Lottery game based on letter puzzles

• US 7,819,738 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2005
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scientific Games LLC (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Scientific Games International Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Penrice, Stephen Gerard, Bozeman, Alan Kyle
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol; Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rustemeyer; Malina K
• Application Number:
  US11/088,167
• Publication Number:
  US 20060046825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,043 Days
• Field of Search: 463/17
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

A system and method for a lottery game. The game includes a plurality of puzzles, where each puzzle is a concatenation of characters including letters, wherein some characters are missing from each puzzle. A player selects a set of characters from a predefined set of characters and if the select set of characters includes a solution for at least one puzzle, the player may receive a prize.

Claims

1. A method for playing a lottery game, comprising the steps of:

presenting a group of revealed characters to a player and subsequently accepting an electronic, oral, or playslip entry from the player composed of a set of characters chosen by the player from the group of characters such that the player has full knowledge of the distinctions between the characters and selects particular desired characters from the group of characters to be included in their entry;

after the player has made their entry, issuing a ticket to the player that reflects their entry and drawing a set of at least two puzzles from a database, wherein one of the puzzles is drawn from a first group of puzzles each having a solution derived from a first subset of characters from the group of characters, and the other puzzle drawn from a second group of puzzles each having a solution that is derived from a second different subset of characters from the group of characters, the probability of solving the puzzle from the first group of puzzles being different than the probability of solving the puzzle from the second group of puzzles,

wherein in each drawn puzzle, a subset of characters that is less than the total number of characters in the completed puzzle is missing and constitutes the solution to each puzzle;

displaying each of the drawn puzzles to the player via a screen, monitor, or paper ticket;

in the same single play of the lottery game, comparing the set of characters chosen by the player with each puzzle to determine if the entry solves that puzzle, wherein an entry solves a puzzle if the entry contains the missing characters for that puzzle;

determining if the entry is the winning entry based upon if the entry solves one or more of the drawn puzzles; and

awarding a prize to a winning entry based on the number or combination of solved drawn puzzles.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein there is a probability distribution such that the return to the player is the same for all entries.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the characters are letters and the step of drawing further comprising the steps of:

selecting a first set of letters as the solution for the puzzles in the first group of puzzles, and selecting a different second set of letters as the solution for the puzzles in the second group of puzzles; and

retrieving a puzzle from each group of puzzles from a database.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of selecting sets of letters further comprising the steps of:

randomly selecting permutations from groups of letters;

randomly selecting a function subject to a probability distribution;

taking as input to the function the permutations of letters; and

the function outputting sets of letters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of drawing occurs at predetermined intervals and the drawn set of puzzles applies to a group of entries.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of drawing occurs instantly and applies to an individual player.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the drawn set of puzzles is on a paper ticket.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the drawn set of puzzles is disclosed electronically.

9. A method for playing a lottery game, comprising the steps of:

revealing a group of letters to a player and subsequently receiving a paper, oral, or electronic game entry from the player at a game station, the game entry having a plurality of letters chosen by the player from the group of letters which were revealed to the player such that the player has full knowledge of the different letters in the group and selects particular desired letters from the group to be included in their entry, the player'"'"'s game entry reflected on a ticket that is issued to the player;

after the player has made their entry, a set of puzzles being produced from a database and displayed on a monitor or screen at the game station or a ticket produced at the game station, each puzzle being produced from a different respective group of puzzles wherein the solution to the puzzles in a first group is derived from a first subset of letters, and the solution to the puzzles in a second group is derived from a second different subset of letters, and the puzzles presented to the player wherein less than all of the letters from the completed puzzle are missing and constitute the solution to the puzzle;

in the same single play of the lottery game, comparing the letters chosen by the player against the produced puzzles;

determining if the game entry is a winning entry based upon the entry solving one or more puzzles by containing the missing letters for certain or enough puzzles.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the set of puzzles being produced and displayed step of drawing occurs at predetermined intervals.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the set of puzzles being produced and displayed occurs instantly and applies to an individual player.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the set of puzzles is disclosed on the ticket that reflects the player'"'"'s game entry.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the set of puzzles is displayed at the game station.