Lottery management system

• US 20030228910A1
• Filed: 06/10/2003
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: GTECH Rhode Island Corporation (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: GTECH Rhode Island Corporation (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Rogers, Robert, Smith, Larry Roger, Silvia, Michael, Koppel, Richard, Mallin, Timothy, Kula, Miroslaw, Jawaharlal, Sridhar, Oram, Thomas K.
• Application Number:
  US10/458,560
• Publication Number:
  US 20030228910A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements

Abstract

A lottery management system provides the ability to integrate various lottery system types into a single lottery management solution so as to allow the customized deployment of various lottery system attributes. In one embodiment, lottery system attributes include game types, reporting functions, system administration, point-of-sale integration, device and network-specific interfaces and retail management. The present invention can include a lottery transaction server, a message exchange component, thin client components, thick client components and software development kits.

Claims

1. A lottery management system, comprising:

at least one point-of-contact (POC) device for processing end user sales and end user lottery activity information;

at least one channel processing component in two-way communication with said at least one POC device, for receiving and validating at least one request from said at least one device, said request including information identifying a request type, requester'"'"'s identity and request terms;

a transaction processing engine in two-way communication with said at least one channel processing component, including

at least one acquirer for retrieving and processing said requests;

at least one non-gaming transaction processor for managing and accounting for non-gaming transactions;

a commerce services component in two-way communication with said at least one channel processing component and said transaction processing engine for non-lottery monitoring and processing, said commerce services component including a financial services component in two-way communication with a fund transfer component;

a message exchange component in two-way communication with transaction processing engine and commerce services component;

a host system in two-way communication with message exchange component, for external monitoring and processing; and

a system services component in two-way communication with channel processing component, transaction processing engine, commerce services component and host system.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said transaction processing engine includes at least one gaming transaction processor for managing and accounting for at least one gaming transaction.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said at least one gaming transaction is taken from the group consisting of:

buying a ticket, canceling a ticket, validating a ticket, inquiring as to results, processing winners.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said POC device is taken from the group consisting of:

a point-of-sale (POS) device, a kiosk, a lottery-enabled terminal, a wireless phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA).

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said commerce services component includes a user profile component, a device profile component, an account component, a product catalog component, an order/ticket component, an e-wallet component, and a fund transfer component.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said host system is capable of monitoring at least one of:

video lottery operations, instant game operations, draw-based game operations.

7. A lottery management platform, comprising:

online central service transaction processors providing a plurality of dissimilar secure computerized lottery services including transaction acquisition, transaction processing, game application management, game application delivery and commerce services;

at least one game participant interface device capable of two-way communication with said online processors;

at least one lottery distributor interface capable of two-way communication with said online processors;

at least one lottery provider interface capable of two-way communication with said online processors; and

means in connection with each of said at least one interfaces for selection of at least one game application for delivery to said at least one game participant interface device.

8. The lottery management platform of claim 7 including means in connection with said at least one lottery distributor interface for selection of at least one commerce service.

9. The lottery management platform of claim 7 including means in connection with said at least one lottery provider interface for selection of at least one commerce service.

10. The lottery management platform of claim 7 wherein said game application management includes the ability to provide draw and instant-type lottery games.

11. The lottery management platform of claim 10 wherein said game application management further includes the ability of said at least one game participant to pre-populate and save forms for playing said draw lottery games.

12. The lottery management platform of claim 7 wherein said interfaces can be a web browser interface.

13. The lottery management platform of claim 7 further including at least one lottery retailer interface capable of two-way communication with said online processors.

14. The lottery management platform of claim 7 wherein said game application management includes the determination of an outcome to at least one game selected by said at least one game participant, and wherein said game application delivery includes the revealing of the results of said determined outcome to said game participant via said game participant interface device without operating the game management on said game participant interface device.

15. The lottery management platform of claim 7 further including at least one testing interface device for testing the operation of at least one of:

said game management, said commerce services, said transaction processing, and said game application delivery.

16. A lottery management platform, comprising:

a player management component for managing information about game players;

a game management component for managing gaming applications for use by said players;

a purchasing component for managing lottery game purchases by said players;

a payment component for managing financial institution transaction processing in connection with said lottery game purchases; and

at least one global management component for managing said player, game, purchasing and payment components.

17. The platform of claim 16 wherein said at least one global management component includes a first management component for allowing access by a lottery distributor and a second management component for allowing access by a lottery provider.

18. A method for processing a lottery-related electronic message, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one channel processor for receiving said lottery-related electronic message from at least one of the devices consisting of;

a point-of-sale device, a wireless device, a non-point-of-sale personal computer;

providing a transaction engine having at least one acquirer component corresponding to said at least one channel processor, said transaction engine further having at least one transaction processing component;

delivering said lottery-related electronic message from said channel processor to said transaction engine;

providing a host processing system for processing at least one of;

on-line lottery transaction messages, video lottery messages and instant ticket lottery messages;

providing a message exchange component for two-way electronic communication between said transaction engine and said host processing system;

delivering said message from said transaction engine to said host processing system via said message exchange component;

processing said message via said host processing system; and

delivering a response message to said at least one device.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said lottery-related electronic message is a game play determination.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein said lottery-related electronic message is a commerce services request.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein said lottery-related electronic message is received from a mobile phone.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein said channel processor is capable of receiving said lottery-related electronic message from at least one of:

a lottery distributor, a lottery provider, a lottery retailer, a lottery game player.

23. A customizable lottery management platform, comprising:

a lottery-enabled network comprising online central service transaction processors providing a plurality of dissimilar secure computerized lottery services to online-enabled input and output devices, including transaction acquisition, transaction processing, game application management, game application delivery and commerce services;

a game management interface for selecting game applications for end user participation;

a commerce application management interface for selecting business and system management software applications for use with said platform;

a device management interface for selecting input and output devices for receiving lottery related messages; and

a host management interface for selecting at least one transaction processing host type for processing said lottery related messages.

24. A method of providing interactive lottery services in a secure lottery communications network, comprising the steps of:

providing online central service transaction processors capable of providing a plurality of dissimilar secure computerized lottery services including transaction acquisition, transaction processing, game application management, game application distribution and commerce services;

providing a plurality of lottery distribution input and output device types, a plurality of game applications, a plurality of business applications, and a plurality of host processor types; and

receiving a selection from a user of at least one input and at least one output device type, at least one game application, and at least one host processor type; and

configuring a lottery platform based on said selection for delivery of said services.

25. A lottery transaction system, comprising:

means for receiving transaction and non-transaction messages;

means for classifying each of said received transaction messages as a lottery type or a non-lottery type;

a lottery transaction engine for processing each of said received lottery-type transaction messages; and

a commerce services engine for processing said non-lottery type transaction messages and said non-transaction messages.

26. The lottery transaction system of claim 25, wherein said means for receiving lottery transaction messages includes means for receiving said messages via wireless device, personal computer, point-of-sale register and lottery kiosk.

27. The lottery transaction system of claim 25 further including a first processing subsystem for processing said lottery transaction messages and delivering response messages to at least one of a wireless device, personal computer, point-of-sale register and lottery kiosk.

28. The lottery transaction system of claim 27 further including a second processing subsystem for processing said non-transactional messages.

29. A method for delivering a specialized interactive interface to a lottery network user, comprising the steps of:

providing a computer program application having specialized functionality; and

providing an interface for said application, said interface capable of allowing said application to be accessed via a network having online central service transaction processors capable of providing a plurality of dissimilar secure computerized lottery services including transaction acquisition, transaction processing, game application management, game application distribution and commerce services.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said lottery network user is a lottery game player and said application is a gaming application.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein said lottery network user is a lottery system provider and said application is a business application.

32. A method for validating lottery tickets, comprising the steps of:

receiving lottery ticket information from a lottery ticket holder at a lottery ticket redemption location;

processing said lottery ticket information via a network having online central service transaction processors capable of providing a plurality of dissimilar secure computerized lottery services including transaction acquisition, transaction processing, game application management, game application distribution and commerce services; and

upon said lottery ticket being deemed valid, providing to said lottery ticket holder the winning value of said lottery ticket.