Enhanced parimutuel wagering

• US 8,370,249 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2010
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Longitude LLC
• Original Assignee: Longitude LLC
• Inventors: Lange, Jeffrey, Baron, Kenneth Charles, Walden, Charles, Harte, Marcus
• Primary Examiner(s): Colbert, Ella
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trotter, Scott S
• Application Number:
  US12/924,766
• Publication Number:
  US 20110081955A1
• Time in Patent Office: 854 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 463/25, 463/28
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/10 together with a coded signal , e.g. in the form of personal identification information, like personal identification number [PIN] or biometric data
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/28061 the conductor comprising a metal or metal silicide formed by deposition, e.g. sputter deposition, i.e. without a silicidation reaction H01L21/28052 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/4941 with a barrier layer between the silicon and the metal or metal silicide upper layer, e.g. Silicide/TiN/Polysilicon

Abstract

Methods and systems for engaging in enhanced parimutuel wagering and gaming. In one embodiment, different types of bets can be offered and processed in the same betting pool on an underlying event, such as a horse or dog race, a sporting event or a lottery, and the premiums and payouts of these different types of bets can be determined in the same betting pool, by configuring an equivalent combination of fundamental bets for each type of bet, and performing a demand-based valuation of each of the fundamental bets in the equivalent combination. In another embodiment, bettors can place bets in the betting pool with limit odds on the selected outcome of the underlying event. The bets with limit odds are not filled in whole or in part, unless the final odds on the selected outcome of the underlying event are equal to or greater than the limit odds.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented wagering method, comprising:

for each of at least two received user-placed bets of different type on at least one race, allocating, by a processor, portions of a premium specified for the respective received user-placed bet to a respective subset including two or more of a plurality of predefined fundamental bets determined by the processor to be equivalent to the respective received user-placed bet, the plurality of fundamental bets corresponding to a plurality, including more than one, of predefined mutually exclusive fundamental outcomes; and

executing the respective subsets of fundamental bets in place of the at least two received user-placed bets;

wherein;

the respective subsets are different from each other;

at least one possible winning outcome for a first of the at least two received user-placed bets is mutually exclusive of each possible winning outcome of a second of the at least two received user-placed bets;

all of the predefined fundamental outcomes to which correspond the respective subset of fundamental bets executed in place of the first received user-placed bet are possible winning outcomes of the first received user-placed bet; and

all of the predefined fundamental outcomes to which correspond the respective subset of fundamental bets executed in place of the second received user-placed bet are possible winning outcomes of the second received user-placed bet.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein odds of the each of the at least two received bets is affected by the other of the each of the at least two received bets.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one race is a horse race.

4. The method according to claim 3, where one of the at least two received bets is one of (a) against a horse, (b) on a horse to finish second without specifying any horse to finish first, (c) on a horse to finish third without specifying any horse to finish first or second, and (d) on a horse to finish second or third.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

recording respective first fundamental bets on all of the plurality of fundamental outcomes by a single party.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, subsequent to the recordation of the first fundamental bets, premiums are applied for subsequent bets to the fundamental outcomes such that, for each fundamental outcome, should the respective outcome occur, a total payout for the subsequent bets on the respective outcome is equal to a sum of all premiums applied to all of the fundamental bets divided by a quotient of a total applied premium for all of the first fundamental bets divided by a total of applied premium to all of the subsequent fundamental bets.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

throughout a betting period, a cost for a single unit of each of the plurality of fundamental bets is set such that a sum of the costs equals one predefined unit of a predefined currency; and

each of the single units of each of the plurality of fundamental bets produces a payout of the one predefined unit of the predefined currency if the respective fundamental outcome of the respective fundamental bet occurs.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

odds are specifiable for the received user-placed bets;

for each of the received user-placed bets for which odds, that are better than odds on the respective received user-placed bet, are specified, none of a respective specified premium is applied;

for each of the received user-placed bets for which odds, that are less than odds on the respective received user-placed bet, are specified, all of a respective specified premium is applied; and

for each of at least some of the received user-placed bets for which odds, that are equal to odds on the respective received user-placed bet, are specified, some and not all of the respective specified premium is applied.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, for each of at least one of the received user-placed bets, an extent to which a respective specified premium for the received user-placed bet is applied varies throughout the betting period.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein:

upon receipt of a newly received bet, an iterative process is performed for determining an extent to which to apply a specified premium of the newly received bet; and

in each iteration;

odds for the newly received bet are determined based on an extent to which specified premiums of prior received bets have been applied; and

an extent to which specified premiums of one or more of the prior received bets are applied are redetermined based on a modification of odds for the one or more prior received bets due to the extent to which the specified premium for the newly received bet is applied, the iterative process continuing until an equilibrium, within a predefined tolerance, is reached.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the two received user-placed bets are on two different races occurring at different times.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the at least one race includes a horse racing event;

the first received user-placed bet is a bet that specifies that a horse in the racing event will finish at least first or second in the racing event, the bet being such that a payout on the bet is received when the racing event is concluded if the horse finishes first in the event and if the horse finishes second in the event, but not if the horse finishes in any place other than first and second; and

the method further includes, prior to an end of a betting period in which bets are recordable on the horse racing event, calculating and outputting, by the processor, indicative odds of the first received user-placed bet.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the payout on the first received user-placed bet is the same regardless of whether the horse specified by the first received user-placed bet finishes in first place or in second place in the horse racing event.

14. A computer-implemented wagering method, comprising:

for each of two received user-placed bets, each on a respective high-level outcome of a racing event, a computer processor allocating portions of a premium specified for the received bet to a respective subset, including more than one, of a plurality of predefined fundamental bets on predefined fundamental outcomes determined by the processor to be equivalent to the respective received user-placed bet, the respective subsets being different from each other; and

executing the respective subsets of predefined fundamental bets in place of the respective received user-placed bets;

wherein;

for each of the two received user-placed bets, odds vary between different ones of the respective subset of fundamental bets;

at least one possible winning outcome that is consistent with the respective high-level outcomes of one of the two received user-placed bets is mutually exclusive of the respective high-level outcome the other of the two received user-placed bets;

each of the predefined fundamental outcomes to which the subsets of fundamental bets correspond are mutually exclusive of each other;

all of the fundamental outcomes to which a first of the subsets of fundamental bets correspond are possible winning outcomes of a first of the two received user-placed bets; and

all of the fundamental outcomes to which a second of the subsets of fundamental bets correspond are possible winning outcomes of a second of the two received user-placed bets.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the racing event is a horse racing event.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein:

the first received user-placed bet is a bet that specifies that a horse in the racing event will finish at least second in the racing event, the bet being such that a payout on the bet is received when the racing event is concluded if the horse finishes first in the event and if the horse finishes second in the event, but not if the horse finishes in any place other than first and second; and

the method further includes, prior to an end of a betting period in which bets are recordable on the horse racing event, calculating and outputting, by the processor, indicative odds of the first received user-placed bet.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the payout on the first received user-placed bet is the same regardless of whether the horse specified by the first received user-placed bet finishes in first place or in second place in the horse racing event.