1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of computerized wagering games with point of sale terminals coupled to a central computer in a network for managing the sale and redemption of wagers. A peripheral device is appended to a lottery agent point of sale terminal, for players to determine the win/lose status of a previously issued lottery entry form without unnecessarily burdening the computing or communication capacity of the lottery network, and without drawing upon the time available for use of the agent terminal to process wager sales and payouts. The invention is particularly applicable to automated games such as Keno, in which players choose a group of numbers to be matched against winning numbers in a drawing, and in which there are various alternative ways in which the chosen numbers and the drawn numbers may match (or not match) to produce a win.
2. Prior Art
Computerized wagering networks are used in connection with state-sponsored lotteries and with network-coupled terminals of gaming establishments such as casinos, race tracks and the like. Computerized networks are very effective for managing the sale of entries to players and the payout of winnings, while preventing fraud. One or more central computers is arranged for bidirectional data communications with each of a plurality of distributed terminals at which chances are sold to players by lottery agents. The agent terminals are typically placed in convenience stores, news stands, taverns and the like. The agent operating the terminal is often the same person who manages retail sales at the establishment, and the agent serves one customer at a time.
The agent terminal is a retail point of sale terminal with an on-board computer or processor that communicates with the central lottery computer, typically over a leased telephone line, dial-up modem or radio communication link. In addition to features of a point of sale terminal, such as an agent-interactive display, keyboard and typically a cash drawer, the agent terminal includes input/output devices particularly adapted for lottery ticket sales. An optical form reader coupled to the processor distinguishes the player's choices of numbers or the like on a hand-marked form. A printer reproduces the chosen numbers in one form or another on a ticket that is given to the player and later presented to the agent for redemption in the event of a win. A bar code, OCR or other scanner may be included, for reading coded data automatically from the printed ticket in systems that are equipped to print the data in that form.
It is also known to provide so-called stand-alone terminals that are much the same as agent terminals, but are operated by the player without the intervention of an agent. Although it is the player who feeds forms into a reader, deposits money and/or operates the keys on such a terminal, the functions are the same as in an agent terminal operated by the clerk of a convenience store or the like. The player's chosen numbers are indicated to the terminal via input devices, the processor in the terminal reports the transaction to the central computer, the central computer acknowledges sale of a wager, usually sending back a serial number or similar code, and a ticket is printed and issued to the player with the choices and the serial number or code shown thereon. The player-operated terminal serves one operator at a time, in the same way that the agent terminal serves one player at a time via operations conducted by the agent. For purposes of this disclosure, both player-operated terminals and agent-operated terminals are termed "agent terminals," because they provide the same functions and occupy the same position in the lottery agent network.
An important benefit of the computerized lottery network is the ability to protect against fraud due to alteration of the printed lottery ticket after a drawing is held and the winning number are chosen. This is accomplished by storing a record of the player choices for each wager sold, at all the agent terminals on the network. The data communications conducted when a ticket is issued typically include a report of the player choices to the central computer, where the choices are stored for future reference, and assignment of a serial number or other unique code to the wager. The stored choices are indexed to the unique code. If the ticket is later presented to claim a win, the ticket must be validated by communications with the central computer. According to the validation function of the agent terminal, the ticket presented as a potential winning ticket is read and the serial number or code and the player choices shown on the ticket are compared with the data stored centrally, to verify that the ticket is a winning entry. The reporting of data and the validation of winning tickets require a series of data transmissions and acknowledgements in both directions between the agent terminals and the central computer. Ticket validation operations occupy the agent terminal, the data communications system and the central computer. Although ticket validation is an important function, it detracts from the capacity of the network to manage the sale of wagers.
The agent terminal and the central computer may manage a variety of types of games concurrently, and the extent of such variations is limited only by the ingenuity of the system programmers. Variations may include different game types, different options regarding how many numbers (or other indicia) the player chooses to play a given game, how many chosen numbers must match the drawn numbers to win, how the numbers must match (e.g., in any order or in the same order), etc. The game can relate to a drawing to be conducted later, or in "instant" games the player entry is matched immediately against a random number generated by the agent terminal or by the central computer. These variations are also encoded in the data transmissions.
One variation that can be operated on a lottery agent terminal network is the traditional game of Keno. In this game, drawings are conducted repetitively on a periodic basis, and wagers applicable to the next drawing are collected from players during each period. As the game is operated in casinos, Keno runners collect the players' choices and money, enter the data at some central location, and return to the player a receipt or ticket showing the number entries. Similarly, after the drawing the runners interact with the players to determine, validate and pay on wins. This may also require the runner to make trips back and forth between the player and the central location at which the game is managed. Such an operation is advantageously automated. An automated Keno game has been developed by GTECH Corporation of West Greenwich, R.I., for operation over a lottery agent terminal network, and is presently in use in a number of jurisdictions.
Devices for automating one or more aspects of a more traditional form of the Keno game also are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,033,588--Watts and 4,254,404--White. Basically, such systems provide player operated terminals that communicate with a central computer, instead of having Keno runners travel back and forth between the players and the point of central management. Thus the automated Keno game is similar to player-operated agent terminals in a lottery system network.
Network coupled lottery terminal systems for various purposes are disclosed, for example, in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
3,505,646--Affel, Jr. et al. PA0 4,108,361--Krause PA0 4,323,770--Dieulot et al. PA0 4,339,798--Hedges et al. PA0 4,467,424--Hedges et al. PA0 4,494,197--Troy et al. PA0 4,689,742--Troy et al. PA0 4,875,164--Monfort PA0 4,996,705--Entenmann et al. PA0 5,069,453--Koza et al.
In each case, the network coupled lottery systems involve agent terminals as discussed above. Self-service player-operated terminals functioning as agent terminals are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,612--Lange; 4,815,741--Small; and 4,833,307--Gonzalez-Justiz. The disclosures of these patents, and the foregoing Keno and network lottery systems patents, are hereby incorporated.
Lottery terminal networks with agent-operated terminals typically include a ticket validation function whereby a previously issued ticket that is presented to the lottery agent as a potential winning ticket is checked via data communications with the central computer to determine from the serial number and/or player-chosen numbers whether the ticket is a winner. The ticket validation function is applicable to self-service agent terminals; however, in a typical system the holder of a winning ticket must visit a terminal manned by an agent in order to claim a money prize.
Automated ticket validation is especially useful in the game of Keno. In this game, many numbers are involved which must be compared to the numbers drawn. Typically the players each choose up to ten or more numbers from eighty possible numbers, to be matched against twenty numbers chosen from the eighty in a drawing, for example by randomly drawing numbered bails from a drum, by a random number generator or by other means. There are many ways in which a given ticket can win. Prizes are paid for matching an improbably large proportion of the drawn numbers (e.g., more than five of ten), as well as for matching an improbably small proportion (e.g., none of ten). The amount of the payout on the win is based on the odds of the occurrence of the number of matches. For example, a larger number of matches (e.g., all ten) earns a larger payout than a smaller number (e.g., five). The problem of determining and quantifying a win is compounded by the fact that Keno games and the like may run very frequently (e.g., every five minutes). The ticket can apply only to a single cycle of the game, or to a plurality of games, for example in consecutive cycles.
A known Keno system for lottery agent terminal networks employs a display system wherein the agent terminal downloads to a video controller data on games that are in the process of being drawn. Players monitor the display(s) driven from the video controller immediately after purchasing a ticket, to determine whether they have won. However, many players do not monitor the displays, and miss the corresponding game data. A player cannot determine from the display of current game data whether he or she won in a previous game. The player is likely to be a customer of a convenience store, news stand, liquor store, bar or the like where the agent terminal is located. The player normally has other business to which to attend at the establishment, such as making product purchases.
It is difficult or impossible for the agent to display the winning numbers drawn for very frequent games for a sufficient period of time to permit all the winners to discover that they have won and to come forth. If the numbers are displayed, e.g., via the video controller mentioned above, it is still difficult for the players to find the numbers that apply to the correct game, and to compare the chosen numbers to those drawn to identify winning tickets dependably. In order to display the current game and the last several games, the display must be changed frequently, and the process detracts from the excitement of the current game.
On the other hand, the agent terminal and/or the central processor, being computers, readily can compare chosen numbers with drawn winning numbers for game cycles, process all the possible win combinations, and determine the payout, if any. Therefore, this aspect of Keno, and other games with many numbers or many winning combinations, is also advantageously automated. The coded ticket is presented by the player to the agent and read by the agent terminal. The agent terminal communicates with the central computer to validate the data, and either or both of the agent terminal and the central computer determine whether there is a win and calculate the amount of the win.
Automated win checkers are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,129--Cox; 4,892,313--James et al.; and 4,772,025--James et al., which relate to slot machine devices. In each case the player's assigned combination is examined automatically as to whether any of several winning combinations is present. In slot machines, the winning combinations are invariable (e.g., three or four of a kind in line, at four comers, etc.). With a Keno or similar agent terminal network, the winning combinations vary with every periodic Keno cycle. Thus, routinely it is necessary to use the agent terminal, or a player-operated stand alone terminal that is functionally equivalent to the agent terminal, to read or obtain information on the player's choices and on the numbers drawn in the corresponding cycle of the game, via communications with the central computer. Then the player's choices and the drawn numbers then can be compared for winning combinations.
However, this solution has its own problems. Agent terminals can become devoted to checking for wins (a non-revenue generating function), instead of processing ticket sales. The agent, who typically is the proprietor of the convenience store or other establishment and has other duties, spends a substantial proportion of his or her time attempting to validate tickets as winners, so that players can determine whether they have won. Whether accomplished on an agent terminal operated by the agent or by the player, validation checks require a sequence of communications over the lottery network with the central processor, and a substantial portion of the communication capacity and computing capacity of the network is consumed.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds