Method and apparatus for remote gaming

• US 6,935,952 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2002
• Issued: 08/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Walker, Jay, Schneier, Bruce
• Primary Examiner(s): BROCKETTI, JULIE K
• Application Number:
  US10/273,808
• Publication Number:
  US 20030060286A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: 463/42, 463/25, 463/26, 463/27, 463/40, 463/41
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• 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 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

A remote gaming system whereby a player can gamble against a wagering establishment or state-run lottery from a remote location on a personal computer or portable computer device where it is unnecessary to establish an on-line connection with a host computer associated with the wagering establishment, the gaming computer having associated gaming software for providing at least one wagering opportunity and enabling the player to obtain gambling credit and cash-out any resulting winnings, the host computer enabling the player to purchase and redeem gambling credit at the remote location in one embodiment of the invention using cryptographic protocols such as through a series of authenticatable message exchanges between the player and the wagering establishment, the gaming computer and the host computer directly on-line, or the gaming computer having a detachable tamper-resistant or tamper-evident credit module associated therewith or for use with a personal computer being provided to the player with preinstalled or preloaded gambling credit, the gaming system also enabling participation in future events of which the outcome is uncertain such as, for example, a lottery whereby the player makes selections on a gaming computer at a remote location.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transmitting a request for credit to a host computer that is remote from a gaming device,

in which the host computer is not connected to the gaming device;

receiving by a player via oral communication cryptographically-generated message that represents an amount of credit,

the cryptographically-generated message being generated by the host computer;

providing by the player the cryptographically-generated message that represents the amount of credit to the gaming device via an input means of the gaming device;

responsive to providing the cryptographically-generated message that represents the amount of credit, increasing a credit balance that is associated with the gaming device;

placing a wager at the gaming device; and

receiving an indication of at least one game outcome.

2. A method comprising:

transmitting a request for credit to a host computer that is remote from a gaming device,

in which the host computer is not connected to the gaming device;

receiving by a player via oral communication an authenticatable message that represents an amount of credit,

the authenticatable message being generated by the host computer;

providing by the player the authenticatable message that represents the amount of credit to the gaming device via an input means of the gaming device; and

responsive to providing the authenticatable message that represents the amount of credit, increasing a credit balance that is associated with the gaming device.

3. The method of claim 2, in which transmitting comprises:

entering an indication of an amount of credit requested via a numeric keypad of a telephone.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving by the player from the gaming device an authenticatable message that is based on at least one game outcome.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

transmitting the authenticatable message that is based on the at least one game outcome to the host computer.

6. The method of claim 2, in which the gaming device is a dedicated gaming device.

7. The method of claim 2, in which the gaming device is a personal computer.

8. The method of claim 2, in which the gaming device is a handheld device.

9. A method comprising:

receiving at a gaming device from a player a cryptographically-generated message that represents an amount of credit,

in which the gaming device is not connected to a host computer that generated the cryptographically-generated message,

in which the cryptographically-generated message was communicated orally to the player by a wagering establishment;

determining the amount of credit based on the cryptographically-generated message that represents the amount of credit;

determining an available balance based on the amount of credit; and

generating at least one game outcome at the gaming device.

10. The method of claim 9, in which determining the amount of credit comprises:

decoding the cryptographically-generated message to determine the amount of credit.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

displaying an indication of the amount of credit to the player.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a wager from the player.

13. The method of claim 9, in which the cryptographically-generated message is in a human-recognizable format.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining a current balance based on the available balance and the at least one game outcome.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

encoding the available balance to generate an encoded available balance.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

providing the encoded available balance to the player.

17. The method of claim 9,

in which generating the at least one game outcome comprises:

generating the at least one game outcome based on gaming software stored by the gaming device; and

further comprising;

determining whether the gaming software has been tampered with.

18. The method of claim 9,

in which generating the at least one game outcome comprises:

generating the at least one game outcome based on gaming software; and

further comprising;

determining whether the gaming software has been altered; and

preventing play of the gaming device if the gaming software has been altered.

19. The method of claim 9,

in which the gaming device stores gaming software;

and

further comprising;

performing, by the gaming device, a test of the gaming software to determine if the gaming software has been tampered with.

20. A method comprising:

transmitting a request for credit to a host computer that is remote from a gaming device,

in which the host computer is not networked to the gaming device;

receiving by a player via oral communication a message that represents an amount of credit,

the message being generated by the host computer;

providing by the player the message that represents the amount of credit to the gaming device via an input means of the gaming device; and

receiving an indication of at least one game outcome generated by the gaming device.