GB2177011A - Improvements relating to gaming, lotteries etc. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides that a set of lottery tickets 16, say 10,000 each uniquely identified can be recognised individually by a machine reading device 10. The machine can be programmed not only to recognise the tickets but also to select some of the tickets as winners of varying prize value. The machine may be set to indicate on a VDU 12 the value of the prize won when it detects a winning ticket. The tickets may be read by the machine by inserting them individually into a slot 14 in the machine. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements Relating to Gaming, or Lotteries or Promotions This invention relates to arrangements for gaming, or lotteries or promotions, involving the use of tickets or cards (hereinafter referred to as "tickets") arranged in sets, and some of which will be winners, the remainder being the losers.

Tickets of this nature are used extensively for lotteries and promotion which are of the "instant" type in that as soon as the user of a ticket utilises same, he knows instantly whether or not that ticket is a winner. The ticket may be constructed so that when it is purchased or given, the information which indicates whether or not the ticket is a winner is concealed from view, and the user must expose that information, and usually in so doing, the integrity of the ticket is destroyed so that it is obvious it has been used, and cannot be re-used.

This is important when the ticket is a winning ticket.

When a set of such tickets is produced, say of the order of 10,000 tickets per set, a certain number will be winners, and a certain number will be losers. The tickets may be probability tickets or non-probability tickets. In a non-probability arrangement, the price of each ticket of the cost of each ticket is predetermined as are the values and numbers of the prizes so that, for example a club or society purchasing a set of tickets and selling all of the tickets to its members would know precisely the level of profit to be returned from that set. In a probability arrangement, every ticket or every ticket of a portion of the set is a potential winner, but depending upon the, or the order of the, selections made by the user, the ticket will be a winner or a loser. The tickets are constructed to give a greater probability of each ticket being a loser rather than a winner.

One of the difficulties with each arrangement is that because the winners are either pre-set or each may be a winner, then there is a tendency for fraudulent agents or secretaries to endeavour to compromise the tickets and to find out and extract winners before placing said tickets on sale.

Considerable effort therefore must be put into making the tickets in their sealed condition as secure as possible, but increasing the security of the tickets invariably means increasing their cost.

The present invention aims at providing a system of the above nature, but which has added advantages not present in the prior arrangements.

The present invention is related to the concept of combining the tickets in utilisation with equipment capable of recognising the tickets individually.

Thus, in accordance with the invention in a set of lottery tickets the tickets have means uniquely identifying the individual tickets, whilst there is also provided recognition equipment which will recognise the tickets individually and is adapted to indicate winning tickets of the sets selectively.

As will be readily understood, it will be possible to adapt the equipment to recognise any selected ones of the tickets as winners, and there therefore arises for the first time the capability of selecting the winners after the tickets have been produced, because if the tickets are for example uniquely identified by consecutive numbering, then the equipment can be arranged after production of the cards to select and identify the winnning numbers.

The selection may be done completely randomly.

The numbers may be printed on the tickets making them invisible to the naked eye, therefore providing additional security.

The equipment may be arranged so as to recognise only tickets of a particular set, and each ticket can therefore be printed with machine code, so that the machine will not accept for recognition purposes any ticket except one of the particular set.

Again, it is preferred that the machine setting can be altered so that the machine can be adapted to recognise different sets.

The security of the system thereby is ensured.

Machine recognition may be by any suitable means, such as electronic, mechanical, electro mechanical, and it may be coupled with a display screen to indicate thereon if a ticket is a winner or a loser, and if a winner, the prize won. The display of a winner and/or loser may be accompanied by an appropriate audible signal.

In a particular arrangement, the machine will be essentially similar to a television monitor with a slot for receiving the ticket placed therein in a particular disposition. The machine first of all reads the ticket coding to make sure that it is a ticket of a set which the machine is set to recognise, and then the machine will read the unique identification of the ticket and indicate whether or not it is a winner or loser.

The machine can be set either to retain each ticket or return it to the owner, and to claim the prize for example the owner may be required to sign the ticket, and present it to the organiser or promoter of the lottery or promotion. Ancillary equipment in the alternative may be arranged to dispense the prize automatically.

The extent to which the equipment and use thereof requires to be supervised by the promoter or organiser will depend upon the sophistication of the recognition equipment and ancillary equipment which is used, but we envisage that a particularly suitable use for this invention is in connection with promotions at exhibitions, in supermarkets and other stores, where the equipment can be overseen by an invigilator who can watch the utilisation of the equipment, can retain winning tickets and can dispense prizes, as we see this system providing considerable advantage in procuring that potential customers are enticed to exhibition stands, and into supermarkets and stores.

A particular advantage of the system is that it avoids the need to provide a "probability" function within each ticket. Many lotteries and promotions are based upon probability. In a typical probability game, the ticket may have six areas covered with irreversibly removable material, and the participant selects say three from six. If he selects the correct three, then he will be guaranteed a prize. The game is probability orientated in that each ticket is a potential winner, but the promoter relies on the probability that only relatively few participants will select the correct three areas. It can be appreciated that if every participant were to select the correct three areas, then the promoter would stand to lose a considerable amount of money.The tickets of the present game and machine combination are in no way related to probability, and although the winners may change from set to set by appropriate setting of the machine, the total amount of prizes can be accurately predetermined.

The machine may be a free standing unit with an aperture to receive a ticket, and immediately upon acceptance of the ticket the machine declares that the ticket is a winner or a loser. In one arragnement, the machine retains a ticket and will only be activated by one type of ticket as explained herein.

The tickets or cards may be promotional items and may be "give-aways".

As explained, the machine may operate according to any mode such as mechanical, electromechanical, electric, electronic and/or computerised.

The method of signalling a winner may be by sound, lights, vusual display, and/or movement.

The machine can be positioned in any location such as in a supermarket store or at an exhibition stand.

The tickets may be distributed in any suitable fashion by being pre-mailed, or given away at the entrance to a store or exhibition, or by merchandising personnel or available at other locations.

The tickets may be provided with a location for the signature and address of the user so that a record of the user may be retained for further marketing purposes.

The machine in essence can be made to act as a counter. If there are say 10,000 cards of which 1,000 are to be winning tickets, then a thousand numbers between 1 and 9,999 inclusive are selected at random and keyed into the machine, and different prize levels can be applied to the different selected winning numbers.

Each ticket may have a simple bar code for identification of the ticket as a correct one of the set to prevent the use of non-set tickets being read by the machine.

It is appreciated that all the tickets will appear the same and no scratching or breaking open is required. They can be designed specifically for individual customers, and a machine can be set easily to adjust the actual winning numbers. The winning numbers can be selected so as to reflect peak periods of usage.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine usuable in the present invention; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of one of the tickets used in the invention.

The machine 10 as shown in Fig. 1 comprises a VDU screen 12 and a slot 14 for the insertion of the individual tickets of a set of tickets with which the machine is to be used. One of the tickets 16 of the said is illustrated in Fig. 2. The ticket has arrows 18 indicating the fashion in which it is to be inserted in the slot 14 in the machine 10. When the ticket is inserted, the machine reads the information thereon and may operate in the following manner. It first of all detects that the ticket is one of a particular set on which the machine is programmed to operate. If a false ticket is therefore inserted, the machine will indicate on the screen that the ticket is a fake and will return same to the person who inserted it.If the ticket is one of the correct set, then the machine will then detectthe means uniquely identifying the ticket from the others in the set and if that unique identification by pre-programming ofthe machine 10 is selected to be a winning indication, then the fact that the ticket is a winner will be indicated on the screen as will be the value of the prize. The prize may automatically be dispensed from an ancillary dispensing machine (not shown) or the promoter of the lottery may give the participant the prize. The machine 10 may be adapted to provide audible and/or visual signals indicating when a winning ticket has been detected. The machine may also be associated with a keyboard for preprogramming same or for varying the programming of same so that different tickets of different sets will be winners.

Indeed the machine may have an automatic random selection device so that when the detection of a first set of tickets has been completed, the machine resets for a second set, or is reset for this purpose, and the reset includes the automatic selection of another group of tickets of a second set to be the winning tickets.

Claims (8)

1. The combination of a set of tickets having means uniquely identifying the individual tickets, and recognition equipment which can recognise the tickets individually and is adapted to indicate the individual tickets of the set selectively, for example to indicate winning tickets.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the equipment is programmable so as to select different ones of different set of said tickets.

3. The combination according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means uniquely identifying the individual tickets is invisible to the naked eye.

4. The combination according to any preceding claim, wherein the equipment is programmable to recognise only one set of tickets.

5. The combination according to any preceding claim, wherein the machine has a display screen to indicate if any card of the set is a winner or loser, and, if appropriate, the value of the prize.

6. The combination according to any preceding claim, wherein the equipment has a slot for receiving the individual tickets of the set for reading of same.

7. The combination according to any preceding claim including a dispensing device for dispensing a prize when the equipment recognises a winning ticket of the set.

8. The combination of a set of tickets and recognition equipment substantially as hereinbefore described.