Computer Image Processing Method and System for Image Objects or Text Displays in a Betting Environment

Abstract

To provide a method and a system for performing wager.SOLUTION: A method includes the steps of: starting a first betting session; generating a betting product to store it in a memory element; transmitting information on the betting product stored in the memory element to at least one user; receiving a plurality of bet requests for performing wager on the at least one betting product from one user to store it in the memory element; validating one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element; and by comparing a numerical term associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element with a corresponding numerical term associated with the one of the plurality of validated bet requests, determining that the numerical term is within a non-zero range with respect to the corresponding numerical term.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 11 / 467,047, filed Aug. 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Background Art

[0002] This specification relates to an image processing method and system, and more particularly to a system and method for displaying image objects or text on an interactive display in a wagering environment.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] According to at least one aspect of the present disclosure, a computer image processing system and method are provided for displaying image objects or text in a wagering environment.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] In at least one embodiment, a computer image processing method is provided for displaying an image object on an image user interface screen including steps of receiving a request for wagering information and causing an image interface screen to be displayed on a user interface. The image interface screen includes a reference wagering line, such as a market betting line, having a value corresponding to a reference variable value associated with the object, such as a market value of the object. Alternatively or additionally, the interface screen may include a high line having a value corresponding to an amount higher than the reference variable value, a low line having a value corresponding to an amount lower than the reference variable value, or at least one or a plurality of spread lines. The market, high, low, and spread lines may be spatially arranged on the interface screen based at least on the respective values of these lines.

[0005] In one embodiment, the interface screen includes at least one image object, generated by computer or otherwise, associated with each of the betting lines. The at least one image object is selectable to place at least one of an up-bet request and a down-bet request. The at least one image object may rotate or move when in a tradable state. The interface screen may further include odds associated with at least one of an up-bet request and a down-bet request super-imposed on the image object. In one embodiment, the interface screen and / or at least one market or reference betting line, high line, low line, spread line, and odds are automatically refreshed to reflect fluctuations in the market value of the object.

[0006] Further aspects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.

[0007] To provide a more complete understanding of the present invention and its features and advantages, reference numerals are used in the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where like numerals represent like parts.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a gaming system 10 according to at least one embodiment of the system disclosed in the present specification. As disclosed in the present specification, it provides at least one image user interface screen that enables a user to place a bet or wager thereon regarding an event occurring in the financial or other market. In one embodiment, the gaming system 10 includes at least one central controller 40 that is coupled to or in communication with the entire communication network 18 having at least one user interface 16 for use by one or more end users 12. The gaming system 10 may similarly include or be associated with an administrator module 50 and financial market data elements 60.

[0010] The user interface 16 may include one or more elements for providing connection and / or interaction for one or more end users 12, along with other elements within the gaming system 10. The user interface 16 may include, for example, one or more input and / or output devices such as a processor, memory, keyboard, mouse, display, etc., an Internet element 20, a wireless element 22, a casino facility element 24, a television (or display) element 28, etc. Each of these elements may provide related functions in the form of hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0011] The central controller 40 includes a processor 42 and a memory element 44, and may similarly include software stored in the memory that, when executed, performs one or more steps of the methods described in the present specification or provides functions. In one embodiment, the central controller 40 generally provides back-end functions for the methods described in the present specification, and the user interface 16 provides front-end functions.

[0012] In certain embodiments, gaming system 10 provides a more flexible and suitable opportunity for wagering on a variety of financial or other market events. The methods and systems described herein may be illustrative of wagering on events occurring within a financial market, such as one or more indicators reaching a certain monetary level at the end of a betting session, but it should be understood that the methods and systems of the present application are equally applicable to bets on other events not related to the financial market, such as sports events, horse or dog races, casino games, lotteries, and others, without limitation. Further, while the methods and systems are described with respect to market price or value, it should be understood that the methods and systems of the present application are equally applicable to variables without price reference, such as trading volume, bid size, ask size, revenue, scores or statistics in sports and non-sports, jackpots, and others, without limitation. The methods and systems of the present specification are generally applicable to wagers on the value of reference variables associated with any object, where the value of the object is subject to change over time. Accordingly, the present specification provides methods and systems for providing users with an opportunity to place wagers based on whether the value of a reference variable reaches a particular level at a specific point in time.

[0013] In some embodiments, gaming system 10 provides a betting opportunity or a betting product for a bet on an event occurring in a financial or other market, and determines odds for the occurrence of the event in the market. The terms "betting opportunity" and "betting product" as used herein are used as synonyms. For example, as described below, system 10 may determine odds to bet on the value of an asset, a plurality of assets, an index, etc. that reaches a certain price level or a plurality of levels in a market that fluctuates or varies in a certain direction, and further provide an opportunity to bet on whether the value of the asset meets at least one of these betting conditions a plurality of times over the entire trading day. In this regard, gaming system 10 may divide the trading day into a plurality of intraday betting sessions, each having a start time and an expiration. Therefore, the trading day may be regarded as having a plurality of expirations within the day. The betting session may be object-specific or comprehensive for all objects. That is, the start time may occur at different times for a certain object and may be the same for all objects.

[0014] Gaming system 10 may further include a pricing engine, such as a software component or module, which is operable as follows: 1) determine one or a set of variable or fixed odds respectively around a variable or fixed market line; 2) determine an exact variable market line related to the fixed odds; and / or 3) receive betting information to determine and / or display liability management information related to financial fixed betting activities.

[0015] For a variable odds / fixed line betting product, system 10 provides an interface screen that displays odds around a reference betting line having a value that is invariant throughout the trading day, during a betting session period, or during the current day expiration. In this example, system 10 sets the value of the reference variable at the start of the betting session, i.e., the betting line value at the start time, and determines the odds for the value of the reference variable that reaches a level higher or lower than the initial value of the reference variable at a later time. System 10 may further preferably and dynamically determine the odds for the value of the reference variable that reaches different levels at different times throughout the betting session so as to reflect the real-time changes in the value of the object. Accordingly, system 10 provides a betting opportunity for end-user 12 based on whether the value of the reference variable at the close of the betting session reaches a higher or lower level than the initial value of the reference variable having a corresponding payout based on the odds determined and / or set based on the odds and the value of the reference variable at the time the end-user 12 placed the bet.

[0016] For example, assume that the reference betting line corresponds to a fixed market line, such as the market value of the Dow at which a betting session (T1) starts at 11192.8. At a time (T2) after the betting session, as shown in FIG. 5, the value of the Dow is 11192.5, the odds that the Dow will end higher than the 11192.8 level at T2 are 10 / 11, and the odds that the Dow will end lower than the 11192.8 level at T2 are 8 / 11. Generally, the odds vary from the initial Dow value at the start of the betting session based at least on the market value of the Dow at T2. Accordingly, end user 12 may place a bet at time T2 on an up position and make a "bet up" with a corresponding payoff of (W)×(10 / 11) for the wager (W), or may make a "bet down" with a corresponding payoff of (W)×(8 / 11) for the wager. Similarly, end user 12 may place bets on the same fixed market line at a later time in that betting session, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and odds are determined that reflect fluctuations in the market value of the object at the later time, such as odds based on the market value at the later time. Similarly, end user 12 may place bets on a high line, a low line, or a spread line, as will be described in detail later.

[0017] In addition to variable odds / fixed line wagering, gaming system 10 may similarly provide fixed odds / variable line betting results where an end user 12 can bet into a dynamic market, where reference betting lines, such as market lines for example, have values corresponding to the current value of a reference variable at different times during a betting session to reflect any market shifts and variations. In this example, system 10 provides an interface screen having a reference betting line that reflects changes in the value of the reference value in real time or other format, and at the end of the betting session or trading day, may determine odds for an object that has reached a different level, for example higher or lower than the current level at that time. System 10 then provides a betting opportunity where end user 12 can select the current value for the reference variable and bet on whether the value of the reference variable is higher or lower than the value selected at the current level at the end of the betting session, and the odds and corresponding pay out based thereon are basically fixed or unchanged at least during that betting session. In a variable line embodiment, the fixed odds may be fixed at any time including at the start time of the trading day, start of the betting session, etc. For example, end user 12 may bet on whether the current level value of the Dow closes either higher or lower than 11252.9, which was the current level at a first time (T1) within the betting session, as shown in FIG. 10, or whether the Dow closes higher or lower than 11252.0, which was the current level at a second time (T2), as shown in FIG. 11, where T2>T1 as shown in FIG. 11. As can be seen from FIGS. 10 to 11, the odds for betting on the variable market are fixed at 5 / 6 for both times and in both directions.

[0018] As described above, the end user 12 may bet that the value at the closing time of a selected market such as the FTSE is higher or lower than the value of a market line value that is fixed or variable. In addition to the market betting line, the end user 12 may similarly enjoy additional betting opportunities regarding a fixed or variable betting line. In one embodiment, the system 10 provides a betting opportunity based on the theory that the market closes at a predetermined level higher or lower than a reference betting line, such as, for example, about 1% higher or lower than the market line, or any other percentage from 0.5% to 10% or more, or about 9 units higher or lower than the market line, or any other amount such as 1 to 100 units (scale) or more.

[0019] Accordingly, in a variable odds embodiment, the gaming system 10 may provide betting opportunities at high-line levels and / or low-line levels that are each a certain amount, such as a certain percentage or a certain number of units, higher or lower respectively from the value of a reference betting line such as the fixed market line shown in FIGS. 5 to 9. The end user 12 may then bet whether the value of the variable closes higher or lower than the high and / or low-line values. In this example, the system 10 may preferably determine variable odds for high, low, or any other line level dynamically and in real time, preferably during a betting session.

[0020] In a fixed odds embodiment, gaming system 10 may provide similar betting opportunities at high and low line levels and may provide betting opportunities on lines based on the spread around the current value of a reference variable such as a variable market line, such that the spread line will include better odds (from the perspective of the bettor) than those associated with a variable market line without a spread. Such odds may be essentially even (1 / 1), for example, as opposed to 10 / 11 type odds for a market line. Thus, system 10 may suitably determine the varying values of the high, low, and spread line values on a dynamic and real-time basis during a betting session to maintain the desired fixed odds.

[0021] The expiration of a bet for a day for a betting session, as well as other in-day and long-term expirations, may be similarly adjusted by gaming system 10. Bets may be placed on any suitable financial market such as the FTSE, German DAX, French CAC, NASDAQ, American Exchange (AMEX), New York Stock Exchange, Nikkei, bond or treasury market, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng stock index. Thus, gaming system 10 may facilitate frequent bet expirations for bets on any number of suitable financial instruments. A bet or betting session may similarly be extended to expire every minute or 30 seconds, or at any combination or amount therebetween. Based thereon, end user 12 may be provided with the opportunity to bet on multiple events / scenarios throughout a trading day. Thus, the targeted financial market is the basis for normal in-day betting activity.

[0022] In at least one embodiment, system 10 provides a betting session with bet invalidation that is immediately extended to adjust at least one, such as every 5 minutes, every 30 minutes, every hour, etc., and a defined future time frame throughout the market hours of the trading day. For example, if the trading day is divided into sessions with 5 - minute invalidation, the betting opportunities are defined as follows for the FTSE market (in GMT time). (Start bell) 10:00 am, 10:05 am, 10:10 am, etc., and continue until 17:05, 17:10, 17:15, 17:20 (end bell). The same principle applies to other session periods.

[0023] Similarly, system 10 may allow end - user 12 to specify an expiration that the end - user determines himself. This may be an impending expiration or any future - occurring expiration. Thus, customers in a betting shop or online environment may be provided with betting opportunities at any time throughout the day. Settlement may follow bet expiration in any suitable manner, such as immediately after expiration, during and / or concurrently with the operating period of the next or any other future betting cycle, or in other ways.

[0024] Gaming system 10 may allow an end - user to place bets in a session with an expiration that is not time - specific. In such a scenario, the bet expires at a defined delay time measured from the moment the bet is placed, as opposed to an expiration defined or planned throughout the trading session. Thereby, end - user 12 knows that a bet placed as such expires, for example, in 5 minutes or any other time after the bet is placed, and can place bets at any time throughout the day. For example, a 5 - minute expiration bet placed at 12:07:35 is settled at 12:12:35. Thus, bets do not need to expire at a nominal interval for all participants, but instead expire based on a clear marker, i.e., a delay from the time the bet is placed.

[0025] Another possibility resulting from the configuration of the gaming system 10 is that, for a sophisticated participant, in individual transactions, for example, they can bet in one way and take the opposite position on the outcomes of multiple other events, thus enabling continuous adjustment of the overall risk involvement or exposure. For example, a participant may first bet on the NASDAQ market to rise, but may also hold a short position in the Russell 2000. With such a risk - mixed participation strategy, in a manner similar to an investor who hedges the risk of an investment portfolio through offsetting transactions in underlying securities assets, the participant can efficiently balance or hedge their bets and their betting portfolio.

[0026] The end - user 12 is a client, customer, prospective investor, or any individual or group who wishes to place a bet. Similarly, the end - user 12 may seek access to or participation in communications using the user interface 16, which is supplied bidirectionally to the central controller 40 via the communication network 18. The end - user 12 may view data such as the performance characteristics of physical commodity objects during transactions associated with a particular market in order to take positions such as placing bets on any given target. Alternatively, or additionally, the end - user 12 may represent any device or object that attempts to initiate communication in place of another entity or element such as a program, database, or any other component, device, element, or item within the gaming system 10 that can initiate voice or data exchange. As used herein, the term "data" refers to any type of numerical, voice, or script data, or any other appropriate information in any format communicated from one location to another.

[0027] The fact that end-user 12 may participate in a wager or bet does not imply that legal means are used to bind end-user 12 to an agreement. A wager may take any suitable form, such as a written document, an electronic file such as an email, a database entry, a facsimile message, a computer display, an entry in a report, an oral agreement between two groups, or a combination thereof. Such a wager may be flexible in terms, expressions, and clauses. Generally, any information or data that is relevant or of interest to the participants or sponsoring entity making the bet may be included in the wager if the items involved are mutually agreeable to the groups bound by the wager.

[0028] User interface 16 may be any device that facilitates wagering on selected financial or other markets. User interface 16 generally operates, either alone or in combination with a central controller 40, to communicate with at least one requirement associated with the processing of wagers and / or betting opportunities described herein. Similarly, user interface 16 may provide a portal for end-user 12 to access other elements of gaming system 10 and communicate bidirectionally with relevant components of gaming system 10 regarding betting opportunities and information such as bets placed in response thereto provided herein. User interface 16 may be a computer, a server, a management center, a single workstation, or a headquarters office for any individual, business, or group that manages or facilitates wagering activities. Thus, user interface 16 may comprise any suitable hardware, software, device, component, element, or item utilized or implemented to achieve such operations or functions within a gaming environment.

[0029] In one embodiment, the user interface 16 includes any one or more selections of elements such as an Internet element 20, a wireless element 22, a casino facility element 24, a television element 28, or any other receiver or the like for displaying images or information such as cable, sanitation, closed circuit, etc., a biometric element 65, and the like. Any suitable number and combination of interfaces may be implemented within the gaming system 10 according to usage, traffic, architecture, and other reasons.

[0030] The user interface 16 may be any suitable interface or object that facilitates communication between any other element within the gaming system 10 and the end user 12, such as a mobile phone, an electronic note, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer or laptop computer, a specialized handheld device, or any other suitable device, wireless or otherwise, a component, or an element accessible to one or more elements within the gaming system 10. Similarly, the user interface 16 may include any suitable interface for a human user to interact with the gaming system 10, such as a display, a microphone, a keyboard, a camera, a mouse, a roller ball, a touch screen display, a biometric sensor, or any other suitable terminal device according to a specific configuration and arrangement. In addition, the user interface 16 may be a unique element such as a specialized communication device designed specifically for communication including the bets disclosed herein. Such elements may be assembled or manufactured specifically for financial applications including the end user 12.

[0031] The user interface 16 may be owned or operated by any suitable entity having the ability and / or authority to operate in the gaming industry. There may be a direct connection between the user interface 16 and any financial or other exchange transaction, whereby information associated with the exchange transaction may be distributed to the end user 12 and viewed prior to the execution of the trade. Accordingly, the user interface 16 may distribute real-time market and / or financial data to the end user 12 to provide relevant information for making a decision as to whether to place, purchase, or sell a wager. This financial information may be retrieved from the financial market data element 60, or any other suitable element such as the direct connection described above. The financial market data element 60 may be relay data such as, for example, price information, market line values, expiration data, financial graphs and charts, exchange rate history, or moving averages for the end user 12. Similarly, other relevant financial data may be distributed immediately based on specific requirements.

[0032] To distribute accurate and timely information, the financial market data element 60 may be directly connected to the communication link of the corresponding exchange transaction that transmits the financial data. Alternatively, the financial market data element 60 may collect this information from any other source such as a newswire or server that operates to distribute information to investors in real time, and distribute the desired data to the end user 12. The financial data element 60 may be embodied by software, hardware, or a combination thereof. The system 10 may store information received from or connected to the financial data element 60 within one or more databases.

[0033] The user interface 16 may include or be at least one self-service betting machine. In some embodiments, with the self-service betting machine, the end user 12 can pay money into the machine using cash, vouchers, credit / debit cards, etc., use this to place one or more bets, receive a printout such as a ticket, and check the placed bets. The user interface 16 may also include a biometric element 65 such as a fingerprint reader or any other biometric sensor to authenticate the identity verification of the user. The biometric data generated by the biometric sensor may be used to verify the identity verification of the user for account access, electronic funds transfer, etc. For example, the biometric data may be transmitted from the interface 16 to the central controller 40, where it is compared with the biometric data stored there. If the biometric data matches, the user may continue to bet according to the method disclosed in this specification. Further, the result of the match of the biometric data may be transmitted to a third party such as a bank, and thereby, based on the match of the biometrics, funds may be electronically transferred from the user's account related to the third party to one or more betting accounts of the user related to the gaming system provider.

[0034] The printout for a winning bet may be put back into the self-service betting machine to receive payment or a voucher, and the payment or voucher may be used to receive payment from the cashier. In other embodiments, the self-service betting machine enables the end user 12 to use a credit card, debit card, or smart card to place bets. The credit or debit card may have an associated account, which may be a betting account provided and / or managed by, for example, a betting account provider using a centralized computer system. The associated account and information may also be stored in an end-user profile as described later with reference to FIG. 3. The smart card may store a betting account and information regarding various bets on itself. In some embodiments, after a bet is voided, the end user 12 may insert or pass their credit, debit, or smart card through the self-service betting machine to update the card's balance.

[0035] The user interface 16 may implement one or more telephone operators and one or more websites. The end user 12 may access or communicate in any suitable manner using such an interface. The telephone operator may separately convey information to the end user 12 and take bets from the user. Similarly, the website may convey betting information to the end user 12 and enable the end user 12 to use it to place bets. One or more such websites may be provided by one or more servers associated with the owner or operator of the gaming system 10.

[0036] An Internet betting provider may provide bets via an Internet account by offering an online betting account to one or more end users 12. Using the online betting account, customers may fund the account and view betting information regarding betting events such as variable and fixed odds, variable and fixed references, markets, high, low and spread lines, historical data, etc., and connect to one or more websites associated with the Internet betting provider in order to place bets. Such online betting accounts may include one or more various types of accounts such as deposit accounts, credit accounts, escrow accounts, stop loss accounts, hybrid accounts, etc. Such accounts and their contents may be stored in an end user profile as shown in FIG. 3.

[0037] Communication network 18 is a communication platform operable to exchange data or information among end - user 12, user interface 16, and / or central controller 40. Communication network 18 may be an Internet architecture, which provides the end - user with the ability to electronically execute or initiate transactions associated with wagering. Alternatively, communication network 18 may be an analog telephone line (Plain Old Telephone System, POTS), and end - user 12 may use it to perform the same operations or functions. Such transactions may be assisted by broker 30 associated with user interface 16 and may be manually keyed into a telephone or other appropriate electronic device to request execution of the transaction. In other embodiments, communication network 18 may be any packet - data network (PDN) that provides communication between any two nodes within communication interface or gaming system 10. Communication network 18 may alternatively or additionally be any local - area network (LAN), metropolitan - area network (MAN), wide - area network (WAN), wireless local - area network (WLAN), virtual private network (VPN), intranet, or any other suitable architecture or system that facilitates communication within a network or telephone environment, or combinations thereof.

[0038] In one embodiment, the central controller 40 includes a processor 42 and a memory element 44. The central controller 40 generally provides backend functions related to the methods described herein, such as receiving requests from the end-user 12, and is operable to process these requests so that bets based on events occurring in a market environment such as financial transactions in the financial market are executed. The bets generated as a result may be appropriately stored in the database 45 or in the memory element 44 in any other suitable format, etc., after being properly managed and stored by the processor 42. The processor 42 may assist in processing any betting items or conditions such as the desired maturity, type of swap transaction, odds, reference line, market line, high line, low line, spread line value, etc., requested by the end-user 12. If the central controller 40 cannot match the betting information requested or the bid betting items provided by the end-user 12 with those available in the market, the central controller 40 may contact the end-user 12 and notify the end-user 12 of information on the situation where it is impossible to fulfill the bet.

[0039] Processor 42 may include any suitable processor that executes betting system applications or other computer instructions that facilitate wagering. Processor 42 may be a CPU and / or a microprocessor and may comprise any suitable number of processors operating in conjunction. Processor 42 generally operates to perform calculations to determine current bet data such as software, various algorithms, calculations, or betting values, betting odds, markets, highs, lows, or spread lines, variable or fixed, and / or potential payout data, and to perform authentication, verification, or any other function that advances the methods disclosed herein. Processor 42 may determine these current bet data based on data received from memory element 44 and / or financial market data element 60. Additionally, processor 42 may update these current bet data based on new information received from financial market data element 60. In some embodiments, processor 42 may update the current bet data in real time, substantially in real time, or at preset intervals such as every 5 seconds to every 30 seconds. Additionally, processor 42 may perform the operations described herein to establish betting odds, variable market lines or levels, and provide betting opportunities to end user 12 based thereon. In other embodiments, the odds are determined external to gaming system 10 and simply transmitted from an external link to central controller 40.

[0040] The memory element 44 may include one or more memory devices such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), fast cycle RAM (FCRAM), static RAM (SRAM), field programmable gate array (FPGA), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), microcontroller, or microprocessor, hard drive, optical media, magnetic media, etc., or combinations thereof, that facilitate wagering or store information related thereto. The memory element 44 is generally operable to store data used by the processor 42 in odds and / or payout determinations. In addition to storing wagering information, the memory element 44 may store thereon software that implements some or all of the functions described herein during execution.

[0041] Note that the internal structure of the central controller 40 is flexible and can be immediately changed, altered, reorganized, or reconfigured to achieve the intended operation. Accordingly, the central controller 40 may be equipped with any suitable components, devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), hardware, software, processors, algorithms, ROM elements, RAM elements, EPROMs, EEPROMs, or any other suitable objects operable to facilitate the operation of the central controller 40. The structure of the central controller 40 provides considerable flexibility within the context of the gaming system 10.

[0042] In an alternative embodiment, the user interface 16, the communication network 18, and / or the central controller 40 may be wholly or partially replaced by a single human being that provides a human interface between the end user 12 and the bets related to the financial markets. In such an embodiment, an agent (or any other suitable person or proxy) of the user interface 16 may receive contact from the end user 12, for example, via a telephone, a network, another suitable electronic device, or directly by word of mouth. The agent or proxy may receive requests from the end user 12 and execute transactions including bets, such as bet requests, items of bet requests, and other inputs. The agent or proxy may then proxy the request to a suitable entity for executing the bet and may effect a brokerage transaction. The agent or proxy may then record the completed transaction once and then contact the end user 12 to confirm that the transaction has been executed. A receipt of any suitable type may then be issued to the end user 12 indicating the items of the bet. Additional details related to the internal structure of the central controller 40 will be described later with reference to FIG. 3.

[0043] The administrator module 50 is an element that cooperates with the central controller 40 to confirm the fair and proper execution of a betting transaction initiated by the end user 12. The administrator module 50 is an optional component of the gaming system 10. The administrator module 50 may be used in certain embodiments to control any operation of the central controller 40. For example, the administrator module 50 may be used to manually set betting odds, approve a margin call or an individual bet request, or stop a specific betting operation. In the selected example, the administrator module 50 may request additional margin throughout the day without waiting for a routine end-of-day settlement. In still other scenarios, the administrator module 50 may be used for general monitoring functions. In this example, the administrator module 50 may act as an interface for the user to send at least one query to the data stored in the system such as a table or a database. The module 50 may similarly act as an interface for processing the data stored in the system, such as syntax analysis, extraction, filtering, deletion, etc., or more generally. The administrator module 50 may be accessed using the provider interface 32, which may be any type of device similar to the end-user interface 16 for communicating with the central controller 40 and / or the administrator module 50. Further, the administrator module 50 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof.

[0044] Figure 2 shows an interface screen or page 70 for use in a communication involving at least one embodiment of the method and system disclosed in the present specification. The interface screen 70 generally provides an end user 12 with an opportunity to bet, at the end of a trading session or trading day, whether in some cases variables associated with a selected market or object have reached a level higher or lower than defined market levels such as market line 71, high line 73, low line 75, and spread line 77. As described above, the expiration associated with a bet or bets may vary. By way of example, the expiration 79 for the interface shown in Figure 2 is an expiration on the same day that ends at the closing time of the market.

[0045] The interface of Figure 2 indicates that the system 10 may generate an interface screen including one or more betting lines, image objects, buttons, and / or text that provide a total of eight or fewer betting opportunities with respect to the value of one or more reference variables associated with an object such as an index value, a particular asset or assets, or any other transferable item, for the fixed odds and / or variable odds embodiments described above. The term image or image object as used in the present specification refers to any item used to indicate any item that is provided together, including but not limited to still or video images, text, and buttons, and is configured to be selected by the end user 12 to place a bet request regarding at least one betting opportunity provided. The interface 70 may include a list 72 including at least one selectable link for placing a bet in a selected exchange transaction.

[0046] Eight or fewer betting opportunities are based on the user's ability to bet that a specified market or object within it closes higher or lower than at least one of four individually defined levels. In this regard, the interface screen 70 may display at least one betting line having a value 81 corresponding to a selected reference variable of the object 89, such as the market price of the object 89. This value 81 may be superposed and displayed on the line 71 along with a selectable image for the user to place a bet (up bet) in the up position 76a and at least one selectable image for the user to place a bet (down bet) in the down position 76b for the value 81 of the betting line 71. The interface screen 70 may similarly display values for each betting line, such as the value 83 associated with the high line 73, the value 85 associated with the low line 75, the values 87a, 87b, etc. associated with the spread line 77. Each betting line corresponds to the value of the selected reference variable and is accompanied by a corresponding image for placing a bet in either the up or down position for each line.

[0047] In one embodiment, the image object displays the odds for a bet on a particular position that has become available for use. The lines may be displayed on the interface screen 70 in a spatial relationship based on the value of a particular line relative to other lines or multiple lines. As shown in FIG. 2, the lines may be drawn and spatially arranged such that lines of lower value are below lines having higher values. The spatial distance between the lines may vary to reflect any proximity in the spread between the lines. For example, the distance may be narrowed to provide a scaled display of the betting lines or widened to provide a zoom in the display of the betting lines. The images and / or text displayed on the interface screen may be dynamically updated to reflect changes in the value of the object or changes in the odds for a betting opportunity. Betting data such as the betting lines and odds are preferably automatically refreshed without user intervention.

[0048] In one embodiment, the interface screen 70 includes a high line 73, a current market line 71, and a low line 75 for betting on an index such as the FTSE. In a fixed odds embodiment, the value of a current reference betting line such as the current market line preferably changes to reflect in real time changes in the value of the index. Accordingly, the high line and low line values may also vary based on the fluctuating current market level, for example, if the high and low lines are each approximately 1% higher or lower than the market value than the reference and then the current market level line. In a more volatile market or for a particular demand, such high and low lines can be any appropriate percentage level or increase or decrease in amount from a reference betting line such as the market line to achieve a preferred fixed odds for each betting position.

[0049] In the example of FIG. 2, the high line 73 is at 4404. High (up bet) and low (down bet) betting opportunities represent certain fixed or fixed odds that persist at least during a betting session. Higher odds are generally odds against the current level (sell position), and lower odds are odds in support of the current level (buy position or "odds on"). Thus, the pair of bet images 74a and 74b may reflect sell and buy positions with respect to the high line. Bet 74a includes odds of 5 / 1, while bet 74b includes odds of 1 / 12. Similarly, the pair of bet images 80a and 80b may be provided, reflecting a higher one with odds of 1 / 12 (up bet, buy position) and a lower one with odds of 5 / 1 (down bet, sell position), respectively.

[0050] As described above, the value of the market line 71 may vary, with fixed odds for high (up bet) or low (down bet) betting opportunities, which in this example is approximately 10 / 11, and may fluctuate or remain constant reflecting the actual market level for an object such as the FTSE. The current market line at that time is at 4354 and includes a pair of bet images 76a and 76b, which represent high (up bet) or low (down bet) positions with both of their associated odds being 10 / 11. Additionally, another pair of bet images 78a and 78b may be provided with reference to the next and then current market line 71, i.e., a derivative of the spread line. The two bets on the spread line are each placed at levels 4361 and 4348 and are calculated to provide even betting odds for both up bet and down bet opportunities. Thus, the second closest current market level is provided, which also varies with respect to the market line, and the market spread, i.e., the customer can bet an even amount on whether the market will expire higher or lower than the spread line. In this example, a 13-point spread straddles the reference market middle line, providing an additional betting opportunity for end-user 12.

[0051] In addition to reflecting market fluctuations, the high-line and low-line values may also vary over time to maintain the desired odds fixed throughout the trading session. The spread between the high-line, market-line, and low-line generally narrows or fluctuates closer as the session expiration approaches, typically based on at least the remaining time within the session. This also applies in the context of keeping the odds even for bets on the spread-line value for high (up-bet product) and low (down-bet product) positions (bets 78a and 78b). Thus, such lines not only float in the sense of market fluctuations but also converge as time progresses towards the close of the betting session. For example, if there are 5 minutes left for wagering in a daily session, these lines are extremely narrow. Therefore, during the course of a trading day or betting session, the high-line generally declines and the low-line generally rises, while in some cases, the odds remain relatively constant.

[0052] Similarly, as time elapses and the market or betting session closes, certain betting opportunities may be invalidated or otherwise eliminated due to practical constraints. For example, a particular market generally fluctuates with an increment in the total number. Thus, spreads that are too narrow to provide a practical betting opportunity, such as bet images 74a, 74b, 78a, 78b, 80a, and 80b, may be eliminated as the market approaches closure.

[0053] Accordingly, the betting provider may restrict the betting opportunities, for example, by invalidating the high line and the low line if the line is closer to the 5th to 10th tick, or any other amount from the market line or both. Similarly, the betting provider may invalidate the betting opportunities if the odds are too high, such as higher than or equal to the threshold of 100 / 1, or too low, such as lower than or equal to the threshold of 1 / 28. The betting opportunities may be invalidated by simply deleting the image with the specific invalidated bet, as shown in Figure 7, or by changing the color of the image to a color with a different brightness from the original color, and / or by deleting the odds displayed above the image object associated with the specific betting opportunity on the image. For example, an image that was originally bright red may be replaced with a light red image. It should be understood that any type of change may be used to indicate that the bet has been erased, such as replacing a moving image with a non-moving image, a rotating image with a non-rotating image, or making an opaque object transparent or translucent. In addition to invalidating the entire line, the provider may also invalidate only a portion of it, such as the up-bet image and / or the down-bet image.

[0054] In one embodiment, the image reflects the tradable state of the betting opportunity. The tradable state may be at least one of "tradable", "viewable", and "off". In the tradable state, the image associated with the betting opportunity is both viewable and tradable, that is, the user may place a bet by selecting the image. In the viewable state, the image is viewable but not tradable. For example, the betting opportunity has been erased or invalidated in another form. In the off state, the product is neither viewable nor tradable.

[0055] The odds of 1 / 12 for the buy bets 74b and 80a, and the odds of 5 / 1 for the sell bets 74a and 80b, respectively, reflect the fixed odds for the corresponding lines, namely 4404 and 4306, which are determined based on the time remaining in the betting session and / or the volatility of the market. Thus, the end user 12 may select the image 74a and place a bet of $100 at odds of 5 / 1 that the FTSE closes above the high line. At the end of the trading day, if the FTSE closes at 4425, this bet is a winning bet and may be settled later. In this example, the end user 12 would recover $500 (W×(5 / 1)) from the winning bet in addition to their initial stake, for a total of $600. Instead, if the end user 12 selects the image 74b and places a bet of $100 at odds of 1 / 12, at the close of the betting session, this bet is identified as a losing bet and the end user 12 would lose their $100 bet. On the other hand, if the FTSE closes at 4390, the end user 12 would receive a payout of $100 (1 / 12) (the offered odds) in addition to their stake. This would result in a payout of approximately $108.33 for the winning bet.

[0056] As described above, the price or value of the market or other reference lines presented to the end user 12 can be provided by transmission of a communication. This transmission reflects the state of the market on a daily basis and can effectively anticipate the flow of news and other financial parameters that may potentially affect the market. Other embodiments, which will be described in sufficient detail later, provide a very flexible market line and odds setting for the owner or operator of the gaming system 10.

[0057] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a central controller 40 provided in a gaming system 10 according to an embodiment. The central controller 40 includes a processor 42 coupled to a memory element 44. The processor 42 executes one or more applications, generates betting opportunities in one or more betting sessions, receives bets thereon, and implements various specifications and functions for settling bets on the value of one or more financial products, assets, objects, etc. The memory element 44 may store the applications, various implementations of the betting means 90, and / or any other related information associated with the betting means 90. In a particular embodiment, the processor 42 is operable to establish, calculate, or otherwise determine odds for a position associated with one or more betting lines disclosed herein, a price / level determination module 86 operable to establish, calculate, or otherwise determine a price or value for one or more betting lines disclosed herein, and a bet settlement module 88 operable to settle one or more bets, each module generally being for providing an opportunity to bet to an end user 12.

[0058] Betting means 90 is generally a data element that derives from or evidences a bet made on the outcome of one or more events associated with a financial or other market. Thus, betting means 90 is an entry in a file or database that contains information reflecting bets placed in system 10, and means 90 may include parameters related to the specific event that forms the basis of the bet. The event may include fluctuations or values of financial market indicators, assets, or other means at or over a predetermined period of time as described above. The means 90 may, if applicable, include all relevant financial data and attendant credit items such as participant identification information, account information, amount of the bet, market line level, high line level, low line level, spread line level, up and down odds for each line, time when the bet was placed, betting session in which the bet was placed, start time, expiration time, bet identification number, status of the bet such as approved (manual or automatic), held, expired, won, lost, etc., or combinations thereof. Similarly, memory element 44 may include one or more templates and / or tables 94 for use in generating a betting session, as will be described in sufficient detail hereinafter.

[0059] In operation, in one embodiment, fluctuations in the financial market may be represented as an image on an electronic screen using symbols or image objects such as red, green, or yellow arrows. Each symbol indicates, for example, that the value of an accompanying financial market identifier such as a reference variable has 1) decreased during the last betting session, or the last relevant purchase or sale, etc. within the market for the object, during a last predetermined period, for example, as a downward red arrow or simply as an appropriate colored image or character object, etc., 2) increased during the last predetermined period or the period of the last relevant purchase or sale, for example, as an upward green arrow or an appropriate colored image or character object, and 3) not changed during a subsequent predetermined period or the period of the last relevant purchase or sale, for example, by leaving it as a horizontal yellow arrow or simply as an image or character object in its original color, and may be displayed. Any appropriate number and combination of symbols can represent an appropriate portion of the history or fluctuations of the value of the reference variable. For example, the color of the market line, the font of the displayed value, the text box around the displayed value, etc. may be a first color such as blue, indicating an upward fluctuation of the value of the object. Similarly, the color of the market line, font, text box, etc. may be a second color such as red, indicating a downward fluctuation of the value of the object. The direction of the fluctuation may, for example, be derived from information indicating that the object is under-bought or under-sold.

[0060] The memory element 44 of the central controller 40 may store information regarding various types of bets and their results input in the gaming system 10. The memory element 44 may also store various betting means 90 and a plurality of end-user profiles 92. The memory element 44 may additionally store information associated with a financial product number (FIN), the brand of the market that is the subject of a specific bet, the specified period / maturity, and the odds established for a specific bet. These and other fields may be defined in numerous ways. For example, the term "maturity" may refer to a specific closing or settlement time and / or the date on which the betting means 90 closes, or may be based on the event itself that is completed on an arbitrary or specific future date such as the end bell, etc.

[0061] In addition, each end-user profile 92 may include any relevant information such as the end user 12, the user's betting activities, biometric data, or the user's financial resources. For example, items such as the number of accounts, trading history, loans, fees, available funds, available debit / credit, etc. may be reflected in the profile, fingerprint profile, etc. The end-user profile 92 may be accessible only by the end user 12 using a personal identification number, or may be accessed solely by an authenticated group or administrator.

[0062] The odds determination module 84 generally determines the odds provided to the end-user 12 for a particular bet, and the pricing module 84 determines the betting line value provided to the end-user 12 for a particular bet. Generally, in setting the odds and / or the betting line value for a betting opportunity, three factors may be considered, namely, the underlying commodity market or generally the reference level, the volatility, and the time. Volatility represents the uncertainty that appears in the market over a given period of time. Generally, the market follows a lognormal distribution, reflecting an abstract concept or theory by which people can reasonably estimate market fluctuations. In this sense, the mathematics used in calculating the odds / betting line value is similar to that of option pricing. In other scenarios, the odds calculation may be at least based on the exposure to the owner / operator of the gaming system 10. Note that a number of control parameters are provided to the administrator of the gaming system 10. For example, the volatility factor may be manipulated in response to breaking news that is likely to greatly affect the market level. This determination is made by the administrator and may reflect the administrator's judgment and / or experience in market theory. In other scenarios, such news items are automatically priced into the financial market.

[0063] In an alternative embodiment, the odds determination module 84 determines the odds for a particular bet based on the following formula.

Number

[0064] In an exemplary scenario, during a presidential election year in the United States, the S&P 500 is considered unlikely to show poor performance. In the history of the U.S. stock market, the S&P 500 has only twice provided negative returns to investors during election years. Accordingly, during election years, the control parameter may be implemented to reflect the proposition that the S&P 500 will mostly increase during that year's period. Similarly, the market tends to decline during times of war or during patterns of increasing interest rates. In the event of a major war or an event where a pattern such as a systematic increase in interest rates is seen, an administrator may also be able to manipulate the odds again, for example by identifying a desired volatility factor, to reflect the likelihood of this downward trend as deemed appropriate.

[0065] In yet other scenarios, the odds associated with a market may be established based on the current market line, in combination with the ratio of the bet amount on that market to the total amount accumulated in the relevant betting pool. Since each set of odds corresponds to a percentage, a percentage also accompanies each participant. To form a group of participants for a no-withdrawal bet, the gaming system 10 can select participants from a participant field where the total of the combined percentages amounts to the amount corresponding to the odds. The percentage corresponding to the odds is also referred to as the target percentage. For example, for an even-money bet, i.e., a target percentage of 50%, if the representative participant of the group of participants has odds of 5-2 and thus a percentage of 28% is associated with it, the gaming system 10 may form a group of participants by selecting other participants with a combined percentage of 22%, such as a participant with odds of 7-2 (22%), a participant with odds of 4-1 (20%) and 50-1 (2%), or a participant with odds of 7-1 (12%) and 9-1 (10%). In another example, for a bet with odds of 2-1, i.e., a target percentage of 33%, if the representative participant of the group of participants has odds of 6-1 and thus a percentage of 14% is associated with it, the gaming system 10 may form a group of participants by selecting other participants with a combined percentage of 19%, such as a participant with odds of 9-1 (10%) and 10-1 (9%), a participant with odds of 5-1 (16%) and 30-1 (3%), or a single other participant with odds of 9-2 (18%) or 4-1 (20%).

[0066] Since the number of participants within an event and the odds to a particular participant within the event change, it may be difficult to compile a group of participants having an exact target percentage of the total percentage. For this reason, the administrator of the gaming system 10 may intend to form a group of participants having a total percentage as close as possible to the target percentage. In certain embodiments, the gaming system 10 may establish a percentage threshold for use in determining whether an odds bet is being presented for a particular event, for example via the odds determination module 84. For example, the gaming system 10 may establish a threshold that is 3 percentage points higher or lower than the target percentage. In this example, the gaming system 10 presents the odds if the total percentage for the group of participants is within 3 percentage points of the target percentage. If no bet is established in this scenario, the gaming system 10 may convert the odds bet to a straight odds bet for a representative participant. The gaming system 10 may intend to form groups of participants using any suitable number and combination in the field of the end user 12. This aspect may be implemented by invalidating a certain bidding opportunity until the system 10 receives a bet from the opposing side to meet the threshold level.

[0067] In still other embodiments, the market line may be fixed or constant over a given period, whereby the odds may be varied for the purpose of enticing the end user or promoting additional betting. For example, if the FTSE rises 300 points during morning trading to reach the 5000 level, the odds may change significantly, for example to 50 / 1 or 100 / 1 etc., for the purpose of inducing people to bet on the FTSE closing below the first market line. Other events that affect the corresponding market's rise or fall may be immediately considered and are thus clearly within the scope of the gaming system 10's inducement.

[0068] In the above example, the original market line when the FTSE started was 4700. Therefore, if the FTSE is at the 5000 level, the odds must have had sufficient attraction to persuade potential bettors to get involved in the betting opportunities that would affect a significant decline in the FTSE. Therefore, the buying odds price can be generated to attract investors, i.e., the bettors. The market odds can be refreshed many times a day to provide new betting opportunities.

[0069] The valuation for the fixed odds embodiment may be calculated based at least on the relationships shown in the following algorithm. [Number] where C(τ) is the call binary price, i.e., the "up bet" for the day, P(τ) is the put binary price, i.e., the "down bet" for the day, σ≡σ(type) is the volatility as a function of the bet type type = {Hi, Mid, Lo}, d2(K,σ) is the d2 factor used in the formula and is a function of the exercise and volatility in this model, r is the associated interest rate, τ is the expiration period in annualized terms, T is the expiration date, i.e., the number of days from the start date of the current year, t is the current date, i.e., the number of days from the start date of the current year to today, S is the mid - price of the underlying commodity, K is the exercise price (strike price) associated with the bet type, i.e., K Hi , K Mid , K Lo and N(·) is the cumulative normal distribution.

[0070] The odds for the fixed line embodiment are calculated using at least the relationships shown by the following algorithm.

Number

[0071] The odds for the mid and low - line up and down bets are calculated based on a similar formula. The price for an even - odds embodiment is calculated based at least on the relationships shown in the algorithms described below.

Number

[0072] The odds - determination module 84 may be used to determine the odds for this configuration. Further, the administrator module 50 may similarly participate in such a process for the purpose of establishing appropriate odds or refreshing the gaming environment to provide new betting opportunities. In other scenarios, any suitable element within the gaming system 10 may be implemented to achieve a fixed or variable market - line configuration, including the ability to vary the odds used to attract bettors.

[0073] FIG. 4(a) is a flow diagram showing one or more series of steps associated with a method for wagering on a financial or other market environment. The method may begin by starting a first betting session at 96. The betting session may be started at any time as described above. For example, the first betting session may be started at the start of the market on the trading day. For sessions during the day, subsequent betting sessions may basically be started immediately following the expiration of the previous betting session.

[0074] In one embodiment, at 98, system 10 generates a betting product. The betting product may be generated in various ways. The betting product may be generated at any time, such as before or at the start time of the betting session. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, system 10 may provide a betting product with image element 576a for a particular betting session where the market price for the Dow closes higher than the starting market price 581 of 11192.8 with odds of 10 / 11, so that a user can place a bet. In this regard, the betting product may be a permanent record in a database or file that internally contains related data representing the betting product, such as the market price at the start time of the betting session, the odds for a particular betting opportunity, the expiration time, the result identification number, etc. In this example, system 10 retrieves the betting product data from the database and transmits the betting product to end user 12 for display based thereon. The database may then be updated to incorporate data regarding the betting product for subsequent betting sessions.

[0075] Similarly, system 10 may generate betting opportunities with lower persistence. That is, system 10 receives betting data related to the betting opportunity from financial market data elements 60, etc., and temporarily maintains the data in a memory such as a system cache for a sufficient time to provide the betting opportunity to the end user. In one embodiment, this is achieved by accessing one or more templates at 100, searching for bet data based on the one or more templates at 102, and storing information representing the betting opportunity in memory at 104. System 10 may, at 106, delete and / or generate additional betting opportunities from memory when the session has expired or when the betting opportunity has expired due to fluctuations in the physical commodity market immediately after or at any time thereafter. In this regard, system 10 does not necessarily need to permanently store each betting opportunity in a database or file.

[0076] To search for bet data and provide betting opportunities based thereon, various types and numbers of templates may be implemented. In one embodiment, system 10 accesses at least one template, such as a product template, that incorporates at least one field for each item of a betting product, such as object code for FTSE, Dow, etc., session type such as time, day, etc., start time, end time, etc. System 10 then accesses at least one template and at least one table for storing the desired betting data and generates a betting product based thereon. For example, with respect to the betting product associated with image element 576a of FIG. 5, system 10 may access a table containing fields for the object, namely market price, up odds, and session length, and search for the Dow, which are 11198.8, 10 / 11, and 5 minutes respectively, from at least one data source.

[0077] System 10 may similarly use a plurality of templates and / or tables, such as a product table that generates object code, a session table that provides the length of time for a specific session type, etc. For example, there may be a product table including the horizontal axis for FTSE and the horizontal axis for Dow, and a session table including the horizontal axis for the intraday and weekly sessions of 60 minutes and 7 days respectively associated with each of them. System 10 may implement software that applies the template to each object in the product table, including the FTSE intraday and weekly betting opportunities and the Dow intraday and weekly betting opportunities, and uses this to generate betting opportunities for each object.

[0078] System 10 may generate results for any number of objects with any session length. Thus, in order to have FTSE daily reports, Vodafone daily reports, BT daily reports, FTSE weekly reports, Vodafone weekly reports, BT weekly reports, FTSE hourly reports, Vodafone hourly reports, BT hourly reports, three objects, namely FTSE, Vodafone and BT, are stored in the product table, and three time periods, namely day, week, and hour, are stored in the session table. Then, two general tables are used by the product template to generate 3×3 results during a limited time, such as 780 products per day, 156 products per week, 7020 products per hour, etc. Many different types of templates may be generated. Each template may control many products, and each product may be controlled by many templates. For example, there may be templates for each type of betting session, which reads the objects in the product table and is used to generate betting opportunities for each object in the table. The number of each betting product generated is characterized as M*N in this example, where M is the number of objects and N is the number of different session types.

[0079] For the variable market line, a betting product is generated again to replace the product as a result of changes in the value of the physical commodity. Therefore, the session may have multiple betting products that are continuously generated to reflect real-time changes in the value of the object, etc. In this example, the start time of the betting product may signal the end of a betting product that started earlier in time for the same object.

[0080] At 110, at some point during the betting session period, a participant may request information about at least one betting product. The request may be input via an interface screen such as the interface screen shown in FIG. 2, which may incorporate at least one element or link that may be selected for a request for information about at least one specific betting product. For example, the interface screen may include links for displaying betting products associated with objects such as currencies like the Dow, NASDAQ, FTSE, euro against the US dollar, etc.

[0081] In response to a request, at 112, system 10 may communicate information related to the request to the participant. The information may be communicated to the participant in various forms, such as an electronic file such as an HTML or XML document that may support the display of Flash (trademark) files or other image files. By the communication, an interface screen may be displayed on user interface 16 including the relevant information, such as the interface screens shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 through 11. The information communicated to the participant may be determined in various ways. For example, betting product information such as market price or any other value associated with the object may be retrieved from a database or from a stream information source of market data for the object. For other types of information, system 10 may determine relevant betting product information, such as odds for high, low, spread levels, up positions and down positions at each level, by calculating these types of information as described above.

[0082] In one embodiment, at 114, the betting product information is refreshed or reissued at least once or preferably periodically within a betting session. For example, this information reflects in real time or other ways the fluctuations in the market value of the object, thereby periodically reissuing to erase or invalidate a bet image that invalidates a certain betting opportunity or to change the color of the image to indicate the direction of fluctuations in the market. The product information may be updated using Flash Media Server (trademark) software that updates the appropriate information and media components as appropriate. As described above, the refresh of the betting product information may signal the end of the betting product in the betting session and the generation of subsequent betting products within the same session for the same product. The information is preferably automatically refreshed without the intervention of the participant.

[0083] At 116, system 10 listens for bet requests from at least one participant. The participant may enter bet requests in various ways. In one embodiment, the participant enters a bet request by selecting an image associated with at least one betting level or line. Similarly, the bet request may include the amount of the wager.

[0084] After receiving the bet request, and preferably in response thereto, at 118 system 10 transmits to the participant at least one of the wagering items for confirmation. The items included may be at least one of the participant's identification information, account information, amount of the wager, marker line level, high line level, low line level, spread line level, up and down odds for each line, time when the bet was placed, betting session in which the bet was placed, duration of the betting session, start time of the betting session, expiration time of the betting session, bet identification number, etc. The requested items preferably reflect a particular selected betting product. For example, the items for a fixed odds bet on the market price of an object may include the fixed odds for a particular selected position, such as an up or down position, and the market price at the time the bet request was entered. Similarly, the items for a variable odds bet on the market price of an object may include the odds for the selected position determined at the time the bet request was entered and the market price at the start of the session. The items may be transmitted within an interface screen that incorporates at least one selectable element for the participant to change one or more items, such as the amount of the wager, for the purpose of viewing the bet and / or at least one element for confirmation.

[0085] The confirmed bet requests are generally received at 120 and enabled at 122. The enabling may include one or more steps. For example, the enabling may involve determining whether the selected betting product exists, is valid, and is tradable. Similarly, the enabling may involve confirming that no bet invalidation has occurred in the past, and that there is no significant difference, such as 50% or more, between the odds or value items of the bet request as communicated to the participant, or that the bet is not zero and is within any minimum and maximum range.

[0086] Then, as described above, at 124, the betting means 90 may be generated to include the item or items of one or more bets represented by the means. The betting means 90 is generally a persistent record, for example in a table, database, or fault-tolerant cache, that is stored at least until the bet is settled.

[0087] At 126, it is determined whether the betting session has expired. At 126, if the betting session has not expired, at 114, system 10 refreshes the betting product information and continues while listening for bet requests. At 116, if system 10 determines that the betting session has expired, at 128, system 10 proceeds with the settlement of the bets and at 132, starts a subsequent session or, if no additional session is started during a specific trading day at 120, ends the processing during that trading day. The settlement may be performed, for example, immediately after the expiration of the betting session via debit or credit to the end-user account, in parallel with the execution of the next betting session, or extended if end-user 12 has extended a certain amount of credit. In other cases permitted from the relationship between end-user 12 and the administrator, payment may be simply mailed or communicated electronically, by the betting provider in case of a win and by end-user 12 in case of a loss. Similarly, biometric data may be used to confirm payments or debits from authenticated account users.

[0088] Settlement may be made in any number of ways, based on specific requirements. A given end-user 12 may enable a number of bets at any given time. For example, end-user 12 may bet on the overall increase in the NASDAQ market using a one-day expiration period and conversion in the German DAN (sell position) (with a five-minute expiration period). Thus, the method of FIG. 4(a) may be repeated for each session, object, betting opportunity, etc. to provide such functionality. Further, settlement may occur at a common time such as the last expiration period of bets expiring during the same trading day or week, or at the end of the trading day for multiple bets with different expiration periods.

[0089] Any relevant information may be communicated to the end-user 12 of the gaming system so that the value of the user's own betting means 90 is changing or news that may affect the user's position is notified to the end-user. For example, market level data, the number of employees, and / or GDP statistics may be provided to the end-user 12. Other information provided may simply update the expected value of the betting means 90 based on the current market situation. The administrator of the gaming system 10 may ignore or use this information to provide new betting opportunities for potential gamers. These opportunities may be immediately displayed so that the end-user 12 can further participate in betting opportunities through the gaming system 10.

[0090] As described above, the bet request may be enabled in various ways. Referring to FIG. 4(b), in one embodiment, enabling begins by receiving the bet request in 2020. At 204, a determination is made as to whether any other request has been considered valid. For example, if there has been no previous enabling of a bet request within the same betting session, the system 10 applies at least one enabling test to the bet request at 206. The system 10 applies tests for determining, for example, whether a betting product exists at 208, whether it is valid at 210, and whether it is tradable at 212. The system 10 may similarly determine at 214 whether the session or the bet request itself has expired, or at 216 whether the bet request has at least one item exceeding a certain limit. For the enabling process, any number of restrictions may apply, such as restrictions on whether the bet exceeds the bet limits of the participant or the organizer, such as minimum, maximum, and non-zero limits. The system 10 may similarly determine at 218 whether a numerical value, such as a market price, is different from that communicated from the recipient of the bet request to the participant within a certain time period. For example, the system may enable the bet request if the betting line value for the bet request does not exceed a certain percentage, such as 50%, or a certain amount from the value communicated to the participant prior to the bet request, such as within 30 seconds. Similarly, a determination may be made regarding the reliability of the user placing the bet request, such as comparing it with that stored in the system based on biometric data received from the user.

[0091] In one embodiment, at 218, a determination is made as to whether a bet request is suspect. That is, in some instances, a participant may want to ensure that incoming data does not replace expired data previously communicated to the participant. The participant may then place a bet on corresponding odds that are more favorable to the participant than the expired betting line value and the current betting line value. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a low-line value 11183.8 for the Dow at time T1 may be offered to the participant at 6 / 1 down-bet odds. At a later time T2, as shown in FIG. 9, the market price fluctuates to 11255.2 below the low-line value at T1. Thus, the down-bet placed at T1, i.e., the low-line value, will "come in" at the market price at T2. Accordingly, a determination may be made as to whether the participant intends to bet on an expired and / or more favorable betting line value and / or bet. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, system 10 determines whether the betting line value or odds of a bet request is any one of a number generated as of the activation time. For example, in a relatively less volatile market, the betting line value or odds of a bet request may be required to match those of the current betting opportunity. In a more volatile market, the bet request may be required to match at least one of the previous three betting opportunities. An exception may apply if the current market situation at the activation time is less favorable to the bet request.

[0092] If a determination is made that the bet request is invalid, at 226, such an appropriate message may be communicated to the participant. Similarly, at 222, based on a valid request, a determination may be indicated that the bet is valid and / or accepted.

[0093] In 204, if other requirements are considered valid, the system 10 compares the bet requirements with the requirements enabled at 232 in 232 and determines whether at least one of the items of the bet requirements falls within the range or threshold for which there are confirmed requirements. If the bet requirements are not within the range, the bet requirements may be tested by a default enabling test in 206. If the bet requirements fall within the range, in 222, the bet requirements are automatically approved and such a message is communicated to the participant, thereby passing the default enabling test. Various criteria may be applied in this regard. For example, the bet requirements may be automatically approved if the time, betting line value, odds, or a combination thereof falls within the range of those of the bet requirements confirmed manually or by other means. For example, the bet requirements may be automatically approved if the betting line value of the bet requirements at 4500 where the bet requirements are confirmed manually is within 5 seconds and within 3 price units (graduations) between 4503 and 4497. Depending on the session period, the time criterion may range from 1 to less than 30 seconds, or any range above that. The price criterion may similarly range from 1 to 1000 units.

[0094] Figures 5 through 8 show an interface screen used in connection with at least one of the variable odds / fixed line embodiments described herein. The interface screen 500 may include a list 72 having at least one selectable link for the user that displays betting opportunities for specific objects such as an index link and an FX link. Each of the links may further be drillable so that the user can select a certain index from a plurality of available indexes such as FTSE, Dow, etc. and select a plurality of available foreign exchange rates such as US dollar against euro, US dollar against yen. The system may further provide a plurality of betting opportunities for each object having a different session length. In this example, the list 72 may be drillable so that the user can drill down to a specific session length such as 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, etc.

[0095] When selecting one of the links, the user generally places a bet on the information regarding the selected object associated with that link. In response to this selection, the system updates or otherwise generates the display of at least one betting line built into the interface screen 500, such as the reference starting level line 571, the high line 573, and the low line 575. Each of the betting lines may have associated values, such as the market value 581 above the reference starting level line 571, the high line value 583 above the high line 573, and the low line value 585 above the low line 575, for example super-imposed above the respective line. Each of the lines and values may have an image of at least one betting opportunity associated therewith in a selectable manner such that the user can use it to place a bet request. For example, the starting level line may have an up-bet image 576a and a down-bet image 576b associated therewith. Similarly, the high and low lines may have up-bet images 574a, 580a and down-bet images 574b, 580b associated therewith. The interface screen 500 includes odds for each of the provided betting opportunities, which are displayed on the selectable image of each betting opportunity. The interface screen 500 may similarly include a live level line 506 that presents the value of the market at different times within the betting session in order to reflect in real time the change in the value of the object. The live level line 506 may move spatially, for example, vertically with respect to the displayed betting lines.

[0096] Figures 5 through 8 are interface screens that provide betting opportunities on the Dow during a 5-minute betting session that ends at 11:55 AM on August 3. The betting line values remain the same during the betting session, and it can be seen that the odds for each betting opportunity change based at least on the value of the live level line 506. It can also be seen that the down betting opportunity associated with the high level line 574b in Figure 5 was disabled in Figure 6. As the time of the betting session progresses, the sell position betting opportunity images 583b, 580b may be disabled as shown in Figure 7. Similarly, all betting opportunity images may be disabled near the close of the session as shown in Figure 8. Figure 9 shows that the interface screen 500 with the down bet images 576b, 583b was disabled based on the variation of the live level line 506 towards these positions with respect to the start level 571 line and the high level line 573.

[0097] Figures 10 through 11 show an interface screen for use in connection with at least one embodiment of the fixed odds / variable line described in the present specification. In response to selecting one of the links 72, the system updates the interface screen 500 to incorporate at least one betting line such as the current level line 671, the high line 673, the low line 675, and the spread line 677. Each of the betting lines has a value super-imposed and associated above the line, such as a market value above the starting level line 671, a high line value 683 above the high line 673, a low line value 685 above the low line 675, a spread value 687a above the spread line 677, etc. Each of the lines and values may have an image of at least one betting opportunity associated therewith in a selectable manner for the user to use to place a bet request. For example, the reference current level line 671 may have an up-bet image 676a and a down-bet image 676b associated therewith. Similarly, the high, low, and spread lines may have up-bet images 674a, 680a, 678a and down-bet images 674b, 680b, 678b associated therewith. In this example, the interface screen 500 updates the current level line as well as the upper betting line values at different times during the betting session to reflect real-time changes in the value of the object.

[0098] Figures 10 through 11 provide consecutive betting opportunities on the Dow during a 5-minute betting session ending at 2:25 p.m. on August 3. The odds for each betting opportunity provided remain constant during this betting session, and it can be seen that the value of the betting level line changes to reflect fluctuations in the market value of the Dow. The spread between the high line and the low line narrowed from 15.5 in Figure 10 to 14.5 in Figure 6. Upward or downward movements in the physical commodity market may be displayed on the interface screen. For example, upward movements may be shown in blue as shown above the low line value of 685 in Figure 11, and downward movements may be shown in red as shown above the spread line values of 687a, 687b in Figure 11.

[0099] Although the foregoing invention has been described in detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, those skilled in the art will, upon reading this disclosure, appreciate that various modifications are possible in form and detail without departing from the true scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

[0100] (First Addendum) The method of the first appendix 1 is a method executed using a system including at least one processor and a memory element having stored software, the method comprising the steps of: starting a first betting session; transmitting betting product information to at least one user by the at least one processor; receiving, by the at least one processor, a plurality of bet requests from a single user for placing bets on at least one betting product, each of the plurality of bet requests including at least one betting item of the betting product information; activating one of the plurality of bet requests; determining, by the at least one processor, that a numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests is within a non-zero range relative to a corresponding numerical item associated with the activated one of the plurality of bet requests; activating another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the determination by the at least one processor that the numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests is within a non-zero range relative to a corresponding numerical item associated with the activated one of the plurality of bet requests; generating, by the at least one processor, bed means for each of the activated bet requests at least partially based on activating one of the plurality of bet requests and activating another one of the plurality of bet requests; and settling the bets associated with the bed means. The method of the first appendix 2 is the method according to the first appendix 1, wherein the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests is performed manually. The method of the first appendix 3 is the method according to the first appendix 1, wherein the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests includes applying at least one activation test selected from: determining whether the betting product exists; determining whether the betting product is active; determining whether the betting product is tradable; and determining whether the bet request exceeds a limit. The method of the first supplementary note 4 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the step of validating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information of the betting product transmitted to the at least one user. The method of the first supplementary note 5 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the step of validating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information of the betting product transmitted to the at least one user within a certain period of time after receiving one of the plurality of bet requests. The method of the first supplementary note 6 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the step of validating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information of the betting product transmitted to the at least one user by a predetermined amount. The method of the first supplementary note 7 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the at least one betting item includes a betting line value, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is validated based on the fact that the betting line value associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests is within a certain range with respect to the betting line value associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been validated. The method of the first supplementary note 8 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the at least one betting item includes odds of a bet request, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is validated based on the fact that the odds associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests is within a certain range with respect to the odds associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been validated. The method of the first supplementary note 9 is, in the method described in the first supplementary note 1, the at least one betting item includes the time of a bet request, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is validated based on the fact that the time associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests is within a certain range with respect to the time associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been validated. The method of the first appendix 10 includes, in the method described in the first appendix 1, the step of starting a second betting session immediately after the expiration of the first betting session. The system of the first appendix 11 is a system including at least one processor and a memory element having stored software, wherein the at least one processor performs the steps of starting a first betting session, transmitting betting product information to at least one user by the at least one processor, receiving, from a single user, a plurality of bet requests for placing bets on at least one betting product, each of the plurality of bet requests including at least one betting item of the betting product information, validating one of the plurality of bet requests, determining, by the at least one processor, that a numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests is within a non-zero range relative to a corresponding numerical item associated with the validated one of the plurality of bet requests, validating another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the determination that the numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests is within a non-zero range relative to the corresponding numerical item associated with the validated one of the plurality of bet requests, generating bed means for each of the validated bet requests at least partially based on validating one of the plurality of bet requests and validating another one of the plurality of bet requests, and settling the bets associated with the bed means. The system of the first appendix 12 is a system according to the system described in the first appendix 11, and performs the method of manually validating one of the plurality of bet requests. The system of the first appendix 13, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests includes applying at least one activation test selected from: determining whether the betting product exists; determining whether the betting product is active; determining whether the betting product is tradable; and determining whether the bet request exceeds a limit. The system of the first appendix 14, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product communicated to the at least one user. The system of the first appendix 15, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product communicated to the at least one user within a period of time after receiving one of the plurality of bet requests. The system of the first appendix 16, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests includes determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product communicated to the at least one user by a predetermined amount. The system of the first appendix 17, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the at least one betting item includes a betting line value, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is activated based on the betting line value associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range with respect to the betting line value associated with the activated one of the plurality of bet requests. The system of the first appendix 18, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the at least one betting item includes the odds of a bet request, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is activated based on that the odds associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests are within a certain range with respect to the odds associated with one of the plurality of activated bet requests, and executes a method. The system of the first appendix 19, in the system described in the first appendix 11, the at least one betting item includes the time of a bet request, and another one of the plurality of bet requests is activated based on that the time associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests is within a certain range with respect to the time associated with one of the plurality of activated bet requests, and executes a method. The system of the first appendix 20, in the system described in the first appendix 11, includes a step of starting a second betting session immediately after the expiration of the first betting session, and executes a method.

[0101] (Second appendix) The method of the second additional note 1 is a method executed using a system including at least one processor and a memory element in which software including a program executed by the at least one processor is stored. When the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor performs steps of starting a first betting session, generating a betting product, storing it in the memory element, and transmitting information on the betting product stored in the memory element to at least one user, receiving a plurality of bet requests for placing bets on at least one betting product from one user, and storing them in the memory element, wherein each of the plurality of bet requests includes at least one betting item of the information on the betting product, enabling one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element, comparing a numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element with a corresponding numerical item associated with the enabled one of the plurality of bet requests to determine that the numerical item is in a range other than zero with respect to the corresponding numerical item, enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on determining that the numerical item associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element is in a range other than zero with respect to the corresponding numerical item associated with the enabled one of the plurality of bet requests, generating betting means for each of the enabled bet requests and storing them in the memory element at least partially based on enabling one of the plurality of bet requests and enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests, and settling bets associated with the betting means stored in the memory element. The method of the second additional note 2 is, in the method of the second additional note 1, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor performs the step of enabling one of the plurality of bet requests based on a manual operation. The method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 3 is such that, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 1, the step of enabling one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor determining whether the betting product exists; determining whether the betting product is active; determining whether the betting product is tradable; and determining whether the bet request exceeds a limit; and applying at least one enabling test selected from among these. The method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 4 is such that, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 1, the step of enabling one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user. The method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 5 is such that, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 1, the step of enabling one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user within a period of time after receiving one of the plurality of bet requests. The method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 6 is such that, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 1, the step of enabling one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user by a predetermined amount. The method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 7, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 1, wherein the at least one betting item includes a betting line value, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the betting line value associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range with respect to the betting line value associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. The method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 8, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 1, wherein the at least one betting item includes odds of a bet request, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the odds associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range with respect to the odds associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. The method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 9, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 1, wherein the at least one betting item includes the time of a bet request, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the time associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range with respect to the time associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. The method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 10, in the method of Supplementary Note 2, paragraph 1, includes the step of, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor starting a second betting session immediately after the invalidation of the first betting session. The system of the second supplementary note 11 is a system including at least one processor and a memory element storing software including a program executed by the at least one processor. When the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor performs steps of starting a first betting session, generating a betting product, storing it in the memory element, and transmitting information of the betting product stored in the memory element to at least one user; receiving a plurality of bet requests for placing bets on at least one betting product from one user and storing them in the memory element, each of the plurality of bet requests including at least one betting item of the information of the betting product; validating one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element; determining that a numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element is in a range other than zero with respect to a corresponding numerical item associated with the validated one of the plurality of bet requests by comparing the numerical item and the corresponding numerical item; validating another one of the plurality of bet requests based on determining that the numerical item associated with another one of the plurality of bet requests stored in the memory element is in a range other than zero with respect to the corresponding numerical item associated with the validated one of the plurality of bet requests; generating betting means for each of the validated bet requests and storing them in the memory element at least partially based on validating one of the plurality of bet requests and validating another one of the plurality of bet requests; and settling bets associated with the betting means stored in the memory element. The system of the second supplementary note 12 is a system that, in the system of the second supplementary note 11, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor performs the step of validating one of the plurality of bet requests based on a manual operation. The system of Appendix 2, Article 13, in the system of Appendix 2, Article 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, includes the at least one processor determining whether the betting product exists; determining whether the betting product is active; determining whether the betting product is tradable; and determining whether the bet request exceeds a limit; and applying at least one activation test selected from among these, a system that executes a method. The system of Appendix 2, Article 14, in the system of Appendix 2, Article 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, includes the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user. The system of Appendix 2, Article 15, in the system of Appendix 2, Article 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, includes the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user within a period of time after receiving one of the plurality of bet requests. The system of Appendix 2, Article 16, in the system of Appendix 2, Article 11, the step of activating one of the plurality of bet requests, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, includes the at least one processor determining whether an item associated with the bet request is different from the information on the betting product transmitted to the at least one user by a predetermined amount. The system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 17, in the system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 11, wherein the at least one betting item includes a betting line value, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the betting line value associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range relative to the betting line value associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. A system that executes a method. The system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 18, in the system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 11, wherein the at least one betting item includes odds of a bet request, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the odds associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range relative to the odds associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. A system that executes a method. The system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 19, in the system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 11, wherein the at least one betting item includes the time of a bet request, and the step of enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests includes, when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor enabling another one of the plurality of bet requests based on the time associated with the other one of the plurality of bet requests being within a certain range relative to the time associated with one of the plurality of bet requests that has been enabled. A system that executes a method. The system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 20, in the system of Supplementary Note 2, Paragraph 11, wherein when the program is executed by the at least one processor, the at least one processor includes the step of starting a second betting session immediately after the invalidation of the first betting session. A system that executes a method.

Claims

1. at least one processor, The at least one processor: communicating betting product information about a betting product to at least one user's communication device during a first betting session over a communications network to activate a display state of at least first and second betting images in a graphical user interface of the communication device, the first and second betting images being displayed in the graphical user interface, and first and second betting information being displayed as the first and second betting images, respectively; the graphical user interface is configured to display, during the first betting session, a plurality of lines and a plurality of value indices associated with each of the plurality of lines, the plurality of value indices configured to display betting line values ​​corresponding to each of the plurality of lines, the plurality of lines including a market line, a first spread line, a second spread line, a high line, and a low line; the positions of the market lines are related to market prices of betting objects, the betting product is associated with the betting objects, and the positions of each of the plurality of market lines are movable during the first betting session in response to changes to real-time values ​​of the market prices; the first and second spread lines extend from the market line such that the first spread line extends upward from the market line and the second spread line extends downward from the market line; the market line, the first and second spread lines, and the high and low lines are spatially positioned relative to one another in the graphical user interface based at least on the betting line values ​​such that the high line and the low line are spaced apart from the market line and the first and second spread lines; the first betting image is configured to indicate whether a respective one of the value indicators has changed; The second betting image extends one of the respective value indicators. and configured to indicate whether automatically responsive to determining during the first betting session at least one of: (i) a current time having a predetermined relationship to an end of the first betting session; or (ii) a change in a predetermined betting line value relative to a predetermined betting reference value, disabling a display state of one of the first and second betting images by communicating updated betting product information over the communications network in real time and refreshing the image user interface to display a predetermined betting image and not display the one betting image; receiving, via the communications network, a first betting request from a first communications device of a first user for a first bet on the betting product, the first betting request including a first betting item; validating the first betting request by comparing parameters included in the first betting request to a plurality of predetermined parameter values; receiving, via the communications network, a second betting request for a second bet from a second communications device of a second user, the second betting request including a second betting item; determining whether a previous valid betting request was received prior to the first betting request, the determining step including detecting that the first betting request was received prior to the second betting request and that the first betting request was successfully confirmed; based on detecting that the first betting request is the past valid betting request, passing a comparison of the parameters contained in the second betting request with the plurality of predetermined parameter values ​​to reduce the expenditure of processing resources used to perform the comparison of parameters; determining that a numerical item associated with the second betting request is within a non-zero range of a corresponding numerical item associated with the validated first betting request; activating the second betting request based on determining that a numerical item associated with the second betting request is within a non-zero range of a corresponding numerical item associated with the activated first betting request; settling a bet associated with the first betting request and a bet associated with the second betting request. Device.

2. The step of validating the first betting request includes: determining whether said betting product exists; determining whether the betting product is active; determining whether the betting product is available for trading; or determining whether the first betting request exceeds a limit; 2. The apparatus of claim 1.

3. The step of validating the first betting request includes: determining whether an item associated with the first betting request differs from the betting product information communicated to the at least one user; determining whether the items associated with the first betting request differ from data about the betting product communicated to the at least one user within a period of time from receipt of the first betting request; or determining whether an item associated with the first betting request differs from the betting product information communicated to the at least one user by more than a predetermined amount.

2. The apparatus of claim 1.

4. The second betting request comprises: a second betting line value associated with the second betting request that is within a range from a first betting line value associated with the validated first betting request; odds associated with the second betting request that are within a range from the odds associated with the validated first betting request; or a time associated with the second betting request that is within a range from a time associated with the first betting request; is enabled based on at least one of 2. The apparatus of claim 1.

5. At least one processor in response to validating the first betting request, generating betting means for the validated first betting request; generating betting means for the validated second betting request in response to validating the second betting request; configured to control 2. The apparatus of claim 1.

6. The at least one processor: settling bets received in the first betting session based on at least one value determined at the end of the first betting session; initiating a second betting session substantially upon completion of the first betting session.

2. The apparatus of claim 1.

7. the betting product includes at least one of an up bet or a down bet on a second predetermined betting line value corresponding to each one of the lines; 2. The apparatus of claim 1.

8. At least one processor comprises: determining odds for at least one of the up-bet betting product or the down-bet betting product, wherein the betting product information includes the odds for the at least one of the up-bet betting product or the down-bet betting product.

8. The apparatus of claim 7.

9. 1. A method comprising: At least one processor communicating betting product information about a betting product to at least one user's communication device during a first betting session over a communications network to activate a display state of at least first and second betting images in a graphical user interface of the communication device, the first and second betting images being displayed in the graphical user interface, and first and second betting information being displayed as the first and second betting images, respectively; the graphical user interface is configured to display, during the first betting session, a plurality of lines and a plurality of value indices associated with each of the plurality of lines, the plurality of value indices configured to display betting line values ​​corresponding to each of the plurality of lines, the plurality of lines including a market line, a first spread line, a second spread line, a high line, and a low line; the positions of the market lines are related to market prices of betting objects, the betting product is associated with the betting objects, and the positions of each of the plurality of market lines are movable during the first betting session in response to changes to real-time values ​​of the market prices; the first and second spread lines extend from the market line such that the first spread line extends upward from the market line and the second spread line extends downward from the market line; the market line, the first and second spread lines, and the high and low lines are spatially positioned relative to one another in the graphical user interface based at least on the betting line values ​​such that the high line and the low line are spaced apart from the market line and the first and second spread lines; the first betting image is configured to indicate whether a respective one of the value indicators has changed; The second betting image extends one of the respective value indicators. and configured to indicate whether automatically responsive to determining during the first betting session at least one of: (i) a current time having a predetermined relationship to an end of the first betting session; or (ii) a change in a predetermined betting line value relative to a predetermined betting reference value, disabling a display state of one of the first and second betting images by communicating updated betting product information over the communications network in real time and refreshing the image user interface to display a predetermined betting image and not display the one betting image; receiving, via the communications network, a first betting request from a first communications device of a first user for a first bet on the betting product, the first betting request including a first betting item; validating the first betting request by comparing parameters included in the first betting request to a plurality of predetermined parameter values; receiving, via the communications network, a second betting request for a second bet from a second communications device of a second user, the second betting request including a second betting item; determining whether a previous valid betting request was received prior to the first betting request, the determining step including detecting that the first betting request was received prior to the second betting request and that the first betting request was successfully confirmed; based on detecting that the first betting request is the past valid betting request, passing a comparison of parameters contained in the second betting request with the plurality of predetermined parameter values ​​to reduce expenditure of processing resources used to perform the comparison of parameters; and based on determining that a numerical item associated with the second betting request is within a non-zero range of a corresponding numerical item associated with the validated first betting request, validating the second betting request; settling a bet associated with the first betting request and a bet associated with the second betting request. method.

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