WO2005020110A1 - Method and apparatus for handling competition entries and wagering transactions - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus is provided for entering wagering transactions. It comprises server means having first software means for offering wagers on the outcome of wagering events through an electronic communications network and processing wagers submitted through said network by players; and second software means (which may be on the same or a different server from the first software means) accessible by players on operation of a control for running a prize competition for authorised players of said first software means based on returns to a fictitious account calculated from a plurality of notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period. Operation of a control by a player makes a notional wager entered for said second software means available to said first software means for processing as a wager. Economical use of database and memory is provided because the same information can be used both for offering wagers and for creating competition entries, and the same player-supplied information can be used both for competition entries and for entering a wager, which is speedier and more convenient for the player.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COMPETITION ENTRIES AND WAGERING TRANSACTIONS.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling competition information and wagering transactions using one or more servers and remote stations that can access the servers, through the Internet, cellular telephones using e.g. a telephone short message service (SMS) or the like. It also provides a computerised competition having at least one computer system for recording entries and determining one or more winners.

Background to the invention Billions of pounds, dollars and Euros are spent on sports betting each year around the world. Gambling via the Internet is now a principal source of income for bookmakers, who have websites running on servers, e.g. the William Hill website at http://www.willhill.com/iibs EN/sportsbook.asp. That site lists a variety of links to event pages, mostly directed to sports, for example cricket, football and horseracing. Clicking on a link to e.g. Rugby Union, leads to a page to one or more event-specific links e.g. to the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Clicking on that link leads to a page in which the competitors are displayed together with betting odds and boxes to signify selection of particular competitors. On entry of a selection and entry of a bet command the entry is added to a betting slip. When the betting slip has been completed by entry of all the desired selections, the player is directed to pages where he can pay his stake money and complete the transaction. The main page also shows a menu of links to betting highlights e.g. horse races taking place on the day in question, or tennis or football, golf, baseball and US football matches. The Coral website at www.coral.co.uk and the Ladbrokes site at www.ladbrokecasino.com are similar. Gamblers use the Internet for convenience, privacy and security. They are now used to accessing the Internet for their information and to access their accounts with the bookmaker(s) of their choice. Many gamblers hold accounts with several bookmakers. Deposits to their accounts can be made using credit cards, Switch, bank transfers or via Western Union Money Transfers. Most gamblers like to think that they are so-called "tipsters". There are several Internet based sites that run tipster competitions, with prizes up to £2000 per month and with weekly prizes of up to £500. In the UK, The Sun newspaper runs a so-called King of the Punters competition (www.kingpunter.com) that runs for a period of approximately 4 months. To play the competition, the user has either to telephone a premium rate number or to subscribe via the Internet and in either case an entry at present costs £5 or above. The inventor believes that there are over 250,000 people who regularly play The Sun's competition. However, the interest and amusement value is limited because once a player has selected his or her six horses for the competition, he or she can do no more than await the results.

Further currently available prize competitions of this kind are available under the names Football Manager, Dream Team and Fantasy Football Manager. There are many additional competitions around the World for various sports and people are used to participating in these competitions.

US 2003/0045336 discloses a game based on the outcome of multiple sequential sporting events e.g. horse races and which is a form of sequential elimination game called "last man standing". That means, e.g., that a winning ticket or wager for the high-level game is not necessarily the one that contains the greatest number of winning wager selections corresponding to the series of wagering events. That game is a high-level game that is played based on the outcomes of the multiple sequential wagering events. The status of the players' wagers corresponding to each gaming event is determined to be "winning" or "not winning" in comparison with the outcome of each event. As the outcome of each of the wagering events is determined, each ticket or wager for the high-level game is either eliminated from the high-level game if the corresponding wager placed on the event does not have a winning status, or the ticket remains uneliminated from the high-level game for determination of the next event outcome in the sequence of wagering events. The last ticket or wager that remains after all or some of the outcomes of the sequence of wagering events have been determined is the winner of the high-level game, for which a prize may be awarded by the wagering authority.

An interactive wagering system is described in US 2001/0034268 and has search features enabling a player to search for races based on inputted search criteria such as a favourite jockey, trainer, runner or suitable combination thereof.

Summary of the invention

In one aspect the invention provides apparatus for displaying web pages that can use shared data for performing different operations, said apparatus comprising: first software means for displaying through a network at a remote station a first page for data entry relating to a first site on said network for performing a first operation; and second software means for displaying pages relating to a second site on said network for performing a second operation, wherein the first software means is arranged on completion of data entry for said first site relating to said first operation to make available said data for said second site to cause pages to be displayed relating to said second operation.

The present invention provides a method of operating an online betting website which comprises: prompting players to enter selection data electronically on the basis of information recorded in an events database; and making the selection data electronically entered by the players available for entering a betting transaction controlled by first software means and for a competition controlled by second software means. In a further aspect the invention provides a method of operating a bookmaker's online betting site, which comprises: providing at a server a database of events, participants and odds; making available through the server a page displaying links for a betting menu related to the events database; making available a link to pages for a competition based on returns to a fictitious account calculated from a plurality of notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period, the notional wagers being enterable using the data in the database.

In another aspect, the invention provides apparatus for entering wagering transactions comprising server means comprising: first software means for offering wagers on the outcome of wagering events through an electronic communications network and processing wagers submitted through said network by players; and second software means accessible by players on operation of an on-screen control for running a prize competition for authorised players of said first software means based on returns to a fictitious account calculated from a plurality of notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period, wherein operation of an on-screen control by a player makes a notional wager entered for said second software means available to said first software means for processing as a wager.

In a further aspect the invention provides a computerized competition having at least one computer system for recording entries and determining one or more winners, in which: the computer system is arranged to record at least the identity or contact details of participants, their transactions, and credits purchased or allocated as winnings for each participant in accounts allocated to them; the participants are invited to enter on a plurality of occasions wagering transactions specifying events, predicted outcomes, odds and credits staked; and the computer system is arranged to receive results of the events and to allocate winnings to winning participants; wherein rules of the competition provide that the competition shall continue for a defined period, that participants shall be ranked in a league according to their successful wagering transactions during the period of the competition, and that at the end of the competition period one or more winners shall be declared that are ranked highest in the league.

Description of preferred features

In embodiments of the invention the first software means is the conventional online sports betting software held at a web server operated by a bookmaker including e.g. spread betting software. The second software means (which may be on the same server as the first software means or may be on another server connected to the Internet) provides for the competition pages and is accessible only via the bookmaker's Internet site. Players entering the competition are therefore required to hold an account with that bookmaker and to make a deposit into their account held by that bookmaker. Software instructions provide for a fee for each competition period e.g. a monthly fee to be debited from the players account with the bookmaker.

In the case of a computerized competition as above mentioned, the competition website may have links to at least one, and possibly a multiplicity, of bookmaker and/or casino websites. The front end the competition website may provide for receipt of participant identity or contact details, credits purchased and wagering transaction events, predicted outcomes and odds and it may also provide e.g. by an application program interface (API) for receiving from the bookmaker or casino website a notification that credits are to be allocated to a user account. In the case of a transaction entry, the competition website may provide for receipt from the relevant bookmaker or casino website for the or each wagering transaction event a URL for fetching the result and the estimated date and/or time when the outcome will be settled. The competition website may then have an interface for interrogating the bookmaker or casino website when a transaction is estimated to be settled and periodically thereafter to determine whether the transaction is WON, LOST or NOT SETTLED. The competition website may be arranged if the transaction is WON or LOST to update the participant credits account and mark the transaction as settled.

It is a feature of the competition that players enter multiple entries and that the competition is structured to encourage them to space their individual entries over the period as the competition develops. Once players have submitted their selections to the competition(s) controlled by the second software means, and they have been issued with a unique reference number, they then automatically have their selection transferred to an electronic betting slip of that bookmaker, which permits the player to use the already entered information to enter a betting transaction with the bookmaker. As with all betting slips, part of the player's selection can be removed or added to.

The use of the same database of data for both conventional online betting transactions and for the prize competition makes more efficient use of the memory and processing facilities at the bookmaker's server, and the use of the same player- entered selection data for both the prize competition and for betting. It also enables the same database of information to be used in first and second websites or groups of web pages operating to provide different functions (e.g. a bookmaker site and a competition site) and provides economy in database compilation and storage. Use of the same player-entered selection data is facilitated by the provision of a common electronic form such as a betting slip for transfer of data interchangeably to the wagering or to the competition software. Although the data for the form is compiled from entries made on a single web page or a sequence of successive web pages, the data that needs to be returned from a remote computer or player station to the server is relatively compact and can be included in small data packets, following only a few keystrokes and/or a few entries made with a pointing device. Furthermore, the use of customer financial data entered using pages at one of the websites in order to enable operations carried out for that customer at the other website reduces the number of occasions on which financial data has to be transmitted from the customer station to the server or servers, and hence reduces the transmission of highly secure encrypted financial data (e.g. credit card data) while permitting the customer full access to the facilities of both websites.

The present competition can be played using modem means on host and terminal computers connected by a network such as the Internet a telecommunication link. This is general purpose, relatively inexpensive equipment with low operating costs, so that together with the use of general purpose computers players can participate at home or other remote location at little cost. The use of small, variable length data packets for communication between host and terminal enables fast and reliable communication between the computers, as the volume of transmitted data is minimized for rapid message transmission. Verification, acknowledgement and re-transmission of data, if needed, will also be extremely quick. The data packets may be suitably encrypted. Passwords may be used for establishing communication between the host and a terminal and for each player, who may play at any terminal by using his password. Technology ibr this is well known in the art and any suitable techniques may be used. Processing can be distributed in a "client/server" system or application; only essential or relevant data being transmitted between the host and terminals, while each computer processes only those portions of the program means needed to produce a required output, such as a result and account data at the host and simulations at the terminals, and data storage and access is done at a defined location. From this flows the advantage for gaming that processing and transmission are both fast, thereby providing substantial real time operation.

Brief description of the drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of apparatus according to the invention for processing of transactions using betting software and competition software; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic flowchart illustrating the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3-7 are screen shots showing the appearance of a player display at various stages during the operation of apparatus according to Fig. 1; and

Figs 8-9 are screen shots showing the appearance of a player display at stages during the operation of a second embodiment of the apparatus.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments.

In Fig. 1, a server 30 has a betting software website 10 and a sports competition website 20 available through firewall 32 to the Internet 34. The server may be operating under a Windows environment but preferably uses Linux or Unix. Player stations 36 remote from the server 30 can be used to enter transaction information into fields within pages of the websites 10, 20. The player station 36 may, for example be a PC, a portable computer or a hand-held computer communicating with a modem via a wired or wireless link. Alternatively entry of information may be via a mobile station 40 such as a mobile phone communicating with the Internet via a WAP service provider 38 e.g. using the short messaging service (SMS) facility for sending and receiving text messages.

The betting software website 10 will normally be controlled by bookmaker or so-called "sportsbook" software. Various proposals have been made to automate the work of a bookmaker's clerk in maintaining a sportsbook and such software is now in widespread use. An example of such a system dating back to the early

1960's is to be found in US-A-3248525 (Wells). An example of recently developed publicly available software is WAGERplayer, available from BEToptions Ltd (see www.betøptions. com), which provides a comprehensive Sportsbook/Bookmaker management system. It supports fixed odds, spread (index), horse racing and events wagering via Internet and telephone call centre operations. The software provides a simple and intuitive Internet betting Interface. No login is required to view markets, odds and lines that can be displayed in several formats: • US style showing Line/Spread/Total • Markets (Bet Types) grouped by Event • Horse Racing Style showing all races by track Markets (Bet Types) grouped by Event. Next To Go timer categories can display Races in the next X minutes in Horse Racing or all games today or this weekend.

WagerPlayer also provides a call centre system that provides for high speed wager input with unlimited clerk workstations. Once a player/customer has supplied a playername and password to the operator, inter alia the following details become available on screen: • Player Details, City, Country, Currency • Current Balance in Player & Operator Currency, Credit Line/Limit, Soft Cap, Player Profile and Agent • Past two weeks opening and closing balances. • Player Notes & Warnings showing risk or accounts warnings for a player.

The sportsbook software in the website 10 sends data for display of web pages and receives information returned from page fields entered at and transmitted from remote stations 36, 40 via interface 18 under the control of gambling engine 17 and transaction handling module 16. The gambling engine 17 provides facilities for a range of different wagering transactions to be carried out using the website. Sports gambling is provided using a sporting events database 11 and sports betting module 13. The database 11 is organised according to sports, future events within each sport, and competitors and odds offered on each competitor for each event. Such a database can be created using feeds from news organizations such as press associations, newspapers such as Sporting Life and other sports information providers and also using odds calculated using the sportsbook software. The database 11 also includes a database of results of past events. It will be appreciated that the compilation and maintenance of such databases represents a significant investment of effort and skill. The information within the database 11 is made available to player and mobile stations 36, 40 under the control of sports betting software 13 and transaction handling module 16. The gambling engine 17 also provides access to a casino module 14 which provides games such as baccarat (US- A-6264560), blackjack, roulette and craps as well as an electronic slot-machine wagering facihty and a lottery wagering facility e.g. based on random selection of numbered balls. It usually further provides access to a poker room module 15. Suppliers of appropriate software of this type can readily be found through the Internet. Transactions processed by the various engines or modules according to results of events or wagers result in update to a players/accounts database 12.

Such a game or competition is provided in sports competition website 20 whose modules correspond to some (but not all) of the modules of the betting software website 10. In this embodiment the betting software website 10 and the sports competition website 20 are on a single server 30. However, the sports competition website 20 could be on a separate server from the betting software website 10, and a plurality of betting software websites of different bookmakers on different servers could communicate via a network such as the Internet with a single sports competition website 20. The website 20 includes interface software 25, a competition engine 24 that receives and processes competition transactions, a virtual transaction module 23 that processes the credit/debit outcome of competition transactions according to the events to which they relate, a virtual account database 21 and a player league/prize fund module 22.

I have developed two games related to sporting events that are periodic e.g. monthly competitions. Players may pay a fee to join either or both game/s for each month's competition. Each of the games should appeal to a wide range of gamblers because they offer greater player involvement and interest than existing games. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other competitions, either Internet or paper based that are similar to the games described herein. The interaction between the competitions and the sportsbook software is shown in Fig. 2 which is believed to be self-explanatory.

In a first game, which is believed will appeal to players who normally bet in singles, players receive e.g. a bank of 30 credits which is stored in their virtual account in database 21, which they can use to submit their selection, 1 credit per selection. Each selection can only be made up of 1 single tip or notional bet. Players can choose their bet from any event on the host bookmaker's website 10 for which odds are quoted and a bet entry facility is provided. The only condition is that the match, race or other event has to be completed by the end of the current month or other competition period. If a player's selection wins, the official winning starting price or bookmakers final odds may be used for calculating the returns to be credited to a fictitious account in database 21 allocated and maintained for that player. Players are only limited to how many bets they can place in any single day by how many credits they have left from their original bank of 30, but once they have used their original credits, a maximum of 10 extra credits would be available for purchase at an extra fee per credit. Players will not be free to submit a selection more than once and must submit a predetermined minimum of e.g. 15 selections in each month's competition in order to qualify for a prize. The position of each player in a league is updated in module 22 once the results of his or her selections have all concluded and the results are stored. As can be seen below, the players can select links for screens that display the prize fund available (which will depend on the number of people that have entered), their credits remaining, their position in a league ranked by the value of their fictitious account or their strike rate, and their selection history. A continuing element of skill and judgment over the selection period can be exercised by the player, especially as his or her place in the league develops, and this adds an element of player involvement. Cash prizes are derived made up from the monthly fees paid by the players, and the money raised from the purchase of extra credits may be placed directly into the prize fund. There may be weekly prizes, monthly prizes and a biggest winning selection prize

More daring players may prefer to enter a second competition in which they can make multiple tips per selection on an accumulator basis, which increases their risk but also their potential winnings. Each selection can be made up of between 1 and 6 different tips (single, double, treble, 4 fold, 5 fold or 6 fold (accumulators)). Returns for winning entries are again allocated to fictitious accounts for each player. In other respects the rules for the second competition are similar to those for the first competition.

Players will only be permitted to play in a league for the country in which they are resident, unless they exercise an option to join a worldwide league created by the participating bookmaker sites of the different participating countries on payment of an additional fee.

In a player's first visit to an associated bookmaker's website, software should cause the following sequence of events to happen: • Players log into the bookmaker's site by entering into a web page from their remote stations their normal account number and password (Fig. 3). If players do not hold an account with the bookmaker, they are prompted to enter data in screens for account entry in the normal manner. As seen in Fig 3, the home page has a control 100 for accessing sports betting, which is currently active, and separate controls for pages giving access to online casino betting (102), an online poker room (104), arcade games (106), webcasts of sporting events (108) and to pages of the competition site (110,112). At the home page, there is a menu area 114 providing selections for sporting events by category, and an area 116 for displaying individual events in greater detail. • If the player wishes to take part in one or other of the competitions, he enters at a region of the bookmaker's home page (Fig 3) an appropriate command e.g. by clicking on a link 110 or 112 leading to pages for the competitions Figs. 4-7). Players are required to register separately from the bookmaker's site in order to compete in either competition. If players wish to compete in both competitions, they need to register for each separately. They can use the same player name but are issued with separate passwords. Each competition has its individual web pages that need to be viewed separately.

• If the bookmaker's web site covers more than one country, players are prompted to enter the country in which they are resident, followed by their address for verification that they are a resident in the country of the league that they are joining. Players are then prompted to create a playername which will be the name that they are known by from then on whenever they are active players and are displayed in the country league that they are competing (Country of residence league) and the worldwide league if they join.

• Players are then presented with a web page inviting them to join the current month's competition. They can join at any time during the month, even on the last day and receive 30 credits. The players are given the opportunity to join only the competition for the country in which they are resident, or for an additional fee, a worldwide competition. Once the player has chosen to join only the country league or both the country and worldwide leagues, a password will be issued to the player from the main TP computer and the monthly fee will be debited from their bookmaker's account. The player will need his playername and password to access his TP account. Every new month the player plays, his playername will remain the same but a new password will be issued.

• Players are then directed to a fresh page (Fig. 4) that provides them a menu of options defined by links to other pages, e.g.

View prize fund for the player's league (130) View prize fund for the worldwide league View credits remaining (132) View league/s position (134) View selection strike rate View selection history (136) View open (still to be concluded) selections (138) Option to buy more credits (140) To make a selection.

• To enter a selection, players click on game type 120 and on To make a selection 122 or 124, which returns them to the bookmaker's original homepage (displayed with a modification (see Fig. 5) to show that the player is selecting a competition entry rather than a bet). From that page, the players are free to choose their tip(s) and make their selection(s) in the normal way for a bookmaker's web site.

• The selections are then placed on a page (Fig. 6) displaying a player betting slip 142 for the selected competition. When the players have finished entering their selections 146 and credits wagered at 146 from their store of available credits displayed at 140, they can submit them to the software controlling the two competitions. Control buttons on the slip provide for clearing the clip (148), entering additional selections (150) and submitting the entry (152). The software checks each entry, and assuming that the selection is permissible issues a unique reference number confirming the submission of the selection(s). • The player's selection is also automatically transferred to an electronic version of a betting slip for the bookmaker's website (162, Fig. 7). That enables the player to strike a real bet with the bookmaker. The bookmaker's betting slip 164 can be changed by removing/adding tips in the normal manner but the player does not have to re-enter the data if he does not wish to and is free to set up the betting transaction with the bookmaker straight away by selecting the "place bet" button. • Once the players are finished on the competition website pages, they are returned automatically to the bookmaker's site where they can continue entering ordinary betting transactions and log out in the normal manner. One of the requirements that has to be considered when establishing a competition of the present kind is that of financial security, and the decision to use the accounts database 12 and transaction handling module 16 of the sportsbook website 10 minimizes the need to exchange sensitive financial information and credit card details and hence the risk of fraudulent transactions. The sportsbook website 10 processes each individual player's payment for the month's game and any additional credits bought by the player and holds on to the players fees until that months competition has completed. The competition website does not need to have its own payment facilities on their site. Furthermore, the operators of the sportsbook website can retain the entry fees for the competition paid through their site until the end of each competition period when prizes are to be allocated.

Fig. 8 shows a variant of the game in which the alternatives of submitting a selection to a bookmaker's website or to a competition website is supported at the stage of submission of the betting slip. In Fig 8, the selections 144 have been entered using the web pages of the sportsbook site, and it is on display of a betting slip page that there appear a wager submit button 200, a competition select button 202 and a competition information button 204, which enable players to decide how to use their selections at the last minute. If the player decides to submit a wager to the sportsbook site rather than a competition entry then on the wager confirmation page (Fig 9) there appears a link 210 permitting further wagering, a link 212 for submitting the same selection to the competition site, and a link 214 for obtaining information about the competition site. If the player has not yet joined the competition or has not logged in, he is invited to do so, after which he is invited to indicate what stake he wishes to allocate to his selection, his selection is stored, the stake is removed from his balance of points remaining and he is sent to the "bet list" page. There can therefore be four contact points between the sportsbook site 10 and the competition site 20: (i) when the player signs up for the competition, (ii) when he purchases additional credits, (iii) when the player enters a selection as a competition entry, and (iv) when the competition site obtains results from the sportsbook site. The information appertaining to the entry selection comprises text describing events, the playername of the player, the identity of the bookmaker through which he has entered the competition, the odds for the selection, a URL for fetching the result(s) and the estimated time that the wager will be settled. A timestamp is stored when the competition entry is entered so that no player can do so after knowing the result of a bet on his betting slip. The process of retrieving results from the bookmaker website is triggered automatically at the time when a wager is estimated to be settled and then at regular intervals until the results on the betting slip have been obtained. The competition site 20 sends to the sportsbook site 10 a request for the or each result for the slip using the URL(s) provided by the sportsbook site, and that site responds with an indication WON, LOST or NOT SETTLED and also provides an indication of the odds for the industry (e.g. starting price) as well as for the particular player if different. If the result is WON or LOST, the virtual transaction module 23 processes the entry, updates the player's virtual account in database 21 with the appropriate number of credits and marks the entry as settled, otherwise it waits for a period and then tries again.

Many bookmakers have a large telephone betting department. A percentage of these 'telebetting' players do not access the Internet. The present competition can be made available to these telebetting players. Once a player within this category has phoned the number for the present competition, he would be able to create a playername and password and give his card details for entry fees to the current competition. Then, for playing the competition, he could telephone and give his playername and password in the normal manner, state his selections and credit stake in the normal manner. This would be repeated to him for verification, in the normal manner, and then the player will be given the option of striking the bet for real. In that case, he would give his account number and surname that he is registered with the bookmaker, and strike the bet for real. The telephonist would have direct access to the competition site, to enter the player's details and submit the selections on his behalf. The duration of the call for a player to submit his selection, would be not significantly longer than if he was phoning to merely strike the bet for real. Players can also enter the competition using competition betting slips in betting shops. They would be required to fill in a competition betting slip with their playername/password for the current competition, and their selections. They would take this slip to the betting clerk who would submit the selections on the competition site, and print-out a basic receipt authorization of selection(s) displaying remaining credits to use.

The inventor will also be developing, free standing online computer booths. They will be comparable in size to a gaming machine and would make entry into the competitions described above even more accessible to people who do not have daily access to the Internet. These booths can be located in the bookmaker's high street shops, supermarkets, shopping malls etc. These booths would, upon demand, access via a secure Internet connection, the bookmaker's website. From here, players would be able to access their bookmaker's account and also their competition account. The competition booths would also let gamblers access their bookmaker's accounts held with the bookmaker, without even accessing their competition account, thereby facilitating placement of a bet with the bookmaker.

A further competition run on the same principles is for people who gamble on online casinos. A player will log into the online casino in the same manner as if he was an existing account holder, if the player is not an existing account holder in the casino, he will create an account. The account holder (player) will pay a fee to enter the competition, which will be debited from his casino account, for that particular week. He will be given e.g. 500 credit chips (no value) for the entry fee. The players will then be free to gamble the credit chips in the same manner as if they were real £1 chips. Any winnings from the credit chips will go into a personal winnings account (no value) that will be totaled, and submitted to the league table for that corresponding week. The participating players will be able to play the competition as many times in a week as they wish, using only one playername; if their playername is "chiploopy", and it is their 8th time playing, they will be added on to the league table upon completion of the 8th game as; "chiploopyδ". Part of the appeal of the competition is that the players can play as many times as they wish in any one week, every time they enter they have a chance of winning significant prize money every week. On existing online casinos players have an option to play for real money or to play for fun using credit chips (no value). The present competition software now gives them the option playing a competition and of gaining a valuable prize if they win.

Poker is one of the most popular card games with many different variations of the game being played. As previously explained poker rooms on the Internet are becoming popular, with many sites allowing players to 'sit at a table' playing against their friends. There are programs on the TV dedicated to poker for example 'Late Night Poker' on B.Sky.B. There are also major international Poker competitions like 'Poker Million ' played in Las Vegas. These competitions are only open to selected players and can be followed live around the world. A poker player always starts with a 'bank' of money and can be playing for many hours in a single game or series of games.

A further aspect of the present competition software provides for people who gamble in online poker rooms. A player will log into the online poker room in the same manner as if he was an existing account holder, if the player is not an existing account holder in the poker room, he will create an account. The account holder (player) will pay a fee to enter the present poker room competition, which will be debited from his poker room account, for that particular playing period. Players will be allocated e.g. 1000 credits (no value) for their entry fees. They will then be free to play poker as they normally would, using the credits in the same manner as if they had a monetary value. Players would use these credits as a playing account (bank), and upon completion of the weekly competition, the total in their playing account will be submitted to a league table for the competition which will be updated periodically as the competition period progresses. Part of the appeal of the present competition is that the players can play as many times as they wish in any one week, every time they enter they have a chance of winning very significant prize money every week. On most existing online poker rooms, players have an option to play for real money or to play for fun using credits (no value). The present software now gives them the option playing in a poker room and if successful turning their credits into a significant prize.

Betting exchanges have taken the industry by storm. They enable gamblers to take on the role of the bookmaker, being able to offer odds to other gamblers on the particular selection, confident that the selection loses the race or match. For example, if Arsenal are playing Aston Villa, the odds might be: Arsenal to win 1.50; Draw 2.50; and Aston Villa to win 3.50. If a player strongly believed that Arsenal were going to win, he could 'lay' Aston Villa at odds of 3.50. This means, that for every 1 credit the player lays, if Arsenal win he wins the credit that was staked but if Aston Villa win, the player would lose 2.5 credits for each credit laid. In this competition, the player takes on the role of the bookmaker, laying selections that he is confident will lose. Each player gains access on the betting exchange site, to the current laying odds that are on offer for the particular selection and is only restricted to the amount of credits he can 'risk' by the amount of credit in his virtual account at that time. Conducting betting exchanges online has been described e.g. in US 2003/0096651. That specification provides a betting exchange system comprising server means configured to receive bet requests from a plurality of players over a communications network, each of said requests comprising a bet backing an outcome or laying an outcome, wherein the server means is operable to match respective bets which back and lay a given outcome. Allowing a player access to both sides of a betting transaction, by specifying whether he wishes to back or lay an outcome, provides the player with additional flexibility, and can facilitate a liquid two-way market. In addition, it can ensure the most efficient, and hence competitive, price. A yet further competition has been created for people who gamble on betting exchanges. A player will log into the betting exchange in the same manner as if he was an existing account holder; if the player is not an existing account holder in the betting exchange, he will create an account. The account holder (player) will pay a fixed sum to enter a betting exchange competition, which sum will be debited from his betting exchange account, for that particular month. Each player will be given a predetermined starting credit e.g. 300 credits (no value) for the entry fee. The players will then be free to gamble the credits as if they had monetary value. Any winnings from the credits will be credited to a personal virtual winnings account (no value) that will be totaled like the account 21, and submitted to a league table for a corresponding playing period. The participating players will be able to play the competition as many times in a month as they wish, using only one playername; if their playername is "happilylosing", and it is their 4th time playing, they will be added on to the league table upon completion of the 4th game as; "happilylosing4".

Claims

1. Apparatus for entering wagering transactions comprising: first software means for offering wagers on the outcome of wagering events and processing wagers submitted; and second software means for running a competition based on notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period and processing said notional wagers according to rules of said competition, wherein the first and second software means are arranged to accept the same player entered wager data, and player control means is provided for selecting one or other of said first and second software means for processing with the data.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining an events database for use in submitting wagers and notional wagers to said first and second software means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first software means comprises a database of events, competitors and odds, and the first and second software means are cooperable so that players can submit notional wagers for the competition using the events database of the first software means

4. The apparatus of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein: the first software means includes means for maintaining a player accounts database for use in processing wagers by the first software means; and the second software means includes means for maintaining a virtual accounts database for use in processing virtual wagers by the second software means, wherein the first software means is arranged on player demand to enter a transaction in which funds in the accounts database for that player are allocated as credits of no monetary value for that player to the virtual accounts database for use in processing notional wagers by said second software means.

5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the player control means is arranged for entry of a selection of one or other of the first and second software means prior to entry of the player entered wager data.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the player control means is arranged for entry of a selection of one or other of the first and second software means after entry of the player entered wager data.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein stored commands provide for access to the second software means via the first software means only on successful completion of a login routine.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the second software means contains instructions for returning an alphanumeric reference on correct entry of a notional wager, after which the information in the notional wager is accessible to the first software means.

9. Apparatus according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the first and second software means are arranged for player entry of selections into a form, and means is provided on said form for player entry of a selection of said first or second software means for processing of the selections.

10. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the first and second software means are components of first and second websites.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first and second websites are on the same server.

12. Apparatus according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the first and second websites are on separate servers.

13. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, arranged to process wagers and virtual wagers concerning the outcome of sporting events.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the sporting events are horse or dog races.

15. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, arranged to process wagers or virtual wagers concerning casino games.

16. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, arranged to process wagers or virtual wagers concerning card games.

17. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, arranged to process wagers or virtual wagers concerning arcade, ball or lottery type games.

18. A method of operating a bookmaker's online betting site, which comprises: providing at a server a database of events, participants and odds; making available through the server a page displaying links for a betting menu related to the events database; making available a link to pages for a competition based on returns to a fictitious account calculated from a plurality of notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period, the notional wagers being enterable using the data in the database.

19. A method of operating an online betting website which comprises prompting players to enter selection data electronically on the basis of an events database; and making the selection data electronically entered by the players available for entering a betting transaction controlled by first software means and for a competition controlled by second software means.

20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein the computerised system has at least one computer system for recording entries and determining one or more winners, in which: the computer system is arranged to record at least the identity or contact details of participants, their transactions, and credits purchased or allocated as winnings for each participant in accounts allocated to them; the participants are invited to enter on a plurality of occasions wagering transactions specifying events, predicted outcomes, odds and credits staked; and the computer system is arranged to receive results of the events and to allocate winnings to winning participants; wherein rules of the competition provide that the competition shall continue for a defined period, that participants shall be ranked in a league according to their successful wagering transactions during the period of the competition, and that at the end of the competition period one or more winners shall be declared that are ranked highest in the league.

21. A computerised competition having at least one computer system for recording entries and determining one or more winners, in which: the computer system is arranged to record at least the identity or contact details of participants, their transactions, and credits purchased or allocated as winnings for each participant in accounts allocated to them; the participants are invited to enter on a plurality of occasions wagering transactions specifying events, predicted outcomes, odds and credits staked; and the computer system is arranged to receive results of the events and to allocate winnings to winning participants; wherein rules of the competition provide that the competition shall continue for a defined period, that participants shall be ranked in a league according to their successful wagering transactions during the period of the competition, and that at the end of the competition period one or more winners shall be declared that are ranked highest in the league.

22. The competition of claim 21, arranged as a website having links to at least one bookmaker or casino website.

23. The competition of claim 22, wherein a front end of the competition website provides for receipt of participant identity or contact details, credits purchased and wagering transaction events, predicted outcomes and odds.

24. The competition of claim 22 or 23, wherein the competition website has an interface for receiving from the bookmaker or casino website a notification that credits are to be allocated to a user account.

25. The competition of any of claims 21-24, wherein the front end of the competition website provides for receipt for the or each wagering transaction event a URL for fetching the result and the estimated date and/or time when the outcome will be settled.

26. The competition of claim 25, wherein the competition website has an interface for interrogating the bookmaker or casino website when a transaction is estimated to be settled and periodically thereafter to determine whether the transaction is WON, LOST or NOT SETTLED.

27. The competition of claim 26, wherein the competition website is arranged, if the transaction is WON or LOST, to update the participant credits account and mark the transaction as settled.

28. A computer program for conducting the competition of any of claims 21 to 27.

29. Apparatus for displaying web pages that can use shared data for performing different operations, said apparatus comprising: first software means for displaying through a network at a remote station a first page for data entry relating to a first site on said network for performing a first operation; and second software means for displaying pages relating to a second site on said network for performing a second operation, wherein the first software means is arranged on completion of data entry for said first site relating to said first operation to make available said data for said second site to cause pages to be displayed relating to said second operation.

30. Apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the first software means is arranged to display at the remote station a sequence of pages for entry of the data, and the second software means is arranged to display further pages for adding to, qualifying or modifying the data before performing the second operation.

31. Apparatus according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the first software means includes a database for providing data for use by the first and by the second software means.

32. A gaming system including a server computer, a plurality of terminal computers forming player stations remote form the server computer, communication means for connecting each of the terminal computers to the server computer, and program means for operating the server computer, the terminal computers and the communication means being arranged for entering wagering transactions and comprising: first software means for offering wagers on the outcome of wagering events and processing wagers submitted; and second software means for running a competition based on notional wagers submitted by each player during a competition period and processing said notional wagers according to rules of said competition, wherein the first and second software means are arranged to accept the same player entered wager data, and player control means is provided for selecting one or other of said first and second software means for processing with the data.