Systems and Methods for Providing Gaming Activities
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Abstract
Described herein are various systems and methods for providing gaming activities, these particularly relating to gaming activities where a plurality of players provide respective entry fees. Traditional gaming activities necessarily involve the player putting his or her entry fee at risk. The present invention, at least in some of its preferred forms, modifies the traditional approaches of operating such gaming activities so that the player'"'"'s entry fee is not necessarily placed entirely at risk. Indeed, in some embodiments a player is provided with an option to participate on the basis that his or her entry fee is wholly refundable while retaining the opportunity to win prizes, potentially alongside more risky though still modified participation by other players.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A computer system configured to provide a lottery game wherein:
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a first category of player participates on the basis that, for a player belonging to the first category, an entry fee provided by that player is refundable in the case that a prize is not won by that player in relation to the entry fee; and a second category of player participates on the basis that, for a player belonging to the second category, an entry fee provided by that player is forfeited in the case that a prize is not won by that player in relation to the entry fee; wherein players belonging to the first category and the second category are eligible to win a common prize. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer program product configured to perform a method including the steps of:
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receiving data indicative of an entry fee amount; receiving data indicative of a risk profile selected from a plurality of available risk profiles, wherein each risk profile defines a proportion of an entry fee that is refundable on the basis of predetermined refund criteria and a complementary proportion of the entry fee that is placed at risk; and providing output indicative of a number of entries for which the entry fee amount is able to be exchanged on the basis of the selected risk profile. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for configuring a gaming activity, the method including the steps of:
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defining a first category of player which participates on the basis that, for a player belonging to the first category, an entry fee provided by that player is at least partially refundable in the case that a prize is not won; defining a second category of player which participates on the basis that, for a player belonging to the second category, an entry fee provided by that player is forfeited in the case that a prize is not won, wherein players belonging to the first category and the second category are eligible to win a common prize; determining a relationship between contribution and entry allocation; and defining a protocol for the allocation of entries to players such that, for each player, the number of entries allocated in exchange for an entry fee are based on the determined relationship between contribution and entry allocation. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
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40. A method for providing a gaming activity, the method including the steps of:
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for a first category of player, exchanging an entry fee of value X for Y chances to win a prize from a set of available prizes, wherein the entry fee is refundable irrespective of the outcome of the gaming activity; and for a second category of player, exchanging an entry fee of value X for Z chances to win a prize from the same set of available prizes, wherein the entry fee is placed at risk subject to the of the outcome of the gaming activity, and wherein Y<
Z. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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42. A method for providing a gaming activity, the method including the steps of:
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for a first category of player, exchanging an entry fee of value X for a one or more standard entries in the gaming activity, on the basis that the entry fee will be refundable irrespective of the outcome of the gaming activity; and for a second category of player, exchanging an entry fee of value X for the same number of one or more standard entries in the gaming activity plus one or more bonus entries in the gaming activity, on the basis that the entry fee is placed at risk in the gaming activity.
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Specification