Tiered gaming

• US 10,332,354 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 06/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Amaitis, Lee, Holt, Matthew, Colbert, Mike, Stephens, Reed
• Primary Examiner(s): Rowland, Steve
• Application Number:
  US13/835,222
• Publication Number:
  US 20140011573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,293 Days
• Field of Search: 463 25, 463 26, 463 28, 463 30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3274 wherein the players cooperate, e.g. team-play
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

Some embodiments include a fantasy sports wagering game. A gaming operator may assign real life sporting players into brackets based on their expected performance so that players with similar expected performance are in a same bracket as each other. Participants in a fantasy sports wagering game may be required to select a player from each of a plurality of brackets to form a fantasy sports team for the fantasy sports wagering game.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a computing device; and

a non-transitory medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the apparatus to;

receive information identifying a plurality of players that will play in sporting events;

receive information identifying respective past performance of each of the plurality of players in past sporting events;

for each player of the plurality of players, determine a respective expected fantasy sports score based on the past performance of the respective player, in which each expected fantasy sports scores identifies a respective expected number of fantasy sports points that a respective player will earn when selected for a team in a fantasy sports game that is based on a plurality of sporting events;

based on the determined expected fantasy sports scores, assign at least some of the plurality of players to one of a plurality of player tiers, in which each player tier includes players that are determined to have similar expected fantasy sports scores;

transmit, via a communication network, display information to cause display, at a graphical user interface of a communication device of each participant of a plurality of participants in the fantasy sports game, of the plurality of player tiers respectively with the players thereof and indicia indicating a requirement for the each participant to select one respective player from each of the plurality of tiers to form a respective fantasy sports team for the fantasy sports game;

receive selection information provided from each of the communication devices via the communication network, in which the selection information is provided responsive to and representative of selection operations by the each participant, on the graphical user interface of the corresponding communication device, of one respective player from each of the plurality of tiers; and

determine an outcome of the fantasy sports game based on the performance of the selected players in the plurality of sporting events.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

determine a required number of participants for the fantasy sports game;

allow participants to join the fantasy sports game until the required number of participants are reached; and

determine that the fantasy sports game should be played based on the required number of participants being reached.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

determine that for a second fantasy sports game that a second required number of participants joining the second fantasy sports game is not reached, and in response to that determination, canceling the second fantasy sports game.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

receive information identifying which sporting position in the plurality of sporting events each of the plurality of players plays;

in which assigning each player to one of the plurality of player tiers includes assigning each player to a tier that is both based on excepted fantasy sports scores and is defined to include only players in a single sporting position.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, in which each fantasy sports team of each player in the fantasy sports game is required to include a respective player from each tier, in which multiple tiers of the plurality of tiers are tiers for a same sporting position but different expected fantast sports score levels.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the fantasy sports game includes a required buy in amount that each participant of the plurality of participants pays to play in the fantasy sports game;

in which fantasy sports game includes a payout amount that is paid based on the outcome of the fantasy sports game.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

assign the payout amount to an account of a winning participant of the plurality of participants in response to determining the outcome.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

split the payout amount among multiple participants of the plurality of participants in response to the multiple participants each earning a same highest score in the fantasy sports game.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

receive a request from a first participant of the plurality of participants to form the fantasy sports game, in which the request identifies a number of participants of the plurality of participants, an identity of the others of the plurality of participants, and a buy in amount for entering the game that is payable to a gaming operator operating the computing device; and

in response to receiving the request, inviting the others of the plurality of participants to the fantasy sports game, charging the first participant and one or more others of the plurality of participants the buy in amount, and determining a payout for winning the fantasy sports game based on a number of the plurality of participants and the buy in amount.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

receive a request from a first participant of the plurality of participants to from the fantasy sports game, in which the request identifies a number of participants of the plurality of participants, an identify of the others of the plurality of participants, and a payout amount that is payable from a gaming operator operating the computing device based on the outcome; and

in response to receiving the request, inviting the others of the plurality of participants to the fantasy sports game, determining a buy in amount based on a number of the plurality of participants and the payout amount; and

charging the first participant and the others of the plurality of participants the buy in amount.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the plurality of players include a subset of players that participate in the sporting events.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, in which to determine the outcome, the instructions cause the apparatus to:

for each tier, determine which participant of the plurality of participants selected a highest performing player based on play in one or more of the plurality of sporting events; and

determine a winner of the fantasy sports game to be a participant that selected the most number of said highest performing players.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, in which to determine the outcome, the instructions cause the apparatus to:

for each tier, determine which participant of the plurality of participants selected a highest performing player based on play in one or more of the plurality of sporting events; and

determine that at least two participants of the plurality of participants selected an equal and highest number of said highest performing players; and

in response to determining that at least two participants of the plurality of participants selected the equal and highest number of said highest performing players, applying a secondary outcome determination method.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the secondary outcome determination method includes determining the outcome based on a comparison of sums by which each participant of the at least two participants won each of the tiers won by the two participants.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the secondary outcome determination method results in a tie and in which the instructions cause the apparatus in response to the tie to:

split a prize pool for the fantasy sports game between the at least two participants.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, in which to determine the outcome, the instructions cause the apparatus to:

for each participant, determine a sum of fantasy sports scores earned by the players selected by the participant based on play in one or more of the plurality of sporting events;

and determine a winner of the fantasy sports game to be a participant that has the highest said sum.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, in which to determine the outcome, the instructions cause the apparatus to:

for each participant, determine a sum of fantasy sports scores earned by the players selected by the participant based on play in one or more of the plurality of sporting events;

and determine a winner of the fantasy sports game to be a participant that has the lowest said sum.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

determine a respective range of fantasy sports scores for each of the plurality of player tiers;

and in which to assign the at least some of the players, the instructions cause the apparatus to;

assign each player of the at least some of the players to a respective single tier that is defined by a range in which the player'"'"'s expected fantasy score falls.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, in which to assign the at least some of the plurality of players, the instructions cause the apparatus to:

determine which of the plurality of players will start in the sporting events; and

assign only at least part of said starting those to the plurality of player tiers.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions cause the apparatus to:

define each tier of the plurality of player tiers to include a set number of players.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, in which each tier is defined to include different players from every other tier, in which each tier is defined so that players in the tier include similarly valued expected fantasy sports scores, and in which each participant is required to select one and only one player from every tier to play the fantasy sports game.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, in which similarly values expected fantasy sports scores include scores within a range, within a percentage of a target value, within 5% of one another, within 5% of a target value, within a numerical value from one another, within 5 points from one another, within 5 points form a target value, within a range of player percentages so that qualitatively similar players are grouped together.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, in which each tier is defined so that players in the tier play the same sporting position.

24. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, information identifying a plurality of players that will play in sporting events;

receiving, by the computing device, information identifying respective past performance of each of the plurality of players in past sporting events;

for each player of the plurality of players, determining, by the computing device, a respective expected fantasy sports score based on the past performance of the respective player, in which each expected fantasy sports scores identifies a respective expected number of fantasy sports points that a respective player will earn when selected for a team in a fantasy sports game that is based on a plurality of sporting events;

based on the determined expected fantasy sports scores, assigning, by the computing device, at least some of the plurality of players to one of a plurality of player tiers, in which each player tier includes players that are determined to have similar expected fantasy sports scores;

transmitting, by the computing device, via a communication network, display information to cause display, at a graphical user interface of a communication device of each participant of a plurality of participants in the fantasy sports game, of the plurality of player tiers respectively with the players thereof and indicia indicating a requirement for the each participant to select one respective player from each of the plurality of tiers to form a respective fantasy sports team for the fantasy sports game;

receiving selection information provided from each of the communication devices via the communication network, in which the selection information is provided responsive to and representative of selection operations by the each participant, on the graphical user interface of the corresponding communication device, of one respective player from each of the plurality of tiers; and

determining, by the computing device, an outcome of the fantasy sports game based on the performance of the selected players in the plurality of sporting events.