Method to replace the traditional house vig with wild-card option

Abstract

New method of eliminating and replacing the traditional house vig in a betting or wagering games involving comparative choices by introducing wild-card option or condition.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicants are claiming the benefit of a provisional patent application with the same title, No. 61/999069, filed on Jul. 15, 2014.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the field of games. More particularly, the present invention is in the field of betting or wagering games involving comparative choices.

In traditional wagering games, a positive outcome on an even bet generally yields the same amount of payout as the amount of entry fee or wager, less any applicable commissions for fee payable to the game operator. Such commission or fee payable to the game operator is called the vig, and generally is a percentage of the amount of bet or wager.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method to replace the traditional house vig with a wild-card option or condition in betting or wagering games involving comparative choices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

No drawing is necessary to understand or implement the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Many types of betting or wagering games involve comparative choices. For example, fantasy sports or other fantasy games generally depend on the comparative performance of two players or characters.

In such a game, a game operator will generally try to create roughly even comparative choices in order to have equal matching bets on each side. A positive outcome generally yields the same amount of payout as the amount of entry fee or wager, less any applicable vig amount payable to the game operator.

The vig amount can be a source of confusion and frustration for some participants in such game. The present invention is a method to eliminate and replace the house vig by means of an extra comparative option or wild-card condition built into the bet definition.

The new method can be illustrated by the following example. Suppose that the basic comparative choice is between the performances of two well-known NFL quarterbacks during a given weekend. (Such performance can be measured by means of points computed based on game statistics such as passing yards, passing touchdowns, and interceptions.) Also assume that the two quarterbacks have sufficiently close performance expectation that weekend. The game operator can introduce an extra option or wild-card option with lower performance expectation, but with an additional payout bonus as incentive. The table below summarizes such an example.

Quarterback Options	Accepted Bets	Payout Ratios including Bonus
A	$100	1 to 1
B	$100	1 to 1
Wild-card Option C	Less than $20	10 to 1

Given the choices and the payout ratios, the game operator can set things up so that the accepted bets are in line with the amounts and proportions in the above table.

In the event that, as generally expected, either quarterback A or quarterback B has the best performance of the three options that weekend, the game operator would have a net payout of zero for the accepted bets on quarterbacks A or B. The game operator could then keep all the accepted bets on quarterback C as its fee or commission, in effect replacing the traditional house vig by the amount of accepted bets on the wild-card option.

In the event that quarterback C has the best performance of the three options that weekend, the payout on that wild-card option is less than $200, which is the combined accepted bets on the two main options. In that case, the game operator could still have net profit in lieu of the traditional house vig.

Instead of two players, the choices can be between two given fantasy teams, with an extra option in the form of a third team thrown in as wild card.

Hence, the use of such a wild-card option can generate a profit for the game operator that is statistically equivalent to a traditional house vig. However, the profit generated by this method does not reduce the amount of winning collected by a winner, thereby simplifying the user interface and minimizing any confusion or frustration from the reduction of winning amounts.

Another variation or implementation of this new method would be to add a wild-card condition C to a standard comparative choice that says in the event C happens, then all players lose. For example, in the above example of a comparative choice between two quarterbacks, a wild-card condition C could be something like if both quarterbacks have performance scores below a certain threshold. In general, the wild-card condition C need not be correlated with the comparative choice, or even connected with the sport. However some correlation can generate additional interest and introduce an additional element of skill and knowledge into the game.

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A new method to eliminate and replace the house vig, wherein a game operator would introduce an extra comparative option whose profitability is statistically equivalent to a traditional house vig.

2. A new method to eliminate and replace the house vig, wherein a game operator would introduce a wild-card condition that could change the outcome of a bet. Such a wild-card condition need not be correlated with the comparative choice, but could be chosen from a wide range of themes or topics in order to generate additional interest and introduce an additional element of skill and knowledge into the game.