Betting on a subset of participants in an event

• US 9,852,488 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cantor Index LLC
• Original Assignee: Cantor Index LLC
• Inventors: Amaitis, Lee M., Asher, Joseph M., Burgis, Adam, Crosthwaite, Dominic
• Primary Examiner(s): Deodhar, Omkar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Wei
• Application Number:
  US11/928,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20080058095A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,710 Days
• Field of Search: 463 25, 463 16, 463 20, 463 42
• 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 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

A method of managing bets is provided. The method includes receiving win bets and group bets. Each win bet includes a bet that a participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event. Each group bet includes a bet that one of a subset of the set of participants will win the event. Results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants are received. An amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant is determined. An amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets is also determined. In this manner, a bettor may bet on all participants in an event other than a particular participant, such as the favorite participant, and thus effectively bet against the particular participant.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of managing bets, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, the subset including a plurality of participants but less than all participants in the event, and being a bet that pays if any one of the corresponding designated subset wins the event, the pay amount being substantially the same whichever participant of the designated subset is the winner and independent of finishes other than the winner;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from the betting computer system interfaces, data representing results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants; and

determining, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing an amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets based on the group bets designated subsets of which the winning participant is a member.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the at least one group bet is received in a pari-mutuel betting system,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein two or more of the group bets designate the same subset of participants.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a participant selected from the set of participants will win the event; and

determining the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

determining the odds of winning for a one of the participants that is not included in a one of the designated subsets of participants based at least in part on the one or more received win bets; and

wherein the amount of the group bet payout for the group bet covering the one designated subset is determined based at least in part on the odds of winning for the one participant.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises:

selecting a participant from the subset of participants; and

determining the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any participant in the set of participants except for the selected participant.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a notification that one or more of the participants will not compete in the event at the computer system; and

in response, canceling at least a portion of the group bets that designated the non-competing participant in the respective designated subsets.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

reallocating the amount of at least one of the cancelled group bets among the remaining participants in the designated subset of participants.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises allocating to each of the competing participants in the designated subset a portion of the amount of the group bet.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout further comprises:

determining as a first amount the portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant;

determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a fourth amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant; and

determining the amount of the group bet payout based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises:

determining a fifth amount by multiplying the sum of the second amount and the third amount by the first amount;

determining a sixth amount by dividing the fifth amount by the sum of the first amount and fourth amount; and

adding the sixth amount and the first amount.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising

determining, for each participant in the set of participants, the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on that participant;

and

wherein the amount of the group bet is allocated to each participant in the subset of participants in inverse proportion to the determined total amounts of the win bets associated with that participant.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein determining an amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:

determining as a first amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant;

determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a fourth amount the total portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant; and

determining the amount of the payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the amount of the payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:

determining a fifth amount by multiplying the sum of the second amount and the third amount by the first amount;

determining a sixth amount by dividing the fifth amount by the sum of the first amount and fourth amount; and

adding the sixth amount and the first amount.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein:

a first subset designated in a first of the group bets and a second subset of participants designated in a second of the group bets intersect, but each of the first and second subsets includes participants not in the other of the second and first subsets.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the designated subsets designates all but one of the participants.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the group bets designates four or more participants.

19. A computer implemented method of managing bets, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, and being a bet that pays if any one of the corresponding designated subset wins the event, at least one of the group bets designating four or more participants;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants;

determining, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing an amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets based on the group bets designated subsets of which the winning participant is a member.

20. The method of claim 19,

wherein at least one group bet is received in a pari-mutuel betting system,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising applying a commission rate to at least one of the group bets.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one group bet designates a subset including all but one of the participants in the event.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the amount of the payouts determined for the group bets is substantially the same regardless of which particular participant in the subset designated for corresponding group bets is the winning participant.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event; and

determining an amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

25. The method of claim 24:

wherein, for at least one of the group bets, a participant in the group bet'"'"'s designated set of participants is not included in the subset of participants;

the method further comprising the step of determining the odds payout for the group bet based at least in part on the one or more received win bets, and at least in part on the win odds for the excluded particular participant.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises allocating to each participant of the corresponding designated subset of participants a portion of the amount of the group bet.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

after receiving a notification that one or more of the participants in the first subset of participants will not compete in the event, determining the amount of the group bet payout based on reallocating the amount of the group bet among the remaining participants in the subset of participants.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

wherein the amount of the group bet is allocated to each participant in the group bet'"'"'s corresponding designated subset in inverse proportion to the determined total amounts of win bets on that participant.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory, having embodied thereon programs to cause a computer to:

receive, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, the subset including a plurality of participants but less than all participants in the event, and being a bet that pays if any one of the corresponding designated subset wins the event, the pay amount being the substantially the same whichever participant of the designated subset is the winner and independent of finishes other than the winner;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

receive, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants;

determine, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing an amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets based on the group bets designated subsets of which the winning participant is a member.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 29, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

receive one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a participant selected from the set of participants will win the event; and

determine the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 30,

wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 30, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

determine a payout amount for at least one of the group bets based at least in part on win payout odds for a participant excluded from the subset corresponding to the one group bet.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 29, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

allocate the amounts of the group bets to the corresponding designated participants, and determining the payout on the group bet based on the payout calculation used for win bets on the participants.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 29, wherein at least one of the designated subsets designates all but one of the participants.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 29, wherein at least one of the group bets designates four or more participants.

36. A non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory, having embodied thereon programs to cause a computer to:

receive, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, and being a bet that pays if any one of the corresponding designated subset wins the event, at least one of the group bets designating four or more participants;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

receives at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants;

determines by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing an amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets based on the group bets designated subsets of which the winning participant is a member.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 36, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

receive one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a participant selected from the set of participants will win the event; and

determine the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 37,

wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 37, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

determine a payout amount for at least one of the group bets based at least in part on win payout odds for a participant excluded from the subset corresponding to the group bet.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 36, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

allocate the amounts of the group bets to the corresponding participants, and determining the payout on the group bet based at least in part on the payout calculation used for win bets on the corresponding designated participants.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 40, the programs being designed to further cause the computer to:

allocate the amounts of the group bets to the corresponding participants substantially inversely proportionally, so that the pay amount for the group bets will be substantially the same whichever participant of the corresponding designated subset is the winner.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 36, wherein at least one of the designated subsets designates all but one of the participants.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 36:

wherein programs calculate to provide payoff of the group bet that is substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset; and

the programs being designed to further cause the computer to, on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the betting system, determine payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant, with no substantial effect on payoff amount based on the second-place finisher.

85. The non-transitory computer-readable tangible memory of claim 36:

wherein the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher; and

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the betting system, determine payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, with no substantial effect on payoff amount based on the second-place finisher,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

44. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a specified participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet has an associated bet amount, and specifies a respective subset having a plurality of the participants selected from among set of participants, being a bet that any participant of the subset will win the event;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

allocating, the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, wherein odds for participants in the subsets are not required

to be the same, and the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is substantially the same regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant; and

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determining by the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on an odds determined for win bets on the participant that wins the event, and the respective amounts of the group bets allocated to the winning participant.

45. The method of claim 44,

wherein the win bets and the group bet are received in a pari-mutuel betting system,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

46. The method of claim 44, further comprising applying a commission rate to at least one of the win bets and the group bets.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the subset of participants comprises a majority of the set of participants.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein the payoff of each group bet is substantially equal for a win by any participant of the bet'"'"'s respective subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher.

49. The method of claim 44, wherein, at least some of the group bets specify subsets with four or more participants.

50. The method of claim 44, wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

51. The method of claim 44, wherein a particular participant in the set of participants is not included in the subset of participants, and the method further comprises:

determining the odds of winning for the particular participant based at least in part on the one or more received win bets; and

wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the odds of winning for the particular participant.

52. The method of claim 44, wherein the odds associated with a particular participant are based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any participant in the set of participants except for the particular participant.

53. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

receiving a notification that one or more of the participants will not compete in the event; and

canceling at least one of the one or more group bets.

54. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

receiving a notification that one or more of the participants in the subset of participants will not compete in the event; and

reallocating the bet amount for the particular group bet among the remaining participants in the subset of participants.

55. The method of claim 44, wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout further comprises:

determining as a first amount the portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant;

determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a fourth amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant; and

determining the amount of the group bet payout based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

56. The method of claim 44, wherein determining an amount of a win bet payout for at least one of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:

determining as a first amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant;

determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;

determining as a fourth amount the total portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant; and

determining the amount of the payout for at least one of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein determining the amount of the payout for at least one of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:

determining a fifth amount by multiplying the sum of the second amount and the third amount by the first amount;

determining a sixth amount by dividing the fifth amount by the sum of the first amount and fourth amount; and

adding the sixth amount and the first amount.

58. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable memory having embodied therein one or more programs designed to cause one or more computers of a betting computer system platform to:

receive, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a specified participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event; and

receive, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet has an associated bet amount, and specifies a respective subset having a plurality of the participants selected from among set of participants, being a bet that any participant of the subset will win the event; and

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

allocate, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, wherein odds for participants in the subsets are not required to be the same, and the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is substantially the same regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant; and

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the betting system, determine, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on an odds determined for win bets on the participant that wins the event, and the respective amounts of the group bets allocated to the winning participant.

59. The memory of claim 58,

wherein the payoff of each group bet is substantially equal for a win by any participant of the bet'"'"'s respective subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

60. The memory of claim 58, wherein at least some of the group bets specify subsets with four or more participants.

61. The memory of claim 58, wherein the subset of participants comprises a majority of the set of participants.

62. The memory of claim 58, wherein the processor is operable to determine the amount of the group bet payout based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

63. The memory of claim 58, wherein the odds associated with a particular participant are based at least in part on

the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any participant in the set of participants except for the particular participant.

64. The memory of claim 58, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive a notification that one or more of the participants in the subset of participants will not compete in the event; and

reallocate the bet amount for the particular group bet among the remaining participants in the subset of participants.

65. The memory of claim 58, further comprising determining, for each participant in the set of participants, the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on that participant;

and

wherein the bet amount for the particular group bet is allocated to each participant in the subset of participants in proportion to the determined total amounts of the win bets associated with that participant.

66. A method comprising:

receiving at a computer of a betting computer system platform of a computerized betting system, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet specifies a respective subset of a set of participants in an event, being a bet that any participant of the specified subset will win the event, the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher; and

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determining, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant, with no substantial effect on payoff amount based on the second-place finisher.

67. The method of claim 66,

wherein at least some of the group bets specify subsets with four or more participants,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

68. The method of claim 66, further comprising the steps of:

allocating a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is the substantially uniform regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant.

69. The method of claim 66, wherein the subset of participants comprises a majority of the set of participants.

70. The method of claim 66, wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

71. The method of claim 66, wherein the odds associated with a particular participant are based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any participant in the set of participants except for the particular participant.

72. The method of claim 66, further comprising:

receiving a notification that one or more of the participants will not compete in the event; and

canceling at least one of the one or more group bets.

73. The method of claim 66, further comprising:

receiving a notification that one or more of the participants in the subset of participants will not compete in the event; and

reallocating the bet amount for the particular group bet among the remaining participants in the subset of participants.

74. The method of claim 66, further comprising determining, for each participant in the set of participants, the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on that participant;

and

wherein the bet amount for the particular group bet is allocated to each participant in the subset of participants in proportion to the determined total amounts of the win bets associated with that participant.

75. A tangible non-transitory computer-readable memory having embodied therein one or more programs designed to cause one or more computers of a betting computer system platform to:

receive at the computer of a computerized the betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet specifies a respective subset of a set of participants in an event, being a bet that any participant of the specified subset will win the event, the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher; and

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determine, by computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant, with no substantial effect on payoff amount based on the second-place finisher.

76. The memory of claim 75,

wherein at least some of the group bets specify subsets with four or more participants,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

77. The memory of claim 75, the program(s) being further programmed to:

allocate a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is the substantially uniform regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant.

78. A method comprising:

receiving at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet specifies a respective subset of a set of participants in an event, being a bet that any participant of the specified subset will win the event, the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset, at least some of the group bets specifying subsets with four or more participants; and

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determining by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant.

79. The method of claim 78, further comprising the steps of:

allocating a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is the substantially uniform regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant.

80. The method of claim 78,

wherein the payoff of each group bet is substantially equal for a win by any participant of the bet'"'"'s respective subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

81. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable memory having embodied therein one or more programs designed to cause one or more computers of a betting computer system platform to:

receive at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet specifies a respective subset of a set of participants in an event, being a bet that any participant of the specified subset will win the event, the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset, at least some of the group bets specifying subsets with four or more participants; and

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determine, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based on whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant.

82. The memory of claim 81, the program(s) being further programmed to:

allocating a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is the substantially uniform regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant.

83. The memory of claim 81,

wherein the payoff of each group bet is substantially equal for a win by any participant of the bet'"'"'s respective subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher,

wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and

wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

84. A method, comprising:

receiving at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a specified participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event;

receiving at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, wherein each group bet has an associated bet amount, and specifies a respective subset having a plurality of the participants selected from among set of participants, being a bet that any participant of the subset will win the event, the payoff of the group bet being substantially equal for a win by any participant of the subset with no substantial effect on the payoff based on the second-place finisher, at least some of the group bets specifying subsets with four or more participants;

receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;

allocating, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing a portion of the bet amount for group bets among the participants of the respective subsets specified by respective group bets, wherein odds for participants in the subsets are not required to be the same, and the portion allocated to each participant is inversely proportional to odds associated with that participant such that payout for a group bet is substantially the same regardless of which participant among a subset of the participants is the winning participant; and

on receiving an indication of the winning participant at the computer of the betting computer system platform, determining, the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing payout amounts for the group bets based whether the winning participant is a member of the bets'"'"' respective specified subsets and on an odds determined for win bets on the participant that wins the event, and the respective amounts of the group bets allocated to the winning participant, such that the payouts for each winning group bet is substantially uniform regardless of which particular participant in the winning bet'"'"'s respective subset is the winning participant, with no substantial effect on payoff amount based on the second-place finisher.