Multiple levels of participation in a lottery jackpot

• US 7,635,304 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2005
• Issued: 12/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lottery Dynamics, LLC
• Original Assignee: Integrated Group Assets Inc.
• Inventors: Wright, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol; Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wert; Joshua P.
• Application Number:
  US11/044,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20050176490A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,791 Days
• Field of Search: 463/17, 463/26, 463/27, 273/138, 273/139
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/045 using payment protocols involving tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/42 for ticket printing or like apparatus , e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards

Abstract

A virtual lottery unit can be utilized by a player to play a virtual lottery. A virtual lottery ticket display is provided to display a plurality of virtual lottery ticket prices. Each of the virtual lottery ticket prices corresponds to a distinct known percentage of a progressive jackpot that can be won with a winning virtual lottery number. The progressive jackpot increases progressive jackpot increases in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue and that can be won with a winning virtual lottery number. A price selection input receives a selection of the virtual lottery ticket price of which the lottery ticket is to be purchased. Further, a number selection input receives a selection of a virtual lottery ticket number from the player. In addition, a random number generator generates the winning virtual lottery ticket number. A virtual lottery processor compares the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number form the player with the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

Claims

1. A virtual lottery unit comprising:

a virtual lottery ticket price display that displays a first virtual lottery ticket price and a second virtual lottery ticket price;

a virtual lottery processor configured to (i) operate a virtual lottery game in which the first virtual lottery ticket price corresponds to a first distinct known potential percentage of a progressive jackpot prize that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the first virtual lottery ticket price having a winning virtual lottery ticket number and the second virtual lottery ticket price corresponds to a second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the second virtual lottery ticket price having the winning virtual lottery ticket number, (ii) compare a selection of a virtual lottery ticket number from a player with a winning lottery ticket number, and (iii) calculate a distribution of the progressive jackpot prize to the player based upon a virtual lottery ticket price selected by the player if the virtual lottery ticket number from the player equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number, a sum of the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize and the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize being greater than the progressive jackpot prize, the progressive jackpot prize increasing in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue, the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize established such that a first association subtracted from a second association results in a fixed non-zero value, the first association equaling the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize divided by the first virtual lottery ticket price, the second association equaling the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize divided by the second virtual lottery ticket price;

a price selection input that receives the selection of a virtual lottery ticket price at which the virtual lottery ticket is purchased;

a number selection input that receives the selection of a virtual lottery ticket number from the player; and

a random number generator that generates the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

2. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein an inter-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

3. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein an intra-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

4. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

5. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

6. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

7. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the progressive jackpot is a probabilistic progressive jackpot that has a value which can be greater than revenue generated from the sale of the virtual lottery ticket.

8. The virtual lottery unit of claim 7, wherein the progressive jackpot prize is guaranteed by a third party entity.

9. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein a value of the progressive jackpot prize is received from a server.

10. The virtual lottery unit of claim 9, further comprising a memory which stores the value of the progressive jackpot prize.

11. The virtual lottery unit of claim 9, wherein the virtual lottery unit is linked to a plurality of virtual lottery units, the virtual lottery unit and the plurality of virtual lottery units being connected through the server.

12. The virtual lottery unit of claim 11, wherein the server sends the increased value of the progressive jackpot prize to each one of the plurality of virtual lottery units.

13. The virtual lottery unit of claim 11, wherein the server sends a value representative of the portion of tickets sale revenue to each one of the plurality of virtual lottery units.

14. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by the virtual lottery unit.

15. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by the virtual lottery unit and an additional virtual lottery unit connected through a network.

16. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by the virtual lottery unit and a plurality of additional virtual lottery units connected through a network.

52. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein an inter-sharing formula and an intra-sharing formula are utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

55. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize is determined based on a potential single winner.

56. The virtual lottery unit of claim 1, wherein the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize is determined based on a potential single winner.

17. A virtual lottery system comprising:

a server that stores a progressive jackpot that can be won with a winning virtual lottery ticket number, compares a selection of a virtual lottery ticket number received from a virtual lottery unit with the winning virtual lottery ticket number to determine if a virtual lottery game has been won by a player, and calculates a distribution of the progressive jackpot prize to the player based upon a virtual lottery ticket price selected by the player if the virtual lottery ticket number from the player equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number, a sum of a first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize and a second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize is greater than the progressive jackpot prize, wherein the progressive jackpot increases in size based on a portion of virtual lottery ticket sales revenue;

a plurality of virtual lottery units in communication with the server, each of the plurality of virtual lottery units receiving the progressive jackpot value from the server, each of the virtual lottery units having a virtual lottery ticket price display that displays the first virtual lottery ticket price and the second virtual lottery ticket price, each of the virtual lottery units having a virtual lottery unit processor configured to (i) operate a virtual lottery game in which the first virtual lottery ticket price corresponds to the first distinct known potential percentage of a progressive jackpot prize that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the first virtual lottery ticket price having a winning virtual lottery ticket number and the second virtual lottery ticket price corresponds to the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the second virtual lottery ticket price having the winning virtual lottery ticket number, each of the virtual lottery units having a number selection input that receives a selection of a virtual lottery ticket number from a player, the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize established such that a first association subtracted from a second association results in a fixed non-zero value, the first association equaling the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize divided by the first virtual lottery ticket price, the second association equaling the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize divided by the second virtual lottery ticket price; and

a random number generator that generates the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

18. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein after a virtual lottery ticket is purchased at one of the plurality of virtual lottery units, the server sends an increased progressive jackpot value to each of the plurality of virtual lottery units so that each of the plurality of virtual lottery units can provide the player with a current progressive jackpot prize value.

19. The virtual lottery system of claim 18, wherein the server determines the increased progressive jackpot value by adding a previously stored progressive jackpot prize value and a percentage of the price of the virtual lottery ticket sold.

20. The virtual lottery system of claim 18, wherein the server determines the increased progressive jackpot value by adding a previously stored progressive jackpot prize value and a fixed amount.

21. The virtual lottery system of claim 18, wherein the server calculates the distributions of the progressive jackpot value that can be won by computing the percentages associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices in relation to the progressive jackpot prize.

22. The virtual lottery system of claim 21, wherein the server sends the calculated distributions to each of the plurality of virtual lottery units.

23. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the server periodically recalculates an increased progressive jackpot prize value by querying each of the plurality of virtual lottery units for a total amount of sales since a previous query, and wherein the server sends the increased progressive jackpot value to each of the virtual lottery units so that the virtual lottery units can provide the player with a current progressive jackpot value.

24. The virtual lottery system of claim 23, wherein the server calculates the distributions of the progressive jackpot prize value that can be won by computing the percentages associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

25. The virtual lottery system of claim 23, wherein the server sends the calculated distributions to each of the plurality of virtual lottery units.

26. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the server decreases the progressive jackpot prize value after a player has won a virtual lottery.

27. The virtual lottery system of claim 26, wherein the server sends the decreased progressive jackpot prize value to each of the virtual lottery units so that the virtual lottery units can provide the player with the current progressive jackpot prize value.

28. The virtual lottery system of claim 26, wherein the server calculates the distributions of the decreased progressive jackpot prize value that can be won by computing the percentages associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices in relation to the decreased progressive jackpot prize value.

29. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct percentages, each of the distinct percentages being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

30. The virtual lottery system of claim 29, wherein an inter-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

31. The virtual lottery system of claim 29, wherein an intra-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

32. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

33. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

34. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

35. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by one of the plurality of virtual lottery units.

36. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by one of the plurality virtual lottery units and an additional one of the plurality of virtual lottery units connected through a network.

37. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by the plurality of virtual lottery units.

53. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein an inter-sharing formula and an intra-sharing formula are utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

57. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize is determined based on a potential single winner.

58. The virtual lottery system of claim 17, wherein the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize is determined based on a potential single winner.

38. A method comprising:

receiving a selection of a virtual lottery ticket price;

determining, with a virtual lottery processor configured to operate a virtual lottery game, a percentage of a progressive jackpot prize value which increases in size based on a portion of virtual lottery ticket sales revenue, wherein the percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value can be won according to the selection of the virtual lottery ticket price from a first virtual lottery ticket price and a second virtual lottery ticket price, the first virtual lottery ticket price corresponding to a first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the first virtual lottery ticket price having a winning virtual lottery ticket number, the second virtual lottery ticket price corresponding to a second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value that can be won with a virtual lottery ticket purchased according to the second virtual lottery ticket price having the winning virtual lottery ticket number, the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize established such that the first association subtracted from the second association results in a fixed non-zero value, the first association equaling the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value divided by the first virtual lottery ticket price, the second association equaling the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value divided by the second virtual lottery ticket price;

receiving a player selection of a virtual lottery ticket number;

randomly generating a winning virtual lottery ticket number;

comparing, with the virtual lottery processor, the virtual lottery ticket number with the randomly generated winning lottery ticket number;

calculating, with the virtual lottery processor, a distribution of the progressive jackpot prize value to the player based upon a virtual lottery ticket price selected by the player if the virtual lottery ticket number from the player equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number, a sum of the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value and the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value is greater than the progressive jackpot prize value; and

providing the distribution of the progressive jackpot prize value to the player if the virtual lottery ticket number from the player equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein an inter-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein an intra-sharing formula is utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the virtual lottery ticket prices.

44. The method of claim 38, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by a virtual lottery unit.

45. The method of claim 38, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by a virtual lottery unit and an additional virtual lottery unit connected through a network.

46. The method of claim 38, wherein the ticket sales revenue is generated by a virtual lottery unit and a plurality of additional virtual lottery units connected through a network.

47. The method of claim 38, further comprising increasing the progressive jackpot value by adding a previously stored progressive jackpot prize value and a percentage of the virtual lottery ticket price.

48. The method of claim 38, further comprising increasing the progressive jackpot prize value by adding a previously stored progressive jackpot value and a fixed value.

49. The method of claim 38, further comprising calculating distributions of the progressive jackpot prize value that can be won by computing the percentage of the progressive jackpot that can be won according to the selection of the virtual lottery ticket price.

50. The method of claim 38, further comprising communicating the increased progressive jackpot value to a plurality of players, wherein each one of the plurality of players may participate in the virtual lottery, the virtual lottery utilizing the increased progressive jackpot prize value.

51. The method of claim 38, further comprising communicating the increased progressive jackpot value from a server to a plurality of virtual lottery units, the virtual lottery units utilizing the increased progressive jackpot prize value.

54. The method of claim 38, wherein an inter-sharing formula and an intra-sharing formula are utilized to provide payouts of actual distributions of the progressive jackpot prize to multiple players that each have the selection of the virtual lottery ticket number that equals the winning virtual lottery ticket number.

59. The method of claim 38, wherein the first distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value is determined based on a potential single winner.

60. The method of claim 38, wherein the second distinct known potential percentage of the progressive jackpot prize value is determined based on a potential single winner.