PARI-MUTUEL GAME

• US 20110053684A1
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Anne Charpentier, Jay Lapine, Katie Bean, Philip Charpentier, Tyson Barr, Virginia Horvath, Zoann Attwood
• Original Assignee: Anne Charpentier, Jay Lapine, Katie Bean, Philip Charpentier, Tyson Barr, Virginia Horvath, Zoann Attwood
• Inventors: Charpentier, Anne, Bean, Katie, Barr, Tyson, Lapine, Jay, Horvath, Virginia, Charpentier, Philip, Attwood, Zoann
• Application Number:
  US12/547,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20110053684A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/28
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a pari-mutuel contest in general and a pari-mutuel contest which requires participants to place wagers on a grouping of contestants which have been segregated into subsets from a field of contestants. The segregation is based on a predetermined criteria. The participants are required to select a predetermined quantity of contestants from each respective grouping with the totality of the contestants performance aggregated to determine a participants score. Winnings are calculated on a pari-mutual bases based on the respective scores.

Claims

1. :

A system for conducting a pari-mutuel game for a contest comprising;

a computer having a database containing a plurality of contestants greater than three who are competing in a contest which ultimately has a single contest winner;

said contestants being grouped into at least two groups based upon a predetermined criteria;

a game entry identifying selections from a plurality of gaming participants of at least one contestant from each group forming an entry of said pari-mutuel game;

said computer receiving information identified by said game entry; and

said computer determining if a received game entry is a winning entry based upon a predetermined criteria.

2. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 1 wherein said contest includes a plurality of contestants who are competing head to head and wherein each contestants performance, including those contestants who do not win the competition, are utilized for determining if a received wager is a winning wager and wherein said contestants are ranked utilizing a predetermined criteria prior to the contest and wherein said contestants are grouped into at least two distinct groups based upon said ranking such that gaming participants select at least one contestant from a first group and a second contestant from a second group and wherein a winning wager is determined based upon the performance of said selected contestants.

3. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein said contestants are ranked based upon their respective odds of winning prior to the initiation of a contest.

4. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein said contestants are ranked based on a seeding, and wherein said contestants are grouped into at least two groups depending on their respective seeding.

5. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein said contestants are ranked based on a pre-contest qualification event.

6. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein each grouping of contestants include a plurality of contestants and wherein said selection consists of multiple contestants from at least one of the categories.

7. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein the contestants are afforded a point value based upon their final position in a head to head competition and wherein the respective selected contestants point value are aggregated to provide a total point value for the respective entry and wherein the received entries are evaluated for determining those entries with the point value which meet the winning criteria when compared to the other entries.

8. A system of conducting a pari-mutual game according to claim 2 wherein said head to head competition includes performance related statistics not related to the final position, and wherein said performance related statistics are evaluated based upon a predetermined criteria and wherein points are attributed to contestants who performance related statistics meet said predetermined criteria and wherein said points based upon performance related statistics are combined with the point value attributed to the contestant based upon their final position in the head to head contest for determining an overall point total for a respective contestant with respect to their performance in the contest and wherein said overall point total is combined for each selected contestant for determining a winning wager.

9. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 2 wherein said contestants are awarded points based upon their final position within the head to head competition and additional points based on a predetermined criteria relating to performance characteristics related to the contest.

10. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 1 wherein the contestants are afforded a point value based upon their final position at the conclusion of a contest and wherein the respective selected contestants point value are aggregated to provide a total point value for the respective entry and wherein the received entries are evaluated for determining those entries with the point value which meet the winning criteria when compared to the other entries.

11. A system of conducting a pari-mutuel game according to claim 1 wherein the contestants are teams participating in a tournament and wherein the teams are seeded according to a predetermined criteria and wherein said teams are grouped into at least two distinct groups based upon said seeding such that gaming participants select at least one team from a first group and a second contestant from a second group and wherein a winning wager is determined based upon the performance of said selected teams within said tournament.

12. A method of conducting a pari-mutuel wagering game for wagering on a contest having a plurality of contestants comprising:

defining a period of time wherein wagers may be placed, said period of time expiring prior to the initiation of said contest;

providing a database having a roster of contestants, said contestants being grouped according to a predetermined criteria;

providing a selection mechanism enabling participants to select contestants initially slated for competing in said contest;

requiring the selection of at least one contestant from at least two separate groups forming a selected team;

verifying the eligibility of said team selected by said participant to determine if said selected contestants are participating in said contest by utilizing said database and checking the status of the selected contestants eligibility for participation in said contest;

alerting a participant that said team selected is an invalid selection if it is determined that a selected contestant is not eligible for participating in said contest;

providing said participants with the opportunity to place a wager on said selected team if the selected team consists solely of eligible contestants;

receiving a selected team and an associated wager from said participants to form a pool of wagers;

allocating a portion of said pool of wagers to an operator of said game;

allocating the remainder of said pool as a common pari-mutuel payout for payout of winning wagers;

ranking said selected teams based upon the performance of the selected contestants;

determining winning wagers based upon the rankings of said selected teams; and

determining a payout for each winning wager based upon said ranking.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said contest includes a plurality of contestants who are competing head to head and wherein each contestants performance, including those contestants who do not win the competition, are utilized for determining if a received wager is a winning wager and wherein said contestants are ranked utilizing a predetermined criteria prior to the contest and wherein said contestants are grouped into at least two distinct groups based upon said ranking such that gaming participants select at least one contestant from a first group and a second contestant from a second group and wherein a winning wager is determined based upon the performance of said selected contestants.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said contestants include contestants participating in the same sport but in different events at different locations.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said contest comprises a race event and the contestants are evaluated based on their final position the racing event.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein said contestants are evaluated based on performance characteristics not related to the outcome of the contest.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said contestants include athletes participating in team events wherein said athletes function at certain positions on the team and wherein said team selection made by said participant includes athletes at different positions.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said athletes at are ranked according to a predetermined criteria and assigned groupings based on said rankings, and said selection of a team consists of selecting certain athletes of different positions to form a predetermined team of athletes at certain positions wherein said groupings include athletes from the same position.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein said contestants include teams competing in a multi-round tournament with an eventual single winner and said teams are grouped into respective groups prior to the initiation of the tournament and wherein a participant selects at least a first team from a first group and a second team from a second group thereby creating an entry for said pari-mutuel contest.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said contestants are seeded prior to said tournament and said grouping of contestants is based on said seedings wherein at least three groups of seeded teams is established and wherein a participant is required to select at least one team from each of said groupings.