Granted Patent B2

US 8,328,618 · App. 12/365,952 · Granted Dec 11, 2012

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method for conducting lottery games at a retail establishment using non-transitory computer-readable media wherein players purchase goods or services, comprising:

a player placing a wager that is a function of the purchase price of the goods or services purchased at the retail establishment, the wager automatically determined and presented to the player as the amount needed to round the purchase price to a defined value;

conducting a lottery draw wherein the probability of winning the draw is a function of the amount of the wager such that for the same given prize amount in different lottery draws, wherein each lottery draw comprises a separate game, the probability of winning varies proportionally to the wager amount in a particular lottery draw;

for a winning draw, awarding the player a prize that is a function of the purchase price of the goods or services such that the prize amount in any one of the separate lottery draws is a function of the rounded up purchase price; and

for the same wager amount in different, separate lottery draws, the probability of winning also varies between different prize amounts such that the probability of winning in a particular lottery draw decreases as the prize amount increases.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the lottery game is offered to customers of the retail establishment at the establishment's check-out point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

3. The method as in claim 2 , wherein the lottery game is offered at multiple check-out POS terminals at the retail establishment.

4. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the lottery draw is conducted and the time of purchase of the goods or services and the player is immediately notified of the results of the lottery draw at the time of purchase of the goods or services.

5. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the defined value of the player's wager amount increases as a function of increasing purchase price.

6. The method as in claim 5 , wherein different increasing defined values are assigned to increasing ranges of purchase prices.

7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the prize award for a winning draw is the rounded up purchase price of the goods or services.

8. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the lottery draw comprises assigning the player one or more objects from a defined set of the objects, and then randomly generating a defined set of the objects, the player winning the lottery draw if their assigned objects matches a stipulated number or pattern of the randomly generated objects.

9. The method as in claim 8 , wherein the player's assigned objects are randomly generated for the player.

10. The method as in claim 8 , wherein the player's assigned objects are selected by the player.

11. A system for conducting lottery games at a retail establishment, said system comprising:

a retail establishment point-of-sale (POS) checkout terminal configured for computing the purchase price of goods or services purchased by a player;

a lottery terminal system configured in communication with said POS checkout terminal for receipt of the purchase price, said terminal system having a hardware and software configuration to conduct a lottery game at said POS checkout terminal whereby a player places a wager that is automatically computed by said lottery terminal system as the amount needed to round up the purchase price of the goods or services to a defined value;

said lottery terminal system configured to conduct lottery draws wherein each lottery draw comprises a separate game and wherein the probability of winning in any one draw is a function of the amount of the wager such that for the same given prize amount in the separate, different lottery draws, the probability of winning varies proportionally to the wager amount in a particular lottery draw, and for a winning draw, indicating to the player a prize payout amount that is dependent upon the rounded up purchase price; and

said lottery terminal system further configured to establish the probability of winning in the separate lottery draws such that for the same wager amount in different lottery draws, the probability of winning varies between different prize amounts and decreases as the prize amount increases.

12. The system as in claim 11 , comprising multiple POS checkout terminals at the retail establishment, and at least one said lottery terminal system configured at each said POS checkout terminal.

13. The system as in claim 12 , further comprising a central game computer system having a hardware and software configuration to implement the lottery game at multiple retail establishments, said lottery terminal systems networked with said central game computer.

14. The system as in claim 13 , wherein said central game computer establishes a probability of winning for each game played at said lottery terminal systems.

15. The system as in claim 11 , wherein the defined value of the player's wager amount increases as a function of increasing purchase price.

16. The system as in claim 15 , wherein the wager amount is the amount needed to round the purchase price up to the next highest whole dollar.

17. The system as in claim 16 , wherein different increasing defined values are assigned to increasing ranges of purchase prices.

18. The system as in claim 11 , wherein said lottery terminal apparatus is configured to conduct the lottery draw by assigning to the player one or more objects from a defined set of the objects, and then randomly generating a defined set of the objects, the player winning the lottery draw if their assigned objects match a stipulated number or pattern of the randomly generated objects.

19. The system as in claim 18 , wherein said lottery terminal system randomly generates the player's assigned objects.

20. The system as in claim 18 , wherein said lottery terminal system is configured to accept a player's selection of the assigned objects.

Assignments (14)