REAL-MONEY ONLINE MULTI-PLAYER TRIVIA SYSTEM, METHODS OF OPERATION, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
An apparatus, method, and storage medium for a real-money online multi-player trivia system which allows users to compete, via a computer network, in one or more simultaneous trivia style games with a plurality of questions while wagering real and/or play money. The trivia style games can be either a single trivia game between multiple players or a tournament style game with a plurality of single games linked together. A trivia style game may allow betting before a question is delivered, after a question is delivered, or after a question is answered. Further, the amount of a player's wager may be withheld from the other players and/or whether the player answered a question correctly or incorrectly.
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This application claims priority from Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/908,225 filed Mar. 27, 2007.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention pertains generally to trivia games and, more particularly, to a real-money online multi-player trivia game.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTrivia games are well known as a form of entertainment. Generally, the trivia game consists of a question being presented to participants and then the first participant with the correct answer wins that round. The rounds progress for some pre-set length and the scores are tallied to determine the overall winner.
The most common and well known of these trivia style games are “Trivial Pursuit” and “Jeopardy.” Trivial Pursuit is a board game where participants gather at a pre-determined location and roll a die to determine what category of question will be asked. There are about six categories within any game; however, there are several different versions of the game that incorporate specific areas of trivia (movies, sports, etc.). As the participants progress, they collect game pieces representing correct answers at strategic points of the game. The winner is the first to collect all of the game pieces and answer a final question. The obvious limitations of this game are all participants must be in a reasonable vicinity of each other—for example, the same room—and a roll of the die determines the category of the question. Jeopardy proceeds in a similar manner except the participants choose a topic, and within that topic, a value for the question that corresponds to the questions difficulty level. The question is delivered to the participants and the first participant to “buzz in” is given an opportunity to answer the question. If the participant correctly answers the question, the value of the question is credited to the participant's winnings; however, if the participant answers the question incorrectly, the value of the question is deducted from the participant's winnings and the remaining participants again have the opportunity to “buzz in” and answer the question. The obvious problem with both of these is they require the participants to assemble at a predetermined time and location. In addition, though Jeopardy allows for some time of wagering, the wagered amount is, at least theoretically, tied to the difficulty of the question thereby not allowing a participant to wager different amounts of money for different categories or even particular questions. Also, there is no means to either “win” money from other players or compensate the parties running the trivia game.
For example, a game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,899 to Walker discloses a knowledge based wagering game that affords a plurality of players an opportunity to place a wager on the game. A sequential series of questions is displayed to each player who preferably selects a correct answer from a plurality of possible answers within a predetermined period of time. The answers selected by each player are recorded and the players are ranked with respect to all of the other players based on the number of correct answers selected and the amount of time taken to select the answers. Under a pari-mutuel betting system payouts are made in accordance with the players' relative scores.
The game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,412 to Bramm discloses a quiz game in which a player preferably attempts to answer one or more questions in a selected category and employs a method for selecting the category to enhance the fairness of the game over a wide range of players' ages. At least one attribute of the category is selected by chance and at least one other attribute of the category is selected based on an individual preference of the player, wherein the selected category is defined by all of the selected attributes. The invention of the '412 Patent bases the category selection at least in part on the individual preference of the player increases the player's chances of correctly answering the question(s). Such a category selection method may be beneficially employed in an audio quiz game (e.g., a music trivia game) that includes a source of categorized questions and answers, an audio playing device that may selectively access and play pre-stored audio clips, and one or more selectors for selecting the by-chance attribute(s) of the category. The audio quiz game preferably utilizes an audio playing device that receives the category attributes, automatically retrieves the corresponding audio clip based on the entered attributes, and plays the clip at the instruction of the player. The game may be implemented as a discrete set of game components, or electronically as a hand-held game unit or as software to facilitate play between remote computer users over a network, such as the Internet.
In a final example, the game disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,549 to Walker discloses a method and a system for a distributed electronic tournament system in which many remotely located players participate in a tournament through input/output devices connected to a central controller which manages the tournament. The method includes the steps of (a) uniquely identifying a player communicating with the central controller via an associated input/output device; (b) responding to payment of an entry fee by the player for allowing the player to participate in a tournament occurring within a fixed time window via an associated input/output device; (c) accessing a database to store in the database player information that is generated as the player participates in the tournament, such information being available for use in a subsequent tournament, which is administered by said controller and in which the player participates; and (d) awarding the player a prize for achieving a pre-established performance level in the tournament. In another preferred embodiment, the method further includes the steps of determining whether the player has been qualified to advance to a subsequent game session, in which at least one player is eliminated from the previous game session; and permitting each player qualified to a subsequent game session to participate in that game session. The system includes software and hardware to implement the method steps.
A severe limitation of the prior art is its inability to allow the user to play multiple games at the same time within the same graphical user interface (“GUI”). The present invention provides the ability for a user to connect to the server and then participate in multiple games at the same time.
Additionally, the prior art does not disclose a predictive betting method. By developing a predictive betting method, each game may proceed at a quicker pace thereby increasing a user's ability to play multiple games at the same time and increase the enjoyment level for all players by reducing the “waiting” time.
Yet another limitation of the prior art is the lack of a customer retention mechanism. By rewarding frequent and continuous playing, customers are more likely to return when there is an increased brand loyalty.
Finally, the prior art fails to disclose both fun and real money wagering. By combining both fun and real money, the potential customer/client base increases tremendously. Further, by allowing fun money wagering, customers that would not otherwise play the game are introduced to the system and the gaming environment. Those customers are now significantly more likely to become real money players.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn one aspect of the present invention, multiple players compete against one another in a trivia style game of skill while wagering either fun or real money. The trivia style game could be either a single game made up of one or more questions or a tournament style game with one or more single games linked together.
In another aspect of the present invention, a player may participate in multiple trivia style games at the same time.
In another aspect of the invention, a player may select a betting strategy before it his or her turn to bet.
In another aspect of the present invention, a player's wager and/or whether he or she answered a question correctly is not disclosed to other players.
These and other aspects of the disclosed subject matter, as well as additional novel features, will be apparent from the description provided herein. The intent of this summary is not to be a comprehensive description of the claimed subject matter, but rather to provide a short overview of some of the subject matter's functionality. Other systems, methods, features and advantages here provided will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following FIGUREs and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages that are included within this description, be within the scope of the accompanying claims.
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Although described with particular reference to a server and client configuration, the claimed subject matter can be implemented in any information technology system.
Those with skill in the arts will recognize that the disclosed embodiments have relevance to a wide variety of computing environments in addition to those specific examples described below.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
With reference to
Computing system 200 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by the computing system 200 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, and removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.
Computer memory includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computing system 200.
The system memory 206 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 210 and random access memory (RAM) 212. A basic input/output system 214 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computing system 200, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 210. RAM 212 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 204. By way of example, and not limitation, an operating system 216, application programs 220, other program modules 220 and program data 222 are shown.
Computing system 200 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, a hard disk drive 224 that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 226 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 228, and an optical disk drive 230 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk 232 such as a CD ROM or other optical media could be employed to store the invention of the present embodiment. Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 224 is typically connected to the system bus 236 through a non-removable memory interface such as interface 234, and magnetic disk drive 226 and optical disk drive 230 are typically connected to the system bus 236 by a removable memory interface, such as interface 238.
The drives and their associated computer storage media, discussed above, provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing system 200. For example, hard disk drive 224 is illustrated as storing operating system 268, application programs 270, other program modules 272 and program data 274. Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system 216, application programs 220, other program modules 220, and program data 222. Operating system 268, application programs 270, other program modules 272, and program data 274 are given different numbers hereto illustrates that, at a minimum, they are different copies.
A user may enter commands and information into the computing system 200 through input devices such as a tablet, or electronic digitizer, 240, a microphone 242, a keyboard 244, and pointing device 246, commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball, or touch pad. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 204 through a user input interface 248 that is coupled to the system bus 208, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB).
A monitor 250 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 208 via an interface, such as a video interface 252. The monitor 250 may also be integrated with a touch-screen panel or the like. Note that the monitor and/or touch screen panel can be physically coupled to a housing in which the computing system 200 is incorporated, such as in a tablet-type personal computer. In addition, computers such as the computing system 200 may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers 254 and printer 256, which may be connected through an output peripheral interface 258 or the like.
Computing system 200 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computing system 260. The remote computing system 260 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computing system 200, although only a memory storage device 262 has been illustrated. The logical connections depicted include a local area network (LAN) 264 connecting through network interface 276 and a wide area network (WAN) 266 connecting via modem 278, but may also include other networks. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.
For example, in the present embodiment, the computer system 200 may comprise the source machine from which data is being migrated, and the remote computing system 260 may comprise the destination machine. Note however that source and destination machines need not be connected by a network or any other means, but instead, data may be migrated via any media capable of being written by the source platform and read by the destination platform or platforms.
The central processor operating pursuant to operating system software such as IBM OS/2®, Linux®, UNIX®, Microsoft Windows®, Apple Mac OSX® and other commercially available operating systems provides functionality for the services provided by the present invention. The operating system or systems may reside at a central location or distributed locations (i.e., mirrored or standalone).
Software programs or modules instruct the operating systems to perform tasks such as, but not limited to, facilitating client requests, system maintenance, security, data storage, data backup, data mining, document/report generation and algorithms. The provided functionality may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor or in any combination of the two.
Furthermore, software operations may be executed, in part or wholly, by one or more servers or a client's system, via hardware, software module or any combination of the two. A software module (program or executable) may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, DVD, optical disk or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may also reside in an ASIC. The bus may be an optical or conventional bus operating pursuant to various protocols that are well known in the art.
Once all players have had an opportunity to wager or fold, players are given one or more trivia questions to answer. A player answering incorrectly may be eliminated from the game or they may be allowed to continue based on the rules of the game. A game is composed of one or more rounds. Each round may have an opportunity to wager or fold.
In one embodiment of the game, a player may bet after answering a question. In another embodiment of the game, the result of a player's answer to a round of questions (i.e., correct or incorrect) would be hidden from the other players. This provides an additional element of skill and strategy for the player.
Next, the rake is taken 604 by the “house.” The rake is the amount deducted from the overall pot to compensate the house for providing the game. The rake will be pre-set before the start of the game to some fee, percentage (similar to pari-mutuel style betting), or some combination thereof. The pot is distributed 606 per the distribution rules that were set prior to the game starting. For example, the whole pot to the winner, a certain amount to the top three players, a pre-set amount paid to the winner, a pre-set amount to the top five players, a pre-set percentage to the winner, etc. The player's balance is updated 608 to represent the pot distribution and the chips are visually moved to the corresponding player's seat 610. The flourish win plays 612 (see
Independent of other events, a player may be awarded one or more free passes after a series of incorrect answers in a particular category or sub-category. The free pass could be used by the player during a game to automatically select the correct answer to a question or to automatically correct an incorrect answer. This feature is intended to assist players that continuously miss questions in a particular category or sub-category. Limitations could be placed on when a player may use any accumulated passes such as: only in fun money games, not in tournaments, only for the same category or sub-category for which the free pass was awarded, etc.
In a different embodiment, winners would be determined by their accumulated balance after a ser number of rounds or time. In another embodiment, the first player to a pre-determined balance or number of correct answers would be the winner.
In yet a different embodiment, during tournament style games, the betting could be a fixed amount for each round (for example, always five chips). In another embodiment, during tournament style games, the betting would occur after the question has been answered and could be fixed to a player's confidence level. A range of confidence levels would be presented to the player, such as: very confident, confident, pretty sure, shaky, uncertain, no idea. With each successive down grade in confidence, the fixed amount wagered would decrease. For example, if the player selected “very confident” the bet would be higher than “confident,” but the bet would be the same for all players in the tournament that selected the same confidence level.
In another embodiment, the result of a player's answer to a question (i.e., correct or incorrect) would be hidden from other players. In a different embodiment, the amount of a player's wager could be hidden from other players. This provides additional elements of skill and strategy for the player.
In one embodiment, each table (or player) in a tournament would have different questions from the other tables (or players). This would allow players in disparate geographical areas to participate in a larger range of games. In another embodiment, each table or player could receive questions with differing category or difficulty based on appropriate criteria.
In another embodiment, the tables would start out having different questions and then as the number of tables decreased (for example, started with ten tables and there are only three remaining) the remaining tables would synchronize. Table synchronization requires every table start each round at the same time. If there were three tables remaining, and one table finished a round, that table would have to wait until the other two tables finished that same round before the next round would begin. In yet another embodiment, each table in a tournament would display the same questions at the same time. If the same questions were displayed to all of the tables from the start of the tournament, it would be advisable to have all the tables synchronized from the start of the tournament.
In an additional embodiment, there are different styles of tournament games including: single table tournaments and multi-tier tournaments where winning one tournament grants you access into another tournament.
In another embodiment, players could be allowed to create ring or tournament games. In this embodiment, the creating player would select some or all of the game options. The ability for players to create games could be limited by a set of rules, operator approval, or some other policing mechanism.
In an effort to not overuse any particular question and to promote participation in real money games, questions will be retired from real money games after being presented a pre-set number of times. This prevents players from memorizing trivia questions in real money games to gain an unfair advantage over other players. After a pre-determined “cooling period,” these questions may be re-introduced to the pool of questions. Some retired questions may be placed in a pool of questions only for fun money games.
Further, each time a question is asked, its difficulty factor will be adjusted based on the number of players answering the question correctly and incorrectly. The more players that answer a question correctly, the lower the difficulty rating of the question will be; conversely, the more players that answer a question incorrectly, the higher the difficulty rating of the question will be. The difficulty factor assists the operator in normalizing question difficulty across all of the available questions and helps raise the overall entertainment value of the game.
In addition to the above described embodiments, each is intended to include variants for any number of players, number of rounds, number of games, number of tournament tiers, category and sub-category combinations (for example, a top level category of sports with one or more sub categories such as football, basketball, volleyball, etc.), ante configurations (for example, directly trailing, opposing positions, separated by a pre-set number of players, etc.), betting configurations (fixed bet per round, limit betting including minimum and/or maximum limits, no limit betting, bet increases with each round, etc.), and bluffing (hiding the winner of each round, allowing each player to determine whether other players are notified of whether their answer was correct or incorrect, etc.).
Claims
1. A trivia based wagering game, the system comprising:
- a communications network for providing a plurality of trivia based games to a plurality of individuals via a network;
- a means for uniquely identifying each of said individuals;
- a means for said individuals to establish a stored value account, said stored value account having a real currency amount and a play currency amount;
- a means for said individuals to adjust said stored value account;
- a means for a predetermined number of said individuals to enroll in at least one of said trivia based games;
- a means for said individuals to place a wager in at least one of said trivia based games, said wager being deducted from said stored value account;
- a means for delivering at least one question to said individuals;
- a means for accepting an answer to said question from each of said individuals;
- a means for evaluating if said answer is correct; and
- a means for allocating said wagers between a rake and said stored value accounts.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said network is the Internet.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein a plurality of said trivia based games are associated together to form a tournament style game.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein each said individual in said tournament style game wagers the same amount of currency.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said wagers are not disclosed to other said players.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein said wager is not made by said player until after said answer is accepted.
7. The system of claim 1 including a means for said individuals to communicate with each other.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein said communication is disabled when said question is delivered.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for placing said wager includes allowing said individuals to place said wager before said individuals turn.
10. A method of using a trivia based wagering game, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of trivia based games to a plurality of individuals via a network;
- uniquely identifying each of said individuals;
- establishing a stored value account for said individuals, said stored value account having a real currency amount and a play currency amount;
- allowing said individuals to adjust said stored value account;
- enrolling a predetermined number of said individuals in at least one of said trivia based games;
- allowing said individuals to place a wager in at least one of said trivia based games, said wager being deducted from said stored value account;
- delivering at least one question to said individuals;
- accepting an answer to said question from each of said individuals;
- evaluating if said answer is correct; and
- allocating said wagers between a rake and said stored value accounts.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein said network is the Internet.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein a plurality of said trivia based games are associated together to form a tournament style game.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein each said individual in said tournament style game wagers the same amount of currency.
14. The method of claim 10 wherein said wagers are not disclosed to other said players.
15. The method of claim 10 wherein said wager is not made by said player until after said answer is accepted.
16. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of allowing said individuals to communicate with each other.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said communication is disabled when said question is delivered.
18. The method of claim 10 wherein said step for placing said wager includes allowing said individuals to place said wager before said individuals turn.
19. A computer readable medium encoded with a program for a trivia based wagering game, the program performing the steps of:
- providing a plurality of trivia based games to a plurality of individuals via a network;
- uniquely identifying each of said individuals;
- establishing a stored value account for said individuals, said stored value account having a real currency amount and a play currency amount;
- allowing said individuals to adjust said stored value account;
- enrolling a predetermined number of said individuals in at least one of said trivia based games;
- allowing said individuals to place a wager in at least one of said trivia based games, said wager being deducted from said stored value account;
- delivering at least one question to said individuals;
- accepting an answer to said question from each of said individuals;
- evaluating if said answer is correct; and
- allocating said wagers between a rake and said stored value accounts.
20. The medium of claim 19 wherein said network is the Internet.
21. The medium of claim 19 wherein a plurality of said trivia based games are associated together to form a tournament style game.
22. The medium of claim 21 wherein each said individual in said tournament style game wagers the same amount of currency.
23. The medium of claim 19 wherein said wagers are not disclosed to other said players.
24. The medium of claim 19 wherein said wager is not made by said player until after said answer is accepted.
25. The medium of claim 19 further comprising the step of allowing said individuals to communicate with each other.
26. The medium of claim 25 wherein said communication is disabled when said question is delivered.
27. The medium of claim 19 wherein said step for placing said wager includes allowing said individuals to place said wager before said individuals turn.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 26, 2007
Publication Date: Oct 2, 2008
Applicant:
Inventors: Monty Kerr (Austin, TX), David Leb (Panama)
Application Number: 11/758,452
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101);