Real-time interactive wagering on event outcomes

• US 8,764,553 B2
• Filed: 09/11/2012
• Issued: 07/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Interactive Games LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Ginsberg, Philip M., Lutnick, Howard W., Gilbert, Andrew C., Findlay, Lewis
• Primary Examiner(s): Coburn, Corbett B
• Application Number:
  US13/609,427
• Publication Number:
  US 20130005444A1
• Time in Patent Office: 658 Days
• Field of Search: 463/21
• US Class Current: 463/21
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/081 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• 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 17/3251 involving media of variable value, e.g. programmable cards, programmable tokens
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

Systems and methods for real-time interactive wagering on event outcomes are presented. Clients are first qualified and given wagering limits before being allowed to interactively wager on event outcomes. Event outcomes may be based on, for example, financial markets and indices, sporting and entertainment events, casino performances, and natural phenomena such as weather and earthquakes. Events on which wagers can be placed include both those with known and unknown outcome probabilities, and wagers can be a fixed-odds type or a spread-bet type. Wager transactions, including acceptances and confirmations, are executed in real time. Clients can customize displays of events on which they are authorized to wager. Real-time client credit management, automatic dealer hedging, automatic price-spread adjustments, and automatic client and dealer defined wagering limits are also provided.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

opening, by a computer system, a wagering account for a client that may be used to place wagers;

establishing, by the computer system, an amount of consideration in the wagering account;

after opening the wagering account and establishing the amount of consideration, authorizing, by the computer system, the client to access the wagering account from a cellular telephone by verifying login credentials of the client received from the cellular telephone;

receiving, by the computer system, a first offer from the client to enter into a wager on an event;

receiving, by the computer system, a second offer from another client to enter into an opposite side of the wager on the event;

in response to receiving matching the first offer and the second offer, forming, by the computer system, at least one wager between the client and a house and at least one second wager between the other client and the house; and

determining odds for the at least one wager based on one or more prior wagers placed on the event, in which the odds are further determined based on historical success rates of the placers of the one or more prior wagers, in which the event includes a sporting event.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the computer system, a set of events on which the client is authorized to wager;

presenting, by the computer system, to the client through the cellular telephone, a display of at least some of the set of event.

3. The method of claim 2, in which the display includes a respective odds associated with wagers on each of the at least some of the set of events.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a request to adjust the display of the at least some of the set of events based on a user defined customization; and

in response to receiving the request, adjusting the display to present at least some of a subset of the set of events that matches the user defined customization.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

overriding the adjusted display to include at least one of a new event and a featured event.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

selecting the at least some of the set of events based on a preference received from the client.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

selecting the at least some of the set of events based on historical wagers by the client.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

allowing the client to establish a self-imposed limit on wagering activity using the wagering account, in which the self-imposed limit includes at least one of a loss of an amount of consideration, a loss of an amount of consideration over a time period, a loss of a percentage of total consideration in the wagering account, and a loss of a percentage of total consideration in the wagering account over a time period.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising:

allowing, by the computer system, the client to place one or more third wagers against the house on one or more of the set of events from the cellular telephone using at least a part of the consideration in the wagering account; and

managing, by the computer system, the amount of consideration in the wagering account credits based on placement of the one or more third wagers and outcomes of the one or more third wagers.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a maximum wager amount that is independent of the amount of consideration in the wagering account that the client may wager on a particular event.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a computing device; and

a non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that when executed cause the computing device to;

open a wagering account for a client that may be used to place wagers;

establish an amount of consideration in the wagering account;

after opening the wagering account and establishing the amount of consideration, authorize the client to access the wagering account from a cellular telephone by verifying login credentials of the client received from the cellular telephone;

receive a first offer from the client to enter into a wager on an event;

receive a second offer from another client to enter into an opposite side of the wager on the event;

in response to receiving the first offer and the second offer, form at least one wager between the client and a house and at least one second wager between the other client and the house; and

determine odds for the at least one wager based on one or more prior wagers placed on the event, in which the odds are further determined based on historical success rates of the placers of the one or more prior wagers, in which the event includes a sporting event.