SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A VIRTUAL HOME GAME
A home game system and method for scheduling virtual home game in a home game club. Membership to the club is restricted and managed by the club manager. The number of home game clubs that a player can create, the number of games that are scheduled for a home game club, the number of players that may be granted membership in the home game club, and the number of home game clubs that a player may join may all be limited by predetermined thresholds. Members may have different levels of access to the home game system. Members with a lower level of access permission may have lower thresholds than members with a higher level of access permission and may not play in games with a higher level of access permission. Club rankings and game results may be tracked.
1 . A computer implemented method for the delivery of a software application comprising the steps of:
receiving, at a server computer, a request to download a software application over a network;
in response to the request, providing by the server computer over the network a software application including instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of:
receiving input from an input device creating a home game club;
receiving a membership request to join the home game club from a plurality of members, wherein at least one of the plurality of members has a first level of access permission and at least one of the plurality of members has a second level of access permission;
receiving input from the input device approving the membership request for at least one of the plurality of members;
receiving input from the input device scheduling a virtual poker game accessible to the at least one member having the first level of access permission; and
executing the virtual poker game over the network.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the virtual poker game is accessible over the network to the at least one member having a second level of access permission.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein access to the virtual poker game is denied to the at least one member having a second level of access permission.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein a user requesting said software application has a second level of access permission.
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising creating a plurality of home game clubs, wherein a maximum number of home game clubs created is less than a predetermined threshold.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein for a first user requesting said software application having a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than the predetermined threshold for a second user requesting said software application having a second level of access permission.
7 . The method of claim 1 wherein if a member requests membership in a plurality of home game clubs, the maximum number of approved membership requests is limited by a predetermined threshold.
8 . The method of claim 7 wherein for the at least one member having a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than the predetermined threshold for the at least one member having a second level of access permission.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein said approving a membership request is limited to a maximum number of members according to a predetermined threshold.
10 . The method of claim 9 wherein for a first user requesting said software application having a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than the predetermined threshold for a second user requesting said software application having a second level of access permission.
11 . The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving input from an input device creating a virtual poker game and setting a plurality of parameters for the virtual poker game.
12 . The method of claim 11 wherein said plurality of parameters includes a time limit for executing the virtual poker game.
13 . The method of claim 1 wherein said scheduling is limited to a maximum number of virtual poker games according to a predetermined threshold.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein for a first user requesting said software application having a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than the predetermined threshold for a second user requesting said software application having a second level of access permission.
15 . The method of claim 12 wherein the time limit is met by adjusting a plurality of blinds during said executing.
16 . The method of claim 15 wherein said plurality of blinds are adjusted according to a predetermined blind schedule.
17 . The method of claim 15 wherein said plurality of blinds are adjusted according to a dynamic determination of the rate of play calculated during said executing.
18 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
recording, at the server, statistic data updated during said executing; and
displaying in a graphical user interface (GUI), a summary of the recorded statistic data.
19 . The method of claim 18 wherein said statistic data is reset after a predefined season.
20 . A client device comprising:
a processor;
an input device;
a display device;
and a computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the steps of:
receiving input from the input device creating a home game club;
receiving a membership request to join the home game club from a plurality of members, wherein at least one of the plurality of members has a first level of access permission and at least one of the plurality of members has a second level of access permission;
receiving input from the input device approving the membership request for at least one of the plurality of members;
receiving input from the input device scheduling a virtual poker game accessible to the at least one member having the first level of access permission; and
executing the virtual poker game over the network.
21 . The client device of claim 20 wherein said processor creates a plurality of home game clubs such that a maximum number of home game clubs created is less than a predetermined threshold.
22 . The client device of claim 21 wherein if the client device is associated with a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than if the client device is associated with a second level of access permission.
23 . The client device of claim 20 wherein if a member requests membership in a plurality of home game clubs, the maximum number of approved membership requests is limited by a predetermined threshold.
24 . The client device of claim 23 wherein for the at least one member having a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than the predetermined threshold for the at least one member having a second level of access permission.
25 . The client device of claim 20 wherein approving a membership request is limited to a maximum number of members according to a predetermined threshold.
26 . The client device of claim 25 wherein if the client device is associated with a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than if the client device is associated with a second level of access permission.
27 . The client device of claim 20 wherein the processor further performs the steps of creating a virtual poker game and setting a plurality of parameters for the virtual poker game.
28 . The client device of claim 27 wherein scheduling a plurality of virtual poker games is limited to a maximum number of virtual poker games according to a predetermined threshold.
29 . The client device of claim 28 wherein if the client device is associated with a first level of access permission, the predetermined threshold is greater than if the client device is associated with a second level of access permission.
30 . The client device of claim 29 wherein said plurality of parameters includes a time limit for executing the virtual poker game.
31 . The client device of claim 30 wherein the time limit is met by adjusting a plurality of blinds during the said executing.
32 . The client device of claim 31 wherein said plurality of blinds are adjusted according to a predetermined blind schedule.
33 . The client device of claim 31 wherein said plurality of blinds are adjusted according to a dynamic determination of the rate of play calculated during said executing.
34 . The client device of claim 20 further comprising updating collected statistic data during said executing, and displaying a summary of the statistic data with the display device.
35 . The client device of claim 34 wherein the statistic data is reset after a predefined season.