Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02565906 2006-10-23
Method of Facilitatina Online Group Play of a Lottery Game
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the online group play of lottery games. More
particularly, the invention relates to a method of facilitating the online
group play of
lottery games using an online tool accessible to members of an online lottery
group
using the internet.
Background
Lottery games are a form of gambling entertainment wherein a lottery player
purchases a lottery ticket comprising a group of numbers, either selected from
a set of
available choices or randomly selected. A drawing event is held wherein a
group of
winning numbers is randomly determined, typically using a rotary drum
containing a
plurality of numbered balls, and the lottery player having a lottery ticket
with at least a
sub-set of the group of winning numbers wins a prize amount. This form of
gambling
entertainment is typically offered by governmental organizations in a
regulated
environment and tickets are normally available for purchase only through
authorized
retailers, such as convenience stores, grocery stores, mall kiosks and the
like. Tickets
are purchased manually from these authorized retailers.
To increase the entertainment value of the game and the odds of winning,
lottery players sometimes join a lottery playing group. In a lottery group,
each lottery
player purchases at least one lottery ticket and commits it to the group; if
one ticket held
by the group is a winning ticket, then the prize is split amongst the group
members.
This effectively increases the groups odds of winning and provides a greater
degree of
social interaction and entertainment to lottery players within the group.
Because of this,
group play typically provides one of the most significant sources of ticket
sales revenue
within a particular lottery market.
Lottery groups often form around existing workplace, family or social groups.
A
group leader is normally appointed and the group leader is responsible for
collecting
money from the other group members and purchasing lottery tickets. Since
certain
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members of the group may choose not to play in a particular draw, the group
leader
must keep detailed records of who is playing and who is not so that any prize
won by
the group can be split accordingly. A lack of proper record keeping has been
known to
result in legal challenges to the distribution of group winnings. The
responsibilities of a
group leader can therefore prove to be quite onerous and time consuming and
this
discourages many groups from forming and otherwise diminishes the
entertainment
value of group play for the group leader.
What is needed, therefore, is a way of automating the collection of money and
desirably the purchasing of tickets to relieve the group leader of some or all
of these
responsibilities. It would be further desirable to couple the collection of
money with
electronic record keeping to eliminate the potential for disputes over the
attribution of
group winnings due to incomplete or non-existent records of who is playing in
any
particular draw.
Recently, with the advent of the internet, certain governmental organizations
have made lottery tickets available for purchase online using their own
websites.
Private corporations have also begun to create their own lotteries and
offering tickets for
sale (sometimes illegally, in certain jurisdictions) over the internet. In
some cases,
prospective lottery players are permitted to create an online personal profile
that
contains personal financial information, such as credit card or banking
information, for
use in purchasing the tickets. Prizes are paid on winning tickets by directly
debiting a
designated account or by sending a cheque. However, these websites are focused
on
individual lottery players and none of these websites permit the formation of
online
groups or online group play. As a result, the group lottery playing market
segment is
ignored by these websites.
Software tools are known that can be installed on an individual lottery
player's
computer to facilitate record keeping associated with group play. These tools
are little
more than an automated version of a form listing the lottery players playing
in a
particular draw and therefore still rely upon the group leader or the
individual lottery
players within the group to keep records. Also, these tools do not permit the
online
purchase of lottery tickets, do not record personal financial information of
lottery players
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and do not automatically link the collection of money with a listing of who is
playing in a
particular draw.
The need therefore still exists for a method of facilitating online group play
of a
lottery game.
Summary of the Invention
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of
facilitating online group play of a lottery game, the method comprising:
providing an
online tool accessible to a plurality of lottery players; permitting each
lottery player to
create and store an online personal profile using the online tool; permitting
at least a
first lottery player to create and store an online group profile using the
online tool,
thereby forming an online group; permitting at least a second lottery player
to join the
online group by linking the online personal profile of the second lottery
player with the
online group profile; and, permitting a purchase of at least one lottery
ticket ascribed to
the online group profile using the online tool.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of
playing a lottery game as part of an online lottery group, the method
comprising:
accessing an online tool accessible to a plurality of lottery players;
creating and storing
an online personal profile using the online tool; joining an online group
having an online
group profile by linking the online personal profile with the online group
profile; and,
purchasing at least one lottery ticket and ascribing the lottery ticket to the
online group
profile using the online tool.
The online tool may be accessible to a plurality of lottery players using a
computer network and/or using the internet. The online tool may comprise a
software
application that resides on a computer network for access by a plurality of
lottery
players and/or may comprise a website that is accessible by a plurality of
lottery players
using the internet.
The first lottery player creates the online group by creating and storing an
online
group profile. Other lottery players are permitted to join the online group by
linking their
online personal profiles to the online group profile. The first lottery player
may be a
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group leader and is typically responsible for setting the maximum number of
players of
the group and determining who is accepted or rejected from the group.
Acceptance into
the group may be accomplished through approval of a request to join a personal
online
profile to the group profile.
A lottery player may be a member of one or more groups. Each group member
may purchase a lottery ticket. Lottery tickets may be purchased online by any
lottery
player using personal financial information stored as part of the player's
personal online
profile. Personal financial information may include, for example, a credit
card number, a
bank account number, PaypalTM account information, a number of a personal
online
account that funds are periodically transferred to for online purchases (such
as a
WalletTM account), or any other type of financial information suitable for
conducting
electronic commerce. Any number of tickets may be purchased and the tickets
may be
selectively attributed to one or more groups that the lottery player is a
member of using
the online tool. Any number of ticket purchases may be conducted by a lottery
player.
Tickets may be purchased in a single transaction or in multiple transactions.
Lottery
tickets may be purchased offline and ascribed to the group using the online
tool, but are
preferably purchased online using personal financial information associated
with a
personal online profile of at least one of the group members. One of the
players may
purchase tickets on behalf of other group members using personal financial
information
stored in the player's personal online profile. Alternatively, each group
member may
purchase his or her own tickets and ascribe them to the group.
The online tool may include message posting means permitting communication
between lottery players. The message posting means may include a group area
that
permits group members to post messages that can only be viewed by other group
members. This allows group members to communicate with one another using the
online tool without having those communications viewed by non-group members.
The method may further comprise an email or other notification to at least one
group member in the event that one of the tickets ascribed to the group is a
winning
ticket. Prizes may be collected by direct transfer of funds to an account
designated in
the personal online profile of at least one of the group members. A winning
ticket may
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be provided to one of the group members, for example the first lottery player,
for
collection of prize money. For example, the winning ticket may be printed in
hard copy
and sent via registered mail or courier to the first lottery player.
The present invention advantageously facilitates group play of lottery games
by
relieving a group leader from the responsibility of collecting money,
purchasing lottery
tickets, and/or keeping records of who is playing in any particular game,
thereby
reducing the likelihood of a dispute over attribution of any winning prize.
This increases
the overall enjoyment of the game for the group leader and, as a result, more
group
leaders are willing to form online groups. By harnessing the communication
power of
online play, groups are able to form comprising individuals who are not
physically
located near to one another; this permits people to play in a group who, for
example,
travel extensively for work, work at home, work in remote locations, or who
otherwise do
not have regular access to conventional ticket purchase locations or regular
access to
other group members. Since practical constraints on group size brought on by
the need
to collect money are alleviated in online group play, larger groups are
permitted to form;
this increases the group's chances of winning as compared with a smaller
group.
Anonymous groups are able to form online comprising lottery players who only
know
one another by their online pseudonyms; this permits people to join a group
who
otherwise would not normally find themselves in social settings that lend
themselves to
group play. The overall effect is an increase in the number of players who are
able to
participate in group play and an increased enjoyment of the game as a result
of the
social interaction and increased chance of winning that accompanies group
play.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Having summarized the invention, preferred embodiments thereof will now be
described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
Fig. 1 is an illustration of an online group according to the present
invention.
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Detailed Description
Referring to Fig. 1, an online group is created using an online tool
comprising a
website accessible to a plurality of lottery players using the internet. Each
lottery player
creates an online personal profile using the online tool that is accessible
through a
password protected login. The online personal profile preferably includes
personal
financial information and an online pseudonym. More preferably, the personal
profile
includes lottery number preferences, desired frequency of play, desired number
of
tickets in a particular draw and email address information. The online
personal profile
even more preferably includes alerting preferences that provide email
notification in the
event of a jackpot exceeding a pre-determined value.
An online group is created when a first lottery player, typically the group
leader,
creates an online group profile for the group. The online group profile
preferably
includes an online pseudonym for the group and more preferably includes a
listing of
the online pseudonyms of the lottery players who have joined the group and
thereby
become group members. At least a second lottery player joins the group by
linking his
or her online personal profile with the online group profile. Approval of a
request to link
a personal profile with the group profile is provided by the first lottery
player. The
number of lottery players who may join the group is thereby also determined by
the
group leader. The first lottery player typically also links his or her online
personal profile
with the online group profile. At least one and preferably all of the online
personal
profiles of group members include personal financial information permitting
tickets to be
purchased online. Some details of a given group member's online personal
profile are
viewable by other group members, but personal financial information typically
is not.
The online tool includes a message posting means that allows group members to
post
messages that are viewable by other group members after logging in to the
online tool.
This allows group members to communicate with one another without concern of
having
those communications intercepted by other non-group members.
Lottery tickets are purchased online using the online tool according to the
preferences set out in the personal online profile of each group member.
Ticket
purchases may occur automatically or manually. For example, if a given
member's
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profile includes preferences for numbers to play (eg: six numbers between 1
and 49),
frequency of play (eg: twice weekly) and number of tickets to purchase (eg:
one ticket
per draw), then those purchases are executed online automatically using the
personal
financial information (eg: a credit card number) stored in the group member's
profile and
ascribed to the group. If a given player's preferences also include an alert
level that
triggers an email notification to be sent when the prize for a given draw
exceeds a
certain threshold value, then the player may choose to manually purchase
additional
tickets for that draw. In the event that the group member chooses to manually
purchase
additional tickets for a given draw, then those tickets are purchased by
logging into the
online tool and completing the ticket purchase transaction online using the
player's
personal financial information. The manually purchased ticket may be either
ascribed to
the group or held personally in association with the player's online personal
profile.
Since a given lottery player may belong to more than one online group, the
player's
personal preferences indicate which group to ascribe a given ticket purchase
to.
The ticket numbers of tickets that are purchased and ascribed to the group are
viewable by all group members, along with the online pseudonym of the players
that
have purchased tickets for a particular draw. The online pseudonyms are not
typically
shown in association with the ticket numbers purchased, merely that those
pseudonyms
have purchased tickets and ascribed them to the group. The number of tickets
purchased by a lottery player are usually shown in association with the
player's online
pseudonym. This provides an online record of the ticket numbers and the group
members that are participating in any particular drawing event and reduces the
likelihood of disputes over attribution of winnings should one of the tickets
ascribed to
the group contain at least a subset of the winning numbers and thereby become
a
winning ticket. The online tool facilitates group management by checking the
ticket
numbers ascribed to the group against the winning numbers and determining
whether
any of the tickets are winning tickets. In the event that at least one of the
tickets
ascribed to the group is a winning ticket, an email notification is sent to
all group
members.
The group profile includes information on the distribution of prizes to group
members. Prizes below a certain value are distributed automatically online
using the
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personal financial information stored in at least one group members personal
online
profile. The group profile specifies whether prizes are to be paid to one
group member
(typically, the first lottery player) using that player's personal financial
information or
whether the prizes are to be distributed automatically to all group members.
The group
profile specifies whether the prizes are to be distributed on a per capita
basis to all
lottery players participating in a particular draw or on the basis of the
number of lottery
tickets purchased by a particular iottery player and attributed to the group.
Prizes above
a certain value typically require a winning ticket to be redeemed in order to
collect the
prize. In this case, the winning ticket is provided to a designated group
member,
typically the first lottery player, and the prize is then claimed by that
player and held in-
trust for distribution to other group members. The winning ticket may be
provided either
electronically or in hard copy delivered to an address provided for that
purpose in the
online group profile or in the online personal profile of the designated group
member.
Other features and embodiments of the invention will be understood by persons
skilled in the art. Variants or mechanical equivalents of certain of the
foregoing features
of the invention may be substituted for like features of the claims without
having an
effect on the way the invention works. The following claims are to be
construed broadly
with reference to the foregoing description and not in a limiting sense.
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