HK1214554B - Gaming through mobile or other devices - Google Patents

Description

Gaming through mobile or other devices

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

United states provisional application 61/604,115 filed on day 28, 2/2012; united states provisional application 61/680,168 filed on 8/6/2012; and us provisional 61/736,087, filed on 12/2012, all hereby incorporated by reference.

Technical Field

Some embodiments may generally relate to gaming devices and/or mobile devices.

Background

Mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, PDAs, laptop computers, and/or various other devices may be used by individuals. Games may be executed such as casino games, sports wagers, video games, and/or various other forms of games.

Disclosure of Invention

The following should be understood as exemplary embodiments and not as claims.

A. One method comprises the following steps: determining, by the computing device, that the first cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service over the first network, the gaming service knowing that the first network is in an approved location; in response to determining that the first cell phone is accessing gaming services over the first network, allowing, by the computing device, the first cell phone to access ones of the gaming services;

determining, by the computing device, that the second cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service over the second network, the gaming service being unaware that the second network is in an approved location; responsive to determining that the second cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service over the second network, determining, by the computing device, based on the first internet protocol address of the second cellular telephone, that a first confidence level of the second cellular telephone in the approved location is above a threshold confidence level; in response to determining that the first confidence level is above the threshold confidence level, allowing, by the computing device, the second cellular telephone to access ones of the gaming services; determining, by the computing device, that the third cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service over the second network, the gaming service being unaware that the second network is in an approved location; responsive to determining that the third cellular telephone is accessing the gaming service over the second network, determining, by the computing device, based on a second internet protocol address of the third cellular telephone, that a second confidence level of the third cellular telephone in the approved location is below the threshold confidence; responsive to determining that the second confidence level is below the threshold confidence level, querying, by the computing device, a secondary location determination service for a location of the third cellular telephone; receiving, by the computing device, an indication of a location of the third cellular telephone from the secondary location determination service; and allowing, by the computing device, the third cellular telephone to access a gaming service of the gaming service in an approved location based on the location of the third cellular telephone.

B. One method comprises the following steps: determining, by the computing device, in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more gaming activities are available to a user of the device when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; determining, by the computing device, a time to re-determine the location of the device based on which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein the time is a first value when the device is located within a first geo-fence but not a second geo-fence, and wherein the time is a second value when the device is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence; and determining, by the computing device, a location of the device at the determined time.

The method of claim b.1 wherein the second time is greater than the first time. B.2. The method of claim B, wherein the second time is less than the first time. B.3. The method of claim B, wherein the second time is equal to the first time. B.4. The method of claim B, wherein the second geo-fence comprises at least a third geo-fence therein.

C. One method comprises the following steps: registering, by the computing device, an application on the device, wherein one or more gaming activities are available to a user of the device, and wherein the application is at least configured to determine a location of the device, a location that the device has changed, and/or a distance that the device has moved; receiving, by the computing device, a report from the application, wherein the report includes at least one of a location of the device, an indication that the device has moved, and an indication of a distance that the device has moved; and determining, by the computing device, a location of the device through the geofence in response to the report.

C.1. The method of claim C, further comprising: determining in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more of the gaming activities are providable to the user when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; and based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the apparatus is located, configuring the application to report the change in location, wherein when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, the application is configured to report a shorter distance movement of the apparatus than when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence.

D. One method comprises the following steps: determining, by the computing device, whether the user device is located within a predefined location in response to the user accessing the gaming service using the device to engage in at least one gaming activity, wherein the predefined location is defined by a non-circular geofence, and wherein determining whether the user device is located within the predefined location comprises making a determination by using the geofence; and allowing, by the computing device, the user to engage in at least one gaming activity from the user device based on the determination that the user device is located within the predefined location.

D.1. The method of claim D, wherein the non-circular geofence is a polygonal geofence.

E. One method comprises the following steps: determining, by the computing device, in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more gaming activities are available to a user of the device when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; determining, by the computing device, a time to re-determine the location of the device based on which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein the time is a first value when the device is located within a first geo-fence but not a second geo-fence, and wherein the time is a second value when the device is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence; and determining, by the computing device, a location of the device at the determined time.

E.1. The method of claim E, wherein the second time is greater than the first time. E.2. The method of claim E, wherein the second time is less than the first time. E.3. The method of claim E, wherein the second time is equal to the first time. E.4. The method of claim E, wherein the second geo-fence comprises at least a third geo-fence therein.

F. One method comprises the following steps: registering, by the computing device, an application on the device, wherein one or more gaming activities are available to a user of the device, and wherein the application is at least configured to determine a location of the device, a location that the device has changed, and/or a distance that the device has moved; receiving, by the computing device, a report from the application, wherein the report includes at least one of a location of the device, an indication that the device has moved, and an indication of a distance that the device has moved; and determining, by the computing device, a location of the device through the geofence in response to the report.

F.1. The method of claim F, further comprising: determining in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more of the gaming activities are providable to the user when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; and based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the apparatus is located, configuring the application to report the change in location, wherein when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, the application is configured to report a shorter distance movement of the apparatus than when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence.

G. One method comprises the following steps: determining, by the computing device, whether the user device is located within a predefined location in response to the user accessing the gaming service using the device to engage in at least one gaming activity, wherein the predefined location is defined by a non-circular geofence, and wherein determining whether the user device is located within the predefined location comprises making a determination by using the geofence; and allowing, by the computing device, the user to engage in at least one gaming activity from the user device based on the determination that the user device is located within the predefined location.

G.1. The method of claim G, wherein the non-circular geofence is a polygonal geofence.

Drawings

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of a card reading system of some embodiments.

Fig. 2 illustrates a device for playing a game in some embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary procedure that may be used for validation and/or use of a mobile device in some embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary set of applications that may be executed by a mobile device to facilitate access to mobile gaming services.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a series of geofences displayed on a nevada map.

Fig. 6 illustrates some exemplary procedures regarding geofencing that may be performed in some embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates some exemplary procedures regarding geofencing that may be performed in some embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary architecture that may be used for location determination in some embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates an exemplary method that may be performed in some embodiments.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example according to some embodiments.

Fig. 11 illustrates an example of a series of geofences displayed on a state map.

Detailed Description

I.Exemplary embodiments

Colloquially, a bet may be referred to as a wager but it should be understood that embodiments are not limited to legally defined wagers (which are limited to games of chance) but may include games of skill, fantasy, games of chance, and/or any other type of game, and thus the term bet is used in discussing some embodiments rather than the term wager. Gambling may involve the windcasting of money in the event that an event is about to occur. Such wind casts may be based on skill and/or risk, on wagering game enrollment and/or betting (pari-mutuel), and/or in any desired form. Gambling may include paying an entry fee to play in a game based on the occurrence of an event. Wagering may be used herein to refer to such skill or risk based gaming in some instances and should not be construed as limited to one type or other unless otherwise stated. Gaming may include wagering, wind, entry fee participation in the game, and/or any other form of gaming, as desired. The various embodiments may be applied to any type of gaming in any combination and/or arrangement.

Some exemplary methods and systems that may be related to gaming are described in U.S. patent applications 13/080,098 and 13/288,223. Amaitis, U.S. patent application No. 13/080,098, filed on 5/4/2011, is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Amaitis, U.S. patent application No. 13/288,223, filed on 3/11/2011, is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Some embodiments may facilitate gaming on one or more mobile devices. Some embodiments may allow for such gambling when the mobile device and/or patron is located in a jurisdiction and/or area where gambling (e.g., wagering games, fantasy tournaments) is legal. Some embodiments may allow such gaming to occur when the mobile device and/or patron is properly authorized and/or controlled. In some embodiments, various programs and/or devices may be used to ensure the security, authenticity, and/or location of the customer and/or device. In some embodiments, gaming may be facilitated through a cellular network, a wireless communication network, and/or any desired communication network. In some embodiments, when in a location that allows such gaming, the patron can operate the mobile device to play one or more games (e.g., place one or more bets, enter information defining play of one or more games) from the gaming account or other account over the communications network when the device is properly authorized and/or controlled.

In some embodiments, gambling may include, for example, sports betting, casino betting, propositional betting, fantasy tournaments, sports wagering game games, and/or other forms of gambling. In some embodiments, gaming may include gaming using gaming accounts, credit cards, with cash, credit, etc. In some embodiments, the jurisdiction and/or region in which gaming may be permitted may include, for example, gaming venue floors, nevada, outside hotel rooms, outside residences, atlantic city, inside hotel rooms, and the like. It should be appreciated that while some embodiments have been described with respect to sports gaming, cellular networks, and/or particular zones, these embodiments are given as examples only and other embodiments may include any desired type of gaming, any desired type of communication network, any desired zone, and/or not include these elements.

Some embodiments may include techniques configured to facilitate a patron playing a game using a mobile device over a communications network if the patron is in a location (e.g., state of nevada) where game play is legal and/or otherwise permitted. Some embodiments may include techniques configured to prevent patrons from using mobile devices to play games over a communication network if the patrons are not in a location where game play is legitimate and/or otherwise permitted (e.g., when outside of a legitimate gaming area, wagers may be prevented, logging into an account may be prevented, an account may be logged out, etc.). In some embodiments, gaming-related services may be provided and/or blocked outside of the legitimate gaming area, depending on the needs and/or permissions in the respective area. Such gaming-related services may include providing score updates, account information, and the like. In some embodiments, the location of the mobile device may be used as a proxy for the customer's location. A location reference may be understood as a location (e.g., determined location, appropriate location) of the mobile device.

Location instance based on IP address

Some embodiments may include determining a location based on an IP (internet protocol) address. For example, the location of the user of the mobile device may be determined based on the IP address of the location. This location may be an estimated location based on the received information about the IP address. This received information may include an ISP provider identifying a range of IP addresses assigned to a particular location, an identification of a user location from a particular IP address, or any information that may be used to determine a location based on an IP address. The location may include a location having any desired granularity and/or granularity based on available information. For example, the location may identify a city, a state, a zip code, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the highest available granularity may be used (e.g., if both a state and a city are available, then the city may be used). It should be appreciated that various embodiments may not be limited to a particular granularity and/or method location determination or identification. The location may include a location where something is not present (e.g., if gaming is allowed in most locations but not a few locations, the device may be anywhere, except some, such as not in california and this may be useful), rather than and/or in addition to the location where the device is present.

Some embodiments may include and/or interact with a system that provides location information based on IP addresses. One exemplary system that may perform this function includes the IP intelligence system provided by NeuStar located at 401 Castro Street, Mountain View, Calif. Some embodiments may include interacting with this system (e.g., requesting location information, transmitting an IP address to the system, receiving location information from the system, etc.). For example, in response to receiving a request from a device to access a gaming service, the service can be queried for an indication of the IP address of the device requesting access to the gaming service. The locations may be determined and transmitted from the service to the gaming service in response to the query (e.g., by accessing stored information about IP addresses, such as ranges of IP addresses assigned to each location by the ISP and comparing the IP addresses to the ranges). In response to the query, a location may be received from the service. Some embodiments may include a local copy of the IP location database. The local copy may be stored by the gaming service provider and interrogated to make a location determination. The local copy may be updated periodically (e.g., weekly, monthly, etc.) and/or on demand using the third party master copy. In discussing various embodiments and referring to third party IP locations or other third party services, it should be appreciated that local copies of information or local services may be used instead of or in addition to using third party services, and that third party services are given as non-limiting examples only.

Some embodiments may include purchasing and/or storing IP address information and determining location information based on this information. For example, instead of using or in addition to a third party service, some embodiments may include storing information about an IP address and using this information instead of and/or in addition to querying a third party. For example, some embodiments may store specific IP addresses of known locations (e.g., IP addresses associated with a particular property (such as a particular gaming venue), a partner, etc.). The location may be determined by comparing the received IP address with this stored information.

In some embodiments, determining or and/or receiving information about a location based on an IP address may include a confidence level for the location. For example, an IP-based location determination service may identify that the confidence that a particular IP address is in a certain location is 90%, 100%, 10%, 50%, 0%, or any possible probability based on known information about the location of the IP address. Any method of determining confidence may be used. For example, if an ISP provides information identifying where it assigns a particular range of IP addresses and where its determined location corresponds to that range of IP addresses, then a 100% confidence may be assigned to that location. As another example, if the location is determined using other information (such as users, merchants) or other reported information rather than ISP-specified information, a lower confidence level (e.g., 50%) may be assigned. As another example, if a location is determined using observation (e.g., an indication that an IP address has been observed in a particular location), a lower confidence level (e.g., 50%) may be assigned.

In some embodiments, determining and/or receiving information about a location based on an IP address may include identification of a type of network that assigns the IP address. For example, it may be known that a mobile network assigns an IP address in a particular range, and thus the address may be identified as a known mobile address. Similarly, other networks may be known to assign addresses in a particular range, and thus it may be recognized that the addresses are from networks of any known nature. It may be important to know whether the network connecting a particular client device is a mobile network (e.g., a cellular network) or a non-mobile network (e.g., ethernet, Wi-Fi, etc.). The processing of the mobile network may be different from the processing of the non-mobile network (e.g., IP address location verification cannot be used for mobile network connectivity but can be used for the non-mobile network). In some embodiments, the network type may affect the confidence level of the IP location.

Multi-level position determination

In some embodiments, the gaming service may limit gaming service access to devices in a particular location. These locations may include jurisdictions in which gaming is legal. These locations may include the legitimate origin of the game. Different types of services can be provided based on the location in which the device is located (e.g., which jurisdiction, which state, which gaming venue, outside of the gaming venue floor, school, etc.).

Some embodiments may include multiple levels of location determination to facilitate determining which, if any, gaming services allow the device to access the gaming services. For example, in some embodiments, different location determination methods may be used in different situations. These different situations may include different states of the IP address of the device accessing the gaming service. For example, if the gaming provider knows the IP address, the device location may be accepted as known; if the IP address is unknown but has a high confidence in the location based on a third party determination, then the third party determination may be accepted; if the IP address is unknown and is determined to have low confidence in the location based on a third party, a secondary location determination method (e.g., geo-fencing, GPS, etc.) may be used. It should be appreciated that various embodiments may include any methodology for determining location in any combination and that reference to a third party is non-limiting and may not use this third party at all (e.g., a local cache of an IP location system, a local geo-fence system, etc. may be used). This multi-level determination can be performed by a component of the gaming provider (e.g., a server, router, computer system, etc. of the gaming venue and/or a third party gaming service provider) that can interact with one or more services and/or devices as needed to facilitate this location determination.

Trusted IP-based location or known network location

Some embodiments may include providing gaming services to mobile device (e.g., cell phone, laptop) users that communicate with gaming services over one or more known or trusted communication networks (e.g., wifi networks at gaming establishments). For example, a gaming service provider may establish a relationship with one or more locations (e.g., gaming locations). The gaming service provider may provide or otherwise be associated with a communication network at one or more locations (e.g., via a wifi network that a user at the establishment location may access and/or record/access information about the wifi network established by the location).

In some embodiments, the device may access the gaming service over a communication network. The gaming service can be conducted off-network and can be accessed through some router or other network interface (e.g., over a public network such as the internet) that connects the network to the gaming service. The network interface can have an IP address known by the gaming service provider (e.g., a static IP address provided by and/or registered as a trusted source with the gaming service provider). This IP address may be visible to off-network services accessed by devices on the network (e.g., by components of the gaming provider that receive data packets from devices accessing the network). The gaming service provider can compare the list of trusted IP addresses to IP addresses in data packets (e.g., TCP/IP data packets) received by the gaming service and identifying the source of transmission (i.e., the network interface of the network) to determine that the device is accessing the gaming service from a location covered by the network (e.g., through a router connecting a wifi network to the internet).

In some embodiments, the gaming service may be on the network and/or the devices on the network may be assigned off-network visible IP addresses. These assigned IP addresses may be in a known range available to the network for assignment to devices on the network (e.g., authoritatively assigned from the ISP or other IP address). This address range may be recorded by the gaming service provider (e.g., stored in a database of known IP addresses). Based on the gaming service being accessed from a device having an IP address in a trusted range, a component of the gaming service provider can determine (e.g., by referencing a stored list of known IP address locations) that the location of the device is in a location covered by the network.

Various methods of assigning IP addresses and determining IP addresses are known in the art. For example, DHCP is a known protocol for assigning IP addresses to devices on a network. Static IP addresses and dynamic IP addresses are known in the art. For example, a network interface of a known network may be assigned a static IP address. The network interface may dynamically assign IP addresses to devices on the network in the assignment range. TCP/IP packets are a known format that may be used and may include an indication of the source IP address.

The gaming service can determine whether a device attempting to access the gaming service is assigned or otherwise associated with a trusted IP address associated with a known location and/or a trusted network. If the device is associated with the known IP address, the gaming service can allow gaming to occur. This permission may include permission without other location verification, as long as this access occurs in relation to a known IP address. This position determination based on known IP addresses may be considered the first level of multi-level position determination. In some embodiments, gaming services may be accessed from known networks over public networks.

In some embodiments, gaming services may be accessed directly through a trusted network rather than through a public network from the network. For example, the gaming service can be directly coupled to a known network such that the gaming service can be accessed without access through a public network (e.g., the internet). In some embodiments, gaming services may also be accessed over public networks (e.g., from other unknown networks and/or locations). Some embodiments may include determining that a gaming service is being accessed over a known network and not a public network (e.g., based on a device whose IP address falls within a range known on the network to which an interface based on being receiving a game request is attached and not a public network). The gaming service can allow gaming to occur if the gaming service is being accessed by a device associated with the network through a known network. This permission may include permission without other location authentication, as long as this access occurs from a known network. This position determination based on access from a known network may be considered the first level of multi-level position determination.

High confidence IP based location

As discussed herein, some embodiments may include determining a location of a device accessing a gaming service from a public network and associated with an IP address unfamiliar and/or untrusted by the gaming service based on the device IP address that may be obtained from, for example, data packets received by the gaming service. For example, if the IP address of the device attempting to access the gaming service is not in a trusted range or is not from a trusted source (e.g., if the device is not accessing the gaming service from a wifi network that has registered as a trusted network), a determination of the location of the device may be attempted and/or made based on the IP address of the device.

For example, a third party service that correlates IP addresses to locations may be queried for locations using the IP address of the device. A location from this service that allows gaming services and a confidence level of the device in that location can be received. Some embodiments may include the determination being performed by a gaming service in addition to and/or instead of the determination being performed by a third party service. Thus, some embodiments may first determine whether the network through which the device accesses the gaming service is trusted and, if not, may determine the IP-based device location before allowing the device to access the gaming service.

The gaming service may perform different actions depending on the confidence of this determination. For example, if this confidence (i.e., the device is in an approved location) is deemed high, then access to the gaming service may be allowed. This permission may include permission without other location verification, as long as this access occurs in relation to the IP address. This location determination over a public network with high confidence based on unknown IP addresses may be considered a second level of multi-level location determination.

The threshold confidence that may allow the use of the second level may include any desired level. Exemplary stages may include 90%, 75%, 100%, 50%, etc. This threshold may be set based on jurisdiction requirements, gaming service provider preferences, user preferences, gaming venue preferences, and the like. While discrete percentages are given as an example, other embodiments may include qualitative labels (e.g., a third party may return a label with high or low confidence instead of a percentage confidence).

It should be appreciated that although various examples of IP-based and/or other location determination methodologies have been described with respect to wireless networks, wifi, and/or mobile devices, any type of device and/or network (e.g., laptop, wired network, etc.) may be used. For example, IP location determination may be used to determine the location of a desktop computer accessing gaming services. The wired connection is more likely and/or may always result in a high confidence level because the location of the wired connection may be more easily tracked and/or reported.

In some implementations, a device whose IP address is known to be a mobile network IP address may be considered low confidence, regardless of third party or other IP location assessments of device location confidence. Some embodiments may consider the mobile network IP address to be a low confidence address because it is assigned by a mobile network provider (e.g., a cell phone company). Because devices attached to a mobile network are more likely to move than devices attached to a wired network, some embodiments may treat this mobility capability as an indication that device location is of low confidence. Some embodiments may not include other confidence indicators but may base the confidence on the network type. Other embodiments may not use a network type at all. The network type may be determined by an IP address, a third party service (such as a third party location determination service), by self-reporting from the device, and/or in any other manner.

Low confidence IP based location

As discussed herein, some embodiments may include determining a location of a device accessing a gaming service from a public network and associated with an untrusted network based on an IP address of the device. For example, if the IP address of the device attempting to access the gaming service is not part of the trusted network and the gaming service, a determination of the location of the device may be attempted and/or made based on the IP address of the device.

For example, a third party service that correlates IP addresses to locations may be queried for locations using the IP address of the device. A location from this service that allows gaming services and a confidence level of the device in that location can be received. Some embodiments may include the determination being performed by a gaming service in addition to and/or instead of the determination being performed by a third party service.

The gaming service may perform different actions depending on the confidence of this determination. For example, if this confidence level is deemed to be low, then gaming service access may be dependent on secondary location determination. Various examples of secondary position determination are given herein. For example, a geo-fencing service may be used, gps interrogation may be used, and/or any desired location determination technique may be used as a secondary location determination method.

The threshold confidence that may allow the use of the second level may include any desired level. Exemplary stages may include 90%, 75%, 100%, 50%, etc. This threshold may be set based on jurisdiction requirements, gaming service provider preferences, user preferences, gaming venue preferences, and the like.

In some embodiments, gaming may be allowed if a secondary location determination (e.g., querying a geo-fencing service) results in a location matching an IP-based location or otherwise verifies that the device is in an approved gaming location. In some embodiments, the secondary location may be trusted if the location is not consistent with an IP-based location such that the gaming service may be allowed as long as the secondary location proving device is in a location that allows the gaming service. In some embodiments, if the secondary location service results in a location that does not allow gaming, the gaming service may be disabled regardless of what previous IP-based location determinations may have proven. In some embodiments, if there is an inconsistency between the IP-based location and the secondary location, the gaming service may be disabled.

In some embodiments, a secondary location determination method may include determining, in at least some instances, a location of a cellular telephone or other device having a telephone number (e.g., an infiniband card) using a telephone network. This service may accept a telephone number as input and return a location (e.g., in response to a query from a gaming provider identifying the telephone number). Some embodiments may include determining whether a telephone number is available and, if so, determining a device location using an appropriate location service that accepts the telephone number as input.

In some embodiments, the telephone number may be accessed by gaming software executed by the mobile device to access the gaming service. For example, a gaming application running on a cellular telephone that accesses a gaming service to allow a user to play a game may be able to determine a telephone number running on the cellular telephone (e.g., by querying an operating system via an API). Android based phones, for example, may allow this functionality. When this functionality is available to facilitate a secondary position determination method, one or more actions may be performed.

In some embodiments, the telephone number may not be accessible through gaming software executed by the mobile phone to access the gaming service. For example, a gaming application running on a cellular telephone that accesses a gaming service to allow a user to play a game may not be able to determine a telephone number running on the cellular telephone (e.g., may not be able to query the operating system through an API). An iOS based phone, for example, may not allow this functionality. Thus, when this functionality is not available to facilitate a secondary position determination method, one or more actions may be performed.

For example, in some embodiments, the user may be required to enter a telephone number and this entered telephone number may be used as the telephone number for the telephone. The telephone number may be entered at registration and/or during access to gaming services. In some embodiments, the user may be trusted to enter the correct telephone number. In some embodiments, some authentication method may be used (e.g., make a call randomly or occasionally or in response to a login attempt, SMS to phone with a code that must be entered, check by recorded set of information identifying the user's phone number, etc.). Any verification method may be used to assure the gaming service that the entered telephone number is a true telephone number. This action may be taken in response to determining that the gaming service of the device is unable to provide direct access to the device phone number through the API.

As another example, in some embodiments, the telephone number may be determined based on information entered by the user at the time of the registration procedure. For example, a user may be required to provide a phone number of a device when registering to use a service. In some embodiments, some phone number verification may be used. In some embodiments, a particular device may be associated with a service before the service is allowed to be used, as described herein. During the program, the device may be associated with a telephone number (e.g., the device number may be provided to the gaming service to register the device for service and store the device number in a number database). The service may determine the device based on the MAC address and/or other authentication information (e.g., pin, password, security pattern, etc.) entered into the device. This information may be used to determine a telephone number associated with the device at the time of the registration procedure. The location may then be determined using the number associated during the registration procedure.

Some embodiments may use a three-level location verification method. This approach may be used if the location confidence is low, if the phone number cannot be used through the API and/or in response to any possible location suspicion. For example, a three-level location verification method may include querying the device where it is located. For example, a gaming application running on a phone can access the phone's GPS location and report the location to the gaming service provider based on a three-level location determination method. In some embodiments, if the location of the entered or otherwise determined phone number matches the location reported by the phone, the secondary location may be verified. In some embodiments, the secondary location may not be trusted if the locations do not match. It may be assumed that, for example, the telephone number is either kneaded or input incorrectly. This three-level verification may be useful, for example, when using an iOS device (since the phone number of the iOS device may not always be verifiable), so a three-level GPS location may be used as the verification method. If the locations do not match, gaming service access may be denied.

In some embodiments, the client application may determine the lowest cost three-stage location determination method and use it to verify location information if needed. For example, the device may support many different location determination methodologies (from cell tower triangulation to GPS) and may use a methodology that consumes the least amount of system resources.

In some embodiments, a secondary location determination method, rather than a tertiary location determination method, may include a method that does not use a telephone number. For example, such a method may include interrogating the device to determine its own location (e.g., via gps or other methods) and report the information. It should be appreciated that any secondary position determination method may be used that may or may not rely on telephone numbers, self-reported and/or telephone-reported information, and the like.

In some implementations, a change in the IP address of the client device may cause the client to lose connectivity to the gaming provider. To regain connectivity, the client may be required to verify the location by some method, such as the methods described herein. In some embodiments, this loss of connectivity may occur because the gaming provider detects the change. In some embodiments, this change may occur because of a VPN connection established between the client and the gaming provider, a gateway cut-off established in response to the login (because the client IP address changes). In embodiments where this VPN is established, all data to and from the client device may be routed through the VPN when the client device is connected to perform the entertainment service (e.g., by adjusting routing table entries at the client device to route all traffic through the VPN to the gaming provider's gateway). The gateway may thus block unwanted data, such as proxy connections, remote desktop connections, connections that may attempt to circumvent security, remotely play games, or perform other unwanted actions. In some embodiments, the VPN can only allow gaming-related actions to be processed to and/or from the gaming provider to the client while the client is participating in the gaming action through the gaming provider. In some embodiments, to continue using the gaming service, verification of the device location may be required (e.g., using one or more stages of a multi-stage location verification protocol).

Location of non-gaming and failed or unsupported checks

In some embodiments, if the IP location determines a location that results in no gaming being allowed, different actions may be taken as needed. These actions may depend on the confidence level of the location.

For example, in some embodiments, in all instances, a backup location determination method (e.g., geofencing) may be used and may be trusted through IP-based location determination. This backup location determination may therefore override the IP location-based determination used in certain embodiments.

As another example, in some embodiments, gaming may be inhibited if the confidence level of the location in the non-gaming area is above a threshold. This prohibition can be made without consulting the backup location determination method. For example, this threshold may include a threshold of 100%, 90%, 75%, 50%, etc.

As yet another example, in some embodiments, a secondary location determination method may be used if the confidence level of the location in the non-gaming area is below a threshold. This secondary location determination method may be trusted by IP-based location determination methods.

In some implementations, position determination errors may occur and/or the position determination method may not be supported by the device (e.g., the device may not include GPS). If the location determination policy requires a determination of location but this occurs, then the location determination of the device may be deemed to have failed, gaming service access may be denied until the location is determined, a certain number of additional attempts may be made at the time of the location determination, a certain previous location may be assumed to be the location, a certain reported location from a different location determination level may be used, and/or any desired action may be taken. The gaming service may take one or more of these actions as desired.

Various examples of position determinations and reactions to these position determinations have been given. It should be appreciated that these position determinations are given as examples only and that various embodiments may include any desired position determination methodology, any desired level, any desired threshold, and include combinations of elements as may or may not be described herein, exclude elements, and/or include more elements, and the like. It should be appreciated that while some examples may have been described with respect to allowing gaming services or not allowing gaming services, similar and/or different examples may apply to determining which gaming services and/or other services are allowed and/or provided based on location determination (e.g., how to brand an interface, which games are allowed, which logins are provided, etc.) (e.g., a multi-level location determination method may result in location determination used to determine which games are allowed and which games are branded).

Examples of location determinations made when a user attempts to access a gaming service are given. It should be appreciated that this position determination may occur as needed and/or in response to any triggering procedure. This location determination may be made, for example, in response to a trigger (e.g., attempt to login, bet request, periodically, randomly, location-based) at application runtime (e.g., at start-up, periodically, randomly, based on distance to boundary, location-based, based on speed of movement, based on direction of movement, based on device IP address, and/or change in network over which the device accesses the gaming service). In some embodiments, a component of the gaming service (such as a gateway or server) may detect an event or determine that a location determination is required and facilitate such location determination in response to such determination.

Example of Signal Strength

Some embodiments may include performing an action based on the signal strength of a known network. For example, in a multi-stage location determination approach, if the signal strength of the known network decreases below a certain threshold, then certain actions may be taken (e.g., by the mobile device, by the gaming service and device). A lower signal strength may for example indicate reaching the border of an area covered by a known network.

In some embodiments, the application may report signal strength to the gaming operator (e.g., periodically, in response to a signal strength change, in response to a signal strength reaching a threshold, etc.). In some embodiments, the location determination method (e.g., gaming operator dependent location determination methods) may vary based on the reported signal strength being below a certain threshold (e.g., 50% of maximum). For example, a two-stage position determination method may be used in these instances until and/or unless the signal strength returns to a higher level. Thus, around the edge of an area covered by a known network, secondary location methods (e.g., geo-fencing, GPS, soft tags, etc.) can be used to verify that the device is still in an area that should be covered by the network and/or allow a smooth transition when the IP address changes. In some embodiments, the rate of use of the secondary location determination method may increase as the signal strength decreases such that the polling rate increases as the user approaches further edges of the known network.

Some embodiments may include using a two-level location determination method at some or all of the levels of the multi-level location determination methodology. This secondary method can serve as a verification program for another method. The frequency of use of this verification procedure may depend on which determination level is being used (e.g., the less frequent the confidence level), the confidence level, the signal strength, the distance to the jurisdiction boundary, etc.

In some embodiments, a mobile device (such as a cell phone) may be assigned a new IP address around and/or across the boundaries of a jurisdiction (such as a state). For example, in some embodiments, a 3G network may operate across state boundaries and 4G may be state specific. Thus, when a mobile device is carried across a state boundary, the device may disconnect from one 4G network, connect to a 3G network, and then connect to another 4G network. In other instances, the 3G network for each state may be different, and/or there may not be a 3G network that crosses state boundaries. Thus, in some instances, if the cellular telephone is using a state-specific mobile network known to the gaming operator to be state-specific, the gaming service provider can rely on the IP address to determine the location of this handset without reference to a secondary location determination method. Thus, although some embodiments as discussed above may handle mobile networks more strictly, if this mobile network is a state-specific mobile network known to gaming operators, this strict handling may not be triggered.

In other approaches, other location determination methodologies may be validated using such secondary location determination methods, as discussed elsewhere.

In some embodiments, the gaming application may monitor GPS and force a change in IP address when a determination is made that the mobile device crosses a state boundary. In some embodiments, the gaming operator may be reported GPS and may require a new VPN tunnel to be formed if the GPS crosses a state boundary. In some embodiments, the GPS of the phone may be monitored by the gaming application and reported to the gaming service provider when the device approaches a jurisdiction boundary or other important boundary that may trigger the use of a certain location determination action (such as location determination of a different level or source). In some embodiments, the reporting rate of GPS may increase as the distance to the boundary decreases.

Alternative location determination method

It should be appreciated that any alternative location determination methodology may be used in various embodiments and that examples of GPS, geo-fencing, soft tags, IP location, etc. are only non-limiting examples. For example, GPS may be the highest level of a multi-level location determination method, and the non-IP address is this highest level. Any location determination arrangement and combination may be used as desired.

As one example, some embodiments may include a location determination methodology that operates based on available networks (e.g., wifi networks that may be detected from a particular location). These embodiments may include detecting and/or storing wifi networks and/or strengths at different locations (e.g., multiple users may transmit this information along with GPS information for storage). This information can be used as an area map, which is defined by the strength of the wifi network at each point in the area. Subsequently, when a user location needs to be determined, the available wifi networks and/or the strength of the networks may be compared to stored information to determine a likely location. For example, the application may transmit a list of available wifi networks and signal strengths of the networks to a central server and/or a third party, which may determine possible device locations based on the mapping of locations to wifi networks and/or signal strengths.

Exemplary methods and apparatus

Fig. 9 illustrates an exemplary method that may be performed in some embodiments. Such a method may be performed, for example, by a component of a gaming service (e.g., a gateway, a service, etc.). This position determination may include a position determination for a particular stage of use. For example, this position determination may refer to a login of the usage phase. If the location determination is successful and another location determination is not needed, some embodiments may still make additional location determination checks in other stages of use (e.g., in response to an action, after a lapse of time, etc.).

As shown, some embodiments may include determining whether a cellular telephone (or other device, such as a laptop computer, desktop computer, augmented reality device, etc.) is in communication with a gaming service via a trusted or other known network. The method may include allowing the gaming service if it is determined that the cellular telephone is communicating over a trusted or other known network. In some embodiments, if this first level determination is successful, no particular method may be required to make additional location-based determinations. In some embodiments, even if this primary success, additional location determinations and/or backup determinations may be used.

As shown, some embodiments may include determining whether the IP address of the cellular telephone has a confidence level greater than a first threshold in an approved location. The method may include allowing the gaming service if the IP address is determined to have a confidence level greater than a first threshold in the approved location. In some embodiments, if this second level determination is successful, no particular method may be required to make additional location-based determinations. In some embodiments, even if this secondary is successful, additional location determinations and/or backup determinations may be used.

As shown, some embodiments may include determining whether a secondary, non-IP address based location determination method identifies the cellular telephone as being in an approved location, regardless of whether the IP address of the cellular telephone has a confidence level that is not greater than a first threshold. The method may include allowing the gaming service if the cellular telephone is identified in an approved location based on the location of the non-IP address.

As shown, some embodiments can include determining, by the gaming service provider, whether to allow the gaming service based on a determination of the location of the cellular telephone. For example, if a certain level of location determination results in a cellular phone being in an approved location, gaming may be allowed. Otherwise, the game may be prevented. Such methods and/or determinations may be made periodically, in response to a trigger procedure, etc., and as desired.

It should be appreciated that fig. 9 is given as a non-limiting example only. Various embodiments may include performing one or more methods to facilitate any desired functionality. For example, a method may include acts that allow a user to perform actions as described with respect to any combination of the embodiments described herein. Different methods may use different ordering of actions. For example, in a method that prefers IP location determination over network location determination, the ordering of the first and second blocks may be reversed.

Fig. 10 illustrates an example of some embodiments. As shown in fig. 10, some embodiments can include components of a gaming service provider 1001 (e.g., a gaming server, a billing server, etc.), an interface component 1003 (e.g., a gateway of a gaming service provider, one or more network interfaces of a gaming service provider, etc.), an authorization/trusted network 1005 (e.g., a network run by or registered with a gaming service provider in a known and/or controlled location, a wifi network, a wired network, etc.), a communication service provider 1007 (e.g., a cell phone provider, a spaglint (Sprint), etc.), one or more IP-based location determination services 1009 (e.g., a system that allows an IP address to be related in some way to a location and that can be a third party or a gaming service provider side), one or more geo-fences or other location determination services 1011 (e.g., maintain geo-fences and allow inquiries related thereto to be made by a gaming service provider and that may be a gaming service provider side) A portion of a service provider or a service separate from a gaming service provider), a set of devices 1013a, 1013b, 1013c (e.g., cell phones, mobile devices, stationary devices, laptops, desktops, kiosks, etc.), one or more areas 1015a, 1015b that can be covered by the authorizing network 1005 (e.g., an area in a gaming venue, an area covered by a wifi network, a building in which a jack to access a wired network is located, etc.), and one or more geofences 1017 (e.g., a geofence involving geofence provider 1011). It should be appreciated that the example of fig. 10 is given merely as a non-limiting example and other embodiments may include any combination of elements that may work together in any manner. For example, in some embodiments, the gaming operator may provide IP-based location determination locally, may perform geo-fence calculations locally based on location data received from the user device and/or network provider, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the gaming service provider 1001 may include any number of components arranged in any manner to provide gaming services (e.g., wagering games, fantasy tournaments) to one or more users. For example, a gaming service provider can include one or more computing devices (e.g., servers, blade servers, etc.) configured to perform one or more methods. The gaming service provider can perform a method (such as the method shown in fig. 9) and/or provide any desired functionality (such as combining any of the elements herein and/or the functionality described separately).

In some embodiments, the interface component 1003 may include any number of components arranged to allow a gaming service provider to connect to one or more networks and/or mobile devices. For example, this interface component may include a gateway, a network interface card, etc. arranged to connect to one or more networks. In some embodiments, each network may include this interface component alone (e.g., a proprietary network may include one interface component and a public network may include another interface component). The interface component may be part of and/or a separate component of the gaming service provider 1001. The interface component may perform a method (such as the method shown in fig. 9) and/or provide any desired functionality (such as combining any of the elements herein and/or functionality described separately).

In some embodiments, authorization network 1005 may include wireless and/or wired networks. This network may include a network authorized by the gaming service provider, run by the gaming service provider, connected to a particular network interface of the gaming service provider, and/or authorized to access the gaming service provider in any manner. The authorization network 1005 may include one or more network access points, routers, etc., that may allow connection to public and/or private networks that may include resources such as connections to gaming service providers. For example, this network may include a network or subnet operated by a trusted internet service provider that assigns the network or subnet to a particular region. As another example, this network may comprise a network operated by a trusted authority in a fixed location.

In some embodiments, the communication service provider 1007 may include services that provide communication services to one or more devices. This service provider may include, for example, a cellular telephone company, such as Sprint. This service provider may allow the device to access the gaming service provider and/or a public network, such as the internet, using the service.

In some embodiments, IP-based location determination service 1009 may include one or more components that may facilitate location determination based on an IP address. This service may be part of a gaming service provider and/or a third party service provider. This service may be in response to a request for location information, confidence based on the location of the IP address, and/or network type of the device using the IP address. This service may include any number of computing devices and/or other elements.

In some embodiments, other location determination services 1011 may include one or more components that may facilitate location determination based on any desired method (e.g., geo-fencing, soft tags, GPS interrogation, etc.). This service may be part of a gaming service provider and/or a third party service provider. This service may be responsive to location information and/or a request based on a confidence in the location of the device identification (such as a phone number). This service may include any number of computing devices and/or other elements.

In some embodiments, devices 1013a, 1013b, 1013c can include any desired moving and/or securing device in any combination. For example, the device may include a cellular phone, a notebook computer, and the like. These devices may be configured to communicate over one or more networks and/or service providers (e.g., 1007 and/or 1005). These devices may be configured to execute one or more applications that may facilitate the gaming services, methods, and/or functions described herein.

In some embodiments, zone 1015 may include gaming venue areas, building floors, shops, buildings with wired connection jacks, and the like. The coverage area may be configured to include only a particular area of the gaming establishment, to cover only the interior of the gaming establishment, to cover only the floor of the gaming establishment, and the like. For example, the access points may be arranged and/or configured to cover the entire first floor of the gaming venue, but not other areas. It should be appreciated that any area may be covered that is continuous and/or intermittent in any manner with any device.

In some embodiments, geofence 1017 can comprise an area around which a geofence has been established. Various examples of geofences are given herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10, devices 1013a, 1013b, 1013c may operate in nevada. This is given only as an illustrative example.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 1013a may access the network 1005 while located in an area 1015 covered by the network 1005. The gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 can determine that the device should have access to the gaming service based on the device 1013a accessing the gaming service over the network.

In some embodiments, the device 1013b may access the communication service 1007. Device 1013b may attempt to access gaming services through communication service 1007. The gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 may determine that the device is not accessed over the known network 1005. The gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 may determine, with reference to the IP-based location determination service 1009, that the confidence level of the IP address of device 1013b in an approved location (e.g., state of nevada) is below a certain threshold level. In response to this determination, the gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 may determine that the device 1013b is in an approved location with reference to the other location determination service 1011. For example, a determination may be made that the device is in a geofence monitored by a geofence service. In response to this determination, the gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 can determine that the device 1013b should have access to the gaming service.

In some embodiments, the device 1013c may access the communication service 1007. Device 1013c may attempt to access gaming services through communication service 1007. The gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 may determine that the device is not accessed over the known network 1005.

In one example, gateway 1003 and/or gaming service provider 1001 may determine, with reference to IP-based location determination service 1009, that the confidence level of the IP address of device 1013c in an approved location (e.g., state of nevada) is above a certain threshold level. In response to this determination, the gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 can determine that the device 1013c should have access to gaming services.

In another example, gateway 1003 and/or gaming service provider 1001 may determine, with reference to IP-based location determination service 1009, that the confidence level of the IP address of device 1013c in an approved location (e.g., state of nevada) is below a certain threshold level. In response to this determination, the gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 may determine, with reference to the other location determination service 1011, that the device 1013b is not in a geofence, does not have the capability to use other location services, and/or is otherwise in an unverifiable location. In response to this determination, the gateway 1003 and/or the gaming service provider 1001 can determine 1013b that the gaming service should not be accessible. In other embodiments, a three-level location determination (e.g., a GPS inquiry) may be used, and based on this determination, the device may be allowed or denied access. In some embodiments, some embodiments may additionally and/or alternatively use the network type (e.g., mobile networks may require backup checks) as an input to the location determination methodology, as described elsewhere.

In some embodiments, gaming services may include single-player games, multiplayer games, tournaments, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, users of devices 1013a and 1013b may participate in a tournament as opponents. In some such instances, collusion detection may be used based on location information.

It should be appreciated that fig. 10 is given as a non-limiting example only to illustrate some exemplary functions that may be included in some embodiments. Other embodiments may include different components that may interact in any manner to provide any desired functionality, such as any combination of functionality described herein with respect to the various embodiments.

Registration example

Some embodiments may include a registration (sign up and/or registration) procedure. This program may, for example, establish accounts for a particular gaming establishment, accounts for gaming service providers, verification of user information, registration of devices, and/or any other information. This program may include the user providing information (e.g., in person, through a computer interface, etc.) to the gaming provider and/or an agent of the gaming provider. This registration may be required prior to allowing the user and/or device access to the gaming service and/or account of a particular gaming establishment. This procedure may include establishing a link between the device and the player (e.g., identifying an entry in a database that a particular player is associated with a particular device). This process may include establishing a gambling account for the player (e.g., establishing an account through which the player may deposit money and/or through which the player may play the game). This program may allow patrons to register for gaming services. After executing this program, the player and/or device may be authorized to play the game (e.g., over a communication network, using a registration device, while in an authorized location, by a particular gaming operator executing at least a portion of the program, etc.).

Some embodiments may include a patron registering with a gaming operator for mobile gaming services. This registration procedure is performed at least in part, at a gaming establishment (e.g., by a gaming establishment employee, at a kiosk, in person, etc.), through a website (e.g., accessed by a mobile device, accessed by another device), in person (e.g., at a kiosk, at a gaming establishment), remotely (e.g., through a website, at a kiosk in a store).

In some embodiments, as described in U.S. patent application 13/288,223, which has been incorporated by reference, a gaming service provider may provide services for multiple locations and may establish separate accounts relating to gaming at each location. Similarly, separate accounts may be established that allow different activities from each account (e.g., gaming venue gaming account and sports gaming account). Thus, a single user may have multiple accounts established with a single gaming service provider. In some embodiments, the registration process may include establishing one or more accounts for the user with one or more constraints, affiliations, and or other characteristics. In other embodiments, a single account may be used as an account across multiple venues and/or gaming types.

In some embodiments, registration of the mobile gaming service may include opening a gaming account and/or associating the account with game play capabilities. For example, a new account may be established into which the user may deposit money and from which the user may withdraw money to play the game. In some embodiments, this account may include a bank account, a credit account, and/or any account that may have been created or already exists that may be related to the gaming service.

In some embodiments, the registration procedure can include the user providing information to the gaming service provider (e.g., through an interface of a computing device, such as a kiosk or mobile device, through an agent of the gaming service provider). For example, a user may engage an agent of a gaming service provider at a gaming establishment and provide for filling out a form or filling out a digital form through a tablet device. The agent may save this information or enter this information into the gaming service provider's computing device. The information provided may include name, SSN or tax, address, age, phone number, gender, race, income, and/or any desired information. Certain information (e.g., age) may be necessary and/or allow additional functionality (e.g., SSN or tax number for tax return, gender for targeted advertising). This information may be received by a component of the gaming service (e.g., from a computing system, tablet, etc. into which the information may be entered).

As another example, in some embodiments, a kiosk or other computing device may allow a user to enter this information. As yet another example, the mobile device itself may be used to input this information. For example, a user may download and install an application on a mobile device and then run the application. The application may connect to a gaming service provider and may prompt the user for information.

In some embodiments, verification of one or more pieces of information may be requested and/or required. For example, the agent may scan or copy the user's identification (e.g., driver's license, passport) to verify age, name, and/or other desired information. As another example, the user may be required to take a picture of the identification and transmit the information to the gaming service provider for verification. The gaming service provider can receive and/or store this information. This information may allow the gaming service provider to prevent minor or other illegal use or fraud. In some embodiments, the registration procedure may not be completed until the authentication is complete. Verification may include third party inspection of the identification representation (e.g., by offsite personnel, by a computing device, etc.). This verification is determined by the gaming operator and registration may be allowed and/or completed in response.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the registration procedure may be required to be done in person at the location of the gaming operator and/or an agent of the gaming operator. For example, in some embodiments, the entire registration procedure may be required to be performed in person. As another example, a person who verifies game play qualifications (e.g., verifies age) may be required to perform registration in person. In some embodiments, the application using the mobile gaming service may be required to be executed in person and the patron may be required to provide valid proof of identification, proof of residence, social security number, and/or any other desired proof of information used to register for the service. In some embodiments, the application registering for the mobile gaming service may reject the patron if the patron is under 21 years of age, does not meet residential requirements, does not provide proper proof of identity, does not meet wakefulness requirements, and/or does not meet any other desired requirements.

In some embodiments, the registration procedure may include the ability to establish future access to the account by the user. For example, a user name and password may be established. In some embodiments, a user name and a mac address or phone number of a particular device may be used. In some embodiments, the mac address or phone number and password of the device may be used. In some embodiments, a database may be established that includes entries of user information, device information, and/or any combination of user information and/or device information that may be used to determine future accesses to the gaming service.

In some embodiments, registering may include creating a login. For example, the user may pick and/or be assigned a username and/or password/pin. This information may be specific to the user and/or the gaming location or other gaming locations and user combinations. For example, a single user may have a single username and password combination that accesses all accounts the user has through the gaming service provider. In this example, the user may use username and password 1 to access both the Venetian account and the M report account through the gaming service provider. As another example, a single user may have a separate username and/or password that may be used to access accounts of each gaming venue and/or venue that has been associated with the user through the gaming service provider. For example, username 1 and password 1 may be used by a user to access a Venetian account through a gaming service provider and username 2 and password 2 may be used by a user to access an M report account through a gaming service provider.

When attempting to access gaming services using a mobile device, the user can be prompted (e.g., by the gaming service provider through the mobile device interface) for login information. This prompt may include a selection of a gaming venue, and/or account. This prompt can be made before the user can enter login information (e.g., if the login information is specific to the gaming venue) and/or after the user can enter login information (e.g., if the login information is not specific to the gaming venue). This entered and/or selected account and/or login information may be transmitted from the user device to the gaming service for authentication before the user is able to use the gaming service through the device. The user may be requested and/or asked to enter this information during use of the device to verify that the user is still using the device. For example, the user may be prompted periodically, prompted for login information in response to a triggering procedure (e.g., an attempt to play a game, a passage of time, a threshold amount of change in money over a period of time, device movement, lack of device movement, a change in typical play (such as an unusually large wager) or a different type of game played than the user's normal type, etc.).

In some embodiments, the registration may include device registration. The device can register with a gaming service provider to allow a user to access the gaming service. The apparatus may be multi-user and/or limited to registering for a single user. Registration may include identifying the device, such as by recording a MAC address, telephone number, and/or other identifying information that may be used in the future to determine the device with which the user device is registered. In some embodiments, the gaming service may restrict access to the gaming service by registered devices to add an additional layer of authentication to the gaming service in the form of an owned item. For example, some embodiments may include recording the MAC address of the handset and associating it with the user. When a user logs in, a check can be made to determine that the user is accessing the gaming service from a registered device by comparing the stored MAC address information with the received MAC address information of the device attempting to access the gaming service. If this information matches, the user may be allowed access to the gaming service, but if the information does not match, access to the gaming service may be prevented.

In some embodiments, device registration may include generating device-specific authentication. This authentication may include a pin, password, and/or other authentication mechanism. For example, in some embodiments, an agent, user, device, etc. may be provided with authentication information from the gaming provider (e.g., displayed through a kiosk at login). This information may be required to be entered into the registered device to verify that the device is present and for the gaming service provider to identify which device is registered. The gaming service provider can receive the entered information from the device (e.g., through an application running on the device on which the information was entered). In response to receiving, the gaming service provider can associate the device with the user. The user may be prompted to generate selected authentication information (e.g., a pin, a password, and/or other authentication methods, such as a swipe pattern) that may be device-specific and/or user-specific. Thus, when a device is authenticated by a service, the service may prompt the user for device and/or user-specific authentication information.

The authentication information may include a password, a pin, a pattern (e.g., a pattern swiped over a touch screen of the device), a sentence, and the like.

The gaming service may request device authentication. This request may include a request made upon request to access the gaming service, periodically, in response to a trigger program, etc. The authentication request may include an analysis device ID, such as a MAC. This analysis may occur periodically, continuously, etc. in an attempt to prevent unregistered devices from accessing the gaming service. Authentication may include requesting and/or analyzing other information, such as authentication information entered by a user (e.g., a password, a pin, a swipe pattern, etc.).

Thus, in some embodiments, the user may have established a username and/or password/pin combination that authenticates the user. The user may also have established some other authentication of the authentication device, such as a swipe pattern. It should be appreciated that these examples are non-limiting and that any authentication combination and/or arrangement may be used as desired. In some embodiments, the user may be required to authenticate. Examples of these authentication requests are given herein. This requested authentication may include a username and password/pin, a swipe pattern or other information and examples thereof whether to give just any established authentication as non-limiting examples.

In some embodiments, the patron may be associated with a device that uses gaming services. For example, if a patron registers with the device and the device is authenticated, the authenticated device and the patron can be linked so that the patron can play gaming services using the device. For example, a database entry may be made identifying this link (e.g., the customer's username and/or the mac address/phone number of the device may be identified as linked). In some embodiments, a customer may be prevented from using other devices for service (e.g., unless the customer registers for the device and is also associated with the device). In some embodiments, other patrons may be prevented from using the device for gaming services (e.g., unless other patrons are associated with the device). The gaming service may check a database of authorized users and/or devices to determine whether a user is allowed to play a game from a particular device.

In some embodiments, the player may be able to access an account and/or play a game through the gaming service using any device that has been activated. For example, a user may use any device that has been authenticated to use the gaming service by the user and/or any other user to log into the gaming service using an established username and/or password. In some embodiments, separate databases of approved devices and approved users may be maintained and use of the gaming service in any combination may be permitted.

In some embodiments, the gaming service may allow the user to authorize the additional devices to use the gaming service. For example, if the first device is authorized to use the gaming service, the authorization of the device may provide evidence that the user owns the device. The authorization method (e.g., swipe pattern) assigned during device authorization may then serve as a proof that the user owns something. Thus, in some embodiments, a user may authorize a second device using the same authorization method as the first device, rather than requiring, in some embodiments, authorization of another device through the same program as the first authorization device. The gaming service can determine that the second device is not authorized to use the gaming service and can request device authorization from a user attempting to access the gaming service using the second device. The user may input a device authorization method established for the first device. The gaming service can then authorize the second device to use the service based on the authorization method from the first device being entered into the second device. Other information about the second device may be required to fully register the second device (e.g., MAC address, phone number, checking of operating system files, etc.). This information may be communicated to the gaming service, requested from the user or API, and/or determined and/or verified in any manner.

Some embodiments may include determining one or more characteristics of the mobile device during a registration procedure. For example, the phone number of the phone may be determined. This cell phone number can be verified by: the handset is called upon registration, and the location of the handset having the handset number is determined to be at the registered location (e.g., to query a location service, such as a geo-fencing service, etc.). This phone number may be used in the future to determine location, contact the user, etc. Other characteristics may include the correct installation of software on the handset, the correct running of the operating system on the handset, the handset having the correct functionality to use the gaming service, the recording of a checksum of the software on the handset, etc.

Some embodiments may include authenticating a mobile device using a gaming service. This verification may include, for example, determining the authenticity of the software, determining the operating system version, determining the communication network, and/or any other action as desired. This verification may be performed personally by an agent of the gaming operator, remotely by software (e.g., software on the mobile device, software on a kiosk (such as a kiosk that may attach the mobile device through a USB port and/or other wired and/or wireless communication methods)).

In some embodiments, the patron may actually provide the mobile device to an agent of the gaming operator for authentication. In some embodiments, software on the gaming device may be executed to perform the authentication. In some embodiments, the third party and/or the second machine may perform the verification.

The entity performing the verification may determine that the device is running an approved operating system. One example of an operating system that may be approved may include Android OS 2.2. This determination may be made by: read memory locations, compare files, compare operating systems to a list of approved operating systems, and the like.

The entity performing the verification may determine that the device is operating on an approved communication network. One exemplary communication network that may be approved may include a Sprint network. This determination can be made by: read the memory location, contact Sprint to compare the device identifier, compare the communication network to a list of approved communication networks, etc.

The entity performing the verification may determine that the operating system running on the device is an approved operating system of the communication network on which the device is running. For example, this determination may include a determination that the device is not activated. This determination may include comparing the running operating system to a list of approved operating systems for the communication network and the device.

The entity performing the verification may determine that the device is running and/or storing any desired program and/or is not running and/or storing any undesired program. For example, the entity may determine that the device is running an approved antivirus program. As another example, the entity may determine that the device is not running any undesirable malware and/or remote access technologies. Various examples of determining whether to remotely control a device are given elsewhere herein. This determination may include searching memory, comparing running and/or stored programs to a list of approved and/or unapproved programs, and the like.

Some embodiments may include installing one or more services on the mobile device and/or enabling one or more services on the mobile device. This installation and/or enablement may be performed in response to authenticating the device and/or the user registering the service. This installation and/or enablement can be performed by an agent of the gaming operator, by a kiosk, by a computing device of the gaming operator, by a patron, by software running on a mobile device, and the like.

In some embodiments, the Android wrapper application and/or AIR mobile gaming client may be installed on the mobile device. It should be appreciated that these exemplary procedures are given as non-limiting examples only and that other embodiments may include any desired procedure and/or no procedure at all. For example, in some embodiments, a Win32 wrapper application may be installed, an Apple application may be installed, etc., instead of an Android wrapper application. In some implementations, the customer may be provided with information about how to reinstall any desired software if a problem arises.

Some embodiments may include verifying proper authentication and/or registration. This verification may be performed by any desired entity (e.g., a patron, a program, an agent of a gaming operator, a kiosk). This verification may include a check of the comparison file and/or MD5 and/or SHA-2 hash, program name, etc. This verification may include verification by logging into an account and/or gaming service using the mobile device and/or performing any desired action using the mobile device.

In some embodiments, after this procedure (e.g., in response to successfully completing one or more actions of this procedure), the patron and/or the device may be approved for gaming. The patron may be able to use an approved device (e.g., the device and/or any approved device) to access the gaming account and/or play the game through the gaming service, for example.

In some embodiments, a registration component of the gaming service provider may maintain registration and/or account information. For example, the gaming service may maintain balance information for one or more accounts of users at one or more gaming locations or other locations. The customer database may maintain this information so that the user is properly associated with the account. This database information may be formed during and/or in response to the registration procedure. In some embodiments, database entries relating the user to multiple accounts may be made for each user. Changes in user information while accessing one account and/or through one location may be propagated through the database to other accounts. For example, if a user enters a name change at one location or account, the name change may apply to all accounts as the user's database entries may change. In some embodiments, if a user attempts to form a new account at a new location, the new account may be related to the user through a database. Some steps of the registration procedure (e.g., age verification) may be skipped because this step may have occurred in a previous registration. Some embodiments may include updating account information for one account based on changes in account information for a second account (e.g., when a user registers the second account with a different address t, the different address may be reflected in the first account by this general database).

Some embodiments may include a minimum initial balance and/or depositing money into the wagering account to register for gaming services. In some embodiments, for example, the customer may be required to provide a minimum of $100.00 in cash to deposit into a new account established by the gaming operator to register with the mobile gaming service. It should be appreciated that $100.00 is given as a non-limiting example only and that other embodiments may include any minimum value (e.g., 1 cent, $10, one million dollars) as desired. It should be appreciated that cash is given as a non-limiting example only and other implementations may allow transactions to and/or from an account at a casino transaction station in the form of cash, personal checks, bank checks, online transfers, money orders, debit cards, credit cards, electronic funds transfers, and/or any desired method. In some embodiments, transfers to and/or from accounts, including initial and/or subsequent transfers, may be made at the same location as the registration procedure, by an agent of the gaming operator, on a website, and the like, as desired.

It should be appreciated that this procedure is given as a non-limiting example only and that other embodiments may include different, the same, more, fewer, none, etc. of these procedures. These programs may include the same, different, alternative, fewer, more, different order, etc. acts. Various examples of components that may be verified and/or installed are given as non-limiting examples only. Any combination and/or arrangement of actions may be used in registering a program as desired (e.g., to provide a desired level of security).

User security instances

Some embodiments may include a security method to ensure that the device is not lost or stolen and then used to access gaming services. For example, in some implementations, it should be appreciated that a human body typically moves while holding a mobile device (e.g., walking, light trembling hands, hand movement while operating the device, etc.). Thus, an accelerometer in the device may be used to determine whether the device is held or has left somewhere. The movement type may be analyzed to determine whether the device inhibits humanoid movement (e.g., movement within the speed of natural human body movement (versus car movement), movement in a pocket, and or other atypical movement when held in a human hand).

For example, an application on the mobile device (and/or gaming operator) may interrogate the device's accelerometers, gyroscopes, gps, etc. to determine if the device is moving and/or moving in a manner that is characteristic in that it is held in a human hand (e.g., moving under a desired set of parameters, such as in a range of speeds, at a certain level of irregularity, etc.). In some embodiments, the application may block access if the device does not move or does not move in such a humanoid manner. In some embodiments, if a determination is made that the device is not moving, a timer may be started such that the application may block access if the device does not start moving for a period of time. In some embodiments, a combination of not used and not moved may be used to determine whether access should be prevented (e.g., to allow a user to place the device on a table but still use the device). For example, if the time period for which nonuse and nonmovement occurs reaches a threshold, then access may be blocked. Preventing access may include requiring login before allowing access, permanently preventing access from the device, preventing access until the agent is contacted, etc. An application running on the device may track this movement information and use the information to cause a request to exit or recheck. The device may report the movement information to a central server that may determine when an exit or re-check may be required.

In some embodiments, movement of the device may trigger a position recheck. For example, a location listener may be running in a mobile device. This procedure may determine whether the device has moved by a threshold amount or any amount. For example, this program may call a GPS API or other location API that reports location information to the program. If the GPS or other suitable location reporting source reports that the location has changed by a threshold amount or any amount, the application may trigger a location re-check (e.g., by notifying the gaming service of the movement). The threshold amount may vary with distance from the boundary or edge of the geofence (e.g., the greater the threshold if the device is further from the state boundary). Although GPS itself may not be a trusted source of location information, it may be more reliable in reporting general movement. Thus, the movement may be used as a trigger for performing another location check, such as querying a geo-fenced location or other service. The device may report the movement to the central service and based on the movement received, the central server may perform some other location verification (e.g., if the movement is above some threshold amount, it may or may not be based on distance from the jurisdiction boundary, confidence in previous location checks, time since previous location checks, and/or any other desired information).

Agent and virtual machine detection

In some embodiments, the gaming provider may need to block the use of agents or virtual machines. These elements may be used to circumvent security or position constraints. Accordingly, steps may be taken to prevent the use of the agent or virtual machine by clients using the gaming service.

For example, a proxy may be used to make a client device appear to be located in a particular location, but in reality the client device is located elsewhere. Data to and from the client device is first routed through the proxy. If the agent is in a location where gaming is allowed by the gaming service provider, the gaming service provider can allow gaming even if the actual client is not in an allowable location. This may allow illegal gaming to occur. To prevent this illegal game, the game provider can block the use of the agent.

A client program, such as software used to access gaming services, may perform a delay check to determine whether the traffic passes through the proxy. The use of an agent can introduce increased latency because additional hops made over a communication network (e.g., the internet) and having greater distances are introduced into the route between the client and the gaming service. If a determination is made that traffic is passing through the proxy, the client may be prevented from connecting to the gaming service provider. The client application and/or the gaming server can determine the delay involved between their communications (e.g., during a login procedure). If the delay is too great, the client device or the gaming server can prevent gaming.

Various methods of making a determination that the delay is too great to access the gaming service may be used. An exemplary method may include a gaming application on a gaming client transmitting a ping command (ping) or a route trace packet to a gaming service (or vice versa). The return of the data packet may be used as a delay and compared to some threshold delay. In some embodiments, ping or traceroute packets may be transmitted at a level of ttl (time to live) set to a certain amount (e.g., 1, 2, 3). This may be done because the proxy may be expected to be the earliest or first hop after leaving the home network. If it is the earliest hop (which may be expected to have low latency (e.g., because it is close to the client) rather than high latency (e.g., because it is actually a proxy far away from the client)), the client may assume that a proxy is being used and prevent access.

High latency may include latency based on some criteria threshold. For example, the hop delay may be limited to less than 20 ms, less than 10 ms, less than 100 ms, etc. In some embodiments, the delay limit may be limited based on knowledge of the standard zone delay. The delay may vary based on the time of day, network congestion for a particular area or time, network outage, etc. For example, the standard delay may be determined using the delays of other users. Users that attempt to log into the gaming service with a delay greater than a standard amount (e.g., delays of other users accessing the gaming service in a similar location, etc.) by more than a certain amount (e.g., more than 100%, more than 50%, etc.) can be blocked. The gaming service may monitor this standard delay and use it as a check-in against the user logging into the service and/or transmit it to the user device so that the user device can use it as a check-in against during the login procedure.

Virtual machines may also be used to circumvent location or security constraints. Any method of limiting and/or detecting the use of a virtual machine may be used as desired. If the gaming client and/or gaming service determines that the user is operating client software on the virtual machine, then gaming service access may be blocked (e.g., the client may not allow the connection to occur, may not be open, etc.). As a definite example, if the client software is running on a virtual machine, rather than an actual machine, the client software may query the operating system for the architecture of the processor. If the operating system returns a known virtual machine architecture and/or an unknown physical machine architecture, the client may determine that the client is in a virtual machine. As another example of a determination, if software is running in a virtual machine, the client may check the identity of the running program against a manifest of known virtual machine programs. If a match is found, a determination may be made that the client is running in a virtual machine.

The checking of the virtual machine and/or agent can occur when the client software attempts to open, when the user attempts to log into the gaming service, periodically during use of the gaming software, etc. The results may be reported to a central server (which may use the information to prevent gaming) and/or used locally to prevent gaming. In some embodiments, this check may be made by the gaming service instead of and/or in addition to the client software.

It should be appreciated that various examples of determinations regarding virtual machines and agents are given as non-limiting examples. It should be appreciated that various examples of blocking gaming based on virtual machines and/or agents are given as non-limiting examples.

Authentication examples

Some embodiments may include an authentication method. Such authentication methods may be designed to provide a desired level of confidence that the mobile device has not been remotely accessed, that the mobile device has not been attacked, and/or that the mobile device is at a location that allows gaming. This approach may be used to provide a level of confidence that the user is actually present at the mobile device, that the user is actually using the mobile device, and/or that the user is located at the location.

Although many different methods may be used, one exemplary method may include two exemplary procedures, such as: initial registration and/or device authorization (e.g., establishing a link between the device and the player, and/or establishing a wagering account), and applying a security handshake and/or continuous validation (e.g., occasionally verifying that the software is unchanged and/or that the person associated with the account is still using the device). Examples of these procedures are given herein. These programs may be separate programs, non-separate programs, the same program, different programs, arranged in any manner and/or executed by any desired device and/or person.

Examples of secure handshaking and/or persistence validation

In some embodiments, applying the security handshake may include a multi-system security authentication protocol that may facilitate compliance with one or more regulatory requirements. For example, one or more actions and/or devices may provide for the proper assurance that a mobile device accessing gaming services is at an approved gaming location at the time of a wager by: the device location is retrieved (e.g., periodically) using the location service, and validated in response to one or more gaming service requests (e.g., each request). As another example, one or more actions and/or devices may provide reasonable assurance that the mobile device is being used in person rather than being remotely controlled by: such as verifying at certain polling intervals that some (e.g., all but one) of the external interfaces to the device are disabled before allowing access to gaming services. As another example, one or more actions and/or devices may provide reasonable assurance that gaming applications executed by the mobile device include real applications by: the application and OS signature are sent to the device authentication program service using a multi-phase hash protocol before gaming is allowed. As another example, one or more actions and/or devices may provide a reasonable assurance that an approved client version is authorized to play the game by: the approved application hash value is stored on an internal database that is not accessible outside the firewall. As another example, one or more actions and/or devices may provide reasonable assurance that best practices regarding login attempt failures, session timeouts, etc. are followed by the following steps: a session timeout is defined for each system connection device. As yet another example, communications may be secured by using the SSLHTTPS protocol for communications over the internet and/or using application signature validation between programs on the device.

Some embodiments may include one or more actions that may be designed to provide a certain level of confidence with respect to: location, security, authenticity, and/or any desired characteristic of the point in time at the beginning of the gaming session, throughout the gaming session, and/or during the gaming session. In some embodiments, these actions may include a security handshake and/or a continuous attestation procedure. The continuous attestation program may include programs to periodically attest to something, occasionally attest to something, continuously attest to something, attest to something at least one time after holding a hand, attest to something when an action is taken, and so forth. Examples of multi-stage location determination methodologies that may be used in some embodiments are given herein. In some instances, such a methodology may be used when position determination is desired. In some embodiments, a higher granularity of location may be desired and any methodology of this determination (e.g., geo-fencing, GPS request) may be used as desired.

Initial validity instance for service provider

Some embodiments may include an initial security procedure. This initial security procedure may be referred to herein as a handshake. In some embodiments, the handshake may include a multi-system secure authentication protocol. This procedure can provide reasonable assurance that the mobile device is in a position to allow the game at and/or near the time of the game. This procedure can provide reasonable assurance that the mobile device is being used in person rather than being remotely controlled at and/or near the time of the game. This program can provide reasonable assurance that the software running on the mobile device includes the gaming operator's real applications. This procedure may provide reasonable assurance that only approved versions of the client are authorized to play the game through the gaming service. This program may provide a reasonable assurance that some and/or all external interfaces on the device (e.g., Bluetooth (r), Wifi, USB/DOCK provided by non-gaming operators) may be disabled to prevent remote connection. This procedure may use multiple layers of authentication. This procedure may include locating the device using soft tags and/or other location determinations, such as multi-level location determination methodology, GPS, geofencing, and the like. This program and/or portions of this program may be executed upon starting an application on the device, periodically by the device, upon installing an application, in response to a request and/or making a gaming action (e.g., placing a bet, entering a game), occasionally, continuously, upon establishing a connection to a gaming operator, prior to a gaming action, and/or whenever desired. For example, in some embodiments, an application may be programmed to execute at least a portion of this program when the application is started (e.g., selected for execution on a mobile device). The examples of these procedures given herein are non-limiting examples. Other embodiments may not include these programs, include programs with more, fewer, different, the same, and/or a different order of actions. One or more acts of this program may be performed by the wrapper application, the host application, and/or any other component.

Some embodiments may include determining whether the device is authorized to use the gaming service. In some embodiments, determining that an approved device uses gaming services may include comparing information about the device to a list of approved devices (e.g., a database of approved phone numbers, mac addresses, etc.). In some embodiments, information identifying the device may be transmitted to the gaming service so that the gaming service can make this comparison and/or determine whether the device is approved in any desired manner. The gaming service may receive this identification information and, in response to this receipt, determine whether the device is approved (e.g., whether the device has been previously registered, whether the device information is in a database identifying approved devices, etc.). In some embodiments, in response to the start of the gaming application, the gaming application can transmit a request to the gaming operator to verify that the device was previously approved for use of the gaming service. In some implementations, a wrapper application (e.g., android wrapper application, win32 wrapper application, wrapper application in communication with a host application, etc.) can transmit a request to a component of a gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service). In some embodiments, the request may include a phone number, a mac address, and/or any other desired identifying information. In some embodiments, a component of the gaming service can receive the request and verify that the device has been previously approved for gaming in response to receiving the request. In some embodiments, the component may transmit an indication of this verification to the mobile device. In some embodiments, a request from the mobile device may not be transmitted, but rather a communication from the mobile device may be interpreted as a request (e.g., an initial communication of a gaming session). In some embodiments, authentication information (such as a device-specific password, pin, pattern, etc.) may also be requested from the user and compared to device-specific authentication information established during the registration procedure to authenticate the device.

Some embodiments may include determining whether the device is located at a location that allows gaming. In some embodiments, determining that the device is located at a location that allows gaming may include comparing information about where the device is located to a list of approved gaming locations. Some embodiments may include transmitting a request from a mobile device to a gaming service to verify that a location is approved, may include performing a multi-level location determination method, may include determining a location using an IP address, may include determining a network interface used to access the gaming service to determine a location, may use GPS, may use a geo-fencing service, and/or any location determination technique, such as the location determination techniques described herein.

Components of the gaming service can facilitate a determination of whether the location is approved. For example, a DAS (device authentication procedure service) may send a request to a mobile location service to track device location. Examples of this device tracking and/or location determination are described elsewhere. Some embodiments may include determining that the device is in an approved location. In some embodiments, this determination may be sent back to the mobile device. This location determination may be made in response to a determination that the receiving device is authenticated.

Some embodiments may include determining that a user is authorized to use the gaming service. In some embodiments, determining that a user is approved for use of the gaming service may include requesting user information from the user and/or requesting verification of this user information. For example, the user may be prompted for a user name and password. This user name and password may be authenticated by the gaming service. This determination may include determining that the user is authorized to use a particular mobile device and/or general gaming service. This determination may be made in response to a user entering identification information, determining that the device is approved, determining that the device is in an approved location, and/or in response to any desired event.

Some embodiments may include determining that application software executed by the mobile device is authorized to use the gaming service. In some embodiments, determining that the application software is approved to use the gaming service may include verifying the application software, verifying a version of the software, and/or verifying that the software is not modified from the approved version.

One exemplary method of determining that application software is approved may include comparing hashes and/or other characteristics of the application software. For example, in some embodiments, the wrapper application and/or other software component may determine an application signature hash (e.g., a hash of one or more application files and/or other files). In some embodiments, this wrapper application and/or other software component may generate a random number. In some embodiments, this wrapper application and/or other software component may determine a timestamp (e.g., current time, most recent time). In some embodiments, this wrapper application may determine a Hash of the timestamp (which may be referred to herein as an APP Hash), a random number, and an application signature Hash. Some embodiments may include transmitting (e.g., by the wrapper and/or other software components) the timestamp, the random number, and the App Hash from the mobile device to a gaming service (e.g., to a device authentication program service). In some embodiments, a component of the gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service) can validate that the timestamp is within a predetermined time threshold (e.g., 5 minutes, 30 seconds, 1 hour) from another time (e.g., the current time, the time when the information about the App Hash was received, the recent server time, etc.). In some embodiments, the gaming service component may validate the App Hash. This validation may include creating a comparison hash of the received timestamp, the received random number, and an approved application signature hash. Multiple comparison hashes may be created for multiple approved applications. This validation may include comparing the App Hash to one or more comparison hashes. If the compare Hash and the App Hash are equal, then the App Hash may be determined to be valid. If the comparison Hash and the App Hash are not equal, then it may be determined that the App Hash is invalid. In some embodiments, the determination that the App Hash is valid may be a determination that the application software is approved for use with the gaming service. The determination that the App Hash is invalid may include a determination that the application software is not authorized to use the gaming service.

It should be appreciated that this example of hash comparison is given as a non-limiting example only. Other embodiments may include any desired method or may not include this method of validation. For example, checksums may be used, random numbers may not be used, timestamps may not be used, additional information may be used, and the like.

In some embodiments, in response to determining that the application software is approved to use the gaming service, an indication of the approval may be transmitted to and/or received by the mobile device. In some embodiments, a gaming service component (e.g., a device authentication program service) may determine a client key (e.g., a unique client key, a random number). This client key may be used for one or more future transactions. This client key may uniquely identify the mobile device and/or the mobile device has passed one or more authentication steps. This client key may be transmitted to the mobile device in response to determining that the application software is approved for use of the gaming service. This key may be stored in a database (e.g., a database that correlates the key to mobile devices).

Some embodiments may include determining approval for the operating system to use the gaming service. In some embodiments, determining approval for the operating system to use the gaming service may include verifying the version of the operating system, verifying that the operating system is unmodified, and/or any desired action.

One exemplary method of determining that the operating system is approved may include a hash comparison. For example, in some embodiments, the wrapper application and/or other software component may determine a hash of one or more operating system files and/or components and a client key. The wrapper application and/or software component may transmit the hash, the previously determined timestamp, the previously determined random number, the client key, and the device identification information (e.g., phone number, mac address) to a component of the gaming service (e.g., device authentication program service). In some embodiments, a component of the gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service) can validate that the timestamp is within a predetermined time threshold (e.g., 5 minutes, 30 seconds, 1 hour) from another time (e.g., the current time, the time when the information about the App Hash was received, the recent server time, etc.). In some implementations, a component of a gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service) can validate that the client key is the most recent client key sent to the mobile device identified by the identification information (e.g., by comparing the client key to client keys stored in a database keyed by the identification information). In some embodiments, a component of the gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service) may validate the received hash. This validation may include creating a comparison hash of the client key and the approved operating system files and/or components. Multiple comparison hashes may be created for multiple approved operating systems. This validation may include comparing the received hash to one or more comparison hashes. If the comparison hash and the received hash are equal, then the comparison hash may be determined to be valid. If the comparison hash and the received hash are not equal, then the comparison hash may be determined to be invalid. In some embodiments, the determination that the received hash is valid may be a determination that the operating system is approved to use the gaming service. The determination that the received hash is invalid may be a determination that the operating system is not authorized to use the gaming service.

It should be appreciated that this example of hash comparison is given as a non-limiting example only. Other embodiments may include any desired method or may not include this method of validation. For example, checksums may be used, random numbers may not be used, timestamps may not be used, device information may not be used, client keys may not be used, device information may be obtained from another source, additional information may be used, and the like.

Another example of determining approval for the operating system to use the gaming service may include another method of comparing one or more hashes. For example, in some embodiments, an application (e.g., a wrapper application) may generate a hash of one or more portions of one or more operating system files. This portion may comprise less than the entirety of the segment. In some embodiments, generating this hash may include generating a hash of one or more portions of one or more operating system files along with the length. For example, a hash of the beginning and end of a section (e.g., a file) in an operating system that manages control of a communication interface may be created along with the length of the section. The beginning and end may include the first 128 bytes and the last 128 bytes in a portion and/or any other desired size. In some embodiments, this hash may be transmitted to the gaming service for comparison with one or more approved hashes. It will be appreciated that in various embodiments, any one or more portions of a segment may be used in addition to and/or in place of the beginning and/or end.

In some embodiments, this hash and length of the portion, rather than the entire file, may provide reasonable assurance that the file is not changed. This guarantee may be provided because it is unlikely that the file may change at the beginning, end and length of the hash and also result in the same hash result. Such an approach may allow for faster verification than approaches that include hashes of entire sections. It should be appreciated that while hashing is given as an example, other embodiments may include any desired transformation and/or no transformation at all (e.g., comparison of actual files).

In some embodiments, when the gaming service determines that a new operating system and/or a modified operating system should be approved for use of the gaming service, the gaming service can be updated to include the most recently approved comparison hash.

Some embodiments may include transmitting information from a component of the gaming service to the mobile device in response to completion of the program, in part of the program, in response to verification of the operating system, in response to another action of the program, and so forth. Some embodiments may include storing information identifying that this procedure has been successful. For example, some embodiments may include determining a device session identifier. This identifier may include a unique identifier that may be used to identify the gaming session between the gaming service and the mobile device. This device session identifier may be associated with the mobile device (e.g., stored in a database). This device session identifier may be time stamped (e.g., using a previously determined timestamp, using a determined time relative to the device session identifier, etc.). This device session identifier may comprise a random number. This device session identifier may be transmitted to the mobile device and/or stored in a location to identify the success of this procedure. This device session identifier may be received by the wrapper application and/or other software components. This device session identifier may be stored by the mobile device (e.g., in encrypted form, in local storage, in memory, in locations reserved for the mobile gaming application and/or components thereof, in locations reserved for wrapper applications and/or other software components, in an allocation accessible only by the intended application, etc.). This device session identifier may be transmitted with future requests from the device to identify that the procedure has completed successfully. When a future request is received by a component of the gaming service, a comparison of the received device session identifiers can be made to ensure that a valid device session identifier is received with the request. Thus, this check can ensure that only devices that have completed this procedure can access the gaming service.

In some embodiments, if a portion of this procedure fails, the device may be deemed not authorized by the server and the request may be denied (e.g., gaming-related communications). It should be appreciated that this exemplary procedure is given as a non-limiting example only. Other embodiments may include different orders of actions, different components, no actions included, more actions included, fewer actions, etc. Any action may be taken in response to any other action being successful (e.g., a determination that the application software is valid may cause a determination to occur as to whether the operating system software is valid).

Device and/or user security

In some embodiments, at least a portion of this initial validation and/or handshaking may be performed by the wrapper application. If this initial procedure completes successfully, the host application may be executed (e.g., by the wrapper application). This host application may execute device and/or user security programs. In other embodiments, the wrapper application may perform any other desired action (e.g., the following procedure), may use a single application, may use any arrangement of procedures, etc.

Some embodiments may include a program for providing a level of assurance as to device and/or user security. In some embodiments, this procedure can be performed at the beginning of the gaming application, throughout the execution of the gaming application, in response to logging into the gaming service, in response to completion of the initial handshake and/or other initial procedure, in parallel with the initial handshake and/or initial procedure, prior to the initial handshake and/or initial procedure, as part of the initial handshake and/or initial procedure, and/or otherwise as desired. This device security procedure may include determining to use the device locally and/or preventing remote access to the device.

Some embodiments may include establishing a connection between the primary gaming application and the wrapper application. This connection may comprise a socket. This connection may include a shared memory space. Some embodiments may include open socket packaging applications. This socket is only accessible by software executing on the mobile device. In some embodiments, the host application may connect to a socket and/or memory space. Sockets and/or memory space may be used for communication between applications.

Some embodiments may include verifying that the connection and/or the shared identifier between the applications is valid. For example, in an Android environment, a lock file may be written to a data store of a first application (e.g., a wrapper application). The Android operating system may prevent a second application (e.g., a primary application) running on the mobile device from accessing the first application unless the application has been signed by the same application signature. The second application may attempt to delete the locked file from the data store of the first application. In some embodiments, deletion may occur if the applications correctly share the same signature. The first application may verify that the deletion has occurred. If deletion has occurred, the first application may be confident that the second application shares a valid signature with the first application. As another example, some embodiments may verify that the two applications running under a particular user identifier are only approved two applications and/or other gaming applications. In some embodiments, the validation runs two and/or more applications under the same user identifier. In response to one or more such determinations, the first application may share a device session identifier with the second application.

Some embodiments may include determining that a user is authorized to use the gaming service and/or authorizing a device to use the gaming service. For example, some embodiments may include soliciting user information (e.g., login information, device authentication swipe pattern, etc.). This solicitation may be performed by a gaming application (e.g., a wrapper application, a master application, etc.) running on the mobile device. For example, a user name and password may be solicited from the user. The user name and password may be received by the gaming application in response to the user entering this information into the mobile device. Some embodiments may include a component that transmits this information from the gaming application to the gaming service. For example, in some embodiments, this information may be transmitted to a gateway device. In some embodiments, account information (e.g., account number, user name, password, pin, etc.) may be transmitted to this gateway and/or other device. In some embodiments, this transmission may include a transmission of a device session identifier and/or any other information that may be used to identify the device, the session, previous information authentication, and/or track any desired information. Various actions can be performed by a gaming application (e.g., a wrapper application, a master application, etc.) running on the mobile device.

In some embodiments, a gateway and/or other components (e.g., middleware, servers, etc.) of the gaming service may implement a communication session (e.g., HTTP session, HTIP session) for the mobile device. The gateway and/or other components may associate the device identifier with the communication session. For example, this communication session may only be useful when it is accessed using the device identifier, unless a different or other identifier is associated with the session. In some embodiments, a communication session may be defined by one or more variables (e.g., port number and id number). These variables may be shared with the mobile device and future communications may include these variables.

Some embodiments may include determining that the mobile device is at a location approved for gaming. This determination may be made in response to receiving account information from the mobile device by the gaming service. In some embodiments, the device session identifier may be transmitted from the gateway and/or other components to a different component (e.g., to a device authentication program service) for verification. This device authentication program service may verify the device session identifier and determine whether the device session identifier is associated with an approved location. If the device session identifier is associated with an approved location, the device authentication program service may transmit an approval indication to the gateway. In some embodiments, a single device may perform these approval actions. It should be appreciated that this procedure of determining whether the device is at an approved location is given as an example only. For example, in some embodiments, the device itself may determine whether it is in an approved location, the gateway and/or other components may determine whether the device is in an approved location, any device may determine whether the device is in an approved location, may determine a current location, may use an old location, and so on. Various examples of determining location and/or storing location information are presented herein. These examples are non-limiting.

In some embodiments, the gaming service may validate the user information. This confirmation may occur in response to receiving user information, in response to determining that the apparatus is in an approved location, in response to another event, and so forth. For example, in some embodiments, the gateway and/or other component may transmit the user account information to another component of the gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service, a mobile gaming service, etc.). This other component may validate the account information (e.g., determine that the user name and password are correct, compare the information to information in a database, etc.).

In some embodiments, if the information is validated, then this component may transmit an indication of this validation to the gateway and/or other components. This indication may include a gaming session identifier. The gaming session identifier may be determined in response to determining that the information is valid. The gaming session identifier may include a unique identifier. The gaming session identifier may include a random number. The gateway and/or other component may receive this identifier. The gateway and/or other components may correlate this identifier with the communication session of the mobile device (e.g., another communication may require this identifier unless it has changed). In some embodiments, the mobile device (e.g., the host application and/or the wrapper application) may be notified of this identifier and/or the user authentication success. The mobile device application may store this identifier for use in future communications. Future requests from the mobile device may be required to include this identifier.

In some embodiments, this confirmation may only occur when the device is located at an approved location. If the device fails the location check, the device may be prevented from gaming and this login may not be performed. In other embodiments, this login may continue regardless of the device location. In some embodiments, some features of the gaming service may be disabled if the location check fails.

It should be appreciated that while some embodiments have been described as having separate programs (e.g., an initial handshake and/or user/device security program) and/or separate applications (e.g., a wrapper application and a host application), various embodiments may include a single program and/or a single application, multiple programs and/or applications, differently ordered and/or interactive applications and/or programs, and the like.

In some embodiments, one or more variables may be defined after this initial handshake procedure and/or device and/or user security procedure. For example, in an exemplary method, the gaming session identifier and/or the communication session may be defined by a user and/or device security program, and/or the device session identifier may be defined by an initial handshake program. These variables may be checked, updated, changed, tracked, etc. Another communication from a mobile device that is allowed to access gaming services may require these variables. For example, if a communication is received by the gaming service with these variables invalid, the communication may be ignored and/or not allowed to bet. These variables are given only as non-limiting examples. Other embodiments may include different variables, additional variables, exclude variables, include different applications, etc., as desired.

In some embodiments, a determination may be made in this procedure that the device has been registered by the user. For example, after and/or before the user is authenticated, the user may be prompted for device authentication information, such as a pattern swipe assigned during a registration procedure. This information can be transmitted to the gaming service, which can verify that the device has been registered to use the gaming service. This authentication may be in a form similar to authentication of a user name and/or password. This verification may be required before gaming is likely to occur and/or before the gaming session identifier is assigned.

It should be appreciated that the various security procedures and/or applications are given as non-limiting examples only. Other embodiments may include any programs in any order, with any acts, and/or the like, and/or may not include programs. These processes may include additional, fewer, different, the same, different order, etc. acts.

Ongoing example of effectiveness

Some embodiments may include one or more acts involving: maintaining security, maintaining location information, and/or creating certain levels of assurance that meet certain requirements. For example, some embodiments may include continuous actions, periodic actions, occasional actions, random actions, on-demand actions, actions made in response to an action, and/or other actions. These actions may include location checking, device checking, user checking, and the like.

Variable maintenance example

In some embodiments, these actions may include maintaining one or more variables, expiring one or more variables, redefining one or more variables, and/or the like. Some embodiments may include actions that involve variables defined in other security programs, such as the actions discussed above. For example, in some embodiments, a device session identifier, a gaming session identifier, and a communication session may be used. These variables may have limited periods of valid use, may be redefined periodically, may expire after a period of time, may be required to be redefined occasionally, and so forth. For example, in some embodiments, the device session identifier may be valid for about 30 seconds, about 3 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 10 minutes, about 1 hour, and/or any desired time. As another example, the gaming session identifier may be valid for about 30 seconds, about 3 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 10 minutes, about 1 hour, and/or any desired time. As yet another example, the communication session may be active for about 30 seconds, about 3 minutes, about 5 minutes, about 10 minutes, about 1 hour, and/or any desired time. New variables may be defined (e.g., by a device authentication program service, by a mobile gaming service, by a gateway, by a server, by another component, using hash values, using checksums, using random numbers, using timestamps, etc.) in a manner similar to the original definition of the variables.

Various examples of defining these variables are given elsewhere, but it should be appreciated that these examples are non-limiting and that similar, different, identical, alternative, etc. methods may be used to redefine and/or define any of the same and/or different variables as desired. It should be appreciated that the variables and validity time frames are given as non-limiting examples only and that other methods may not include variables, include other, the same, different, etc. variables; methods that do not include, include different, the same, etc., methods that maintain security and/or other characteristics, may use different time frames, may use random time frames, may require redefinition at random, may require definition at the time of an event (e.g., a wager request), etc.

Examples of Properties

In some embodiments, the one or more actions may involve validating one or more characteristics of the device and/or a user of the device. Some embodiments may include actions that relate to these characteristics (e.g., location, user identity, lack of external control of the device, etc.). For example, in some embodiments, deactivation of external access to the mobile device may be verified, the location of the device at an approved gaming location may be verified, user identity information may be verified, one or more variables may be determined to be valid, and so forth. In some embodiments, this confirmation may occur periodically, randomly, on-demand, in response to an action, on-demand, and the like.

For example, some embodiments may include confirming that some and/or all external communications (e.g., other than communications used to access gaming services, such as a mobile phone network) are disabled. Some embodiments may include a gaming application executed by the mobile device querying an operating system of the mobile device. For example, the host application may transmit the query to the wrapper application. The wrapper application may query the operating system. In some embodiments, in response to this query, the operating system may determine whether any invalid interfaces are enabled and return this information to the wrapper application and/or the host application. In response to this information, the verification may fail (e.g., if an unapproved interface is enabled) and/or succeed (e.g., an unapproved interface is not enabled). Some examples of interfaces that may not be approved may include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a docking port, and/or other interfaces. This confirmation may occur continuously, periodically (e.g., every 5 seconds, every 15 seconds, every minute, every 5 minutes, every hour, etc.), randomly, on-demand, etc.

As another example, some embodiments may include verifying that the mobile device is at a location associated with the allowed game. Some embodiments may include components of the gaming system making this check independent of actions on the mobile device. Some embodiments may include the mobile device checking this status (e.g., by interrogating the gaming system and/or other location system). In some embodiments, a component of the gaming system (e.g., a device authentication program service) may run a check on the location of the mobile device. This component can update the database with the results of the inspection, can enable or disable communication with the mobile device in response to the results, can enable or disable features of the gaming service, can notify the mobile device (e.g., disable features of the device and/or display in an indicator) and/or the user in response to the results. This check may be performed continuously, periodically (e.g., every 30 seconds, every 5 minutes, every 10 minutes, every 15 minutes, every hour, etc.), on-demand, in response to an event, etc.

In some embodiments where a multi-stage location determination methodology may be used, the actions taken for location verification may differ based on the location determination stage used. For example, in some instances, if an IP location determination level and/or a trusted network level are used, then location re-checking may not be performed (as long as the IP address does not change). As the confidence level of the location increases (e.g., in response to a confidence level received from a third party, as the method level gets closer to the first level, etc.), location re-checks may be performed less frequently. For example, in some embodiments, if the device location uses the exemplary first stage of the multi-stage location determination methodology described above, the gaming service may accept that the location is valid and that the location is acceptable unless the IP address or network (e.g., trusted IP or network) changes. As another example, in some embodiments, if another level (e.g., a second level or a third level) is used to determine the device location, the gaming service may occasionally recheck the location, or may not recheck at some other level (e.g., the second level) but may recheck at any other combined level (e.g., the third level). In some embodiments, the frequency of rechecks may increase as the stage increases. Re-checking at the known IP level may include determining if the IP address has changed, checking again to verify that the IP address is still known, etc.

In some embodiments, the frequency of these location checks may be greater when the mobile device is located near the edge of the approved area than when the device is away from the edge of the approved area. Some examples of actions that may be used in some embodiments and that involve locations near a jurisdiction boundary are also described elsewhere. For example, in some embodiments, if the device in the previous exam is near a state boundary, the exam may be performed every 5 minutes, if the device is near the edge of the approved area but away from the state edge, the exam may be performed every 10 minutes, and if the device is not near a state boundary or the boundary of the approved area, the exam may be performed every 15 minutes. Various examples of location determination are given elsewhere herein. It should be appreciated that the examples of location checking are given as non-limiting examples only and other embodiments may include no methods, include different, the same, etc. methods.

As yet another example, some embodiments may include determining whether user information is valid and/or whether a session or another variable is valid. For example, some embodiments may include a component (e.g., a gateway) that transmits a request from a mobile device to a gaming service. This request may include a request for user validation information and or to verify that a variable is valid. For example, the request may request that the gateway verify that the device authorized the session to be valid. This request may be processed (e.g., by a device authentication program service) and a response may be transmitted to the mobile device. This check may be performed continuously, periodically (e.g., every 30 seconds, every 5 minutes, every 10 minutes, every 15 minutes, every hour, etc.), on-demand, in response to an event, etc.

It should be appreciated that the various examples of features and methods are not intended to be limiting. Other embodiments may not include methods and/or features, include similar, different, the same, alternative, etc. methods and/or features.

Event instances

In some embodiments, the one or more actions may involve validating one or more characteristics of the device, the user, and/or the variable in response to the event. For example, in some embodiments, the gaming service may perform these one or more actions when receiving communications from the mobile device. In some embodiments, this communication may include a request to take a gaming action (e.g., wager, join a game, pay a entry fee, wind a money or point), a request to view available games or gaming actions, a request to view an account, etc. For example, in some embodiments, one or more actions may be taken in response to a request being made and/or a request passing through a gateway and/or other component of the gaming service (e.g., after initial login).

Some embodiments may include transmitting a request from a mobile device to a gaming service. For example, the wrapper application and/or the master application may transmit the request to a gateway and/or other component of the gaming service. This request may identify any desired variable (e.g., communication session, device session identifier, gaming session identifier, client key, etc.). This request may include a request to take a gambling-related action, which may include polling the gambling service to determine current information (e.g., current games, current scores, account history, current account value, etc.). Some embodiments may include periodic, random, constant, etc. polling. In some embodiments, this polling may not initiate these confirmation actions.

Some embodiments may include receiving the request by a component of the gaming service. This request may be received, for example, by a gateway and/or other component of the gaming service. In some embodiments, a determination may be made that this request triggers one or more corroborating actions (e.g., all requests may trigger these actions, every X requests may trigger these actions, some requests may trigger these actions randomly, certain types of requests may trigger these actions, a determination may be made that the request is not a polling request, a determination may be made that the request is a request to take a gaming action, every Y minutes of the request may trigger these actions, etc.).

The gateway or other device may perform any desired actions in response to receiving this request and/or determining that these actions should be performed. For example, in some embodiments, the gateway or other component may determine that the communication session identified by the request is properly related to the device from which the request was received (e.g., by querying a database).

As another example, in some embodiments (e.g., if checked through a communication session), the gateway and/or other components may validate the device session and/or location information. For example, in some embodiments, the gateway and/or other component may transmit a request to the device authentication program service to validate the device session and/or location. The information database may be queried to determine whether one or more variables are valid (e.g., whether a device session identifier associated with the device is valid, has not expired). The information database may be queried to determine whether the mobile device was last determined to be at a location that allows gaming. In some embodiments, a new location of the device may be determined. If these checks are passed, the timestamp of the last valid check may be updated. This information may be returned to the gateway and/or other components. It is to be appreciated that these demonstrative examples are given only as examples and that other methods may include different components, features and/or actions.

As yet another example, in some embodiments, if the validation consists of one or more characteristics from the device authentication program, the gateway and/or other components may validate any desired characteristics and/or variables using any components. For example, the gaming session identifier can be validated using a component of the gaming service. This component (e.g., server, account-based wagering service) may query the database to determine if the gaming session identifier is valid (e.g., correct, not expired). The last checked timestamp may be updated and the gateway and/or other components may be notified that the validation information succeeded or failed.

In some embodiments, the request may be processed and/or the information may be updated in response to a confirmation action taken in response to the received request. For example, one or more timestamps for the last action may be updated, one or more game actions may be taken, one or more account transactions may be performed, requested information may be obtained, in-game actions may be taken (e.g., hit in 21 o' clock), etc. Some embodiments may include returning (e.g., transmitting) the results to the mobile device. Some embodiments may include presenting this result to the user.

It should be appreciated that the various examples of features and methods are not intended to be limiting. Other embodiments may not include methods and/or features, include similar, different, the same, alternative, etc. methods and/or features.

In some embodiments, if one or more of any of the described methods or other methods confirms that the action failed (e.g., if the variable is determined to be incorrect or expired, if the external control device is determined to be permitted, if the password is incorrect, if the location is incorrect, etc.), then one or more actions may be prevented and/or taken. For example, in some embodiments, communication with the device may be blocked, wagering actions may be blocked, gaming service access may be stopped, the user may be notified of an error, and so forth.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary procedure that may be used for validation and/or use of a mobile device in some embodiments. This program can include actions performed by the mobile device, actions performed by the gaming application (e.g., a master application, a wrapper application, etc.), actions performed by components of the gaming service and/or agents of the gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service, a communication provider, a location service, etc.), and/or actions performed by any entity as desired. For example, some implementations may include requesting initiation of location tracking of a mobile device, tracking the mobile device, providing location information about the mobile device, determining whether a customer has tampered with the client and/or operating system, determining whether one or more communication interfaces are enabled and/or active, and so forth. It should be appreciated that these acts are given as non-limiting examples and other implementations may include performing any acts in any order as desired.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary set of applications that may be executed by a mobile device to facilitate access to mobile gaming services. These applications may include packaging applications and host applications. The wrapper application may initiate execution of the master application and perform one or more security checks. The primary application can perform gaming actions in conjunction with the gaming service. It should be appreciated that these exemplary programs and applications are given as non-limiting examples only. Other embodiments may include different, the same, additional, alternative, different order, etc. actions performed by the same and/or different entities and/or devices as desired.

Further examples of locations

Some embodiments may include one or more location determining features and/or features that may be affected by the location of the mobile device. These features may include determining an actual location, determining a relative location, determining whether a location is a valid location, deactivating a feature based on location, activating a feature based on location, adjusting a feature based on location, and so forth. Examples of multi-stage location determination methodologies are described elsewhere and may be used in various embodiments. Additional and/or alternative methodologies may also be used to enhance and/or otherwise provide location information, as desired.

Some embodiments may include one or more techniques that may be used to determine the location of a customer and/or a mobile device. One exemplary technique may include geo-fencing techniques. For example, the gaming operator may determine that the customer plays the game in nevada by using a geo-fencing capability (e.g., Sprint geo-fencing service). In some embodiments, to implement geofencing techniques, a gaming operator may perform geofence calculations, work in conjunction with Sprint, work in conjunction with another geofence provider, and/or work in conjunction with a third party provider to ensure that a desired location (e.g., the las vegas city, the rino (Reno) city, the tower (Tahoe) city, and/or other gaming locations within the nevada state, and/or elsewhere) has a geofence. If the patron (e.g., the device that the patron uses) is actually within the approved boundary, the patron may be permitted to participate in the mobile game. If the patron is not actually within the approved boundary, the patron may be prevented from participating in the game. The service and/or information used to enable the service may be provided to a Sprint customer and/or any customer of a desired cellular and/or other network service provider.

In some embodiments, the location of the device can be obtained from a location-providing source (e.g., a cell phone provider can identify the location of the device for a gaming operator in response to the gaming operator asking where the provider's phone with a particular phone number is located). The gaming operator may use the phone location to determine whether the phone is in or out of one or more geofences (e.g., enter the coordinates of the phone into a geofence algorithm, such as a winding or counting algorithm). In other embodiments, a third party may provide these geofencing services to the gaming operator.

Location refinement examples

Some embodiments may include refinements in determining location in some instances. For example, in some embodiments as discussed herein, the location may be determined using a multi-level determination methodology. This determination may result in a broad determination (e.g., in a state, in a jurisdiction, on a network, etc.).

In some instances, a more refined position may be required. For example, in some instances, an advertising campaign may be based on a user's location relative to a merchant. Thus, additional location determination methods (e.g., GPS reports from the device, geo-fencing, etc.) may be needed and may be used to determine the distance to this merchant. As another example, a game may be provided for a group of people in a particular location, a tournament may be conducted in a particular location, collusion detection may use the location of players in a multiplayer game as input, refinement may be required when the IP address of a device changes, and so forth.

In response to a need to use a more refined location as input, the gaming service can perform some action to obtain the location refinement (e.g., query the device, cause a gaming application on the device to transmit a GPS location, query a geo-fencing service, access a soft tag system, etc.). The gaming service may receive this refinement and determine whether the refined location qualifies the device and/or authenticates the device (e.g., whether the device is in a location eligible to participate in a tournament, advertise, play a game, etc.). If the device becomes qualified and/or authenticated based on the refinement means, the device may be controlled accordingly to allow action and/or present information. If not, the device may thus be prevented from accessing the functionality and/or not presenting information.

Collusion example

Some embodiments may include performing refined location determination in response to a user playing a multiplayer game (such as a tournament) through a gaming service provider. This location determination refinement may be used in response to determining that a higher-level location determination indicates that more than one user playing a multiplayer game and/or tournament is likely to be in the same area (e.g., an area covered by a known network). This refined position determination may be used to detect and/or prevent collusion among and/or among users in multiplayer games and/or tournaments.

For example, in some embodiments, a determination may be made that two users are in a tournament and use the same network to access gaming services (e.g., at a first level of a multi-level gaming determination methodology). A determination may be made that two users are related to the tournament and/or multiplayer game (e.g., compete with each other in the game, in the same hand of the tournament, etc.). In response to these determinations, a refined location determination may be made for the user. For example, a more refined location may be determined using geofences, a soft tag may be used, and/or the device's GPS may be interrogated to determine a more refined location.

These refinement levels of position may be used to prevent and/or detect collusion. For example, if the users are in the same location, the users may be prevented from playing games in the tournament until they move further away from each other. As another example, a user may be identified that they should move in a particular direction to continue playing a game. In yet another example, the user may be alerted that continued movement in a certain direction may cause them to move too close to each other. In another example, a record may be stored to indicate that the evaluation may warrant playing this and/or other games and/or video in the future to determine whether collusion is likely to occur. It should be appreciated that any desired action may be taken in any manner with respect to location-based collusion prevention.

It should be appreciated that although the location refinement instance is given in terms of a single refinement stage, any order of magnitude may be used. For example, a soft tag may be used at one level (if it does not result in a difference in user location and/or a sufficiently special location), a geofence may be used. The GPS may be interrogated if the geofence does not result in a difference in location and/or a sufficiently specific location. It should be appreciated that in various embodiments, any order of refinement stages and/or orders of magnitude may be used in any manner in conjunction with any desired techniques.

Location-based adjustment examples

Some embodiments may include adjusting a service based on location. For example, a gaming application executed by the mobile device may be adjusted based on the determined device location. In some embodiments, the device may be controlled to make this change in response to the gaming service determining the location.

For example, the device may be branded with a Venetian logo according to the location branding application (e.g., if the device is determined to be in Venetian based on its wifi network accessing gaming services from Venetian, then the device may be branded with the Venetian logo). As another example, the application may prevent the user from selecting certain options and/or accounts based on location (e.g., if the device is determined to be within Venetian based on a geo-fence around Venetian indicating that the device is in Venetian, the device may be prevented from logging into a non-Venetian account, the device may be able to access Venetian games, the device may be prevented from accessing games that are not approved for play in Venetian, las vegas, and/or nevada). An application on the device and/or a gaming service provider can control the device to restrict access to the account and/or display the trademark based on the location.

In some embodiments, if a network is known to be available, the device may be forced to access the gaming provider through the network. For example, in some embodiments, an application running on a mobile device may poll available wifi connections and compare the connections to a known list of wifi connections (e.g., based on SSID lists of known wifi connections). If a match is found, the mobile device may be automatically forced to connect to the wifi network in response, and/or if no manual connection is made, the mobile device may be denied access to the gaming provider. The user may be notified of the network so that it can make a manual connection. In some embodiments, an additional check may be made whether the network is an actual network. For example, the location and network SSID may be required to match before the device is forced to make this connection. For example, because multiple networks may share the same SSID at different locations.

In some embodiments, as the device changes, the location (e.g., in response to the gaming provider determining the change in location), brand, option, etc. may change. For example, if the device moves from a location covered by a wifi network of a gaming establishment into a location not covered by the wifi network, the location determination (e.g., performed in response to the device accessing the gaming provider from a new IP address and/or through a different interface) may reveal the new location of the device. In response to the new location, the options and/or trademarks may change (e.g., change based on the new location, change to a neutral trademark based on the location being on the street, etc.).

In some embodiments, the gaming provider may facilitate branding and/or options for one or more entities. For example, a merchant, such as Starbucks (Starbucks), may need to have its own trademark so that some Starbucks trademark appears when a user accesses a gaming provider through the Starbucks network. In some embodiments, the merchant may be a partner of the gaming or other location such that the accounts and/or options available for access to the merchant's network may be the same or similar to the accounts and/or options available for access to the gaming or other location's network by the device. Thus, based on being in the merchant location, the application may be controlled (e.g., by the gaming provider) to display the appropriate branding and/or options.

It should be appreciated that although examples of position-based adjustments are given, various embodiments may make any type of adjustment and/or no adjustment using position as desired. For example, options, trademarks, software, functions, etc. may vary based on location. This variation can be facilitated based on location by: the software on the device is controlled from the gaming service, the information sent from the gaming service to the device is controlled, the software on the device is adjusted, etc.

Location dependency instance

Some embodiments may include associating a particular location with one or more advertising elements, available games, user interfaces, skins, user accounts, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, users in M report may be allowed to play games (e.g., sports wagering and/or casino games) that may be allowed by MResort. For example, based on the user being located within M report, the user may be limited to playing games provided by M, approved by M, having M skins, and/or otherwise restricted and/or customized. In some embodiments, when a user is located in M report, the user may be limited to using an account at M report. In some embodiments, when the user is in M report, the user may be limited to selecting M report accounts from a list of accounts (from which to wager), selecting M report apps, selecting M report menu items from a gaming item menu, and/or selecting other elements related to M report. In some embodiments, this constraint may apply to a particular type of game (such as a casino game) but may not apply to another type of game (such as a sports game).

For example, in some embodiments, if the user is in a geofence around M report, then the user may be determined to be in M report. For example, one of the geofences described above may be around M report and the results of the query from the location service may indicate whether the user is in or out of a particular geofence, which is used by the gaming service to determine whether the user is in or out of M report. In some embodiments, if a user is gaming in access to a communication network of M report (e.g., wifi network of MResort), then it may be determined that the user is in M report. In response to determining in M report, the feature may be enabled and/or disabled as needed (e.g., the user may be prevented from logging into a non-M report account).

In some embodiments, determining the location may be performed using geofences such that a first geofence around the gaming venue and a second geofence around the city may be used. For example, this concentric geofence may allow users in the gaming venue to be limited to using what is approved by the gaming venue, but allow users outside the gaming venue to use what is approved outside the gaming venue, which may include more, less, the same, and/or different things than what is approved in the gaming venue. For example, more than one type of betting may be allowed outside of the casino, such as sports betting from multiple betting gaming stations (not just M Resort) and/or casino games using money from accounts not located at M Resort. Other location determination methods may be used, such as a multi-level location determination methodology, a soft tag system, and the like.

In some embodiments, instead of and/or in addition to determining a location based on geofences, location determination may be based on available communication networks. For example, one or more determinations as to whether one or more wireless networks or other communication networks from the pre-approved set of networks are available may be made by a software application of the device. Each such pre-approved communication may be associated with a particular location. If a wireless network from a set of wireless networks is available, the device may be required to establish a connection to the network in order to play the game. When one or more of the pre-approved networks are available, access to gaming over any other network (such as a cellular network) that may also be available may be prohibited. Thus, in some embodiments, the device may determine that a pre-approved M report network is available when located within a gaming venue (such as MResort) that may provide a wireless connection to the M report network (which is associated with M report). In response to determining that the pre-approved network is available, the device may cease access to the cellular network for gaming purposes. In response to determining that an M _ report network is available, the device may connect to the M _ report network. Limitations, capabilities, constraints, etc. associated with M support may be associated with gaming using M support networks, and thus with devices. These limitations may be imposed on the device by the device, by a server connected to the device, by a gateway used by the connected device, and/or in any other manner. For example, in some embodiments, based on the SSID on the network, the gateway server may limit the available accounts that may be logged in; based on the account logged in, the central server may limit the available gaming options; based on the SSID of the network, the device may apply skin and/or constraints; based on the SSID, the central server may apply restrictions, etc. As discussed above, some verification that the network SSID belongs to the actual network may be used, such as a location match for the SSID (e.g., in response to detecting the SSID, the device may notify the gaming service and/or trigger a location determination and if the location matches a location that should have an affiliation, the affiliation may be applied).

This information about the network and/or location may be used to allocate prizes, direct advertising, prevent the user from becoming angry or feeling cheated by the gaming establishment in which the user is located, even if the user is playing a game that may be provided through another gaming establishment, and so forth.

In some embodiments, to accomplish this network-limited functionality, the device may be configured to check (e.g., by a gaming application, a packaging application, etc.) the availability of one or more pre-approved communication networks (such as Wi-Fi connections). This check may occur periodically, continuously, randomly, on-demand, etc. When any one of the pre-approved communication networks is available, a device may connect to the pre-approved communication network but not any other network. If multiple pre-approved communication networks are available, the strongest or otherwise preferred network may be used.

In some embodiments, to continue to ensure that remote control is not used over the Wi-Fi connection so that the player is physically present when gaming over the cellular network, the Wi-Fi may be disabled for actual data reception and/or connection unless and/or until this pre-approved network is detected, the Wi-Fi connection may be turned on for only a short period to check whether the network is available (in some embodiments, other gaming may be suspended during this period), the Wi-Fi device may be turned on but not connected to any network other than the pre-approved network, and the Wi-Fi device may be restricted from having access to proprietary software control of any network other than the pre-approved network.

When a pre-approved network is detected, the cellular network may no longer be available for gaming through the gaming application (e.g., the application may be notified of availability and disconnected from or otherwise restrict access to the gaming server through the cellular network, the gaming server may be notified of and restrict game access, etc.). The user may be prompted to log in over a Wi-Fi network and/or alternatively to log in automatically over this network. Similarly, when the Wi-Fi network is no longer available, the user may be prompted to log into the cellular network if the cellular network is available and/or alternatively may automatically log into the cellular network. As discussed above, some verification that the network SSID belongs to the actual network may be used, such as location matching against the SSID.

The start-up procedure, which in this embodiment may be allowed to be performed prior to gaming on the mobile device, may require Wi-Fi enablement throughout device use, may require diagnosis through Wi-Fi, may require approved applications to have control over the Wi-Fi device, and so forth. If no approved Wi-Fi network is available, the cellular network can be used to game, for example, such as described elsewhere herein.

It should be appreciated that the various examples of location services and/or location affiliations are given as non-limiting examples only.

Example of a geo-fence

One exemplary location feature may include a geo-fencing service. Geo-fencing capabilities can be used to help ensure that a customer is at an approved area (e.g., when performing a location check, when receiving a wager request by a gateway, etc.). One example of a geo-fencing technology provider includes Sprint. In some embodiments, the gaming operator may perform geofence calculations on itself and/or using input from another location service provider (e.g., a cell phone service provider that may provide the coordinates of the cell phone when queried using the cell phone number of the cell phone). In some embodiments, this geofencing technique may be used to determine whether a patron is located in the state of nevada and has geofenced las vegas, rino, tower holo, and/or other gaming locations. In some embodiments, the patron (e.g., the device that he uses) may play the game if the patron is actually within the boundaries of the approved geofence. In some embodiments, if the patron is not in the boundary, the patron is unable to play the game. Another exemplary geofence is provided by a company named Locaid. It should be appreciated that any desired location may be used in various embodiments to provide services and that the examples given herein are non-limiting. For example, while some examples are given with respect to a geo-fencing service that provides internal or external query results, other embodiments may have geo-fencing services, provide device coordinates, and the gaming service may check to see if the coordinates are inside or outside of one or more geo-fences. Thus, it should be appreciated that the geofencing service need not necessarily apply geofences to coordinates but only provide certain information that enables application of geofences.

The geofence may include a virtual perimeter of a real-world geographic area. Some examples of parameters that may define geofences around large cities such as las vegas, rino, etc. may include: latitude 89.2 °, longitude 33.4 °, radius 20 miles; and latitude 50.5 °, longitude 76.9 °, radius 22 miles.

It should be appreciated that any number of geofences in any location and with any parameters may be used as desired. Geofences can be added and/or removed at any time when it is desired to increase, decrease, and/or change the areas where wagers are allowed and/or not allowed. For example, another set of exemplary geofences may include: longitude 36 ° 05 'north latitude 58.37 ", latitude 115 ° 12' west longitude 04.90", radius 20 miles; longitude 39 ° 38 'north latitude 58.68', latitude 119 ° 34 'west longitude 40.66', radius 20 miles; and longitude 39 ° 05 'north latitude 08.69 ", latitude 119 ° 34' west longitude 10.61", radius 20 miles.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a series of geofences displayed on a nevada map. The circles/disks in the map represent sample geofences. The gaming service can provide reasonable assurance that patrons are gaming in approved areas by using the capabilities provided by these geo-fences. In some embodiments, the patron may be able to play the game(s) if and only if the patron is actually within the geofence, if and only if the last updated location (e.g., served by the device certification program) indicates that the device was last at an approved location, etc. In some embodiments, the patron is unable to play the game if the patron is actually outside the geo-fence and/or is conclusively determined to be actually outside the geo-fence. It should be appreciated that although examples are given with respect to circles, any desired geofence shape (e.g., a geofence around a gaming venue) may be used.

Some embodiments may include determining whether the apparatus is in or out of one or more geo-fences. This determination may include, for example, a determination made by a geofence provider (e.g., based on gps coordinates and geofences of the device, based on triangulation by a communication device (e.g., cell phone tower), etc.). In some embodiments, this determination may include a determination made by a component of the gaming service (e.g., by querying a location service provider, by calculating a location, by receiving an indication, etc.). The geofence can include telematics hardware and/or software.

In some embodiments, a device and/or a component of a gaming service (e.g., a device authentication program service) can receive a generated notification (e.g., a provider of a location service can transmit a notification to the device indicating this change in location) when the device (e.g., a mobile device using the gaming service, a location-aware device, a location-based service device, etc.) enters or exits the geofence. This notification may include information about the device location (e.g., current gps coordinates, name of the geofence, name of the city, indication of whether the device is in or out of the geofence, etc.). This notification can be transmitted to the mobile device over a communications network, to a component of the gaming service over a communications network, to an email account, in a text message (e.g., SMS), etc.

Some embodiments may include taking any desired action in response to crossing and/or approaching crossing a geofence boundary. For example, in response to leaving and/or approaching leaving a geofenced area, the vehicle can be stopped, a third party can be notified, a gaming service can be notified, a game can be stopped, a mobile device can be affected (e.g., powered off, an application can be stopped, etc.), and so forth. These actions may be facilitated by the gaming service provider and/or the location service provider in response to determining the change in location.

As yet another example of location services work, some embodiments may include location services that can be queried as needed to determine location. For example, a communication service provider (e.g., Sprint) may track the current location of a mobile device using communication services (e.g., via gps coordinates, via access to a cell phone tower or other communication access point, etc.). This tracking may be performed continuously and/or in response to a request.

In some embodiments, the gaming service may transmit a query to verify location and/or perform a calculation to verify location as needed. For example, the gaming service may transmit a query to the location service each time a variable expires, periodically, in response to a query, and so forth. In some embodiments, this query may query the location service whether the mobile device is in the boundary of one or more geofences. In some implementations, this query can query the location service for the location of the mobile device and the gaming service can determine whether the mobile device is in the geofence by comparing the location to one or more geofences.

In some embodiments, the gaming service may need to minimize determinations and/or queries regarding location. For example, these determinations may require processing time required by other programs, and/or the location service may charge a fee for these query responses. Some embodiments may include variable frequencies and/or require such interrogation and/or determination. Some embodiments may include determining when to make a location determination based on a distance from a boundary of a previous location determination (e.g., a boundary of a geofence, a boundary of an allowed betting area).

For example, in some embodiments, the time (e.g., interrogation frequency) between location determinations (e.g., periodic determinations, random determinations, occasional determinations, etc.) with devices farther from the boundary of the geofence may be greater than the time between location determinations with devices closer to the boundary of the geofence. For example, if the position variable is based on a position farther from the boundary, it may remain valid for a longer time. In some embodiments, the response to the query may indicate when the next query should be made based on this distance. In some embodiments, the response to the query may indicate a distance from the boundary (e.g., an actual distance, a certain type of distance, etc.). The gaming service can determine when to make the next query based on this received information. This query may include, for example, a query every 5 seconds as it approaches the boundary, a query every 15 seconds as it moves away from the boundary, a floating calculation, etc. In some embodiments, queries may be made for each transaction when approaching a boundary, queries may be made for every other transaction when moving away from a boundary, and so forth. A request from the mobile device may be made that does not require a determination to be made of a location determination based on a distance from a boundary.

Some embodiments may include concentric geofences that may be used to determine when to make location queries. For example, the inner geo-fence may correspond to a location that is far from an allowed boundary and may correspond to a longer time frame. The outer geo-fence may correspond to an actual and/or closer boundary of the approved area and may include more frequent determinations. Some embodiments may include determining whether a location determination for a mobile device should be made based on the mobile device being outside of at least one geofence and within at least one other geofence.

It will be appreciated that these examples of determining a rate relating to a distance from an edge of an approved area are given as non-limiting examples and other embodiments may include that any method and/or apparatus that may relate determining a distance in any manner may be used as desired.

Some embodiments may include determining this determined rate based on the mobile device speed. For example, in some implementations, the mobile device speed may be determined based on the current location and the previous location (e.g., the distance traveled between determinations divided by the time between determinations). In some implementations, a faster traveling device may be associated with a faster rate and a slower speed may be associated with a slower rate.

In some embodiments, this determined rate may be determined using speed and distance. For example, the determined rate may be determined such that at the determined speed, the device cannot travel a distance within a determined time to reach the boundary, cannot travel half of the distance to reach the boundary, cannot travel any threshold percentage of the distance to reach the boundary, and so on.

Although some examples have been described with a concentric set of geofences where the outer fence is most constrained (because it may be closest to the boundary of the approved area), it should be appreciated that this is only a non-limiting example. For example, some embodiments may include an inner geofence that is more constrained than some or all of the outer geofences. It should be appreciated that any arrangement of geofences may be used in various embodiments, whether an inner geofence, an intermediate geofence, an outer geofence, etc., is more or less constrained than other geofences.

For example, in some embodiments, a first set of permission rules may apply to devices used on property within a jurisdiction, a second set of permission rules may apply outside of property within the jurisdiction, and a third set of rules may apply outside of the jurisdiction. Thus, a geofence covering a property can be established to allow gaming on the property. In this embodiment, if the activity on a property is a superset of an activity outside the property, the geofence may be a high-constraint geofence (e.g., a geofence that imposes a high-rate check and/or a high location check policy) used to maintain a verified location such that impermissible activities are not performed outside the property. Geofences outside of a property may be low-constraint geofences, as the property may be located far away from the jurisdiction boundary. Another geofence may be established near the boundary to provide a high-restriction outer layer to prevent unauthorized gaming outside the jurisdiction. Thus, devices in all three geofences may be in a high inspection zone, devices in the outer and middle geofences may be in a low inspection zone, and devices only in the outer geofence may also be in a high inspection zone. Different security can be applied and/or different gaming options (e.g., different games) can be presented by the device based on the level of geofence in which the device is located. Based on a determination that the device is located in the geofence, a determination of game availability and security procedures can be made by the gaming service. The gaming service can facilitate game play and security checks according to the policy of the geofence in which the device is located.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that while examples have been given with respect to requiring the device to be in a geofence to provide gaming services, this is a non-limiting example. For example, in some embodiments, the zones within the geofence may be restricted by gaming services, but the zones outside the geofence may allow gaming services.

In some embodiments, the velocity may be determined using a direction determination. For example, the direction may be determined based on the previous two locations (e.g., traveling in the direction of the second location from the first location). In some embodiments, the distance to the boundary that may be used to determine the time period may be based on the distance to the boundary in the direction of travel, the shortest distance to the boundary in a range around the direction of travel (e.g., 20 ° to the direction of travel in any one direction, 90 ° to the direction of travel in any one direction, etc.).

In some embodiments, the maximum time period may not be exceeded (e.g., 1 minute, 5 seconds, 1 hour, 10 minutes, etc.).

It should be appreciated that any action, procedure, information, etc., may be used in any combination with any desired constraints to determine a determination period, as desired.

Various other services may be provided by the location providing service. For example, a geo-fence may be used in conjunction with a child location service to inform parents when a child leaves a designated area. Location Based Services (LBS) may include information and/or entertainment services, such as mobile gaming services that may be accessed by mobile devices over a mobile network. This service may exploit the geographical location of the mobile device. LBS services may be used in a variety of contexts, such as healthcare, work, private life, etc. LBS services may include services to identify the location of people or objects, such as finding the nearest bank teller machine or the whereabouts of friends or employees. LBS services may include package tracking and vehicle tracking services. LBS may include mobile commerce in the form of coupons or advertisements intended for a customer based on the customer's current location. LBS services may include personalized weather services and even location-based gaming.

In some embodiments, the techniques may allow for the creation of independent and/or overlapping geofences. The techniques may allow creation of any geofence/circle given a radius and/or shape. In some embodiments, this technique can prevent anyone outside the pen from betting. Geofences may allow a system user to delineate zones around a work site, customer location, and/or a safe area.

As an example, some embodiments may use sandbox services for geofences provided by Sprint and/or may perform similar functions. This service is given only as a non-limiting example. This service may include one or more geographic locations where each single location may be mapped with geographic coordinates. The user may be able to establish a perimeter (fence) around this location based on those coordinates. The user of this system may have the following capabilities: establishing pens, adding devices related to those pens, and being notified when devices enter or leave (or both). In some embodiments, to mitigate privacy concerns, only devices that are explicitly granted access to an application may be able to interact with the geofence. The gaming service can provide this functionality to patrons to establish and/or manage geofences when desired by the patron (e.g., a gaming venue can establish its own geofence within which a certain trademark is applied to access the geofence through interaction with the gaming operator's API).

In some embodiments, one or more services can be used as part of a geo-fence API to facilitate generation, elimination, maintenance, querying, connection, etc., with respect to geo-fences. Some services may be used to maintain a device that tracks relative to a particular geofence. Some services may be used in connection with managing and/or receiving notification of one or more geo-fences. Some embodiments may include one or more errors occurring with respect to the geo-fence. Some embodiments may include one or more services, functions, programs, APIs, etc. executed, used, and/or provided by devices and/or systems that may interface and/or otherwise use geofencing techniques. For example, in some embodiments, one or more of the services described and/or available through Sprint's geo-fencing service may be provided and/or used to provide these gaming services.

Fig. 6 illustrates some exemplary procedures that may be performed in some embodiments with respect to geofences. It should be appreciated that this is given by way of example only and that other embodiments may include other programs, other actions, performed by any device in any order, as desired. It should be appreciated that the various examples of services and/or functions are given as non-limiting examples only. Some such example procedures may include creating a geofence, adding a device tracked by a geofence, shedding a device, eliminating a geofence, changing a geofence, making an inquiry about a device and/or a geofence, listing active and/or inactive geofences, activating a geofence, revoking a geofence, and so forth. Other embodiments may include other such features with different parameters, authentication requirements, arguments, responses, names, etc.

Fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary architecture that may be used for location determination in some embodiments. As shown, one or more mobile devices may communicate with a gateway. This gateway may communicate with a location determination service. In some embodiments, the gateway may determine whether a location determination is required (e.g., in response to a wager, periodically, in response to a variable being invalid, etc.). The gateway may query the location service in response to determining that a location determination should occur. The location service may determine a location (e.g., gps coordinates, physical location, whether the device is in or out of a geofence, distance to a boundary edge, etc.). The location service may communicate this location information to the gateway. The gateway may enable and/or disable services as needed, store information about the location, and/or perform any desired actions in response to receiving the location information. It should be appreciated that this architecture and procedure are given as non-limiting examples only and other embodiments may include any desired components of gaming services, location services, communication services, etc., as desired to perform any combination of any of the functions.

It should be appreciated that the example of determining whether a device is in or out of a geofence is given merely as a non-limiting example. Some embodiments may include any number of services to provide these features. For example, a third party may provide location services, a communication service provider may provide location services, a gaming service may provide location services, and any aspect of location determination may be performed in part or in whole by any desired entity.

Mobile access point example

In some embodiments, a group of devices may access gaming services through a single access point. The access point may be a mobile access point. Thus, the determination of the location of the access point may indicate the location of the apparatus. For example, the boat may include a Wi-Fi access point that allows the device to communicate with the gaming provider. If the Wi-Fi access point is in an allowed jurisdiction, then devices accessing the gaming service through the access point may also be in an allowed jurisdiction.

Some embodiments may include gps, geofencing, or other location determination methods for portable access points. The gaming service can determine the location of the mobile access point, for example, by making gps queries to the device and enable or disable the gaming service to devices accessing the network of the mobile access point. In some embodiments, the access point itself can determine its location and enable or disable gaming services for devices that access the network of mobile access points.

In some embodiments, this network of access points may become a trusted network when it is located in a gaming location that allows gaming, and thus a single level of IP-based location determination may be used. The same network may become a known unapproved network when it is determined that the access point is located in an unapproved location, so another location determination may not be used if the IP address of the device is known to be on the network when the access point is not located in an approved location.

In some embodiments, the gaming operator may determine that the user accesses the gaming service through a trusted network that is also a mobile network. In response, a check of the location of the mobile network may be performed, rather than simply allowing access as may be done when a fixed trusted network is detected. If the network is in an allowed location, then access may be allowed. In some embodiments, instead of performing a check of the location of the access point, a check of the location of the device would typically be performed. In some embodiments, an access point may report when it enters and/or approaches a non-allowed location. Because the access points are trusted, the gaming operator may rely on this self-report rather than requiring a separate location check of the mobile access point. Thus, in this embodiment, the location check of the device may not be re-performed when the device accesses the network through the mobile access point until the gaming operator identifies to the mobile access point that the location of the mobile access point is no longer and/or will soon be located in the allowed area.

Other geofence examples

As discussed, according to some embodiments, a geofence may be used to determine whether a customer/user (e.g., the device they use) is within the boundaries of some predefined location and features and/or services, etc. may be enabled, disabled, and/or modified based on the determination. For example, the gaming service provider/gaming service may use the geofence to limit access to gaming activities (e.g., casino gaming/wagering, peer gaming, card games, poker, sports wagering (e.g., football, basketball, baseball, football), wagering games, automatic wagering, video gaming, mock games, contests, sports wagering games, bingo games, keno games, fantasy gambling, and/or various other forms of event gambling and/or wagering, including the events discussed herein) to patrons/devices within the boundaries of a particular/predefined/allowed location as defined by the geofence. The gaming service provider may determine the device location when the patron initially accesses the gaming activity (e.g., when the patron logs into the account), and once access is provided, the device location may be re-determined (e.g., periodically determined, randomly determined, occasionally determined, continuously determined, etc.) to ensure that the device is still in the allowed location.

In some embodiments, the interrogation of the geo-fence service and/or the calculation of the geo-fence may only result in a yes or no indication of whether the device is in or out of the geo-fence. This service may allow the gaming service to generate geofences and may maintain geofences for the gaming service. In some embodiments, the query to the location service may return the device location (e.g., gps coordinates). The gaming service can then apply the geofence to the coordinates to determine whether the device is in or out of one or more geofences. It should be appreciated that the use of the term geo-fencing service does not indicate that geo-fencing is actually applied at the level or that the service is a gaming provider independent service. For example, the gaming provider itself may provide local geo-fencing capabilities, just as it may provide local IP location capabilities.

As discussed, the geofence can be any shape, including circular, or any other shape, including polygonal. For non-circular geofences, a geofence may be defined by a series of ordered coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) and a line of coordinates, for example, between consecutive coordinates. Different methods may be used to determine whether a device is located within a geofence, including for polygonal geofences, a number of windings and/or counting method may be used, but other methods may be used. As one example, a geofence may track contours/boundaries of states, cities, counties, gaming venue properties, and the like. An example of using a counting method may include a computing device receiving device coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude). The computing device may cast an infinite ray from those coordinates (and/or perform some calculation as if this ray had been cast). The computing device may count the number of times the ray intersects a boundary defined by a coordinate line between the series of coordinates, such as a geofence. An odd number of crossings or intersections can indicate that the device is in a geofence, while an even number can indicate that the device is outside of the geofence.

The gaming service provider can determine the device location (i.e., determine whether the device is within the boundaries of the predefined geofence), for example, in different ways through the geofence, including, for example, communicating the patron ID and/or the device ID (e.g., telephone number) to, for example, a communication service provider (e.g., cell phone provider, Sprint, Verizon, AT & T, T-Mobile, etc.), which in turn can provide an indication to the gaming service provider of whether the device is within the boundaries of the defined geofence. As another example, the gaming service provider can communicate the patron ID and/or the device ID (e.g., telephone number) to, for example, a third party, which in turn can provide an indication of whether the device is within the boundaries of the defined geofence. For example, a third party may obtain device coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude) from a communication service provider, may determine from the coordinates whether the device is within the boundaries of a defined geofence, and may then provide an indication to the gaming service provider whether the device is within the boundaries of the defined geofence. As another example, the gaming service provider may indirectly communicate the customer ID and/or device ID (e.g., phone number) to, for example, the communication service provider, perhaps through a third party, and in turn obtain device coordinates (e.g., longitude and latitude). The gaming service provider can then determine from the coordinates whether the device is within the boundaries of the defined geofence.

As noted, once the user is provided access to gaming activity, the gaming service provider can, for example, re-determine the device location to ensure that the device is still in the allowed location. For various reasons, gaming service providers may need to minimize determinations and/or queries made to third parties and/or communication service providers regarding device location. For example, these determinations may require processing time required by other programs, and/or a third party and/or a communication service provider may charge a fee for these query responses. According to some embodiments, the gaming service provider can register the listening application on the device. This application may be registered when the patron initially accesses gaming activity (e.g., when the patron logs into an account). This application can monitor location and device location changes (e.g., through the use of GPS) and notify and/or report to the gaming service provider when a location change occurs. The application may report any change in location and/or may report a change in location when it has met some predetermined amount or threshold (e.g., some predefined number of inches, feet, meters, yards, miles, some variation thereof, etc.). The predetermined amount may be reconfigured in the listening application, may be set by the gaming service provider upon registration of the application, and/or may be dynamically updated by the gaming service provider upon access to gaming activities by patrons. As another example, the application may report the device location and/or any change in location at certain intervals (e.g., periodically, randomly, etc.) regardless of whether there is actually a change in location. Still further, the time interval can be reconfigured in the listening application, can be set by the gaming service provider upon registration of the application, and/or can be dynamically updated by the gaming service provider upon access of gaming activity by patrons. Regardless, the advertisements and/or reports from the listening application may include any one or more of the following: a device location (or its approximate location) (e.g., longitude and latitude), a distance that the device has moved, a direction that the device has moved, an indication that the device has moved by a predefined amount, an indication that the device has changed location (but not much), and so on. According to some embodiments, a listening application that has been notified by the gaming service provider, for example, of a geofence boundary, can determine whether the device is within the geofence, a defined distance from the geofence boundary, and/or has moved outside of the geofence, and report any of these events to the gaming service provider.

According to some embodiments, a gaming service provider may respond to an announcement/report from a listening application, for example (e.g., without communicating with a communication service provider and/or a third party) by determining: the device is still within the geofence boundary, may and/or has moved towards the geofence boundary, and/or has moved outside/outside of the geofence boundary and thus may be in a location that does not allow and/or provide and/or require modification/change of gaming activities and/or any other features. For example, the gaming service provider may make these determinations by knowing: previous coordinates of the device (e.g., as provided by a communication service provider and/or a third party, for example) and device coordinates and/or a distance the device has moved as reported by the listening application. According to some embodiments, in response to making a determination as to where the device may be located (because of the reports from the listening application), the gaming service provider may, for example, do nothing, may withdraw the customer from the account, may block and/or suspend additional wagering by the device, may enable, disable, and/or modify features and/or services and/or activities provided to the customer, may communicate with the listening application to update when the listening application provides a report, and/or may communicate with the communication service provider and/or a third party to re-determine the device location by geofencing and using the methods discussed herein. For example, in response to a report from the listening application, the gaming service provider can determine that the device is still within the geofence boundary but does nothing. As another example, in response to a report from the listening application, the gaming service provider can determine that the device may have moved close to a geofence boundary and can communicate with the communication service provider and/or a third party to pass through the geofence and re-determine the device location using the methods discussed herein.

In some embodiments, the listening application may be one of a plurality of location determination triggers. For example, because the movement is reported by the listening application, the gaming service provider may perform a position determination of the device in response to the patron subsequently initiating a wagering action by the device and at the time the patron subsequently initiates the wagering action by the device (e.g., after a period of time from a previous position determination).

In some embodiments, even though the gaming service provider may consider the new location reported by the listening application to be within the geofence, the gaming service provider may not trust the new location. For example, this listening application may be blacked out because it may be operating on a customer device. Thus, a report from this listening application that movement has occurred may trigger some other location determination (e.g., a check of the geo-fence location) to be performed.

One skilled in the art will recognize that in addition to deciding whether gaming activities should be enabled, disabled, and/or modified on the device, the listening application is registered on the device to determine when the device can be moved toward geofence boundaries and/or moved to such boundaries may be used for other features, services, activities, and applications, such as those described herein.

According to some implementations and as discussed herein, a gaming service provider may also use concentric/continuous geo-fences (including two or more concentric geo-fences), for example, to minimize determinations and/or queries made about device location, for example, to third parties and/or communication service providers. These concentric/continuous geo-fences can be used, for example, to determine when to make location queries to third parties and/or communication service providers. As one example, the outermost geofence may correspond to the actual boundary of an approved area that allows gaming activities. This geofence may include a second geofence therein, which may already include a third geofence therein, and so on. Each of the concentric/continuous geo-fences can be a circle, each can be a polygon (where one or more polygons are the same and/or different in shape from each other), a combination thereof, and so forth. According to some embodiments, when one of the series of consecutive geo-fences may be located within another, etc., the series of consecutive geo-fences may not be concentric because one or more of the geo-fences cannot share a common center point. Similarly, one or more of the geo-fences may or may not contact another geo-fence and/or may not overlap another geo-fence. Similarly, a given geofence may have two or more geofences where none overlap at all. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other configurations of geofences may be used.

According to some embodiments, the rate or time at which the gaming service provider, for example, re-determines the device location (to ensure that the device is still in an allowed location-e.g., still within the boundaries of the outer-most geofence) may be based on which geofence the device was last in. For example, fig. 11 shows, for example, state 1101 (e.g., the state of nevada), for example, with three geofences 1102a, 1102b, and 1102c therein. The frequency of location determination of a device may be a first rate (e.g., every 5 minutes or approximately every 5 minutes) when the device is inside outer-most geofence 1102a but outside geofences 1102b and 1102c (i.e., located in area 1103 a), a second rate (e.g., every 10 minutes or approximately every 10 minutes) when the device is inside geofences 1102a and 1102b but outside geofence 1102c (i.e., located in area 1103 b), and a third rate (e.g., every 30 minutes or approximately every 30 minutes) when the device is inside geofences 1102a, 1102b, and 1102c (i.e., located in area 1103 c), and so on. For example, the further away the device is located from the outermost geofence or in other words, the more within the inner geofence, the greater the rate may be. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other rate configurations are possible, including seconds, minutes, and hours. Thus, as discussed herein, a gaming service provider can use a communication service provider and/or a third party to determine which geofence the device is in. Based on which geofence the device is in, the gaming service provider can then determine the next time that determinations and/or queries will be made to third parties and/or communication service providers, where the rate is less frequent, such as when the device is within an internal geofence.

According to some embodiments, in addition to using concentric/continuous geo-fencing, a gaming service provider may register a listening application on the device, for example. As one example, the gaming service provider can make a determination and/or query to a third party and/or communication service provider regarding the location of the device at a time/rate based on which geofence the device was last located in. However, if the listening application reports a change in location as discussed herein, for example, the gaming service provider may reduce the time/rate at which the next location determination/inquiry is made, including reducing the time to zero so that the location determination is made immediately. According to some embodiments, based on which geofence the device is located in, the gaming service provider can configure/reconfigure the listening application to report the change in location. For example, the listening application may be configured to report a change in position of a first length when the device is located in area 1103a, and may be configured to report a change in position of a second length when the device is located in area 1103b, where the first length is shorter than the second length. In other words, the listening application may be configured to report that the closer the device is to the outer-most geofence, the shorter the change in location. As another example, the listening application may be configured to report that the closer the device is to the outer-most geofence, the more frequent the location changes (regardless of the length of the movement).

In some embodiments, some other function may depend on which geofence the device/customer is located in addition to or instead of the rate or time. For example, a gaming service provider may use some second location determination method to ensure that a device is within an allowed location when the device is determined to be located in an outer geofence (e.g., area 1103 a), but may not use some second location determination method when the device is determined to be located in an inner geofence (e.g., areas 1103b and/or 1103 c). As another example, the patron device's own functionality may be changed to prevent some actions from being performed or data from being accessed when located in a boundary geofence, as compared to when located in an internal geofence (e.g., the patron may not be able to wager on some game types, the patron may not be able to play the game for more than one dollar, the patron may delay playing the game so that successive position determinations may occur before accepting game actions, the patron may not have access to more than a maximum amount of gaming data between position determinations, etc.). As another example, a customer may be alerted to leave an approved area when located in a border geofence.

Some embodiments may include the gaming service provider performing a position determination of the patron device in response to reporting the perceived cached results to the gaming service provider. For example, a communication service provider and/or a third party and/or a location reporting service may only refresh the device location occasionally (e.g., re-determine the longitude and latitude coordinates of the device). If the gaming service provider requests location at a faster rate than the location reporting service updates its location information, the gaming service provider may be provided with outdated cached location information. If the gaming service provider realizes that two consecutive location reports are the same, the gaming service provider can suspect that the cached results have been used. If the device is located in a boundary geofence (e.g., area 1103 a), this can cause the gaming service provider's behavior to be different than when the device is located in an internal geofence (e.g., areas 1103b and/or 1103 c) (e.g., because the gaming service provider may worry that the patron has left the boundary between updates to a disallowed gaming location but may not have such a concern for the internal geofence). Thus, in some embodiments, this determination of cached results may only involve a boundary geofence. This suspicion of caching results may be increased if the listening application has reported that a move has occurred. In some embodiments, the determination of cached results may depend on the listening application reporting this movement. In response to a determination to report on cached results, the gaming service provider may use the secondary location determination to determine location using some other means, re-request location from the same location reporting service, request the location reporting service to specifically refresh location information for the patron/device, and/or perform any other action (e.g., prevent gaming until non-cached results are reported).

As discussed herein, actions performed by a gaming service provider, communication service provider, third party, location reporting service and/or device, etc. may include actions performed by an entity/person and/or actions performed electronically over one or more communication networks by one or more computers, computing devices, servers, processors, etc. executing (form/execute) software, firmware, etc.

Soft tag example

In some embodiments, a soft tag system may be used in addition to and/or in lieu of the geofencing and/or other location determination methodologies. This system can be used to determine whether a device is gaming in an approved and/or unapproved location. In some embodiments, this system may be provided by Ekahau to determine approved and/or unapproved (e.g., red/green) zones.

In some embodiments, this soft tag may include game location client software. This software may be used, for example, by a server, workstation, network, mobile device, and/or processor to facilitate determining information about the location (position) of the mobile device. In some embodiments, this software may be used to identify the location of a user of a mobile and/or handheld device (e.g., a removable processor such as a handheld computer, mobile or smart phone, laptop, other portable electronic device, etc.). For example, software running on the mobile device may cause the device to transmit or otherwise provide information (e.g., to a server or other processor, a unique identifier, a set of signal strengths, etc.) that may be used to determine the location of the client mobile device.

In some embodiments, a gaming application (e.g., a host application, a wrapper application, a soft label application, etc.) may perform one or more actions to facilitate these features. For example, this application may be assigned a unique identifier (e.g., as part of a registration procedure). As another example, the application may be provided with a list of allowed access points and/or a reference to which this list may be obtained (e.g., from a gaming service). In some embodiments, the gaming application may determine one or more signal strengths from one or more wireless access points and/or one or more access point identifiers that may be accessed from the current location. In some embodiments, the application may determine a network (e.g., wifi network at a gambling location, wifi network at a las vegas starbucks, etc.) through which the mobile device accesses the gaming service.

In some embodiments, one or more identifiers and/or signal strengths may be transmitted to the gaming service and/or other location. In some embodiments, the identifier of this network may be used to determine that the network is approved. For example, the network identifier may be compared to a list of allowed networks (e.g., by the gaming service, by the mobile device, by the application). If the network is in inventory, the network may be in an approved location and gaming may be allowed. In some embodiments, the gaming service request can include an identification network so that this determination can be made by the gaming service. In some embodiments, a set of signal strengths and/or access point identifiers may be used to determine whether a location is approved. For example, the set of signal strengths and/or access points may be compared to a set of approved signal strengths and/or access points. Some exemplary embodiments of these comparisons are described in U.S. patent application No. 12/197,809, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

Some embodiments may include determining that the network is in an allowed location and/or identifying allowed signal strengths and/or access points. For example, some embodiments may include the agent identifying networks, access points, and/or signal strengths in locations allowed by the gaming service (e.g., the agent may observe network boundaries and determine that the network is within the boundaries of the allowed locations as compared to legal requirements, the agent may send a message to the gaming service identifying the communication network and identifying it in the allowed locations, the agent may determine signal strengths and/or access points validity and/or invalidity at various locations based on location). In response to receiving this information, the gaming service can correlate the communication network, signal strength, and/or access point with in an allowed location.

This application may run on one or more of any supported operating systems. These operating systems may include any operating system of a computer, server, handheld device, and/or other device. These supported operating systems may include Windows operating systems (such as Mobile 5 PocketPC, Windows Mobile6 Classic, Windows Mobile6 Professional, Windows 8), various versions of the Android, Mac operating systems, Linux, and others.

In some embodiments, the software may be capable of performing various functions and have various features, including (but not limited to) one or more (or all) of the following, for example, in some embodiments: support client maintenance, such as from a positioning engine (e.g., a location engine provided by Ekahau corporation); for example, adjusting scan settings of multiple devices at the same time (or at multiple different times); displaying battery state of charge (e.g., from the Ekahau engine); an Ekahau client connector is not required; supporting the Ekahau RTLS 4.x location and maintenance protocol (ELP, EMP); including a new user interface in the PPC client: maintaining PPC client settings using an Ekahau positioning engine; the laptop client may not have a UI: setting settings in an installation program or maintaining settings using an Ekahau positioning engine; and/or may not affect association/authentication.

Various examples of determining a time period to reexamine a location are given elsewhere with respect to the geofence and/or the multi-level location determination methodology embodiments. This feature may be applied to soft tags or other embodiments. For example, particular networks, access points, and/or signal strength settings may be associated with different time periods between location checks made based on distance to approved areas, border edges of states, reliability, and so forth. Similarly, in some embodiments, the time periods may be determined using the speed of movement.

It should be appreciated that the various examples of soft notes are given as non-limiting examples only and that other methods and/or devices may be used as desired. Any desired location service may be used in combination and/or exclusively. For the verification procedure, some embodiments may include determining both a network approved for device use and in a geofence.

Limiting examples of remotely controlling a mobile device

In some embodiments, the capabilities of the remote access device may be controlled. For example, this capability may be restricted, blocked, and/or unavailable. In some embodiments, one or more methods and/or devices may be used to prevent remote connection to a mobile device when a patron is performing gaming-related activities using the mobile device and/or if the mobile device is authorized to perform gaming activities.

Some example mobile devices may include any number of communication interfaces (e.g., 4) that may be controlled to prevent remote access to the mobile device. It should be appreciated that some embodiments may include more, fewer, different such interfaces and that the exemplary interfaces are given as non-limiting examples only. These exemplary interfaces may include: 1. Wi-Fi, 2. Dock/USB, 3. Bluetooth, 4. cellular network (which may not support incoming connections).

In some implementations, a remote connection incoming to the mobile device over a cellular network connection may be disabled, may not be feasible, and/or may otherwise be blocked. In some embodiments, one or more communication interfaces may be deactivated while a player performs a wager-related activity (e.g., wagering). In some embodiments, this deactivation may include preventing the customer from remotely controlling the phone so that the customer may be at the phone location while the wagering activity occurs. In some embodiments, if a patron enables and/or remotely connects through a disabled communication interface while in a sports wagering application, the patron's sports wagering session may be terminated and/or disabled in response to determining that such enabling and/or making of the connection has occurred (e.g., the sports wagering application may be terminated with an alert message, the sports wagering application may be terminated without an alert message, the communication session may be terminated, the gaming service may be notified, etc.).

In some embodiments, the mobile gaming application may check to determine whether the communication interface is enabled and/or whether a communication session over this interface is active. For example, the application may check, occasionally, in response to an action, periodically, etc., whether the communication interface is enabled and/or whether the communication session is active. This check may be made by calling one or more APIs. For example, android OS APIs with UiModeManager, WifiMaanger, and BlueToothAdapter models may be used.

In some embodiments, the wagering application on the client device may include one or more programs. The first application may comprise an AIR 2.5 application built on the Android 2.2 platform, for example using Flash AS 3. The second application may include, for example, an Android wrapper application that launches and monitors the current device state. In some embodiments, the customer-oriented application may include a launch program that may launch AIR 2.5 applications after checking the status of remote connection access points (such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and dock). If all external connection methods are disabled, the application may be launched. Once the launch is successful, the application may terminate if the customer enables one or more of these access points. If the compliance verifier service terminates and a state cannot be provided to the application, the application may terminate.

Some embodiments may prevent a user from making and/or accepting telephone calls. For example, if a telephone call is made and/or received during a gaming session and/or while executing a gaming application, the application can be closed. In some embodiments, a user may be prevented from changing focus, running multiple applications, running other applications, etc. when executing a gaming application. It should be appreciated that any desired set of actions may be taken as needed to prevent remote access.

It should be appreciated that the various examples of applications are non-limiting and that other embodiments may include a single application, any number of applications, no applications included, any language included, any technology, any device, any operating system, etc.

Additional exemplary Components

Some embodiments may include one or more participants, programs, devices, servers, components, entities, architectures, and the like. Some examples may include:

customer and/or mobile device users, customer service agents associated with gaming operators and that may be located at gaming-related property, customer service counseling stations that may be accessed via a toll-free telephone number to assist mobile customers (e.g., counseling station information may be displayed to customers whenever any validation fails), Android wrapper applications (e.g., applications written in Android OS language and/or other languages to authenticate devices and monitor phone status), AIR mobile gaming clients (e.g., NGCB-approved Adobe Flash applications installed on phones, which may be the current user interface that allows customers to log in, play mobile games, and view account history), device authentication program services (e.g., SSL security services that provide a mechanism for Android wrapper applications to authorize phones, requests made from approved devices to the system that are validated by the provider of the interface that is internal (i.e., accessible only within the firewall), and, A gateway (e.g., SSL secure NGCB approved middleware communication service that proxies requests to DAS and account-based mobile gaming systems), a Win32 wrapper application (e.g., written in Win32 language for applications that authenticate devices and monitor PC status). It should be appreciated that the Win32 language and PC are given as non-limiting examples only and that any technique may be used as desired. In some embodiments, the mobile device may include a data switch, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a pda, and the like.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary architecture that may be used in some embodiments. Some embodiments may include a mobile device as indicated. This device can communicate with a gaming service (e.g., a gateway). This device may be used by patrons to enter gambling actions, select games to play, pick game decisions, log into an account, and the like. Some embodiments may include this gateway and/or any desired components of gaming services and/or third party services that may communicate with the mobile device. This component may perform any desired action (e.g., authentication, location, etc.). Some embodiments may include a location service. This location service may provide any desired action involving determining whether the mobile device is in an approved location. This location service may communicate with the mobile device and/or the gaming service. This location service may include the communication provider of the mobile device, the gaming service itself, a third party, etc. Some embodiments may include a gaming component. This gaming component may be used to place bets, determine betting outcomes, track accounts, etc. This betting component may be part of the gaming service provider. This gaming component may receive wagers, determine wagering results, receive actions taken in the game, facilitate game play, transmit indications of the results of the actions, facilitate adjusting accounts in response to the results, and the like.

The figures illustrate some of the acts that may be performed by some of the devices. It should be appreciated that any desired action may be performed by any device in other embodiments. It should be appreciated that any desired computing device in any combination may be used in other implementations.

Some embodiments may encode information, such as system parameters, using MD5 hashes and/or any desired encoding scheme. Information about MD5 hashing can be found at http:// en. wikipedia. org/wiki/MD 5. MD5 may include a message digest algorithm for encoding data. MD5 may help ensure that 1) once encoded, data cannot be retrieved via some form of decoding (i.e., raw data loss) 2) MD5 hashing two different pieces of data (even if they are quite similar) will produce different results and/or 3) MD5 hashing the same data will produce the same result.

Some embodiments may use the SSL HTTPS protocol to facilitate secure communications between entities. In some embodiments, communication between the client device and the DAS, gateway, and/or components of the gaming service may be performed via use of the SSL HTTPS protocol. This may ensure data integrity and/or security. Information about the HTTPS protocol can be found at http:// en. wikipedia. org/wiki/HTTPS.

Some embodiments (such as embodiments that may use the Android OS) may sign the protected application using a private key. For example, the OS may ensure that: 1) two applications signed with different private keys cannot write to the data store of the other application and/or 2) two applications signed with the same private key can write to the data store of the other application. Information about this security can be found at http:// leveller. android. com/guide/topics/security. html.

Some embodiments (such as those using Win 32) may use a program id protection application. For example, the Wind32 packaging application may ensure that: 1) two applications run under the same user id and/or 2) two applications are two programs running under the same user id only.

These examples are given only as non-limiting examples. It should be appreciated that various embodiments may include any desired participants, programs, devices, servers, components, entities, architectures, etc. in any desired combination.

Examples of gaming rules

Some embodiments may operate in compliance with one or more rules. It will be appreciated that any rule and/or no rule may be used as desired. Any number of mechanisms, penalties, verifications, etc. may be used to ensure compliance with any one or more of the rules. Some exemplary rules may include:

1. the wager is accepted within a location approved within the nevada state according to regulation 22.140 and regulation 266.160. Nevada law prohibits bets originating from outside Nevada and thus these bets may not be allowed. The issuer may understand that wagering originates outside of the state of nevada as illegal.

2. Wagers may be applied in person at the time of entry of the tournament and/or sports wagering game. Under regulations 22 and 26c, applicants may refine accounts approved based on a wager application and provide acceptable valid identification and/or social security numbers.

3. The account applicant may be twenty-one (21) years old or over 21 years old.

4. The account transaction may be conducted by the issuer. The account may be limited to personal use named on the application. Account deposits and withdrawals may be made in person. A proxy or other delegate may not be allowed.

5. The deposit minimum amount of $100.00 can be opened. The account may make a cash deposit. According to the Nevada gaming regulation, the account of the account owner can be transferred online.

6. Account deposits and withdrawals may be signed and authorized by guests at the time of entry of contests and sports wagering games during normal business hours. An agent or delegate may not be allowed.

7. Account withdrawals and subsequent deposits may be made at the initial deposit location.

8. The account owner may be required to provide his account number and an acceptable valid identification when conducting an account transaction in person.

9. If the wager exceeds the account balance, the wager may not be accepted.

10. Wagering may be subject to established wagering limits.

11. Under regulatory scrutiny, a rule may be subject to any temporal variation.

12. The minimum credit may include $100 and the minimum wager may include $ 5.

13. Any desired customization rules and/or regulations may be applied to the wagering accounts.

14. The sponsor may provide their bill in a reasonable amount of time, with the bill showing wagering account deposits, wagering account withdrawals, wagering account credits, and/or wagering account debits made during the time period reported by the bill. The request for this information can be done at write time and signed by the owner, which will be verified at request time. During a request, the owner may provide details conveying the requested information. All mail can be mailed via regular mail to the address of the owner's request. If the owner request receives information in person, the information may be provided to the owner, but the owner may provide a valid identification when receiving the information. Information may not be privately distributed to anyone other than the owner holding the account unless required by legal or forensic instructions.

15. According to nevada gambling committee regulations 7A, the owner may block any transaction.

16. The gambling location may print an electronic or other approved record of each sporting transaction and may not accept any such wagers or transactions if the recording system is not operational. According to regulations 22 and 26c, the recorded betting transaction may be maintained for up to 60 days. The record of all wager information confirmed by the owner may be considered a transaction record, regardless of what is recorded by the computerized wagering game registration or betting system. After the request, the record may be used by the nevada gaming regulators.

17. The customer may know that the use of the BET placed by the system IS only binding to both parties when the "BET IS APPROVED" or the message "BET HAS beenccepted" IS displayed on the system.

Multiple account instances

Some embodiments may include multiple accounts involving multiple respective gaming venues and/or other venues. In some embodiments, each such account may allow gaming at a particular gaming location, sports betting game registry, or the like. In some embodiments, for example, a user may have a respective monetary account for gaming at a gaming venue associated with each of a plurality of gaming operators (e.g., a gaming venue, a sports betting game registry, a mobile gaming provider, an internet betting website) and a respective monetary account for sports betting associated with one or more of a plurality of gaming operators (e.g., a gaming venue, a sports betting game registry, a mobile gaming provider, an internet betting website). The gaming provider may operate these accounts and/or allow gaming involving these accounts.

Some embodiments may include preventing use of funds in a gaming account at a location or location that is not associated with the gaming account. Some embodiments may include preventing funds in a gambling account from being used to play a game and/or performing an account-disapproved activity (e.g., shopping, playing gambling location games, playing sports games). A location determination may be made that may be used to determine this functionality as described herein.

Some embodiments may include features that allow funds to be transferred from one gaming account to another gaming account. These funds may be transferred between accounts associated with the same gaming operator and/or between accounts associated with different gaming operators.

In some embodiments, the transfer may include adjusting an electronic record identifying the amount in the account. For example, a single gaming operator may have one account decrease by the same amount as another account may increase (e.g., internal property transfers between casino wagering accounts and sports wagering accounts). In some embodiments, multiple parties may be involved in a transfer. For example, the account amount that the first gaming operator can decrease is the same as the account amount that the second gaming operator can increase. In some embodiments, a broker (e.g., a mobile gaming operator or an account operator) may provide billing services on behalf of one or more entities (e.g., accounts for multiple entities may be maintained and adjustments may be made accordingly on behalf thereof).

In some embodiments, this account transfer feature may allow a user to grant permission to transfer an amount from an account. An allowed (or lesser) amount may be moved to another account. Thus, another account may use the amount to take gaming action and/or perform an activity, even though the account may not use the amount to take gaming action and/or perform the same activity.

In some embodiments, a primary account may be established involving a primary gaming provider. For example, The first account may relate to a first Gaming venue (e.g., The M report) or a first Gaming service provider (e.g., a mobile Gaming provider such as canto Gaming corporation). This account may be established by the primary gaming provider, the user, and/or the financial institution (e.g., by registering and/or depositing money into the account). The user may deposit money into and/or withdraw money from this account. In the case of deposit into this account, the account may be used to take gambling actions in one or more games. This account may be used to play a game at the gambling location or primary gambling provider and/or otherwise through the primary gambling provider (e.g., using an application (app) provided by the primary gambling provider when the primary gambling provider takes gambling actions). In some embodiments, this account may be associated with one or more activities (e.g., sports gaming and/or casino gaming). In some embodiments, multiple accounts involving the primary gaming provider and associated with different activities may be established (e.g., one account for a sports game and another account for a casino game).

In some embodiments, a secondary account may be established involving a secondary gaming provider. For example, The second account may relate to a second gaming establishment (e.g., The Hard Rock Casino) or a second gaming Service provider (e.g., a mobile gaming provider such as The Venetian Pocket Casino Service). This account may be established by the secondary gaming provider, the user, and/or the financial institution (e.g., by registering and/or depositing money into the account). The user may deposit money into and/or withdraw money from this account. In the case of deposit into this account, the account may be used to take gambling actions in one or more games. This account can be used to play a game at and/or otherwise through the secondary gaming provider (e.g., using an application provided by the secondary gaming provider when the secondary gaming provider takes a gaming action). In some embodiments, this account may be associated with one or more activities (e.g., gambling at a gambling location and/or physical gambling). In some embodiments, multiple accounts involving a secondary gaming provider and associated with different activities may be established (e.g., one account for a sports game and another account for a casino game).

In some embodiments, a third account may be established that relates to the first activity. For example, the third account may relate to playing casino games (e.g., slot machine, blackjack, poker). This account may be established by the gaming provider, the user, and/or the financial institution (e.g., by registering and/or depositing money into the account). The user may deposit money into and/or withdraw money from this account. The account can be used to take gambling actions in one or more casino games with the deposit of money into the account. This account may be limited to a first activity and/or may not be available for a certain second activity (e.g., sports and/or game play). In some embodiments, this account may be associated with one or more gaming providers.

In some embodiments, a fourth account may be established that relates to a second activity (e.g., a second activity that may not be possible using a third account). This account may be established by the gaming provider, the user, and/or the financial institution (e.g., by registering and/or depositing money into the account). The user may deposit money into and/or withdraw money from this account. This account may be used to take gambling actions at one or more sports, games and/or other events, with money deposited into the account. This account may be limited to the second activity and/or may not be available for a certain first activity (e.g., gaming venue gaming). In some embodiments, this account may be associated with one or more gaming providers (e.g., gaming providers that are the same and/or different than the tertiary account).

In some embodiments, establishing an account may include receiving information from the user by the gaming operator, collecting money from the user, verifying information about the user, depositing money into the account, storing information in a database, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, the user may provide identifying information (e.g., name, age, address, social security number, driver's license number, etc.) to the gaming provider to establish the account. The gaming provider can store this information in a database. The gaming provider can verify one or more portions of the information (e.g., query the photo ID to verify age). Information establishing this verification may be stored in a database (e.g., an ID copy). Login information for the account may be established. In some embodiments, this information may be established personally at the gaming operator, over the internet, by fax, over the phone, etc., as desired. In some embodiments, money may be deposited into the account. For example, physical cash may be given to the gaming operator and in response the database entries may be adjusted to indicate that money is in the account. In some embodiments, an electronic transfer may be made into the account (e.g., from another account) and a database entry may be made to identify the transfer.

In some embodiments, a single intermediary may maintain information relating to multiple accounts with multiple gaming providers (e.g., a mobile gaming provider may operate at multiple gaming sites and maintain accounts relating to each gaming site). In some embodiments, the broker may maintain a customer database that may store account information for the plurality of accounts. Some embodiments may include maintaining account consistency in this database. For example, if a player changes their name or address associated with an account, these changes may be propagated through the customer database to affect all accounts. In some embodiments, the change may not affect other accounts. In some embodiments, the player may be provided with the option of propagating the changes to other accounts through the user interface (e.g., to choose which account to influence).

In some embodiments, when a player establishes a new account, the new account may be linked in the customer database with other accounts established by the player. This establishment and/or linking may be part of a registration procedure. For example, when an account is established, the database may search for identifiers entered by the player to see if the player has registered for the account (e.g., the player may be queried for login information from previous account establishment, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, other unique identifiers may be searched). If a match is found in the customer database with the player who established the new account, the new account may be associated with the previous customer entry and all accounts that have been previously associated with the customer in response. This association may facilitate the program maintaining an ordered customer profile, posting accounts to customers, transferring accounts among customer accounts, monitoring fraud (e.g., monitoring multiple account usage simultaneously and taking anti-fraud actions in response), and so forth.

Some embodiments may relate to gaming at a gaming establishment and/or in a legal gaming jurisdiction. The game may be executed using money from one or more established accounts. The database may be adjusted in response to wind casts, transfers, etc. In some embodiments, the gaming jurisdiction and/or provider may require and/or need to keep some money separate from other money. Such money handling may improve accountability, tracking, credit value assurance, activity monitoring, age verification, identity confirmation, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, each gaming provider (e.g., home, gaming venue, mobile gaming provider) may require setting its own account (e.g., each provider makes a wager account setting) to wager by the provider. As another example, the tournament and/or sports account may be required to be separate from the gaming venue gaming account. For example, a gambling provider providing both sports/game gambling and casino gambling may require the user to establish both sports/game accounts and casino accounts because the user needs to base the gambling of the accounts by the gambling provider on both sports/game games and casino games. In some embodiments, a separate account may be required for shopping and/or otherwise spending money. For example, a gaming account may be blocked from being used to spend money to purchase a product. In some implementations, a single account may be used for more than one activity by more than one gaming provider and/or at more than one location.

It should be appreciated that in various embodiments, any combination of locations, gaming providers, intermediaries, activities, and/or other characteristics associated with wagering and/or non-wagering accounts may be used as desired. The various examples of embodiments are given as non-limiting examples that may be combined together in any manner as desired. For example, some embodiments may include three independent accounts associated with three respective activities at each of four independent locations. In some embodiments, as examples of some account types and/or associations, one account may be associated with sports betting location a, another account may be associated with playing a betting location game at betting location B, a third account may be associated with shopping at store C, and a fourth account may be associated with investing at financial institution D.

Some embodiments may include facilitating transfer from one account (e.g., first account, third account) to another account (e.g., second account, fourth account). The money may include money stored in the account, money transferred to the account, etc. In some embodiments, the accounts to which money may be transferred may include accounts associated with gaming providers (e.g., gaming venues at which the user is located) in which the user participates at the time of the transfer and/or the accounts from which money may be drawn may include accounts associated with gaming providers (e.g., gaming venues at which the user is not located) in which the user does not participate at the time of the transfer.

In some embodiments, facilitating transfers may include taking and depositing money from one account into another account. Some embodiments may include charging for this service (e.g., for each transaction, for a registration fee, etc.). In some embodiments, this transfer may be facilitated by making one or more database changes. In some embodiments, accounting, auditing, and/or reporting with respect to one or more transfers may be performed by a regulatory body as needed.

In some embodiments, the instigation may include a pre-approved transfer, a request for a pre-approved transfer, a transfer of a pre-approved amount, allowing the user to pre-approve a transfer from an account, and the like. In some embodiments, the facilitating may include automatic transfers, transfers from one account to another in response to wagers from the account, transfers to complete wagers, and the like.

Other embodiments

It will be appreciated that the techniques described herein for making, using, or carrying out various embodiments are a subset of possible techniques that may be used for the same or similar purposes. The specific techniques described herein should not be construed as limiting. Rather, the various embodiments contemplate alternative techniques for making, using or carrying out the various embodiments.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods without departing from the scope of the invention. The method may include more, fewer, or other steps. Further, steps may be performed in any suitable order without departing from the scope of the invention.

While the present disclosure has been described with respect to certain embodiments and generally related methods, alternatives and permutations of the embodiments and methods will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of example embodiments does not limit the disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure, as defined by the claims herein.

Exemplary combination embodiments

It should be appreciated that some embodiments may combine aspects. For example, the gaming server may allow individual clients to participate in gaming. Each client may run a different operating system (e.g., iPhone, android device, laptop, etc.), have different capabilities (e.g., gps), and/or may access gaming services through different components (e.g., Wi-Fi, mobile network, ethernet). Based on these considerations, the gaming service and/or gaming client on the client device can take appropriate action to ensure security. These actions may be combined with one or more methods discussed herein that may be used for a particular client device.

For example, an android phone using a mobile network to access gaming services can run client programs that interact with the device and gaming services. The client software may perform a hash check of at least a portion of the client program and/or operating system or transmit this information to the gaming service for checking. The client software can obtain the phone number of the phone by querying the android OS and transmit the number to the gaming service. The client software and/or the gaming service can change the routing table to route traffic through the VPN established between the laptop and the gaming service. The VM and/or proxy checks may be performed by the client software and any desired access method (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) may be disabled by the client software. The client software may obtain login credentials (e.g., login name, password, swipe pattern) from the user and transmit the information to the gaming server for validation or locally validate one or more pieces of the information. For example, the gaming service may verify the obtained login information and use the phone number to check the location of the phone through a geo-fence location check.

As another example, an iOS phone using a mobile network to access gaming services can run a client program that interacts with the device and gaming services. The client software may perform a hash check of at least a portion of the client program and/or operating system or transmit this information to the gaming service for verification. After registration or login, the client software or gaming service may obtain a telephone number from the user. The client software and/or the gaming service can change the routing table to route traffic through the VPN established between the laptop and the gaming service. The VM and/or proxy checks may be performed by the client software and any desired access method (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) may be disabled by the client software. The phone number may be transmitted to the gaming service during login or as part of a registration procedure. The client software may obtain login credentials (e.g., login name, password, swipe pattern) from the user and transmit the information to the gaming server for validation or locally validate one or more pieces of the information. For example, the gaming service may verify the obtained login information and use the phone number to check the location of the phone through a geo-fence location check. The client software can also examine the gps coordinates of the phone and transmit these coordinates to the gaming service. The gaming service can use the gps coordinates to check that the matching gps location report checking device phone number is a true phone number by verifying that the geo-fence service location check is a true phone number.

As yet another example, a windows laptop using a Wi-Fi network to access a gaming service may run a client program that interacts with the device and the gaming service. The client software may perform a hash check of at least a portion of the client program and/or operating system or transmit this information to the gaming service for verification. The IP address of the laptop can be determined by the client device and transmitted to the gaming service and/or determined by the gaming service based on data packets received by the gaming service. The client software and/or the gaming service can change the routing table to route traffic through the VPN established between the laptop and the gaming service. VM and/or proxy checks may be performed by the client software and any desired access method (e.g., Bluetooth) may be disabled by the client software. The client software may obtain login credentials (e.g., login name, password, swipe pattern) from the user and transmit the information to the gaming server for validation or locally validate one or more pieces of the information. The gaming service can verify the obtained login information and use the IP location to check the location of the notebook computer through the IP location checking service.

Cloud service instance

One or more of the functions described herein may be used as a cloud service. For example, the gaming operator may be a cloud service provider, the location service may be a cloud service provider, the authentication service may be a cloud service provider, the account administrator may be a cloud service provider, the branding service may be a cloud service provider, and so forth. Various cloud service providers may interact with each other over a network to provide an aggregate set of services to users. Individual services may be used for multiple purposes. For example, the authentication cloud service may authenticate any device for any gaming operator, the account manager may provide account services to any account user, and the gaming service provider may provide gaming services to any cloud participant.

The cloud may be accessed through some access point. For example, the gaming establishment may provide a portal to access the cloud (e.g., a kiosk, a mobile application on a phone, etc.). The services available to the cloud may be provided by a cloud service provider connected to the cloud.

The account may be maintained elsewhere in this cloud and/or may be maintained specifically for the gaming operator. Thus, a user accessing the cloud may use funds from an account provider in the cloud and a gaming operator in the cloud. A gaming operator in the cloud may use authentication and/or location services of an authentication and/or location service provider in the cloud. The funds in the account provider may be, for example, funds associated with a portal (e.g., gaming venue) used by the user to access the cloud, which may make the funds available to a plurality of gaming services attached to the cloud. In some embodiments, the gaming operator may be limited to using the services that it provides (e.g., its own account services and/or its own authentication services). Some embodiments may include one or more components of this cloud service that may operate to provide gaming functionality and/or to provide services to entities that provide gaming services.

The following section provides guidance to explain the application.

Term(s) for

The terms "one embodiment," "embodiments," "the embodiment," "the embodiments," "one or more embodiments," "some embodiments," "certain embodiments," "one embodiment," "another embodiment," and the like, mean "one or more (but not all) embodiments" of the disclosed invention, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Reference to "another embodiment" when describing an embodiment does not mean that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive from another embodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referenced embodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term "including" and variations thereof means "including, but not necessarily limited to," unless expressly specified otherwise. Thus, for example, the sentence "the combination includes a red widget and a blue widget" means that the combination includes a red widget and a blue widget, but may include other things as well.

The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly specified otherwise.

The phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" describes that "is based only on" and "is based at least on" both. The phrase "based at least on" is equivalent to the phrase "based at least in part on".

The term "respective" and similar terms mean "taken individually". Thus, if two or more things have "individual" characteristics, then each such thing has its own characteristics, and these characteristics may, but need not, be different from each other. For example, the phrase "each of two machines has a respective function" means that a first such machine has a certain function and a second such machine also has a certain function. The function of the first machine may or may not be the same as the function of the second machine.

The term "determining" and its semantic variants (e.g., determining price, determining value, determining the goal of meeting a particular criterion) are used in an extremely broad sense. The term "determining" includes various actions, and thus "determining" can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Further, "determining" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. Further, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

The term "determining" does not imply a positive or absolute accuracy, and thus "determining" may include estimating, inferring, predicting, guessing, or the like.

The term "determining" does not mean that mathematical operation processing must be performed, and does not mean that a numerical method must be used, and does not mean that an algorithm or a program is used.

The term "determining" does not imply that any particular apparatus must be used. For example, the computer does not have to perform the determination.

When an ordinal number (such as "first", "second", "third", etc.) is used before a term as an adjective, the ordinal number is used (unless otherwise specifically stated) merely to indicate a particular feature, such as to distinguish the particular feature from another feature described by the same or similar terms. For example, the "first widget" may be so named merely to distinguish it from, for example, "second widget". Thus, the mere use of the ordinals "first" and "second" before the term "widget" does not indicate any other relationship between the two widgets, and likewise does not indicate any other characteristic of either or both of the components. For example, the mere use of the terms "widget" preceded by the ordinals "first" and "second" (1) does not indicate that the order or position of any one widget is before or after any other widget; (2) does not indicate that the occurrence or action time of any one widget is before or after any other widget; and (3) does not indicate that the importance or quality ranking of any one widget is above or below any other widget. Furthermore, the mere use of ordinals does not define a numerical limit for the features identified using ordinals. For example, the mere use of the ordinals "first" and "second" before the term "widget" does not indicate that no more than two widgets must be present.

When a single device, article, or other article is described herein, more than one device/article (whether associated or not) may alternatively be used in place of the single device/article. Thus, functions described as being handled by a device may instead be handled by more than one device/article (whether or not associated therewith).

Similarly, when more than one device, article, or other article is described herein (whether or not associated therewith), a single device/article may alternatively be used in place of the more than one device or article. For example, multiple computer-based devices may be replaced by a single computer-based device. Thus, different functions described as being handled by more than one device or article may instead be handled by a single device/article.

The functions and/or features of a single device may alternatively be embodied by one or more other devices which are described, but which are not explicitly described as having such functions/features. Thus, other embodiments need not include the device itself, but may include one or more other devices that would have these functions/features in the other embodiments.

Although the program steps, algorithms, etc. may be described or presented in a particular order, these programs may be configured to work in a different order. In other words, any order or sequence of steps that may be explicitly described or stated does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in the order in which they are described. The program steps described herein may be performed in any possible order. Further, although some steps are described or implied as occurring non-concurrently (e.g., because one step is described after another), they may also be performed concurrently. Furthermore, the illustration of the procedures depicted in the accompanying figures does not imply that the procedures shown preclude other variations and modifications, that the procedures shown or any steps thereof are required for the present invention, and that the procedures shown are preferred.

While a process may be described as comprising a number of steps, it is not intended that all or any of the steps be preferred, required or essential. Various other embodiments within the scope of the invention include other procedures that omit some or all of the steps. Any step is not required or necessary unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Although a program may be described by itself or without reference to other products or methods, in embodiments the program may interact with other products or methods. This interaction may include, for example, linking one business model into another business model. This interaction may be provided to enhance the flexibility or accessibility of the program.

Although an article of manufacture may be described as comprising a plurality of components, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, this does not indicate that any or all of the plurality is preferred, required or essential. Various other embodiments within the scope of the described invention include other products omitting some or all of the above-described pluralities.

An enumerated listing of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated listing of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of the items are an aggregate of any of the categories, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the enumeration of a list "computer, laptop, PDA" does not mean that any or all of the three items of the list are mutually exclusive and does not mean that any or all of the three items of the list are a composite of any category. The enumerated listing of items, which may or may not be numbered, does not imply that any or all of the items are equivalent or readily replaceable with each other.

Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the various programs described herein can be implemented by, for example, appropriately programmed general purpose computers, special purpose computers, and computing devices. Generally, a processor (e.g., one or more microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digital signal processors) will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory or similar device) and execute the instructions, thereby executing one or more programs defined by the instructions. The instructions may be embodied in, for example, one or more computer programs, one or more scripts.

"processor" means one or more microprocessors, Central Processing Units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or similar devices, or any combination thereof, regardless of architecture (e.g., chip-level multiprocessing/multicore, RISC, CISC, microprocessors without interlocked pipeline stages, pipeline configurations, synchronous multithreading).

Thus, the description of the program is also a description of the apparatus for executing the program. An apparatus executing a program may comprise, for example, a processor adapted to execute the program, as well as those input devices and output devices.

In addition, programs (and other types of data) that implement the methods may be stored and transmitted in a variety of ways using a variety of media (e.g., computer-readable media). In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or in combination with, some or all of the software instructions of a program that may implement various embodiments. Accordingly, various combinations of hardware and software may be used instead of using software alone.

The description of the program is also a description of a computer-readable medium storing the program for executing the program. The computer readable medium may store (in any suitable format) those program elements adapted to perform the methods.

As a description of individual steps in a procedure does not indicate that all such steps are necessary, embodiments of the apparatus include a computer/computing device operable to execute some, but not necessarily all, of such procedures.

Also, just as descriptions of various steps in a program do not indicate that all of the steps are necessary, embodiments of a computer readable medium storing the program or data structures include a computer readable medium storing the program which, when executed, causes a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of the program.

In describing a database, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that (i) alternative database structures to the database structure may be readily employed, and (ii) memory structures other than databases may be readily employed. Any illustration or description of any sample database presented herein is an illustrative configuration of a stored representation of information. Any number of other configurations may be employed other than those suggested by, for example, tables shown in the figures or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustrated entries of the database represent exemplary information only; one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the number and content of entries may vary from that described herein. Further, although the databases are depicted as tables, other formats (including relational databases, object-based models, and/or distributed databases) may also be used to store and manipulate the data types described herein. Also, various programs such as those described herein may be implemented using object methods or behaviors of a database. Furthermore, the database may be stored in a known manner locally or remotely to the device, which accesses the data in this database.

Various embodiments may be configured to operate in a network environment, including a computer in communication with one or more devices (e.g., via a communications network). The computer can communicate with the device directly or indirectly via any wired or wireless medium, such as the internet, a LAN, a WAN, or ethernet, Token Ring, phone line, cable line, radio channel, optical communication line, commercial online service provider, electronic bulletin board system, satellite communication link, or any combination thereof. Each of the devices may itself comprise a computer or other computing device adapted to communicate with the computer, such as based on Intel Pentium or Centrino ® Keyed ® Kernel @^TMA computer or computing device of a processor. Any number and type of devices may communicate with the computer.

In embodiments, a server computer or central facility may not be necessary or necessary. For example, in embodiments, the invention may be practiced on one or more devices without a central authority. In this embodiment, any functions described herein as being performed by a server computer or as data stored on a server computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or more such devices.

When describing a program, the program may be operated without any user intervention in embodiments. In another embodiment, the procedure includes some human intervention (e.g., the steps are performed or assisted by a human).

Video wagering game

The video wagering game is configured to simulate a table game using table game rules and an adapted version of cards.

In one version of the video poker, the player is allowed to view five cards randomly picked by the computer. These cards may be displayed on a video screen and the player picks the card he or she wishes to hold, if any. If the player wishes to hold all cards (i.e., opening), he or she presses the STAND button. If the player wishes to HOLD only a few cards, he or she picks the card to be held by pressing the HOLD key directly under each card displayed on the video screen. Pressing the DEAL button after picking HOLD cards automatically and simultaneously replaces the unselected cards with additional cards randomly selected from the remaining cards of the deck. After pressing the STAND button or replacing the cards, the final hold is evaluated by the computer of the gaming machine and the player is awarded any one of the game credits or coin payments as determined from the pay table. This rewards table is stored in the computer memory of the gaming machine and is also displayed on the screen of the gaming machine. A hand has higher playing card values and more points or coins are awarded. Very rare rewards for a round of playing card prizes are 800 to 1 or higher.

By passingCommunication system game playing device

Figure 1 illustrates a block diagram of components of a card reading system on a fourth table of some embodiments. An intelligent card reading shoe 8 having an output 14 and an intelligent card reading discard rack 12 having an output 18 are shown. A dealer hand position sensor 10 is shown for player position 6, without an output port 16.

Fig. 2 shows a device for playing a game. There are a plurality of player units 40-1 to 40-n coupled via a communication system 41, such as the internet, to a game play system comprising a management unit 42, a player register 43 and a game unit 45. Each unit 40 is typically a personal computer having a display unit and control means (keyboard and mouse).

When a player logs into the game playing system, its unit 40 identifies itself to the managing unit. The system stores details of the player in a register 43, the register 43 comprising separate player register units 44-1 to 44-n for all potential players, i.e. all members of the system.

Once the player has been identified, the player will assign to the gaming unit 45. The game unit comprises a set of player data units 46-1 to 46-6, a dealer unit 47, a control unit 48 and a random card dealing unit 49.

Up to seven players may be assigned to gaming units 45. There may be several such units (as indicated) so that when more than seven members are simultaneously logged into the system, several games may be played simultaneously. The assignment of player data units 46 by the player unit 40 may be arbitrary or random depending on which player data unit 46 and gaming unit 45 are idle. Each player data unit 46 is loaded from the corresponding player register unit 44 and also includes substantially the same details as the corresponding player unit 40 and communicates with the player unit 40 to keep the contents of the player unit and the player data unit updated with one another. In addition, the appropriate content portions of the other player data units 46 and the dealer unit 47 are passed to the player unit 40 for display.

The logic unit 48 of the gaming unit 45 performs the steps of the gaming unit by playing various stages of the game to initiate dealer action and wait for an appropriate response from the player unit 40. The random card dealing unit 49 deals cards substantially randomly to the dealer unit 47 and the player data unit 46. At the end of a round, the logic unit passes the outcome of a round to the player data unit 46 to inform the player of its outcome. The management unit 42 also receives the results and updates the player register unit 44 accordingly.

The player unit 40 is arranged to show a display. To identify the player, the player's position is highlighted. As the game progresses, the player selects each information box, enters a bet or the like in the information box, and displays the result of the action. As the deal progresses, a series of overlapping card symbols are displayed in the prize box. At the player's option, the cards may be displayed in a row under the bonus box, and so on for the cards dealt to the dealer. At the end of a hand, a message is displayed informing the player of the outcome of his wager.

Alternative techniques

It will be appreciated that the techniques described herein for making, using, or carrying out various embodiments are a subset of possible techniques that may be used for the same or similar purposes. The specific techniques described herein should not be construed as limiting. Rather, the various embodiments contemplate alternative techniques for making, using or carrying out the various embodiments.

Claims (18)

1. A method for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

determining, by a computing device, in which of a plurality of geo-fences a device is located, wherein a first geo-fence of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more gaming activities are providable to a user of the device when the device is located in any one of the plurality of geo-fences;

determining, by the computing device, a time to re-determine the location of the device based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein the time is a first value when the device is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, and wherein the time is a second value when the device is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence; and

determining, by the computing device, a location of the device at the determined time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second value is greater than the first value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second value is less than the first value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second value is equal to the first value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second geo-fence comprises at least a third geo-fence therein.

6. A method for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

registering, by a computing device, an application on a device, wherein one or more gaming activities are providable to a user of the device, and wherein the application is at least configured to determine a location of the device, a location the device has changed, and/or a distance the device has moved;

receiving, by the computing device, a report from the application, wherein the report includes at least one of a location of the device, an indication that the device has moved, and an indication of a distance that the device has moved; and

determining, by the computing device, a location of the device through a geofence in response to the report.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first geo-fence of the plurality of geo-fences comprises at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more of the gaming activities are providable to the user when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; and

configuring the application to report a change in location based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the apparatus is located, wherein when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, the application is configured to report a shorter distance movement of the apparatus than when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence.

8. A method for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

determining, by a computing device, whether a user device is located within a predefined location in response to the user accessing a gaming service using a device to engage in at least one gaming activity, wherein the predefined location is defined by a non-circular geofence defined by a series of ordered coordinates and a line between consecutive coordinates, and wherein determining whether the user device is located within the predefined location comprises making the determination by using a geofence; and

allowing, by the computing device, the user to engage in the at least one gaming activity from the user device based on the determination that the user device is located within the predefined location.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the non-circular geofence is a polygonal geofence.

10. An apparatus for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

means for determining, by a computing device, in which of a plurality of geo-fences a device is located, wherein a first geo-fence of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more gaming activities are providable to a user of the device when the device is located in any one of the plurality of geo-fences;

means for determining, by the computing device, a time to re-determine the location of the device based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein the time is a first value when the device is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, and wherein the time is a second value when the device is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence; and

means for determining, by the computing device, a location of the device at the determined time.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second value is greater than the first value.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second value is less than the first value.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second value is equal to the first value.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second geo-fence comprises at least a third geo-fence therein.

15. An apparatus for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

means for registering, by a computing device, an application on a device, wherein one or more gaming activities are providable to a user of the device, and wherein the application is at least configured to determine a location of the device, a location the device has changed, and/or a distance the device has moved;

means for receiving, by the computing device, a report from the application, wherein the report includes at least one of a location of the device, an indication that the device has moved, and an indication of a distance that the device has moved; and

means for determining, by the computing device, a location of the device through a geofence in response to the report.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

means for determining in which of a plurality of geo-fences the device is located, wherein a first geo-fence of the plurality of geo-fences includes at least a second geo-fence therein, and wherein one or more of the gaming activities are available to the user when the device is located in any of the plurality of geo-fences; and

means for configuring the application to report a change in location based on which of the plurality of geo-fences the apparatus is located, wherein when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence but not the second geo-fence, the application is configured to report a shorter distance movement of the apparatus than when the apparatus is located within the first geo-fence and the second geo-fence.

17. An apparatus for gaming through a mobile device, comprising:

means for determining, by a computing device, whether a user device is located within a predefined location in response to the user accessing a gaming service using the device to engage in at least one gaming activity, wherein the predefined location is defined by a non-circular geofence defined by a series of ordered coordinates and a line between consecutive coordinates, and wherein means for determining whether the user device is located within the predefined location comprises means for making the determination using a geofence; and

means for allowing, by the computing device, the user to engage in the at least one gaming activity from the user device based on the determination that the user device is located within the predefined location.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the non-circular geofence is a polygonal geofence.