US20080081685A1 - Online wagering method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of online wagering on events such as sports, financial markets, politics, entertainment, and the like. The user is required to select an event and wager on the outcome of the selected event by entering a bid amount. The user also selects time period and day of the wager. Winners are determined based on the users' selections of the outcome of the event and the time and date of the wager. The total amount of money wagered by all the participants is proportionately distributed among the winners, after transactional fee deduction, according to the individual bid amounts entered by the winners.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
• None
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
• Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM
• Not Applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
• Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND
• The present invention relates in general to wagering methods, and more particularly to an online wagering method that evenly distributes the total wagered money to the winners.
• Wagering became a huge industry. Wagers are made on outcomes of financial markets, events such as horse racing and sports, and games of chance. Several wagering methods and systems have been developed in the art. For example, U.S. Pub. No. 20060105840 to Graeve discloses a method for conducting a game by a gambling operator or casino in which a plurality of players bet. A set of rules is established for the game. The rules define a winner based on at least one financial market data value that fluctuates based on market activity in a financial market that is distinct from the game. Updates to the financial market data value are electronically received from a third-party data source. A forum that is electronically coupled to the third-party data source is provided where the players play the game in accordance with the established set of rules and at least one financial market data value. The gambling operator or casino collects a fee for conducting the game.
• U.S. Pub. No. 20050197948 to Davie discloses a method for providing a wager in a financial market environment that includes presenting an opportunity to make a wager that is based on a moving market line associated with a financial market. An end user is given an opportunity to bet on whether a financial market value will be above or below the moving market line at a designated time. The wager may be accepted from the end user and monitored in order to determine whether the financial market value was above or below the moving market line at the designated time.
• U.S. Pub. No. 20040204232 to Asher discloses systems and methods for real-time interactive wagering on event outcomes. Clients are first qualified and given wagering limits before being allowed to interactively wager on event outcomes. Event outcomes may be based on financial markets and indices, sporting and entertainment events, casino games, casino performances, and natural phenomena. Events on which wagers can be placed include both those with known and unknown outcome probabilities, and wagers can be a fixed-odds type or a spread-bet type. Wager transactions, including acceptances and confirmations, are executed in real time. Clients can customize displays of events on which they are authorized to wager. Realtime client credit management, automatic dealer hedging, automatic price-spread adjustments, and automatic client and dealer defined wagering limits are also provided.
• Although wagering methods and systems such as the above have been developed, the method of distribution of winning amount to the winners is different in the present invention. The primary object of the present invention is to provide an online wagering method that evenly distributes the total money wagered by all the participants to the winners.
• A further object is to provide an online wagering method where the wager is a simple choice between two options with no dealers involved.
• A further object is to provide an online wagering method that is suitable for wagering on a variety of events such as stocks, bonds, currencies, indices, foreign markets, sporting events, and the like.
• Finally, it is an object to provide an online wagering method that does not need the understanding of complex techniques, especially when wagering on financial markets. These and other objects of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the appended Summary, Description, and Claims.
SUMMARY
• The present invention is an online wagering method that is simple and transparent. A user creates an account by accessing a hosting website. The user is then provided with a plurality of user interfaces having selectable options and input fields. To make a wager, a user needs to select the event. The user is then required to select any of two options that correspond to positive and negative performances (or outcomes) of the selected event. These options may vary depending on the type of event. The day and the time period of the wager are also selected by the user. Finally, the user specifies a bid amount for the wager and accepts the wager. The users are also provided with options to edit or cancel wagers.
• Several users can participate by wagering on the outcome of an event and the winners are determined based on the users' selections of the event outcome along with the day and time period of the wager. Important features of the present invention is that the wager is based on two options and the total amount of money wagered by all the participants is distributed evenly among the winners.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
• FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of the present invention.
FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS
• None
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• The present invention provides a method for online wagering that is described with reference toFIG. 1. The method is adaptable for wagering on a variety of events such as sports, financial markets, politics, entertainment and the like.
• All the necessary communication networks are associated with a host server for getting real time information about the events. To make a wager, a user needs to register and create an account by accessing a hosting website. The user also needs to provide a two way online payment method to facilitate direct credit and debit to and from his/her account. The age of the user is verified during this process. Following registration, the user is provided with an identifier (ID) and password.
• After logging onto the hosting website, the user is guided through a plurality of user interfaces (not illustrated) for making wagers. Event selecting user interfaces (not illustrated) display a variety of wagering events categorized into groups and subgroups. For example, a financial market events group may include stocks, bonds, currencies, indices, commodities, foreign markets, and the like. A sporting event group may include games in the NFL, NBA, PGA, NHL, tennis, soccer and college sports, and the like. The user may select an event on which he/she wants to wager. The user may also assign favorites concerning the events.
• The user is then provided with two simple options concerning the performance (or outcome) of the selected event. The two options correspond to positive and negative performances (or outcomes) of the selected event. Positive and negative performances (or outcome) of the selected event may be a rise or fall, win or loss, and the like, depending on the type of event. For example, in a financial market event, the two options comprise rise and fall of the market. In a sporting event, the two options comprise win and loss. These options may vary depending on the type of event selected. The user needs to select one of the two options before going to the next step.
• The user may also select the day and the time period of the wager. Alternatively, the user can select series of days instead of a single day. The day and time period are verified to see whether they are appropriate for the selected event. Following which, the user specifies a bid amount for the wager and accept the wager. The result of the user's wager, whether the user won or loss, is determined based on the outcome of the event at the conclusion of the time period on the selected day.
• In this way, a wager on a particular event is made by a plurality of users. Winners are determined based on the users' selections of the event performance (or outcome) option and the time period and day of the wager. An important feature of the present invention concerns the method of payment to the winners. The total amount of money, after a deduction of a small transactional fee, wagered by all the users is distributed among the winners in proportion to the individual bid amounts entered by the winners. In this case, a winner who entered the highest bid amount will profit more. The amount is directly deposited to the winners' accounts. The amount to be paid to the user can also be displayed.
• The user can view all the wagers made. These wagers are categorized into positive and negative performances of the events. Before the expiry of the wager, potential gains or losses based on the number of current wagers in the selected event can be displayed to the user in real time. The users are also provided with options to edit the bid amount or to cancel the wager within a certain time period. Historical behavior of the events can also be displayed to the users. The highest and lowest volume wagers and potential gain for a specific amount that is wagered are also displayed.
• Limitations concerning the time period for wagering can be imposed depending on factors such as the type of event. For example, a wager may not be allowed prior to the closing bell in a stock market event or in a football game, a wager may not be allowed after the opening kickoff. The present invention does not require dealers to facilitate the offering of this service but requires a small transaction fee. Additionally, knowledge of current markets trends is not necessary when wagering on financial market events.
• All features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
• Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6.
• Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.

Claims (20)

1. A method of online wagering on events comprising:

providing a user interface for users to participate in wagering;

selecting an event by the users;

giving an opportunity for the users to wager on a performance of the selected event, wherein the wager is a simple choice between two options that correspond to positive and negative performances of the selected event.

2. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: distributing a total amount of money, after deduction of a transactional fee, wagered by all the participating users proportionately among winners according to bid amounts entered by the winners.

3. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: giving an opportunity for the users to enter a bid amount and select times and dates of the wager.

4. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: determining the winners of the wager based on the users' selections of the performance of the event and a time and date of the wager, the winners being declared after the conclusion of the event.

5. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: giving the users the choice to select a series of dates on which they want to wager.

6. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: displaying all the wagers made by the user.

7. The method ofclaim 6 further comprising: categorizing the wagers into positive and negative performances of the events.

8. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: displaying current winning amount for the users if the wager is won.

9. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: giving the users the ability to edit the bid amount.

10. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: giving the users the ability to cancel the wager.

11. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: displaying historical behavior of the events to the users.

12. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the event is a financial market event.

13. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the event is a sporting event.

14. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the events are categorized into several groups and subgroups.

15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the method does not include dealers.

16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein each user registers by opening an account with a two way online payment method.

17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein age of the user is verified while creating the account.

18. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the users can assign favorites concerning the events.

19. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: displaying highest and lowest volume wagers and potential gain for a specific amount that is wagered.

20. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: displaying highest and lowest potential gains.

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