Group play of a lottery game

Abstract

Methods and systems for facilitating play of group lottery games are described. In an embodiment, a process includes establishing at least two groups for play of a group lottery game, wherein each group includes a plurality of players. The method also includes determining at least one winning player from each group of a first round of the multiplayer lottery game, and advancing each of the winning players to a second round.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 establishing at least two groups for play of a group lottery game, wherein each group comprises a plurality of players;   determining at least one winning player from each group of a first round of the multiplayer lottery game; and   advancing each of the winning players to a second round.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , in which determining at least one winning player for each group for the first round comprises comparing lottery entry data for each player of each group to at least one winning lottery ticket criteria. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising establishing a plurality of second groups that comprise the winning players for the second round of the multiplayer lottery game. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 determining at least one winning player from each of the plurality of the second groups; and   awarding a prize to each winning player of the second round.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 awarding a prize to each player of the plurality of groups of the first round associated with each winning player of the second round.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 determining at least one winning player from each of the plurality of the second groups; and   advancing each of the winning players of the plurality of second groups to a third round of the group lottery game.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising awarding a group performance bonus for each player of a group that meets predetermined criteria. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the predetermined criteria comprises at least one of a number of players in the group, a number of participating players of the group in a predetermined time period, or an amount of money spent by the group playing group lottery games in a predetermine time period. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising awarding a grand prize to a winning player of a subsequent round. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising awarding a prize to each member of the group associated with the grand prize winning player. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting group lottery game status information to at least one player of at least one group. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , in which determining at least one winning player comprises basing a winning outcome for the winning player on events that occur during group lottery game play. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving player identification data and group identification data from at least one of a retailer device or a player device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving player preferences data from at least one player of a group, the player preferences data including at least one of a selection of a token or a selection of a game board. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing group play lottery data in a group play ticket status database. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the group play lottery data comprises at least one of a group identifier, a group play game identifier, a group play game instance identifier, group member ticket identifiers, group member ticket indicia, or group member ticket status data. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , in which advancing the winning players to the second round comprises awarding a prize to each winning player. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , in which establishing at least two groups for play comprises receiving a group activation number for at least two groups. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising receiving a player number from each of a plurality of players of the at least two groups. 
     
     
         20 . A method, comprising:
 establishing a plurality of groups for play of a group lottery game, wherein each group includes a plurality of players;   determining an aggregate performance value for each group; and   determining, based on the aggregate performance values, that at least one group satisfied group play prize criteria.