Lottery game with method for playing a lottery game using multiple independent lottery results

• US 20050064931A1
• Filed: 09/23/2003
• Published: 03/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scientific Games International Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Penrice, Stephen, Lathrop, Kenneth
• Granted Patent: US 7,186,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

In one aspect, the invention is directed to a method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players. The method may include accepting an entry from each of the plurality of players for an occurrence of the lottery game, and each entry may include a predetermined number of multi-digit entry numbers. The method may further include determining an outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game, and the outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game may include selecting a predetermined number of multi-digit drawing numbers. Still further, the method may include comparing the multi-digit entry numbers for each entry to the multi-digit drawing numbers for the occurrence of the lottery game, and determining whether each entry is a winning entry based on the level of correspondence between entry numbers and the drawing numbers.

Claims

1. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players, comprising:

accepting an entry from each of the plurality of players for an occurrence of the lottery game, each entry comprising a predetermined number of multi-digit entry numbers;

determining an outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game, the outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game comprising selecting a predetermined number of multi-digit drawing numbers;

comparing the multi-digit entry numbers for each entry to the multi-digit drawing numbers for the occurrence of the lottery game; and

determining whether each entry is a winning entry based on the level of correspondence between entry numbers and the drawing numbers.

2. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined number of entry numbers is three entry numbers.

3. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 2, wherein each of the multi-digit entry numbers comprises three digits, wherein for each entry a first entry number must have one repeated digit, a second entry number must have no repeated digits, and a third entry number must not be a permutation of the digits of either the first entry number or the second entry number, wherein the predetermined number of multi-digit drawing numbers is three drawing numbers and each of the multi-digit drawing numbers comprises three digits, the method comprising:

comparing the digits in the first entry number of each entry to the digits of at least one of the drawing numbers regardless of the order of the digits;

comparing the digits in the second entry number of each entry to the digits of at least one of the drawing numbers regardless of the order of the digits; and

comparing the order of the digits of the third entry number of each entry to the order of the digits of at least of the drawing numbers.

4. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 3, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the digits of the first multi-digit entry number matches the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits or the digits of the second multi-digit entry number matches the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits or the digits of the third entry number matches the order of the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number.

5. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 3, wherein the lottery game is sponsored by a plurality of states, the method comprising:

selecting the first drawing number in a first state;

selecting the second drawing number in a second state; and

selecting the third drawing number in a third state.

6. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 3, comprising:

offering players a progressive jackpot prize; and

determining that an entry is a jackpot-winning entry where the digits of the first multi-digit entry number match the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits and the digits of the second multi-digit entry number match the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits and the digits of the third entry number match the order of the digits of at least one multi-digit drawing number.

7. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 3, comprising:

comparing the digits in the first entry number of each entry to the digits of a first drawing number regardless of the order of the digits;

comparing the digits in the second entry number of each entry to the digits of a second drawing number regardless of the order of the digits; and

comparing the order of the digits of the third entry number of each entry to the order of the digits of a third drawing number.

8. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 7, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the digits of the first multi-digit entry number matches the digits of the first multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits or the digits of the second multi-digit entry numbers matches the digits of the second multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits or the digits of the third entry number matches the order of the digits of the third multi-digit drawing number.

9. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 7, comprising:

offering players a progressive jackpot prize; and

determining that an entry is a jackpot-winning entry where the digits of the first multi-digit entry number match the digits of the first multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits and the digits of the second multi-digit entry numbers match the digits of the second multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits and the digits of the third entry number match the order of the digits of the third multi-digit drawing number.

10. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein each of the multi-digit entry numbers comprises three digits.

11. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein each of the multi-digit entry numbers comprises four digits.

12. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the multi-digit entry numbers comprises a different number of digits than the other multi-digit entry numbers.

13. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising allowing each player to specify a comparison type for each multi-digit number, wherein the comparison type is one of comparing an order of the digits in the multi-digit entry number to an order of the digits in a multi-digit drawing number to which the multi-digit entry number is compared, and comparing the digits in the multi-digit entry number to the digits in the multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits.

14. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 13, comprising comparing a multi-digit entry number to at least one of the multi-digit drawing numbers based on the comparison type for the multi-digit entry number.

15. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined number of multi-digit entry numbers is equal to the predetermined number of multi-digit drawing numbers.

16. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein the number of digits in each multi-digit entry number is equal to the number of digits in each multi-digit drawing number.

17. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, wherein the lottery game is sponsored by a plurality of states, the method comprising selecting each of the multi-digit drawing numbers in a different state.

18. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising comparing an order of the digits in a multi-digit entry number to an order of the digits in a multi-digit drawing number to which the multi-digit entry number is compared.

19. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising comparing the digits in a multi-digit entry number to the digits in the multi-digit drawing number regardless of the order of the digits.

20. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising comparing each of the multi-digit entry numbers to each of the multi-digit drawing numbers.

21. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising comparing each of the multi-digit entry numbers to a corresponding one of the multi-digit drawing numbers.

22. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the digits of at least one of the multi-digit entry numbers matches the digits of at least one of the multi-digit drawing numbers regardless of the order of the digits.

23. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the order of the digits of at least one of the multi-digit entry numbers matches the order of the digits of at least one of the multi-digit drawing numbers.

24. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the digits of each of the multi-digit entry numbers matches the digits of a corresponding one of the multi-digit drawing numbers regardless of the order of the digits.

25. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 1, comprising determining that an entry is a winning entry where the order of the digits of each of the multi-digit entry numbers matches the order of the digits of a corresponding one of the multi-digit drawing numbers.

26. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players, comprising:

accepting an entry from each of the plurality of players for an occurrence of the lottery game, each entry comprising a first multi-digit entry number, a second multi-digit entry number, and a third multi-digit entry number;

determining an outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game, the outcome for the occurrence of the lottery game comprising selecting a first multi-digit drawing number, selecting a second multi-digit drawing number, and selecting a third multi-digit drawing number wherein the number of digits in each multi-digit drawing number is equal to the number of digits in each multi-digit entry number;

comparing the first multi-digit entry number to the first multi-digit drawing number, the second multi-digit entry number to the second multi-digit drawing number, and the third multi-digit entry number to the third multi-digit drawing number for the occurrence of the lottery game; and

determining whether each entry is a winning entry based on the level of correspondence between the first multi-digit entry number and the first multi-digit drawing number, the second multi-digit entry number and the second multi-digit drawing number, and the third multi-digit entry number and the third multi-digit drawing number.

27. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 26, wherein the first, second and third multi-digit entry numbers and the first, second and third multi-digit drawing numbers are each three-digit numbers.

28. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 27, wherein for each entry the first entry number must have one repeated digit, the second entry number must have no repeated digits, and the third entry number must not be a permutation of the digits of either the first entry number or the second entry number, the method comprising:

comparing the digits in the first entry number of each entry to the digits of the first drawing number regardless of the order of the digits;

comparing the digits in the second entry number of each entry to the digits of the second drawing number regardless of the order of the digits; and

comparing the order of the digits of the third entry number of each entry to the order of the digits of the third drawing number.

29. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 26, wherein the first, second and third multi-digit entry numbers and the first, second and third multi-digit drawing numbers are each four-digit numbers.

30. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 26, comprising allowing each player to specify a comparison type for each of the first, second and third entry numbers, wherein the comparison type is one of comparing an order of the digits in the entry number to an order of the digits in a corresponding drawing number to which the entry number is compared, and comparing the digits in the entry number to the digits in the drawing number to which the entry number is compared regardless of the order of the digits.

31. A method for providing a lottery game for a plurality of players according to claim 26, wherein the lottery game is sponsored by a plurality of states, the method comprising

selecting the first drawing number in a first state;

selecting the second drawing number in a second state; and

selecting the third drawing number in a third state.