Options trading game

Abstract

A gaming server for a gaming system is disclosed. The gaming server is operable to implement a multi-player options trading game. The gaming server comprises a data retrieval module arranged to retrieve historical trading data for at least one asset, the trading data relating to a plurality of consecutive trading days. A processing module is also implemented by the server which, prior to commencement of game play, is arranged to process the retrieved historical data for each asset to determine incremental trading information for at least one trading period within and for each of the plurality of consecutive trading days, the incremental trading information utilisable by players to determine whether to place an order in the game. The gaming system also comprises a player terminal interface module which during game play is arranged to: (a) retrieve and facilitate display on a player terminal display, predetermined incremental trading information associated with a first period in time for an asset selected by the player; (b) receive inputs from the players to place orders for call or put options based on the incremental trading information within a specified move period, the specified move period being shorter in length than the incremental trading period; and (c) upon expiration of the specified move period, present each player, via the player terminal display, with updated incremental trading information for the selected asset, the updated incremental trading information associated with a subsequent trading period derived from the historical data. Finally, a determination module of the gaming server determines the performance of each player and causes steps (a) to (c) to be repeated until a performance criterion has been met.

1 . A gaming server for a gaming system operable to implement a multi-player options trading game, the gaming server comprising:
 a data retrieval module arranged to retrieve historical trading data for at least one asset, the trading data relating to a plurality of consecutive trading days;   a processing module which, prior to commencement of game play, is arranged to process the retrieved historical data for each asset to determine incremental trading information for at least one trading period within and for each of the plurality of consecutive trading days, the incremental trading information utilisable by players to determine whether to place an order in the game;   player terminal interface module which during game play is arranged to:
 (a) retrieve and facilitate display on a player terminal display, predetermined incremental trading information associated with a first period in time for an asset selected by the player; 
 (b) receive inputs from the players to place orders for call or put options based on the incremental trading information within a specified move period, the specified move period being shorter in length than the incremental trading period; 
 (c) upon expiration of the specified move period, present each player, via the player terminal display, with updated incremental trading information for the selected asset, the updated incremental trading information associated with a subsequent trading period derived from the historical data; and 
   determination module arranged to determine the performance of each player and cause steps (a) to (c) to be repeated until a performance criterion has been met.   
   
   
       2 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the historical data comprises open, close, high and low price for each asset. 
   
   
       3 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the historical data further comprises data representative of in-between price movements during each trading day. 
   
   
       4 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the incremental trading data comprises a closing price for the previous period and an asset trend indicator. 
   
   
       5 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein the asset trend indicator comprises at least one of the following indicators: implied volatility, Delta, Theta, Vega, Rho, 0-200 day simple & exponential moving averages, 0-200 day standard deviations and bid and ask prices for each selected asset. 
   
   
       6 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 5 , wherein a randomised element is introduced into the data for multi-player game play. 
   
   
       7 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the specified time period for each move is selected by one of a game administrator or player(s) prior to game play. 
   
   
       8 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the time period for each segment of incremental trading information comprises one of a full day, half day, hourly, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and five minutes. 
   
   
       9 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the time period for each segment is selected by one of a game administrator or agreed upon by one or more of the players prior to game play. 
   
   
       10 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , the processing module further comprising an executable game module, the executable game module arranged to issue files that are executable by each player's terminal for carrying out the steps performed by the player interface terminal. 
   
   
       11 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 10 , wherein the files are issued responsive to determining a resource utilisation indicator of the server is critical. 
   
   
       12 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 11 , wherein the resource utilisation indicator comprises one or more of the following: CPU, RAM, disk space, and data retrieval speeds for the server. 
   
   
       13 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the performance criterion specifies that a player has achieved either the highest rate of return or highest percentage rate of return by the end of the game period. 
   
   
       14 . A gaming server in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the performance criterion specifies that a player has executed one or more predetermined options trading strategies within a specified time period. 
   
   
       15 . A gaming system comprising a gaming server in accordance with  claim 1  arranged to communicate with at least one player terminal operable participating in a multi-player options trading game implemented by the gaming server. 
   
   
       16 . A tangible computer readable medium storing a computer program comprising instructions for controlling a computer to implement the gaming system in accordance with  claim 15 .