referring to fig1 , an instant win gaming ticket 10 is illustrated . the ticket 10 has a win table 20 , betting number columns 30 a , 30 b , a wager column 40 a , 40 b , player &# 39 ; s result columns 50 a , 50 b , and dealer / house result columns 60 a , 60 b . the win table 20 indicates the possible prizes or prize amounts if a given set of conditions are fulfilled by the results of the games on the ticket 10 . the betting number columns 30 a , 30 b serve as reference points by which the player can track the games being played . the wager columns 40 a , 40 b indicate the amounts being wagered for each game and , concomitantly , the distinct or specific possible prize identifiable with each game . the player &# 39 ; s result columns 50 a , 50 b indicate the game result for the player . this result is to be compared to the entry in the dealer / house result columns 60 a , 60 b to determine if the player has won a particular game . it should be noted that similar instant win gaming tickets are generally pre - printed with the results covered . players purchase or otherwise obtain the tickets not knowing the results and sequentially uncover the results to determine if their gaming ticket has won a prize or not . initially , columns 50 a , 50 b , 60 a , 60 b are covered prior to a player purchasing or obtaining the ticket . these columns may be uncovered in any sequence but preferably sequentially to effectively play the games . the ticket is divided into three areas — one area for the first set of games ( columns 30 a , 40 a , 50 a , 60 a ), a second area for a second set of games ( columns 30 b , 40 b , 50 b , 60 b ), and a third area for the win table 20 . as can be seen in fig1 , each row in a particular area denotes a single game . for the ticket illustrated in fig1 , the single game type to be played is a simulation of the well - known game of roulette . the object is for the player result ( as shown in columns 50 a , 50 b ) to match the wheel result ( as shown in columns 60 a , 60 b ). it can be seen from the ticket in fig1 that the player has not won for bet / game a — the player result is red 10 while the wheel result is black 23 . it can also be seen that the player has a similar losing result for bets / games b , c , and d . however , for bet / game e , the player result is the same as the wheel result . this therefore means that the player has won this particular game . similarly , for bets / games f and g , the player &# 39 ; s results match the wheel results . as such , the player has won 3 games in a row or 3 consecutive games have been won . because of these consecutive wins , the player thus wins more than what he would have won had he only won three non - consecutive games . the player &# 39 ; s distinct prize identifiable with a specific game is dependent on the wager . since game e had a wager of $ 5 + d prize , and since the prize for game d is zero ( due to the player losing game d ), then the wager for game e is $ 5 . assuming that the ticket pays double the wager for every game won , then the prize for winning game e is prize ⁢ ⁢ for ⁢ ⁢ game ⁢ ⁢ e = ⁢ ( wager ⁢ ⁢ for ⁢ ⁢ game ⁢ ⁢ e ) × 2 = ⁢ ( $ 5 + d ⁢ ⁢ prize ) × 2 = ⁢ ( $ 5 + 0 ) × 2 = ⁢ $ 5 × 2 = ⁢ $ 10 prize ⁢ ⁢ for ⁢ ⁢ winning ⁢ ⁢ game ⁢ ⁢ f = ⁢ ( wager ⁢ ⁢ for ⁢ ⁢ game ⁢ ⁢ f ) × 2 = ⁢ ( $ 5 + e ⁢ ⁢ prize ) × 2 = ⁢ ( $ 5 + 10 ) × 2 = ⁢ $ 15 × 2 = ⁢ $ 30 using the same logic and process , the prize for winning game g is $ 70 . it should be noted that since the player did not win game h , the player &# 39 ; s “ streak ” ends . the same rationale for awarding prizes apply to the game tickets illustrated in fig2 and 3 but applied to different types of games . as can be seen in fig2 , instead of playing a roulette type of game , the well - known card game of blackjack is played . instead of trying to match the dealer &# 39 ; s total in columns 70 a , 70 b , the player &# 39 ; s total in columns 80 a , 80 b must be greater than the dealer &# 39 ; s total . again , the prize per game / row ( the rows being denoted by a letter indicator in columns 90 a , 90 b ) is determined by the wager column 100 a , 100 b . the win table 110 will show the amount the player can win for consecutive wins . as is accepted in most card games , an ace ( represented by a letter a ) is given a value of 11 and a “ face ” card ( a king , queen , or jack as represented by the letters k , q , and j respectively ) is given a value of 10 . as can be seen , the player only wins in hand f for the game ticket in fig2 . it should be noted that the player &# 39 ; s total columns 80 a , 80 b and the dealer &# 39 ; s columns 70 a 70 b are covered prior to the player &# 39 ; s playing the game ticket . referring to fig3 , instead of a card game or another game of chance , the results of a football season or a series of football games is simulated on the game ticket . the idea behind this type of a game ticket is that the player will wager on the outcome of a sporting event . for this game ticket , the sport is american football with the teams of the national football league being represented on the ticket . each row ( denoted by a letter in columns 120 a , 120 b ) denotes a single football game . wager columns ( columns 130 a , 130 b ) denotes the wager on the game while team columns 140 a , 140 b note the teams playing the particular game for that particular row . the player &# 39 ; s bet columns ( columns 150 a , 150 b ) denote the preselected teams that the player is “ betting ” to win . this column may or may not be covered prior to the playing of the game or purchase of the ticket . the game result columns 160 a , 160 b , on the other hand , are covered prior to the purchase of the game ticket . as can be seen , the game result columns 160 a , 160 b notes who won the particular football game . similar to the roulette game ticket in fig1 , the object of the game for the fig3 ticket is for the player &# 39 ; s bet to match the game result . thus , if for a particular row , a player &# 39 ; s preselected bet entry matches the entry for a game result , then the player has won the game . for the ticket in fig3 , it can be seen that the player has won games a , c , d , e , f , and g . the player has thus had a streak of 5 consecutive wins of games c to h . using the same rationale as for the tickets illustrated in fig1 and 2 , the longer a player &# 39 ; s streak of consecutive wins , the larger is the ultimate wager per game and therefore , the larger the possible prize amount . this would be denoted in a win table 170 . in many instant win gaming tickets , the prize amount for winning a single game is double the amount wagered . thus , if the amount wagered is $ 5 as in game a of the ticket in fig3 , winning that game results in a payout of $ 10 for the player . for the same ticket , the progressive nature of the wagering , with each wager dependent on the result of the immediately preceding game , results in an increasingly larger prize amount as the number of consecutive games won increases . four consecutive games won results in cumulative winnings of $ 260 with the prize amount for the fourth game being $ 150 . the amount wagered on the fourth hand was therefore $ 75 . the given total does not include the $ 10 won in game a . to simplify matters , the individual amount won for the nth consecutive game won can be represented as in equation 1 : w = x ⁢ ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ ⁢ y i ( 1 ) w = amount won on the nth consecutive game won n = number of games won consecutively y = multiplier applied to wager if a game is won x = fixed starting wager per game for the game ticket in fig1 , 2 , and 3 , x = 5 and y = 2 if the wager is doubled for every win . if a player wins three times his wager if he wins a game , then y = 3 . using the same logic as above , the amount wagered on the nth game can be represented as in equation 2 after ( n − 1 ) consecutive games won : b = x ⁢ ∑ i = 1 n ⁢ y i - 1 ( 2 ) the variables in equation 2 are as defined for equation 1 . the cumulative prize amount won after n consecutive games won can be represented as in equation 3 : c = ∑ a = 0 n ⁢ ( x ⁢ ∑ i = 1 a ⁢ y i ) ( 3 ) using the above formulas , a sample win table ( table 1 ) can be as follows using y = 2 and x = 5 : as can be seen , the increase in the prize amounts between consecutively won games is geometric in pattern with the variable y denoting how fast or how slow the increase is in the winnings . clearly , the higher the value for y , the larger the cumulative prize amounts . the increase in prize amounts between two consecutive prize amounts is a multiple of a previous increase . the prize amount for 4 consecutive games won is $ 150 while the prize amount for 3 consecutive games won is $ 70 . the increase between these two prize amounts is $ 80 — a multiple of the prize amount increase ($ 40 ) between prize amounts for two games won ($ 30 ) and three games won ($ 70 ). this fixed multiplier between increases prize amounts is due to the geometric progression between the increases . while the game tickets in fig1 , 2 , and 3 , all use a single type of game for the individual games , this need not be the case for every gaming ticket . referring to fig4 , an alternative type of gaming ticket is illustrated which also uses a progressive type method of awarding prizes . for this gaming ticket , the object is to simulate games that may be played in a casino . as such , four types of games , blackjack , roulette , keno , and poker are represented . for keno , the object is to match all five numbers that the dealer / house is given while conventional poker need not be explained here . from fig4 , the wager columns 180 a , 180 b denote the wagers for each game with wagers increasing for consecutive wins . however , the wagers increase only for consecutive games won of the same type . as such , consecutive poker games won increase the player &# 39 ; s prize but consecutive dissimilar games won , such as blackjack and roulette , do not increase the player &# 39 ; s prize . the amount a player may win still depends on whether a previous game was won or not but a caveat exists in that the previous game has to be of the same type as the game currently being played . another alternative configuration for a gaming ticket is that illustrated in fig5 . the gaming ticket configuration in fig5 simulates a slot machine . column 190 documents the wagers for every slot game on the ticket while column 200 documents the gaming index letter . columns 210 a , 210 b , 210 c , 210 d indicate the player &# 39 ; s simulated slot machine results . the prize amount allocation for this game may be different from that of the gaming tickets illustrated in the previous figures . for the previous gaming tickets , each game was either completely won or lost . for slots , it is possible to have a partial win and be accorded a proportionate prize . the wining combinations for the slot machine may be documented in a win table 220 , an example of which is reproduced in table 2 : based on the above sample , win table and the ticket in fig5 , the player wins double his wager for game a and does not win anything for game b . for game c , the player wins triple his wager and , again , does not win for game d . for game e , the player wins one - and - a half times his wager . his total winnings for the ticket are therefore as follows : the above calculations assume that the player does not lose any of his previous winnings if he loses any games . other , more complex win tables may be used and other , more complex formulas for penalizing the player for losing games may be used . it should be noted that other games and configurations , such as other card games like pai gow , poker , high - low , and others , and numbers games may be used for the games in the gaming tickets . also , other sporting events , such as basketball games , soccer games , and hockey games may be simulated in place of the football events illustrated and explained above . furthermore , numbers games , some of which may be similar to keno , and other wagering games such as slots , can also be used for the gaming tickets . the above invention should provide increased enjoyment to instant wins game ticket players . as further inducement to purchase and play these games , one possible caveat to the wagering on the ticket is that players do not lose any prizes they win regardless of any wagers they make in subsequent games . as an example , using the game tickets in fig1 , 2 , and 3 , if a player wins games a , b , and c and , and because of the progressive nature of the wagering , the wager for game d is the amount won for game c , if the player loses game d , he does not lose his winnings for game c . the only drawback for the player is that his wager for game e is not very large since his winnings for game d is zero . an alternative to the above scheme is to have a feature in the gaming ticket such that a player loses some or all of his previous winnings if he loses a game . thus , the player must , before playing a game , decide whether to continue playing or to redeem any winnings he may already have . a person understanding this invention may now conceive of alternative structures and embodiments or variations of the above all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims that follow .
methods and apparatus for playing an instant win gaming ticket . an instant win gaming ticket has multiple instant win games which can be played by the player . the amount won per game is dependent on the results of at least one previous game on the same ticket . the player plays the games on a single ticket and the amount the player wins for each game depends on whether previously played games on the same ticket were won or lost .