Betting on a subset of participants in an event

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9852488-B2
Application number	US-92883907-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 30, 2007
Priority date	Apr 3, 2003
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A method of managing bets is provided. The method includes receiving win bets and group bets. Each win bet includes a bet that a participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event. Each group bet includes a bet that one of a subset of the set of participants will win the event. Results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants are received. An amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant is determined. An amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets is also determined. In this manner, a bettor may bet on all participants in an event other than a particular participant, such as the favorite participant, and thus effectively bet against the particular participant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method of managing bets, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, the subset including a plurality of participants but less than all participants in the event, and being a bet that pays if any one of the corresponding designated subset wins the event, the pay amount being substantially the same whichever participant of the designated subset is the winner and independent of finishes other than the winner;
receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via a payment acceptor, payment associated with one or more bets;
receiving, at the computer of the betting computer system platform, via the computer network, from the betting computer system interfaces, data representing results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants; and
determining, by the computer of the betting computer system platform, data representing an amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets based on the group bets designated subsets of which the winning participant is a member.

2. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one group bet is received in a pari-mutuel betting system,
wherein the act of receiving one or more group bets comprises receiving a first group bet made by a bettor, and
wherein the act of receiving the first group bet comprises receiving from the bettor a single amount representing an amount at risk in the first group bet.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein two or more of the group bets designate the same subset of participants.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving one or more win bets, each win bet comprising a bet that a participant selected from the set of participants will win the event; and
determining the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the amount of the group bet payout is determined based at least in part on the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising the steps of:
determining the odds of winning for a one of the participants that is not included in a one of the designated subsets of participants based at least in part on the one or more received win bets; and
wherein the amount of the group bet payout for the group bet covering the one designated subset is determined based at least in part on the odds of winning for the one participant.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises:
selecting a participant from the subset of participants; and
determining the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any participant in the set of participants except for the selected participant.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a notification that one or more of the participants will not compete in the event at the computer system; and in response, canceling at least a portion of the group bets that designated the non-competing participant in the respective designated subsets.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of:
reallocating the amount of at least one of the cancelled group bets among the remaining participants in the designated subset of participants.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises allocating to each of the competing participants in the designated subset a portion of the amount of the group bet.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout further comprises:
determining as a first amount the portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant;
determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;
determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;
determining as a fourth amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant; and
determining the amount of the group bet payout based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the amount of the group bet payout comprises:
determining a fifth amount by multiplying the sum of the second amount and the third amount by the first amount;
determining a sixth amount by dividing the fifth amount by the sum of the first amount and fourth amount; and
adding the sixth amount and the first amount.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising
determining, for each participant in the set of participants, the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on that participant; and
wherein the amount of the group bet is allocated to each participant in the subset of participants in inverse proportion to the determined total amounts of the win bets associated with that participant.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining an amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:
determining as a first amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant;
determining as a second amount the total portion of the group bet allocated among the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;
determining as a third amount the total amount of the win bets that comprise a bet on any of the participants in the set of participants except for the winning participant;
determining as a fourth amount the total portion of the group bet allocated to the winning participant; and
determining the amount of the payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant based at least on the first amount, the second amount, the third amount, and the fourth amount.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the amount of the payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant comprises:
determining a fifth amount by multiplying the sum of the second amount and the third amount by the first amount;
determining a sixth amount by dividing the fifth amount by the sum of the first amount and fourth amount; and
adding the sixth amount and the first amount.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein:
a first subset designated in a first of the group bets and a second subset of participants designated in a second of the group bets intersect, but each of the first and second subsets includes participants not in the other of the second and first subsets.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the designated subsets designates all but one of the participants.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the group bets designates four or more participants.

19. A computer implemented method of managing bets, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computer of a betting computer system platform, via a computer network, from betting computer system interfaces, data representing one or more group bets, each group bet designating a corresponding subset of the set of participants in the event, and being a b

Assignees

• Amaitis Lee M
• Asher Joseph M
• Burgis Adam
• Crosthwaite Dominic
• Cantor Index Llc

Inventors

• Amaitis Lee M
• Asher Joseph M
• Burgis Adam
• Crosthwaite Dominic

Classifications

• G07F17/32

  for games, toys, sports, or amusements · CPC title

• G07F17/3288

  Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking · CPC title

• G06Q50/34 Primary

  Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting · CPC title