System and method for betting

1. A computer-implemented apparatus for running a betting game in which users can bet on a micro-event which occurs during a sporting event, the apparatus comprising:

a feed content receiver and transformer arranged to receive micro-event data in real time relating to a sporting event, which sporting event involves the repeated occurrence of a micro-event in variable regions of a field of play and the micro-event data comprising data fields relating to each individual occurrence and including an identification of an actual region of the field of play where the micro-event occurs;

an adjudicator arranged to:

determine a result of the micro-event using the micro-event data and a set of stored rules; and

a client-side module arranged to:

receive bet-placing data from one or more users, the bet-placing data identifying a given individual occurrence of a micro-event and a bet type that are associated with a region of the field of play; and

compare said received bet data with said determined result and to identify given bet data as constituting a winning bet if the bet type corresponds to the actual region of the field of play in the micro-event data for said given individual occurrence or else to identify said bet data as constituting a losing bet;

a feed collator arranged to:

determine whether a complete set of data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any data is missing, request the missing data; and

receive any requested missing data,

wherein the feed collator is further arranged to determine whether received micro-event data relates to a result of a micro-event and if the micro-event data does, send collated data for that microevent to the adjudicator and otherwise send the collated data to the client-side module with an indication that bets can be re-opened for the next micro-event.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the feed collator is further arranged to:

determine whether any duplicate data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any has been received, process to leave remaining data; and

collate the remaining data and any received missing data,

and wherein the adjudicator is arranged to use the collated micro-event data.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the feed content receiver and transformer comprises:

a feed listener arranged to receive micro-event data from a data feed when new micro-event data is available; and

a feed puller arranged to poll a data feed for new micro-event data.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the feed listener is arranged to receive micro-event data from a data feed at regular intervals determined by a data source providing data through the data feed.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the feed puller is arranged to poll a data feed at regular time intervals.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the feed puller is arranged to poll a data feed at times which differ from the times at which the feed listener is arranged to receive micro-event data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the feed collator is arranged to transmit data to the adjudicator.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the feed content receiver and transformer is arranged to receive data from multiple data sources and transform the data into a common format for use by the feed collator.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the feed collator is arranged to use bet-placing data or information derived therefrom in the said determination.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the stored rules used by the adjudicator comprise rules relating to reliability of a data source.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the adjudicator is arranged to continually or at intervals update the rules in dependence on the quality of data received from a data source.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the client-side module is arranged to accept bet-placing data in respect of a next micro-event prior to the occurrence of the next micro-event and to determine when betting for the next micro-event is closed.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the client-side module is further arranged to apply a bet to the next micro-event if betting for that micro-event is still open or otherwise to apply the bet to a subsequent micro-event.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the client-side module is arranged to accept bet-placing data in respect of a next micro-event prior to the occurrence of the next micro-event and to determine when betting for the next micro-event is closed and wherein the client-side module is arranged to provide bet-placing data or information derived therefrom to the feed collator and to use data provided from the adjudicator or the feed collator to determine whether to re-open an existing bet or to open a new bet for the next microevent.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sports event is:

cricket and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a ball being hit to the boundary of the field and the said region of the field of play is a portion of the boundary;

baseball and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a home run being hit and the said region of the field of play is a portion of the fence;

golf and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a ball being hit onto the putting green and the said region of the field of play is an area of the green; or

horseracing and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a horse arriving or falling and the said region of the field of play is the end of a furlong or a fence.

16. A computer-implemented apparatus for running a betting game in which users can bet on a micro-event which occurs during a sporting event, the apparatus comprising:

a feed content receiver and transformer arranged to receive micro-event data in real time relating to a sporting event, which sporting event involves the repeated occurrence of a micro-event in variable regions of a field of play and the micro-event data comprising data fields relating to each individual occurrence and including an identification of an actual region of the field of play where the micro-event occurs;

an adjudicator arranged to:

determine a result of the micro-event using the micro-event data and a set of stored rules; and

a client-side module arranged to:

receive bet-placing data from one or more users, the bet-placing data identifying a given individual occurrence of a micro-event and a bet type that are associated with a region of the field of play; and

compare said received bet data with said determined result and to identify given bet data as constituting a winning bet if the bet type corresponds to the actual region of the field of play in the micro-event data for said given individual occurrence or else to identify said bet data as constituting a losing bet;

wherein said micro-event involves the projection of at least one object by one or more players in a variable direction relative to a field of play towards a boundary of said field of play, and said micro-event data comprises data fields relating to each individual projection, including an actual portion of the boundary where the object crosses said boundary, such that the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is the crossing of the boundary and the said region of a field of play is the portion of the boundary.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising a feed collator arranged to:

determine whether a complete set of data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any data is missing, request the missing data; and

receive any requested missing data.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the feed collator is further arranged to:

determine whether any duplicate data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any has been received, process to leave remaining data; and

collate the remaining data and any received missing data,

and wherein the adjudicator is arranged to use the collated micro-event data.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the feed listener is arranged to receive micro-event data from a data feed at regular intervals determined by a data source providing data through the data feed.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the feed puller is arranged to poll a data feed at times which differ from the times at which the feed listener is arranged to receive micro-event data.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the feed puller is arranged to poll a data feed at regular time intervals.

22. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the feed collator is arranged to transmit data to the adjudicator.

23. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the feed content receiver and transformer is arranged to receive data from multiple data sources and transform the data into a common format for use by the feed collator.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein the feed collator is arranged to use bet-placing data or information derived therefrom in the said determination.

25. The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein the client-side module is arranged to accept bet-placing data in respect of a next micro-event prior to the occurrence of the next micro-event and to determine when betting for the next micro-event is closed and wherein the client-side module is arranged to provide bet-placing data or information derived therefrom to the feed collator and to use data provided from the adjudicator or the feed collator to determine whether to re-open an existing bet or to open a new bet for the next microevent.

26. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the feed collator is further arranged to determine whether received micro-event data relates to a result of a micro-event and if the micro-event data does, send collated data for that micro-event to the adjudicator and otherwise send the collated data to the client-side module with an indication that bets can be re-opened for the next micro-event.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26 , wherein the adjudicator is arranged to continually or at intervals update the rules in dependence on the quality of data received from a data source.

28. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the feed content receiver and transformer comprises:

a feed listener arranged to receive micro-event data from a data feed when new micro-event data is available; and

a feed puller arranged to poll a data feed for new micro-event data.

29. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the stored rules used by the adjudicator comprise rules relating to reliability of a data source.

30. The apparatus according to claim 29 , wherein the client-side module is further arranged to apply a bet to the next micro-event if betting for that micro-event is still open or otherwise to apply the bet to a subsequent micro-event.

31. The apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the client-side module is arranged to accept bet-placing data in respect of a next micro-event prior to the occurrence of the next micro-event and to determine when betting for the next micro-event is closed.

32. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the sports event is:

cricket and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a ball being hit to the boundary of the field and the said region of the field of play is a portion of the boundary;

baseball and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a home run being hit and the said region of the field of play is a portion of the fence;

golf and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a ball being hit onto the putting green and the said region of the field of play is an area of the green; or

horseracing and the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is a horse arriving or falling and the said region of the field of play is the end of a furlong or a fence.

33. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising a program which can be executed to implement the following steps to run a betting game in which users can bet on a micro-event which occurs during a sporting event:

receiving micro-event data in real time relating to a sporting event, which sporting event involves the repeated occurrence of a micro-event in variable regions of a field of play and the micro-event data comprising data fields relating to each individual occurrence and including an identification of an actual region of the field of play where the micro-event occurs;

determining a result of the micro-event using the micro-event data and a set of stored rules;

receiving bet-placing data from one or more users, the bet-placing data identifying a given individual occurrence of a micro-event and a bet type that are associated with a region of the field of play; and

comparing said received bet data with said result to identify given bet data as constituting a winning bet if the bet type corresponds to the actual region of the field of play in the micro-event data for said given individual occurrence or else to identify said bet data as constituting a losing bet,

determining whether a complete set of data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any data is missing, requesting the missing data; and

receiving any requested missing data,

determining whether the received micro-event data relates to a result of a micro-event and if the micro-event data does, send collated data for that microevent to the adjudicator and otherwise send the collated data to the client-side module with an indication that bets can be re-opened for the next micro-event.

34. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising a program which can be executed to implement the following steps to run a betting game in which users can bet on a micro-event which occurs during a sporting event:

receiving micro-event data in real time relating to a sporting event, which sporting event involves the repeated occurrence of a micro-event in variable regions of a field of play and the micro-event data comprising data fields relating to each individual occurrence and including an identification of an actual region of the field of play where the micro-event occurs;

determining a result of the micro-event using the micro-event data and a set of stored rules;

receiving bet-placing data from one or more users, the bet-placing data identifying a given individual occurrence of a micro-event and a bet type that are associated with a region of the field of play; and

comparing said received bet data with said result to identify given bet data as constituting a winning bet if the bet type corresponds to the actual region of the field of play in the micro-event data for said given individual occurrence or else to identify said bet data as constituting a losing bet,

determining whether a complete set of data relating to the micro-event has been received and if any data is missing, requesting the missing data; and

receiving any requested missing data,

determining whether the received micro-event data relates to a result of a micro-event and if the micro-event data does, send collated data for that microevent to the adjudicator and otherwise send the collated to the client-side module with an indication that bets can be re-opened for the next micro-event

projecting at least one object by one or more players in a variable direction relative to the field of play towards a boundary of said field of play, wherein said micro-event data comprises data fields relating to each individual projection, including an actual portion of the boundary where the object crosses said boundary, such that the said repeated occurrence of a micro-event is the crossing of the boundary and the said region of a field of play is the portion of the boundary.