U.S. patent application number 13/404624 was filed with the patent office on 2012-08-30 for lottery method and system.
Invention is credited to Norman Brinkman, Anthony Robert Farah, William Andrew King.
Application Number | 20120220362 13/404624 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46719357 |
Filed Date | 2012-08-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120220362 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Farah; Anthony Robert ; et
al. |
August 30, 2012 |
Lottery Method and System
Abstract
Disclosed herein are a method, system, and computer program
product for conducting a lottery in conjunction with a
communications network. The method conducts a lottery tournament
among a plurality of entries, wherein each entry is associated with
ticketing information, including a gaming token. In particular, the
method organises a tournament draw among the plurality of entries,
wherein the tournament draw provides a schedule of knockout matches
for the entries. The schedule includes a plurality of rounds of
matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of the
entries. For each round of matches, the method determines a winner
for each match in the round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm
and the gaming tokens. Each determined winner proceeds to a
subsequent round of matches in the schedule, and the method
identifies a winner of a final round match of the schedule as a
winner of the lottery tournament.
Inventors: |
Farah; Anthony Robert;
(Concord West, AU) ; King; William Andrew; (Manly,
AU) ; Brinkman; Norman; (Double Bay, AU) |
Family ID: |
46719357 |
Appl. No.: |
13/404624 |
Filed: |
February 24, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/25 ; 463/1;
463/42 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/329
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/25 ; 463/42;
463/1 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 24, 2011 |
AU |
2011900656 |
Claims
1. A lottery tournament server comprising: a memory for storing
data and a computer program; a processor coupled to said memory for
executing said computer program stored in said memory; a ticketing
module being a component of the computer program and executable by
the processor for issuing a plurality of entries in a lottery
tournament in response to a plurality of requests received via a
communications link from at least one remote computing device,
wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, said
ticketing information including at least one gaming token selected
from a limited number of gaming tokens; a database formed in the
memory for storing player information and ticketing information
relating to each entry in said lottery tournament; a tournament
module being a component of the computer program and executable by
the processor to organise a tournament draw among said plurality of
entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout
matches between said entries, wherein said schedule includes at
least one round of matches, each match being a contest between a
limited plurality of said plurality of entries; and a gaming engine
being a component of the computer program and executable by the
processor in conjunction with said stored ticketing information to
determine, for each round of matches, a winner for each match in
said round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm associated with
the tournament draw and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined
winner proceeds to a subsequent round of the matches in said
schedule, from which the gaming engine identifies a winner of a
final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery
tournament.
2. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein said
ticketing module sends an electronic ticket corresponding to an
entry in said lottery tournament to a remote computing device
associated with the participant when issuing said entry.
3. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein the
gaming module further operates to communicate results of individual
matches to corresponding remote computing devices to report to
corresponding participants of progress through the tournament.
4. The lottery tournament server according to claim 3, wherein the
gaming module operates to conduct individual matches when: (i) all
entries in the tournament are populated; or (ii) as matching
entries are populated.
5. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein the
gaming token associated with each entry is used in each round in
which the entry is active.
6. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein the
limited plurality of entries in a round comprises one of two or
three entries.
7. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein the
tokens comprise a limited plurality of elements, the limited
plurality having a number in the range 3 to 9.
8. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein said
schedule includes at least two rounds of matches.
9. The lottery tournament server according to claim 1, wherein each
combination of a gaming token associated with an entry and a
position of that entry in the tournament draw represents a portion
of a winning key distributed among said plurality of entries, said
winning key determining progress of each entry in said lottery
tournament.
10. The lottery tournament server according to claim 9, wherein
said winning key determines the winner of said lottery tournament,
and further wherein said winning key enables verification of a
winner of each match in said tournament, based on portions of said
winning key corresponding to the entries associated with that
match.
11. A computer-implemented method of conducting a lottery
tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein each entry is
associated with ticketing information, said ticketing information
including at least one gaming token, said method comprising the
steps of: organising a tournament draw among said plurality of
entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout
matches for said entries, wherein said schedule includes at least
one round of matches, each match being a contest between a
plurality of said entries; for each round of matches, determining a
winner for each match in said round, based on a predefined gaming
algorithm and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner
proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in said schedule; and
identifying a winner of a final round match of said schedule as a
winner of said lottery tournament.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said ticketing
information further includes profile information associated with a
purchaser of said entry.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein said tournament draw
includes at least one gaming phase, each gaming phase comprising at
least one round of matches and each gaming phase being associated
with a predefined gaming algorithm for determining winners of
matches within said gaming phase.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein said ticketing
information includes a gaming token corresponding to each one of
said gaming phases.
15. The method according to claim 13, wherein said tournament draw
includes: a first gaming phase comprising at least one round of
preliminary matches and associated with a first predefined gaming
algorithm, and a second gaming phase comprising at least one round
of final matches and associated with a second predefined gaming
algorithm.
16. A lottery tournament system comprising: at least one remote
computing device; and a lottery tournament server for conducting a
lottery tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein said
server includes: a memory for storing data and a computer program;
a processor coupled to said memory for executing said computer
program stored in said memory; a gaming application forming part of
said computer program, said gaming application including
instructions for performing the steps of: receiving a plurality of
requests for entries in said lottery tournament from said at least
one computing device; issuing a plurality of entries in a lottery
tournament in response said plurality of requests, wherein each
entry is associated with ticketing information, said ticketing
information including at least one gaming token; organising a
tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said tournament
draw providing a schedule of knockout matches for said entries,
wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each
match being a contest between a plurality of said entries; for each
round of matches, determining a winner for each match in said
round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and said gaming
tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent
round of matches in said schedule; and identifying a winner of a
final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery
tournament.
17. The lottery tournament system according to claim 16, further
comprising an enterprise server coupled to said lottery tournament
server, wherein said enterprise server stores said entries during a
ticket selling period.
18. The lottery tournament system according to claim 17, wherein
said enterprise server encrypts said stored entries.
19. A computer-implemented method of utilising a winning key
distributed among a plurality of entries to conduct a lottery
tournament among said entries, wherein each entry is associated
with ticketing information, said ticketing information including at
least one gaming token, said method comprising the steps of:
organising a tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said
tournament draw providing a schedule of matches for said entries,
wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each
match being a contest between a plurality of said entries, and
further wherein each combination of a gaming token associated with
an entry and a position of that entry in the tournament represents
a portion of said winning key; and identifying a winner of said
lottery tournament based on said winning key.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein identifying said
winner comprises the steps of: for each round of matches,
determining a winner for each match in said round, based on a
predefined gaming algorithm and said gaming tokens, wherein each
determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in said
schedule; and identifying a winner of a final round match of said
schedule as a winner of said lottery tournament.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the right of priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn. 119 based on Australian Provisional Patent
Application No. 2011900656 entitled "Lottery method and system",
filed on 24 Feb. 2011 in the name of Anthony Robert Farah, the
entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference as if
fully set forth herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. The Field of the Invention
[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to a method and
system for conducting a lottery.
[0004] 2. The Relevant Technology
[0005] Lotteries are typically conducted as games of chance.
Tickets in the lottery are purchased by one or more persons,
wherein each ticket provides the ticket holder with a chance of
winning a prize associated with the lottery. A winning ticket or
combination is drawn and prizes are distributed among the ticket
holders.
[0006] A simple form of lottery is a raffle. Tickets in the raffle
are purchased by persons hopeful of winning a prize, wherein each
ticket has an equal chance of winning. To improve a person's
chances of winning, the person simply purchases more tickets. Each
ticket in the raffle has a corresponding "lot". Once a
predetermined number of tickets has been sold or a predetermined
time is reached, a neutral body draws one or more lots from the set
of lots corresponding to the sold tickets and prizes are
distributed to the persons holding tickets corresponding to the
drawn lots. Raffles are well suited to implementation in confined
environments such as amongst sport clubs and similar community
organizations. Some charities conduct raffles with significant
prizes and operate on a national level. Nevertheless, with wide
scale raffles the same modus operandi prevails, excepting often the
time over which the raffle operates is much longer, such as 3-6
months, compared to community raffles that could be conducted over
short periods, such as 1 hour or a week.
[0007] Some lotteries sell tickets in an electronic manner and can
have hundreds of thousands of tickets with just as many
participants. A draw is performed when all tickets are sold. A
fundamental problem with traditional lotteries is how to choose a
winner of a draw. The classic solution to this problem is that the
lottery provider selects a key that is compared against the
tickets. This is the "draw". In the community environment, the bona
fides of the lottery may be established by a draw of a number "out
of a hat", but for commercial operations, use of a random number
generator is now ubiquitous.
[0008] One type of lottery operates as a guessing contest, in which
a ticket purchaser buys a number of games. Each game provides the
purchaser with one guess at the winning combination. In a popular
lottery format commonly referred to as "Lotto", a set of possible
tokens is predefined. The lottery draw occurs at a predefined time,
which may correspond, for example, to the time at which a
predefined number of tickets is sold, the time at which a minimum
prize pool is achieved, or may be a regular time of the week,
month, or year. Some lottery draws are scheduled to coincide with
significant events, such as New Year's Day, Mothers' Day, Fathers'
Day, and the like. The lottery draw selects a predefined number of
winning tokens from the set of possible tokens. The aim of the game
is for the ticket purchaser to guess the winning tokens by
nominating before the draw occurs which of the set of possible
tokens will be drawn. Some implementations enable a purchaser to
improve the chances of selecting the winning tokens by nominating
more than the predefined number of tokens to be drawn.
[0009] In one particular example, the set of tokens consists of the
set of integers from 1 to 42 and the winning set of tokens consists
of six tokens selected from the set of tokens. In a basic game, a
ticket purchaser nominates six tokens from the set of integers from
1 to 42. The lottery may also enable a ticket purchaser to nominate
more than the minimum number of 6 tokens, in an attempt to improve
the chances to matching the winning set of tokens. This option may
be provided at an additional cost, wherein the cost is dependent
upon the relative increase in the chance of winning.
[0010] Lotteries can provide substantial prize pools. As
significant sums of money are often involved, it is important that
ticket purchasers have a high degree of confidence that the lottery
is being drawn in a random manner by a neutral body. Lotteries are
often operated or at least regulated by governments or government
agencies to provide the public with confidence that the operator of
the lottery is distributing the advertised prizes and the prizes
are allocated in an ethical and transparent manner. In order to
instill confidence in ticket purchasers, some lottery draws are
televised live before one or more third-party auditors. This is
done to maximize the transparency of the lottery draw and provide
the ticket purchasers with confidence that the lottery is
legitimate. A "Lotto" draw for example uses 45 numbered balls
within a transparent container in which 6 balls are selected whilst
the balls are mixed in a random fashion by blasts of air, emulating
operation of a random number generator.
[0011] Communication networks have permeated many areas of modern
life. Commerce conducted over communication networks, such as the
Internet, has continued to grow as consumers experience successful
transactions. These successful transactions are supported by
various secure billing systems, which provide the purchasers with
confidence that fraudulent transactions can be challenged or
remedied.
[0012] `Keno" is an example of a game similar to "Lotto", but in
which participants typically play whilst present in registered
clubs, with the game and the draw being communicated amongst
various clubs for witnessing by at least the participants via
public display screens. The Keno draw is performed by a centralized
random number generator at regular intervals regardless of the
number of participants. As with the "Lotto" game, government
regulators or the like manage the random number generators to
ensure a minimum level of randomness to thus instill public
confidence that the game is being played in a legitimate manner.
Further, participants derive some level of confidence in the
integrity of the game by virtue of the game being conducted or
played only in one or more registered clubs. Prizes from individual
games may carry-over, or "jackpot", to subsequent games where there
is no winner of an individual game.
[0013] Conducting a lottery in an online environment, such as the
Internet, provides many challenges. One challenge is to provide
potential ticket purchasers with the confidence that the lottery is
real and that the lottery will be drawn in a fair and legal way
such that all legitimate winners are paid their respective prizes.
This is particularly difficult in the modern online environment in
which people may adopt multiple personas through multiple log-ins,
avatars, or profiles. People are often skeptical as to whether a
prize has really been awarded, particularly with the Internet
providing a ready means of communication over many national
borders. Further, there are many fraudulent schemes propagated
through emails known as "spam" and it is difficult for people to
identify legitimate online gaming opportunities from scams.
[0014] Random number generators used for gaming are complex and are
open to scrutiny. Regulators usually establish standards by which
such devices operate to provide for fair play. However, no such
device is truly random, only pseudo-random and those standards and
their management and maintenance is not open to public scrutiny,
which can erode the legitimacy of gaming reliant upon such devices,
particularly in an on-line environment.
[0015] Thus, a need exists to provide an improved lottery method
and system for facilitating conduct of a lottery over a
communications network.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0016] It is an object of the present disclosure to overcome
substantially, or at least ameliorate, one or more disadvantages of
existing arrangements.
[0017] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is
provided a lottery tournament server including a memory for storing
data and a computer program, and a processor coupled to the memory
for executing the computer program stored in the memory. The server
also includes a ticketing module, being a component of the computer
program and executable by the processor, for issuing a plurality of
entries in a lottery tournament in response to a plurality of
requests received via a communications link from at least one
remote computing device. Each entry is associated with ticketing
information, wherein the ticketing information includes at least
one gaming token selected from a limited number of gaming tokens.
The server further includes a database, a tournament module, and a
gaming engine. The database stores player information and ticketing
information relating to each entry in the lottery tournament, and
the tournament module is a component of the computer program and
executable by the processor to organize a tournament draw among the
plurality of entries. The tournament draw provides a schedule of
knockout matches between the entries. The schedule includes at
least two rounds of matches, each match being a contest between a
limited plurality of the plurality of the entries. The gaming
engine is a component of the computer program and is executable by
the processor in conjunction with the stored ticketing information
to determine, for each round of matches, a winner for each match in
the round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and the gaming
tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent
round of matches in the schedule. The gaming engine ultimately
identifies a winner of a final round match of the schedule as a
winner of the lottery tournament.
[0018] According to a further aspect of the present disclosure,
there is provided a computer-implemented method of conducting a
lottery tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein each entry
is associated with ticketing information. The ticketing information
includes at least one gaming token. The method includes the steps
of: organizing a tournament draw among the plurality of entries,
the tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout matches for
the entries, wherein the schedule includes at least one round of
matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of the
entries; for each round of matches, determining a winner for each
match in the round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and the
gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a
subsequent round of matches in the schedule; and identifying a
winner of a final round match of the schedule as a winner of the
lottery tournament.
[0019] According to a yet further aspect of the present disclosure,
there is provided a lottery tournament system comprising: at least
one remote computing device; and a lottery tournament server for
conducting a lottery tournament among a plurality of entries. The
server includes: a memory for storing data and a computer program;
a processor coupled to the memory for executing the computer
program stored in the memory; and a gaming application forming part
of the computer program. The gaming application including
instructions for performing the steps of: receiving a plurality of
requests for entries in the lottery tournament from the at least
one computing device; issuing a plurality of entries in a lottery
tournament in response the plurality of requests, wherein each
entry is associated with ticketing information, the ticketing
information including at least one gaming token; organizing a
tournament draw among the plurality of entries, the tournament draw
providing a schedule of knockout matches for the entries, wherein
the schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match
being a contest between a plurality of the entries; for each round
of matches, determining a winner for each match in the round, based
on a predefined gaming algorithm and the gaming tokens, wherein
each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in
the schedule; and identifying a winner of a final round match of
the schedule as a winner of the lottery tournament.
[0020] According to yet a further aspect of the present disclosure,
there is provided a computer-implemented method of utilizing a
winning key distributed among a plurality of entries to conduct a
lottery tournament among the entries, wherein each entry is
associated with ticketing information. The ticketing information
includes at least one gaming token. The method organizes a
tournament draw among the plurality of entries, wherein the
tournament draw provides a schedule of matches for the entries. The
schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match being a
contest between a plurality of the entries. Further, each
combination of a gaming token associated with an entry and a
position of that entry in the tournament represents a portion of
the winning key. The method then identifies a winner of the lottery
tournament based on the winning key.
[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there
is provided an apparatus for implementing any one of the
aforementioned methods.
[0022] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there
is provided a computer program product including a computer
readable medium having recorded thereon a computer program for
implementing any one of the methods described above.
[0023] Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] At least one embodiment of the present disclosure will now
be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a method of conducting a lottery
according to the present disclosure;
[0026] FIGS. 2A and 2B form a schematic block diagram of a general
purpose computer system upon which arrangements described can be
practiced; and
[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament according to the present disclosure;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament system according to the present disclosure;
[0029] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament draw according to the present disclosure;
[0030] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament draw according to the present disclosure;
[0031] FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a ticket in a
lottery tournament draw according to the present disclosure;
[0032] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament draw according to the present disclosure;
and
[0033] FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the time of operation of a
tournament in an alternate implementation top that of FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0034] Where reference is made in any one or more of the
accompanying drawings to steps and/or features that have the same
reference numerals, those steps and/or features have for the
purposes of this description the same function(s) or operation(s),
unless the contrary intention appears.
[0035] The present disclosure provides a method, system, and
computer program product for conducting a lottery in a networked
communications environment. Rather than relying on the legitimacy
of a central body to draw the winning lots or numbers, the method
and system of the present disclosure provide participants in a
lottery with a degree of confidence in the legitimacy of the
lottery competition by matching participants in the lottery against
one another in a lottery tournament. The lottery tournament is
implemented in conjunction with at least one predefined game to
identify a winner from among the participants.
[0036] The presently disclosed arrangements, in order to instill
confidence in the legitimacy of the lottery, distribute a winning
key utilized to identify a winner of a lottery tournament amongst
all participants. Each combination of a participant token for game
play and a position of that token in the tournament represents a
portion of the winning key, as each participant token is drawn
against one or more other participant tokens in one or more matches
of the lottery tournament. Thus, lottery tournaments in accordance
with the presently disclosed arrangements provide a distributed key
for identifying the winner. Further, each portion of the winning
key is optionally verifiable by communicating with or studying
information associated with the participants drawn against one
another in a particular match, either before or after the match is
conducted.
[0037] The lottery tournament includes one or more rounds of
matches, wherein each match is a contest among participants, with
the winner being identified in accordance with a predefined game
associated with that match. The final round of the lottery
tournament includes a single match. A predefined game is associated
with each round of matches, such that the predefined game is able
to identify a single winner for each match in that particular
round. Thus, the number of participants in a single match is
limited by the characteristics of the predefined game that is being
applied to that match. In one implementation, each match is
contested between two participants and accordingly the predefined
game must be capable of identifying a winner from between the two
participants.
[0038] The interaction of the participants among themselves in the
conduct of the matches provides a level of confidence to the
participants that the lottery tournament is being conducted in a
legitimate manner to identify a winner. The level of confidence
among participants with respect to the legitimacy of the lottery
may be increased by providing means for interaction among the
participants, such as through email or other social media networks,
such as Twitter, Facebook, or the like.
[0039] It is reassuring to a participant in the lottery tournament
to be able to see the other players' histories, pictures, social
connections and locations. However, the verification of internet
personas or users is a new and developing field. It may be
suspected that certain internet users may be members of an interest
group promoting an undisclosed agenda. As a result, technologies
are developing to detect such users through the observation of
their internet behavior and their connections with other users.
These technologies are even more effective if performed from the
server itself, as from the server the IP address, email address and
other personal details can be used to improve the detection rate of
non-genuine users. By excluding non-genuine users and avoiding that
a user has a bad or suspicious experience, the online lottery
provider can ensure that all the users are real and therefore that
all the interactions between users are realistic and therefore
reassuring.
[0040] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram that illustrates the functionality
of an embodiment of a lottery tournament 100 in accordance with the
present disclosure. The lottery tournament 100 begins at a Start
step 105 and proceeds to a step 110, which offers for sale a
plurality of entries in the lottery tournament. Step 110 may
optionally be associated with various marketing activities and
promotions to stimulate interest in the lottery tournament. Such
marketing activities and promotions may include, for example,
advertising in various media, such as print media, television, and
online communities. For example, a promoter of a lottery tournament
may set up a homepage on an Internet website or in conjunction with
one or more social media websites such as My Space, Facebook, or
Twitter.
[0041] The number of entries available for purchase in an instance
of a lottery tournament may depend on multiple factors. In one
implementation, there is a fixed number of entries and the time
period for purchasing entries extends until all of the entries are
sold. In another implementation, there is a fixed time period
during which entries in a lottery tournament may be purchased. A
fixed time period for purchasing entries may be necessary, for
example, when a lottery draw is scheduled to occur at a fixed time.
For example, a lottery draw may be scheduled to coincide with a
periodic lottery schedule, such as daily, weekly, or monthly.
Alternatively, a lottery draw may be scheduled to coincide with a
festive occasion or important historical date, such as Mothers'
Day, Fathers' Day, St Valentine's Day, New Year's Day, etc.
[0042] Each entry is associated with ticketing information. The
ticketing information includes a gaming token relating to the game
that is being utilized by the lottery tournament to discriminate
among participants. In one implementation, the gaming token
associated with each entry is allocated by the promoter of the
lottery tournament. In another implementation, the gaming token is
selectable by the participant at the time of purchase of the entry
in the lottery tournament. In a further implementation, a
participant chooses whether to select a gaming token or may have
the gaming token allocated by a random (number) generator.
[0043] The value and form of the gaming token depends on the game
that is being utilized by the lottery tournament. In one example,
the game is Rock/Paper/Scissors and the gaming token corresponds to
one of rock, paper, and scissors, being a limited number of
selectable or assignable tokens.
[0044] In another example, the game utilized to discriminate among
participants is the gaming method described in International Patent
Publication No. WO 2010/015039 A1 (Anthony Robert Farah), from
which U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/021,503 and Australian
Patent Application No. 2010200417 are derived, wherein each gaming
token includes a gaming table, which the participant populates with
a set of predefined elements, such as numbers. During the
tournament, the gaming tokens associated with the entries are
utilized in conjunction with the game to determine winners of each
round of matches. In the specific implementation described therein,
the table is a 3.times.3 sized table of single digit integer values
(i.e. 0-9), giving 9! (=362880) number of possible combinations for
a table. A (first) participant populates a table for game play of
the first participant, and also a second table as an attempt to
match the game play of another participant. Those two tables form a
"token" in the game. A (second) participant does the same, and the
four tables are cross-matched to numerically determine a winner
between the two participants. Essentially, the participant whose
second table best matches the game table of the other participant,
is the winner. The level or degree of match may be assessed by a
predetermined algorithm to give a matching score for the
participant, which is then compared with the matching score of the
other participant. In spite of the large number of available
tokens, arguably each participant has a 50% chance of winning a
match. In comparison to many prior art lotteries and the like, this
arrangement still only uses a limited number of values,
particularly given implementations where the values associated with
the table are selected by the participant, or when allocated, only
a relatively simple random number generator need be employed.
Further, and importantly, the "winner" is determined from values or
elements entered by the participant, not for example a random
number generator.
[0045] In a further example, the predefined game used to identify a
winner from between two participants in a match is based on Lotto.
Each participant provides a first set of 6 numbers selected from
the pool of 45 numbers as a "guess" and a second set of 6 numbers
selected from the pool of 45 numbers as a "solution". The first and
second sets of numbers may include one or more numbers common to
both sets. The "guess" of the first participant is compared to the
"solution" of the second participant and the "guess" of the second
participant is compared to the "solution" of the first participant.
The participant whose "guess" best matches the other participant's
"solution" is identified as the winner of that match.
[0046] The ticketing information may optionally include a unique
ticket identifier, which can be utilized to validate the
authenticity of an entry. In one implementation, the unique ticket
identifier is a serial number allocated to each entry. In a basic
implementation, the ticket identifier is an integer corresponding
to the number of the entry in the lottery. In another
implementation, the ticket identifier incorporates one or more
authentication devices, such as a checksum, to assist in
authenticating the entry and to make counterfeiting of entries more
difficult to produce or use.
[0047] The ticketing information may also optionally include a
profile relating to the purchaser of the respective entry. The
profile can include, for example, statistics relating to the
frequency of participation by the purchaser in lottery tournaments
and game play statistics relating to the gaming tokens that the
purchaser has used in previous lottery tournaments. The profile can
also include links to a webpage associated with the purchaser, or
links to external profiles associated with the purchaser on various
online social media networks.
[0048] In one embodiment, a person wanting to enter the lottery
sends a request from a computing device over a communications link
to a server hosting the lottery during a ticket selling period. The
request provides the necessary gaming information and financial
information to complete and purchase an entry. The server issues an
entry in the lottery. In one implementation, the server sends
ticketing information associated with the entry to the user by a
Short Message Service (SMS) message or by email. The user can view
the ticketing information on a display of a computing device and
can optionally print the ticketing information to produce a printed
ticket. Alternatively, the user can access the server and view the
entry by providing one or more sources of identification, which may
include, for example, the ticket identifier or a user identifier
and/or password associated with that particular user.
[0049] Returning to FIG. 1, once the entry selling period has
expired, control passes to step 115, which organizes a tournament
draw among the entries purchased in the lottery tournament. As
indicated above, the lottery tournament is implemented in
conjunction with at least one game that is utilized to determine a
winner from among the entries in the lottery tournament. The manner
in which the tournament draw is organized is dependent upon the
game or games that are utilized in each implementation of the
lottery tournament. The tournament draw defines a number of matches
over a number of rounds to determine a winner of the lottery
tournament. The number of rounds that are required for a particular
instance of the lottery tournament is dependent upon the number of
entries and the game that is used to identify a winner of each
match.
[0050] One implementation utilizes a game to identify a winner
between two entries, and a plurality of entries corresponding to a
power of 2 are sold. This provides 2.sup.n entries, where n is an
integer, to be organized into an even number of matches. As such,
each match is between a limited plurality of the plurality of
entries. In such an implementation, the tournament draw includes n
rounds of matches to identify a winner. Accordingly, step 115 pairs
the entries against each other in a series of (2.sup.n/2.sup.1)
first round matches, (2.sup.n/2.sup.2) second round matches, . . .
, (2.sup.n/2.sup.n=1) final round matches. In the event that there
are not exactly 2.sup.n entries, the tournament draw is arranged to
accommodate one or more byes. The byes may be allocated randomly or
based on ticketing information associated with the entries. In one
example, an entry associated with a regular player registered with
the tournament promoter is provided with preferential access to a
bye over an entry associated with a player that is not registered
with the tournament promoter.
[0051] Another implementation utilizes a game that is capable of
identifying a winner from among a limited plurality of entries. In
such an implementation, each match in a given round of the lottery
tournament may include two, three, or more entries. The actual
number of entries in each match depends on the particular game
associated with that match. The number of entries in each match, as
well as the details of the game, may change in each round. A
lottery tournament may include a plurality of gaming phases,
wherein each gaming phase includes at least one round of matches
and each gaming phase is associated with a gaming method.
[0052] In an alternative arrangement, the tournament draw is
predefined before the ticket selling period commences, based upon a
predefined number of tickets being available in the lottery. In
such an arrangement, an optional implementation enables a purchaser
of an entry to select a position or slot in the tournament draw
when purchasing an entry.
[0053] Control passes from step 115 to step 120, which determines a
winner for each match in the first round of the tournament draw. In
the example in which there are 2.sup.n entries organized in
conjunction with a game that identifies a winner between 2 entries
in each match, step 120 identifies 2.sup.n/2.sup.1 winners for the
first round. Control passes from step 120 to decision step 125,
which determines whether the tournament draw contains more than one
entry that is still alive in the lottery tournament. If there is
more than one entry alive in the tournament draw, Yes, control
returns to step 120, which determines the winners of the next round
of matches in the tournament. In accordance with the tournament
draw organized in step 115, the winners of the first round of
matches compete against each other in a second round of
2.sup.n/2.sup.2 matches. The iterative process of determining
winners for each round of matches continues from step 120 to step
125 until the final round in which there is a single match between
the two entries that remain alive in the tournament draw. When step
120 determines the winner of the match in the final round, control
passes to step 125, which determines that the draw does not contain
more than one alive entry, No, and control passes from step 125 to
step 130. Step 130 determines that the one alive entry is the
winner of the lottery tournament. Control passes from step 130 to
End step 135 and the lottery tournament 100 terminates.
[0054] As indicated above, the number of rounds that are required
for a particular instance of the lottery tournament is dependent
upon the number of entries and the game that is used to identify a
winner of each match. In another example, the method organizes a
tournament draw wherein each match has three entries and the method
utilizes a game that is capable of identifying a winner among three
entries. A match can include any chosen number of entries, provided
that a game is utilized that can identify a winner from that chosen
number of entries.
[0055] In the example described above with reference to FIG. 1 in
which the tournament draw is organized into matches between two
entries, a game that identifies a winner between two entries is
required. Such a game may be Rock/Paper/Scissors, in which each
entry is associated with a token of Rock, Paper, or Scissors.
Various methods may be utilized to handle situations in which both
entries are associated with the same token. For example, each entry
may be further associated with an entry identifier and the winner
may be based upon the entry identifier. In an alternative
embodiment, each entry is associated with a profile of the
purchaser and the winner of a "tied" match may be determined based
upon other attributes associated with the purchasers of the
relevant entries. In an alternative embodiment, "tied" matches are
determined by a random number generator. The actual games used to
determine the winner of each match and the handling of "tied"
matches may vary across different applications of the lottery
tournament and many games may equally be practiced without
departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
Alternatively, the match can be deemed a tie, and both entries
progress into the next round represented by the gaming token of one
or the other. Any prizes are then shared between the two
entries.
[0056] As indicated above with respect to the lottery tournament of
FIG. 1, each entry may be associated with a profile relating to the
purchaser of that entry. In one implementation, a first purchaser
of a first entry in an instance of a lottery tournament is able to
view a profile associated with a second purchaser of a second entry
against which the first entry is drawn in a match of the lottery
tournament. In one example, the first and second purchaser are able
to communicate with one another before the match in which their
respective entries are competing is conducted. This provides the
purchasers of entries in a lottery tournament with greater
confidence that the entries are legitimate and have been purchased
by real people. In one implementation, the profile of a purchaser
of an entry provides one or more links to a social media website,
such as My Space, Facebook, Twitter, etc., or to a website
associated with the purchaser.
[0057] Because of the tournament approach to lotteries according to
the present disclosure, and also the relatively limited number of
tokens or values available for game play, any use of random number
generators is at most minor and not ultimately determinative of the
game outcome. Any use of random number generators is only to help
the user to complete their ticket by giving them completed tickets
that they may select or modify. Importantly, the ultimate game
outcome arises from tournament play between a number of human
participants and the game tokens associated with each.
[0058] FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a general-purpose computer system
200, upon which the various arrangements described can be
practiced.
[0059] As seen in FIG. 2A, the computer system 200 includes: a
computer module 201; input devices such as a keyboard 202, a mouse
pointer device 203, a scanner 226, a camera 227, and a microphone
280; and output devices including a printer 215, a display device
214 and loudspeakers 217. An external Modulator-Demodulator (Modem)
transceiver device 216 may be used by the computer module 201 for
communicating to and from a communications network 220 via a
connection 221. The communications network 220 may be a wide-area
network (WAN), such as the Internet, a cellular telecommunications
network, or a private WAN. Where the connection 221 is a telephone
line, the modem 216 may be a traditional "dial-up" modem.
Alternatively, where the connection 221 is a high capacity (e.g.,
cable) connection, the modem 216 may be a broadband modem. A
wireless modem may also be used for wireless connection to the
communications network 220.
[0060] The computer module 201 typically includes at least one
processor unit 205, and a memory unit 206. For example, the memory
unit 206 may have semiconductor random access memory (RAM) and
semiconductor read only memory (ROM). The computer module 201 also
includes an number of input/output (I/O) interfaces including: an
audio-video interface 207 that couples to the video display 214,
loudspeakers 217 and microphone 280; an I/O interface 213 that
couples to the keyboard 202, mouse 203, scanner 226, camera 227 and
optionally a joystick or other human interface device (not
illustrated); and an interface 208 for the external modem 216 and
printer 215. In some implementations, the modem 216 may be
incorporated within the computer module 201, for example within the
interface 208. The computer module 201 also has a local network
interface 211, which permits coupling of the computer system 200
via a connection 223 to a local-area communications network 222,
known as a Local Area Network (LAN). As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the
local communications network 222 may also couple to the wide
network 220 via a connection 224, which would typically include a
so-called "firewall" device or device of similar functionality. The
local network interface 211 may comprise an Ethernet.TM. circuit
card, a Bluetooth.TM. wireless arrangement or an IEEE 802.11
wireless arrangement; however, numerous other types of interfaces
may be practiced for the interface 211.
[0061] The I/O interfaces 208 and 213 may afford either or both of
serial and parallel connectivity, the former typically being
implemented according to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standards
and having corresponding USB connectors (not illustrated). Storage
devices 209 are provided and typically include a hard disk drive
(HDD) 210. Other storage devices such as a floppy disk drive and a
magnetic tape drive (not illustrated) may also be used. An optical
disk drive 212 is typically provided to act as a non-volatile
source of data. Portable memory devices, such optical disks (e.g.,
CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray Disc.TM.), USB-RAM, portable, external hard
drives, and floppy disks, for example, may be used as appropriate
sources of data to the system 200.
[0062] The components 205 to 213 of the computer module 201
typically communicate via an interconnected bus 204 and in a manner
that results in a conventional mode of operation of the computer
system 200 known to those in the relevant art. For example, the
processor 205 is coupled to the system bus 204 using a connection
218. Likewise, the memory 206 and optical disk drive 212 are
coupled to the system bus 204 by connections 219. Examples of
computers on which the described arrangements can be practiced
include IBM-PCs and compatibles, Sun Sparcstations, Apple Mac.TM.,
or alike computer systems.
[0063] The method of conducting a lottery tournament may be
implemented using the computer system 200 wherein the processes of
FIGS. 1 and 3 to 8, described herein, may be implemented as one or
more software application programs 233 executable within the
computer system 200. In particular, the steps of the method of
conducting a lottery tournament are effected by instructions 231
(see FIG. 2B) in the software 233 that are carried out within the
computer system 200. The software instructions 231 may be formed as
one or more code modules, each for performing one or more
particular tasks. The software may also be divided into two
separate parts, in which a first part and the corresponding code
modules performs the entry selling, tournament draw organizing, and
winner determining methods and a second part and the corresponding
code modules manage a user interface between the first part and the
user.
[0064] The software 233 is typically stored in the HDD 210 or the
memory 206. The software is loaded into the computer system 200
from a computer readable medium, and executed by the computer
system 200. Thus, for example, the software 233 may be stored on an
optically readable disk storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM) 225 that is
read by the optical disk drive 212. A computer readable medium
having such software or computer program recorded on it is a
computer program product. The use of the computer program product
in the computer system 200 preferably effects an apparatus for
conducting a lottery tournament in an online environment, such as
provided by one or more networked communications devices.
[0065] In some instances, the application programs 233 may be
supplied to the user encoded on one or more CD-ROMs 225 and read
via the corresponding drive 212, or alternatively may be read by
the user from the networks 220 or 222. Still further, the software
can also be loaded into the computer system 200 from other computer
readable media. Computer readable storage media refers to any
non-transitory tangible storage medium that provides recorded
instructions and/or data to the computer system 200 for execution
and/or processing. Examples of such storage media include floppy
disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, a hard disk drive,
a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, a magneto-optical disk, or
a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like,
whether or not such devices are internal or external of the
computer module 201. Examples of transitory or non-tangible
computer readable transmission media that may also participate in
the provision of software, application programs, instructions
and/or data to the computer module 201 include radio or infra-red
transmission channels as well as a network connection to another
computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets
including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites
and the like.
[0066] The second part of the application programs 233 and the
corresponding code modules mentioned above may be executed to
implement one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to be
rendered or otherwise represented upon the display 214. Through
manipulation of typically the keyboard 202 and the mouse 203, a
user of the computer system 200 and the application may manipulate
the interface in a functionally adaptable manner to provide
controlling commands and/or input to the applications associated
with the GUI(s). Other forms of functionally adaptable user
interfaces may also be implemented, such as an audio interface
utilizing speech prompts output via the loudspeakers 217 and user
voice commands input via the microphone 280.
[0067] FIG. 2B is a detailed schematic block diagram of the
processor 205 and a "memory" 234. The memory 234 represents a
logical aggregation of all the memory modules (including the HDD
209 and semiconductor memory 206) that can be accessed by the
computer module 201 in FIG. 2A.
[0068] When the computer module 201 is initially powered up, a
power-on self-test (POST) program 250 executes. The POST program
250 is typically stored in a ROM 249 of the semiconductor memory
206 of FIG. 2A. A hardware device such as the ROM 249 storing
software is sometimes referred to as firmware. The POST program 250
examines hardware within the computer module 201 to ensure proper
functioning and typically checks the processor 205, the memory 234
(209, 206), and a basic input-output systems software (BIOS) module
251, also typically stored in the ROM 249, for correct operation.
Once the POST program 250 has run successfully, the BIOS 251
activates the hard disk drive 210 of FIG. 2A. Activation of the
hard disk drive 210 causes a bootstrap loader program 252 that is
resident on the hard disk drive 210 to execute via the processor
205. This loads an operating system 253 into the RAM memory 206,
upon which the operating system 253 commences operation. The
operating system 253 is a system level application, executable by
the processor 205, to fulfill various high level functions,
including processor management, memory management, device
management, storage management, software application interface, and
generic user interface.
[0069] The operating system 253 manages the memory 234 (209, 206)
to ensure that each process or application running on the computer
module 201 has sufficient memory in which to execute without
colliding with memory allocated to another process. Furthermore,
the different types of memory available in the system 200 of FIG.
2A must be used properly so that each process can run effectively.
Accordingly, the aggregated memory 234 is not intended to
illustrate how particular segments of memory are allocated (unless
otherwise stated), but rather to provide a general view of the
memory accessible by the computer system 200 and how such is
used.
[0070] As shown in FIG. 2B, the processor 205 includes a number of
functional modules including a control unit 239, an arithmetic
logic unit (ALU) 240, and a local or internal memory 248, sometimes
called a cache memory. The cache memory 248 typically include a
number of storage registers 244-246 in a register section. One or
more internal busses 241 functionally interconnect these functional
modules. The processor 205 typically also has one or more
interfaces 242 for communicating with external devices via the
system bus 204, using a connection 218. The memory 234 is coupled
to the bus 204 using a connection 219.
[0071] The application program 233 includes a sequence of
instructions 231 that may include conditional branch and loop
instructions. The program 233 may also include data 232 which is
used in execution of the program 233. The instructions 231 and the
data 232 are stored in memory locations 228, 229, 230 and 235, 236,
237, respectively. Depending upon the relative size of the
instructions 231 and the memory locations 228-230, a particular
instruction may be stored in a single memory location as depicted
by the instruction shown in the memory location 230. Alternatively,
an instruction may be segmented into a number of parts each of
which is stored in a separate memory location, as depicted by the
instruction segments shown in the memory locations 228 and 229.
[0072] In general, the processor 205 is given a set of instructions
which are executed therein. The processor 1105 waits for a
subsequent input, to which the processor 205 reacts to by executing
another set of instructions. Each input may be provided from one or
more of a number of sources, including data generated by one or
more of the input devices 202, 203, data received from an external
source across one of the networks 220, 202, data retrieved from one
of the storage devices 206, 209 or data retrieved from a storage
medium 225 inserted into the corresponding reader 212, all depicted
in FIG. 2A. The execution of a set of the instructions may in some
cases result in output of data. Execution may also involve storing
data or variables to the memory 234.
[0073] The disclosed lottery arrangements use input variables 254,
which are stored in the memory 234 in corresponding memory
locations 255, 256, 257. The lottery arrangements produce output
variables 261, which are stored in the memory 234 in corresponding
memory locations 262, 263, 264. Intermediate variables 258 may be
stored in memory locations 259, 260, 266 and 267.
[0074] Referring to the processor 205 of FIG. 2B, the registers
244, 245, 246, the arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 240, and the control
unit 239 work together to perform sequences of micro-operations
needed to perform "fetch, decode, and execute" cycles for every
instruction in the instruction set making up the program 233. Each
fetch, decode, and execute cycle comprises: [0075] (a) a fetch
operation, which fetches or reads an instruction 231 from a memory
location 228, 229, 230; [0076] (b) a decode operation in which the
control unit 239 determines which instruction has been fetched; and
[0077] (c) an execute operation in which the control unit 239
and/or the ALU 240 execute the instruction.
[0078] Thereafter, a further fetch, decode, and execute cycle for
the next instruction may be executed. Similarly, a store cycle may
be performed by which the control unit 239 stores or writes a value
to a memory location 232.
[0079] Each step or sub-process in the processes of FIGS. 1 and 3
to 8 is associated with one or more segments of the program 233 and
is performed by the register section 244, 245, 247, the ALU 240,
and the control unit 239 in the processor 205 working together to
perform the fetch, decode, and execute cycles for every instruction
in the instruction set for the noted segments of the program
232.
[0080] The method of conducting an online lottery tournament may
alternatively be implemented in dedicated hardware such as one or
more integrated circuits performing the functions or sub functions
of ticketing sales, organizing a tournament draw, determining
winners of matches within the tournament draw, and determining a
winner of the lottery tournament. Such dedicated hardware may
include graphic processors, digital signal processors, or one or
more microprocessors and associated memories.
[0081] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram representation 300 of a
lottery tournament conducted in accordance with an embodiment of
the present disclosure. In this simplified embodiment, the lottery
includes eight tickets 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, and 316,
each of which is an entry in the lottery tournament. A traditional
lottery would involve selecting one of the tickets 302, 304, 306,
308, 310, 312, 314, and 316 at random, for example using a random
number generator, to identify a winner. In contrast, the lottery
illustrated in FIG. 3 provides a tournament in which the tickets
compete against one another in an iterative knockout format to
identify a winner.
[0082] In the example of FIG. 3, a tournament draw is organized
among the entries in the lottery tournament, such that the eight
tickets 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 314, and 316 are paired off
into the following matches in a first round at time t1: [0083] 1. a
first match 320 between tickets 302 and 304; [0084] 2. a second
match 322 between tickets 306 and 308; [0085] 3. a third match 324
between tickets 310 and 312; and [0086] 4. a fourth match 326
between tickets 314 and 316.
[0087] The tournament draw is organized such that: the winner of
the first match 320 competes against the winner of the second match
322 in a first match of a second round; and the winner of the third
match 324 competes against the winner of the fourth match 326 in a
second match of the second round. The tournament draw is further
organized such that the winner of the first match of the second
round competes against the winner of the second match of the second
round in a first match of a third round. The winner of the first
match of the third round is the winner of the lottery tournament
300.
[0088] The method determines a winner for each match in the first
round. In the example shown, ticket 302 is the winner of the first
match 320, ticket 308 is the winner of the second match 322, ticket
312 is the winner of the third match 324 and ticket 316 is the
winner of the fourth match 326.
[0089] The method then pairs the winners from the first round of
matches into a second round of matches at time t2: [0090] 5. a
fifth match 328 between tickets 302 and 308; and [0091] 6. a sixth
match 330 between tickets 312 and 316.
[0092] The method determines a winner for each match in the second
round. In the example shown, ticket 302 is the winner of the fifth
match 328 and ticket 312 is the winner of the sixth match 330. The
method then pairs the winners from the second round of matches into
a third round of a final match at time t3: [0093] 7. a seventh
match 332 between tickets 302 and 314.
[0094] The method determines a winner for the match in the third
round and that winner is declared the winner of the major prize in
the lottery tournament. In this example, ticket 302 is declared the
winner 334.
[0095] In one embodiment, prizes are distributed among the entries,
dependent upon how far into the tournament each entry progressed.
In one example, the winning entry of the lottery tournament
receives all of the prize money or prize pool. In another example,
prizes are allocated to winning entries of each round of the
lottery tournament, with entries that win more matches within the
lottery tournament being allocated greater prizes.
[0096] Each entry in the lottery tournament 300 is associated with
ticketing information. The ticketing information includes a gaming
token. The gaming tokens associated with the various entries are
utilized to determine a winner of each match within the lottery
tournament. The gaming token may be allocated automatically in a
random fashion by a system used to sell entries in the lottery
tournament. Alternatively, a purchaser of an entry may select a
gaming token for each entry. In the example in which the game is
Rock/Paper/Scissors, the gaming token associated with each entry
corresponds to one of Rock/Paper/Scissors. When two entries compete
against one another in a match of a round of the lottery
tournament, the method compares the gaming tokens associated with
the two entries against one another to determine a winner in
accordance with the established rules of rock beats scissors, paper
beats rock, and scissors beat paper. As indicated above, various
procedures may be implemented to resolve matches in which the
gaming tokens are the same, resulting in a "tied" match.
[0097] As the entries compete against one another, it is possible
for multiple entries associated with the same gaming token to have
different results, depending upon the gaming tokens associated with
the entries against which the different entries are drawn.
[0098] In the example of FIG. 3, it is seen that entries 302 and
310 are each associated with the gaming token "rock". In the first
match 320, entry 302 associated with "rock" is drawn against entry
304 associated with "scissors" and entry 302 is determined to be
the winner of the first match 320. In the third match 324, entry
310 associated with "rock" is drawn against entry 312 associated
with "paper" and entry 312 is determined to be the winner of the
third match 324. Ultimately, in the example of FIG. 3 entry 302
"rock" progresses to be the winner. Thus, it is evident that
entries associated with the same gaming token can proceed
differently through the tournament, depending on the tournament
draw. Thus, a competitor in the lottery tournament can increase the
chances of success by purchasing multiple entries associated with
the same gaming token. Alternatively, the competitor can purchase
multiple entries with different gaming tokens. The multiple entries
may be drawn against one another in an initial round of matches or
may otherwise compete against other entries in the lottery
tournament.
[0099] The timing by which the tournament is performed may be
altered for different implementations. In the example described
above with reference to FIG. 3, each of the available positions in
Round 1 is filled before the matches of Round 1 are decided. The
results of each round may then be communicated to participants at
regular intervals (e.g., 10 minutes) to give participants the
opportunity to observe their progression through or departure from
the tournament. FIG. 6 shows a similar example where the time taken
to conduct a tournament involves 31 distinct time periods.
Alternatively, actual game play may be held over until all
positions in all matches are populated by participants, and then
all matches may be executed by the gaming server, essentially
simultaneously but nevertheless as a progressive tournament, and a
single message of success or demise sent to the participants.
[0100] In another implementation, depicted in FIG. 9, individual
matches in the rounds are performed as individual participants join
a tournament. In FIG. 9, a tournament of 4 rounds between 16
participants is played. Each match in a round is played immediately
at a time when the two participants are available. As will be seen
from FIG. 9, this tournament then consumes 31 time intervals (like
FIGS. 3 and 6), where the cumulative length of the tournament
depends on how long it takes the 16th participant, at time 27, to
join the tournament. This may be minutes, hours or days for example
after the 1st participant. Once the 16th participant has joined,
the last four time intervals may proceed at regular intervals
(e.g., 10 minutes), or alternatively be performed sequentially, but
essentially instantly courtesy of the tournament operation of the
gaming server.
[0101] The manner in which the tournament draw is organized depends
on the particular application. In one example, entries are drawn
against one another based on the order of purchase. In such an
implementation, a player may seek to improve the odds of success by
purchasing multiple consecutive entries in the expectation that
those entries will be drawn against one another and thus guarantee
progress to the second round of the lottery tournament. For
example, a single player may position participation to have entries
in different sections (e.g., halves, quadrants of FIGS. 3, 6, 9) or
so as to improve chances of success. In another example, a player
is able to purchase a specific slot within the tournament draw. In
one particular implementation, a player is able to view profile
information associated with entries that have already been
purchased in that instance of the lottery tournament. Such profile
information may include information about the other entry holders,
including frequency of playing in such tournaments and statistics
relating to previous selection of gaming tokens in such
tournaments. Thus, a player may study information relating to a
purchaser of another entry and find that the purchaser of the other
entry always selects "rock" in a tournament being run in
conjunction with the "Rock/Paper/Scissors" game. The player may
then purchase the slot in the draw next to that other purchaser and
select a gaming token of "paper" in the expectation of beating the
other purchaser in the first round of matches. As such, an element
of skill may be applied by a player when aware that another
particular player is competing or likely to compete in a
tournament.
[0102] In another implementation, a player is able to purchase a
slot in a second or later round of a tournament by paying a premium
entry price. Such slots may be allocated when organizing the
initial tournament draw and effectively provide the player with a
"bye" in the first round of matches. In another implementation, the
entries are organized randomly. Nevertheless, in spite of any
random organization of entries, the ultimate results of the
tournament arise from competition between individual player
entries.
[0103] The winners of each round of matches may be determined in
many ways, depending on the game or games associated with the
lottery tournament. In one implementation, a different game is
utilized for each round of matches of the tournament. In such an
implementation, each entry is associated with a different gaming
token for each potential round of matches or each gaming phase
within the lottery tournament. In one particular implementation, a
first game is used for a predefined number of preliminary rounds,
in a first gaming phase, and a second game is used for a predefined
number of final rounds, in a second gaming phase. In one
arrangement, the second game is used in the final round to
determine a winner of the lottery tournament. In one example of
such an arrangement, the players associated with the competing
entries in the final round of matches are able to select gaming
tokens for the final round between the second last round of matches
and the final round match. In another arrangement, gaming tokens
may be selectable after every round or after each "phase" of a
tournament. A phase may correspond to one or more predefined rounds
of matches. Different phases may include different numbers of
rounds, depending upon the particular tournament and the
implementation. In such an arrangement, the participants may be
able to view the gaming token(s) used in the previous round(s) by
the next scheduled opponent and use that knowledge to select their
next gaming token.
[0104] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a lottery tournament
system 400 in accordance with the present disclosure. The lottery
tournament system 400 includes a lottery tournament server 410
coupled to a communications network 490. The communications network
490 may include, for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide
area network (WAN), the Internet, and wireless and fixed line
telecommunications services, or any combination thereof.
[0105] The lottery tournament server 410 includes a ticketing
module 415, a database 420, an authentication server 425, a gaming
engine 430, a tournament module 440, and a finance module 435, each
of which is coupled to a communications bus 405. The lottery
tournament server 410 further includes one or more processors, not
shown, which may reside in one or more of the ticketing module 415,
database 420, authentication server 425, gaming engine 430,
tournament module 440, or finance module 435, or be coupled to the
bus 405, for executing instructions of one or more applications to
implement the method of the present disclosure. The instructions
for the applications may be stored, for example, in one or more
memory modules located within the lottery tournament server 410 or
coupled thereto. The ticketing module 415 executes computer program
code for managing the sale of entries in each instance of a lottery
tournament. Requests for entries are received at the lottery
tournament server 410 via the communications network 440. The
ticketing module 415 interfaces with the tournament module 440 to
ensure that an appropriate number of tickets is available for sale
for each relevant instance of the lottery tournament. The
tournament module 440 is responsible for organizing a tournament
draw of matches for the tournament, based on the number of entries
and other constraints that might apply to the particular
tournament. Such constraints may depend on the profiles of the
players that purchase entries in the tournament. The constraints
may also include the number of gaming phases and the predefined
game(s) associated with the lottery tournament. The tournament
module 440 handles the organizing of the matches for each round of
the tournament and interfaces with the gaming engine 430 to
identify the winner of each match in the tournament.
[0106] The database 420 stores information relating to players who
purchase entries in each lottery tournament. The database 420
creates an historical record of statistics associated with each
player. These statistics can optionally be provided to other
players or potential players in subsequent lottery tournaments, to
assist in game play.
[0107] The authentication server 425 validates players to provide a
level of confidence that each player is legitimate. The
authentication server 425 may, for example, check Internet Protocol
(IP) addresses, or validate credit cards or other online payment
accounts, such as PayPal. The authentication server 425 may also
perform validation checks of players by auditing information
available through other online resources, such as social media
networks, including My Space, Facebook, and Twitter. Such online
resources assist in validating players by providing references
among players, which enables players to have a high degree of
confidence that other players are real and that the lottery
tournament is legitimate.
[0108] The provision of player statistics and player validation
assist in providing collective security to the lottery tournament
in that a group of players, at least known to each other through
game play, but potentially personally known to each other, can
participate in a tournament against each other with the tournament
results being posted to all participants, for example via a
tournament website. Through potentially personal knowledge of
winners (and losers), participants can be re-assured as to the
legitimacy of the tournament and prizes award therefrom.
[0109] The lottery tournament system 400 also shows a club/society
server 445 coupled to the communications network 490. In one
implementation, the lottery tournament server 410 delivers a
lottery tournament to a remote club server 445 via the
communications network 490. In one implementation, the operator of
the lottery server 410 receives payment for delivering and
conducting the lottery tournament. In one example, the payment
includes a portion of a prize pool raised from the sale of entries
in the lottery tournament.
[0110] In one example, the club associated with the club server 445
wants to run a fundraising event for the members of the club. The
club advertises the fundraising event to members of the club
through the club/society server 445. Members of the club buy
entries in the fundraising event by sending requests to the
ticketing module 415 via the club server 445 and the communications
network 490. The ticketing module 415 issues tickets in the
fundraising event to the members in response to the requests. In
one arrangement, the ticketing module sends ticketing information
to the members via an electronic message, such as an email or a
Short Message Service (SMS) message. As described above, such an
electronic ticket may be viewed on a display of a computing device,
such as the display device 214 of the computing device of FIG. 2A,
or printed on a printer 215 as described with reference to FIG. 2A.
Once a prescribed number of tickets has been sold or a predefined
time has arrived, the tournament server 410 runs the tournament.
Winners of each round of the tournament are propagated from the
tournament server 410 to the club server 445. Members of the club
that have purchased entries in the fundraising event compete
against one another in accordance with a tournament draw organized
by the tournament module 440. Ultimately, a winner of the
fundraising event is determined through the knockout
tournament.
[0111] The tournament system 400 also shows a plurality of
computing devices coupled to the communications network 490,
including a portable computing device 460, a personal computer 465,
and a mobile telephone 470. The portable computing device may
include, for example, a smartphone, a mobile telephone handset, a
laptop computer, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). Each of the
portable computing device 460, the personal computer 465, and the
mobile telephone 470 can be utilized to access a lottery tournament
being run by the lottery tournament server 410. Alternatively, the
portable computing device 460, the personal computer 465, and the
mobile telephone 470 can be utilized to access a club/society
server 445 or similar server that is promoting a lottery
tournament, wherein the execution of the lottery tournament is
performed by the lottery tournament server 410.
[0112] The lottery tournament system 400 further shows a
government/enterprise server 485 that is coupled to the
communications network. Depending on the auditing requirements of
the jurisdiction(s) in which a lottery tournament is being
conducted, relevant data is transmitted from the lottery tournament
server 410 to the government/enterprise server 485 to satisfy any
auditing requirements.
[0113] Prior knowledge of a prospective opponent's gaming token(s)
provides a participant with an unfair advantage in the tournament.
Accordingly, in one implementation the government/enterprise server
485, (or another similar server,) acts as a trusted 3.sup.rd party
that holds the gaming tokens and keeps the gaming tokens secret
while the other tickets are being sold. In one particular
arrangement, the gaming tokens are encrypted to increase security.
The details of the entries are only released once the entry selling
period has expired, or until the lottery tournament has
commenced.
[0114] In one arrangement, a person wanting to enter a lottery
tournament accesses a user interface of a computing device to send
a request to the gaming server 410. The gaming server receives the
request and provides an entry. In one implementation, the gaming
server 410 communicates with the enterprise/government server 485
or another trusted server to store information pertaining to the
entry until the ticket selling period has expired. The information
pertaining to the entry may include, for example, the gaming token
or gaming tokens associated with each entry. This provides a higher
level of confidence that the gaming tokens remain secret and
subsequent purchasers of entries in the lottery are not able to
gain an unfair advantage. In one particular arrangement, the
enterprise/government server 485 or other trusted server on which
information pertaining to the entry is being stored utilises one or
more encryption techniques to ensure that the information is
protected.
[0115] As indicated above, each lottery tournament is associated
with one or more games, wherein the games determine the winners of
each round of the lottery tournament dependent upon a gaming token
associated with each entry in the tournament. Entries in the
tournament compete against one another in a knockout tournament to
determine a winner of the lottery tournament. The knockout format
of the tournament draw ensures that there is always a winner of the
lottery tournament and the winner is determined by the gaming token
or tokens associated with the entries.
[0116] FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram representation 500 of a
lottery tournament conducted in accordance with an embodiment of
the present disclosure. In this simplified embodiment, the lottery
includes nine tickets 502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 508, 510, 512, and
514, each of which is an entry in the lottery tournament.
[0117] In the example of FIG. 5, a lottery tournament is conducted
in association with a gaming algorithm that is adapted to identify
a winner from three entries, being a limited number of a plurality
of entries in the lottery tournament. Accordingly, the tournament
module 440 organises the entries into a tournament draw, such that
the tickets 502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 508, 510, 512, and 514 are
grouped into the following matches in a first round at time t1:
[0118] 1. a first match 520 among tickets 502, 503, and 504; [0119]
2. a second match 522 among tickets 506, 507, and 508; and [0120]
3. a third match 524 among tickets 510, 512, and 514.
[0121] The tournament draw is organised such that: the winner of
the first match 520 competes against the winner of the second match
522 and the winner of the third match 524 in a first match of a
second round at time t2. The winner of the first match of the
second round is the winner of the lottery tournament 500.
[0122] The method determines a winner for each match in the first
round, using the gaming engine 430 and the tournament module 440.
In the example shown, ticket 502 is the winner of the first match
520, ticket 508 is the winner of the second match 522, and ticket
512 is the winner of the third match 524.
[0123] Thus, the first match of the second round at time t2 is:
[0124] 4. a fourth match 526 among tickets 502, 508, and 512.
[0125] The method determines a winner for the fourth match 526 and
that winner is declared the winner of the major prize in the
lottery tournament. In this example, ticket 512 is declared the
winner 528. It will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the
art that the examples of FIGS. 3, 5, and 8 may be readily scaled to
handle many different numbers of entries, without departing from
the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Further, the method
of the present disclosure is readily adaptable to handle the
grouping of any number of entries in each match of the tournament,
provided that the gaming algorithm that is used is capable of
distinguishing a winner from among the entries of each match based
on the gaming tokens associated with the entries.
[0126] FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament that utilises a gaming algorithm for
distinguishing between two entries, such that the tournament draw
includes a plurality of matches scheduled between two competing
entries. In the example of FIG. 6, the tournament draw includes
provision for 16 entries in a first round of matches at time t1.
The positions, or slots, in the first round of the tournament draw
at time t1 are labelled from 1 to 16, the positions in the second
round of the tournament draw at time t2 are labelled from 17 to 24,
the positions in the third round of the tournament draw at time t3
are labelled 25 to 28, the positions in the fourth round of the
tournament draw at time t4 are labelled 29 and 30, and the position
of the winner in the final round at time t5 is labelled 31.
[0127] In one implementation, the method of conducting a lottery
tournament in accordance with the present disclosure enables a
participant to select an available position in the tournament draw
to be occupied by an entry purchased by that participant. Thus, the
first participant may be able to choose any one of positions 1 to
16 to be occupied by the entry associated with that first
participant. Participants are then free to select, from the
available positions, positions that correspond to luck numbers,
birthdays, etc. Participants may also choose to improve the chances
of success in the lottery tournament by purchasing multiple entries
next to one another, to ensure that the participant progresses to
the second round of matches. An alternative strategy is to purchase
entries at different ends of the tournament draw, again with the
aim of improving the chances that one entry will be successful. As
illustrated with reference to FIG. 3, it is possible for different
entries with the same gaming tokens to have different levels of
success in the lottery tournament.
[0128] FIG. 6 also illustrates the provision of a bye within the
tournament draw. In particular, positions 7, 8, 15, and 16 are
shown in dotted lines, to indicate that those positions are not
occupied. Byes can be used in circumstances in which some of the
entries in a lottery tournament remain unsold. Thus, in the example
of FIG. 6, if only 14 of the 16 available entries are sold, then
two entries (one each from positions 7 and 15) are promoted
automatically to the second round of matches in positions 20 and
24, having enjoyed the benefit of a bye in the first round. Byes
can also be utilised to sell higher priced tickets, guaranteeing
entry to the second round of matches.
[0129] FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a ticket 700
corresponding to an entry in a lottery tournament having three
gaming phases. The ticket 700 is associated with ticketing
information, which in this example includes a ticket identifier
710, a purchaser profile 720, a first gaming token 730, a second
gaming token 740, and a third gaming token 740. The second gaming
token 740 and third gaming token 750 are shown in dotted lines to
indicate that multiple gaming tokens are optional and depend on the
particular implementation. The ticket identifier is a unique
identifier used by an operator of the lottery tournament to track
entries, arrange a schedule of matches, and distribute prizes. As
indicated above, a simple ticket identifier may be implemented
using a series of consecutive integers. More complex ticket
identifiers may be used to deter counterfeiters. In the example of
FIG. 7, the ticket identifier is a 6 character alphanumeric
string.
[0130] The purchaser profile 720 is optional. In the example of
FIG. 7, the purchaser profile includes a Purchaser's Name field and
a Contact Details field. Depending on the application, the
purchaser profile may optionally include information relating to
previous tournament entries and prizes, favourite gaming tokens,
and a registered player number. The purchaser profile may also
include links to one or more social networking sites, or an email
account.
[0131] As indicated above, the ticket 700 shown in FIG. 7 is for an
entry in a tournament that includes three gaming phases. In this
example, the first gaming phase and the third gaming phase utilise
a gaming method as described in WO 2010/015039 A1 (Anthony Robert
Farah), wherein a player enters a setup grid and a table of
guessing moves. Accordingly, the first gaming token 730 and the
third gaming token 750 each include a setup grid and a table of
guessing moves. In this example, the second gaming phase utilises
the game of rock/paper/scissors. The second gaming token 740
includes the player's gaming token for the rock/paper/scissors
game, which in this case is "Rock".
[0132] FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram representation of a
lottery tournament 800 that includes three gaming phases, wherein
each phase includes a single round of matches. The gaming phases
are indicated by vertical dotted lines P1, P2, and P3. In the
example of FIG. 8, the first gaming phase includes a round of
matches in which each match is contested by three entries. The
second gaming phase includes a round of matches in which each match
is contested by two entries. The third gaming phase includes a
single match between two entries to determine a winner of the
lottery tournament.
[0133] The tournament draw of FIG. 8 includes provision for 12
entries in a first round of matches at time t1. The positions, or
slots, in the first round of the tournament draw at time t1 are
labelled from 1 to 12, wherein entries in slots 1, 2, and 3 compete
in a first match, entries in slots 4, 5, and 6 compete in a second
match, entries in slots 7, 8, and 9 compete in a third match, and
entries in slots 10, 11, and 12 compete in a fourth match. The game
utilised in the first phase can be any predefined gaming algorithm
that is capable of identifying a winner from three competing
entries, based on a first gaming token associated with each of
those competing entries.
[0134] The winner of the first match advances to slot 13 in the
second round of matches, the winner of the second match advances to
slot 14 in the second round of matches, the winner of the third
match advances to slot 15 in the second round of matches, and the
winner of the fourth match advances to slot 16 in the second round
of matches. In the example of FIG. 8, the second round of matches
are in the second gaming phase at time t2, wherein each match is
contested by two entries. The lottery tournament 800 shows that in
the second round, entries in slots 13 and 14 compete against one
another, and entries in slots 15 and 16 compete against one
another. The game utilised in the second phase can be any
predefined gaming algorithm that is capable of identifying a winner
from two competing entries, based on a second gaming token
associated with each of those competing entries.
[0135] The third gaming phase in the lottery tournament 800
includes a final match at time t3 between the winners of the second
round of matches. The winner of the match between entries 13 and 14
advances to slot 17 in the third round match and the winner of the
match between entries 15 and 16 advances to slot 18 in the third
round match. The game utilised in the third phase can be any
predefined gaming algorithm that is capable of identifying a winner
from two competing entries, based on a third gaming token
associated with each of those competing entries. The winner of the
third round match is identified as the winner of the lottery
tournament in slot 19. In one arrangement, the gaming algorithm
used in the second and third gaming phases is the same, so
optionally the second gaming token may be utilised for the second
and third gaming phases and a third gaming token is not needed.
Alternatively, a second gaming token and a third gaming token are
provided for the second and third gaming phases.
[0136] As indicated above, each gaming phase may include one or
more rounds of matches decided by the same gaming method. Different
gaming phases may use the same gaming methods or different gaming
methods, depending on the application and the structure of the
lottery tournament
[0137] The arrangements described are applicable to the computer
and data processing industries and particularly for the gaming and
lottery industries.
[0138] The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present
invention, and modifications and/or changes can be made thereto
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, the
embodiments being illustrative and not restrictive.
[0139] In the context of this specification, the word "comprising"
means "including principally but not necessarily solely" or
"having" or "including", and not "consisting only of". Variations
of the word "comprising", such as "comprise" and "comprises" have
correspondingly varied meanings.
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