Method and apparatus for secure gaming

Abstract

A remote gaming system whereby a player can gamble against a wagering establishment or state-run lottery from a remote location on a personal computer or portable computer device where it is unnecessary to establish an on-line connection with a host computer associated with the wagering establishment, the gaming computer having associated gaming software for providing at least one wagering opportunity and enabling the player to obtain gambling credit and cash-out any resulting winnings, the host computer enabling the player to purchase and redeem gambling credit at the remote location in one embodiment of the invention using cryptographic protocols such as through a series of authenticatable message exchanges between the player and the wagering establishment, the gaming computer and the host computer directly on-line, or the gaming computer having a detachable tamper-resistant or tamper-evident credit module associated therewith or for use with a personal computer being provided to the player with preinstalled or preloaded gambling credit, the gaming system also enabling participation in future events of which the outcome is uncertain such as, for example, a lottery whereby the player makes selections on a gaming computer at a remote location.

1 - 39 . (canceled)  
   
   
       40 . A method comprising: 
 receiving at a gaming device from a player a cryptographically-generated message that represents an amount of credit,    in which the gaming device is not connected to a host computer that generated the cryptographically-generated message,    determining the amount of credit based on the cryptographically-generated message that represents the amount of credit;    determining an available balance based on the amount of credit;    generating at least one game outcome based on gaming software stored by a data storage medium of the gaming device; and    performing a self-test of the gaming software to determine if the gaming software has been tampered with.    
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising: 
 preventing play of the gaming device if the gaming software has been tampered with.    
   
   
       42 . A game machine comprising: 
 a processor;    a display in communication with the processor;    at least one button in communication with the processor for receiving player input; and    a data storage medium in communication with the processor, the data storage medium storing software, 
 in which the software comprises a game program for providing at least one wagering opportunity, and  
 in which the software is operable to direct the processor to perform steps of:  
 monitoring an amount of credit available for wagering;  
 determining a wager by a player for a game of chance;  
 determining at least one game outcome based on the game program;  
 displaying an indication of the at least one game outcome via the display;  
 determining a unique mathematical attribute of at least a portion of the game program based on a cryptographic protocol;  
 determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with; and  
 preventing use of the game program if the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with.  
   
   
   
       43 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the cryptographic protocol comprises a hash function.  
   
   
       44 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the cryptographic protocol comprises a checksum algorithm.  
   
   
       45 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the cryptographic protocol comprises a digital signature.  
   
   
       46 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 determining a digital signature.    
   
   
       47 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 comparing the determined unique mathematical attribute to a stored value.    
   
   
       48 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 testing the determined unique mathematical attribute based on a hidden value.    
   
   
       49 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 comparing the determined unique mathematical attribute of the game program to a stored mathematical attribute of the game program.    
   
   
       50 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 testing the game program based on the determined unique mathematical attribute and a hidden value.    
   
   
       51 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which determining, based on the determined unique mathematical attribute, whether the at least a portion of the game program has been tampered with comprises: 
 determining whether the at least a portion of the game program has been altered.    
   
   
       52 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the data storage medium comprises a read/write device.  
   
   
       53 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the data storage medium comprises a disk drive.  
   
   
       54 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the data storage medium comprises a disk.  
   
   
       55 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the data storage medium comprises a module.  
   
   
       56 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the data storage medium comprises a CD-ROM.  
   
   
       57 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which at least one of the software and the game program is preinstalled on the game machine.  
   
   
       58 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the software further comprises a program for monitoring an amount of credit available for wagering.  
   
   
       59 . The game machine of  claim 58 , in which the program for monitoring an amount of credit available for wagering further allows the player to redeem at least a portion of the credit available for wagering.  
   
   
       60 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the software further comprises an audit program.  
   
   
       61 . The game machine of  claim 42 , in which the software is further operable to direct the processor to perform a step of verifying a player's identity based on biometric information.  
   
   
       62 . A method comprising: 
 selecting at least a portion of gaming software for testing, 
 in which the at least a portion of the gaming software is stored on a read/write device,  
 in which the read/write device is associated with a gaming computer, and  
 in which the at least a portion of the gaming software is associated with a predetermined value derived from application of a cryptographic protocol to the at least a portion of the gaming software;  
   testing the at least a portion of the gaming software based on the predetermined value to reveal if the at least a portion of the gaming software has been altered; and    preventing use of the gaming software if the at least a portion of the gaming software has been altered.    
   
   
       63 . A method comprising: 
 initiating, by a game machine comprising a read/write device that includes a game program, a self-test for determining whether at least a portion of the game program has been altered, 
 in which the at least a portion of the game program is associated with a predetermined value characteristic of the at least one portion of the game program, the predetermined value being derived using a cryptographic protocol, and  
 in which the self-test comprises: 
 deriving a mathematical attribute of the at least a portion of the game program based on the cryptographic protocol, and  
 determining whether the at least a portion of the game program has been altered based on the derived mathematical attribute and the predetermined value; and  
 
   preventing use of the game program if the at least a portion of the game program has been altered.    
   
   
       64 . A method comprising: 
 initiating, by a game machine comprising a read/write device that includes gaming software, a self-test for determining whether at least a portion of the gaming software has been tampered with,    in which the self-test comprises: 
 deriving a unique attribute of the at least a portion of the gaming software based on at least one cryptographic protocol, and  
 comparing the derived unique attribute to a stored value; and  
   preventing use of the gaming software if the at least a portion of the gaming software has been tampered with.    
   
   
       65 . A method comprising: 
 determining, based on a self-test process, that a game program stored in a read/write data storage medium of a game machine has not been altered;    monitoring an amount of credit available for wagering;    determining a wager by a player for a game of chance;    determining at least one game outcome based on the game program and the wager; and    displaying an indication of the at least one game outcome via a display of the game machine,    in which the self-test process comprises: 
 using a cryptographic protocol to derive a second value that is characteristic of the at least a portion of the game program; and  
 comparing the derived second value to a predetermined first value derived using the cryptographic protocol.  
   
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 65 , further comprising: 
 receiving from the player a cryptographically-generated message that represents an amount of credit,    determining the amount of credit based on the cryptographically-generated message that represents the amount of credit; and    determining an available balance based on the amount of credit.    
   
   
       67 . The method of  claim 66 , in which determining the amount of credit comprises: 
 decoding the cryptographically-generated message to determine the amount of credit.    
   
   
       68 . The method of  claim 66 , further comprising: 
 encoding the available balance to generate an encoded available balance.