Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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LOTTERY SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to computerized
wagering systems, and more particularly to lottery or
wagering games wherein the winners are announced live to
a television audience.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many states have used lottery or on-line games, such
as number games and "instant winner" games, as an added
source of revenue. These games have become quite popular
and successful.
One type of numbers game involves the use of
numerous remote computer stations located in stores
throughout the state which communicate with a central
computer. A customer seeking to play the game marks the
numbers he wishes to enter as his choices in a computer
scannable or readable entry form. The customer pays the
entry fee, usually no more than a few dollars, and the
store clerk feeds the entry form into a card reader
controlled by the computer, which registers the numbers
selected and an ID number in the central computer. After
wagering has been closed to new entries, a carefully
monitored selection committee chooses the winning
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numbers. This may involve for example, operating a
machine loaded with. balls having eligible numbers marked
thereon to select at random the appropriate number of
balls. This selection process often is broadcast on
local television stations so that contestants can watch
to see if their numbers have been selected. While many
varieties of such games exist, examples of patents
relating to this general scheme include U.S. Patent Nos.
4,689,742 (Troy) and 4,494,197 (Troy).
U.S. Patent No. 5,035,422 (Berman) appears to
discuss an interactive game show which seeks to allow
home viewers to select an outcome from a number of
possible choices and to share in the prizes awarded on
the show. Similarly, U.S. Patent No. 5,283,734 (Van
Kohorn) discusses an interactive television wagering
system whereby audience members can enter a response to
a situation presented on television by entering a
response on a keyboard. According to the-patent, lottery
games may be played by entering numbers at remote
stations and stored in a central computer. The winning
numbers are selected and presented at a remote station,
following which winners can redeem their tickets.
Another computerized lottery wagering system is
apparently discussed in U.S. Patent No. 5,415,416
(Scangelli). This system appears to direct a telephone
caller with an automatic call director through a number
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of selections to assist the caller in placing a bet; the
cost of the bet is. charged to a credit or debit card.
The system assigns an associated ticket number to each
customer.
Each of the above-identified patents is incorporated
by reference herein in their entirety as illustrative of
the background and state of the art of the present
invention.
While the foregoing patents attempt to make
lotteries more accessible to bettors, they do not vary
much from standard on-line games. It appears that states
and other entities running such lottery games have
experienced some difficulty in increasing the number of
interested day-to-day participants, and in maintaining
the day-to-day interest of those who do participate on a
regular basis.
As a result, a need exists for a lottery game which
enhances the intrinsic excitement of the game to maintain
and preferably increase the interest of those who do not
play often, as well as the interest of everyday players.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides method for improving
lottery games and enhancing participant excitement by
changing the method of selecting randomly generated
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lottery winners in a numbers game featuring numerous
entries.
The method of conducting a lottery according to the
present invention initially issues a plurality of lottery
tickets each bearing a sequence-specific subset of K
different integers, defining for example horses in a
horse race, that are selected from a predetermined set of
integers. The value of K is a predetermined constant and
the number of integers in the set are larger than K. The
plurality of tickets includes tickets bearing different
sequence-specific subsets of K integers of the set.
Each issued ticket is assigned a unique multidigit
identifier which identifies the ticket with the player
making the selection. The identifiers of all issued
tickets are stored for selective retrieval. After all
the tickets are issued, one sequence-specific subset of
K different integers from the set is randomly selected,
and the identifiers of all issued tickets bearing the one
sequence-specific subset are selectively retrieved from
memory. One of the retrieved identifiers and the ticket
to which the one identifier is assigned is randomly
selected to determine the winning ticket of the lottery.
Preferably, the method of the present invention
further includes the step of generating an animated video
display representing a horse race, after all the tickets
are issued. The horse race has a number of horses equal
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to the number of integers in the set and respectively
designated in the display by the integers of the set.
The display is generated so that there are win, place and
show horses therein which are designated by the first,
S second and third integers of the one sequence-specific
subset.
The present invention also provides a lottery system
having in one embodiment a game generatar connected to a
plurality of existing remote vendor stations through an
existing central lottery sxation. In another embodiment,
the game generator may be connected directly to the
remote stations.
The plurality of remote vendor stations are
configured to provide predetermined game parameters to a
1S player for selection using, for example, a keyboard.
Typically, the selected game parameters are entered by an
operator of the remote vendor station. Alternatively, if
a kiosk type of remote station is used, the player can
directly select the game parameters. The remote stations
also transfer the selected game parameters to the central
station for subsequent transfer to a game generator.
As noted, the game generator may be connected to a
central station and configured for data communications
therebetween. For example, the central station can
transfer the selected game parameters to the game
generator using a wide area network, and the game
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generator can transfer data regarding the winning results
to the remote vendor stations through the central
station. Direct communications between the game
generator and the remote vendor stations can be
accomplished in a similar manner.
The game generator includes memory which stores a
plurality of video images representing a plurality of
game events. Preferably, the video images are animated
representations of the particular game event. Each game
event is randomly selectable by the game generator and
the selected event is retrieved from memory and formatted
for broadcast over,, for example, public broadcasting
mediums.
Preferably, the game events are races, e.g., horse
races, dog races, automobile races, and the like, which
include many participants, e.g., jockeys and horses,
dogs, and cars and drivers. In this configuration, the
memory in the game generator may store animated races for
different winning combinations corresponding to the
number of participants in the race. For example, if the
race is a horse race with twelve horses and jockeys
participating, the game generator memory can store an
animated race for each winning combination of the twelve
horses that win, place and show.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described
hereinbelow with reference to the drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the lottery system
according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment
of the internal components of the central station of Fig.
1;
Fig. 3. is a block diagram of an exemplary
embodiment of the internal components of the remote
player station of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4. is a perspective view of an alternative
embodiment for the remote station, illustrating a kiosk
for the remote station;
Fig. 5. is an exemplary flow diagram for the
operation of the remote station of Fig. 3 or Fig. 4;
Fig. 6. is an exemplary flow diagram for the
operation of the central station receiving player
selection data from a remote station; and
Fig. 7. is an exemplary flow diagram for the
operation of the central station performing the lottery
game according to the present invention.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention provides a computerized
lottery (or wagering) system that connects a game
generator to a central on-line lottery station and to a
S plurality of on-line vendor stations. The system of the
present invention permits players to select game
parameters from remote locations, transfer the selected
parameters to the central station, and broadcast the
lottery game on television for public viewing.
The broadcasted game may be a race wherein the game
parameters are numbers associated with the participants
in the race. The types of lottery games contemplated
include games where the player can select predef fined game
parameters, such as characters, letters or numbers.
Examples of the games contemplated include (without
limitation) horse races, dog races, car races and
motorcycle races. At a predefined time of day, selection
of the game parameters is ended for a particular game and
the-game is then broadcast on television so that the
players can watch the game and root for their selections.
In addition, the system of the present invention
determines which players are eligible for a grand prize
pool and after the broadcast of the game announces the
grand prize winner.
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For the purposes of the present application, the
lottery game discussed is a horse racing game wherein
players have three ways in which to win: 1) picking the
winning horse; 2) picking the win and place horses (a
perfecta); and 3) picking the win, place and show horses
(a trifecta). The players eligible for the grand prize
are the trifecta winners.
The game generator or an operator randomly selects
the numbers associated with the win, place and show
horses before each game is played. The game generator
retrieves from memory a predefined video of a race
associated with the selected winning numbers. This video
is broadcasted using standard television transmission
techniques for viewing by a wide audience.
Turning to the figures, in particular Fig. 1, a
block diagram for the lottery system according to the
present invention is shown. The lottery system 10
includes a plurality of remote on-line vendor stations 12
that are linked over a wide area network (WAN) 14 to a
central station 16. A game generator 18 is connected to
the central station 16 over a wide area network 20. In
this configuration, the central station 16 acts as a
communication interface between the game generator 18 and
the remote on-line vendor stations 12. As a result, the
game generator of the present invention can connect to
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existing lottery systems having a plurality of remote on-
line vendor stations connected to a central station.
Alternatively, the game generator 18 can be
connected directly to the plurality of remote vendor
stations L2 and displayed on, for example closed circuit
television. In this configuration, the system of the
present invention does not need to be connected to an
existing lottery system.
To broadcast the video of the race, the game
generator 18 is connected to a broadcast interface 22
which formats the video data stored in the game generator
18 memory for broadcast via antenna 24. In this
configuration, the broadcast interface is configured for
RF transmission of television signals. The video is
transferred in accordance with known RF transmission
methods. Alternatively, the broadcast interface can be
configured to format the video data for microwave
transmission to satellites and reception by the public on
conventional satellite dishes. In another alternative
configuration, the broadcast interface can be configured
to transmit the video along fiber optic cabling or on
closed circuit television lines.
Referring now to Fig. 2, the game generator 18
preferably includes a microprocessor based controller 26
having memory 28 for storing programs, such as system and
application programs. Memory 28 is also provided with
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sufficient storage capacity to store numerous video
images associated with the particular game or race.
To illustrate, as noted above, the described lottery game
is a horse race. In each race twelve horses are
competing. Thus, for win, place and show results there
are 1,320 possible winning combinations, that is, there
are 1,320 possible outcomes representing twelve horses
taken three at a time. As a result, any one of 1, 320
races can be broadcasted depending on the preselected
outcome. The races are preferably animated versions of
a horse race, and as noted above the outcome for the race
is predetermined by the central station.
To create high quality animated horse races, each of
the twelve horses are modeled and animated and then
combined with modeled and animated backgrounds to create
the horse race. The animated race is then voiced over
with a race call and crowd and horse background noise to
provide a realistic horse race.
Modeling of the horses and jockeys is accomplished
by capturing the motions of real horses and jockeys on
a
treadmill using known motion capturing techniques. A
computer may then be used to process the captured data
and combine the captured motions with animated horses and
jockeys. Once each horse and jockey are animated, the
twelve horses are combined with the animated background
to complete the animated race. Animation may be
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accomplished in accordance with a number of computer
generated animation techniques, such as the methods
disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,873,585, 4,752,836, and
4,257,107, the contents of which are incorporated herein
S by reference.
Returning to Fig. 2, controller 26 is connected to
communication interface 30 to provide serial and/or
parallel data communications between display 32, printer
34, keyboard 36 and the controller 26.
A random number generator 38 may be included in the
game generator 18 to randomly select the winning numbers
representing the win, place and show horses, prior to the
broadcast of the race. The random number generator may
be a hardware based number generator or a program based
number generator. Alternatively, a station operator can
randomly select the winning numbers representing the win,
place, and show horses and enter the numbers into the
central station via keyboard 36.
The game generator 18 also includes a network
communication interface 40 that is configured for
bidirectional communications with the various remote on-
line vendor stations 12 linked to the system. In one
embodiment, the network communication interface 40
includes a microprocessor based communication controller
42 having memory and stored programs (e.g., system and
application programs). The controller 42 is connected to
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modems 44 via serial interfaces 46. Depending upon the
communication requirements of the system, i.e., the
communication traffic, there may be a number of modems
and corresponding serial interfaces 46 to accommodate a
large number of remote player stations. The serial
interfaces 46 provide a serial data buffer to
communication controller 42. Memory 48 is connected to
communication controller 42 and is provided to
temporarily store valid data received from the network
for subsequent transfer to the game generator controller
22.
As noted above, the game generator controller 22
retrieves predefined video of the game (e. g., a horse
race) from memory 28 and transfers the video to a
broadcast interface 22. The video data is preferably in
digital form and may be formatted by, for example, a
graphic/animation buffer 50 for transfer to the broadcast
interface 22.
Referring now to Fig. 3, the remote on-line vendor
stations 12 will be described. Generally, each remote
on-line vendor station is configured for operation by a
user, e.g. , store personnel, or for operation directly by
the player. The user or player enters the game
parameters, for example, the numbers of the horses that
will win, place and show, and pays for the game at the
site of the remote station. The user-entered game
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parameters are hereinafter defined as the player
selection data.
Preferably, each remote on-line vendor station 12
includes a central processing unit 60 connected to memory
62 having stored therein system and application programs .
The memory may include RAM, ROM and mass storage memory
devices. A communication interface 64 is connected
between the CPU 60 and printer 66, keyboard 68, and card
reader 70 for user communication with the remote on-line
vendor station 12. The CPU 60 is connected to a display
72, such as a LCD display, a monitor and the like, to
provide visual messages or prompts to the user or player.
Communication interface 74 is connected to the wide
area network 14 via modem 76 and the remote station CPU
60 to facilitate data communication between the remote
on-line vendor stations 12 and the central station 16.
In this configuration, the remote on-line vendor
station 12 is configured for installation in, for
example, a retail store and operated by personnel within
the store. The player (or customer) selects, for
example, the numbers of the horses that will win, place
and show (i.e., the trifecta) and the operator can either
enter the numbers via keyboard 68 or card reader 70.
Player selection data is stored in memory 62 along with
corresponding player identification data. The player
identification data may be the player's social security
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number or other indicia which associate the player with
the player selection data.
As noted above, the remote on-line vendor stations
may be existing vendor stations connected to an existing
on-line central lottery station.
In an alternative configuration, the remote on-line
vendor 12 may be a kiosk 80, seen in Fig. 4. The
internal components for the kiosk 80 are shown in Fig. 3.
The kiosk 80 includes a stand alone housing 82 that may
be located in public locations, such as shopping malls,
and players can enter player selection data via keyboard
68 or card reader 70. In this embodiment, payment for
the entry into the lottery may be made by cash or by a
payment card medium, such as credit card, a debit card or
the like, which is inserted into card reader 78. A
ticket or receipt of the transaction is provided by
printer 66.
Fig. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram of the operation
of the remote on-line vendor stations 12. Initially, the
remote station is maintained in a idle state (step 100)
wherein the display 72 can be continuously updated to
show for example, statistical data and to provide
instructions regarding haw to enter player selection
data. Once an interrupt is received by the CPU 60, the
CPU initiates a data entry routine. If the remote
station is operated by a user, the station prompts the
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user to enter the player selection data which as noted
above can be entered by keyboard 68 or card reader 70
(steps 102 and 104). If the remote station is a kiosk,
the player is prompted to insert a payment card into card
reader 78 (steps 102 and 106). The CPU 60 then verifies
that the card is valid by, for example, automatically
contacting known credit agencies via modem 76 (step 108)
and receiving a code indicating whether the card is valid
or not. If the card is invalid, then the player is
notified that the transaction cannot be completed on
display 72 and the station returns to the idle state
(steps 110 and 100). If the card is valid, the player is
instructed to enter the player selection data ( step 104 ) .
Using either type of remote on-line vendor station,
when the player selection data is entered, the CPU 60
stores the data in memory 62, typically in RAM (step
112). In the horse race example, the numbers of the win,
place and show horses are entered and stored until the
last number is entered (step 114). Once the player
selection data is completely entered, CPU 60 instructs
the user to enter identification data which will be
associated with the player selection data for
verification purposes in the event the player chooses the
correct win, place or show horse or qualifies and wins
the grand prize (step 116). As noted, an example of
player identification (ID) data is a social security
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number. In addition to requesting player ID data, CPU 60
retrieves the time of day and date (i.e., time tag data)
from a clock (not shown) within the remote station (step
118) to associate the player selection data with a
particular time and day for determining if the player has
a winning ticket. The ID data and the time tag data are
stored in memory along with the corresponding player
selection data (step 120).
Once the player selection data, the player ID data
and the time tag data are stored, the data is sent to the
game generator 18 through the central station 16 and
modem 76 (step 122). If the remote on-line vendor
stations are connected directly to the game generator
then data is sent to the game generator over the WAN.
After the data is transmitted to the game generator 18,
the remote station waits for the game generator to reply
that it received the player selection and associated ID
and time tag data (step 124). If the reply is that the
data received was invalid (step 126), the user or player
is notified via display 72 and/or printer 66 that a
transmission error occurred and the station returns to
the idle state (steps 128 and 100). If the reply is that
. the data transfer is complete (step 126) the player
selection data and associated ID and time tag data are
printed on printer 66 to provide the player with a
receipt of the transaction which can be used by the
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player to claim any winnings (step 130). Once the
receipt is printed, the station returns to the idle state
of step 100.
Fig. 6 is an exemplary flow diagram of the transfer
of data to the game generator. The game generator is
initially in an idle state (step 200) and upon receiving
an interrupt performs the desired routine. In Fig. 6,
the interrupt may be a request from the remote station to
send player selection data to the game generator. When
the remote station requests to send data, the game
generator provides a reply indicating that the game
generator is or is not ready to receive the data (step
202). When the game generator is ready to receive data,
the remote station sends the data to the game generator
which stores the data in the network communication
interface memory 48, seen in Fig. 2 (step 204). The
network communication interface controller determines if
the data transaction is complete (step 206). If the data
transaction is incomplete, the game generator replies to
the remote station that the transaction is incomplete and
returns to the idle state (steps 208 and 200). If the
data transaction is complete, the game generator replies
that the transaction is complete and transfers the player
selection, the ID and the time tag data to the main
memory 24, seen in Fig. 2 (steps 210 and 212).
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Fig. 7 is an exemplary flow diagram of the operation
of the game generator for generating the lottery results.
Initially, the game generator 18 is in an idle state
(step 300) and upon receiving an interrupt, for example,
a user selected start command, the generator determines
what the winning numbers are for a particular day. The
winning numbers can be randomly chosen and entered into
the generator by a user via keyboard 36 (steps 302 and
304), or by random number generator 38 (steps 302 and
306). Once the winning numbers are generated, the
controller 26 retrieves the corresponding video having an
outcome that corresponds to the randomly generated
winning numbers (step 308). The retrieved video of the
race is then transferred via the broadcast interface 22
for broadcast, as described above (step 310). Before
broadcasting the video of the race, the game generator
compares the preselected winning numbers to all the
entries of player selection data (step 312) and
determines the number of winners (step 314). The game
generator controller 22 then determines which players
qualify for the grand prize (step 316). As noted above
in the horse racing example, one criterion for
determining the grand prize participants is to select all
the players who selected the trifecta. The identities of
the grand prize participants may be stored in, for
example, a grand prize data table (step 318) and the
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winner of the grand prize may be randomly selected by the
random number generator 38 (step 320). Once the winner
of the grand prize is selected, the name of the winner is
broadcasted after the race (step 322).
It will be understood that various modifications can
be made to the embodiments of the present invention
herein without departing from the spirit and scope
thereof. For example, various types of network resources
and protocols may be used for the wide area network and
various central and remote station configurations may be
employed. Likewise, various animation techniques may be
used to recreate the races by which the lottery winner is
announced. Therefore, the above description should not
be construed as limiting the invention, but merely as
disclosing preferred embodiments thereof. Those skilled
in the art will envision other modifications within the
scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the
claims appended hereto.
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