GB2356149A - A lottery system - Google Patents

Abstract

A system comprising a memory device 10 to store a pool of winning and losing chances for a lottery, a master processing unit 30 to issue each chance from the pool only once, an administrator terminal to request a chance, a token recording device 50 to record the chance on a token (eg. a ticket) and a token reader and acceptor 60 connected to an output device 70 to communicate whether the selected chance was a winner or loser. Preferably the chance may be recorded on the token either magnetically or by bar code in a manner which may not be read by the user and the system can include a method for authenticating a token. Optionally the token reader may appear to engage the user in a video game.

Description

2356149 LOTTERY SYSTEM This invention relates to a lottery system and

particularly, but not exclusively, to a video lottery system providing a graphical representation of chances obtained from a finite pool of such chances, each finite pool in turn having a predetermined number of winning plays therein.

Traditionally, lotteries have employed such well known devices as raffle tickets or scratch cards.

These devices are often perceived to lack excitement, however. W094/12256 describes a lottery system which addresses this problem. In W094/12256, a system is described which employs a video screen to allow graphical representation of a chance obtained from a pool of such chances. Money is inserted into the machine, which includes the video screen, and the machine then connects to a server device which has stored therein a fixed "pool" of chances, some of which are winning chances. one or more chance from the pool is downloaded to the machine, where it can be displayed graphically. The customer is then informed by the machine whether he has won a prize such as cash.

Many charitable societies promote lotteries to raise funds. These lotteries are generally known in Great Britain as "societies lotteries" and are governed by the Lotteries & Amusements Act 1976.

Whilst lottery systems such as that described in W094/12256 are considered more exciting than traditional raffle tickets or scratch cards, charitable societies or the like wishing to sell such tickets or cards to the general public are prevented by law from employing such systems in Great Britain.

It is an object of the present invention to 2 address this problem.

According to the present invention, there is provided a system comprising a memory device operative to store a finite pool of chances, the finite pool containing a predefined number of winning chance records for respective chances wherein each chance record contains an indication of whether the particular chance constitutes a winning or losing chance; a master processing unit connectable with the memory device, the master processing unit operative to issue chances from the finite pool of chances so that any chance from the finite pool can be used only once; at least one administrator terminal coupled to the master processing unit and operative, in response to an administrator-controlled selection device, to transmit a request for a chance record to the master processing unit; a token recording device coupled to receive a chance record for a chance issued by the master processing unit in response to a request from the administrator terminal unit, to record the chance record on a token in a machine readable form, and to dispense the recorded token for a customer; a token acceptor for receiving the recorded token; a token reader for reading the machine readable chance record on the recorded token in the acceptor, and an output device operative to communicate whether the chance record read from the token represents a winning or a losing chance.

Thus, the invention provides a system which affords the excitement of playing chances, selected from a finite pool, on an output device such as a video screen. The invention is particularly suitable for societies lotteries in Great Britain, as it meets the legal requirements therefor. An administrator typically operates the administrator unit, which generates a token (such as a printed ticket) for purchase by a customer. The customer then takes the token to the output device, typically including a video screen, and the output device reads the token and provides the appearance of playing of a game.

Thus, the more stringent requirements of British law relating to societies lotteries are met without reducing the entertainment provided to the customer.

It will be understood that the term 'finite pool, may refer either to a single pool of chances, which is typically has fixed odds of winning a prize, or to a sub-pack' drawn from such a pool, which typically does not have such f ixed odds. For example, if a single pool contains 1000 chances of which 10 are winning chances, the odds of winning a prize are 100 1. However, if 10 sub-packs of 100 chances each are drawn from the single pool, it is possible that one such sub-pack will contain all the winning chances (at odds of 10-1) and the remaining nine sub-packs will contain no winning chances at all. This situation may be remedied by requiring selection of chances for sub packs from the single pool to be such that there are minimum odds of winning in each sub-pack. Whether small single pools or sub-packs of a larger single pool are employed will depend upon a number of factors and may be decided according to circumstances.

Preferably, the master processing unit is located remote from the memory device, the master processing unit being operable to connect with the memory device to transfer a finite pool of chances from the memory device to the master processing unit. Thus, the connection between the master processing unit and the memory device need not be permanent, and a brief dial up connection can be made simply to allow exchange of data.

Preferably, the memory device is operative to store a plurality of separate finite pools of chances.

In some situations, it may be preferable that the master processing unit has a number of finite pools of chances (which may comprise a plurality of finite sub packs from a single pool, as previously described) particularly when it is estimated that a large number of customers will be using the system.

In one preferred embodiment, the token recording device is arranged to record the chance record in the form of a barcode, the reader including a barcode reader for reading the barcode recorded on the token.

Alternatively, the token recording device may be arranged to record the chance record within a magnetic region on the token.

Preferably, the output device comprises a video screen operable to display, in graphical form, the chance record. Alternatively, the output device may comprise at least one movable mechanical member operable to move into a predetermined position dependent upon whether the chance record represents a winning or a losing chance. Thus, the customer is given the impression that he is playing a game, although in fact the display of the output device is wholly predetermined according to whether the recorded token inserted into the token reader has a chance record representing a winning or losing chance.

The system may further comprise a display unit arranged to house the token acceptor. This display unit may, in one embodiment, be located within the administrator terminal. More particularly, however, the display unit is remote from the administrator terminal.

Advantageously, the system of the present invention further comprises a winning token recording device coupled to the output device, the winning token recording device being arranged to generate a winning token if the chance record read from the token represents a winning chance. For example, the winning token may consist of a piece of paper onto which information is printed. The winning token may be presented to an operator of the administrator terminal to obtain a prize.

optionally, the system may then include a winning token reader for reading the winning token and confirming that a chance record representing a winning chance has been read by the token reader.

When the token represents a winning chance, the display unit may transmit an authorisation request signal to the master processing unit, requesting an authorisation therefrom. In that case, the master processing unit may be arranged to store an authorisation in response to the received authorisation request, and to transmit the authorisation to the output device.

The winning token recording device may be arranged to generate a winning token having recorded thereon a representation of the authorisation transmitted to the output device. In that case, preferably, the winning token reader may be further arranged to read the representation of the authorisation and to transmit an authorisation check signal to the master processing unit, the authorisation check signal containing information representative of the authorisation.

Preferably, in response to receipt of the authorisation check signal, the master processing unit compares the authorisation represented by the authorisation check signal with the authorisation stored by the master processing unit, and returns an authorisation confirmed signal to the winning token reader if the said comparison indicates a match.

The invention may be put into practice in a number of ways, one of which will now be described with reference to Figure 1 which shows a schematic block diagram of a system representing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The manager of a lottery such as a British charitable societies lottery may design or develop specific finite pools of lottery chances. Referring to the figure, these specific finite pools are first loaded into a central controller 10 in electronic form. The central controller 10 is a secure computer device which may be provided in any suitable location such as the headquarters of the charitable society organising the lottery.

The central controller 10 divides each specific finite pool of lottery chances into specified numbers of chance sub-packs.

These chance sub-packs are distributed along a telephone or other communication line 20 to a local master 30 (which acts as a server) at a lottery location 40. It will be understood that the central controller 10 is able to distribute the ticket sub packs to any number of different locations along different communication lines 201, 20", for example, although only one lottery location 40 is shown in the Figure for clarity.

In addition to a local master 30, each lottery location 40 also includes a ticket dispenser 50 and a lottery machine 60 having a video screen 70. The ticket dispenser 50 communicates with the local master via a first serial cable 80, such as an RS-485 cable. The lottery machine 60 is likewise connected to the local master 30 via a second serial cable 90 which may also be an RS-485 cable.

In addition to connection via the first serial cable 80 to the local master 30, the ticket dispenser 50 is connected to a keypad 110 and an alphanumeric display 120, whose purpose will be described in further detail below. The ticket dispenser is also connected to a local printer 100. This allows the ticket dispenser 50 to print out tickets having readable markings, such as a barcode on them. The markings upon the tickets are representative of a chance obtained from the pool of chances, and in particular whether that chance is a winning chance.

The tickets printed by the printer 100 are readable by a scanner, such as a barcode reader (not shown) in the lottery machine 60. Having read the tickets, the lottery machine 60 can display graphical representations of chances upon the video screen 70.

Having provided a brief overview of the hardware of the system shown in Figure 1, a detailed description of the mode of operation will now be provided, again with reference to the Figure. The mode of operation may conveniently be broken down into sub-sections.

(1) LOADING OF CHANCES ONTO THE LOCAL MASTER As previously explained, the central controller downloads chance sub- packs to a local master 30 at a lottery location 40. The number of sub- packs, or indeed the number of finite pools which are downloaded will depend, for example, on the estimated number of customers. It is preferable that the downloading from the central controller 10 to the local master 30 takes place at night when the lottery location 40 is closed to the public. The central controller 10 dials up the local master 30 using a secure protocol. Various protocols and techniques for transferring electronic data are suitable, and will be familiar to the skilled person.

once the local master 30 has provided verification of its identity, the downloading process commences. Typically, the downloading time will be one or two minutes, although this time will depend upon the number of chance sub-packs or finite pools to be sent. Once downloading is complete, the central controller 10 disconnects from the local master 30.

In addition to connecting to the local master 30 for the purpose of downloading data, the central controller 10 can also connect to the local master 30 for data management housekeeping purposes. For example, the central controller 10 may be programmed to dial up the local master 30 at a predetermined time each evening, to upload accounting information, the number of chances played in the previous day, the level of paper in the printer 100 and so forth.

(2) OBTAINING A TICKET REPRESENTATIVE OF A CHANCE To obtain a chance loaded onto the local master 30, a customer approaches a retailer/administrator (not shown) who is most conveniently situated adjacent to the ticket dispenser 50. The retailer/administrator also has access to a till. The customer requests a ticket representing a chance from the retailer/administrator and makes a payment for that ticket. Under current British law, the ticket has a maximum value of El, although a number of tickets might be purchased simultaneously by the customer with divisions (such as perforations) between each ticket.

Once the necessary payment has been handed to the retailer/administrator, the administrator keys in a unique security code such as a four digit PIN number into the keypad 110 attached to the ticket dispenser 50. The alphanumeric display 120 allows confirmation of valid PIN numbers to be displayed and may, for example, permit up to 16 characters to be displayed.

The ticket dispenser So verifies that the PIN number which has been input by the retailer/administrator is valid.

Provided both the customer and the retailer/administrator agree to the request (for example that the correct amount of money has been provided for the relevant number of tickets to be purchased), then a "TICKET ISSUE" button on the keypad 110 is pressed. If on the other hand a mistake has been made, then a separate "CANCEL REQUEST" button on the keypad 110 may be pressed instead to reset the procedure.

Provided a valid PIN number has been entered, depression of a button on the keypad 110 by the administrator causes a ticket request signal to be sent from the ticket dispenser 50 to the local master 30 via the first serial cable 80. The alphanumeric display 120 may acknowledge that a ticket request has been made. For ease of explanation, it will be understood in the following that only one chance has been purchased by the customer. However, should the customer wish to purchase multiple chances, then the button on the keypad 110 is simply depressed several times depending upon the number of chances to be purchased.

Depression of the "TICKET ISSUE" button temporarily locks the keypad 110 so that subsequent depression of keys (other than the "TICKET ISSUE" button) upon the keypad 110 have no effect. The ticket request signal sent from the ticket dispenser 50 to the local master 30 includes the customer's request for a chance and also the PIN number of the retailer/administrator. The ticket dispenser 50 allocates a unique number to the request, hereinafter referred to as a "key number". Although many different ways of carrying out this procedure may be envisaged, in the preferred embodiment an eight digit code, which could form the basis of a file name for example, is used. Following receipt of the ticket request signal from the ticket dispenser 50, the local master 30 first verifies the PIN number entered by the retailer/administrator and, if verified, extracts chances, usually sequentially, from the current pool or pool sub-pack loaded therein. To improve security, the file holding such data at the local master may be encrypted.

Next, the local master 30 sends a ticket acknowledge signal, containing the eight digit key number, back to the ticket dispenser 50, again using the first serial cable 80. At the same time that the local master 30 sends the ticket acknowledge signal to the ticket dispenser 50, it also updates the encrypted file containing the lottery pool. The chance which has been selected and sent as a key number to the ticket dispenser 50 is removed from the pool of chances which will be available for future customers. In other words, sending a key number from the local master 30 to the ticket dispenser 50 causes the number of chances available for issue from the lottery pool or pool sub-pack on the local master 30 to be reduced by one.

Upon receipt of the ticket acknowledge signal, the ticket dispenser extracts the key number and sends data to the printer 100 which then prints a ticket.

The ticket indicates, in non-encrypted form, details of the request made, such as the purchase price, date and so forth. It also contains a representation of the key number. The key number is encoded, for example, using a barcode, for several reasons. Firstly, for security reasons it is preferable that the customer cannot readily ascertain what the key number allocated to that ticket is. Moreover, the enjoyment of the lottery is increased if the ticket itself is not understandable by the customer. In other words, it is preferable that the customer does not know whether or not he has won a prize simply by looking at the printed ticket.

Although a barcode represents a form of encoding which is particularly preferred, because it is simple to print and to read using known technology, other forms of encoding could be used. For example, optical character recognisable (OCR) readable text could be employed, as might, an optic reader that detects holes punched in a plastic card, a magnetic strip, or even a 'smart' card a containing a silicon chip.

Once the ticket has been printed by the printer 100, it is handed to the customer. The customer is able to ascertain from the printed matter upon the ticket such information as the cost of the ticket and the date and time of printing, as previously described. The paper in the printer 100 may be preprinted with the name of the society or charity, the rules and regulations of the lottery and the name of the lottery manager. However, the customer is not able to ascertain, by inspection, whether or not he holds a winning ticket.

3: DISPLAYING THE TICKET REPRESENTING A CHANCE The customer proceeds from the area where the ticket dispenser is located to a separate area within the lottery location 40 where the lottery machine 60 is located. The printed ticket ispresented to the lottery machine 60 and a code reader, such as a barcode reader, reads the encoded key number printed upon the ticket. Preferably, the ticket is presented by inserting it into a slot (not shown) within the lottery machine 60, which then retains the inserted ticket, for security purposes.

Having read the barcode and determined the key number represented thereby, the lottery machine 60 sends a ticket verification signal containing the key number it has obtained from the inserted ticket to the local master 30, along the second serial cable 90. The local master 30 confirms, if appropriate, that the key number sent by the lottery machine 60 represents a valid chance in a valid file containing the pool of chances, and that the ticket inserted into the machine has not previously been used. If these conditions are met, then a ticket confirmation signal is returned from the local master 30 to the lottery machine 60 which initiates a display sequence upon the video screen 70. If the ticket is invalid, then an appropriate ticket reject signal is returned to the lottery machine 60 which rejects the inserted ticket.

Upon receipt of the ticket confirmation signal from the local master 30, the lottery machine 60 generates a menu of various options which are displayed upon the video screen 70. The options provide a choice to the customer as to how the customer would like the inserted ticket to be graphically displayed. For example, the lottery machine 60 may graphically represent a scratch card, pressing a button or touching the screen causing removal of panels on that scratch card. Alternatively, the lottery machine 60 may permit a representation of a card game, such as Blackjack, to be displayed. The lottery machine 60 may also cause the chance represented by the ticket to be displayed automatically, should a predetermined amount of time have elapsed since the ticket was inserted. The ticket acts as a 'key, controlling the outcome of the display on the lottery machine 60.

Any number of different graphical representations may be employed. Furthermore, the customer may be able to manipulate the graphical display by means of a touch screen or push buttons, to provide the customer with the impression that he is playing a video game.

Importantly, however, it will be understood that in reality neither the customer nor the lottery machine itself can influence the eventual outcome. In other words, no matter how the customer manipulates the display of the lottery machine 60, the end display will be representative of a winning or losing chance, which representation is entirely dependent upon the key number encoded upon the ticket which is inserted.

Whether the ticket inserted into the lottery machine 60 represents a winning or losing chance, a display end signal is sent from the lottery machine 60 to the local master 30 once each ticket has been read and displayed. This display end signal causes the file which holds the pool of lottery chances in the local master 30 to be updated. Specifically, the chance which has been displayed is marked as used to prevent it being redisplayed should the customer have his ticket returned for any reason. This also prevents copies of tickets, or tickets from other lottery locations (which will represent chances from different finite pools) from being inserted into or otherwise presented to the lottery machine 60.

4: VALIDATING THE TICKET IF IT REPRESENTS A WINNING CHANCE The display end signal also triggers the local master 30 to generate an authorisation code or validation number if the local master 30 determines that the ticket which was displayed represented a winning chance. The local master 30 writes the authorisation code to a separate file and then transmits that authorisation code as part of an authorisation signal to the lottery machine 60, again along the second serial cable 90. It will be appreciated that the authorization code could be stored either in a memory within the local master 30 or in a memory within the ticket dispenser 50.

When the ticket inserted by the customer into the lottery machine 60 represents a winning chance, then a voucher is printed by the lottery machine 60. This voucher indicates the prize won, such as the amount of cash. The voucher also includes the authorisation code issued by the local master 30 in encoded form.

If the customer wishes to insert a plurality of tickets, then rather than printing a ticket each time a ticket representing a winning chance is inserted, the information to be printed may be stored in a memory either within the local master 30 or within the lottery machine 60. The prizes already won may be displayed graphically upon the video screen 70. When all of the inserted tickets have been displayed, the customer may then press a print button upon the lottery machine 60 which prints the relevant number of vouchers to allow the various prizes to be claimed by the customer. Each voucher has a separate authorisation code. Of course, one voucher with information relating to a number of winning vouchers could be printed instead.

Should a ticket inserted into the lottery machine 60 represent one of the few winning chances having the highest prizes, then congratulatory graphical effects and suitable fanfares may be generated by the lottery machine 60.

5: CLXIMING A PRIZE is To claim any prizes won, the customer takes the voucher printed by the lottery machine 60 to the retailer/administrator once more. The retailer/administrator inserts the voucher into the ticket dispenser, or otherwise presents the voucher to it, and the ticket dispenser reads the authorisation code on the voucher and sends this information in a voucher verification signal to the local master 30. The local master 30 checks the file of stored authorisation codes. Provided the authorisation code matches the stored authorisation code, a voucher acknowledgment ticket validated signal is returned to the ticket dispenser 50. Here, the alphanumeric display 120 may confirm to the retailer/administrator that the voucher presented to him is a genuine voucher. The amount of the win is also displayed upon the alphanumeric display 120. Small wins are then paid by the retailer/administrator. However, larger wins (such as large cash prizes) are presented to the manager of the lottery for further validation. This introduces a further level of security for the largest prizes.

As yet a further security measure, each lottery may have a fixed duration. When the closing date of the lottery passes, the local master 30 prevents further tickets from being issued by the retailer/administrator. Furthermore, the local master 30 may refuse to acknowledge vouchers after the closing date of the lottery, even if they would, prior to the closing date of the lottery, have been genuine vouchers.

Whilst a preferred embodiment of the system has been described, it will be appreciated that various modifications may be made. For example, the lottery location 40 may have a large number of lottery machines 60, each of which acts as a client of the local master 30. Furthermore, each lottery location 40 may also have more than one ticket dispenser. Again, each of a plurality of ticket dispensers would act as a client of the local master 30. Indeed, it is possible for a given pool of lottery chances to be shared between a plurality of locations, and in this case the local master 30 at each location may be connected (either directly or via the central controller 10) to the local masters at the other locations which are sharing the pool of lottery chances.

More than one ticket may be inserted into the lottery machine 60 at one time, and the lottery machine may then store the barcode read from each, for displaying in turn.

Likewise, rather than requiring a customer to collect prizes as soon as they have won, prize notifications may be stored in a 'bank' within the lottery machine 60 particularly when multiple tickets are inserted. The customer may then empty the 'bank' when all of the inserted tickets have been displayed, and one or more winning vouchers may be printed out, the customer taking the vouchers back to the retailer/administrator.

Although a preferred embodiment has been described where the lottery machine 60 is located either immediately adjacent to or at least in the proximity of the ticket dispenser 50, it is to be understood that in fact the location of the lottery machine 60 is not critical.

Claims (18)

1. A system comprising a memory device operative to store a finite pool of chances, the finite pool containing a predefined number of winning chance records for respective chances wherein each chance record contains an indication of whether the particular chance constitutes a winning or losing chance; a master processing unit connectable with the memory device, the master processing unit operative to issue chances from the finite pool of chances so that any chance from the finite pool can be used only once; at least one administrator terminal coupled to the master processing unit and operative, in response to an administrator-controlled selection device, to transmit a request for a chance record to the master processing unit; a token recording device coupled to receive a chance record for a chance issued by the master processing unit in response to a request from the administrator terminal unit, to record the chance record on a token in a machine readable form, and to dispense the recorded token for a customer; a token acceptor for receiving the recorded token; a token reader for reading the machine readable chance record on the recorded token in the acceptor, and an output device operative to communicate whether the chance record read from the token represents a winning or a losing chance.

2. The system of claim 1, in which the master processing unit is located remote from the memory device, the master processing unit being operable to connect with the memory device to transfer a finite pool of chances from the memory device to the master processing unit. 5

3. The system of claim I or claim 2, in which the memory device is operative to store a plurality of separate finite pools of chances.

4. The system of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, in which the token recording device is arranged to record the chance record in the form of a bar code, the reader including a bar code reader for reading the bar code recorded on the token.

5. The system of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, in which the token recording device is arranged to record the chance record within a magnetic region on the token.

6. The system of any one of the preceding claims, in which the output device comprises a video screen operable to display, in graphical form, the chance record.

7. The system of any one of claims 1 to 6, in which the output device comprises at least one movable mechanical member operable to move into a predetermined position dependent upon whether the chance record represents a winning or a losing chance.

8. The system of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a display unit arranged to house.the token acceptor.

9. The system of claim 8 in which, when the token represents a winning chance, the display unit transmits an authorisation request signal to the master processing unit, requesting an authorisation therefrom.

10. The system of claim 9, in which the master processing unit is arranged to store an authorisation in response to the received authorisation request, and to transmit the authorisation to the output device.

11. The system of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a winning token recording device coupled to the output device, the winning token recording device being arranged to generate a winning token if the chance record read from the token represents a winning chance.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a winning token reader for reading the winning token and confirming that a chance record representing a winning chance has been read by the token reader.

13. The system of claim 12, or claim 11 when dependent upon claim 8 or claim 9, in which the winning token recording device is arranged to generate a winning token having recorded thereon a representation of the authorisation transmitted to the output device.

14. The system of claim 13 when dependent upon claim 12, in which the winning token reader is further arranged to read the representation of the authorisation and to transmit an authorisation check signal to the master processing unit, the authorisation check signal containing information representative of the authorisation.

15. The system of claim 14 in which, in response to receipt of the authorisation check signal, the master processing unit compares the authorisation represented by the authorisation check signal with the authorisation stored by the master processing unit, and returns an authorisation confirmed signal to the winning token reader if the said comparison indicates a match.

16. A system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the token recording device is arranged to record the chance record on the token in a machine readable form which cannot be visually interpreted.

17. A system as claimed in claim 8, in which the display unit is located at a position remote from the administrator terminal.

18. A system substantially as herein described with reference to the drawing.