Methods and apparatus for lottery game play aggregation

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a player may accumulate occurrences of a bonus symbol over at least two outcomes. The player may be allowed a bonus if a running count of the occurrences is at least equal to a predetermined number. According to another embodiment, a player may accumulate occurrences of matched lottery numbers over a plurality of lottery outcomes (e.g., lottery number drawings) and / or a plurality of lottery entries. The player may be allowed a bonus if a running count of occurrences of matched numbers is at least equal to a predetermined number.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present Application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 938,977, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOTTERY GAME PLAY AGGREGATION,” filed Aug. 24, 2001; which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60 / 228,144 entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOTTERY GAME PLAY AGGREGATION,” filed Aug. 25, 2000. Each of the above applications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present Application. [0002] The present Application is related to the following commonly-owned Applications, each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety: [0003] (1) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 716,918, entitled “ELECTRONIC AMUSEMENT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED SLOT MACHINE PLAY,” filed Nov. 20, 2000; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 164,473 entitled “ELECTRONIC AMUSEMENT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED SLOT MACHINE PLAY,” filed Oct. 1, 1998, in the name...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present patent application is a continuation-in-part of two previous patent applications, namely U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 9,389,978 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 7,648, which are related to electronic instant lottery games. The present application aims to improve the experience of players by providing more opportunities for prize play and enhancing the overall entertainment value of the game. It also seeks to address issues related to the limited time frame in which the game is played and the discouraging experience for players who do not win a prize. The invention offers various improvements such as incorporating multiple game play modes, offering more prize play opportunities, and enhancing the player's experience through a more intricate and interesting game play."

Problems solved by technology

If the outcome does not correspond to a prize this feels very discouraging to the player, who may feel that the money that was spent on the purchase of the ticket vanished in an instant without providing a sufficiently entertaining experience.

Also, the loyalty of a player who purchases tickets frequently or purchases a plurality of tickets is not recognized or rewarded in the prior art instant lottery systems, which may discourage a player from continuing to purchase tickets.

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