Systems and methods for lottery-style games

Abstract

Systems and methods for lottery-style games are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method may comprise: establishing an online game that is scheduled to have lottery drawings on a number of drawing days; accepting enrollment of a plurality of players in the online game, each player being assigned at least one unique identifier and being committed to participate in a plurality of the lottery drawings; receiving, from each player, a designated number of tokens to be entered for each unique identifier in each lottery drawing said player is committed to participate in, each designated number being at least one and up to a predetermined maximum; and executing the online game on each drawing day by conducting a drawing, from unique identifiers of the participating players, to select one winner and by providing a fraction of a jackpot to the selected winner based on a calculated proportional value.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This patent application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Systems and Methods for Lottery-Style Games,” filed concurrently herewith, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to games of chance. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for lottery-style games.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Lottery is a popular game of chance in which a number of players contribute to form a jackpot that is later awarded, wholly or partially, to one or more winners. The participating players pay money or contribute other things of value in exchange for lottery tickets. Typically, each lottery ticket bears a combination of numbers or other symbols, and a winning ticket has to at least partially match a randomly generated set of numbers or symbols. In a properly operated lottery game, any one of the outstanding ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]One technical effect of the systems and methods of the present invention is that they facilitate more efficient and more entertaining implementation of lottery-style games on modern computers and communications systems. Another technical effect of the systems and methods of the present invention lies in the specialized computer devices and / or gaming kiosks that may be configured and deployed to carry out the lottery-style games disclosed herein.

Problems solved by technology

However, the entire mechanism of generating, drawing, and matching tickets could impose significant overhead costs on the operation of lottery games.

Second, participation in traditional lottery games depends heavily on player impulse or enthusiasm, which causes ticket revenue to fluctuate.

A loss in one game might cause an ordinary player to stop playing for a while.

Therefore, when the total jackpot snowballs into an unusually large amount, the public often become increasingly interested in the game.

For all these reasons, ticket revenues from traditional lottery games tend to swing with time and seldom generate a steady cash flow.

Third, players in a traditional lottery game have no direct or perceivable incentive for bringing more players into the game.

However, that potential benefit may not be tangible enough to encourage referrals of additional players.

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