 on one of the client's
terminals 12. A.
[0069] Referring to FIG. 6, and discussing first the wagering back
end objects 92, the individuals who host the wagering system 10 on
their wagering servers 30 will need to provide various information
for the poker tournaments which are being played either online or
off-line in various tournament hosting locations such as casinos
18.
[0070] To support this configuration, wagering back end objects 92
have been provided in the wagering database 40 and can be
initialized in the wagering application back end 90. These wagering
back end objects 92 include input line 94 which have a subset of
back end objects including inputting tournaments and players in a
set tournament and players object 96, an input line to allow
various types of betting which is configured in the set bet types
of objects 98, an input line for setting bet types of pools in the
set bet pools object 100, inputting tournament results in the
tournament results input object 102, an object for scanning and
calculating payouts 104, and an object for transmitting winnings
106. Also included in the back end objects are reports on betting
and wagering 108, an object to review pending tickets 110, and an
object to review the complete tickets in an archive or database
112. Of course these objects are further configurable depending on
the specific use involved.
[0071] Referring to FIG. 7, a discussion of the wagering front end
object's 122 will now be provided. The wagering database 40 has
resident within it a series of wagering front end object's 122
which are initialized through the use of the wagering application
in the front end instance 120.
[0072] These front end objects include an object to show an active
tournament or tournaments 124, an object to allow users to pick the
tickets 126, an object to allow users to implement a shopping cart
128, an object to allow individuals to check out 130, an object to
allow users to update their accounts and save 132, an object to
list the tickets to a user's account 134, as well as other objects
such as objects to update price pools for ticket types 136, objects
for poker players individual wagers 138, objects for field type
wagers 140, and objects for exotic type wagers 142.
[0073] Generally speaking, the wagering application front end 120
will provide the user with various types of wagering events unique
to the pari-mutuel style wagering on poker tournaments.
[0074] A user will access through a client computer 12 or a
personal digital assistant 24 or a cellular phone 22, or the
homepage 200 as seen in FIG. 8 of the wagering application front
end 120.
[0075] What follows is a description of the current embodiment for
implementing various system components within the wagering
application 42,
[0076] FIG. 5, and it is conceivable that other types of methods
and operations will implement the same overall result which is to
enable the various betting or wagering options on a pari-mutuel
style wagering event for poker tournaments.
[0077] Additionally, the users of the wagering system 10 may wish
to download a resident software copy of the wagering application 42
and either the front end wagering application 120 FIG. 7, or the
backend wagering application 90 FIG. 6, and receive XML feed from
the wagering server 30 FIG. 2 which updates the ongoing tournaments
and odds as they progress.
[0078] Referring to FIG. 8, a general method describing the flow of
the user at the homepage 200 will now be described. The user will
be able to select various options from the homepage at step 210.
The steps include a user account login 212, a set up new user
account 214, a view casino tournament 216, a view online tournament
218, and an exit step 220.
[0079] Additionally, the user may be able to view advertisements on
this homepage 200 as well as follow various tournament events which
have been broadcast on a simulated odds board in the web site as
well as the odds board or reader board 9 located within the casino
poker tournament 5 FIG. 1A.
[0080] In the current embodiment, the user has already set up a new
user account 214 and has chosen to login to the users account 212,
and therefore referring to FIG. 9, at the user account screen 213,
the user has various options to make wagers and review existing
placed wagers.
[0081] These options include a view tournaments to wager 222, a
view players to wager step 224, a view account funds step 226, a
view existing wagers step 228, a view exotic wagers step 230, and a
logout step 232.
[0082] Many times, a user will wish to wager on players within the
specific tournament, therefore the user of the account will choose
to view tournaments to wager at step 222. Referring to FIG. 10, the
user has chosen to view tournaments to wager step 222 and then is
allowed to choose various tournaments at step 234. If the user does
elect to choose a tournament, a listing of tournaments is shown at
step 238. The user is given the option of wagering on a specific
tournament at step 240. If the user chooses not to wager on any of
the list of tournaments the user will exit the options at step 236.
If the user chooses to wager on a specific tournament the user
picks a tickets at step 242 which is an instance of the user pick
ticket object 126, FIG. 7.
[0083] Referring to FIG. 11, within the user picks tickets option
step 242, the user has the option of choosing various types of
wagers for that particular tournament. These wagers have been
preconfigured by the individuals hosting the wagering system 10 and
the preconfiguration occurs at the back end wagering application 90
in FIG. 6 using the wagering back end objects 92 as previously
discussed.
[0084] Referring back to FIG. 11, the various wagers shown in this
current embodiment include a 5,000 player poker tournament
individual wagers 244, a 5000 poker player tournament field wagers
246, a 5000 poker player tournament exotic wagers 248, a view cart
249, and an exit 250.
[0085] A brief description of each wagering event will now be
discussed.
[0086] Referring first to FIG. 12, the user may choose to implement
the front end wagering application 120 and make an individual wager
on one or more particular players within the 5000 poker player
tournament 244. At step 252, the user has the option of choosing
from the list of players and if the user does not wish to choose a
player, he can exit to the cart at step 264. If the user wishes to
choose a player to make a wager on, he is allowed to choose from a
listing of individual players at step 254.
[0087] Within this listing of players 254 are the player's names
257 as well as the running odds 258 on each of the players.
[0088] The current embodiment allows for configuration of
pari-mutuel style wagering on large entry tournaments such as the
World Series of Poker.TM.. The World Series of Poker.TM. as
previously discussed may have up to 5000 to 7000 entries. This is
because the purse is so great, some years being as much a $65
million for the winner. Consequently a method of categorizing and
allowing individual users of the wager system 10 to place bets on
players within the pool is provided.
[0089] Referring to FIG. 11A, the users hosting the wagering system
10, FIG. 1, can implement the back end wagering application 90 and
run an instance of the set bet types 98, FIG. 6, and the set bet
pools 100, FIG. 6, as is shown in FIG. 11A. The current embodiment
in FIG. 11A shows a wagering option on a particular tournament with
approximately 200 entrants. The pool is broken up into two main
bodies, the individual players wagering 244 and the field wagering
246.
[0090] The top 174 best poker players each are allowed to have
their own betting tickets 404. The betting ticket has the currently
pooled wager amount 406, the precut odds 416, and the post cut odds
418 listed. As previously mentioned, the administrators of the
sites will enter in a minimum wager for each contestant which is
equal to create an even set of odds. Similarly, in the field
wagering portion 246, the letters A through Z are shown as field
wagers. This is one way of categorizing many additional entrants
into subgroups. It is conceivable that the subgroups could be
categorized by numbers instead of letters but for simplicity sake
letters are provided. The letters correspond to the individual
players last name of those players who are not listed in the top
174 above. So for example, all of the poker players with the last
name starting with the letter A. can be wagered on in the field
wager portion 246. The precut odds 216 are shown calculated by the
subtotal of the funds available within the pool 410 divided by the
amounts of each wager 406. For example, the pool wager subtotal 410
is $1000, this will be divided by an individual entrants wager
amount 406 in this case $5 which leaves a likelihood of success as
200/1 or in other words the odds of 199:1. The house or the
administration or host of the wager system 10 will take a cut of
the wager off the top. This cut 412 is a set percentage in this
case 20% of the total. Therefore, the total pool 414 available for
distribution of winnings his $800 and the post cut running odds at
the initialization of this particular event are 199:1, the precut
odds 416, multiplied by the cut percentage 412 of 80% leaving a
final post cut running odd at the initialization of the event at
159:1.
[0091] Once the running odds pool is set for the particular
tournament and the entrants are posted, individual account users
can access this through the wagering application 42, FIG. 5, and
place their wagers on their chosen players. Referring to FIG. 11B,
as the wagers are placed within the various player pools 406, the
odds begin to change. For example, player one is considered a
favorite 420 and has a cumulative pool of $50 placed for him to
win. Consequently, the total pool it for the event increases from
$1000 to $1045 at 410, which increases the distribution of post cut
dollars to 836. Similarly, the odds for the player 1 to win
decrease thus reducing the payout from 199:1 to the currently
posted 20:1. Also, the increase in pooling funds increases the odds
ratio for the other players from 199:1 in the precuts odds 416, to
208:1. The final payouts if one of the non-favorites wins would be
166:1.
[0092] At the end of a particular event, the wagering backend
application 90 as seen in FIG. 11C, will scan and calculate the
payouts. The wagering backend scan and calculate payouts
application 448 will first check to determine if a payout on an
individual bet has been made at step 450 if no payout has occurred,
then the application ends, but if a payout has occurred then the
application will transmit funds to the winners at step 452. If for
example, the funds to the winners were less than the total pooled
amount within the particular wagering event, the funds remaining
within the loser accounts are not paid out but transferred into the
field wagers at step 454. For example, individual player 1 wins his
particular tournament event. The account winners are paid the
winnings per the odds. If for some particular betting reason, there
are any remaining funds left in the losers pooled wager tickets or
accounts, these tickets are dropped down into the field wagering
section 246 as seen in FIG. 11A. Therefore, all individual players
with last name starting with the letter B would have their wager
pools entered into the field wagers and the odds would be
recalculated.
[0093] Referring back to FIG. 11C, once the funds are transferred
into the field wagers at step 454, the application updates the odds
at step 456, and then either continues to scan and calculate
payouts at step 448, or ends at step 460.
[0094] Now that we have summarized the basic odds calculations, we
will return to the discussion of the various wagering events
options.
[0095] Referring back to FIG. 12, the account user can choose a
player to place a wager on at step 254, and then store his
selection in the cart at step 260. The account user is then given
the option to choose another ticket at step 262 or exit to the cart
at step 264. Referring back to FIG. 11, the account user also
wishes to place a field wager at step 246. Referring to FIG. 13,
the account user will choose to view the 5000 poker player
tournament field wagers tournament at step 246, and is allowed to
choose a field at step 266.
[0096] In this particular embodiment, the account user has the
option of choosing between fields 1, 268 through fields 26, 270.
These fields correlate back to the field wagers 246 seen in FIGS.
11A and 11B.
[0097] The account user chooses a field and stores a selection in
the cart at step 272. The account user has the option of choosing
another field bet or ticket at step 274 and in this particular
embodiment the account user chooses to exit the cart at step 264.
Referring back to FIG. 11, the account user may also wishs to place
an exotic wager at step 248.
[0098] Because of the many different variables playing into poker
tournaments, the range of wagers can be increased from the standard
pari-mutuel wagers on horse track racing and the like to include
other types of exotic wagers.
[0099] Referring to FIG. 14, after choosing the exotic wagers at
step 248, the account user is given the option of choosing
particular exotic wagers through a pulldown menu of some sort which
has listed wager options within a screen at step 270.
[0100] Some of the various exotic wagers which the user can take
advantage of are for example a pick two exacta wager at 282. This
pick two allows the account user to wager on the outcome of the top
two participants in the event winning in the exact order as
described in the pick field.
[0101] Another exotic wager is a pick two quinella, 284 which
allows an account user to wager that the top two participants of an
event will win in any order.
[0102] Also provided in the exotic wagers would be a pick three
trifecta 286 which would allow the account user to wager on the top
three participants of an event winning in an exact order.
[0103] More exotic wagers would include the last participant to
drop out at 287, for example would occur when during the World
Series of Poker there are 100 players left in the tournament and
the wagering system 10 allows gamblers the ability to select and
bet on the next player to be eliminated from the tournament.
[0104] Similarly, an exotic wager with a high payout and extremely
high odds of winning would be a pick six 280 where the account user
would be able to choose the top six finishers within a
tournament.
[0105] Other exotic style wagers will be discussed below. Still
referring FIG. 14, the various selections are stored in the cart at
step 290, and the account user is given the option to choose
another ticket at step 292. The user can then exit to the cart at
step 264.
[0106] Referring back to FIG. 11, after the user has made his or
her wagers, the user can view the cart at step 249, this takes the
user to the view cart screen or method at step 249 in FIG. 15. The
user can choose to place various wagers within the chosen wager
selections. The user is allowed to place a wager amount at step 294
and if he so chooses can access the wager selections at step 296
which he previously saved in the above mentioned steps. For
example, within step 296, the user can choose to wage an amount for
selection number one 304 which is showing the current odds the user
has the option of wagering an amount in the wager amount field 308.
After entering in the various amounts to wager for each selection,
a total amount deducted from the account is shown in field 312.
[0107] The user then previews the wagers to be entered at step 298
and then initializes the transfer funds at step 300. Once the funds
are transferred the user can return to the main user account page
at step 302. Referring now to FIG. 16, the user can have their
funds transferred at step 300. First the funds within the users
accounts are checked at step 314. If the user has available funds
then the funds are debited from the users account at step 316 and
stored into the wagering account location at step 318. If
insufficient funds are determined at step 322 then the user is
allowed to return to the cart wager selections at step 296 of FIG.
15 to modify the wagering amounts. Once the amounts are validated,
the user can store the wagering account information at step 318 at
FIG. 16, and then return to the user account main menu at step 320
to track the progress of the users various wagering tickets.
[0108] As previously discussed above, users may also wish to access
other exotic style wagers. Referring to FIG. 17 these wagers could
be for example multiple event wagers at step 324. Such a multiple
event wager would allow participants to bet on the outcome of
multiple tournaments and the potential top participant in up to 50
events within the pari-mutuel pool type setting. This would be
similar to the super six as allowed in various racetrack settings
but enabling up to 50 events concurrently to be wagered upon. This
concurrent event feature would also enable wagering to occur on
multiple poker tournament events either being played concurrently
or during a series of events such as the World Poker Tour.TM.
Tournament schedule.
[0109] Referring to FIG. 18, the user may choose to wager a
multiple event wager at step 324. The user is then allowed to
choose a particular tournament at step 502, followed by choosing an
individual poker player to wager upon step 504 which would be a
similar process to steps 244, FIG. 12, and steps 246, FIG. 13 as
previously discussed above. After the account user has chosen
players to win the various tournaments, the account user can
checkout and then place his or her various wagers at step 249.
[0110] Additionally, still referring to FIG. 17, another exotic
wager option would be a league winner points system at step 326.
Users would be given the option of choosing the winner of a series
of events where the winner is based on a points system which would
be in place for the lifetime of the various events similar for
example to a NASCAR.TM. racing league or the World Poker Tour.TM.
season where points are awarded to participants for placement in
the various tournaments and where at the end of the season, the
winner is decided and the pool pays out to the various account
winners who selected the appropriate winning player.
[0111] Still referring to FIG. 17, an account user may choose an
exact score wagering event at step 328. This exact score wagering
event would allow users to bet on a gambler or player who has a
certain number of chips at the end of a certain event, or who has
drawn a certain hand during a poker match or tournament.
[0112] Additionally, account users can choose to wager participant
point differentials at step 330. This particular wagering event
would allow bets on the outcome of the particular events such as
the point differential between the participants within a match or
more commonly known as the spread, and which would allow account
users to choose potentially correct spread differentials. For
example, in the case of an over/under total, the user who selects
the total number of points in the events for both teams and is the
closest to that number without going over would win the pool.
[0113] Additional types of wagers include:
[0114] A win bet or wager, a win bet includes choosing a winner for
a particular poker tournament.
[0115] A place bet or wager, where the user chooses an entrant who
finishes second place in a particular poker tournament.
[0116] A show bet or wager where a user chooses to wage on an
entrant who places third in a particular poker tournament.
[0117] A final table bet or wager where the user chooses an entrant
who is likely to make it to the final table round in a particular
poker tournament.
[0118] A pick six bet or wager where the user chooses six entrants
to make it to the final table in a particular poker tournament.
[0119] A boxed wager or bet where the user chooses many players who
the user likely thinks will finish in a particular order such as an
exacta order, a quinella order or trifecta order. If any of the
players or entrants finish in the desired order then the user wins
the wager.
[0120] A keyed wager or bet is an exacta, quinella, or trifecta
wager were the user selects a particular player to finish in a
given position or placement and having several other players or
entrants finish in other spots.
[0121] Once the wagers are set the account users can view the
tournament play on the wagering system 10 FIG. 1, or can watch the
tournament play on various media devices such as television sets,
personal digital assistants, and other Internet locations.
* * * * *