Prepaid account lottery system and method

• US 6,824,464 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2002
• Issued: 11/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Scientific Games Corporation
• Original Assignee: Scientific Games Corporation
• Inventors: Huntley, William James, Weil, Allan Lorne
• Primary Examiner(s): BROCKETTI, JULIE K
• Application Number:
  US10/266,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20030092479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 463/17, 463/40-42, 273/269
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• 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

Abstract

A plurality of lottery cards are distributed to at least one lottery agent. Each of the lottery cards has a unique identification code disposed thereon and is associated with a predefined monetary amount. A communication identifying the unique identification code of a first selected card is received, and a user account associated with the identification code is established having a balance equivalent to the predefined monetary amount of the first selected card. A first chosen play for a lottery game is received and associated with the user account. A cost of the first chosen play is deducted from the balance of the user account, and a remaining balance is available for making at least one subsequent play. If the first chosen play is a winner, a winning monetary amount is credited to the user account. The winning monetary amount may be redeemed upon presentation of the first selected card.

Claims

1. A method of administering a lottery for a jurisdiction, said lottery being conducted by a centralized lottery administration with lottery tickets being distributed by distributed lottery agents remote from said centralized lottery administration, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving from a wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code associated with a first lottery card and associated with a monetary amount, said first lottery card being issued by a lottery agent from said lottery agents;

(b) after step (a), funding at a lottery administration system of said centralized lottery administration a user account associated with the unique identification code for said first lottery card with the monetary amount;

(c) receiving from the wagerer without the assistance of a lottery agent or lottery agent terminal a communication identifying a first chosen play for a lottery game, said first chosen play being associated with said user account;

(d) deducting a cost of the first chosen play from the balance of said user account, a remaining balance in said user account after said deduction being available for making at least one subsequent play; and

(e) if it is verified that said first chosen play is a winner, crediting a winning monetary amount for said first chosen play to said user account,

wherein said winning monetary amount may be redeemed from said user account upon presentation of said first lottery card to an authorized lottery agent.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first lottery card is a first lottery voucher having said unique identification code associated therewith, said method further comprising the steps of:

receiving a communication from said lottery agent indicating the monetary amount for said lottery voucher;

associating said unique identification code with said monetary amount; and

authorizing creation and distribution of said first lottery voucher to said wagerer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of steps (a) and (c) includes the step of receiving said communication through an interactive voice response (IVR) system.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of steps (a) and (c) includes the step of receiving said communication through the Internet.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said remaining balance of step (d) is not redeemable along with said winning monetary amount of stop (e).

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

(f) receiving a communication identifying a subsequent chosen play for a lottery game at a time after said winning monetary amount is credited to said user account, said subsequent chosen play being associated with said user account; and

(g) deducting a cost of the subsequent chosen play from the balance of said user account, at least a part of the deducted cost coming from said winning monetary amount for said first chosen play.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

(f) receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code for at least a second lottery voucher; and

(g) crediting a monetary amount associated with said second lottery voucher to said user account associated with the unique identification code for the first lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said user account using said first lottery voucher.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

(f) receiving from said wagerer a plurality of separate communications collectively identifying unique identification codes for a plurality of lottery vouchers; and

(g) crediting a monetary amount associated with each respective lottery voucher from said plurality of lottery vouchers to said user account associated with the unique identification code for the first lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said user account using said first lottery voucher.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

(f) receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code for a second lottery voucher; and

(g) funding a second user account associated with the unique identification code for said second lottery voucher with a monetary amount associated with the second lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said second user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said second user account using said second lottery voucher.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein said unique identification code is an alphabetic, numerical, or alphanumeric code printed on said lottery voucher and said lottery voucher includes a bar code or magnetic strip representing said unique identification code.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of receiving a balance inquiry for said user account from said wagerer.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein said communication identifying said first chosen play includes an identification of a plurality of lottery numbers selected by said wagerer.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein said communication identifying said first chosen play includes a request for a random selection of lottery numbers, said method further comprising the steps of:

(f) randomly generating a plurality of lottery numbers;

(g) associating said generated plurality of lottery numbers with said unique identification code for said first lottery voucher; and

(h) providing said generated plurality of lottery numbers to said wagerer.

14. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of receiving from said lottery agent a communication indicating a monetary amount to be credited to said user account and crediting said monetary amount to said user account.

15. A lottery administration system for administering a lottery, said lottery being conducted by a centralized lottery administration with lottery tickets being distributed by distributed lottery agents remote from said centralized administration, comprising:

(a) means for receiving from a wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code associated with a first lottery card and associated with a monetary amount, said first lottery card being issued by a lottery agent from said lottery agents;

(b) means for funding at a lottery administration system of said centralized lottery administration after receiving said communication identifying said identification code a user account associated with the unique identification code for said first lottery card with the monetary amount;

(c) means for receiving from the wagerer without the assistance of a lottery agent or lottery agent terminal a communication identifying a first chosen play for a lottery game, said first chosen play being associated with said user account;

(d) means for deducting a cost of the first chosen play from the balance of said user account, a remaining balance in said user account after said deduction being available for making at least one subsequent play, and

(e) means for crediting a winning monetary amount for said first chosen play to said user account if it is verified that said first chosen play is a winner,

wherein said winning monetary amount may be redeemed from said account upon presentation of said first lottery card to an authorized lottery agent.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said first lottery card is a first lottery voucher having said unique identification code associated therewith, said system further comprising:

means for receiving a communication from a lottery agent processor indicating the monetary amount for said lottery voucher,

means for associating said unique identification code with said monetary amount; and

means for authorizing creation of and distribution of said first lottery voucher to said wagerer.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

(f) means for receiving a communication identifying a subsequent chosen play for a lottery game at a time after said winning monetary amount is credited to said user account, said subsequent chosen play being associated with said user account; and

(g) means for deducting a cost of the subsequent chosen play from the balance of said user account, at least a part of the deducted cost coming from said winning monetary amount for said first chosen play.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

(f) means for receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code for at least a second lottery voucher; and

(g) means for crediting a monetary amount associated with said second lottery voucher to said user account associated with the unique identification code for the first lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said user account using said first lottery voucher.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

(f) means for receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying a unique identification code for a second lottery voucher; and

(g) means for funding a second user account associated with the unique identification code for said second lottery voucher with a monetary amount associated with said second lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said second user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said second user account using said second lottery voucher.

20. The system of claim 16, farther comprising:

means for providing a balance for said user account to said wagerer in response to a balance inquiry.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising means for crediting a monetary amount to said user account in response to a communication from said lottery agent processor.

22. A method of administering a lottery for a jurisdiction, said lottery being conducted by a centralized lottery administration with lottery tickets being distributed by distributed lottery agents remote from said centralized lottery administration, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving with a lottery administration processor of a lottery administration system of said centralized lottery administration a communication from a lottery agent from said lottery agents indicating a monetary amount to be associated with a first lottery voucher;

(b) assigning a unique identification code to said first lottery voucher and associating said monetary amount with said unique identification code;

(c) after step (b), authorizing creation of and distribution of said first lottery voucher to a wagerer by said lottery agent;

(d) receiving from said wagerer without the assistance of a lottery agent or lottery agent terminal a communication identifying the unique identification code for said first lottery voucher,

(e) after step (d), funding at said lottery administration system a user account associated with the unique identification code for said first lottery voucher with the monetary amount associated with said unique identification code for said first lottery voucher;

(f) receiving from the wagerer without the assistance of a lottery agent or lottery agent terminal a communication identifying a first chosen play for a lottery game, said first chosen play being associated with said user account;

(g) deducting a cost of the first chosen play from the balance of said user account, a remaining balance in said user account after said deduction being available for making at least one subsequent play; and

(h) if it is verified that said first chosen play is a winner, crediting a winning monetary amount for said first chosen play to said user account,

wherein said winning monetary amount may be redeemed from said user account upon presentation of said first lottery voucher to an authorized lottery agent.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of steps (d) and (f) includes the stop of receiving said communication through an interactive voice response (IVR) system.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of steps (d) and (f) includes the step of receiving said communication through the Internet.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising the stops of:

(i) receiving a communication identifying a subsequent chosen play for a lottery game at a time after said winning monetary amount is credited to said user account, said subsequent chosen play being associated with said user account; and

(j) deducting a cost of the subsequent chosen play from the balance of said user account, at least apart of the deducted cost coming from said winning monetary amount for said first chosen play.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of:

(i) receiving a communication from a lottery agent indicating a monetary amount to be associated with a second lottery voucher;

(j) assigning a second unique identification code to said second lottery voucher and associating said monetary amount to be associated with said second lottery voucher with said second unique identification code;

(k) authorizing creation of and distribution of said second lottery voucher to said wagerer by said lottery agent;

(l) receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying the second unique identification code; and

(m) crediting the monetary amount associated with said second lottery voucher to said user account associated with the unique identification code for the first lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said user account using said first lottery voucher.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of:

(i) receiving a communication from a lottery agent indicating a monetary amount to be associated with a second lottery voucher;

(j) assigning a second unique identification code to said second lottery voucher and associating said monetary amount to be associated with said second lottery voucher with said second unique identification code;

(k) authorizing creation of and distribution of said second lottery voucher to said wagerer by said lottery agent;

(l) receiving from said wagerer a communication identifying the second unique identification code; and

(m) funding a second user account associated with the second unique identification code with the monetary amount associated with the second lottery voucher,

wherein the wagerer can play a lottery game using said second user account and redeem any winning amount credited to said second user account using said second lottery voucher.

28. The method of claim 22, further comprising the steps of receiving from a lottery agent a communication indicating a monetary amount to be credited to said user account and crediting said monetary amount to said user account.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein said first lottery voucher include said unique identification code printed thereon and secondary indicia representing said unique identification code.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said secondary indicia includes a bar code or a magnetic strip.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein said first lottery voucher is a SIMM card.