WO2003044750A1

WO2003044750A1 - Method for carrying out a prize game in a network

Info

Publication number: WO2003044750A1
Application number: PCT/EP2002/013089
Authority: WO
Inventors: Klaus Werner
Original assignee: Dorn Im Auge Gmbh; Talkline Id Gmbh
Priority date: 2001-11-21
Filing date: 2002-11-21
Publication date: 2003-05-30
Also published as: AU2002357546A1; EP1315130A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatically carrying out a prize game using a server computer and a communication device. A prize game is selected from a plurality of possible prize games by a player and the selection is transmitted to the server computer. According to the selected prize game, the server computer determines a corresponding mode of prize game and a corresponding prize game table. A number of K signs to be selected is determined from a set of N signs according to the mode of prize game. K signs are then randomly determined from the set of N signs by a chance generator. The randomly determined K signs are transmitted to the communication device and are displayed by the same. The communication device transmits a request for another random determination of K signs from the set of N signs, and the chance generator determines accordingly a second group of K randomly determined signs from the set of N signs. The first and second randomly determined groups of signs are compared with each other and, on the basis of the result of the comparison, a prize is determined according to established agreements and the selected prize table. The determined prize and/or the established agreements are transferred to the communication device.

Description

Procedure for running a competition in a network

The present invention relates to a method for automatically carrying out a competition in a network with a server computer and a communication device.

Number lottery in the classic sense is a competition in which one or more players take part in a drawing of a fixed number of numbers from a predetermined number of numbers, which is carried out by means of a lottery facility. On the one hand, a player selects a predetermined number K of numbers from a set N of possible numbers. On the other hand, with a special lottery device designed for this purpose, a number K of numbers is also randomly selected or drawn from the set N of possible numbers. The numbers selected by the player are compared to the numbers drawn to determine matches. If matches are found, a profit table is used to check whether the determined number of matches has been assigned a specific profit. If a player wants to determine if they have won a draw, the player must compare their selected K numbers with the drawn K numbers to determine matches. In the event that the player finds matches, he can have the corresponding prize paid out.

The currently most common version of the lottery is the so-called Saturday and Wednesday lotto, where there is a draw on Saturdays and Wednesdays, in which 6 numbers, as well as an additional number and a super number, are drawn from a set of 49 numbers. To take part in the Saturday or Wednesday lottery, each player has to go into a lottery ticket to fill out a lottery ticket that entitles him to participate in one or more draws.

However, there is only one drawing per week for both the Saturday and Wednesday lottery. Each player must therefore wait until the day of the draw to find out whether or not the numbers they have selected will win in the draw. Furthermore, a large number of lottery acceptance points and corresponding lottery acceptance staff are required in order to enable a large number of players to participate in the various lottery draws. This creates a great deal of effort the administration of lottery companies, which is associated with high costs and usually involves high personnel costs.

On the basis of the known prior art, the present invention is based on the object of providing a possibility for carrying out a competition, in which a player is informed about a possible win at any time, and the competition is associated with a minimal administrative outlay.

This object is achieved with the features of claim 1.

The invention specifies a method for automatically carrying out a competition with a server computer and a communication device. First of all, a participant selects a competition from a plurality of possible competitions and transfers the selection to the server computer. Depending on the selected competition, the server computer determines a corresponding competition mode and a corresponding competition table. The competition mode specifies a number of K characters to be selected from a set of N characters. A random generator then randomly determines K characters from the set of N characters. The randomly determined K characters are transmitted to the communication device and displayed by it. The communication device transmits a request for a new random determination of K characters from the set of N characters, and the random generator accordingly determines a second set of K randomly determined characters from the set of N characters. The first and second randomly determined character sets are then compared with one another and, based on the comparison result, a profit is determined as a function of established matches and the selected profit table. The determined profit and / or the determined matches are transmitted to the communication device.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the selection of the competition can include a selection of a number of games. sen, wherein for all selected renditions a single first random determination of K characters from the set of N possible characters is carried out by means of the random number generator in the server computer, and with each rendition a new selection of K characters from the set of N possible characters by the user or a second random determination of K characters from the set of N possible characters by means of the random generator in the server computer.

Establishing the online connection can include sending data, which represent a welcome message, to the communication device. This data is received and evaluated by the communication device and the welcome message is output.

A mode can preferably be selected from a competition mode and an information mode, wherein the competition mode enables a competition to be carried out and the information mode enables information to be queried. For this purpose, mode data, which represent the selected mode, are sent to the server computer. This mode data is received in the server computer and evaluated to determine the selected mode. Depending on the selected mode, data is sent to the communication device which enables the player to select the competition or to select at least one information category from a multiplicity of information categories by the player.

The large number of information categories preferably comprises two or more of the following categories: service info, news, goods, competitions, rules of the game, advertising, music, news, weather, traffic information and imprint. The profit determined preferably comprises a cash value, a real value or a service.

In the event that matches occur and a win is determined, the method according to the invention preferably comprises the following steps: sending data, which represent a request for input of player-specific information, to the communication device; Receiving and evaluating this data in the communication device; Issue the prompt to enter the player-specific Information; Enter the player-specific information in the communication device and send corresponding data to the server computer.

The player-specific information preferably includes the player's last name, first name, address, telephone number, date of birth, bank number and account number.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communication device is a landline or a mobile phone, the server computer having devices which are designed to enable processing of voice commands and conversion of electronic data into speech, and the method is performed using speech.

An advantage of the present invention is that a player can initiate and run a contest at any time. Here, the player can preferably use a landline or cell phone, as well as a computer or a television set to run the competition. This means that the player does not have to go to a lottery entry point to start a lottery-based competition, for example.

Furthermore, the player immediately knows whether he has made a profit in the competition or not. He does not have to wait until a specified day on which the desired lottery is drawn or played.

In particular, a system for performing the method of the present invention can be implemented and operated with minimal effort and thus with minimal expense.

Further preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail with reference to the following figures. The figures contain:

1 shows an illustration of a system for carrying out a competition in a network with a server computer and a multiplicity of communication devices; 2A and 2B are a flowchart illustrating the flow of a competition according to a first aspect of the present invention; and

3A and 3B are a flowchart illustrating the flow of a competition according to a second aspect of the present invention.

1 shows an illustration of a system for carrying out a competition in a network with a server computer 1 and a multiplicity of communication devices 2, 3, 4, 5.

The server computer 1 comprises at least one central processing unit (CPU) for the server-side implementation and control of a competition, a memory for storing at least a large number of competitions offered and a computer program that controls the execution of a selected competition, and one Transmitting and receiving device to enable the server computer to send data to the plurality of communication devices 2, 3, 4, 5 or to receive data from the plurality of communication devices 2, 3, 4, 5. The memory can comprise a multiplicity of storage devices and can be implemented, for example, as a mass storage or hard disk, CD-ROM drive, or any removable data medium drive, such as a floppy disk drive or a ZIP drive. In particular, the server computer 1 has devices for processing voice commands and for converting electronic data into speech. A correspondingly designed personal computer (PC) can serve as a server computer, for example.

The multiplicity of communication devices 2, 3, 4, 5 comprises a personal computer (PC) 2, a landline telephone 3, a mobile telephone 4 and a television set 5.

The PC 2 has a central processing unit (CPU) for carrying out a competition, a memory for storing competition-related data, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, and an output device such as a display device and / or a printing device.

Furthermore, this PC has a transmitting and receiving device that can be set up enables an online connection to the server computer 1. Such an online connection can be established over the Internet, for example using the TCP / IP protocol. For this purpose, the PC 2 can be designed with an internal or external modem.

Furthermore, the PC 2 can have a device for receiving voice commands which are sent to the server computer 1 via an established online connection and processed by the latter. According to a further variant, the PC 2 can also have a device for converting voice commands into electronic data, these electronic data being sent to the server computer 1 via the online connection that has been established.

The landline telephone 3 can be an analog or digital telephone with a keyboard, a cordless telephone with a keyboard according to the DECT standard, or any analog or digital telephone system with a keyboard. In the event that the landline telephone 3 is designed as a digital telephone, the ISDN standard in particular can be used.

The mobile phone 4 is any mobile phone that preferably has a display device and is WAP-capable. Using a mobile phone 4, a competition can be carried out by means of voice commands, interactively by displaying WAP pages on which corresponding competitions are offered, or by sending SMS messages.

The television set 5 is any television set which has devices which enable selection and transmission of competition-related data to the server computer 1.

The described communication devices represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention. A large number of further devices can also be used as communication devices. For example, any terminal with a touch-sensitive display device, e.g. B. a touchscreen, which has a suitable transmitting and receiving device, can be used as a communication device. Thus, for example, bank terminals or ticket Terminals can be used as communication facilities.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, a landline or mobile phone is used as the communication device. In the following explanations, it is therefore assumed that the communication device is designed as a fixed network or mobile phone with a keyboard and that the server computer has devices for processing voice commands and for converting electronic data into speech. For the sake of simplicity, a landline or cellular phone is commonly referred to as a telephone in the following description.

2A and 2B show a flowchart illustrating the flow of a competition according to a first aspect of the present invention.

In a first step S1, an online connection is established between a telephone and a server computer for carrying out a competition, a computer program that controls the implementation of the competition being initialized in the server computer. Here, a player uses the keyboard of his phone to enter a special telephone number for dialing the server computer and for establishing the online connection. The server computer can be dialed, for example in Germany, under any conventional telephone number or under an 0800 or 0180 telephone number. Furthermore, an incoming call preferably initiates the initialization of the computer program.

According to a variant of the present invention, after the online connection has been established, the server computer sends data to the telephone which represent a welcome message. This data is received in the phone and output in the form of speech. In the event that the phone z. B. is a mobile phone with a display device, the welcome message can be sent in the form of an SMS message to the mobile phone and displayed on the display device. In the further case that the phone z. B. is a WAP-enabled mobile phone with a display device, the welcome message can be sent to the mobile phone in the form of a WML file and displayed on the display device of the mobile phone in the form of a WAP page. Furthermore, the welcome message can contain a request to select a specific platform, for example an information platform or a game platform. Selecting the desired platform by the player corresponds to setting a corresponding operating mode of the server computer. In the event that the player selects the information platform, the server computer is operated in an information mode which enables information to be queried. In the event that the player selects the game platform, the server computer is operated in a competition mode which enables a competition to be carried out.

Such a determination of the operating mode of the server computer causes mode data to be sent to the server computer which represent the selected mode. The transmitted mode data are received in the server computer and evaluated to determine the selected mode.

Depending on the mode selected, data is sent to the phone that allows the player to select a desired contest or to select at least one category of information from a variety of categories of information by the player.

The large number of information categories preferably comprises two or more of the following categories: service info, news, goods, competitions, rules of the game, advertising, music, news, weather, traffic information and imprint.

In a step S2, the player selects a desired competition from a large number of competitions offered in the server computer. Such a selection can be made by operating the keypad of the telephone or by selection by means of speech.

In step S3, data is sent from the phone to the server computer representing the selected competition, and in step S4 the sent data is received in the server computer.

In a step S5, depending on the selected competition, a competition mode and a winning table are defined in the server computer. The profit game mode defines the number K of characters the player must select from a set N of possible characters. The profit table determines the number of hits, each of which is assigned a specific profit. The hit numbers represent matches between characters selected by the player and characters determined by the server computer. In particular, the profit table specifies the number of matches or the number of hits from which there is a profit.

In a step S6, K characters are randomly determined in the server computer by means of a random generator from the set of N possible characters. These randomly determined K characters represent winning characters with which the K characters selected by the player must match.

In step S7, data is sent from the server computer to the phone, which represents the competition mode and the winning table, and in step S8, these sent data are received in the phone.

In a step S9, the received data are evaluated in the phone. Here, the data are preferably converted into speech and output. In the event that the phone z. B. is a mobile phone with a display device, the data can be converted into electronic image signals and output on the display device. Furthermore, the data could be converted into a WML file and displayed in the form of a WAP page on this display device.

In a step S10, the player now selects K characters from the set of N possible characters. In the event that the set of N possible characters represents a set of numbers or letters, the player can select K characters by pressing corresponding keys on the telephone. Furthermore, the player can select K characters using appropriate voice commands.

In a step S11, data are sent to the server computer by means of the telephone, which represent the K characters selected by the player. This data is received in a step S12 in the server computer. In a step S13, the received data are evaluated in the server computer in order to determine the K characters selected by the player.

In a step S14, these K characters selected by the player are compared with the K characters randomly determined by the random generator in the server computer.

In the event that matches occur during the comparison, the number of matches that represents a number of hits is determined in a step S15. Based on this number of hits, the profit that is assigned to this number of hits is determined on the basis of the profit table.

In a step S16, result data, which represent a result of the competition, are sent from the server computer to the player's telephone. In the event that matches have occurred, this result data includes the determined profit. This determined profit can represent, for example, a present value, a real asset or a service. The result data are preferably output in analogy to the output methods described above using the player's telephone.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, in the event that matches have occurred, preferably in the context of the result data, the server computer sends a request to enter player-specific information to the player's telephone. This request is received and evaluated in the telephone and output in the form of speech, for example. In response to this request, the player enters the desired information on the phone and sends the corresponding data to the server computer. The player-specific information preferably includes the player's first and last name, address, telephone number, date of birth, bank code and account number.

As already described in the above, depending on the version of the player's phone, different data can be sent from or to the phone, e.g. B. voice data, SMS messages or WML files. Furthermore, after sending and receiving the result data, the competition can be ended and the online line connection. Furthermore, the player can decide to maintain the online connection and, for example, select a different competition by executing step S2 again, or play the same competition again by executing step S10 again, ie by selecting K again Characters from the set of N possible characters. In particular, the server computer can send data to the phone that represent a request for the player to choose one of these variants.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show a flowchart to illustrate the flow of a competition according to a second aspect of the present invention.

The sequence of the competition according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises steps S1 to S6, which were explained in more detail above with reference to FIG. 2A. A new description of these steps S1 to S6, as well as a description of equivalent features, e.g. B. competition mode and profit table can thus be omitted.

According to FIG. 3A, in a step S17, following step S6, data are sent from the server computer to the telephone which represent the competition mode, the profit table and the characters randomly determined by the random number generator.

In a step S18, this data is received in the telephone and evaluated in a step S19 to determine the K randomly determined characters, the competition mode and the profit table. At least the K randomly determined characters are output by means of the telephone.

In a step S20, data are sent to the server computer by means of the telephone, which represent a request for the random determination of K characters again from the set of N possible characters by means of the random generator.

In a step S20, this data is received in the server computer and evaluated in a step S22, whereupon in a step S23 a second random determination of K characters from the set of N possible characters is carried out by means of the random generator in the server computer. These second K random characters represent present the characters selected by the player.

In further steps S24, S25 and S26, the characters are again compared with one another, matches are determined and a profit is determined, whereupon result data is sent to the telephone. These steps take place in analogy to the steps S14 to S16 described in FIG. 2B and are therefore not described in more detail.

According to this second aspect of the present invention, after receiving the result data, the player can end the competition by releasing the online connection. The player can also maintain the online connection and, for example, select another competition by performing step S2 again or the same Play the competition again by executing step S20 again, i.e. H. by sending data to the server computer, by means of which the server computer is requested to carry out a second random determination of K characters from the set of N possible characters.

According to a particular aspect of the present invention, the player can set a number of plays. The server computer preferably executes a single first random determination of K characters from the set of N possible characters by means of the random generator for all selected plays. With each individual playout, the player again selects K characters from the set of N possible characters or requests the server computer to randomly determine K characters again from the set of N possible characters using the random number generator.

Furthermore, the player immediately knows whether he has made a profit in the competition or not. This means that he does not have to wait until a specified day on which an the desired lottery has been played, wait.

Furthermore, a multiplicity of different character types, such as numbers, letters, symbols etc. can be used in the method according to the invention. In addition, any combination of these character types can be created.

Claims

claims:

1. A method for automatically carrying out a competition with a server computer (1) and a communication device (2-5), comprising the steps:

Selection (S2) of a competition from a plurality of competitions by a participant and transmission (S3) of the selection to the server computer (1),

Determining (S5) a competition mode corresponding to the selected competition and a corresponding competition table by the server computer (1), the competition mode specifying the number K from a set N of characters to be selected,

first randomly determining (S6) K characters from the set N of possible characters by means of a random generator in the server computer (1),

Transmitting (S7) the first randomly determined K characters to the communication device (2-5),

The communication device (2-5) displays the first randomly determined K characters,

Transmitting (S20) a request for the new random determination of K characters from the set of N characters from the communication device (2-5) to the server computer (1),

second randomly determining (S23) K characters from the set of N characters by means of a random generator in the server computer (1),

Comparing (S24) the first and second randomly determined characters,

Determining (S25) a profit in dependence on matches found in the comparison (S24) based on the selected profit table, and Transmission (S26) of the determined profit and / or the matches to the communication device (2-5).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting (S2) the contest comprises selecting a number of draws, wherein

for all selected plays a single first random determination (S6) of K characters from the set of N possible characters takes place by means of the random generator in the server computer (1), and

with each play-out, a second random determination (S23) of K characters from the set of N possible characters takes place by means of the random generator in the server computer (1).

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein an online connection between the server computer (1) and the communication device (2-5) is established, the establishment of the online connection comprises the steps:

Sending data representing a greeting message to the communication device (2-5);

Receiving and evaluating the data representing a greeting message in the communication device (2-5), and

Output of the greeting message in the communication device (2-5).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising the following steps: Selecting a mode from a competition mode and an information mode, the competition mode allowing a competition to be carried out and the information mode enabling information to be queried

Sending mode data representing the selected mode to the server computer;

Receiving and evaluating the mode data to determine the selected mode and depending on the selected mode, sending data to the communication device (2-5), the selection of the competition by a participant or the selection of at least one information category from a plurality of information categories by the participant.

The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of information categories comprises two or more of the following categories: service info, news, goods, competitions, game rules, advertising, music, news, weather, traffic information and imprint.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determined profit comprises a cash value, a real value or a service.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising the following steps in the event that matches have occurred and a profit has been determined:

Sending data, which represent a request for input of subscriber-specific information, to the communication device (2-5), Receiving and evaluating this data in the communication device (2-5),

Output the request for the participant-specific information and

Entering the subscriber-specific information in the communication device (2-5) and sending corresponding data to the server computer (1).

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7, wherein the subscriber-specific information comprises: surname, first name, address, telephone number, date of birth, bank sort code and account number.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein

the communication device (2-5) is a landline or a mobile phone,

the server computer (1) has devices which are designed to enable the processing of voice commands and the conversion of electronic data into speech, and

the method is carried out using speech.