MOBILE PAPERLESS WAGERING SYSTEM
A mobile wireless, paperless gaming system is described, including a location aware center, LAC, or WiFi hot spot. The LAC is the only location that allows communications with the gaming system. The LAC may contain a terminal with a resident gaming application, a cash handler and display and scanner facilities. The player accesses the game via a mobile device, illustratively operating a touch screen, and utilizes a lottery or non-lottery payment account that is approved by the game sponsor or owner, thereby validating and authorizing the player to wager on a game. The games and wagers are displayed on the mobile device and the player makes his selections. The results are relayed back to the player's mobile device and the account debited resulting accordance with the amount wagered. The game application may be resident at the hot spot or at the remote controller or at another remote location accessible via the communications network.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gaming systems and methods, and more particularly to mobile wireless, paperless gaming systems.
2. Background Information
Lottery systems are well known in the Untied States. Generally, these systems involved selecting a group of numbers that are on a printed ticket from an authorized vendor or agent of the lottery. The numbers are drawn and winners present their ticket(s) to a vendor and receive a prize, usually money. Variations involve use of the U.S. mail, and issuance of “scratch” tickets which involve scratching off a covering to expose numbers or other indicia, which identify the game piece as an immediate winner or loser. The pre-ceding is only illustrative of the many types of different games that share a common theme.
The gaming systems are expanding by using cellular, Internet or other such wire and/or wireless combination networks.
Illustrative of the present state of the art, several U.S. patent applications have been published. One is Pub. No. US 2007/0093296A1 ('296), entitled, “System and Method for Wireless Lottery”; and, another is US2007/0213118 ('118), entitled, “Method for Participating in Lottery Draw over a Cellular Network and System thereof.”
The '296 publication requires use of a mobile device (cell phone, iPhone, Blackberry, and the like) with a location determination for awarding sales to a nearby authorized retailer when the purchase is made. Details disclosed include limiting access and availability (to comply with the law, etc.) and use of private wireless systems. A private network may include virtual private networks (VPNs) as known in the art.
The '118 publication discloses a cellular system to participate in lottery drawings. A central computer is linked via a network to a drawing center and to a mobile device used by a lottery participant. Access codes and recorded instructions aid the secure execution of the user selections in drawings and confirmation reporting and charging or crediting the user via the cellular network are described. This disclosure does not address compliance with U.S. Federal wagering laws, and more specifically the Federal Wire Wager Act of 1961.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention addresses compliance with the Federal Wire Wager Act of 1961 by providing a location sensitive service that allows players who wish to participate by placing a wager in a game (defined herein as a lottery, sporting event or casino game) to physically enter a location (an authorized gaming hot spot) where such gaming is legal and use their mobile devices to enter wagers with remote locations where such gaming is legal.
Illustratively, the player is allowed to physically enter the gaming hot spot and, using a mobile device, place secure wagers in games provided and controlled by remote entities, e.g., authorized lotteries. The player's mobile device may be able to communicate with a game application server only from within the gaming hot spot. The player, in this instance, may not be able to access generally the Internet or other networks (cell or regular telephone) via the gaming hot spot. The game application server may reside within the hot spot, at a remote POS (point of sale) location or at a remote central location where the game is controlled and administered.
The system allows for registered or anonymous players to participate. Illustratively, the player originating wagers and payments will be processed only by the lottery or game network and, thus, not traverse the general Internet or cell phone networks. Both registered and anonymous players must establish a source of and amount of money that must be accepted by the lottery or gaming entity. When accepted, the player is authorized. Illustratively, players may use previously established electronic wallets (e.g., PayPal, Lottery Wallet, etc.) for payment and where winnings may be automatically deposited. Registered players may receive winning notifications and winning numbers sent via e-mail or SMS (Short Message Service—cell phone texting) messages.
From the player's mobile device keypad, the player may place wager and payment authorization requests. The player's request is transferred to the central lottery or gaming controller that will confirm that the player's method of payment is authorized and process the wager request. The response message includes wager and payment details presented to the player which may include game selection, wager amount and confirmation code, payment authorization code, and a validation barcode. (The above is meant to be informative and illustrative but not complete or determinative.)
The wager confirmation code may represent a lottery ticket serial number, or an equivalent, depending on the game selected. Illustratively, the bar code displayed on the mobile device may be scanned for winning status.
In some applications, the wagers may be stored on the lottery or game server and a copy may be stored on their mobile device.
In other applications, the lottery or game server may be arranged as a client/server application, but a browser based mobile client application may also be used to advantage.
Secure communications may employ responsible gaming aspects that verify the age and residence of the player and the availability of the wagered money and receipt of winnings.
In addition, lottery gift cards may be used. Such cards will usually have a redemption code and a PIN (Personal Identification Number) hidden under a latex layer. Other “cash cards” may require ID numbers and authorization codes (passwords) so that the dollar amounts are secure and accessible only by the owners.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, the drawings, and methods of use, the present invention is not intended to be limited to these embodiments and methods of use. Rather, the present invention is of broad scope and is intended to be defined as only set forth in the accompanying claims.
The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, of which:
In
The player will have at least a working mobile device with a broadcast spectrum that the LAC can read. The mobile device will have a touch screen and display that allows bidirectional communications between the gaming system and the player. In some instances, a telephone key pad or laptop PC keyboard also may be used.
The registered player will usually have already established a financial account with money credited. This account may be via a credit or debit card, a bank account, or an account accepted by or created by the game sponsor or owner for the registered user. An anonymous player may be able to use a gift card, a credit or debit card or cash that the central controller may verify and authorize prior to allowing the player to wager on a game. For example, a credit card may be scanned at the hot spot and validated (say, via the central controller) before the player is authorized to play. Alternatively, the player may select a payment method, such as PayPal, and request authorization as part of the wager request transaction. In this case, the payment is verified by the central controller before the player is authorized to play. The game sponsor or owner typically is a U.S. State, foreign country lottery or a casino, etc.
Still referring to
The LAC 12, alone, or the POS network 18, when provided, may have the ability to monitor the transactions between the mobile devices 10 and the POS network 18.
In some embodiments, cash 22 may be handled at the LAC 12 and/or a credit card reader and an optical scanner may be available. In some instances, a gift card may be used where a redemption and PIN number may be automatically read via a card reader 21 or a bar code scanner 23. Mobile bar codes may be used for lottery promotions and the like in addition to validations.
In order for a player to wager on a selected game, the host or central controller 16 must authorize the player for some amount of money. In practice, the player may be anonymous, that is with no pre-authorized account, or the player may be registered via a previous interaction with the host wherein the player's telephone number(s) and/or e-mail address are on file with proper security codes, e.g., identification number and a password.
In one illustrative operation shown in
If the player selected anonymous 46, the player is questioned for approval by a lottery-agent 48. The lottery agent (who may authorize wagering games in addition to lottery-type games) may be at the LAC 12, or may be remote from the LAC 12 and accessed via a communications network. The lottery agent may verify the player's age and residency and that the player accepts any other terms associated with accessing the gaming system. The player or lottery agent may use a scanner at the LAC 12 to scan a bar code on the gift card, or otherwise information on his account. The information is sent to the central controller and a verification/activation is returned 50.
When activated, the player is given access to the gaming system 54. In one embodiment, the client application may be termed a “thin client” where the player enters a URL (universal resource locator) that returns a “browser-type” display to the player. The player then via a mouse-type action selects a download of the gaming application. Alternatively, the client application may be termed a “thick client” where the player may directly access the URL for the gaming application and download the gaming application. In either event, the gaming application is launched 56.
In some applications, the operating steps between the player's mobile device and the game application of the
The memory 72 may contain an operating system 78, a memory manager 83, I/O drivers 82, a communications manager 81 and various gaming applications 80.
In one embodiment, the location aware center (LAC) 12 may be arranged with enough power to run, for the most part, independently from the central controller 16. In such an instance, the LAC 12 may only communicate results and ask for authorization from the central controller 16. However, in other embodiments, the LAC 12 may have minimal computing power where upon the game application being implemented by the player may reside in the remote central controller. For example, there may be no gaming terminal server 14 at the LAC 12.
In yet other embodiments, and depending upon the particular game, the capabilities may be split between the LAC and the central controller. The sponsoring or owning entity may expand the capabilities of the computer system within the LAC bearing the higher expense of possibly many such systems, or the entity may reduce the computing power and reduce the cost of the computer system at the LAC. Various scenarios may evolve depending upon the particular application. Such flexibilities may be built into the computing system hardware and software the central controller. In such cases, any LAC may, by an identification number or by name, etc., be sent to the central controller when the location aware system logs onto the POS and be handled by the central controller as a rudimentary gaming system, where the central controller runs the gaming at that location. Alternatively, the location aware center may be a sophisticated gaming system that runs the games with only minimal interaction with the central controller.
It should be understood that above-described embodiments are being presented herein as examples and that many variations and alternatives thereof are possible. Accordingly, the present invention should be viewed broadly as being defined only as set forth in the hereinafter appended claims.
Claims
1. A system for processing and supervising a wireless gaming activity, the system comprising:
- an account for a gaming player that may be credited, debited and monitored by a sponsor of the gaming activity;
- a location aware center having a first computing system that accommodates the gaming activity;
- the computing system comprising: a first sender/receiver for wireless communication to and from a mobile device; a second sender/receiver for communications to a communications network; and a processor and memory suitable for executing a gaming application;
- a remote central controller of the gaming activity;
- a network for sending/receiving wireless communications between the location aware center and the central controller.
2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a payment account and access credentials wherein an amount of money associated with a lottery or non-lottery account is validated and authorized for wagering.
3. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
- an identification code and a password wherein the gaming player becomes authorized by the gaming processor when the player sends the codes from the mobile device.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein the gaming application is resident in a location remote from the location aware center and from the central controller and wherein the gaming application is accessible via the network.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the gaming application is executed by and resident in the location aware center.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the gaming application is executed by and resident in the central controller.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the mobile device comprises a display that signals the gaming result to the game player.
8. The system of claim 6 wherein the computing system in the location aware center includes a scanner arranged to scan the mobile device display and input the display contents to the computer system within the location aware center.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the network is a virtual private network.
10. A method for processing and supervising a wireless gaming activity, the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing an account for a gaming player that may be credited, debited and monitored by a sponsor of the gaming activity;
- forming a location aware center having a first computing system that accommodates the gaming activity;
- wirelessly transferring gaming information between a mobile device and the location aware center, and
- communicating gaming information between the location aware center and a distal central controller via a communications network;
- a network for sending/receiving wireless communications between the location aware center and the central controller.
11. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of inquiring of a redemption code and a personal identification number wherein an amount of money is validated and authorized for wagering.
12. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of:
- establishing a redemption and PIN code wherein the gaming player becomes authorized by a gaming sponsor when the player sends the codes from the mobile device.
13. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of locating the gaming application in a location remote from the location aware center and from the central controller and wherein the gaming application is accessible via the network.
14. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of locating the gaming application in the location aware center.
15. The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of locating and executing the gaming application in the central controller.
16. The system of claim 10 further comprising the step of transferring gaming data to a display on the mobile device.
17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of scanning the mobile device display into the computer system within the location aware center.
18. A gaming system comprising:
- a first receiver, wherein the receiver responds only to selected wireless signals from a mobile device;
- a processor that receives the first gaming data;
- a gaming application executed by the processor wherein the mobile device participates in a game;
- a first sender activated by the processor that sends wireless signals to a remote central controller via communications network, wherein the central controller produces second gaming data;
- a program at the central controller that processes the second gaming data;
- a second sender at the central controller that sends processed second gaming data to the processor via the communications network;
- a second receiver that receives the processed second data and a third sender that sends information to the mobile device, wherein the mobile device displays the information.
19. The gaming system of claim 18 further comprising:
- an identification code and a password code sent from the mobile device and processed to authorized the player operating the mobile device to place a wager.
20. The gaming system of claim 18 further comprising:
- a redemption code and personal identification code sent from the mobile device and processed to validate and authorize the player operating the mobile device to place a wager.
21. The system of claim 18 further comprising a gaming application is executed by the central controller.
22. The system of claim 18 wherein the gaming application is resident in a location remote from the first receiver and from the central controller and wherein the gaming application is accessible via the communications network.
23. The system of claim 18 wherein the communication network is a private network that is accessible only by the gaming system.
24. The system of claim 18 wherein the mobile device has a touch screen and display suitable for showing a bar code.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 11, 2008
Publication Date: Aug 13, 2009
Inventors: Stephen Lupo (Westerly, RI), Paul Charles R. Cautley (Ridgefield, CT)
Application Number: 12/028,902
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101);