Wagering on event outcomes during the event

• US 10,198,903 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2015
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CG Technology Development, LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CG Technology Development, LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Amaitis, Lee, Garrood, Andrew, Colbert, Mike, Parks, Heather, Storm, Anthony, Barton, Foster, Bradshaw, Thomas D.
• Primary Examiner(s): McClellan, James S
• Application Number:
  US14/788,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20160063796A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,316 Days
• Field of Search: 463 21, 463 25, 463 29, 463 30, 463 31, 463 42
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• 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 17/3269 Timing aspects of game play, e.g. blocking/halting the operation of a gaming machine
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for managing a wagering system. In one exemplary embodiment, state information of a live event such as a sports game may be received in real time. During the event, a plurality of possible future states of the event and their associated probabilities (and odds) may be determined based on the state information, historical information, and current in-game information. A betting market is created for betting on the possible future states at determined odds. The betting market is closed, and winning and losing bets are resolved based on updated state information.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, direct the at least one processor to;

after a start of an event and before an end of the event, determine a plurality of possible future states of the event that may occur before an end of the event;

after a start of the event and before an end of the event, determine a probability of occurrence for each of the plurality of possible future states based on probability information and reliability information associated with the probability information;

based at least in part on the probabilities, determine odds for betting that a first one of the plurality of possible future states will occur;

before an end of the event, cause to be presented to a plurality of users at a plurality of corresponding computer interfaces information indicating an opportunity to place a bet at the determined odds that the first possible future state will occur, the plurality of computer interfaces being in networked communication with the at least one processor;

responsive to the act of causing to be presented the information, receive from a first of a plurality of users a first bet that the first possible future state will occur;

after receiving the first bet and before an end of the event, determine that the first possible future state has occurred; and

cause a payout to be paid to the first user based on the first bet and the act of determining that first possible future state has occurred.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the plurality of users comprises a second user and a third user, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:

receive from the second user a request to make a bet mutually exclusive to a bet of a third user, in which the request comprises a request to bet against a bet of the third user;

based on the request to bet against the third user, transmit to the third user a request to make a bet mutually exclusive to a bet of the second user; and

receive from the third user an acceptance of the request to make a bet mutually exclusive to a bet of the second user, in which the acceptance comprises a selection by the third user of a possible future state that is mutually exclusive to a possible future state selected by the second user.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the event comprises a sporting event, and in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:

determine injury information relating to at least one injured player associated with the sporting event,

in which the act of determining the probability of occurrence of each of the plurality of possible future states comprises determining the probability of each possible future state based at least in part on the injury information.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the act of determining the probability of occurrence for each of the plurality of possible future states comprises determining the probability of occurrence of at least one possible future state based on a player'"'"'s performance prior to the sporting event in at least one of the following performance categories:

batting average, points scored, yards run, number of carries, runs batted in (RBIs), bases stolen, home runs, pass completion percentage, on base percentage, total bases per at bat, number of errors, number of aces, double fault percentage, free throw percentage, number of rebounds, handicap, number of golf strokes, and number of strike-outs.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the probability information is determined based on a player'"'"'s performance during the sporting event, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:

determining updated odds for the first possible future state,

in which the updated odds are determined according to pari mutuel betting rules, and

in which the payout is paid in an amount determined based on the updated odds.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the event is a sporting event that occurs during an event time duration such that the sporting event begins at the beginning of the event time duration and ends at the end of the event time duration, the sporting event comprising a plurality of portions of the event occurring during sequential portions of the event time duration, in which a plurality of possible future states comprises a possible future state occurring at the end of one of the sequential time periods, and in which at least one betting market is created for each of the sequential time periods.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the event comprises a competition in at least one of tennis, squash, badminton, baseball, softball, cricket, surfing, football, soccer, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, skating, golf, running, swimming, skiing, biking, rugby, polo, water polo, bowling, dancing, billiards, shooting, a track and field competition, horse racing, dog racing, automobile racing, motorcycle racing, boat racing, fishing, boxing, a martial art competition, a mixed martial arts competition, a casino game, a card game, and chess.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the event comprises a game of baseball, and in which the plurality of possible states comprise mutually exclusive outcomes of at least one of a specific player'"'"'s at-bat, a top of an inning, a bottom of an inning, a whole inning, and multiple innings.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the event comprises a game of football, and in which the plurality of possible states comprise mutually exclusive outcomes of at least one of a play, a set of plays before a first down, a quarter, a half, and a two minute drill.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the first possible future state comprises at least one of:

a score, a number of points, a number of yards, a type of play, a number of runs in an inning, a number of runs in a game, a number of home runs, a number of base hits, a number of doubles, a number of triples, a number of errors, a number of aces, a number of golf strokes by a player on a hole, a number of golf strokes by a player on a plurality of holes, a number of three-pointers, and a number of rebounds.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the act of causing to be presented the information occurs at a beginning of a game time duration and the first possible future state occurs at an end of the game time duration, in which the game time duration comprises at least one of:

an inning, a quarter, a half, a tennis set, a period, and a round.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:

update odds for at least one of the plurality of possible future events based on at least one of the number and amount of bets for and counter to at least one of the plurality of possible future states, and in which an updated payout is determined based on at least one of the number and amount of bets that are for and counter to the first bet.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further direct the at least one processor to:

determine aggregate information about a plurality of bets on one or more of the plurality of possible future states, in which the act of determining aggregate information about the plurality of bets comprises determining information about the percentage of users who bet on a specific possible future state; and

display the information about the percentage of users who bet on a specific possible future state.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, in which the probabilities for the plurality of possible future states are determined based on (1) a plurality of sets of probability information and (2) reliability information associated with each set of probability information, the reliability information comprising a determination of accuracy of a source of probability information, in which the determination of accuracy for each source is determined based on one or more accuracies of prior prediction information provided by each source.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, in which at least one source comprises information available on a website.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, in which the prior prediction information comprises a betting line for a prior game.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, in which at least one source comprises a second one of the plurality of users, and in which the accuracy of the second one of the plurality of users is determined based on a success rate of prior bets made by the second user.

18. The apparatus of claim 1,

in which the act of determining a probability for the first possible future state comprises determining a probability for at least one of the plurality of possible future states based on probability information and reliability information associated with a source of the probability information, and

in which the plurality of corresponding computer interfaces display information about the sporting event in substantially real time.

19. A method comprising:

after a start of an event and before an end of the event, determining, by at least one processor of at least one computer in communication with a plurality of networked computers, a plurality of possible future states of the event that may occur before an end of the event;

after a start of the event and before an end of the event, determining, by the at least one processor, a probability of occurrence for each of the plurality of possible future states based on probability information and reliability information associated with the probability information;

based at least in part on the probabilities, determining, by the at least one processor, odds for betting that a first one of the plurality of possible future states will occur;

before an end of the event, causing to be presented to a plurality of users at a plurality of corresponding computer interfaces information indicating an opportunity to place a bet at the determined odds that the first possible future state will occur, the plurality of computer interfaces being in networked communication with the at least one processor;

responsive to the act of causing to be presented the information, receiving, by the at least one processor, from a first of a plurality of users a first bet that the first possible future state will occur;

after receiving the first bet and before an end of the event, determining, by the at least one processor, that the first possible future state has occurred; and

causing, by the at least one processor, a payout to be paid to the first user based on the first bet and the act of determining that first possible future state has occurred.

20. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are configured to, when executed by at least one processor in networked communication with a computer system, direct the at least one processor to:

after a start of an event and before an end of the event, determine a plurality of possible future states of the event that may occur before an end of the event;

after a start of the event and before an end of the event, determine a probability of occurrence for each of the plurality of possible future states based on probability information and reliability information associated with the probability information;

based at least in part on the probabilities, determine odds for betting that a first one of the plurality of possible future states will occur;

before an end of the event, cause to be presented to a plurality of users at a plurality of corresponding computer interfaces information indicating an opportunity to place a bet at the determined odds that the first possible future state will occur, the plurality of computer interfaces being in networked communication with the at least one processor;

responsive to the act of causing to be presented the information, receive from a first of a plurality of users a first bet that the first possible future state will occur;

after receiving the first bet and before an end of the event, determine that the first possible future state has occurred; and

cause a payout to be paid to the first user based on the first bet and the act of determining that first possible future state has occurred.