Lottery Method and System

Abstract

Disclosed herein are a method, system, and computer program product for conducting a lottery in conjunction with a communications network. The method conducts a lottery tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, including a gaming token. In particular, the method organises a tournament draw among the plurality of entries, wherein the tournament draw provides a schedule of knockout matches for the entries. The schedule includes a plurality of rounds of matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of the entries. For each round of matches, the method determines a winner for each match in the round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and the gaming tokens. Each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in the schedule, and the method identifies a winner of a final round match of the schedule as a winner of the lottery tournament.

1 . A lottery tournament server comprising:
 a memory for storing data and a computer program;   a processor coupled to said memory for executing said computer program stored in said memory;   a ticketing module being a component of the computer program and executable by the processor for issuing a plurality of entries in a lottery tournament in response to a plurality of requests received via a communications link from at least one remote computing device, wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, said ticketing information including at least one gaming token selected from a limited number of gaming tokens;   a database formed in the memory for storing player information and ticketing information relating to each entry in said lottery tournament;   a tournament module being a component of the computer program and executable by the processor to organise a tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout matches between said entries, wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match being a contest between a limited plurality of said plurality of entries; and   a gaming engine being a component of the computer program and executable by the processor in conjunction with said stored ticketing information to determine, for each round of matches, a winner for each match in said round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm associated with the tournament draw and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of the matches in said schedule, from which the gaming engine identifies a winner of a final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery tournament.   
     
     
         2 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein said ticketing module sends an electronic ticket corresponding to an entry in said lottery tournament to a remote computing device associated with the participant when issuing said entry. 
     
     
         3 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein the gaming module further operates to communicate results of individual matches to corresponding remote computing devices to report to corresponding participants of progress through the tournament. 
     
     
         4 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 3 , wherein the gaming module operates to conduct individual matches when:
 (i) all entries in the tournament are populated; or   (ii) as matching entries are populated.   
     
     
         5 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein the gaming token associated with each entry is used in each round in which the entry is active. 
     
     
         6 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein the limited plurality of entries in a round comprises one of two or three entries. 
     
     
         7 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein the tokens comprise a limited plurality of elements, the limited plurality having a number in the range 3 to 9. 
     
     
         8 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein said schedule includes at least two rounds of matches. 
     
     
         9 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 1 , wherein each combination of a gaming token associated with an entry and a position of that entry in the tournament draw represents a portion of a winning key distributed among said plurality of entries, said winning key determining progress of each entry in said lottery tournament. 
     
     
         10 . The lottery tournament server according to  claim 9 ,
 wherein said winning key determines the winner of said lottery tournament, and   further wherein said winning key enables verification of a winner of each match in said tournament, based on portions of said winning key corresponding to the entries associated with that match.   
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method of conducting a lottery tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, said ticketing information including at least one gaming token, said method comprising the steps of:
 organising a tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout matches for said entries, wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of said entries;   for each round of matches, determining a winner for each match in said round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in said schedule; and   identifying a winner of a final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery tournament.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein said ticketing information further includes profile information associated with a purchaser of said entry. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein said tournament draw includes at least one gaming phase, each gaming phase comprising at least one round of matches and each gaming phase being associated with a predefined gaming algorithm for determining winners of matches within said gaming phase. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein said ticketing information includes a gaming token corresponding to each one of said gaming phases. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein said tournament draw includes:
 a first gaming phase comprising at least one round of preliminary matches and associated with a first predefined gaming algorithm, and   a second gaming phase comprising at least one round of final matches and associated with a second predefined gaming algorithm.   
     
     
         16 . A lottery tournament system comprising:
 at least one remote computing device; and   a lottery tournament server for conducting a lottery tournament among a plurality of entries, wherein said server includes:   a memory for storing data and a computer program;   a processor coupled to said memory for executing said computer program stored in said memory;   a gaming application forming part of said computer program, said gaming application including instructions for performing the steps of:   receiving a plurality of requests for entries in said lottery tournament from said at least one computing device;   issuing a plurality of entries in a lottery tournament in response said plurality of requests, wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, said ticketing information including at least one gaming token;   organising a tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of knockout matches for said entries, wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of said entries;   for each round of matches, determining a winner for each match in said round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in said schedule; and   identifying a winner of a final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery tournament.   
     
     
         17 . The lottery tournament system according to  claim 16 , further comprising an enterprise server coupled to said lottery tournament server, wherein said enterprise server stores said entries during a ticket selling period. 
     
     
         18 . The lottery tournament system according to  claim 17 , wherein said enterprise server encrypts said stored entries. 
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method of utilising a winning key distributed among a plurality of entries to conduct a lottery tournament among said entries, wherein each entry is associated with ticketing information, said ticketing information including at least one gaming token, said method comprising the steps of:
 organising a tournament draw among said plurality of entries, said tournament draw providing a schedule of matches for said entries, wherein said schedule includes at least one round of matches, each match being a contest between a plurality of said entries, and further wherein each combination of a gaming token associated with an entry and a position of that entry in the tournament represents a portion of said winning key; and   identifying a winner of said lottery tournament based on said winning key.   
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein identifying said winner comprises the steps of:
 for each round of matches, determining a winner for each match in said round, based on a predefined gaming algorithm and said gaming tokens, wherein each determined winner proceeds to a subsequent round of matches in said schedule; and   identifying a winner of a final round match of said schedule as a winner of said lottery tournament.