MOBILE GAMING ALERT

• US 20100205255A1
• Filed: 02/09/2009
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Miller, Mark, Alderucci, Dean P., Plott, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 8,150,956 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations

Abstract

Various embodiments of alerts on mobile devices are described. Other embodiments are described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a datastream describing news;

extracting one or more descriptions of current events from the datastream;

identifying event matches based on the one or more descriptions of current events and event descriptions associated with games; and

transmitting data describing event matches to a remote device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data describing event matches includes information identifying a game and information regarding the current event, including the time when the current event is scheduled to occur.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the data in an XML format.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying mobile devices that are registered to receive alerts regarding event matches.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transmitted data also includes lists of mobile devices that are registered to receive alerts regarding event matches.

6. A system comprising:

a data storage device storing information regarding a plurality of games, wherein a game includes a wager, an event with a plurality of possible outcomes, and a payout associated with each outcome, and wherein the stored information includes, for each game, a list of mobile devices registered to receive alerts associated with the game; and

a processing device configured to;

receive data comprising information related to the games;

identify matches between information in the data and one or more games by searching game information stored in the data storage device; and

for each match, generate at least one alert message for each mobile device registered to receive alerts associated with the game, wherein the alert message includes a summary of information from the data regarding the game including when a game event is scheduled to occur.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising a server configured to transmit an alert generated by the processing device to a mobile device identified as the target of the alert.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the server transmits alerts to the mobile device upon receipt from the processing device.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the server stores an alert and transmits it to the mobile device at one or more configured times prior to the scheduled gaming event.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the alert transmission times are determined at least in part by gaming preference data.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the server is further configured to:

receive a request from the mobile device that an the alert be forwarded to a second mobile device; and

transmit the alert to the second mobile device.

12. A method comprising:

specifying a gaming preference with gaming preference data indicative of one or more games; and

transmitting the gaming preference data to a server.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the gaming preference data includes a default wager.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising transmitting information identifying a mobile device to receive alerts regarding the gaming preference.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting information specifying the timing of future alert messages.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting information identifying an additional mobile device to receive alerts regarding the gaming preference.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting a request to the gaming server for gaming preference data to be forwarded to a different mobile device.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving confirmation that the server received the gaming preference data.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving confirmation that the gaming preference data is valid and has been registered by the server.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising receiving a list of games matching the gaming preference data.

21. A method comprising:

receiving an alert message via a wireless communication transmission from a server, wherein the alert message includes information describing a game and a scheduled game event, wherein a game includes an event with a plurality of possible outcomes, a wager, and a payout associated with each outcome.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising transmitting wager information for a game identified in the alert to a server.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the alert message is received using a mobile gaming device that checks whether the mobile gaming device is currently located within a designated area for gaming.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising forwarding the alert to a second mobile device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the forwarding comprises sending a request to the server that the alert be sent to the second mobile device.

26. An apparatus comprising:

a wireless communication transmitter and receiver configured to transmit signals to a server and receive signals from the server, wherein the server is programmed to access information associated with a plurality of games, each game including a wager, an event with a plurality of possible outcomes, and a payout associated with each outcome, and wherein the transmitter and receiver are further configured to;

transmit gaming preference data to the server, the gaming preference data including data indicative of one or more games; and

receive confirmation regarding the validity of the gaming preference and registration of the gaming preference from the gaming server;

a display for displaying information about games and gaming preferences; and

a data entry device for inputting gaming preference data.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a device that detects geographic location of the mobile device.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the device that detects geographic location of the mobile device includes global positioning service receiver.

29. A method comprising:

receiving a datastream describing news;

extracting one or more current event descriptions from the datastream;

identifying event matches based on the one or more current event descriptions and gaming preferences; and

transmitting data describing event matches to a remote device.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising, for each event match, generating an event match record including information identifying a gaming preference and information regarding the current event, including the time when the event is scheduled to occur.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the transmitting data comprises formatting the data in an XML format.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising identifying mobile devices that are registered to receive alerts regarding the event matches.

33. A system comprising:

a data storage device storing gaming preferences that include data indicative of one or more games and data identifying at least one mobile device registered to receive alerts regarding the games, wherein a game includes a wager, an event with a plurality of possible outcomes, and a payout associated with each outcome; and

a processing device configured to;

receive data comprising information related to one or more games;

identify matches between information in the data and one or more gaming preferences by searching gaming preferences stored in the data storage device; and

for each match, generate an alert message summarizing information from the data regarding games described by the gaming preference.

34. A method comprising:

reading alert registration data from a data storage device that stores records describing a plurality of games, wherein each record includes a list of mobile devices registered to receive alerts regarding the game;

determining the number of mobile devices registered to receive alerts for all of the games in a subset of the plurality of games consisting of two or more games;

determining an estimate of the correlation among user interests in the subset of games based at least in part on the count; and

storing the estimate.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the subset of games is a pair of games.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein the subset of games includes three games.

38. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

counting the number of mobile devices registered to receive alerts for each pair of the plurality of games;

calculating estimates of the correlations between user interest in the pairs of games based at least in part on the counts; and

storing the estimates of the correlations.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

reading a list of games that a mobile device is registered to receive alerts for; and

summing the estimates of the correlations for pairs that include the games the mobile device is currently registered to receive alerts for to and a game that the users is not currently registered to receive alerts for; and

identifying one or more games of interest that the mobile device is not currently registered to receive alerts for, based at least in part on the sum associated with that game or games.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising transmitting a list of games of interest for the mobile device.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

identifying a gaming preference that, if adopted by a user for a mobile device, would register the mobile device to receive alerts for the games of interest;

transmitting a message proposing the gaming preference.

42. A method comprising:

reading one or more gaming preferences registered for a mobile device; and

identifying a set of games which are not implicated by any of the gaming preferences registered for the mobile device but that have high rates of coincidence of alert registration relative to other sets of games described in a register of gaming preference registrations for a plurality of mobile devices.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising transmitting a list of games of interest for the mobile device.

44. The method of claim 42, further comprising:

identifying a gaming preference that, if adopted by a user for a mobile device, would register the mobile device to receive alerts for the games of interest;

transmitting a message proposing the gaming preference.