Method and apparatus for tournament betting

• US 20060246983A1
• Filed: 06/28/2005
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: DEQ Systems Corporation (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Berube, Real, Huard, Marcel
• Granted Patent: US 7,516,959 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00157 Casino or betting games horse races A63F3/00082
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements

Abstract

The method of betting on participants in a tournament comprises creating at least two teams of at least one participating player playing in the tournament, the tournament having a series of at least two casino games in which the participating players will play; associating at least one event with at least one participating player during the tournament; a betting player selecting at least one chosen participant on which to place a bet, each of the chosen participant being one of a team and a participating player; the betting player identifying at least one event related to the tournament for which to place the bet, wherein the event is meaningful within the tournament; the betting player making a that the event will occur in association with the chosen participant during the tournament; determining an occurrence of the event in association with the chosen participant; and if the event occurred in association with the participant, determining a payout to be paid to the betting player; wherein the betting player is one of the participating player and a player who does not participate in the tournament. An apparatus is also provided.

Claims

1. A method of betting on participants in a tournament, the method comprising:

creating at least two teams each having at least one participating player playing in said tournament, said tournament having a series of at least two casino games in which said participating players will play;

associating at least one event with at least one participating player during said tournament;

a betting player selecting at least one chosen participant on which to place a bet, each said chosen participant being one of a team and participating player;

said betting player identifying at least one event related to said tournament for which to place said bet, wherein said event is meaningful within said tournament;

said betting player making at least one bet that said at least one event will occur in association with said at least one chosen participant during said tournament;

determining an occurrence of said at least one event in said tournament in association with said at least one chosen participant; and

if said at least one event occurred in association with said at least one participant, determining a payout to be paid to said betting player;

wherein said betting player is one of said participating player and a player who does not participate in the tournament.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one event is receiving at least one predetermined gaming symbol.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one event is becoming a winner of a round of the tournament.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one event is being ranked third at a conclusion of the tournament.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said participating player is a dealer of said casino game.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casino game is a card game.

7. An apparatus for betting on participants in a tournament, the apparatus comprising:

a player registrar for providing an identification of at least two participating players for said tournament;

a team builder for creating at least two teams each having at least one of said participating player, said tournament having a series of at least two casino games in which said participating players will play;

a tournament controller for associating at least one event with at least one participating player during said tournament;

a player betting station connected to said tournament controller allowing a betting player to select at least one chosen participant on which to place a bet, to identify at least one event related to said tournament for which to place said bet and to make at least one bet that said at least one event will occur in association with said at least one chosen participant during said tournament, wherein each said chosen participant is one of a team and participating player and said event is meaningful within said tournament;

a bet controller determining an occurrence of said at least one event in said tournament in association with said at least one chosen participant; and

a payout calculator to determine a payout to be paid to said betting player if said at least one event occurred in association with said at least one participant;

wherein said betting player is one of said participating player and a player who does not participate in the tournament.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said participating player is a dealer of said casino game.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a random player selector for randomly selecting at least one participating player and providing said selection to said player betting station.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a random event selector for randomly selecting said at least one event and providing said selection to said player betting station.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, further comprising wagering means in said player betting station for receiving a bet credit amount corresponding to the bet credit amount wagered on said bet.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said payout calculator calculates said payout as a function of at least one of an importance of the event in the tournament, a number of occurrences, a number of participating players playing in the tournament, a number of betting players and a jackpot fund value.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said payout is at least one of a predetermined fixed amount, a prize amount randomly selected from a set of predetermined fixed amounts, a predetermined percentage of a jackpot fund value, and a randomly selected percentage of jackpot fund value.