Lotto bingo game

Abstract

A method and apparatus of playing a game of chance. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of hoppers where each hopper of the plurality of hoppers contains a plurality of randomly selected equally weighted symbolic elements, providing a two-dimensional matrix having a plurality of spaces that corresponds to the plurality of hoppers and where each space of the plurality of spaces of the matrix is associated with a respective hopper of the plurality of hoppers, receiving a bet from a player that defines a physical relationship of predefined winning combinations with symbolic elements within the matrix, randomly selecting a symbolic element from each of the plurality of hoppers and displaying the randomly selected symbolic element in the associated space of the matrix and paying the player for each occurrence where the defined relationship of the bet matches the displayed elements in the two-dimensional matrix.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is directed to games and more particularly to games of chance used by the gaming industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many states sanction lottery games. Typically, a player picks a set of numbers and places a bet with an agent of the state lottery. Typically, the numbers are one or two digit numbers of any value from 0 to 9 or 00 to 99. Different lottery games use different sets of numbers (e.g., three, four, five, six, etc.) with proportionately higher odds given to the larger range of numbers.

Periodically (e.g., daily, twice a week, once a week, etc.), a set of winning numbers is chosen by the state. The winning numbers are typically generated by some type of random process to avoid the appearance of fraud. In most cases, winning numbers are generated by placing perfectly balanced numbered balls into a series of hoppers. When the hoppers are activated, the balls spin. Mechanical devices are used to pick each winning number from the appropriate hoppers. The process is random, every number having an equal chance to be drawn.

If at least some of the numbers picked by the player match the chosen numbers, then the player may win a sum of money. Typically the amount of money won is determined by how many of the numbers picked by the player match the numbers chosen by the state.

Bets are often placed under a number of different formats. For example, in a pick 3 game (and in a straight bet) the three winning numbers must appear exactly as shown in the bet in order for the player to win. In a box bet, the winning numbers may occur in any order and the player will win. In a pair bet, if the pair of symbolic objects picked by the player is included in the winning numbers in the same order as the bet, then the player wins.

While lotteries are well known and accepted by the general public, they are not generally used in casinos for a number of reasons. One reason has to do with the slow turn-around time for identifying winning bets.

Another reason relates to the relatively low payout rates. Because of the low probability of winning, players are often forced to choose multiple sets of number combinations for each drawing. Because of the wide acceptance of lottery, a need exists for a method of overcoming these impediments to adapting lottery games to casino use by giving the player the opportunity to select numbers and play a combination of games on a single playfield while winning a combination of ways with a single wager and thereby increasing the player's odds of winning.

SUMMARY

A method and apparatus of playing a game of chance. The method includes the steps of providing a plurality of hoppers where each hopper of the plurality of hoppers contains a plurality of randomly selected equally weighted symbolic elements, providing a two-dimensional matrix having a plurality of spaces that corresponds to the plurality of hoppers and where each space of the plurality of spaces of the matrix is associated with a respective hopper of the plurality of hoppers, receiving a bet from a player that defines a physical relationship of symbolic elements within the matrix, randomly selecting a symbolic element from each of the plurality of hoppers and displaying the randomly selected symbolic element in the associated space of the matrix and paying the player for each occurrence where the defined relationship of the bet matches the displayed elements in the two-dimensional matrix. The bet may occur as a three-step process. First the player, or at the player's option, the computer selects a set of bet symbolic elements. Second, the player makes the wager, selects the number of credits, number of lines, etc. The computer may then identify a set of winning symbolic elements from a pre-determined set of winning combinations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a game of chance under an illustrated embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the game of chance of FIG. 1 implemented as a video game;

FIG. 3 is an example of a number matrix that may be used by the games of FIGS. 1 and 2 and

FIG. 4 is a further example of a number matrix that may be used by the games of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a lottery-bingo game 10 in accordance with an illustrated embodiment of the invention. Included within the game 10 may be a two-dimensional matrix 12 that includes a number of spaces 24. During play, a symbolic element 17 may be randomly selected from each of the hoppers 14, 16 and delivered into a corresponding space of the matrix 12.

Bets (wagers) 22 may be placed by players 20 in accordance with a concept called a “betting line” or “payout line”. In this regard, the game 10 differs from the prior art in that betting formats (e.g., straight bets, box bets, pair bets, etc.) are subsumed by the betting lines. That is, a wager placed on a betting line is assumed to include any previously recognized winning combination, plus additional combinations as desired (e.g., any pair in any order as “a boxed pair”, one match plus a wildcard element in any order, two matches plus a wildcard element in any order) that can be formed from the numbers chosen by the player.

According to the concepts of the game 10, the betting lines chosen by the player provide a basis for defining a number of predetermined physical relationships among the symbolic elements within the matrix 12. The predetermined physical relationships together provide a comparison criteria 18 for identifying winning bets.

Bets are placed by the player 20 at the beginning of the game. Once a bet 22 has been placed, the symbolic elements 17 are randomly selected from each of the hoppers 14, 16 (in the case of the matrix 12 and spaces 24, there are nine individual hoppers each containing the same number of symbolic elements) and displayed in the corresponding space of the matrix 12. Once the symbolic elements 17 are displayed, the physical relationship of the bet(s) 22 may be matched with the physical relationship of the symbolic elements 17 in the matrix 12 to determine if the player 20 has won.

The predetermined physical relationships of comparison criteria 18 for a particular betting format may be provided in any of a number of different ways. In some embodiments described below, wildcard elements may be used to establish at least some of the physical relationships among the symbolic elements.

In general, the predetermined physical relationships of winning combinations under the criteria 18 may be based upon the number of symbolic elements in a row that are consistent with the bet, the number in a column, the number on a diagonal or upon the contributions of wildcard symbolic elements.

A payout to the player 20 may be based upon the number of combinations (matches) under the criteria 18. The payout may be determined by multiplying the coins per line bet times the values of each winning combination as found within a payout schedule 19 and then adding the wins per line.

The game 10 may be played under any of a number of different play formats. Under a first format, the functionality of the game 10 may be provided by any combination of mechanical and/or electrical/electronic components.

For example, the matrix 12 may be a three by three egg crate structure having nine spaces. Nine rotating hoppers 14, 16 may be provided where each hopper 14, 16 is connected to a respective space of the matrix 12.

Each of the rotating hoppers 14, 16 may have ten or more symbolic elements (e.g., numbered balls) inside. Rotation of the hoppers 14, 16 insures a random distribution of the balls within the hoppers 14, 16.

After a player 20 has placed his bet (including a selection of betting lines, a number combination and a bet amount), a gate in a tube connecting each hopper 14, 16 to its respective space within the matrix 12 may be opened to allow one of the numbered balls to descend into its space within the matrix 12. A comparison may be made between the physical location of the symbolic elements within the spaces of the matrix 12 and the bet under the criteria 18 and a payout may be made based upon the payout schedule 19.

Under another format, the game 10 may be implemented as a video game. In this context, the rotating hoppers 14, 16 may be random number generators and the matrix 12 may be provided on a display screen. Similarly, bets may be placed through an interactive screen and the comparison with the predetermined comparison criteria 18 may be performed by a matrix processor with the payout being determined based on a payout schedule located within a memory of the video game (and available for the player to view).

FIG. 2 depicts the game 10 provided under the video game format (now designated by reference number 50). As shown, the video game 50 may include a player interface 52, a central processing unit 54 and a token processor 56. The token processor 56 may be a conventional bill processor or credit card reader with the ability to dispense tokens.

The player interface 52 may be an interactive touch screen as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, a keyboard or other electromechanical devices may be provided for entry of numbers selected by the player and for entry of the betting format.

In use, a player 20 may insert one or more tokens into the video game 50. As each token is inserted into the game 50, the total tokens (credits) may be displayed on a token balance display 58.

Upon establishing credit with the game 50, the player 20 may select a type of game to play. Choices may be a pick 3 game (e.g., pick 3 numbers for use with a 3×3 matrix), pick 4 numbers (for a 4×4 matrix), pick 5 numbers (for a 5×5 matrix), etc.

The player 20 may enter 3 numbers (for a pick 3 game) through an interactive window 56. Alternatively, the player 20 may activate an instant pick softkey 86 to cause the computer to randomly select 3 numbers via an additional set of random number generators. Upon entry of the third number, the player 20 may be asked to confirm proper entry of the 3 numbers (123) by activation of an ENTER softkey or touch screen.

Either before or after entry of the numbers, the player 20 may be asked to choose the number and location of a set of betting lines within a betting window. Softkeys may be provided for the identification of betting lines (e.g., rows, columns, diagonals). Once more, the player 20 may be asked to activate a CONFIRM or PLAY softkey to confirm his bet and to activate execution of the game 50.

Upon activating the CONFIRM or PLAY softkey, the CPU 54 may save a summary of the wager in a betting file 64 and transfer an identifier of the betting file 64 to a display processor 78. The betting file may include the numbers picked 66, the game selected 69, the betting lines of the bet 70 and the betting amount 72.

In order to execute the bet, display processor 78 of the CPU 54 may next assign a separate hopper (i.e., a random number generator 74, 76) to each of the spaces in the matrix 68. In the case of a pick 3 game with nine spaces (labeled as 1-9 within the matrix 68 of FIG. 2), the CPU 54 would assign a set of nine random number generators (RNGs) 74, 76 to the matrix 68 where each random number generator or hopper is associated with a specific space of the matrix (i.e., a first RNG 74, 76 may be assigned to the first space labeled “1” in the matrix 68, a second RNG 74, 76 may be assigned to a second space labeled “2” and so on).

The random number generators 74, 76 may be programmed to randomly generate a symbolic element out of any sequence of symbolic elements. For example, the number range of 0-9 may define a set of symbolic elements that may be randomly identified by the respective random number generators 74, 76. Alternatively, the number range of 0-9, plus a wildcard element may define the set of 11 symbolic elements that are randomly identified by the random number generator 74, 76.

Following assignment of a random number generator 74, 76 to each space within the matrix 68, the display processor 78 may activate each random number generator 74, 76 of the assigned set of random number generators 74, 76. In response, each of the random number generators 74, 76 randomly generates an identifier of a symbolic element from the set of symbolic elements. Once a randomly generated symbolic element has been generated, the display processor 78 may transfer a graphic display of the symbolic elements to the matrix 68 for display in the respective spaces of the matrix 68.

The display processor 78 may also transfer the randomly generated symbolic elements (and a matrix destination address) to a matrix processor 80. In response, the matrix processor 80 may retrieve the betting file 64 for a comparison of the bet with the winning numbers from the random number generators 74, 76 under the comparison criteria 18.

In order to determine whether the player 20 has won, the matrix processor 80 may retrieve the numbers and the betting criteria picked by player 20, compare the numbers and criteria with the winning numbers and may do so along a number of different axes within the two-dimensional matrix 68.

For example, FIG. 3 represents a matrix 68 of winning numbers. In this example, the center position of the matrix shows a circle with the letters “MB” inside (hereinafter referred to as a “MONEYBALL$”). The term MONEYBALL$ refers to a wildcard symbolic element.

Following the example above, it may be assumed that the player bet the number sequence “123”. It may be assumed that the player placed a bet on all eight betting lines.

In the example of FIG. 3, the matrix processor 80 would begin by processing the rows, columns and diagonals of the matrix 68 to identify matches between each betting format and picked numbers. In the first row, the matrix processor 80 would find that the player 20 had won because the numbers “123” appear as a winning combination (see row B in Table I). The matrix processor 80 would also find that the player 20 had won on the third column because the numbers “312” appear as a winning combination (see row C in Table I). Similarly, the matrix processor 80 would also find that the player 20 had won on the diagonal from the upper-left to the lower-right because the number 1 appears on the upper-left and the number 2 appears on the lower-right and the MONEYBALL$ is in the center as the winning combination (see D in Table I). A number of winning combinations (see H in Table I) are also present in the example of FIG. 3. In total using the results in FIG. 3, the player would be awarded a payout of 93 times his per line wager.

In general, the matrix processor 80 processes eight different betting (pay) lines. As used herein, a betting line is a linear array of spaces within the matrix 12. In this case, there are three rows, three columns and two diagonals, which add up to eight different betting lines on which a payout is possible.

Upon determining the number of winning combinations, the matrix processor 80 may transfer an identifier of the bet format of each winning combination to a payment processor 84. The payment processor 84 may retrieve the bet amount placed by the player 20 and multiply the bet amount by a pay out factor under the bet format retrieved from a pay out schedule 82 to arrive at a pay out amount for each winning combination. The pay out processor 84 may then sum the pay out amount for each winning combination on each betting line and transfer the sum to the token processor 56 to dispense the winning amount to the player 20. It should be noted that the Moneyball$ may be used as a wildcard as depicted or it may be used as an element or series of elements that allow the player to enter a bonus round.

A comparison of odds will now be offered between a prior art state lottery Pick-3 game and the game 50 described above. Each Example shows a player picking a 3 number set (i.e., 123). In a state lottery, a player would have to place 5 separate bets to cover all possible combinations of his number (123). The betting format would include a “123” straight bet, a “123” box bet, a “12x” first pair bet, a “1×3” split pair bet and a “x23” back pair bet.

Assuming a player makes all 5 bets for the same game, he still has only a 3.3% chance of winning, using all 5 bets. One of the following combination of numbers would have to be drawn for a player to win on any of his wagers: 123, 132, 213, 231, 312, 321, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 103, 113, 133, 143, 153, 163, 173, 183, 193, 023, 223, 323, 423, 523, 623, 723, 823, 923. If a player were to make just 1 wager, the best odds of winning would be 1% on a Pair Bet.

Now consider the situation of the game 10, 50 using a 3×3 matrix 68 and the player plays the same 3 numbers (i.e., 123). In this case, a player wins if he matches any 2 or more numbers selected by the game 50. It may be noted that the Moneyball$ is used as a wildcard and thus matches any number.

In this example, it can be shown that a 3 number combination (where each number may assume 11 different values) has 1331 possible number combinations. It may also be shown that out of a possible 1331 different number combinations that can be drawn in this example, a player would win on 334 of those drawings; that is, over 25% of the time compared to 1% in a state lottery. Table I summarizes the odds associated with a single line.

TABLE I
				Possible
COMBINATION	POSSIBILITY	PERCENT	RATIO	Payouts
A) 3	1	0.00075131	1:1331	50:1
MONEYBALLS$
B) 3 matches in	1	0.00075131	1:1331	50:1
order
C) 3 matches out	5	0.00375657	1:266.200	25:1
of order
D) 2 matches + 1	18	0.01352367	1:73.944	15:1
MONEYBALL$
E) 1 match + 2	9	0.00676183	1:147.889	10:1
MONEYBALL$
F) 0 matches + 2	21	0.01577761	1:63.381	5:1
MONEYBALL$
G) 2 matches + 0	144	0.10818933	1:9.243	3:1
MONEYBALL$
H) 1 match + 1	135	0.10142750	1:9.859	1:1
MONEYBALL$
TOTAL (Any win)	334	0.25093913	1:3.985	94.44%
				payback

In addition, if the analysis of the 3×3 matrix is extended to cover (i.e., the player 20 bets on) all 8 betting lines, then the 1331 possible outcomes of each betting line would amount to 2,357,947,691 possible number combinations over the 8 betting lines. Out of 2,357,947,691 possible outcomes, a player would win at least once in each of 1,807,390,506 combinations, giving the player an over 76% chance of winning compared to 3.3% in a State Lottery.

In another illustrated embodiment (FIG. 4), the concepts of the above-described game are extended to a five-by-five matrix with a free space in the center. The free space of the game of FIG. 4 differs from the Moneyball$ in that the free space at the center of FIG. 4 is not randomly chosen and, in fact, is always a free space.

The game of FIG. 4 would proceed substantially as described above. The player 20 may select betting lines and a bet amount. The player 20 may select a set of bet numbers (e.g., 12345) or allow the computer to select the bet numbers. Once the player 20 has placed his bet, the computer would select the random numbers for display in the matrix of FIG. 4.

The matrix processor 80 may then determine a value of the win. In this regard, Tables II and III represent a predetermined winning chart that provides the odds of winning and potential payouts.

In the example of FIG. 4, the matrix processor 80 would begin by processing the rows, columns and diagonals of the matrix 68 to identify matches between each betting format and picked numbers. In the first row, the matrix processor 80 would find that the player 20 had won because the numbers “12345” appear as a winning combination of “5000:1” (see row B in Table II). The matrix processor 80 would also find that the player 20 had won on the fifth column because the numbers “50234 appear as a winning combination of “5:1” (see row F in Table II). Similarly, the matrix processor 80 would also find that the player 20 had a winning combination of “5:1”on the diagonal 1 from the upper-left to the lower-right because the numbers “13fs$4” appear along the pay line, (see D in Table III). A number of other winning combinations are also present in the example of FIG. 4 (Row 4 & Column 2: see G in Table II) a winning combination of “2:1”, (Row 5: see J in Table II),(Column 1: see I in Table II), (Row 3: see I in Table III), (Column 3 & Diagonal 2: see G in Table III) all for winning combinations of “1:1”. In total using the results in FIG. 4, the player would be awarded a payout of 5019 times his per line wager.

In general, the matrix processor 80 processes twelve different betting (pay) lines. As used herein, a betting line is a linear array of spaces within the matrix 12. In this case, there are five rows, five columns and two diagonals, which add up to twelve different betting lines on which a payout is possible.

TABLE II
COMBINATION 161051
5 × 5 rows 1, 2, 4 & 5	# of			Possible
columns 1, 2, 4 & 5	combinations	PERCENT	RATIO	Payouts
A) 5 MONEYBALL$	1	0.00000621	1:161051	5000:1
B) 5 matches in order	1	0.00000621	1:161051	5000:1
C) 5 matches out of order	119	0.00073890	1:1353.37	75:1
D) 5 mix matches & Moneyball$	1425	0.00884813	1:113.018	25:1
E) 4 MONEYBALL$	25	0.00015523	1:6442.040	25:1
F) 4 matches in any order	4200	0.02607870	1:38.345	5:1
G) 4 mix matches & Moneyball$	11950	0.07420010	1:13.477	2:1
H) 3 MONEYBALL$	250	0.00155230	1:644.204	1:1
I) 3 matches in any order	25500	0.15833494	1:6.316	1:1
J) 3 mix matches & Moneyball$	26250	0.16299185	1:6.135	1:1
TOTAL (Any win)	69721	0.43291256	1:2.31	94.4266%
				payback

TABLE III
COMBINATION
14641 Row 3
column 3 diagonals
1 & 2 Free	# of			Possible
Space Plus	combinations	PERCENT	RATIO	Payouts
A) 4	1	0.00006830	1:14641	500:1
MONEYBALL$
B) 4 matches	1	0.00006830	1:14641	500:1
in order
C) 4 matches out of	119	0.00812786	1:123.034	10:1
order
D) 4 mix matches &	380	0.02595451	1:38.529	5:1
Moneyball$
E) 3	20	0.00136603	1:732.05	5:1
MONEYBALL$
F) 3 matches in any	1560	0.10655010	1:9.385	1:1
order
G) 3 mix matches &	1770	0.12089338	1:8.272	1:1
Moneyball$
H) 2	150	0.01024520	1:97.607	1:1
MONEYBALL$
I) 2 matches in any	4340	0.29642785	1:3.374	1:1
order
J) 2 mix matches &	1820	0.12430845	1:8.045	1:1
Moneyball$
TOTAL (Any win)	10161	0.69400996	1:1.441	94.4608%
				payback

In general, the game 10, 50 differs from state lotteries in that it involves a two dimensional array of winning numbers. The game 10, 50 differs from bingo in that the player 20 can pick his own combination of numbers.

A specific embodiment of a game of chance has been described for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention is made and used. It should be understood that the implementation of other variations and modifications of the invention and its various aspects will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and that the invention is not limited by the specific embodiments described. Therefore, it is contemplated to cover the present invention and any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein.

Claims

1. A game of chance comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of hoppers where each hopper of the plurality of hoppers contains a plurality of equally weighted randomly selected symbolic elements;

providing a two-dimensional matrix having a plurality of spaces that corresponds to the plurality of hoppers and where each space of the plurality of spaces of the matrix is associated with a respective hopper of the plurality of hoppers;

receiving a bet from a player that defines a physical relationship of symbolic elements within the matrix;

randomly selecting a symbolic element from each of the plurality of hoppers and displaying the randomly selected symbolic element in the associated space of the matrix; and

paying the player for each occurrence where the defined relationship of the bet matches the displayed elements in the two-dimensional matrix.

2. The game of chance of claim 1 further comprising defining the symbolic elements as spherical balls.

3. The game of chance of claim 2 wherein the step of randomly selecting the symbolic elements further comprises rotating each of the plurality of hoppers to randomize the plurality of balls within each hopper.

4. The game of chance of claim 1 further comprising a programmed computer video game.

5. The game of chance of claim 4 wherein the plurality of hoppers further comprises a corresponding plurality of random number generators that randomly generate identifiers of the plurality of symbolic elements.

6. The game of chance of claim 5 further comprising defining the plurality of symbolic elements as numbers from 0 to 9.

7. The game of chance of claim 6 wherein the symbolic elements further comprise a wildcard.

8. The game of chance of claim 5 wherein the step of randomly selecting a symbolic element further comprises activating a random number generator of the plurality of random number generators.

9. The game of chance of claim 1 further comprising defining a plurality of betting lines within the two-dimensional matrix where each betting line further comprises a linear array of spaces of the matrix.

10. The game of chance of claim 9 wherein the step of paying the player further comprises comparing the defined physical relationship of pre-defined winning combinations with the randomly selected symbolic elements within at least some betting lines of the plurality of betting lines.

11. The game of chance of claim 10 wherein the defined physical relationship further comprises a predefined sequence of symbolic elements within a betting line of the plurality of betting lines.

12. The game of chance of claim 11 wherein the predefined sequence further comprises at least one of the group consisting of a straight bet, a pair bet, a boxed pair and a box bet or any combination of wins displayed in a predetermined winning chart.

13. A game of chance comprising:

a plurality of hoppers where each hopper of the plurality of hoppers contains a plurality of randomly selected equally weighted symbolic elements;

a two-dimensional matrix having a plurality of spaces that corresponds to the plurality of hoppers and where each space of the plurality of spaces of the matrix is associated with a respective hopper of the plurality of hoppers;

an input device adapted to receive a bet from a player that defines a physical relationship of symbolic elements within the matrix;

means for randomly selecting a symbolic element from each of the plurality of hoppers and displaying the randomly selected symbolic element in the associated space of the matrix; and

means for paying the player for each occurrence where the defined relationship of the bet matches the displayed elements in the two-dimensional matrix.

14. The game of chance of claim 13 further comprising defining the symbolic elements as spherical balls.

15. The game of chance of claim 15 wherein the means for randomly selecting the symbolic elements further comprises means for rotating each of the plurality of hoppers to randomize the plurality of balls within each hopper.

16. The game of chance of claim 13 further comprising a programmed computer video game.

17. The game of chance of claim 16 wherein the plurality of hoppers further comprises a corresponding plurality of random number generators that randomly generate identifiers of the plurality of symbolic elements.

18. The game of chance of claim 17 further comprising defining the plurality of symbolic elements as numbers from 0 to 9.

19. The game of chance of claim 18 wherein the symbolic elements further comprise a wildcard.

20. The game of chance of claim 17 wherein the means for randomly selecting a symbolic element further comprises means for activating a random number generator of the plurality of random number generators.

21. The game of chance of claim 13 further comprising defining a plurality of betting lines within the two-dimensional matrix where each betting line further comprises a linear array of spaces of the matrix.

22. The game of chance of claim 21 wherein the means for paying the player further comprises means for comparing the defined physical relationship of pre-defined winning combinations with the randomly selected symbolic element within at least some betting lines of the plurality of betting lines.

23. The game of chance of claim 22 wherein the defined physical relationship further comprises a predefined sequence of symbolic elements within a betting line of the plurality of betting lines.

24. The game of chance of claim 23 wherein the predefined sequence further comprises at least one of the group consisting of a straight bet, a pair bet, a boxed pair and a box bet or any combination of wins displayed in a predetermined winning chart.

25. A programmed computer game of chance, such method implemented by the programmed computer to effect the following steps:

the programmed computer providing a betting matrix having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, where each space in the matrix has a plurality of symbols associated with the space and where the plurality of symbols of each space are all different;

the programmed computer receiving a bet from a player based upon a particular combination of symbols appearing among the spaces within the matrix;

the programmed computer randomly selecting and displaying a symbol of the plurality of symbols associated with each space of the matrix for each space of the matrix;

the programmed computer searching the matrix along a plurality of axes for the presence of the combination of symbols of the received bet; and

the programmed computer paying the player when the plurality of symbols displayed within the matrix along a searched axis match the bet placed by the player with any combination of wins displayed in a predetermined winning chart.

26. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 wherein the matrix further comprises three rows and three columns of spaces.

27. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 wherein the matrix further comprises five rows and five columns of spaces.

28. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 27 wherein the five rows and columns of spaces of the matrix further comprises a free space symbol at a center of the matrix.

29. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 wherein the plurality of symbols further comprises numbers zero to nine.

30. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 wherein the plurality of symbols further comprise a wildcard symbol.

31. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 wherein the plurality of axes further comprise vertical, horizontal and diagonal axes.

32. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 25 further comprising receiving a plurality of bets from the player.

33. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 32 wherein the plurality of bets further comprises a bet selected from the group consisting of a straight bet, a box bet, a pair bet or any combination of wins displayed in a predetermined winning chart.

34. The programmed computer game of chance as in claim 32 further comprising paying the player for each matched combination of the plurality of bets.