WO2008089562A2

WO2008089562A2 - A system and method for wagering on racing games

Info

Publication number: WO2008089562A2
Application number: PCT/CA2008/000146
Authority: WO
Inventors: Todd J. Stinson
Original assignee: Sungold International Holdings Corp.
Priority date: 2007-01-23
Filing date: 2008-01-23
Publication date: 2008-07-31
Also published as: WO2008089562A3

Abstract

A lottery system is provided including a web site operated by a service provider, the web site capable of receiving wagers on a lottery based on a race from players, the web site displaying the race, the web site capable of determining a location of each of the players; an authorizer authorized by a plurality of jurisdictions to operate a lottery via the web site; wherein, when one of the players wins a wager, a portion of the winnings are paid by the service provider to one of the jurisdictions associated with the location of the player. The race may be a live race provided by a content provider or may be a simulated race providing a random winner. The system may include a benevolent association receiving a portion of the wagers.

Description

LOTTERY SYSTEM AND METHOD

Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/886,252 filed January 23, 2007, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to lottery systems, and more particularly, to lottery systems operated by a particular jurisdiction based on live or online events.

Background of the Invention

A lottery is a popular form of gaming which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Many governments (at various levels) of various jurisdictions provide lotteries as a means of raising revenue, and therefore, it is common to find some degree of regulation of lotteries by such governments.

Lotteries are available in many different formats. For example, prize of a lottery can be a fixed cash amount or specified goods, such as a home. If the prize is fixed, there is risk to the organizer that if insufficient tickets are sold, the revenue from ticket sales may not exceed the cost of the prize. The prize can also be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue. A prize may be guaranteed as unique in cases where each ticket sold has a unique identifying number. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on the lottery ticket resulting in the possibility of multiple winners (or no winners at all).

Lotteries are most often run by governments or local states or provinces, with most of the revenue from such lotteries going to fund various government supported activities, and a small portion going to the seller of the tickets. Some lotteries sell tickets online, often directly to buyers, without using a sales intermediary.

Current lotteries have several disadvantages for players. For example, they typically offer fixed odds, especially for the lotteries offering larger prizes (for example selecting 6 numbers out of 49 random numbers is a common system). Also, the actual lottery "event" is not very exciting (usually balls drawn from a randomizer), and often only occurs once or twice a week. Such a selection, or draw, lacks excitement, in that no changes can take place (once a ball is drawn, it is part of the winning combination, and many players lose interest after two or three draws as they may be mathematically eliminated).

Another disadvantage of current lotteries is that they do not allow players to purchase a partial ticket, instead a player must pay a predetermined value for a ticket. Lotteries also do not provide a variety of options to users. Typically, only one option is available, at an extra predetermined cost, which will modify the chances of winning (for example, selecting a "bonus" number).

Horseracing provides an alternative gaming environment, including online horse racing (either live or simulated). To increase the chances of successfully wagering on racing games, such as horse racing, car racing, and dog racing, and winning a payout therefrom, players may develop expertise in considering a multitude of factors related to selecting a competitor (for example, a dog, a horse and its jockey, or a driver) and assessing the odds of success for each competitor. In order to develop such expertise, players usually collect and analyze a multitude of information to make a judgment on which competitor to bet on, what type of wager to place, and how much to wager. In horse racing such information may include the type and condition of the track, the class of the race, the form of the competitor, and the experience of the jockey and the trainer.

Acquiring the skill to accurately analyze such information is time consuming and the effort required to develop such skill may not necessarily pay off for a player at a racetrack. As a result, novice players rarely return to the racetrack to wager because of their lack of success due to their lack of expertise.

In addition to developing expertise in understanding the handicapping process in races such as horse racing, players also need to understand the different types of wagers available. In most conventional horse racing games, there are up to ten types of wagers, including:

(1) Win: the player selects one horse and such horse has to cross the finish line first for the player to win; (2) Place: the player selects one horse and such horse has to cross the finish line either first or second for the player to win;

(3) Show: the player selects one horse and such horse has to cross the finish line either first, second, or third for the player to win;

(4) Quinella: the player selects two horses and such two horses have to cross the finish line first and second, in either order, for the player to win;

(5) Exacta: the player selects two horses and their respective order of finish (i.e. either first or second) and such two horses have to cross the finish line in the exact order selected for the player to win;

(6) Trifecta: the player selects three horses and their respective order of finish (i.e. either first, second, or third) and such three horses have to cross the finish line in the exact order selected for the player to win;

(7) Superfecta: the player selects four horses and their respective order of finish (i.e. either first, second, third, or fourth) and such four horses have to cross the finish line in the exact order selected for the player to win;

(8) Daily Double: the player selects the winners of two consecutive races;

(9) Twin Trifecta: the player selects the first three horses to cross the finish line in two designated races; and

(10) Tri Super: the player wins a Trifecta in a first race and attempts to win a Superfecta in the next race.

To add to the confusion of the different types of wagers in conventional horse racing games, there are "box" or "wheel" type wagers, which are a method of ordering a type of wager.

"Box" or "wheel" type wagers apply to Exactas, Trifectas, and Superfectas. For example, if a player is confident that certain horses have a greater likelihood of crossing the finish line first, but are uncertain as to the order of finish of such horses, the player may "box" such horses. If the horses in - A -

the box are the first two (for exactas), three (for Trifectas), or four (for Superfectas) horses to cross the line, the player wins the wager.

Another type of wagering is pari-mutuel wagering, which allows a player holding a winning ticket to receive a portion of the total amount in a pool (comprising all wagers made for a particular game) in proportion to the player's wager. Typically, a pre-determined percentage of the pool is taken and retained by the house, or game provider (known as "take-out"). Current pari-mutuel race gaming also requires players to have at least some expertise in order to win consistently. Most pari-mutuel race gaming available in the art incorporates a handicapping process, which increases the difficulty of play and intimidates novice players. On the other hand, slot machines, casino games such as blackjack and roulette, lotteries, and scratch tickets are very popular because of their ease of play and availability. Novice players and the general public tend to gravitate towards easier games, which are based more on luck and chance than skill. Lotteries generally only use a single pool, whereas pari-mutuel games may have a variety of pools for the different betting options.

A difficulty with pari-mutuel wagering on the Internet is that to date it hasn't attracted the numbers of players that typically play lottery games, and therefore has smaller payouts. This is partially because of a lack of "official" sanction by the governments that arrange for lottery games and because of the recent legal questions and public arrests involving online gambling, both of which cause players to question the legitimacy of such Internet based wagering.

Summary of the Invention

The method and system according to the invention offers several improvements over existing lottery and pari-mutuel wagering systems.

A lottery system is provided, including means for wagering, including selecting an indicia associated with a live or simulated race, and selecting a type of wager; means for a player to pay an amount for the wager; means for collecting the amount in a pool with other wagers of the same type; means of distributing a percentage of the amount of the pool to an authorizer of the wager, a service provider providing the means to pay, a content provider providing the race and a benevolent association; and means of distributing the remainder of the pool to the players making winning wagers. A lottery system is provided including a web site operated by a service provider, the web site capable of receiving wagers on a lottery based on a race from players, the web site displaying the race, the web site capable of determining a location of each of the players; an authorizer authorized by a plurality of jurisdictions to operate a lottery via the web site; wherein, when one of the players wins a wager, a portion of the winnings are paid by the service provider to one of the jurisdictions associated with the location of the player. The race may be a live race provided by a content provider or may be a simulated race providing a random winner. The system may include a benevolent association receiving a portion of the wagers.

A method of providing a lottery to a plurality of players from a plurality of jurisdictions is provided, including the steps of: (a) receiving payment for a wager from a player at a web site; (b) determining whether the player wins or loses the wager; (c) if the player wins the wager, determining a jurisdiction associated with the player; and (d) if the jurisdiction has provided authorization for the web site to provide the lottery, paying a portion of the winning wager to the jurisdiction.

Brief Description of the Figures

Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a lottery system according to the invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

As seen in Figure 1, the system according to the invention includes an authorizer 100. Typically, authorizer 100 will be a company owned by one or jurisdictions 500, such as states, provinces, or countries; but authorizer 100 may be a gaming establishment licensed by one or more jurisdictions 500. Authorizer 100 provides legal standing for the lottery according to the invention, and obtains some of the benefits therefrom. Typically, authorizer 100 is a company that advertises the lottery according to the invention to improve sales.

Service provider 200 will typically provide the lottery. In such a capacity, service provider 200 will operate the web site 300, sell tickets, operate the actual games for players 10, such as horse racing, dog racing or the like, and determine and pay the winners. The games may be run as often as several times an hour, or as few as once a week. The more races that are run, the smaller the pool of winnings, so a balance should be determined by service provider 200 to attract the greatest number of wagers. There may also be a content provider 400, who is the operator of live racing events, for example a racetrack operator. In some cases the service provider 200 may also be content provider 400.

The lottery may be operated on behalf of a benevolent association 450, who will take a portion of the proceeds. Benevolent association 450 will typically be a charity for a specific purpose, such as a hospital.

When a player 10 purchases a ticket and selects a wager using web site 300, the location of the player is determined using means known in the art (assuming the purchase is made online). If the wager is made at a physical location using a terminal designed for such purpose, located for example at a race track, then the location of the terminal is used to determine the location of the player 10.

In a preferred embodiment, web site 300 offers a pari-mutuel system for players, and more particularly, a pari-mutuel system in relation to a live horse racing game, or a virtual horse racing game wherein each of the competitors have a statistically equal chance of winning the virtual race.

Competitors of a virtual race are each associated with an indicia such that players can make wagers by selecting the indicia associated with one or more competitors and selecting such selected competitors' positions of finish in the virtual race. In a preferred embodiment, the indicia associated with the competitors are numbers, but any other identifying means such as letters, symbols, or colours may be used. Typically, the indicia of the competitors are displayed on the saddlecloth of the visual representation of each competitor.

The number of competitors that can participate in a virtual race is unlimited, but typically, there are 14 competitors participating in the virtual race. The number of virtual races is unlimited and they can be run as often as every 90 seconds. Preferably, the virtual race is run in real time and displayed on a video screen via network means known in the art, such as computer networks and the Internet.

In a virtual race, all the competitors have an equal chance of winning the virtual race. In such an embodiment, a computer based random number generator system is used to create random results, although other random number generating means similar to those used by lotteries may also be used.

In the system according to the invention, instead of a conventional lottery, a pari-mutuel race, such as a live horse race, will determine the winners of the lottery. This offers several advantages over the prior art, including the following:

L Smaller Denominations

Conventional lotteries require players to buy a ticket at a certain predetermined value for each ticket. This can cause difficulties for a player who does not have enough for such ticket, or who wants to spread risk amongst several wagering options (which would require several times the predetermined value). The system according to the invention allows players 10 to purchase partial tickets via web site 300, giving them the ability to participate in a lottery with a fractional bet. For example, a player may bet of a portion of a normal ticket, for example by paying 10 cents for a fractional bet of a game normally costing a dollar. Should the player 10 win the bet, they receive only 10% of the winning which they would have won should they have bet a dollar.

Z Sequential Results

At present, lotteries are based on draws, for example the draw of six numbered balls from 49 available balls. Such a draw lacks excitement, in that no changes can take place (once a ball is drawn, it is part of the winning combination, and many players lose interest after two or three draws as they may be mathematically eliminated).

The system according to the invention provides for a race, in which the winning competitor and following placements are determined in real time. Thus the lead and various finishing positions of the competitors can change, providing excitement to viewers, who will not be sure of the outcome until the race is over. Such a race provides for a more stimulating and visual event than the drawing of numbers.

3. Odd Selection Lotteries do not provide a variety of options to users. Typically, only one option is available, at a predetermined extra cost, which will modify the chances of winning (for example, selecting a "bonus" number). In the lottery according to the invention, players 10, by selecting from standard pari-mutuel wagers, have a vast selection of odds to choose from. For example, by picking the winner of a single race, the player 10 may have a one in ten to fourteen (depending on the number of competitors in the race) chance of winning, whereas by picking the top six finishers in order, the player will have a very small chance of winning. The prizes, of course, will vary depending on the odds of the winning selection.

Such a system will make the lottery enjoyable for a new group of players, those who are more interested in winning smaller amounts more often, and for whom the current lottery system is not providing an opportunity.

4. Revenue Split

The system according to the invention allows for multi-jurisdictional gaming, with incentives for each jurisdiction to participate. In an embodiment of the invention, authorizer 100 will take a certain share of revenue, service provider 200 another certain share of revenue, and content provider 400 and benevolent associations 450, if applicable, another share of the revenue, and finally the jurisdiction 500 associated with the residence of the player 10 yet another share. The remaining revenue is paid back as winnings to the players 10.

Therefore, each jurisdiction 500 has an incentive for local residents to play the games, as they will receive a portion of the revenue at no cost to themselves. To implement such as system online using web site 300, geographic indicators must be employed, as are known in the existing art such as self identification, using IP address, etc., to determine the address of the player.

5. Multiple Games

A disadvantage of current lottery systems is the infrequency of draws (often only one a week). Thus players 10 have to wait a possibly long period of time before finding out if they have won their wager or not. The system according to the invention allows for several races a day (and potentially as many as several per hour) so that players can determine whether or not they have won quickly.

Alternatively, the number of games per day may depend on the number of wagers made (therefore allowing the pools to grow to an appropriate size). Once a pool reaches a certain amount, then the race may be completed.

6. Pools

Prior art lottery systems rely on a single pool, in which the winning tickets split the pool amongst themselves. The system according to the invention may use different systems. In one embodiment a single pool is used for all wagers. In this embodiment, many wagers provide a fixed sum or percentage of the pool should the player 10 win (for example should a player bet a dollar for a wager to select the winner of a single race, the payout will be fixed at, for example $10). The rest of the pool will be paid to the "long shot" players 10, for example, who successfully wager on the top six places in the race, or should no one win such a wager, are carried over to the next race.

Alternatively, separate pools may be maintained for each type of wager. In this case all amounts bet on the winner of the race are placed in a single pool. When a particular competitor, such as a horse wins the race, the pool (after amounts are deducted for the authorizer 100, service provider 200, content provider 400 and benevolent association 450 and jurisdiction 500) is distributed to all players 10 who selected that horse to win. hi such a case the winning amount will vary depending on how many wagers are laid, and for what competitors.

In a high odds wager, for example picking the top six finishing competitors of a race, in most cases, the amounts wagered will carry over (i.e. will not be distributed) until a winning wager occurs.

Virtual Races

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, instead of live races, simulated races may be used to determine the winning wagers, hi such an embodiment, handicapping skill plays no role and thus the pools associated with live races should be maintained separately from those associated with the simulated races. In a simulated race, a portion of the proceeds would be provided to the authorizer 100, the service provider 200, and to benevolent associations 450 and jurisdictions 500, if applicable, but there is likely no need for content provider 400. Remote Access

In an embodiment of the invention, wagers may be purchased at a variety of locations, including kiosks, convenience stores, race tracks, casinos, and the like, where lottery tickets are commonly available. Alternatively, wagers may be placed online using web site 300. The races (live or simulated) may be streamed over the Internet, or shown live, for example on television. A licensed signal feed may be used for security purposes.

Although the particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus lie within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A lottery system comprising:

(a) means for wagering, including selecting an indicia associated with a live or simulated race, and selecting a type of wager;

(b) means for a player to pay an amount for said wager;

(c) means for collecting said amount in a pool with other wagers of said type;

(d) means of distributing a percentage of the amount of said pool to an authorizer of said wager, a service provider providing said means to pay, a content provider providing said race and a benevolent association; and

(e) means of distributing the remainder of said pool to said players making winning wagers.

2. A lottery system comprising:

(a) a web site operated by a service provider, said web site capable of receiving wagers on a lottery based on a race from players, said web site displaying said race, said web site capable of determining a location of each of said players;

(b) an authorizer authorized by a plurality of jurisdictions to operate a lottery via said web site; and

wherein, when one of said players wins a wager, a portion of said winnings are paid by said service provider to one of said jurisdictions associated with said location of said player.

3. The lottery system of claim 2 wherein said race is a live race.

4. The lottery system of claim 3 further comprising a content provider, said content provider providing said live race.

5. The lottery of system of claim 2 wherein said race is a simulated race providing a random winner.

6. The lottery system of claim 2 further comprising a benevolent association, said benevolent association receiving a portion of said wagers.

7. A method of providing a lottery to a plurality of players from a plurality of jurisdictions, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving payment for a wager from a player at a web site;

(b) determining whether said player wins or loses said wager

(c) if said player wins said wager, determining a jurisdiction associated with said player; and

(d) if said jurisdiction has provided authorization for said web site to provide said lottery, paying a portion of said winning wager to said jurisdiction.