Location and user identification for online gaming

• US 7,577,847 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2004
• Issued: 08/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Paulsen, Craig, Nguyen, Binh
• Primary Examiner(s): CERVETTI, DAVID GARCIA
• Application Number:
  US10/981,435
• Publication Number:
  US 20060095790A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 713/186, 713/182, 726/5, 726/11, 726/21, 380/231, 380/251, 463/29
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3237 about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and devices for determining the location, identity and age of a user who desires to initiate a gaming session from an uncontrolled environment such as a home, a gaming kiosk or a hotel room. In some implementations, the user'"'"'s location is determined in part by reference to a database of land telephone lines and corresponding addresses. The location may be verified by other methods, e.g., by determining the location of an Internet service provider'"'"'s network device that is near a user'"'"'s host device or via a cellular telephone network. The user may be asked to input a confirmation number and/or make an oral response during a telephone call to a telephone number associated with the uncontrolled environment. The user may also be prompted to make statements verifying his or her identity, age, a maximum amount available for wagering or other statements.

Claims

1. A computer program embodied in a machine-readable storage medium, the computer program including instructions for controlling at least one network device to perform the following steps:

receive a request to initiate a gaming session from a user, the gaming session comprising;

receiving a wager on a game;

determining an outcome for the game; and

presenting the outcome of the game;

ascertain whether the user is in a location in which the gaming session would be permitted;

determine a telephone number associated with the location;

place a telephone call to the telephone number;

prompt the user for a biometric response;

verify whether the user is an authorized user based in part on the biometric response;

prompt the user to state a maximum amount of time for the gaming session;

initiate the gaming session if it is verified that the user is an authorized user and ascertained that the user is in a location in which the gaming session would be permitted; and

limit the gaming session according to the maximum amount of time.

2. The computer program of claim 1, further comprising instructions for controlling at least one network device to perform the following steps:

prompt the user to enter a confirmation number; and

verify that the user has entered the confirmation number.

3. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the verifying step comprises making a first recording of the biometric response.

4. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the verifying step comprises:

analyzing the biometric response to determine first characteristics; and

comparing the first characteristics with second characteristics of the user.

5. An integrated circuit operable to control a network device to perform the following steps:

receive a request to initiate a gaming session from a user, the gaming session comprising;

receiving a wager on a game;

determining an outcome for the game; and

presenting the outcome of the game;

ascertain whether the user is in a location for which the gaming session would be permitted;

determine a telephone number associated with the location;

place a telephone call to the telephone number;

prompt the user for a biometric response;

verify whether the user is an authorized user based in part on the biometric response;

prompt the user to state a maximum amount of money that the user will authorize for the gaming session;

initiate the gaming session if it is verified that the user is an authorized user and ascertained that the user is in a location in which the gaming session would be permitted; and

limit the gaming session according to the maximum amount of money.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 5, wherein the integrated circuit comprises an application-specific integrated circuit.

7. A set of semiconductor processing masks representative of at least a portion of the integrated circuit of claim 5.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 5, wherein the biometric response comprises one of a voice response, fingerprint data, retinal scan data, facial recognition data and hand shape data.

9. A network device, comprising:

at least one port configured for communication with a network; and

at least one processor configured to perform the following steps;

receive a request to initiate a gaming session from a user, the gaming session comprising;

receiving a wager on a game;

determining an outcome for the game; and

presenting the outcome of the game;

ascertain whether the user is in a location for which the gaming session would be permitted;

determine a telephone number associated with the location;

place a telephone call to the telephone number;

prompt the user for a biometric response;

verify whether the user is an authorized user based in part on the biometric response;

prompt the user to state a maximum amount of money that the user will authorize for the gaming session;

initiate the gaming session if it is verified that the user is an authorized user and ascertained that the user is in a location in which the gaming session would be permitted; and

limit the gaming session according to the maximum amount of money.

10. The network device of claim 9, wherein at least one processor is further configured to perform the following steps:

prompt the user to enter a confirmation number; and

verify that the user has entered the confirmation number.

11. The network device of claim 9, wherein the verifying step comprises making a first recording of the biometric response.

12. The network device of claim 9, wherein the verifying step comprises:

analyzing the biometric response to determine first characteristics; and

comparing the first characteristics with second characteristics of the user.

13. The network device of claim 9, wherein the biometric response comprises one of a voice response, fingerprint data, retinal scan data, facial recognition data and hand shape data.

14. A network device, comprising:

at least one port configured for communication with a network; and

at least one processor configured to perform the following steps;

receive a request from a gaming server to authenticate a user who has made a request to initiate a gaming session from an uncontrolled gaming environment, the gaming session comprising;

receiving a wager on a game;

determining an outcome for the game; and

presenting the outcome of the game;

ascertain whether the user is in a location for which the gaming session would be permitted;

determine a telephone number associated with the location;

place a telephone call to the telephone number;

prompt the user for a biometric response;

verify whether the user is an authorized user based in part on the biometric response;

prompt the user to state a maximum amount of money that the user will authorize for the gaming session;

send a message to the gaming server to initiate the gaming session if it is verified that the user is an authorized user and ascertained that the user is in a location for which the gaming session would be permitted; and

limit the gaming session according to the maximum amount of money.

15. The network device of claim 14, wherein at least one processor is further configured to perform the following steps:

prompt the user to enter a confirmation number; and

verify that the user has entered the confirmation number.

16. The network device of claim 14, wherein the verifying step comprises making a first recording of the biometric response.

17. The network device of claim 14, wherein the verifying step comprises:

analyzing the biometric response to determine first characteristics; and

comparing the first characteristics with second characteristics of the user.

18. The network device of claim 14, wherein the biometric response comprises one of a voice response, fingerprint data, retinal scan data, facial recognition data and hand shape data.

19. The network device of claim 14, wherein the verifying step comprises verifying that the user is old enough to participate in the gaming session according to laws applicable to the location.

20. The network device of claim 14, wherein the ascertaining step comprises determining positioning data associated with a cellular telephone.

21. The network device of claim 14, wherein the ascertaining step comprises determining an address associated with the telephone number.

22. The network device of claim 14, wherein the ascertaining step comprises:

determining a user location; and

comparing the user location with a list of locations for which gaming may be conducted from an uncontrolled gaming environment.

23. The network device of claim 22, wherein the step of determining a user location comprises:

determining a location of a network device in the vicinity of a host device operated by the user; and

comparing the location of the network device with the address associated with the telephone number.

24. The network device of claim 14, wherein the biometric response comprises one of a voice response, fingerprint data, retinal scan data, facial recognition data and hand shape data.

25. The network device of claim 14, wherein the verifying step comprises verifying that a bet size, a session time, a maximum prize allowed, a time of day for gaming or a purse size is permissible according to laws applicable to the location.

26. The network device of claim 14, wherein the prompting step comprises prompting the user to state the user'"'"'s identity.

27. The network device of claim 14, wherein the prompting step comprises prompting the user to state a maximum amount of time that the user will be authorized to spend on the gaming session, further comprising limiting the gaming session according to the maximum amount of time.

28. The network device of claim 14, wherein the prompting step comprises prompting the user to make sounds that were not recorded during a user registration process, further comprising analyzing the sounds to determine a digital voice print for the user.

29. The network device of claim 14, wherein the prompting step comprises prompting the user to say words that were not recorded during a user registration process, further comprising analyzing the words to determine a digital voice print for the user.

30. The network device of claim 14, wherein the prompting step comprises prompting the user to say words in a first sequence that were recorded in a second sequence during a user registration process, further comprising analyzing the words to determine a digital voice print for the user.

31. The network device of claim 14, further comprising the step of determining whether an account associated with the user contains the maximum amount of money authorized by the user.

32. The network device of claim 14, wherein the biometric response comprises one of a voice response, fingerprint data, retinal scan data, facial recognition data and hand shape data.

33. A network device, comprising:

at least one port configured for communication with a network; and

at least one processor configured to perform the following steps;

receive a request to initiate a gaming session, the request being from a user in an uncontrolled gaming environment, the gaming session comprising;

receiving a wager on a game;

determining an outcome for the game; and

presenting the outcome of the game;

send an authentication request regarding the user to a verification server, the authentication request including a telephone number associated with the uncontrolled gaming environment;

receive a first authentication response from the verification server;

initiate the gaming session if the first authentication response indicates that the user is an authorized user and that a location of the uncontrolled gaming environment is an authorized location; and

ascertain, based at least in part upon the location of the uncontrolled gaming environment and upon whether the telephone number corresponds with a mobile device, whether to verify, during the gaming session, that the user remains in a location in which the gaming session would be permitted.

34. The network device of claim 33, wherein at least one processor is further configured to determine a frequency for verifying the user'"'"'s location.

35. The network device of claim 34, wherein the frequency is based, at least in part, on the user'"'"'s proximity to a jurisdiction in which Internet gaming would not be permitted.

36. The network device of claim 34, wherein the frequency is based, at least in part, on whether the user'"'"'s location changed between prior location verifications.

37. The network device of claim 34, wherein the frequency is based, at least in part, on the user'"'"'s apparent speed.