System and method for generating equitable electronic contests based on number of entries per user

Abstract

The disclosure includes generating a plurality of contests having the same number of contest entries per contest by: sorting a plurality of contest entries into a plurality of subsets based on number of entries per user account; and iteratively generating contests starting with a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of contest entries per user account having the greatest number of contest entries and successively progressing to a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of contest entries per user account having the smallest number of contest entries.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a sports statistics server configured to store statistics associated with a plurality of sporting events and sports players;   a plurality of user devices respectively comprising one of a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop computer or desktop computer, with each of the user devices configured to:
 communicate with a financial server that is separate from the user device, via a communication network, to initiate funding of a user account associated with user device; and 
 generate one or more sports contest entries based on input from an interface of the user device, the one or more sports contest entries indicating at least a user account, a contest entry fee, a contest entry fee range lobby, a sport, one or more sporting events, and a contest time period; and 
   a matching server configured to communicate with the plurality of user devices via the communication network and configured to generate a plurality of sports contests, the generating the plurality of sports contests comprising:
 receiving an initial plurality of proposed sports contest entry selections from the plurality of user devices defining a respective plurality of proposed sports contest entries, with the proposed sports contest entries indicating at least a user account, a contest entry fee, a contest entry fee range lobby, a sport, one or more sporting events, and a contest time period; 
 determining that a first set of the sports contest entry selections of the initial plurality of proposed sports contest entry selections is associated with the same user account, is associated with the same sport, and is associated with a first and second different contest entry fee range lobby, and rejecting all but one sports contest entry selections of the first set to generate a second plurality of sports contest entries; 
 generating a plurality of sports contests having the same plurality number of sports contest entries per sports contest by:
 sorting the second plurality of sports contest entries into a plurality of subsets based on a number of entries each user account has in the second plurality of sports contest entries; 
 iteratively generating sports contests starting with a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of sports contest entries per user account having the greatest number of sports contest entries and successively progressing to a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of sports contest entries per user account having the smallest number of sports contest entries, the iteratively generating including:
 selecting sports contest entries from a first subset to fill available slots of sports contests until the number of remaining sports contest entries from the first subset is insufficient to fill the slots of a further sports contest and then filling the further sports contest with selected sports contest entries of a second subset and any remaining sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of the further sports contest, the first subset originally having more sports contest entries than the second sub set; 
 
 
 determining one or more winning sports contest entries of the respective plurality of sports contests based at least in part on sports statistics data obtained from the sports statistics server via the communication network; and 
 facilitating funding of user accounts associated the determined winning sports contest entries. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein none of the generated sports contests include more than one sports contest entry per user account. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein all user accounts represented within the second plurality of sports contest entries become part of at least one generated sports contest. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said iteratively generating sports contests further comprises generating sports contests until one or more remainder subsets remain such that the number of remaining sports contests entries of the one or more remainder subsets is less than a number of sports contest entries necessary to fill all slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising canceling all sports contest entries of the one or more remainder subsets and refunding the entry fee for the canceled sports contest entries. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising generating a remainder sports contest comprising the sports contest entries of the one or more remainder subsets, the remainder sports contest comprising fewer sports contest entries than the number of sports contest entries necessary to fill all slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein selecting sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of sports contests comprises randomly selecting sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         8 . A computer implemented method for generating a plurality of sports contests, the method comprising a matching server generating a plurality of sports contests by:
 receiving an initial plurality of proposed sports contest entry selections from a plurality of user devices defining a respective plurality of proposed sports contest entries, with the proposed sports contest entries indicating at least a user account, a contest entry fee, a contest entry fee range lobby, a sport, one or more sporting events, and a contest time period;   determining that a first set of the sports contest entry selections of the initial plurality of proposed sports contest entry selections is associated with the same user account, is associated with the same sport, and is associated with a first and second different contest entry fee range lobby, and rejecting all but one sports contest entry selections of the first set to generate a second plurality of sports contest entries;   generating a plurality of sports contests having the same plurality number of sports contest entries per sports contest by:
 sorting the second plurality of sports contest entries into a plurality of subsets based on a number of entries each user account has in the second plurality of sports contest entries; 
 iteratively generating sports contests starting with a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of sports contest entries per user account having the greatest number of sports contest entries and successively progressing to a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of sports contest entries per user account having the smallest number of sports contest entries, the iteratively generating including:
 selecting sports contest entries from a first subset to fill available slots of sports contests until the number of remaining sports contest entries from the first subset is insufficient to fill the slots of a further sports contest and then filling the further sports contest with selected sports contest entries of a second subset and any remaining sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of the further sports contest, the first subset originally having more sports contest entries than the second sub set. 
 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein none of the generated sports contests include more than one sports contest entry per user account. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein all user accounts represented within the second plurality of sports contest entries become part of at least one generated sports contest. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said iteratively generating sports contests further comprises generating sports contests until one or more remainder subsets remain such that the number of remaining sports contests entries of the one or more remainder subsets is less than a number of sports contest entries necessary to fill all slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising canceling all sports contest entries of the one or more remainder subsets and refunding the entry fee for the canceled sports contest entries. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising generating a remainder sports contest comprising the sports contest entries of the one or more remainder subsets, the remainder sports contest comprising fewer sports contest entries than the number of sports contest entries necessary to fill all slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein selecting sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of sports contests comprises randomly selecting sports contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of a sports contest. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising generating a plurality of contests by:
 receiving an initial plurality of proposed contest entry selections defining a respective plurality of proposed contest entries, with the proposed contest entries indicating at least a user account, a contest entry fee, a contest entry fee range lobby, a contest subject, and a contest time period;   generating a second plurality of contest entries comprising at least a subset of the plurality of proposed contest entries; and   generating a plurality of contests having the same plurality number of contest entries per contest by:
 sorting the second plurality of contest entries into a plurality of subsets based on a number of entries each user account has in the second plurality of contest entries; and 
 iteratively generating contests starting with a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of contest entries per user account having the greatest number of contest entries and successively progressing to a subset of the plurality of subsets based on number of contest entries per user account having the smallest number of contest entries. 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising determining that a first set of the contest entry selections of the initial plurality of proposed contest entry selections is associated with the same user account, is associated with the same contest subject, and is associated with a first and second different contest entry fee range lobby, and rejecting all but one contest entry selections of the first set to generate the second plurality of contest entries. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the iteratively generating includes selecting contest entries from a first subset to fill available slots of contests until the number of remaining contest entries from the first subset is insufficient to fill the slots of a further contest and then filling the further contest with selected contest entries of a second subset and any remaining contest entries from the first subset to fill available slots of the further contest, the first subset originally having more contest entries than the second subset. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein none of the generated contests include more than one contest entry per user account. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein all user accounts represented within the second plurality of contest entries become part of at least one generated contest.