WO2003000365A1

WO2003000365A1 - Lotto game

Info

Publication number: WO2003000365A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/000816
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Frank Ollington
Original assignee: New Gaming Generation Pty. Limited
Priority date: 2001-06-22
Filing date: 2002-06-24
Publication date: 2003-01-03
Also published as: AUPR588601A0

Abstract

A lottery type game wherein the results of the game are determined from a selected parameter derived from the results of each of a number of events, the events preferably being the results of a round of sporting events in a competition, the preferred parameter being the scores of the various teams, which are preferably ranked. The winners are selected from those players who have correctly selected a number of the team's scores listed in order. This provides a game in which losing teams can be part of the winning list. There is also described a system having a jackpot system which is in a number of divisions and which can provide for jackpotting for some or all of the divisions Variations as to the selection of the parameter, the provision of division prizes and means to separate otherwise equivalent results are also described.

Description

Lotto Game

Background:

This invention relates to the provision of a lottery type of game, whereby the game format will be appealing to a broad section of the general public, yet will hold special appeal to players who are sports oriented.

Whilst there are many different types of Lotto styles games available throughout the world, along with many different types of sports wagermg games, the object of this invention is to provide a unique type of wagering system for use on team sporting events but developing a game with similar connotations to lottery types games.

Whereas most lottery types games are of a similar nature in that the vast majority of lotteries around the globe tend to use a numbered ball format - such as 6145 or 6/49 etc, to date there is no type of lottery that utilises sporting events to obtain the "generated results" required to build big lotto type pools with lottery type "Jackpots" which can be considered "lifestyle change wins".

Whereas there are many types of sports wagering operations available around the world, the majority of sports wagering events or sports lotteries available today are generally based on a player picking the winning team and in some cases, generally also by selecting a winning margin or what is called a "points spread". The likely win from such a game are relatively small.

There are some sports wagers that require a player to pick a number of winning teams, such as in Australia the Tabcorp Pick 8 - whereby the player must successfully pick the 8 winning teams from an AFL football round and in some other cases, the player must not only pick the winning teams, but also with the correct winning margins of each team.

The object of the invention is to provide a sports lottery which can enable winners to win substantial prizes and yet it is possible that there can be many players who win lesser prizes. The invention includes, in its broadest aspect, a lottery type game wherein the results of the game are deterrnined from a selected parameter derived from the results of each of a number of team sports events.

In a preferment, the events may be contests between the teams in a particular competition, titte selected parameter being obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each team. The selected parameter could be obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each winning team or, alternatively, the selected parameter could be obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each losing team.

The game can be provided so the prizes for the game are provided in divisions, success in which are dependent on the number of correct parameters selected. It is preferred that where a division is not won, the prize pool for that division will jackpot.

In the game, is is possible that some or all of the divisions will jackpot.

The game differs from any other lottery type sports game in that in its preferred form a losing team my have a higher score than at least one wining team and so the ranking is not dependent on winning the game in which the team has played.

The fundamental difference between this invention and existing types of sports wagers and lotteries, is the unique methods utilised on the results of team sports to generate the results needed to win in the various prize divisions of our invention.

We envisage a weekly or other regularly scheduled lottery game which is conducted in conjunction with a series of sporting events, such as AFL Australian football, rugby, NFL American football, baseball, basketball and many other international sports.

We can also provide a full or partial season game in which the position of the teams at the end of the period provides the required results. In order that the invention can be more readily understood, we shall describe variations in the game in its different applications.

We will first describe the game in relation to AFL (Australian Football League) football. The competition has 16 teams which play a round of eight matches, generally between Friday even to Sunday afternoon. The scores, in points can be substantial and it would be unusual to have more than two or three drawn games in a season.

The games of a round can be provided on a printed or electronic player game card, and the player marks the said player game card in the appropriate spaces marked with indicia corresponding to the player predicting the correct ranking of a predetermined number of teams in a final score table for all teams in a nominated round.

The winning numbers needed to win are provided by this table and in this case and for exemplary purposes only, say that the winning numbers required could be the six highest scores for a particular nominated sports round.

One example, which is our preferred method for AFL football, would be for players to nominate the six (6) highest scoring teams in their correct sequential order of highest to lowest for a given round of AFL football.

Another example, which is our preferred method for NFL football, would be for players to nominate the five (5) highest scoring teams in their correct sequential order of highest to lowest for any given round of NFL football. These examples should be seen as exemplary, as depending on the probabilities for a nominated sports round, the parameters will vary.

In this invention, it may quite often be the case that the winning numbers needed to win this lottery are not necessarily all made up of winning teams, as is the case with other types of sports lottery games; but in our invention losing teams caα also make up the winning numbers, as indicated in Example 1. All player game data related to predicting say the six highest scores for a nominated round and the fee paid by the player to enter the game are entered into a programmed central computer system for eventual processing and matching with the final game data entered for the actual final six highest scores when the nominated games are completed. This information is then used to identify the winners. All players will receive a receipt, which may be both a receipt and a copy of their selected choices in the game along with a unique transaction code.

As discussed above, for the purpose of a more detailed explanation of this invention we shall explain the invention as applied to AFL Football, though this should be viewed as exemplary only and the invention is not restricted to AFL, for as prior mentioned there a number of sports that this invention could be applied to.

In AFL Football there are a total of sixteen (16) teams listed and numbered as following;

I. Adelaide 2. Brisbane 3. Carlton 4. Collingwood 5. Essendon

6. Fremantle 7. Geelong 8. Hawthorn 9. Kangaroos 10. Melbourne

II. Port Adelaide 12. Richmond B. StKilda 14. Sydney 15. Western Bulldogs 16. West Coast

Example 1.

Using our preferred method of operation, where a player is required to select all six highest scoring teams in a given round of AFL Football in their sequential order from highest to lowest.

The following is a table of actual results from AFL Football for Round 5 2001.

5. Essendon -103 - Winner 12. Richmond -109 - Winner

4. Collingwood - 95 - Loser 16. West Coast - 70 - Loser

3. Carlton -125 - Winner 8. Hawthorn - 155 - Winner

B. StKilda - 92 -Loser 15. . Bulldogs - 126 -Loser

I. Adelaide - 90 - Winner 2. Brisbane - 171 - Winner 9. Kangaroos - 75 - Loser 6. Fremantle - 122 - Loser

I I . Port Adelaide - 148 - Winner 10. Melbourne - 119 - Winner

7. Geelong - 102 - Loser 14. Sydney - 104 - Loser The six highest scores for this round are listed as 1 to 6 following.

1^st - 2. Brisbane - 171 - Winner

2^nd - 8. Hawthorn - 155 - Winner

3^rd - 11. Port Adel - 148 - Winner

4^th - 15. W.Bulldogs - 126 - Loser

5^th - 3. Carlton - 125 - Winner

6^th - 6. Fremantle - 122 - Loser

So that the Six winning numbers (in sequential order) for this round would be, 2 , 8 , 11 , 15 , 3 & 6.

Thus, the six winning numbers to needed to win in this example of our invention when applied to this AFL Football round consists of four (4) Winning teams and two (2) Losing teams.

In our preferred method of operation on AFL Football, we prefer to have the players select the six winning numbers in their sequential order beginning with the highest through to the lowest of the six overall highest scores for that AFL round.

Due to the small size of the total teams in the AFL (16), to be able to generate sizeable Prizes and Jackpots it is desirable to require players to select the correct six numbers in a sequential order from highest to lowest, rather than just the six numbers in any order.

We prefer to have the game operate on the basis of several different division prizes and in this example we provide four divisions, from 6 tp 3 numbers in sequential order.

The probabilities for selecting the various prize divisions in an AFL Football round of 16 teams, (assuming all teams are regarded as relatively equal) would be as indicated in the following table.

6 Numbers in sequential order - 16 xI5 x 14 x 13 x 12 x 11 = 1 in 5,765,760

5 Numbers in sequential order - 16 x 15 x 14 x 13 x 12 = 1 in 524,160

4 Numbers in sequential order- 16 x 15 x 14 13 = 1 in 43,680

3 Numbers hx sequential order- 16 x 15 x 14 = 1 in 3,360 It should be seen that while our preferred method of operation is for the winning numbers to be selected in sequential order, it is possible to pay prizes for say six or any other number of the highest scoring teams in any order.

It is envisaged that when using our invention as applied as a type of sports lottery it would be ideal when combined with a team sport that generates substantially high scores, such as Australian Rules Football (AFL), Rugby (both League and Union) American Football (Gridiron) and Basketball etc,.

Whilst it is possible to operate this invention on low scoring team sports such as Soccer or Baseball, due to the low scoring nature of these sports, the invention does not work as well as it does on higher scoring sports.

TIED SCORES:

In the event of two or more teams having the same total scores at the end of the nominated round, then there are 2 alternatives.

1. Is to simply provide Two Sets of Winning Numbers.

2. Is to utilise a method for separating teams with tied scores - "The Separator System".

The Separator System:

In the event that two or more teams that finish in the Top 6 Scores have "tied scores", then the "Separator System" would be utilised to separate the teams with tied scores.

Separator System - Method 1. Team that scores the most in l^st,2^πd,3^r<i or 4^th Quarters.

Method 1. - is a very simple process, in that when two or more teams have tied scores, then the team that scored the most points in the l^st/2^nd/3^rd or 4^th Quarters (between the Teams with tied scores) will be placed above the other Team/s with tied scores.

Separator System - Method 2. Team that has the greatest winning margin.

Method 2. - is again, a very simple process, in that when two or more teams have tied scores, then the team with the greatest winning margin (between the Teams with tied scores) will be placed above the other Team/s with tied scores. Separator System - Method 3. Team that scores first by a timing device.

Method 3. - is again a very simple process, in that when two or more teams have tied scores, then the team that scored first, when measured by a timing device, from the commencement of the said game (between the Teams with tied scores) will be placed above the other Team/s with tied scores.

Identical Scores.

In the event that "after using any of the separator system methods", two or more teams still have identical scores, then quite simply the game would provide players with Two (2) Sets of winning numbers, as shown in Example 2. below. This could be viewed in much the same manner as a dead heat in a horse race.

Example 2.

The following is a table of actual results from AFL Football for Round 62001.

12. Richmond 429* - Winner 13. StKilda -120 - Winner

9. Kangaroos - 78 - Loser 14. Sydney - 94 - Loser

10. Melbourne -119 - Winner 11. Port Adel. - 129* - Winner

6. Fremantle - 74 - Loser 15. W. Bulldogs - 86 - Loser

2. Brisbane -116 - Winner 4. Collingwood - 103 - Winner

7. Geelong - 61 - Loser 3. Carlton - 95 - Loser

5. Essendon - 158 - Winner 8. Hawthorn 104 - Winner 16. West Coast - 70 -Loser 1. Adelaide 91 - Loser

The two sets of sequential winning numbers with six highest scores, would be as following;

1^st Set of Winning Numbers 2^nd Set of Winning Numbers

1^st - 4. Essendon - 158 - Winner 1^st - 4. Essendon - 158 -Winner

2^nd - 12. Richmond - 129* - Winner 2^nd - 11. Port Adel - 129* -Winner

3^rd - 11. Port Adel - 129* - Winner 3^rd- 12. Richmond - 129* - Winner

4^th - 13. StKilda - 120 - Winner 4^th - 13. StKilda - 120 - Winner

5^th - 10. Melbourne - 119 - Winner 5* - 10. Melbourne - 119 - Winner

6^th - 2. Brisbane - 116 -Winner 6* - 2. Brisbane - 116 - Winner

4,12,11,13,10 &2. 4,11,12,13,10 &2. So as indicated above there would be two sets of Six winning numbers for this AFL round.

In the very rare event of three or more teams having identical total scores at the end of the round then our same and preferred method as mentioned above would be used to determine the winning numbers as the following Example 3.

Example 3.

If three teams have a three way tie in their total scores then the following formula would become applicable.

Fox example consider a situation where teams 1,2 & 3 have all finished their rounds with an identical score of 150 then teams 4,5 & 6 finished with score of 140, 1 0 and 120 respectively.

In this case there would be six (6) sets of winning numbers as set out following.

1^st Set of winning numbers would be - 1,2,3,4,5,6. 2^nd Set of winning numbers would be - 1,3,2,4,5,6. 3^rd Set of winning numbers would be - 2, 1 ,3,4,5,6. 4^th Set of winning numbers would be - 2,3,1,4,5,6. 5^th Set of winning numbers would be - 3,1,2,4,5,6. 6^th Set of winning numbers would be - 3,2,1,4,5,6.

My preferred method for this invention to be operated along traditional lottery lines, that is that all monies wagered (after operator and government deductions) would be pooled into the various prize divisions.

Then regardless of there being one or more sets of winning numbers, all of the winning tickets (including multiple winners) would simply be divided into the relevant divisions for each pool so as to determine the dividends for winning tickets in each prize pool division. Whilst throughout this explanation of our invention of a new type of sports lottery game, we have used the sport of AFL Football combined with a six number game format, both of these aspects should be viewed as exemplary only. As prior mentioned there are a number of sports that this invention could be applied to. As for the actual game format, while we have suggested using a six number format as our preferred method, though it should be noted that this is exemplary only and that there is no real upper or lower limit on a preferred number format.

Another aspect of this invention, while still remaining within the scope of the invention is the potential to operate a like game that may be based on individual player statistics within a team sport, such as requesting a player of our said game to select say the six highest possession receivers in any given game. In higher scoring sports, this individual player within a team sport game aspect could be applied to basketball for the highest points scorers in a nominated game or if for baseball, selecting the highest number of individual players that score the most runs or hits etc.

Another possible feature is the All Pools Jackpot feature, which is a feature not found in other types of lotteries or sports wagers and is unique to this invention.

So as to appreciate the All Pools Jackpot feature, one needs to imagine a certain scenario of results from team sports. As throughout this specification we have described our invention as if applied to AFL football, for the purpose of explaining the All Pools Jackpot feature we will continue to describe it as applied to AFL, but this should be seen as exemplary only as the All Pools Jackpot feature will apply to this invention when the invention is applied to any sport.

One needs to imagine that a team that no one expected to achieve the highest score has done precisely that and achieved the highest score for a sport in a nominated round. When using our preferred method of requiring players to select the highest scoring teams in the correct sequential order, then if no player has selected the team that has the highest score for that round in 1^st place, then there can be no winning tickets. When using our preferred method, a player needs to select 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th in order to win, with most likely a minimum of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in correct sequential order to be eligible to win a prize from the minor prize pool/s. So if there are no tickets with the correct team in 1^st place, then there can be no winning tickets in any of the pools and so All Pools would Jackpot.

There can also be situations where, say, players have the first three results correct but no player has the fourth result correct. In this case the fourth division, say, would pay but the prize pool for the higher divisions would jackpot.

Another aspect which we can provide is a self-seeding jackpot. This would be particularly applicable to the highest division which would tend to be won less often that the others and thus could very often have a jackpot component There could be retained from the prize pool a certain quantity of the pool which could be used to seed the jackpot of the first division in the period after this has been won. That is, the jackpot would normally be the prize pool for the week and any jackpotted amount, which would comprise the seed placed into the jackpot immediately after it has been won.

Another aspect of this invention is the provision of a progressive Jackpot meter for sports wagering which could be available at venues and, say on the internet. This has not been provided for either sports wagering or lotteries.

Another aspect of this invention is another type of sports wagering event that could apply to many types of sports, but as per our other examples included herein, we shall describe this aspect of our invention as if it was applied to AFL football.

This particular aspect of our invention is different again from most lotteries or sports wagering events throughout the world today. In this aspect of our invention we require all players to select the exact finishing order of the league ladder at the end of a home and away / premiership season.

This could be the exact "end of season ladder finish" of all teams or the exact "end of season ladder finish" for a predetermined number of teams. Most likely, this would be a one time wager for most competitions, which most likely would be entered into prior to the home and away / premiership season.

An alternative to the "ladder position at the end of season" format, it is also possible to operate this format on a semi regular basis - say by dividing a nominated sports season into halves, thirds or quarters and requesting that players make their selection for either all teams or a predetermined number of teams position on the ladder at the end the given period.

If we were to apply this aspect of our invention to the AFL Football then this would mean that a player must select the correct finishing order for say 8 of the 16 AFL teams on the league ladder at the end of the season.

The probability of a player selecting the correct finishing order for 8 of the 1 AFL teams is calculated as follows;

8 Teams - 16 15 14 13 x 12 x 11 x 10 x 9 = 1 in 518,918,400 or

7 Teams - 16 x 15 x 14 x 13 x 12 x I I x 10 = 1 in 57,657,600 or

6 Teams - 16 15 14 13 x 12 x 11 = 1 in 5,765,760

The invention can also readily be applied to other parameters in sporting events.

For example only, the game could be played on the number of runs made by cricketers in a match. In this case there could be either 22 or 44 results, depending on whether the game was played on a particular innings or for the whole match. Obviously, the leading batsmen would be expected to lead the scoring but there is always a possibility that a lower order batsman could make a substantial score. The game could also be played on the basis of the players of one side. In football, of various codes, the parameter could be the number of possessions by various players or even the scores made by different players but, in this case, the scoring is most likely to be largely done by particular players.

In soccer, the game could be played on the time at which goals were scored as with a low scoring game the likelihood of successful selection could be relatively high.

In basketball, scores by individual players could be used.

In other games, different parameters could be used as they could in the games exemplified.

Claims

I claim

1. A lottery type game wherein the results of the game are determined from a selected parameter derived from the results of each of a number of team sports events.

2. A game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the events may be contests between the teams in a particular competition, the selected parameter being obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each team.

3. A game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the events may be contests between the teams in a particular competition, the selected parameter being obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each winning team.

4. A game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the events may be contests between the teams in a particular competition, the selected parameter being obtained from the ranking on the basis of the total score of each losing team

5. A game as claimed in any one of claim 2 to 4 wherein the ranking is from highest to lowest score.

6. A game as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the ranking is from lowest to highest.

7. A game as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the total prize pool is divided into divisions, the prizes for the divisions being won by players who have selected the results which satisfy the requirements for any particular division.

8. A game is claimed in claim 7 wherein the divisional prizes are won by selecting a predetermined number of correct results in the required rank order.

9. A game as claimed in claim 7 wherein the divisional prizes are won by selecting a predetermined number of correct results from a specified number of results.

10. A game as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 wherein where there is no correct result for any division, the prize pool for that division jackpots.

11. A game as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein if there are equal values for the parameter, the division prizes affected by the equal values are divided by the number of equal value results and each so divided pool is distributed amongst the relevant prize winners.

12. A game as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 11 wherein if there are equal values for the parameter, then predetermined external means is used to effect a ranking of the parameters prior to the selection of winners.

13. A game as claimed in claim 1 wherein the parameter is the position of a ladder of wins/losses of teams in a competition on a particular time in the playing of the competition.

14. A game as claimed in claim 13 wherein the time is at the end of the season of the competition.

15. A game as claimed in claim 13 wherein the time is at the end of the 'home and away portion' of the season of the competition.

16. A game as claimed in claim 13 wherein the time is after a certain number of rounds of the competition.

17. A game as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the player's selected results can be obtained from a random number generator.