CA2658939A1 - System and method of offering a play option for a lottery invovling incentives for reinvesting winning prizes - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for playing a lottery and, more specifically, to a system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their winnings, or potential winnings, for some incentives or rewards offered to the players who take this option, such as a chance to win larger amounts of money or prizes, even with better odds, or being rewarded such as additional lines of numbers for a future draw. Essentially this additional lottery option could be offered and attached to almost any lottery game and would ideally be offered as a player option that could be selected before the draw or after the draw depending on which method is offered for that particular lottery.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for playing a lottery and more specifically, to a system and method for playing a lottery, whereby lottery players may participate in a lottery as it exists now or have an additional player option of reinvesting their winnings for some reward offered by the operators of the lottery. Players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their winnings, or potential winnings, for some incentives or rewards offered to the players who take this option, such as a chance win larger amounts or prizes with possible better odds, or a second chance to win prizes or rewards such as additional lines of numbers for a future draw. Essentially this additional lottery option could be offered and attached to almost any lottery game and would ideally be offered as a player option that could be selected before the draw or after the draw depending on which method is offered for that particular lottery. The rewards or bonuses that are offered the players for reinvesting their winnings are likely predetermined, such as being rewarded with additional numbers for a future draw.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Lotteries and lottery style games are very well known in prior art. Hundreds of different lotteries have been devised with different odds of winning prizes and with different high and low end prizes available to be won by the players. Some lotteries like Powerball TM offer top prizes well into the millions of dollars able to be won while others lotteries and lottery style games offer more frequently won smaller top prizes, such as a pull tab ticket that has a top prize of, for example, $100. The common theme in almost all lotteries of this type is that they have various tiers or levels of prizes in the lottery that can be won by the player, extending from the lottery top prize down to the lowest prize able to be won, possibly just a free play for another future lottery draw. For example, the first prize in a lottery might entail having 6 numbers on a lottery ticket which matches 6 drawn winning numbers, and staggered secondary prizes in the lottery being awarded for having 5,4 and 3 numbers on a lottery ticket which match any of the 6 drawn winning numbers, and so forth, even down to such nominal sums such as $5.00 or a free ticket being awarded, for example.

Lotteries with many different prizes usually offer the bigger top prizes. Many of these style lotteries are called progressive jackpots, for when they are not won one draw, the jackpot will grow to higher amounts in subsequent draws. One such reason is that players are willing to buy tickets for this type of lottery, for they have the opportunity to win many prizes even if they aren't able to win the top prize for the lottery.

In United States Patent number 6,733,387, Walker, et al, a conditional lottery system is disclosed. The conditional lottery ticket system permits a player to purchase conditional lottery tickets that are not activated until one or more player-defined activation conditions are satisfied.
The player-defined activation conditions may include a minimum lottery jackpot, a particular future date of activation, or the occurrence of a particular external event.

One reason for inventions like Walker, et al in patent 6,733,387 is one of the major drawbacks to these progressive styles of lotteries and may be summed up in the behavior of certain lottery purchasers with what has been called, "Jackpot Intolerance".
Many people do not purchase lottery tickets unless there is a very large top prize that they have the opportunity to win. Further, the general rule of thumb in lotteries is that the more tickets that are purchased by lottery ticket players, the percentage of jackpot monies available to be won by the players will likewise grow. However, when lotteries offer multiple secondary prizes that are available to be won, these style of lotteries must correspondingly place an amount of each ticket purchased to also cover the secondary prizes that are available to be won and, in turn, this "grows" the amount of the top prize available to be won at a much slower rate than if all prize money was only allocated to "growing" the top lottery prize.

It is well known in the lottery industry that higher jackpots often drive ticket sales for a draw. When jackpots reach record levels, people invest more money trying to win the jackpot.
This makes the lottery corporations who run the lotteries further profits. At the same time lotteries are in a business to make money and profits themselves, even if mainly for charities.

Often these profits are put into worthwhile causes such as charities and the like. With tougher economic times, lotteries also need to be creative to create interest from players buying tickets and one such method to achieve this goal is by offering lotteries with high jackpots and great odds of winning.

The fact players buy more tickets when the jackpots increase in size tells that players are buying lottery tickets for an opportunity to win the jackpot. Although lotteries offer smaller prizes with the lotteries it could be argued that this is not the reason players buy tickets. Lottery players do not invest $2 for the hopes of winning $10.

It is argued that there is a continuing need to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional player selected lottery option of reinvesting their lottery winnings for an opportunity to turn their smaller secondary prizes into larger prizes and in turn being rewarded for doing so in some predetermined method and thus making the lottery operators further profits as well as creating higher jackpots to counter the Jackpot Intolerance of the players and also offer a chance of winning a prize with better odds for the players. The present invention substantially addresses this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option.

A more general object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their prizes, usually secondary prizes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their secondary prizes that is attachable to existing lotteries. The present invention may be attached to any kind of lottery or lottery sale currently offered by the lottery such as combining two different progressive lotteries like a 6/49 style lottery and a Super 7 style lottery.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their secondary prizes that is attachable to different kinds of lotteries. The present invention may be attached to any kind of lottery or lottery sale currently offered by the lottery such as a Powerball type progressive lottery combined with a scratch ticket sold by the lottery operator.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their secondary prizes and being rewarded in some predetermined method with an incentive for doing so by the lottery operator.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are rewarded for reinvesting their lottery winnings. Lottery players could be enticed or rewarded to reinvest their winnings before the draw by offering them an additional line or set of numbers, and possible also charging them an additional fee. Lottery players could be rewarded after they have won a prize, usually a secondary prize and choose to reinvest this prize. Players could be rewarded by being given additional sets of lines or numbers to a future draw, or they may be allowed to participate in a totally separate draw with other players who have chosen to reinvest their winnings.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby players are enticed to invest all of their winnings of certain secondary prizes or after the fact given the opportunity to invest all of their winnings, or a portion thereof and rewarded in some manner for choosing this option. Under the present invention players may invest all their winnings or only a portion thereof and keep some of their winnings.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players who choose to reinvest their prize winnings may participate in an additional lottery made up of other players who invest their winnings and in turn have a greater chance to win higher amounts of money, better odds than the normal lotteries currently offer.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby is to only allow players who have won at some lottery the chance to participate in the reinvest lottery. Although it is possible to let players just buy into this additional lottery, it is the preferred method that only players who previously win may participate in this additional lottery and for doing so are rewarded with one such reward being having better odds than the regular lottery to win the top prize.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby the lottery operators make additional profits by offering the present invention attachable to all their different lotteries and lottery types.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing players the option of reinvesting their secondary prizes and being rewarded in some predetermined method with an incentive for doing so by the lottery operator and in turn creating further lottery profits and higher jackpots with possible better odds for players to win prizes, the lottery is thus able to more effectively compound and "grow" top prize jackpots associated with lotteries. Lottery corporations have long known that ticket sales increase as the jackpot available to be won increases, and it can thus be argued that, by allowing players the option of reinvesting smaller subsidiary prizes in exchange for some incentives awarded to them, more tickets for the lottery will likely be sold, thus likewise compounding and "growing" the jackpot available to be won.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby the lottery operators make additional profits by enticing the players to surrender their full or partial winnings back to the lottery instead of the player keeping those profits from the winnings and spending them on something else. If the lottery makes it attractive for the player to reinvest their winnings, the lottery could take 100% of this player win and keep a portion of this amount as their profit and use what is left as part of the enticement, giving the player a chance to win the amount of money surrendered by other players. It can be argued that as the corporation is itself a business to make money, if it can make more money by keeping more of the player's winnings, the present invention is a great option for them to attach to their current games.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby more excitement in the lottery is created by allowing more player options attached and associated with the different lotteries, but not forcing options unto the player.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby more excitement is created in the lottery by the lottery offering higher jackpots associated with their lotteries and in turn getting more sales from the players who don't buy when jackpots are smaller (jackpot intolerance).

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby the lottery can offer higher jackpots associated with their games and in turn create further excitement and additional sales. It can be argued that if the lottery enticed the players to surrender their winnings back to the corporation and the corporation takes a percentage of this amount and places it into the prize fund available to be won by the players the top prizes would then by higher.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby the lottery can increase their profits by having the players prepay for the option of reinvesting their winnings. By having the players prepay for the option to reinvest winnings higher jackpots may also be created.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lotteries may have two jackpots associated with one lottery, one the regular lottery and the other a jackpot created by the surrendered winnings of players who selected to reinvest their winnings for an additional opportunity to win a top prize.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby players of different lottery and lottery types are enticed by an incentive to reinvest their winnings for an additional opportunity to win a top prize jackpot.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby the lottery may now combine different lotteries that they offer, creating yet another top jackpot lottery from their existing lotteries as well as combining different types of games, such as a progressive jackpot like Powerball and Scratch Tickets, where as winnings of smaller secondary prizes in both types of lotteries may now reinvest these smaller prizes for a chance to participate and win a top prize made up of these different types of lotteries and different type of games.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for selling lottery tickets using a point-of-sale ("POS") terminal, whereby a player can purchase a regular lottery ticket with the opportunity to win the jackpot top prizes or any subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery, as well as provide players with the additional player option of purchasing a lottery ticket that allows the player to reinvest winning smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for the player being rewarded in some predetermined method, such as by receiving an extra "bonus" set of lottery ticket numbers when they purchase their ticket or having their ticket automatically be entered into a secondary draw made up of other lottery players who have also selected this same option and won secondary prizes.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for allowing "

a player to play a lottery game having a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of providing the player with lottery ticket numbers for the lottery game; providing the player with a jackpot prize option to play the lottery game which, when the jackpot prize option is selected by the player, allows the player to reinvest some or all of the smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game; rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, in one of many possible ways the lottery may offer this game, one such option an additional opportunity to win a secondary jackpot of a draw combining other players who have chosen this option; drawing a winning subset of numbers; and awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate jackpot prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and also any secondary options allowed the player for playing the reinvestment part of the game.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for facilitating play of a governmental lottery game having a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes associated therewith, comprising the steps of the governmental lottery game providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers; the governmental lottery game providing the player with a jackpot prize option to play the lottery game which, when the jackpot prize option is selected by the player, allows the player to reinvest some or all of the smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game; the governmental lottery game rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, in one of many possible ways the lottery may offer this game, one such option an additional opportunity to win a secondary jackpot of a draw combining other players who have chosen this option; the governmental lottery game drawing a winning subset of numbers;
and the governmental lottery game awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate jackpot prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and also any secondary options allowed the player for playing the reinvestment part of the game.

Yet another aspect of the present invention provides for a system for facilitating play of a governmental lottery game having a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes associated therewith over an electronic network, comprising the steps of the governmental lottery game providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers; the governmental lottery game providing the player with a jackpot prize option to play the lottery game which, when the jackpot prize option is selected by the player, allows the player to reinvest some or all of the smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game; the governmental lottery game rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, in one of many possible ways the lottery may offer this game, one such option an additional opportunity to win a secondary jackpot of a draw combining other players who have chosen this option; the governmental lottery game drawing a winning subset of numbers; and the governmental lottery game awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate jackpot prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and also any secondary options allowed the player for playing the reinvestment part of the game.

A still further aspect of the present invention provides for a system for performing a lottery transaction to generate a lottery ticket for a customer, comprising the steps of initiating the lottery transaction at a POS terminal adapted to perform the lottery transaction; inputting a request for lottery numbers for the customer to the POS terminal; optionally inputting a request for a reinvest option for the customer to the POS terminal; inputting a request for a possible bonus lottery numbers to be presented for the customer if the reinvest option has been optionally selected; communicating from the POS terminal to a POS controller operatively connected to the POS terminal, that the lottery transaction has been initiated; establishing communication between the POS controller and a lottery data processing system adapted to communicate with the POS
controller; sending the request for lottery numbers and, if optionally requested, the request for a possible bonus lottery numbers to the lottery data processing system;
requesting the lottery numbers and possible bonus lottery numbers be transmitted from the lottery data processing system to the POS controller; generating the lottery numbers and the possible bonus lottery numbers in the lottery data processing system; transmitting the lottery numbers and the bonus lottery numbers from the lottery data processing system to the POS terminal by the POS
controller; and outputting the lottery numbers and the possible bonus lottery numbers on a lottery ticket issued by the POS terminal.

A still further aspect of the present invention provides for a system for enabling lottery purchasing transactions for a purchaser to engage in a lottery comprising a lottery data processing system; a controller including a storage device, the controller adapted to receive lottery information from the lottery data processing system, the lottery information including lottery numbers and optionally including at least one set of bonus lottery numbers, the at least one bonus set of lottery numbers being provided when the purchaser has selected a reinvest option to play the lottery which allows the purchaser an additional option of participating in a secondary draw possible win a further jackpot associated with the lottery; at least one POS
terminal connected to the controller, for performing the lottery purchasing transactions in accordance with the received lottery information; and the POS terminal including a printer for printing on a lottery ticket the lottery information for the purchaser.

The advantage of the present invention is that it provides an improved system and method for playing a lottery whereby lottery players are given an additional lottery option of either pre-purchasing a lottery ticket, or after the fact participating in a lottery game whereby players reinvest smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery, in exchange for the player being rewarded in some predetermined method, such as by receiving an extra "bonus"
set of lottery ticket numbers printed on their ticket and such bonus line may be good for the lottery draw or some secondary lottery draw offered by the operator or awarding the player for taking this option after the draw based on some predetermined payouts, such as guaranteeing the player better odds in a secondary draw or giving the player bonus numbers for a future draw.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, the lottery is thus able to more effectively compound and "grow" top prize jackpots associated with lotteries, thus making the lottery more profitable.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest winnings from smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for a reward (such as bonus lottery numbers or being allowed to participate in a secondary draw) being provided to the player, the lottery is thus able to keep a percentage of the smaller prizes that the players reinvested and thus making the lottery more profits.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest winnings of smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for a reward (such as bonus lottery numbers or being allowed to participate in a secondary draw) being provided to the player, the lottery is able to add this player option to all their major lottery games, as well as games such as scratch tickets, as long as the game pays subsidiary smaller prizes and thus making the lottery more profits.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest winnings of smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for a reward (such as bonus lottery numbers or being allowed to participate in a secondary draw) being provided to the player, the lottery is able to make additional profits from the players without adding any cost of the price of the initial tickets if desired by the lottery operator.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest winnings of smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for a reward (such as bonus lottery numbers or being allowed to participate in a secondary draw) being provided to the player, the player has better odds of winning the top prizes without having an additional expense if the lottery operator chooses not to charge extra to the player for taking the reinvest option.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide an improved system and method for playing a lottery, which, by virtue of allowing lottery players the additional player option of purchasing lottery tickets that allow them to reinvest winnings of smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery, in exchange for a reward (such as bonus lottery numbers or being allowed to participate in a secondary draw) being provided to the player, the lottery is able to produce higher top prize payouts by placing a percentage of the players smaller prizes that are now foregone by the player by virtue of them reinvesting them, into the top prizes thus being able to market and sell the lottery game as having higher payouts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration for a lottery ticket purchasing system in accordance with the lottery playing method of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a block diagram of one possible embodiment of the POS controller of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a block diagram of one possible embodiment of the POS terminal of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a block diagram of one possible embodiment of the lottery data processing system of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a flow chart depicting one embodiment of a lottery transaction at the POS
terminal; and Figure 6 is an example ticket that could be printed at the point of sale form a lottery corporation operating the game.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention relates to a system and method for playing a lottery and more specifically, to a system and method for playing a lottery whereby, lottery players may participate in a lottery as it exists but now have an additional player option of reinvesting their winnings for some reward offered by the operators of the lottery. Players are given an additional lottery option of reinvesting their winnings, or potential winnings, for some incentives or rewards offered to the players who take this option, such as a chance win larger amounts or prizes with possible better odds, or a second chance to win prizes or rewards such as additional lines of numbers for a future draw. Essentially this additional lottery option could be offered and attached to almost any lottery game and would ideally be offered as a player option that could be selected before the draw or after the draw depending on which method is offered for that particular lottery. The rewards or bonuses that are offered the players for reinvesting their winnings are likely predetermined, such as being rewarded with additional numbers for a future draw.

In a preferred embodiment, players utilizing the "Reinvest" option of the present invention will be given the option of reinvesting their winnings in a lottery for an additional option of turning the reinvest amount into a larger amount of money. Players who buy lottery tickets in lotteries such as Powerball in the United States or Lotto 6/49 in Canada do so in hopes of winning the jackpot and what amounts to millions of dollars. Players usually do not spent $1 or $2 to buy a ticket with hopes and dreams of winning $5 or $10. However, these lotteries and others like them offer such smaller secondary prizes available to be won by the players. The present invention is an attachable option that may be attached to these and other lotteries that gives the players the additional option of taking these winnings and having them pooled into another draw of some kind where the players have an additional opportunity, possible with much better odds, of winning a major jackpot associated with these draws and as a result of the reinvest option.

In a preferred embodiment, players utilizing the "Reinvest" option of the present invention would be rewarded for taking the option and reinvesting their smaller subsidiary prizes back into the reinvestment draw. This draw could be a totally separate draw and players choosing to reinvest would be generated a new ticket number for this additional draw. In an alternative embodiment, the players could use the same number for this additional lottery draw.
In the preferred embodiment many different types of lotteries, even different kinds of lotteries such as a progressive jackpot such as Powerball and a scratch type ticket could have the smaller secondary tickets winners combined if the player chooses to reinvest their winnings and these lotteries could create one bigger jackpot, as opposed to holding a separate reinvest style draw for each different type of game.

In a preferred embodiment, players utilizing the "Reinvest" option of the present invention players now have an additional opportunity of winning a major prize for reinvesting their winnings. In the preferred embodiment only winners would be allowed to purchase and participate in this additional draw for it would in all likelihood offer the player better odds of winning the top prize, a further enticement for the players to reinvest all or some of their winnings. It is understood to one skilled in the art, that the lottery could allow anyone to participate if they choose that option as long as players bought a ticket meeting the requirements laid out by the lottery. In the preferred embodiment players would have to invest a required minimum to participate, say an amount of $5 or $10. Again it should be understood if the required amount to reinvest was say $5, a player winning any amount may be allowed to top up a winning amount to play, so a player winning $3 could reinvest it and pay the additional appropriate amount to partake in the reinvest lottery. It is also understood that a player may invest a portion of his winnings if this is the case. A player winning an amount of $10 may invest half or a player winning $68 may invest $60 and take the rest in a payout.

In a preferred embodiment, players utilizing the "Reinvest" option of the present invention will have a portion of the amount they reinvest placed in a prize fund for an additional lottery that they partake in and a portion of this amount would be taken by the lottery operator as further profits. It is understood that the lottery could keep any amount of this reinvestment as they determine due to the mathematics of the game but likely this will be publicized and it is possible that the lottery keep none and place all reinvestment into the additional prize pool, although unlikely. In a preferred embodiment, having players reinvesting their winnings is a great opportunity for the lotteries to make additional profits by ensuring the players do not keep their winnings. Lottery operators are in the business of making money, even if this is only for charity.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention players may be required to pay an additional fee at the time they purchase their ticket to partake in the secondary reinvest draw.
In this embodiment, players would then be participating in the secondary draw, one seeded with a percentage of the additional amount of the ticket price as well as the secondary prizes of the initial draw won by the players, but automatically reinvested. Under this embodiment players would have two chances to win a major jackpot style prize for either the price of one ticket or the price of one ticket plus an additional fee. For example, if Powerball costs $1 per ticket, a player could just play the normal Powerball game as is, or possibly pay some additional amount, say $2 and also play the reinvest portion. Under this embodiment their ticket number would now be good for the Powerball draw. If they win smaller secondary prizes these could automatically be reinvested in the secondary reinvest draw. Under this embodiment, their ticket is good for this second draw as well and they may win additional prizes in this second draw. In an alternative embodiment of this embodiment their reinvest number may be good for future reinvest draws until which time the jackpot of the reinvest lottery has been won, than all tickets are no longer valid. This is a way to give the players further options to reinvest at the start and pay an additional fee to partake. It is understood that if the lottery offers an option like this than the reinvest draw does not have to mimic the initial draw in payouts or prizes offered, however it could be the same prize structure as well.

In the alternate embodiment of charging the players an additional fee to participate in the reinvest portion of the present invention if is possible the lottery corporation allows the players to keep all of their winnings from any lottery prizes won, instead of foregoing them as the preferred embodiment would call for. In this alternate embodiment all players paying the additional fee to play the reinvest option would have the opportunity, through the winning of any prize, to participate in this additional reinvest draw without foregoing any of their winnings.
Under this embodiment the prize pool of this additional reinvest draw would be seeded by a portion of the additional amount the players are charge at the time of purchase. This allows the lottery corporation to make additional profits from the charging of an entry and can create a second large jackpot associated with each game as although most players may play this reinvest option, only those winning a prize would participate. In Lotto 6/49 in Ontario the odds are 1 in 32.3 of winning any prize.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention players may be allowed to reinvest their smaller secondary winnings after they have won. By doing so they may be rewarded in a multitude of ways. One is as mentioned, allowing them to partake in a secondary draw either with their current numbers or being issued new or separate numbers for the reinvest draw. Another way that players could be rewarded for their reinvestment is by giving the players additional bonus numbers for a future draw. So if Powerball was $1 per line and a player won $3 and chose to reinvest it, they may be given more than 3 lines for a future draw, say 6 lines that may be good for the next draw or a future Powerball draw. One skilled in the art would understand that how a player is rewarded for reinvesting could be any amount of different ways, endless depending on the creativeness of the lotteries, but it is all about rewarded the players to ensure they give back all or the majority of their winnings more frequently.
In an alternative embodiment players may be rewarded by being allowed to partake in an additional draw and also be given some bonus numbers for the future draw as well, so in essence they could be dually rewarded. In this example a Powerball winner could be given an additional ticket for Powerball but also for the secondary reinvest draw.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention players taking the reinvestment option, before the draw, or after they win, could have their winnings or a portion of their winnings placed back into the initial lottery prize pool. Using this option, lotteries would be creating higher jackpots which may entice more players to buy more tickets. At the same time the lottery is making even further profits from keeping a percentage of the reinvested amount as their profits.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, at the POS for lotteries using the present invention a player may purchase their tickets (as normal) or optionally participate in a "reinvest" lottery option. This may occur at the time of purchase or when players have validated their tickets and have won some prize. When choosing this "reinvest" option, the retailer would simply select the players request on the terminal and the ticket the player requested would be generated with the appropriate information confirming and displaying on the ticket that they have selected this option. Pertinent information such as a number and draw date would likely appear on the ticket.

It is important to remember that the "reinvest" option of the present invention is a player's option. Players may wish to purchase their lottery numbers and play in a normal fashion for that particular lottery and not participate in the "reinvest" option. One such lottery game, which we will use for example purposes only, is from the Ontario Lottery Corporation (OLG) in Ontario Canada., and is called Lotto 6/49T"". Currently each ticket is $2, payment of which provides a player with a set of lottery numbers (or often called a ticket, a board or a line). The jackpot grows until won by matching 6/6 numbers drawing from a total of 49 numbers. Each ticket consists of 6 numbers from the numbers 1 to 49.

Generally with Lotto 6/49T"", 47% of all sales for the lottery are dedicated to and allocated for distribution to players from the prize fund (with the lottery corporation itself taking 53% of all sales to cover their profits and expenses in operating the lottery). The total amount of $5 (2/6 + Bonus Number Draw) and $10 (3/6) prizes (winners after the draw) are paid from the prize fund and the balance of the fund is allocated between the other prizes available to be won including the 4/6, 5/6, 5/6 + bonus, and the 6/6 to prize. This is broken down in the charts below. If there are multiple winners of any prize category that draws from the Prize Fund (not the 2/6 and 3/6 as shown which in this lottery are set prizes) then that prize categories total amount is shared amongst the winners within that prize category. As an example, if only one person wins the top prize of 6/6, they get the full amount of that prize fund, but if two people win it, they would split that amount equally. Any prize not won in the 6/6 or 5/6 + bonus is added to the 6/6 jackpot prize for the next scheduled draw.

Number of Prizes Win Odds of Winning (Approximately) 6/6 80.5% of the Prize Fund 1 in 13,983,816 5/6 + Bonus 5.75% of the Prize Fund 1 in 2,330,636 5/6 4.75% of the Prize Fund 1 in 55,492 4/6 9% of the Prize Fund 1 in 1,033 3/6 $10 Prize 1 in 56.7 2/6 + Bonus $5 Prize 1 in 81.2 Any Prize 1 in 32.3 Prizes associated with Lotto 6/49T"", as per a handout from the Ontario Lottery Corporation may look like this from an actual draw as follows:

EXAMPLE WINNINGS FOR Lotto 6/49TM
Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $14,594,639.00 5/6 + Bonus 4 $99,318.50 5/6 181 $1,813.10 4/6 10722 $58.00 3/6 196025 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 145119 $5.00 Under the preferred embodiment of the present invention, using the above charts, if we assume that every player in the lottery utilized the "reinvest" option of the present invention, and if we assume that all players winning $5 or $10 amounts reinvested their full winnings (in one embodiment of the present invention) and players doing so were generated an additional ticket for a reinvest lottery draw than we can see that from our lottery example the total winnings of $2,685,845 would be reinvested. From the example draw above one can see that there were 196,025 winners of $10 (3/6) that paid out a total of $1,960,250 and 145,119 winners of $5 (2/6 + Bonus) that paid out a total of $725,595. The two prizes added together paid a total of $2,685,845 dollars. The operator of the lottery may take some portion of this amount as their profits and the rest could be added to the reinvest lottery draw. The remaining amount after the lottery took their profits could be the new amount added to the prize fund of the reinvest lottery.
As an example, if the lottery chose to take 30% of this reinvested amount (30%
of $2,685,845) as their profit, the lottery would generate additional revenues from this lottery of $805,752 without increasing ticket sales or charging more per ticket for the initial draw. The remaining amount ($2,685,845 - $805,752 = $1,880,093) could be used to seed the secondary reinvest draw.

EXAMPLE #1 - WINNINGS FOR REINVEST Lotto 6/49T"" DRAW
For example #1 Purposes we will assume each $5 invested gets 1 ticket number in a same style draw IE. Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw.

Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $14,594,639.00 5/6 + Bonus 4 $99,318.50 5/6 181 $1,813.10 4/6 10722 $58.00 3/6 196025 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 145119 $5.00 Total tickets generated for the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw in Example #1 are 145,119 ($5 winners) and 392,050 (196,025 tickets that won $10 x 2 tickets each) for a total of 537,169 total tickets in play (145,119 + 392,050). We will assume that no players winning 4/6 or higher, although it could be allowed, but for example purposes they did not reinvest.
Using the same mathematical odds as used for the 6/49 payouts and odds of winning, after the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw the winners and prizes would look as follows:

EXAMPLE #1 - REINVEST LOTTO 6/49 DRAW WINNERS
Prize pool was $1,880,093 ($2,685,845 Invested - $805,752 Lottery Profits =
$1,880,093 Prize Fund) Total tickets issued were 537,169 Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $1,410,583.00 5/6 + Bonus 0 $100,756.00 5/6 10 $8,323.30 4/6 520 $303.28 3/6 9474 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 6615 $5.00 Match #of winners Prizes Paid Out 6/6 0 $1,410,583.00 5/6 + Bonus 0 $100,756.00 5/6 10 $83,233.00 4/6 520 $157,705.00 3/6 9474 $94,740.00 2/6 + Bonus 6615 $33,075.00 From the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw in Example # 1 we can see the draw results above. There were no winners and therefore nothing paid on the top two prizes.
In the 5/6 category, 10 winners won $8,323.30 each (shown in the second chart as paying out a total of $83,233). The other winners and payouts are shown. In the regular Lotto 6/49 Draw above the 5/6 category had paid out $1,813.10 to each winner, whereas each winner of the same prize category in the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw in Example #1 was paid out much higher, at $8,323.30 each. With no winners the jackpot could build for the next Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw if that is the method the operator decided to go with the game. Below shows a second method of the same draw and results, only the lottery corporation has decided in this example that they are going to help create top prize winners for the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw. This is done by saying all players who have tickets that match 5/6 or better are sharing the top prize.

EXAMPE #lA - REINVEST DRAW WINNERS 5/6 WINS
Prize pool was $1,880,093 ($2,685,845 Invested - $805,752 Lottery Profits =
$1,880,093 Prize Fund) Total tickets issued were 537,169 Match #of winners Prize 5/6 or Better 10 $159,457.20 4/6 520 $303.28 3/6 9474 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 6615 $5.00 Match #of winners Prizes Paid Out 5/6 or Better 10 $1,594,572.00 4/6 520 $157,705.00 3/6 9474 $94,740.00 2/6 + Bonus 6615 $33,075.00 Under this prize structure the entire process was the same only the lottery made it easier for the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw players to share in the top prize.
This will entice the players to play the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw and further create more profits for the lottery operators.

Under an alternate embodiment of the present invention the lottery could charge an additional fee at the time of purchase to participate in the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw. We will call this Example #2. Instead of players buying the 6/49 ticket for $2, which of course would still be a player option, they may instead pay $3 for the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw option. From here the corporation would not be limited to how they run this second lottery.
One option could be that they automatically would generate a second ticket, or line of numbers for the player taking this option. They may also do neither and the player's ticket could be good for both the regular draw and the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw even if they do not win in the first regular Lotto 6/49 Draw. Under this embodiment of the present invention in all likelihood, players taking this second option would forego smaller prizes, maybe $5 or $10 winnings which would also be added to the second Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw.

Number of Prizes Win Odds of Winning (Approximately) 6/6 80.5% of the Prize Fund 1 in 13,983,816 5/6 + Bonus 5.75% of the Prize Fund 1 in 2,330,636 5/6 4.75% of the Prize Fund 1 in 55,492 4/6 9% of the Prize Fund 1 in 1,033 3/6 $10 Prize 1 in 56.7 2/6 + Bonus $5 Prize 1 in 81.2 Any Prize 1 in 32.3 Prizes associated with Lotto 6/49T', as per a handout from the Ontario Lottery Corporation may look like this from an actual draw as follows:

EXAMPLE WINNINGS FOR Lotto 6/49T""
Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $14,594,639.00 5/6 + Bonus 4 $99,318.50 5/6 181 $1,813.10 4/6 10722 $58.00 3/6 196025 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 145119 $5.00 For example purposes in Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw Example #2, if each player chose to play the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw and paid an additional dollar to participate in the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw the first regular 6/49 draw would not have change from the above number of winners (#of winners) however, assuming all $5 and $10 wins were reinvested automatically by playing the option, the payout for this draw would have been as follows:

EXAMPLE #2 WINNINGS FOR Lotto 6/49w REINVEST DRAW - ADDITIONAL DOLLAR
Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $14,594,639.00 5/6 + Bonus 4 $99,318.50 5/6 181 $1,813.10 4/6 10722 $58.00 3/6 0 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 0 $5.00 In the regular Lotto 6/49 draw, there were still 196,025 winners of $10 (3/6) and 145,119 winners of $5 (2/6 + Bonus), however, these players taking this option (in this example all players) would have foregone these winnings which would be placed in the additional Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw. From the example draw above one can see that there were 196,025 winners of $10 (3/6) that paid out a total of $1,960,250 and 145,119 winners of $5 (2/6 + Bonus) that paid out a total of $725,595. The two prizes added together paid a total of $2,685,845 dollars. The operator of the lottery may take some portion of this amount as their profits and the rest could be added to the reinvest lottery draw. The remaining amount after the lottery took their profits could be the new amount added to the prize fund of the reinvest lottery. As an example, if the lottery chose to take 30% of this reinvested amount (30% of $2,685,845) as their profit, the lottery would generate additional revenues from this lottery of $805,752. The remaining amount ($2,685,845 - $805,752 = $1,880,093) could be used to help seed the secondary reinvest draw.

From the math provided, and for use in our example #2 above, we can assume the lottery corporation had sold about 11.5 million tickets for this draw (11,500,000). If each player had taken the option as we are assuming and each paid an additional $1 for doing so, an additional $11,500,000 would have been generated by the lottery. As they advertise they keep 53% of this amount and place the remainder in the prize pool. So the lottery would keep 53%
($6,095,000) and place the remaining into the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw Example #2 or 47%
($5,405,000) prize fund. This amount plus the winnings as mentioned of $1,880,093 created a second Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw prize pool of $7,285,093 ($5,405,000 +
$1,880,093). The lotteries profit was $6,900,752 ($6,095,000 + $805,752) from running the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw Example #2. The total tickets for this second Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw Example #2 were 11,500,000 (People who paid the additional dollar to participate). Using this information it would create the follow example payouts and prizes:

EXAMPLE #1 - REINVEST LOTTO 6/49 DRAW WINNERS
Prize pool was $7,285,093 Total tickets issued were 11,500,000 Match #of winners Prize 6/6 0 $3,661,258.33 5/6 + Bonus 5 $52,303.69 5/6 207 $1,043.66 4/6 11,132 $36.77 3/6 202,821 $10.00 2/6 + Bonus 141,625 $5.00 Match #of winners Prizes Paid Out 6/6 0 $3,661,258.33 5/6 + Bonus 5 $261,518.45 5/6 207 $216,036.98 4/6 11,132 $409,333.23 3/6 202,821 $2,028,821.00 2/6 + Bonus 141,625 $708,125.00 From the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw Example #2 above one can see that there were no winners of the top prize of 6/6 for the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw and this money may carry over into the next Reinvest Draw. It would be obvious to one skilled in the art the corporation has many options here. They could make the Reinvest Lotto 6/49 Draw easier to win or also not payout the lower prizes of the second reinvest draw and adding those into the top prize pools.
The lottery may also choose to award players for those payouts with other prizes amounts or prizes, like a free ticket or two free tickets, so players would receive something for their reinvested smaller winnings.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention every printed ticket for the regular lottery could come with a Reinvest Draw Number printed on the ticket and an indication of either "Played" or "Not Played". If it is played, depending on the option of the lottery corporation operating the game, an additional fee could be charged for the right to play this option. For example if a person buys a regular Lotto 6/49 ticket, even though they did not take the Reinvest Option, their ticket might come with a Reinvest Draw Number printed on the ticket and some accompanying message such as, "Reinvest NOT PLAYED". The player would not be charged any additional amount for not playing the option and would not forego any secondary prizes that playing the option might forego. This player would participate in the regular Lotto 6/49 draw as usual. In staying with this example if the player had chosen to play the Reinvest Option at the time of purchase they may, or may not, depending on the lottery corporation variation of offering the Reinvest Option, be charged an additional fee.
However, this player's ticket would say "Reinvest PLAYED" or something to that affect to let the player know they have opted to play the Reinvest Option.

By placing a Reinvest ticket number on every purchased ticket, with the option played or not played by the players it will serve many purposes. One is it will make the player aware for future draws that they have an option and the player may learn more about what this additional option does. It will also market the game. Another purpose this can serve is to entice the players to play the option in the future for they may notice that a ticket they did not play the option on, would have won a prize and in the future may always play the option.

As noted previously, in another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention relates to a system and a method for selling lottery tickets using point-of-sale ("POS") terminals that generate tickets containing lottery ticket information. Many States in the United States, as well as foreign countries, have government-conducted lottery systems. In a typical government-conducted lottery system, a central lottery computer is used to communicate with dedicated lottery terminals. A player selects numbers on a lottery play-slip, and the lottery terminal operator inserts the lottery play-slip into a reader at the lottery terminal, which optically reads the lottery play-slip using a known mark-sense process. The dedicated lottery terminal then communicates the player's selected numbers to a central lottery computer which in turn stores them, or alternatively, a random set of lottery numbers is provided to the player, like a quick pick. After the lottery numbers have been stored, the dedicated lottery terminal, under the control of the central lottery computer, prints and issues the lottery ticket.

FIG. 1 shows an overall system block diagram of one embodiment of a hardware configuration which could be utilized for the lottery playing method of the present invention, though it will be understood that other variations of this configuration would be possible, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art. In this embodiment, a POS
controller 20 is linked to at least one POS terminal 20 via a POS network 30. Three POS terminals 20 are depicted in FIG.
1, but any number of POS terminals 20 can be used. The POS network 30 does not have to be a hard wired network, it can include any of a wide variety of means suitable to transmit and receive data communications, as described below. A lottery ticket transaction can be initiated from any one of the POS terminals 20. The information required to initiate a lottery ticket transaction is passed between the POS terminal 20 and the POS controller 10 via the POS

network 30.

As illustrated in FIG. 1., the POS controller 10 is also linked to a lottery data processing system 50, discussed in detail below, via a data network 40. Preferably, the controller communicates in substantially real-time with the lottery data processing system. The data network 40 can be any one or more of a variety of networks capable of data communications. For example, the data network 40 can be a public switched telephone network, an integrated service digital network (ISDN), a packet switched network, a private data communication network, a wireless network or any other suitable network.

The POS terminals 20 and the POS controller 10 depicted in FIG. 1 may be embodied in hardware specifically provided to implement the present invention.
Alternatively, they may be implemented using existing cash registers and central in-store servers.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the POS controller 10. The POS controller 10 comprises a CPU 21 which performs the processing functions. POS controller 10 also includes a read only memory 22 (ROM) and a random access memory 23 (RAM). The ROM 22 is used to store at least some of the program instructions that are to be executed by the CPU 21, such as portions of the operating system or basic input-output system (BIOS), and the RAM 23 is used for temporary storage of data. A clock circuit 24 provides a clock signal which is required by the CPU 21.

The POS controller 10 also includes a communication port 25 connected to a data network interface 71 and a POS network interface 72. The communication port 25 enables the CPU 21 to communicate with devices external to the POS controller 10. In particular, the communication port 25 permits communication with the POS terminals 20 and also with the lottery data processing system 50. While a modem (not shown) and a dedicated telephone line for establishing communication with the lottery data processing system 50 is preferred, it should be understood that other data network interfaces, including an ISDN terminal to interface with an ISDN network, a radio communications interface, and an Internet interface, may be used as well.

The CPU 21 can also store information to, and read information from, a data storage device 26. The data storage device 26 includes a local lottery ticket database 26a and other databases (not shown) which that store or location may conventionally maintain. The local lottery ticket database 26a is described below. In addition, the data storage device 26 includes instructions which can be read by and executed by the CPU 21, thereby enabling the CPU 21 to process transactions.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the preferred POS terminal 20, which can be located at any location where consumer lottery transactions are performed. As previously discussed above, there can be any number of POS terminals 20 linked to one POS controller 10.
The POS terminal 20 includes a CPU 31, ROM 32, RAM 33, clock circuit 34, communication port 35 and a data storage device 36. The communication port 35 interfaces with the POS network 30 which facilitates communication between the POS terminal 20 and the POS controller 10.

The POS terminal 20 includes an input device 37 to receive input from an operator. Any one of a variety of input devices would be suitable for this purpose, including, for example, depression-actuated buttons, keys, membranes, a mouse, touch screens, bar code scanners, and the like. The input device 37 may interface directly with the CPU 31, as shown in Figure 3.
Alternatively, an appropriate interface circuit may be placed between the CPU
31 and the input device 37. The POS terminal 20 also includes a display device 38 for conveying information to the operator, customer or both. Any one or a variety of display devices would be suitable for this purpose, including, for example a CRT, LCD, LED or thin film transistor panel.

The POS terminal 20 also includes a data storage device 36, in which transaction processor instructions are stored. These instructions can be read by and executed by the CPU 31, enabling the POS terminal 20 to process a variety of transaction types. By way of example, these transaction types may include, but are not limited to, "quick-pick" lottery tickets (where random numbers are assigned to the player) and lottery tickets other than "quick-pick" tickets. The POS
terminal 20 further includes a printer 39 for recording the transaction performed by the POS

terminal 20. The printer 39 may interface directly with the CPU 31, as shown in Figure 3.
Alternatively, an appropriate interface circuit may be placed between the CPU
31 and the printer 39.

Shown in Figure 4 is a block diagram of one possible embodiment of the lottery data processing system 50. Like the POS controller 10 described above, the lottery data processing system 50 includes a CPU 51, ROM 52, RAM 53, a clock circuit 54, and a communication port 55. The communication port 55 is connected to the data network interface 71.
The data network interface 71 depicted is equivalent to the data network interface shown in Figure 2. One POS
controller 10 is depicted in Figure 1, but any number of POS controllers 10 can be linked to the lottery data processing system 50 via the data network 40 and the data network interface 71.

The CPU 51 can store information to, and read information from the data storage device 58. The data storage device 58 includes a lottery ticket database 58a, a POS
controller database 58b, and a winning lottery ticket number database 58c which are described below. In addition, the data storage device 58 includes instructions which can be read by and executed by the CPU
51, thereby enabling the CPU 51 to process lottery transactions. While Figure 4 depicts separate databases, a single database that incorporates all the functions of databases 58a, 58b and 58c can also be used. It is also to be understood that additional databases may be utilized as needed to store a variety of other information that may be useful in maintaining and administrating a lottery system, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The lottery data processing system 50 also includes a random number generator 56 and a random "bonus" number generator 57. When requested by the CPU 51, the random number generator 56 generates the random "quick-pick" numbers used for "quick-pick"
lottery ticket transactions. When requested by the CPU 51, the random "bonus" number generator 57 is used to generate the random "bonus" number, when a player(s) decides to pursue playing the lottery utilizing the "reinvest" option of the present invention.

While the illustrated embodiment depicts the random number generator 56 and the random "bonus" number generator 57 as separate elements within the lottery data processing system 50, it should be understood that other methods of performing their functions may be used.
For example, these functions may also be implemented in a computer program stored in the data storage device 58 and executed by the CPU 51, or other variations thereof, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art. It may also be conceivable that these may be each generated from a single random generator location.

As shown in Figure 5 is a flow chart of one process involved with the present invention.
Figure 6 is an example ticket of what might have been printed by the lottery corporation from the lottery terminal at the point of sale. It is understood that this ticket could come in many different layouts for every lottery corporation may slightly offer the present invention differently from the payouts down to the printing and displaying of information on the ticket. Of course the present invention is attachable to all lotteries and is not limited to just a Lotto 6/49 style lottery as shown in the example ticket. They present invention may be attached to Powerball, Super 7, Megabucks or any lottery offered by lottery corporations that have a tiered payout structure.
What is noticeable on this example ticket is it is identified as a Reinvest ticket and more specifically to this example the "Reinvest Option Played". In our example this ticket the player is given a Reinvest Line Number of 1 5 22 27 36 and 49. This person is also charged an additional dollar for playing this option, as a normal ticket for this draw was $2, not $3. If this person did not take the Reinvest option the additional line could still be seen on this ticket on one embodiment of the current invention however it would be stated on the ticket that the "Reinvest Not Played". It is understood that different lotteries would lay their tickets out differently and this is only one of a plethora of ticket examples.

The present invention has been described herein with regard to preferred embodiments.
However, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that a number of variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as described herein.

Claims (39)

1. A method for allowing a player to play a lottery game having a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes or any a lottery game having prizes associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of:

providing the player with lottery ticket or lottery ticket numbers for the lottery game;
providing the player with a reinvestment game option to play the lottery game which, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player the player reinvests all or some portion of their winnings;

allowing the reinvestment option to occur before the lottery draw at point of sale or after the lottery draw has occurred and player has won a prize;

rewarding the player, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player, in some predetermined method;

taking from the player, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player, winnings from certain smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game;

allowing players playing the reinvest option to compete to win additional prizes from a prize pool made up of a possible additional fee for playing the option as well as the prize pool of reinvestment winnings foregone by the players;

drawing a winning subset of numbers for lottery draw and possibly an additional subset of numbers for a reinvestment draw; and awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest game option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and rewarding the player for winning prizes from an additional lottery reinvest draw for players taking the reinvest option or investing their winnings to play in a secondary reinvest draw.

2. A method for facilitating play of a governmental lottery game allowing a player to play a lottery game having a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes or any a lottery game having prizes associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of:

the governmental lottery game providing the player with lottery ticket or lottery ticket numbers for the lottery game;

the governmental lottery game providing the player with a reinvestment game option to play the lottery game which, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player the player reinvests all or some portion of their winnings;

the governmental lottery game allowing the reinvestment option to occur before the lottery draw at point of sale or after the lottery draw has occurred and player has won a prize;

the governmental lottery game rewarding the player, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player, in some predetermined method;

the governmental lottery game taking from the player, when the reinvestment game option is selected by the player, winnings from certain smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game;

the governmental lottery game allowing players playing the reinvest option to compete to win additional prizes from a prize pool made up of a possible additional fee for playing the option as well as the prize pool of reinvestment winnings foregone by the players;

the governmental lottery game drawing a winning subset of numbers for lottery draw and possibly an additional subset of numbers for a reinvestment draw; and the governmental lottery game awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest game option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and rewarding the player for winning prizes from an additional lottery reinvest draw for players taking the reinvest option or investing their winnings to play in a secondary reinvest draw.

3. A method for allowing a player to play any lottery game having prizes or a jackpot prize and smaller subsidiary prizes associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of:
providing the player with lottery ticket numbers for the lottery game;

providing the player with a reinvest option to play the lottery game which, when the reinvest option is selected by the player, allows the player to forego any chance of winning the smaller subsidiary prizes in the lottery game and instead competing in an additional secondary reinvest draw to compete for a reinvested prize pool;

rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected in a predetermined way for taking the reinvest option;

drawing a set of winning lottery numbers, the set of winning lottery numbers having winning combinations associated therewith; and awarding the jackpot prize or any of the smaller subsidiary prizes associated with the lottery game to the player if selected ones of the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers, or, if the reinvest game option has been selected by the player, awarding only the appropriate prizes to the player if the lottery ticket numbers of the player matches the drawn winning subset of numbers and rewarding the player for winning prizes from an additional lottery reinvest draw for players taking the reinvest option or investing their winnings to play in a secondary reinvest draw.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with randomly generated lottery ticket numbers.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with customer selected lottery ticket numbers.

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with preprinted lottery tickets.

7. The method of any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with a reinvest number generated on every ticket.

8. The method of any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with a reinvest number generated on only tickets playing the reinvest option.

9. The method of any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers further comprises providing the lottery player with a reinvest number generated on every ticket stating whether the reinvest option is 'played' or 'not played'

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers and not charging an additional amount to the player for playing the reinvest option.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers charging an additional amount to the player for playing the reinvest option.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, further comprises awarding the player a bonus set of lottery ticket numbers to be used in the lottery game.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, further comprises rewarding the player by allowing them to participate in the reinvest lottery game.

14. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of rewarding the player, when the reinvest option has been selected, further comprises awarding the player a bonus set of lottery ticket numbers to be used in the reinvest lottery game.

15. The method of claims 10 and 12, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into the general prize pool for the lottery game.

16. The method of claims 10 and 12, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into certain prize payouts of the general prize pool for the lottery game.

17. The method of claims 10 and 13, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into a reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

18. The method of claims 10 and 14, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into a reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

19. The method of claims 11 and 12, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into certain prize payouts of the general prize pool for the lottery game.

20. The method of claims 11 and 12, whereas a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool for the lottery game.

21. The method of claims 11, 12, 19 and 20, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into certain prize payouts of the general prize pool as well as a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool for the lottery game.

22. The method of claims 11 and 13, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into a reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

23. The method of claims 11 and 13, whereas a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool of the reinvest draw.

24. The method of claims 11, 13, 22 and 23, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into the reinvest draw general prize pool as well as a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool for the reinvest game.

25. The method of claims 11 and 14, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into a reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

26. The method of claims 11 and 14, whereas a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool of the reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

27. The method of claims 11, 14, 25 and 26, whereas certain secondary prizes won by the player would be reinvested back into the reinvest draw general prize pool as well as a portion of the additional fee charged to the player would be added to the general prize pool for the reinvest draw that the player would participate in.

28. The method of claims 1 to 3, whereas players may reinvest after they have won secondary prizes, including winning at any lottery like a scratch ticket and participate in a reinvest draw.

29 The method of claim 28, whereas the player is given a number for a future reinvest draw.

30. The method of claims 1 to 3, whereas the reinvest lottery option may be attached to and played in conjunction to any existing lottery or be a new lottery of its own.

31. The method of any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein, subsequent to the step of providing the lottery player with lottery ticket numbers, the lottery player is provided with a lottery ticket bearing the lottery ticket numbers thereon.

32. A system for performing a lottery transaction to generate a lottery ticket for a customer, comprising the steps of:

initiating the lottery transaction at a POS terminal adapted to perform the lottery transaction;

inputting a request for lottery numbers for the customer to the POS terminal;
optionally inputting a request for a reinvest optional game for the customer to the POS
terminal;

communicating from the POS terminal to a POS controller operatively connected to the POS terminal, that the lottery transaction has been initiated;

establishing communication between the POS controller and a lottery data processing system adapted to communicate with the POS controller;

sending the request for lottery numbers and, if optionally requested, the request to participate in the option reinvest option to the lottery data processing system;
requesting the lottery numbers and the reinvest lottery numbers be transmitted from the lottery data processing system to the POS controller;

generating the lottery numbers and the reinvest lottery numbers in the lottery data processing system;

transmitting the lottery numbers and the bonus lottery numbers from the lottery data processing system to the POS terminal by the POS controller; and outputting the lottery numbers and the reinvest lottery numbers on a lottery ticket issued by the POS
terminal.

33. A system for enabling lottery purchasing transactions for a purchaser to engage in a lottery comprising:

a lottery data processing system;

a controller including a storage device, the controller adapted to receive lottery information from the lottery data processing system, the lottery information including lottery numbers and optionally including possibly at least one set of bonus lottery numbers, the at least one bonus set of lottery numbers being provided when the purchaser has selected a reinvest option to playing the lottery which allows the purchaser to forego any chance of winning certain smaller subsidiary prizes and being rewarded for doing so;
at least one POS terminal connected to the controller, for performing the lottery purchasing transactions in accordance with the received lottery information;
and said POS terminal including a printer for printing on a lottery ticket the lottery information for the purchaser.

34. The system according to claim 33, wherein the storage device stores the lottery information received from the lottery data processing system that includes randomly selected lottery ticket numbers.

35. The system according to claim 33, wherein the controller communicates in substantially real-time with the lottery data processing system.

36. The system according to claim 33, wherein the controller is a network server.

37. The system according to claim 33, wherein the controller is a data network.

38. The system according to claim 33, wherein the data network is a public switched telephone network, an integrated service digital network (ISDN), a packet switched network, a private data communication network, or a wireless network.

39. The system according to claim 33, wherein the POS terminal is adapted for input of customer-selected lottery numbers, and the controller is adapted to transmit the customer-selected lottery numbers to the lottery data processing.