WO2001067352A2

WO2001067352A2 - Interactive wagering system with selective submission of wagers

Info

Publication number: WO2001067352A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/007118
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masood Garahi
Original assignee: Ods Properties, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-03-06
Filing date: 2001-03-05
Publication date: 2001-09-13
Also published as: AU2001240064A1; WO2001067352A8

Abstract

An interactive wagering application is provided that allows users to create multiple wagers. The wagers may be wagers for horse races and may include information such as the racetrack, race, horse or horses, wager amount, and wager type. Users may select which of the wagers are to be submitted and which of the wagers are to be held back for possible submission at a later time. When the user submits wagers for processing, the wagering application may display a confirmation indicating which wagers have been sent. The system may support multiple user platforms, such as platforms based on set-top boxes, personal computers, handheld computers, cellular telephones, and regular telephones.

Description

INTERACTIVE WAGERING SYSTEM WITH SELECTIVE SUBMISSION OF WAGERS

Background of the Invention This invention relates to interactive wagering, and more particularly, to interactive wagering applications that allow multiple wagers to be created and that allow a user to place some of the wagers while retaining the other wagers in a wagering queue.

Wagering is a popular leisure activity. For example, many racing fans wager on events such as horse, dog, and harness racing. However, it may be inconvenient to attend racing events in person. Not all racing fans have sufficient time to visit racetracks as often as they would like and some fans have difficulties in obtaining suitable transportation to the track. Off-track betting establishments are available, for fans who cannot attend racing events in person, but fans must still travel to the off-track betting establishments.

As a result, systems have been developed in which fans may place off-track wagers using personal computers connected to the Internet, standard telephones, or set-top boxes.

It is an object of the present invention to improve such systems by providing an interactive wagering system that allows a user to create multiple wagers and that allows the user to place some of the wagers the user has created while retaining other wagers to be placed later or canceled.

Summary of the Invention This and other objects of the invention are accomplished in accordance with the principles of the present invention by providing an interactive wagering system in which an interactive wagering application is used to support an interactive wagering service. The wagering application allows a user to create wagers and place them electronically. The wagering application also allows the user to view wagering results.

The wagering application may be implemented using platforms such as those based on user television equipment (e.g., a set-top box connected to a monitor such as a television), user computer equipment (e.g., a personal computer or a handheld computer) , and user telephone equipment (e.g., a cellular telephone with an interactive display screen) . If desired, the wagering system may use a transaction processing and subscription management system that allows the wagering service to be accessed from multiple platforms.

Regardless of the platform that is used to support the wagering application, the wagering application preferably allows the user to create multiple wagers. For example, the user may create various horse race wagers for different horses, races, wager types, etc. The wagers may be maintained in a wager queue. The user may submit all of the wagers by selecting a send option. The user may also direct the system to hold some of the wagers and to submit others . Because the user need not place all of the wagers together at one time, the user need not be absolutely certain whether or not each wager that is created is to be submitted. The user may decide later to submit certain wagers that the user was initially uncertain about (e.g., because the odds for these wagers have become more favorable) . The selective wager submission feature therefore may allow users to create more wagers than they would have otherwise created.

If desired, the wagering application may provide a hold option that allows users to select which wagers in a queue of created wagers are to be held. Visual indicators may be provided that indicate which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are to be held. When the user submits the wagers in the queue for processing, only the wagers that have not been designated as wagers to be held are submitted. Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantages will be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative interactive wagering system that may be used to provide an interactive wagering service in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 shows an illustrative display screen that an interactive wagering application may display to provide a user with an opportunity to select a hold option in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative display screen that the interactive wagering application may display to allow the user to designate which of various wagers to hold in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative display screen such as that of FIG. 3 after a user has selected one of the wagers to hold in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative display screen that the interactive wagering application may display to allow the user to enter a personal -identification number during wager submission in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative display screen that the interactive wagering application may display to provide the user with a visual confirmation of which wagers are being submitted in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative display screen that the interactive wagering application may display that confirms which wagers have been sent in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 8 shows an illustrative display screen that the interactive wagering application may display to show the user which wagers remain in the wager queue in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flow chart of steps involved in providing the selective wager submission feature in accordance with the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

An illustrative interactive wagering system 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. Aspects of the invention apply to various different types of wagering, but are described herein primarily in the context of interactive wagering on races (e.g., horse races) for specificity and clarity. Races may be run at racetracks 12, which may be located at various geographic locations . Races run at the racetracks may be simulcast to television viewers. For example, simulcast videos may be provided to users with satellite receivers or to off-track betting establishments via satellite.

System 10 may be used to provide an interactive wagering service to users of various user equipment. An interactive wagering application may be used to provide the wagering service. The interactive wagering application may run locally on the user equipment (e.g., on a set-top box, personal computer, cellular telephone, handheld computing device, etc.) or may run using a client-server or distributed architecture where some of the application is implemented locally on the user equipment in the form of a client process and some of the application is implemented at one or more remote locations (e.g., on server computers or other such equipment in the system) as one or more server processes . These arrangements are merely illustrative. Other suitable techniques for implementing the interactive wagering application may be used if desired.

Real-time videos from racetracks 12 may be provided to video production system 14 for distribution to users as part of a television wagering service (i.e., a wagering-related television channel or Internet-delivered video service or the like) . If desired, multiple simulcast videos may be provided to video production system 14 in real-time. Talent (e.g., commentators) for the television wagering service provided by the interactive wagering application may be located at studio 16. Studio 16 may provide a video feed containing commentary and the like to video production system 14. Graphic overlays for the television wagering service may be added to the service at video production system 14.

The television wagering service may use video production system 14 to combine selected video segments from desired racing simulcasts with the video feed from studio 16 and suitable graphic overlays. If desired, video production system 14 or a separate facility may be used to reformat simulcasts from racetracks 12. For example, if racetracks 12 provide simulcasts as traditional analog television channels, video production system 14 (or a separate facility) may convert these simulcasts or portions of these simulcasts into digital signals (e.g., digital video signals) or into a different number of analog signals. Digital video signals may require less bandwidth than analog video signals and may be appropriate for situations in which videos are to be transmitted over either high or low bandwidth pathways. Low bandwidth pathways may include telephone lines, the Internet, etc.

Video production system 14 may be used to provide a television wagering service that includes selected simulcast videos, video from studio 16, and graphic overlays to television distribution facilities 18 (for redistribution to user television equipment 22 and user computer equipment 20) , to user computer equipment 20, and to user telephone equipment 32 (if user telephone equipment 32 has a display capable of displaying moving images) . Television distribution facilities 18 may be any suitable facilities for supplying television to users, such as cable system headends, satellite systems, broadcast television systems, or other suitable systems or combinations of such systems. In order to support interactive wagering functions, the user's equipment should support an interactive wagering application. User computer equipment 20, for example, may be any suitable computer equipment that supports an interactive wagering application. For example, user computer equipment 20 may be a personal computer. User computer equipment 20 may also be based on a mainframe computer, a workstation, a networked computer or computers, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a handheld computing device such as a personal digital assistant or other small portable computer, etc. User television equipment 22 may include a set-top box or other suitable equipment for supporting an interactive wagering application. User telephone equipment 32 may be based on a cellular telephone with interactive display capabilities that supports an interactive wagering application.

Each of television distribution facilities 18 is typically located at a different geographic location. Users with user television equipment 22 may receive the television wagering service from an associated television distribution facility. User television equipment 22 may include, for example, a television or other suitable monitor. A television may be used to watch the television wagering service on a traditional analog television channel. User television equipment 22 may also include a digital or analog set- top box connected to a television distribution facility 18 by a cable path. A digital set-top box may be used to receive the television wagering service on a digital channel. If desired, user television equipment 22 may contain a satellite receiver, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV) , or hardware similar to such devices into which set-top box capabilities have been integrated. A recording device such as a videocassette recorder or digital recording device (e.g., a personal video recorder or digital video recorder based on hard disk drives or the like) may be used in user television equipment 22 to store videos. The recording device may be separate from or part of the other components of user television equipment 22. User computer equipment 20 may receive the television wagering service using a video card or other video-capable equipment to receive analog or digital (e.g., moving picture experts group or MPEG) videos from a television distribution facility. User computer equipment 20 may also receive the television wagering service directly from video production system 14 using, for example, a modem link. If desired, the video for the television wagering service may be compressed (e.g., using MPEG techniques) . This may be useful, for example, if the path to user computer equipment 20 is a modem connection using telephone links. If video production system 14 is only used to serve user computer equipment 20 without traditional analog television capabilities, video production system 14 may only need to supply such digitally-compressed video signals and not analog television signals.

Video clips of races and other simulcast information may be provided to users in the form of the television wagering service or by an interactive wagering service provided by an interactive wagering application implemented using the user's equipment. If desired, race-related videos may be provided to the user by using video production system 14 or other suitable equipment to route appropriate video clips from the simulcasts to the user in real time. Video clips may also be stored for later viewing. For example, one or more video servers located at racetracks 12, video production system 14, television distribution facilities 18, or other suitable locations may be used to store video clips. The stored videos may then be played back in real time or downloaded for viewing at user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, or user telephone equipment 32. The video clips may contain videos of races, commentary, interviews with jockeys, or any other suitable race- related information. If desired, real-time or stored videos may be provided from racetracks 12 directly to user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, or user telephone equipment 32 over the Internet or other suitable communications paths without involving video production system 14. Videos may also be provided by routing video signals through equipment located elsewhere in system 10. For example, videos may be routed through transaction processing and subscription management system 24.

Transaction processing and subscription management system 24 may contain computer equipment 26 and other equipment for supporting system functions such as transaction processing (e.g., handling tasks related to wagers, product purchasing, adjusting the amount of funds in user accounts based on the outcomes of wagers, video clip ordering, etc.), data distribution (e.g., for distributing racing data to the users), and subscriber management (e.g., features related to opening an account for a user, closing an account, allowing a user to add or withdraw funds from an account, changing the user's address or personal identification number, etc.). Databases within transaction processing and subscription management system 24 or associated with system 24 may be used to store racing data, wagering data and other transaction data, and subscriber data such as such as information on the user's current account balance, past wagering history, individual wager limits, personal identification number, billing addresses, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, etc. Using such databases may allow the user to access information more quickly and allows for central administration of the wagering service.

If desired, racing videos and other services may be provided using servers and other equipment located at transaction processing and subscription management system 24. For example, video clips may be provided to the user on demand. Interactive advertisements may be provided to the user. When the user selects a desired advertisement, transaction processing and subscription management system 24 may provide additional information or other services related to the advertisement to the user.

Product ordering services may be implemented using computer equipment at transaction processing and subscriber management system 24 to handle orders and to assist in adjusting the appropriate account of the user accordingly. Orders may be fulfilled using merchandise fulfillment facilities 34. Merchandise fulfillment facilities 34 may be operated solely to provide merchandise fulfillment or may be associated with independently-operated mail-order or on-line businesses. Similar facilities may be used to allow users to order services .

Statistical racing data such as the post times for each race, jockey names, runner names and the number of races associated with each track, handicapping information (e.g., information on past performances such as the number of wins and losses for the past year, etc.), and weather conditions at various tracks may be provided by racing data collection and processing system 28. Some of the data may be collected from racetracks 12 and some may be provided by third party information sources such as Axcis Pocket Information Network, Inc. of Santa Clara, California or other suitable data sources.

Racing data may also be provided from totalisators 30. Totalisators 30 are the computer systems that may be used to handle wagers made at the racetracks, made at off-track betting establishments, and made using interactive wagering system 10. Totalisators 30 generate wagering odds in real time. Totalisators 30 generate these odds based on information on which wagers are being placed (e.g., based on information on which wagers are being placed on races at racetracks 12) . Totalisators 30 are available from companies such as Amtote International, Inc. of Hunt Valley, Maryland. Totalisators 30 may be associated with individual racetracks 12 or groups of racetracks 12. Totalisators 30 may communicate with one another using a communication protocol known as the Intertote Track System Protocol (ITSP) . This allows totalisators 30 to share wagering pools. Totalisators 30 may provide racing data including information on the current races at racetracks 12 , the number of races associated with each racetrack, win, place, and show odds and pool totals for each horse or other runner, and exacta, trifecta, and quinella payoff predictions and pool totals for every possible combination of runners. Totalisators 30 may also provide current odds and other real-time racing data for other types of wagers. Totalisators 30 may provide the time until post time for each race.

Totalisators 30 may provide race results, such as the order-of-finish list for at least the first three positions and payoff values versus a standard wager amount for win, place, and show, for each runner in the finish list. Payoff values may be provided for winning complex wager types such as exacta, trifecta, quinella, pick-n (where n is the number of races involved in the pick-n wager), and daily double. The payoff values may be accompanied by a synopsis of the associated finish list.

Totalisators 30 may also provide program information of the type typically provided in printed racing programs . Such program information may include early odds, early scratches, race descriptions (including the distance of each race and the race surface - grass, dirt, artificial turf, etc.), allowed class ratings (based on a fixed ratio of external criteria) , purse value (payoff to winning runner) , allowed age range of runners, and the allowed number of wins and starts for each runner.

If desired, some of the information provided to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 by totalisators 30 (such as the program information or other suitable racing data) may be provided by racing data collection and processing system 28. Similarly, some of the information provided to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 by racing data collection and processing system 28 may be provided by totalisators 30. Moreover, the foregoing examples of different suitable types of racing data are merely illustrative. Any suitable data related to racing may be provided to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 if desired. Transaction processing and subscription management system 24 provides the racing data to users at user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, and user telephone equipment 32 for use in following race results and developing wagers. If desired, racing data may be provided to users using paths that do not directly involve transaction processing and subscription management system 2 . For example, racing data may be provided from racing data collection and processing system 28 to user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, or user telephone equipment 32 using the Internet or other suitable communications paths .

User telephone equipment 32 may be a conventional telephone, a cordless telephone, a cellular telephone or other portable wireless telephone, or any other suitable telephone equipment. Users at user television equipment 22 and user computer equipment 20 may view information on the racing data on a television or other suitable monitor. Users at user telephone equipment 32 may listen to racing data using an interactive voice system. User telephone equipment

32 may be based on cellular telephones with displays.

Users may view racing data displayed on such displays .

Users who wish to place wagers may establish an account at transaction processing and subscription management system 24. An account may also be established at one of totalisators 30. The user and the interactive wagering services may have their own bank accounts at financial institutions 38. A user may set up an account electronically by using user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, or user telephone equipment 32 to interact with the subscriber management functions of transaction processing and subscription management system 24. If desired, accounts may be established with the interactive wagering service with the assistance of customer service representatives at customer service facility 36. Customer service facility 36 may be at the same location as transaction processing and subscription management system 24, may be part of system 24, or may be located remote from system 24. Customer service representatives at customer service facility 36 may be reached by telephone. If user telephone equipment 32 is used to access the .. interactive wagering service, for example, user telephone equipment 32 may be used to reach the customer service representative using communications path 42. If user television equipment 22 or user computer equipment 20 is being used with the service, a telephone at the same location as that equipment may be used to reach the customer service representative. The user's identity may be checked using social security number information or other identification information with the assistance of subscriber verification facility 40. The services of subscriber verification facility 40 are used to ensure that the user lives in a geographic area in which wagering is legal, that the user is of a legal age, and that the identification information (e.g., the user's social security number) matches the name provided by the user. If the user is using a cellular telephone or handheld computing device, the user's present physical location may be determined by determining which general part of the cellular telephone network is being accessed by the user or by using the cellular network or a handset-based location device such as a global positioning system (GPS) receiver in the body of the cellular telephone to pinpoint the user's location. This location information may be used to verify that the user is located in a geographic area where wagering is legal .

In a typical enrollment process, the user provides personal information to the interactive wagering service and provides funds with a credit card or funds from the user's bank account. The interactive wagering service sets up an account for the user at transaction processing and subscription management system 24 and directs one of totalisators 30 to set up a new account for the user at the totalisator. The totalisator is also directed to credit the user's account to reflect the amount of funds provided by the user. After the user places a wager and wins or loses, the totalisator adjusts the user's totalisator account to reflect the outcome of the wager. The totalisator may periodically inform the interactive wagering service of the adjusted balance in the user's account. This may be accomplished using any suitable technique (e.g., periodically, continuously, on-request, etc.). For example, reports may be collected periodically

(e.g., once a day in an end-of-day report) and provided to the interactive wagering service to reconcile the account balances at transaction processing and subscription management system 24 with the account balances at totalisators 30.

If the user makes a balance inquiry, the inquiry may be passed to the appropriate totalisator by transaction processing and subscription management system 24. If the user is charged a fee for subscribing to the service, the service may debit the fee from the user's account at the transaction processing and subscription management system 24.

The accounts at totalisators 30 and transaction processing and subscription management system 24 are typically maintained separately, because the business entities that operate totalisators 30 and transaction processing and subscription management system 24 are independent. If desired, financial functions related to opening and maintaining user accounts and the like may be handled using computer equipment at another location such as one of financial institutions 38 or other location remote from totalisators 30 and system 24. Such financial functions may also be implemented primarily at a totalisator 30 or primarily at the transaction processing and subscription management system 24 if desired.

Users at user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, and user telephone equipment 32 may place wagers by providing wagering data and otherwise interacting with transaction processing and subscription management system 24 or other suitable equipment on which software for supporting the service is implemented. The interactive wagering service may provide a user at user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, or user telephone equipment 32 that has display capabilities with screens containing various racing data. For example, the user may be presented with screens that allow the user to view the current odds for horses in an upcoming race at a given track.

The service may provide the user with interactive screens containing menus and selectable options that allow the user to specify the type of wager in which the user is interested and the desired wager amount. With a set-top box arrangement, for example, the user may use a remote control or wireless keyboard to navigate the various menus and selectable options. With a personal computer, the user may use a keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch pad, or other suitable user input or pointing device. With a cellular telephone with a display, the user may use buttons on the telephone. When the user has made appropriate selections to define a desired wager, the user television equipment, user computer equipment, or user telephone equipment may transmit wagering data for the wager to transaction processing and subscription management system 24. Users with telephones may also interact with the service using an interactive voice response system located at transaction processing and subscription management system 24. The interactive voice response system may present menu options to the user in the form of audio prompts (e.g., "press 1 to select a $2 wager amount," etc.) . The user may interact with the service be pressing the corresponding buttons on a touch-tone telephone. User telephone equipment 32 that is based on cellular telephones allows the user to interact with the wagering service in this way. User telephone equipment 32 that is based on cellular telephones with messaging and display capabilities also allows the user to interact visually with the interactive wagering service . The components of system 10 may be interconnected using various communications paths 44. Communications paths 44 may include satellite paths, coaxial cable paths, fiber-optic paths, twisted pair paths, other wire or cable-based links, wireless paths through free space, or any other suitable paths or combination of such paths. Communications over paths 44 may involve analog transmissions, digital transmissions, wireless transmissions, microwave transmissions, radio-frequency transmissions, optical transmissions, audio transmissions, or any other suitable type of transmissions or combination of such transmissions. Communications may involve Internet transmissions, private network transmissions, packet- based transmissions, television channel transmissions, transmissions in the vertical blanking interval of a television channel or on a television sideband, MPEG transmissions, etc. Communications may involve wireless pager or other messaging transmissions. Communications paths 44 may include cable connected to cable modems, digital subscriber lines, integrated services digital network (ISDN) lines, or any other suitable paths . Examples of suitable communications paths are described below. Those examples are, however, merely illustrative. Any of the communications path arrangements described above or other suitable arrangements may be used if desired. Communications paths that carry video and particularly uncompressed analog video or lightly- compressed or full-screen digital video generally use more bandwidth than communications paths that carry only data or that carry partial-screen digital video. For example, if it is desired to transmit high-quality simulcasts of races from racetracks 12 to video production system 14, analog or digital videos may be transmitted from racetracks 12 to video production system 14 over path 44a using satellite links. Video may be transmitted from studio 16 to video production system 14 over path 44b using a satellite link or a high-speed terrestrial path such as a fiber-optic path. Studio 16 may also be located at the same site as video production system 14, thereby avoiding the need for a long-haul transmission path. Videos may be transmitted from video production system 14 to user computer equipment 20 over path 14c using a modem link (using, for example, a digital subscriber line, a telephone network link, a wireless link etc.) The modem link may be made over a private network.

A user with a cable modem may connect a personal computer or other such user computer equipment

20 to an associated cable system headend using path 44d. (The headend in such an arrangement would be one of the television distribution facilities 18 shown in FIG. 1.) The user may then receive videos from the headend via cable modem. Videos may be provided to the headend over path 44e using a network link, fiber optic links, cable links, microwave links, satellite links, etc. A user with a set-top box or similar device (shown in FIG. 1 as user television equipment 22) may also receive videos from a cable system headend using a cable modem or other such communications device over path 44f . In addition, a user with user television equipment may receive videos over the Internet or a private network using a telephone-based modem or other such communications device using path 44g. In a system with distributed processing, interactive wagering services may be provided using a television distribution facility 18 that includes equipment that supplements or replaces at least some of the equipment at transaction processing and subscription management system 24.

If desired, user television equipment 22 or user computer equipment 20 may receive analog or digital videos from an associated television distribution facility over the communications paths normally used to distribute television programming (e.g., paths 44f and 44d) . For example, videos may be received as part of a dedicated interactive wagering service television channel. If videos are provided as digital signals (e.g., MPEG signals), 10 or more digital videos may be carried on a single analog channel (or one digital video may be carried on one- tenth of the bandwidth of an analog channel) . If the videos are not full-screen videos, even more videos may be simultaneously provided without a loss of image quality.

Racing videos may be provided to user telephone equipment 32 over a partially-wireless telephone Internet link or other telephone link using path 44n.

If desired, racing data may accompany the racing videos along any of these paths. Moreover, racing videos may be provided by routing them directly from racetracks 12 to user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20 (e.g., over the Internet or a private network, etc.) or user telephone equipment 32. Racing videos may also be provided by routing them through transaction processing and subscription management system 24. If a cellular telephone or portable computing device has sufficient display capabilities to support moving images, racing videos may be displayed. Such videos may be provided using any suitable path, such as a direct path from racetracks 12, a path through video production system

14 or other suitable video processing equipment, through a hub such as transaction processing and subscription management system 24, etc. Racing videos may be provided in real time or may be recorded for later distribution. Videos that are not provided in real-time may be downloaded by user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, a cellular telephone, or other suitable user equipment at a lower data rate than would otherwise be required and may be downloaded in the background if desired. Such videos may also be provided to the user at real-time video rates for direct viewing by the user.

Racing data and other information related to the interactive wagering service may be provided to users over paths connected to transaction processing and subscription management system 24. For example, racing data and other data for the service may be provided to user computer equipment 20 over path 44h using a modem link. Path 44h may be a private network path or an Internet path. Path 44h may use telephone lines, digital subscriber lines, ISDN lines, wireless data paths, or any other suitable type of communications links. User television equipment 22 may receive data for the wagering service over communications path 44i, which may be a telephone line, digital subscriber line, ISDN line, or other suitable type of communications path and which may use a private network path or an Internet path, etc.

Data for the wagering service may be provided to users of the interactive wagering application via communications path 44j and paths 44f and 44d. Communications path 44j may be provided over a private network, using the public telephone network, using satellite links, or any other suitable type of links. Data from paths such as path 44j may be routed to paths such as paths 44f and 44d directly by associated television distribution facilities 18, or may be buffered at television distribution facilities 18 if desired. Paths 44f and 44d may include coaxial cable and use of paths 44f and 44d may involve the use of cable modems or the like. If data is provided over path 44j and path 44f or path 44d using an Internet protocol, a web browser or similar software running on user television equipment 22 or user computer equipment 20 may be used to access the data. Such software may be integrated into the interactive wagering application or may be used separately. Software may also be used to view videos and may be used on other platforms (e.g., advanced cellular telephones) if desired. The communications paths 44k that are used to connect various other components of the system typically do not carry high-bandwidth video signals. Accordingly, paths 44k may be telephone-like paths that are part of the Internet or a private network. Such paths and various other paths 44 may be dedicated connections for security, reliability, and economy.

User telephone equipment 32 may receive information for the wagering service via path 44m. If user telephone equipment 32 is a standard (non- cellular) telephone, such information may be in the form of audio prompts ("press 1 to place a wager") and audio racing data ("the current win odds for horse 2 are 5-1") . Transaction data processing and subscription management system 24 may contain interactive voice response equipment that provides such information to the user and that responds to touch-tone signals from the user when the user responds to prompts by pressing buttons on the user's telephone.

If user telephone equipment 32 is a cellular telephone, racing data and other information for the interactive wagering service may be provided to the user by using a cellular wireless connection as part of path 44m. Users with cellular telephones may be provided with audio prompts using an interactive voice response system located at transaction processing and subscription management system 24 to which the users may respond by pressing cellular telephone buttons to generate touch-tone signals.

Racing data and other information for the interactive wagering service may be provided to cellular telephones in the form of alphanumeric messages. Such messages may be transmitted to the user by using paging or other alphanumeric messaging formats or any other suitable data communications scheme. If desired, data may be provided to the cellular telephones over the voice channel and decoded by the cellular telephone using modem circuitry or other suitable circuitry. Data may also be provided using any other suitable cellular or wireless path. Regardless of the way in which racing data and other information for the interactive wagering service are provided to the cellular telephone, such information may be provided to the user by displaying it on the cellular telephone display screen or by presenting it in audible form through the speaker of the cellular telephone .

Racing data and other interactive wagering service information for the users may be provided in one or more continuous data streams, may be provided periodically (e.g., once per hour or once per day), or may be provided using a client-server arrangement in which data is requested by a client processor (e.g., user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, user telephone equipment 32, or any other such equipment) from a server (e.g., a server implemented using computer equipment 26 at transaction processing and subscription management system 24 or computer equipment at another suitable location) . Videos may also be provided using any of these techniques. A return communications path between the user and the interactive wagering service may be used to allow the user to place wagers and otherwise interact with the interactive wagering service. For example, a user with a standard telephone or a cellular telephone may interact with the service by pressing touch-tone keys on the telephone in response to audio prompts provided by an interactive voice response system at transaction processing and subscription management system 24. If desired, users may call customer service representatives at customer service facility 36 and place wagers with manual assistance. The user of a cellular telephone may interact with the wagering service by selecting menu options and otherwise interacting with information displayed on the cellular telephone. When a selection is made, software implemented on the telephone may be used to assist the user in transmitting appropriate data (e.g., wagering data) to the wagering service. Such data may be transmitted using any suitable technique. For example, data may be transmitted using a wireless data link that is separate from the cellular voice channels. Data may also be transmitted over the voice channel (e.g., using a modem built into the cellular telephone, by automatically generating touch-tone signals that may be recognized by the interactive voice response system at transaction processing and subscription management system 24, or using any other suitable arrangement) . These approaches may be used even if the user receives racing data and other information for the service using a platform other than a telephone-based platform.

Users with user television equipment 22 may interact with the service by sending data (e.g., wager data) to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 using path 44i or using paths 44f and 44j . Users with user computer equipment 20 may send data (e.g., wager data) to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 via path 44h or paths 44d and 44j . Users at any user equipment may send data for the service to locations other than transaction processing and subscription management system 24. For example, the user may provide information directly to customer service facility 36, etc.

If desired, the user may send data to the service at transaction processing and subscription management system 24 using different paths than those used to receive data from transaction processing and subscription management system 24. For example, racing data may be received at user television equipment 22 via paths 44j and 44f, whereas data may be sent by the user from user television equipment 22 to transaction processing and subscription management system 24 using path 44i, etc. Moreover, the paths used to receive certain video information may be different from those used to receive racing data. For example, user television equipment 22 may receive racing videos using path 44f, but may receive racing data using path 44i. Equipment at television distribution facility 18 may be used to cache or buffer data from transaction processing and subscription management system 24 and other equipment in system 10. These examples are merely illustrative. Any suitable combination of paths may be used to distribute racing data and other information for the interactive wagering service, any suitable combination of paths may be used to receive videos, and any suitable combination of paths may be used to send data to the wagering service.

If desired, the user may interact with the wagering service using more than one platform. For example, the user may place a wager using a cellular telephone while the user is traveling home. When the user arrives home, the user may determine the outcome of the wager by watching a video of the race on user television equipment. Later in the day, the user may check the user's account balance using a personal computer. This is merely an illustrative example. The various wagering platforms may be used in any suitable combination.

Although system 10 has been described in the context of a system that supports multiple wagering platforms, system 10 may support fewer platforms if desired. For example, aspects of the invention may be implemented using a system 10 that only supports cellular telephone wagering or wagering using handheld computer devices. If desired, system 10 may be configured so that it does not support personal computer wagering, wagering with standard telephones, or wagering with user television equipment . The system may support cellular telephones and/or handheld computing devices such as personal digital assistants, palm-sized computers, etc. in combination with any other suitable platform.

The selective wager submission features of the present invention are described herein primarily in the context of an interactive wagering application implemented on user television equipment such as a set- top box. This is only illustrative. An interactive wagering application implemented on any suitable platform (user computer equipment, user telephone equipment, etc.) may be used to provide such features if desired. For example, an on-line wagering application that uses a network such as the Internet to provide users with wagering opportunities may use a selective wager submission arrangement. An interactive wagering application that supports the selective wager submission features may be implemented using application software that runs primarily on a set-top box or other such local platform or using one or more remote servers or other computers that are accessed from a local platform. Arrangements in which interactive wagering services are implemented using software on remote computers that is accessed on demand from local platforms may be referred to as client-server arrangements. Such client-server arrangements may be used to allow client processes on set-top boxes to access server processes running on servers located at cable system headends or other television distribution facilities 18 (FIG. 1) . Regardless of the type of system architecture or platform used, the software that supports the interactive wagering service features described herein may be referred to as one or more interactive wagering applications .

An illustrative display screen that may be provided by an interactive wagering application is shown in FIG. 2. Screen 46 of FIG. 2 is provided after the user has accessed the interactive wagering service and has created several wagers . The interactive wagering service may be accessed by launching the interactive wagering application. The system may allow the user to launch the application by pressing a menu option in an interactive television program guide or other set-top box application or menu. If desired, the application may be launched automatically whenever the user tunes to a particular channel (e.g., the television wagering service channel) . After the user has tuned to this channel, the system may display an interactive icon on the user's television screen that indicates that the interactive wagering application is available. If the user presses an "OK" remote control key, the system may launch the application.

The first screen displayed by the interactive wagering application when it is launched may be a pop- up menu that is displayed on top of the video for the television wagering channel. The menu may contain menu options that allow the user to inform the application that the user wishes to configure the system, to place a wager, etc. The user may select the option that allows the user to place a wager. The user may then be provided with various display screens that allow the user to select a desired racetrack, race, wager type (e.g., win, place, show, etc.), a desired horse or horses (or other runners) for the wager, and a wager amount .

Any suitable interactive display screens may be used to provide the user with an opportunity to create the desired wagers. For example, the user may be provided with screens that allow the user to select the desired information for the wager from various lists (e.g., lists of available racetracks, races, wager types, horses, and wager amounts) . Such screens may be accessed by selecting an on-screen menu option such as "new" option 48 of screen 46. After the user has created the wagers, the user may be provided with an opportunity to review a list of the wagers that have been created. The list of wagers may be presented in the form of a wager queue of the type shown in FIG. 2. In screen 46 of FIG. 2, wagers 50, 52, and 54 make up wager queue 56. Each row in wager queue 56 may contain information for a different wager in the queue. For example, the first row in queue 56 contains information on a wager including the track (e.g., AQU for Aqueduct), the race (e.g., race 2), the wager amount (e.g., $5), the wager type (e.g., win), and the selected horses (e.g., horse 1) .

If the user desires to submit all of the wagers that have been created, the user may select send option 58. If, however, the user does not want to submit all of the wagers at the present time, the user may select hold option 60. Hold option 60 and other items to be selected may be selected by positioning highlight region 62 on top of the desired item and pressing a remote control OK or select or enter key (hereinafter referred to as a, remote control OK key) . With a screen layout such as the screen layout of screen 46 of FIG. 2, right and left remote control arrow keys may be used to position highlight region 62 within the row of options containing hold option 60. An option may be selected by pressing the remote control OK key. This allows the user to select a desired option from among send option 58, new option 48, view option 64 (which allows the user to view additional information on a wager) , dup option 66

(which allows a user to add a duplicate copy of a wager in the queue to the queue) , delete option 68 (which allows the user to delete a wager) , and hold option 60. Text for the currently highlighted option may be displayed on screen 46 if desired (e.g., "press OK to HOLD a bet " ) .

If the user selects hold option 60, the highlight region 62 may be automatically placed by the application on one of hold boxes 70, as shown in FIG. 3. Hold option 60 may be displayed in a different color or otherwise visually distinguished from the options that are not currently selected if desired. The user may select a desired wager to hold by using remote control up and down arrow keys to highlight the hold box 70 for that wager and by pressing a remote control OK key.

If the user selects the wager in the third row of wager queue 56, for example, an indicator such as indicator 72 of FIG. 4 may be displayed to provide a visual indication that the wager for the third row is to be held back when the other wagers in wager queue 56 are submitted. The user may deselect a selected wager by pressing the OK key a second time. When the user has finished selecting the wagers that are to be held back, the user may use the remote control down key to position highlight region 62 from boxes 70 on top of next option 73. Next option 73 may then be selected by pressing the remote control OK key. After next option 73 has been selected, highlight region 62 may be repositioned on send option 58 as shown in FIG. 4. The user may submit the wagers in wager queue 56 for processing by selecting send option 58 by pressing the remote control OK key. An illustrative screen 74 that may be displayed when the user selects send option 58 from the screen of FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 5. In screen 74, a personal identification number (pin) entry region 76 is displayed as an overlay on top of the contents of the screen in FIG. 4. Pin entry region 76 provides the user with an opportunity to enter a previously-defined pin to authorize the system to process the wagers. After the user has successfully entered the pin (e.g., by pressing appropriate numbers on the remote control) , a screen such as screen 78 of FIG. 6 may be displayed. Screen 78 contains sending bets region 80, which confirms that the first and second wagers from wager queue 56 of FIG. 4 are being sent. The third wager from wager queue 56 (which the user opted to hold) is not being sent. Accordingly, this wager is not listed in region 80.

After the wagers other than the wagers that were held have been successfully submitted for processing, a screen such as screen 82 of FIG. 7 may be displayed. Screen 82 contains a bets sent region 84 that lists the wagers that were submitted (e.g., the first and second wagers from wager queue 56 of FIG. 4) . Region 84 may contain a highlighted next option 86. When the user selects next option 86, a screen such as screen 88 of FIG. 8 may be displayed.

In screen 88 of FIG. 8, the only wager that is listed in wager queue 56 is the wager that was held back when the other wagers were submitted. The wagers that were successfully submitted have been cleared. The user may select new option 48 if the user desires to create an additional wager. If the user would like to submit a wager in wager queue 56 that is on hold, the user may select hold option 60, which will direct the interactive wagering application to display highlight region 62 on box 70 . Initially, box 70 contains indicator 72 to visually indicate that the corresponding wager has been put on hold. After the user presses the remote control OK key, the interactive wagering application removes indicator 72. If the user subsequently selects send option 58, the wager in wager queue 56 is submitted, as was illustrated in connection with FIGS. 4-7.

If desired, screens such as the screens of FIGS. 2-8.and other screens provided by the interactive wagering application may include a wager ticket 90 or other suitable display region for displaying the current win odds or other odds for various horses . The wagering application may also provide information 92 on the current amount of the outstanding wagers that the user has created. Multiple users may be supported by the application if desired, each with their own password and pin. Selectable options may be provided for help, for invoking a main menu, for obtaining additional information, etc.

Illustrative steps involved in providing the selective wager submission feature are shown in FIG. 9. At step 94, the interactive wagering application may be used to provide the user with an opportunity to create wagers and to select which of these wagers are to be submitted. The user may select a subset of wagers to submit by checking boxes or otherwise indicating which wagers should be held back. This arrangement is merely illustrative. Any suitable technique may be used to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

For example, the user may check boxes associated with the wagers that are to be submitted while leaving boxes associated with the wagers to be held back unchecked. The user may type in a list of wagers to hold and wagers to release. Any suitable indicator may be used to indicate which wagers have been selected. If desired, no indication need be made. The user may select which wagers to submit from a displayed list or queue. Two queues may be used. For example, the user may place the wagers that are to be submitted into an active queue and the wagers to be held back in a reserve queue.

The user may create wagers using any suitable technique. For example, users may create wagers by entering information on desired racetracks, races, wager types, horses, and wager amounts using interactive on-screen options.

Options may be presented in various ways by the wagering application and the user may select such options in different ways depending on the type of platform being used. For example, if the user equipment that is used to provide options for creating wagers and options for selecting which wagers are to be submitted is user television equipment based on a set- top box, the options may be displayed on a television connected to the set-top box. Users may interact with the options by pressing remote control keys as described in connection with FIGS. 2-8. If the user equipment that is used to provide such options is user computer equipment such as a personal computer, the options may be displayed on a computer monitor (e.g., as boxes to be checked off) . Users may interact with the options (e.g., the boxes) by clicking on them with a mouse or other suitable pointing device. If the user equipment is a handheld computing device, options may be displayed on the display of the device (e.g., as boxes to be checked off) . The user may interact with the options by using a touch-sensitive screen or a pen or other pointing device (e.g., to fill in the boxes) . If the user equipment is a cellular telephone, the user may view options on a display (e.g., boxes to be checked off) and may respond to options by pressing keys on the cellular telephone keypad (e.g., the user may press particular numeric keys to check off certain numerically-labeled boxes) . If the user equipment is a telephone, the user may listen to options that are presented using interactive voice response equipment (e.g., "press 1 if this wager is to be submitted and press 2 to hold this wager") and may respond to such options by pressing appropriate touch tone keys on the telephone. These examples are merely illustrative. Any suitable arrangement may be used to create wagers and to allow users to designate which of the wagers should be submitted and which should be held back for possible submission at a later time.

After the user has created various wagers and selected which of the wagers are to be submitted for processing, the user may be provided with an opportunity to submit the selected wagers for processing at step 96. For example, the user may select a send option. This is merely an illustrative way in which the user may initiate the submission of the wagers. Any suitable menu options, display screen options, etc. may be used if desired.

Moreover, any suitable user input devices may be used with user television equipment 22, user computer equipment 20, and user telephone equipment 32. Such user input devices include remote controls (e.g., wireless remote controls, infrared remote controls, remote controls with integrated display screens for displaying data and interactive options, etc.), keyboards, keypads, touchpads, trackballs, dedicated buttons, computer mice, voice recognition systems, and telephone keyboards.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed is:

1. A method for interactive wagering with an interactive wagering application implemented using user equipment, comprising: using the interactive wagering application to allow a user at the user equipment to create multiple wagers; and using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to select which of the wagers are to be submitted and which of the wagers are not to be submitted, wherein at least one of the wagers is to be submitted and at least one of the wagers is not to be submitted.

2. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising displaying the wagers that the user creates in a list on the user equipment, wherein using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to select which of the wagers are to be submitted and which of the wagers are not to be submitted comprises using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to select which of the wagers displayed in the list are to be submitted and which of the wagers displayed in the list are not to be submitted.

3. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide an option that allows the user to submit the wagers that are to be submitted for processing.

4. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide a hold option that, when selected, provides the user with an opportunity to select boxes that are associated with at least some of the wagers, wherein selecting the boxes directs the interactive wagering application to hold the wagers associated with those boxes .

5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is user television equipment based on a set-top box controlled by a remote control, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to use the remote control to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is user computer equipment based on a personal computer controlled by a pointing device, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to use the pointing device to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

7. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is user computer equipment based on a handheld computing device with a touch-sensitive screen, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to use the touch-sensitive screen to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

8. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is a cellular telephone with a key pad, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to use the key pad to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

9. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is a telephone with touch-tone keys, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to use the touch-tone keys to select which wagers are to be submitted and which wagers are not to be submitted.

10. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising : displaying a wager queue of wagers on the user equipment, wherein the wager queue has a number of rows and a different wager is displayed in each row; and displaying a visual indicator for each row that visually indicates whether the wager for that row is to be submitted or is not to be submitted.

11. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising: using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to send the wagers to be submitted for processing; and displaying an on-screen region on the user equipment that confirms which wagers have been sent after the user has sent the wagers for processing, wherein the wagers that were not to be submitted are not listed in the on-screen region.

12. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to place wagers on horse races .

13. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the user equipment is user television equipment based on a set-top box, the method further comprising using the interactive wagering application to provide the user with an opportunity to place wagers on horse races using the set-top box.

14. An interactive wagering system with which users place wagers on horse races to be run, comprising: user equipment configured to: provide the user with an opportunity to create multiple wagers, provide the user with an opportunity to select which of the wagers are to be submitted and which of the wagers are not to be submitted, wherein at least one of the wagers is to be submitted and at least one of the wagers is not to be subrcvi11ed, and provide the user with an opportunity to direct the user equipment to send the wagers to be submitted when it is desired to place those wagers; and a transaction processing and subscription management system to which the wagers to be submitted are sent by the user equipment when the user directs the user equipment to send the wagers.

15. The system defined in claim 14 wherein the user equipment comprises user television equipment based on a set-top box, wherein the wagers are wagers on horse races to be run, and wherein the user television equipment is configured to provide the user with an opportunity to create the wagers for the horse races by selecting for each wager a desired racetrack, a desired race, at least one desired horse, a desired wager type, and a desired wager amount.