WO2001055948A1

WO2001055948A1 - Method for providing stock race game in internet

Info

Publication number: WO2001055948A1
Application number: PCT/KR2000/000196
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hong Joon Kim; Ho Jun Lee; Myoung Geun Seo
Original assignee: Hong Joon Kim; Ho Jun Lee; Myoung Geun Seo
Priority date: 2000-01-25
Filing date: 2000-03-10
Publication date: 2001-08-02
Also published as: KR100383850B1; AU2000233316A1; KR20000049374A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for Internet stock racing game. In this game, runners are selected from individual items from real-world stock markets. Internet users can bet their money or cyber-money on the runners. The present invention includes the steps of determining if a game has begun as the user logs in, providing the user with a display of the game status including profit rate information for each runner in the stock market if it is determined that a game has begun, providing the user with a display for betting including information for each runner in the stock market if it is determined that a game has not begun yet, constructing a betting database as the user bets on the runners, determining the ranking of the race as the game finishes according to the profit rates in the stock market for the given period and disbursing a share according to the result of the game.

Description

METHOD FOR PROVIDING STOCK RACE GAME IN INTERNET

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to methods for playing stock racing games on the Internet, and in particular to a method for plav ing stock racing game on the Internet, in which runners are selected from indiv idual stock items on real-world stock markets and Internet users can freely bet their cash or cvber-monev on selected runners

Background of the Invention

Currently, there is a simulated stock trading game on the Internet as a game of which the subject is stock The simulated stock trading game is plaved in the following manner the players buy and sell stocks on virtual stock markets for a given period of time and with a fixed amount of money The winner is decided according to the return (profit rate) yielded by the purchase and/or sale of the stocks, that is, the prize is granted to a player gaining the highest return

The supervising or hosting company announces initiation of a game for a given period of time, by which the game commences Internet users desiring to participate in the game can send their respective entries to the hosting company by gaming access to a web site of the hosting company or by sending e-mails to the hosting company withm a given period of time from the commencement date of the game

As the registered participants join the game, an equal amount of money is gwen to each participant as investment capital for the game by the hosting company The investment capital is transferred to the participants^' virtual bank accounts opened in the names of the participants Then, the participants transfer this money to their securities accounts to use the money in trading the stocks

The participants are allowed to purchase and/or sell all kinds of stocks listed on the real stock markets for the game period Howe\ er all the transactions for purchasing or selling the stocks must be made in cash or in cyber-monev Purchasing stocks on credit or short sale is not allowed Short selling is selling stocks without owning them

The stock prices in the simulated stock trading game are the same as those in real stock markets, but the trades by the participants in the above game do not affect the stock prices in the real stock markets However, because the stock prices in the real stock markets are changed in real time the stock prices in the above simulated stock trading game may be different from those of the real stock markets when contracts for selling or buying stocks are actually made

Transactions between the participants are not allowed For example, even if a participant named A issues an order for selling 1 million stocks for a specific item another participant named B may not buy them

The amount of money for the stocks bought or sold is settled on the same da after closing of the stock markets As in the real stock markets the participants can sell the stocks bought or buy new stocks with the money obtained from selling of the stocks, even before the settlement for the latest trade Where an order for buying stocks is issued but the amount therefor is not paid, covering orders for selling the unpaid stocks are issued in the morning of the business day after two days the non-collection occurred The covering orders start from the latest stocks for which non-collection was made and then in the order of the numbers of the stocks the participant holds The ranking in the game is decided by the return yielded by buying and selling the stocks for the period of gaming

However, the participants who failed to trade over 10 times in sum for buying or selling the stocks for the period of gaming are excluded in deciding the ranking The covering orders are also excluded in counting the sum In addition, the turnover of the buying and selling contracts must be respectively over 50% of the investment capital The simulated stock trading game described above provides the participants with an opportunity to practice stock investments as in real stock markets The simulated stock trading game is effective in that the participants can apply a variety of investment strategies in a tentative wav

However, the above-described simulated stock trading game is merely to transfer the stage for the stock investments progressed in real stock markets to the cyber space of the Internet Therefore, such a game is not so entertaining as a game and is not quite stimulating the users' interest in stock investments

Detailed Description of the Invention

Accordingly, the present inv ention, conceived to solve the above problems occurring in the prior art, aims to provide a method for playing a stock racing game on the Internet, wherein runners are selected from individual stock items on real-world stock markets and the Internet users can freely bet their cash or cyber-money on the selected runners

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other objects features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig 1 shows a network connection for implementation of a method for playing the stock racing game on the Internet according to the present inv ention

Figs 2a to 2g are tables showing data field structures used in the present invention,

Fig 3 is a table showing a betting display used in the present inv ention Fig 4a is a flowchart illustrating the process of allowing Internet users to connect to a stock racing game server for participation in the betting,

Fig 4b is a flowchart illustrating the progress of the game after participation of the Internet users in the game

Fig 4c is a flowchart illustrating the process of paving the Internet users dividends after the game is over,

Fig 5 is a graph showing the progress of the game by an information board for the market conditions as used in the present invention,

Fig 6 is a display showing the runner's lists on which the Internet users can participate in betting, Fig 7 is a display showing the progress of the stock racing game in the form of horse racing, and

Fig 8 is a display showing the particulars of the user's betting

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figs 1 to 5

Fig 1 is a view showing a network connection for implementation of a method for playing a stock racing game on the Internet in an embodiment of the present invention

Referring to Fig 1, Internet users 1 10a to 1 lOn connect to a stock racing game server 130 via the Internet 120 The serv er 130 has a database 140 which is composed of a USER table for storing information relating to the registered users (Fig 2a), a BETTING table for storing information relating to bets (Fig 2b), a STOCK RACE table for stoπng information relating to each stock race (Fig 2c), a STOCK INFORM TION table for 5 storing stock information received from stock data service companies such as the connected stock data service companies in Korea (Fig 2d), a DATA/D AN table for storing data received from said stock data service companies and then processed on daily basis (Fig 2e) a DATA/HOUR table for storing data received from the KSCC and then processed on hourly basis (Fig 2f) and a DATA /MINUTE table for storing l() data received from the KSCC and then processed on minutely basis (Fig 2g)

Referring again to Figs 2a to 2g, each of the tables is composed of several fields The USER table for storing information relative to the users (Fig 2a) has a USER ID field 201 for storing users' IDs, a PASSWORD field 202 for storing users' passwords, a USER NAME field 203 for storing users' names, an E-MAIL field 205

15 for storing users e-mail addresses, an ID NUMBER field 205 for storing users' resident registration numbers an ADDRESS field 206 for stoπng users addresses, a ZIP CODE field 207 for storing zip codes of the users' addresses a PHONE NUMBER field 208 for storing users mobile telephone numbers, a GENDER field 209 for storing users' gender, and a MONEY HOLDINGS field 210 for storing the

20 amount of cash or cyber-money held by the users

The BETTING table for storing information relating to bets (Fig 2b) has a USER NAME field 21 1 for storing names of the users who participate in the betting, a TIME field 212 for storing the betting time, a BET MONEY field 213 for storing the amount of betted money a STOCK NUMBER field 214 for storing the code numbers

25 of the betted stocks and a RETURN field 215 for storing returns gained from the betted stocks

The STOCK RACE table for storing information relating to each race (Fig 2c) has a STOCK NUMBER field 221 for storing the code numbers of the betted, a STOCK NAME field 222 for stoπng names of the betted stocks, a DIVIDEND field

223 for storing the dividend of each of the betted stocks a CLOSING PRICE field

224 for storing the closing prices of the betted stocks on the previous day, a CURRENT PRICE field 225 for storing the current prices of the betted stocks, a

STOCK CODE field 226 for storing the code numbers of the betted stocks, a CHANGE field 227 for indicating rise or fall of the stock prices, with brief information on the market conditions included such as no-transaction high limit rise, steadiness, etc , a QUANTITY field 228 for storing the traded quantities of the betted stocks, a SELL field 229 for storing the sold amounts of the betted stocks and a BUY field 230 for storing the purchased amounts of the betted stocks

The STOCK INFORMATION table for stoπng information from the KSCC (Fig 2d) has a STOCK CODE field 231 for storing codes of the stocks, a STOCK NAME field 232 for storing the names of the stocks, a CLOSING PRICE field 233 for storing the closing prices of the stocks on the previous day a CURRENT PRICE field 234 for storing the current prices of the stocks a SELL field 235 for stoπng the sold amounts of the stocks, a BUY field 236 for storing the purchased amounts of the stocks, a QUANTITY field 237 for storing the traded quantities of the stocks, and a CHANGE field 238 for indicating rise or fall of the stock prices The DATA/DAY table for storing the data received from the said stock data service companies and processed on daily basis (Fig 2e) has a STOCK CODE field 241, a STOCK NAME field 242, a CURRENT PRICE field 243, and a DAY field 244 for storing the dates when stocks are transacted

The DATA/HOUR table for storing the data received from the said stock data service companies and processed on hourly basis (Fig 2f) has a STOCK CODE field 251, a STOCK NAME field 252, a CURRENT PRICE field 253, and an HOUR field 254 for storing the hours when stocks were transacted The DATA/MINUTE table for storing data received from the said stock data service companies and then processed on a minutely basis has a STOCK CODE field 261 , a STOCK NAME field 262, a CURRENT PRICE field 263, and a MINUTE field 264 for storing minutes when stocks are transacted A detailed description of an example of the stock racing game method in accordance with the present invention is given below

Internet users 1 10a to HOn wishing to participate in the stock racing game must first access the stock racing game server 130 and gain membership therein Then, information relevant to the user is stored by the server 130 in the respective fields of the USER table (Fig 2a) The stored information includes the users' IDs, passwords, names, e-mail addresses, resident registration numbers, telephone numbers, addresses, zip codes, mobile telephone numbers, genders the amount of cash or cyber-money currently held by the users, etc

Each of the Internet users gaming membership from the hosting company' s web site is allotted with an equal amount of cash or cyber-money by the stock racing game server 130, so that he can participate in the betting

Any of the users 1 10a to 1 1 On who has spent all the allotted cash or cyber- money can secure the spent amount bv clicking banners for advertisements in the web site, or purchasing actual goods from other e-trading sites A separate incentive system will be provided to enable the users to have other users actively participate in the game by operating a variety of bulletin boards Through the incentive system, the users can secure a certain amount of the cash or cyber-money spent

The "stock racing" in the present invention is played with stocks traded by investors on real stock markets such as the Securities Exchange at the point in time when the service by the server 130 is initiated via the Internet Accordingly, basically all stocks traded on all kinds of real stock markets are provided with for the stock racing according to the present invention Besides, over-the-counter markets, futures options markets NASD AQ markets, KOSDAQ markets and other foreign stock markets may be added thereto

According to the classification of the races, the BETTING table for stoπng information relevant to bets (Fig 2b) and the STOCK RACE table for storing information relevant to each race (Fig 2c) can be structured additionalh to include other fields therein as necessary

Stock data for the stock racing" including information on the market conditions are supplied from stock data service companies such as the said stock data service companies in real time (about 20 minutes delayed) through a network which are further transmitted to the Internet users 1 10a to 1 lOn Stock data on foreign stock markets are received from stock data service companies in the respective countries and then supplied to the Internet users 110a to 110a by the server 130

Further, in the stock racing game, the stocks on the stock markets ma\ be selected as runners only on a specifically designated day (e g , Monday ) In such a case the Internet users 1 10a to 1 lOn can experience fluctuation in the reserved cash or cyber-money due to the stock racing game on the specific day of the week

On other days, the users can study actual investment in real stock markets or do club activities using the stock information supplied by the server 130 and bulletin boards The users can accumulate their own cash or cyber-money through a varietv of methods, so as to use the money in the game

The racing game can also be played day by day In this case since the games are played every day, the data relating to the members' betting tendency or the winning stocks of the days are greatly increased accordingly By utilizing such data in terms of analysis or statistics, highly useful investment information can be obtained

If the users 1 10a to 1 1 On want to make bets on stocks after connecting their computers to the server 130, the server 130 supplies them with a display showing stock information as illustrated in Fig 3 so that the users 1 10a to 1 l On can participate in the betting

An example for betting display is illustrated in Fig 3 A table for providing betting information 300 is positioned in the upper part of the betting display, which includes a stock name section 301 closing pπce-on-previous day section 302, current price section 303 turnov er section 304 return section 305 index section 306 winning system-based div idend section 307, exacta system-based dividend section 308, quinella system-based dividend section 309, tip sheet 3 10 and bulletin board 3 1 1 In the lower part of the betting display is disposed a betting frame 320 hav mg a section 321 for selecting betting methods a section 322 for selecting stocks on which the bet is made, a window 323 for entering the amount of a bet and a button 324 for making a bet

The Internet users 1 10a to 1 1 On select betting methods and stocks from the betting frame 320 with reference to the betting information in the table 300 on the betting display, such as the turnover, return and div idend etc of each stock, and then enter the amount of a bet into the window Finally by clicking the button 324, they can participate in the stock racing game

Where the stock racing game is plaved onh on a designated dav of the week, the bet is available from the opening time of the previous day until the opening time of the designated day During a period of time from the opening time of the stock market on the designated day to the closing time on the even date (9 00 am to 3 00 p ), a betting is unavailable During the period when the betting is available the users can change the stocks of the bet, the amount of the bet, the kinds of races, the betting methods, etc from time to time Here, "to select the betting methods means to select anv one of winning system, exacta system and quinella system and ' to select the kinds of races ' means to select a particular real stock market The winning stock of the day is decided based on the return v ielded on the game day Where the game ends in an undecided match the winner is decided first bv a v alue obtained by dividing the turnover on the game day through the total number of the concerned stock holdings Nevertheless if the winner is not decided the stock price of the whole number of the concerned stock holdings is then considered

The members joining the stock racing game server can look for the result of the game from a log-in display after they have made bets and the game is over (substantially simultaneously with the closing time of real stock markets)

Since the users can ascertain the cash or cyber-money holdings anytime thev can immediately know any change in their reserv ed cash or cyber-monev

Fig 4a is a chart illustrating the process of allowing the Internet users to connect to the stock racing game server and to participate in the betting

First, a user gains access to the game server and enters his ID and passw ord for authentication of his membership (S 101 ) Then, it is determined whether the race has started or not (S 102) that is, it is determined as to whether the user's access to the ser er was duπng the regular business hours If the game has already started, the user is provided with a display show ing the progress of the race (S I 06) If not the user is requested to select a race to participate in (S I 03) After the selection the user participates in the race (S I 04) An example of the display from which the user can select a race is illustrated in

The user can participate in the race by clicking a desired runner list 420a 420b or 420c as shown in Fig 6

By clicking a company's name on the desired runner list (a list of runners participating in the race), the user can see an advertisement of the companv or gain access to a web site of the company By doing so, an agreed amount of cyber-money or points can be added to the user's account Examples of web pages showing the progress of a race as provided by the server 130 are illustrated in Figs 5 and 7 For easy and ready understanding of the user, Fig 5 indicates the return from each stock by means of bar graphs By locating a mouse pointer on a desired bar graph and clicking the right button of the mouse the user can obtain information on the stock trade, the company and the expectation of the concerned stock, etc

By locating the mouse on a desired stock item and clicking the right button of the mouse, the user may also be allowed to actually purchase the desired stock item

Fig 7 is a view showing the progress of the stock racing game in the form of a horse racing By disposing advertisements 440 on the background of a picture showing the horse racing, profits from advertising can be gained A list of companies participating in the race is included, so that the user can obtain various information on the company about which he wishes to know by clicking the company name

If the user has participated in a race, the server asks the user whether he wishes to participate in other races (S I 05) Here, other races mean those in which the user does not currently participate For example, if the user participates in a race based on the winning system in the primary market, other races mean those based on the exacta system or quinella system in the primary market, those based on the winning system, exacta system or quinella system in the secondary market those based on the winning system, exacta system or quinella system in the KOSDAQ market etc If the user does not want to participate in other races, the game ends If not the processing is repeated from step S 103

Fig 4b is a chart showing the progress of the game after an Internet user participates in the game As the race begins, the betting display is closed and a display showing the game progress is provided (S I 10) If the participant has won the game, the dividend is calculated (Si l l) The stock information listed in the stock information table is then updated according to the market conditions (S I 12), and it is determined whether the race is over (SI 13) If the race is not over, the steps from S I 12 are repeated If the game is over, the dividend is paid Fig 4c is a chart showing the process of paying the concerned users the dividend after the game is over Winning stocks are decided (S I 20), and then, it is searched who among the Internet users bet the winning stocks (S 121) The dividend is paid to each of the winners (S I 22), and then, it is determined whether the payment is completed (SI 23) If the payment is not finished, the steps from S I 22 are repeated If the payment is finished, the race is over

Once the Internet user makes a bet through the betting display, the game server gains access to the database to process the user's request and creates a record in the BETTING table If the dividend rate is calculated, the bet information is updated according to the calculated dividend The user joining the game can look for the particulars of his betting

Fig 8 illustrates a display showing the particulars of the user's betting, in the form of pool tickets, from which the user can ascertain on which company he makes a bet and how much he bets By clicking the ticket 430 ' , the user can obtain a variety of information on the concerned company such as corporate advertisements, financial statements, etc It is also possible to insert the corporate advertisement of the concerned company into the background of the pool tickets 430

The embodiment described above teaches that once an Internet user has gained access to the server, the server transmits a suitable display based on the determination whether the game is in progress or not In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention not described herein, the Internet user's computer connected to the server is supplied with a web document hyper-linked to a web page showing the progress of the game and the web page of the betting display If the user clicks any word hyper-lmked to the web page showing the game progress in the transmitted web document, the web page showing the game progress is transmitted to the user The user can select the betting date, betting method and stock item in accordance w ith the kind of the race by clicking a word hy per-linked to the web page of the betting display in the transmitted web document The w eb page for entering the bet amount in the betting display is transmitted to the user If the user transmits information relevant to the betting including the kind of the race date method stock item and amount to bet as he likes, the server constructs a database based on the transmitted betting information When the game is over, the ranking is decided according to the return yielded from the stock trading Then, w inners are decided among the users according to the dividend and the dividend is paid to each of them according to the ranking

If the Internet user requests transmission of the particulars of his betting, the server can transmit the requested information stored in the database to the user According to the present invention, the Internet user has an option to exchange the amount of money in excess of the specified amount of cash or cyber-money held in hand into real money

Simultaneously, the user can naturally access the stock information and statistical data to be supplied by the server while enjoying the game In addition, the user can as a member further be provided with highly useful, processed stock information free of charge or with charge

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention discloses a method for playing stock racing game on the Internet which enables to combine the entertainment comparable to an actual betting system such as horse racing or car racing with the Internet users interest in stock investment and stock information

Another effect of the present inv ention is that the Internet user has an option to exchange the amount of money in excess of the specified amount of cash or cyber- monev held in hand into real money Still another effect of the present invention is that the user can naturally access stock information and statistical data provided by the hosting companv while enjoying the game In addition the user can as a member further be provided with highly useful, processed stock information free of charge or with charge

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention hav e been described above for illustrative purposes those skilled in the art w ill appreciate that various modifications additions and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims

Claims

What is claimed is:

1 A method for stock racing game on the Internet, comprising the steps of a) determining whether said stock racing game has commenced as Internet 5 users log in, b) providing each of said users with a game status display including information on profit rates of stock items selected as runners on real stock markets if said game is determined to have commenced, c) providing each of said users with a betting display including stock it) information on the real stock markets if said game is determined not to have commenced, d) constructing a betting database on the basis of the betting methods, stock items to be betted on and the bet amounts after they have been determined and transmitted by said users, and

15 e) determining the ranking in the race according to the profit rates on the real stock markets after said game is over and paying a dividend to all users who have been confirmed as the winners of the game

2 The method according to Claim 1, wherein said step a) includes the steps 20 of a-1) authenticating the membership when a user accesses a game server and enters his ID and password, and a-2) determining whether said user has accessed said stock racing game after the commencement of the game 25

3 The method according to Claim 1 , wherein said real stock markets at said step b) include NYSE(NewYork Stock Exchange), NASDAQ, futures/options market and foreign stock markets

4 The method according to Claim 1 , wherein said game status display at said step b) includes a stock racing information board for indicating profit rates of the stock items selected as runners in bar graphs

5 The method according to Claim 1 , wherein said game status display at said step b) includes a stock racing information board for indicating profit rates of the stock items selected as runners as positions of racing horses and said stock racing information board comprises banner advertisement windows in its background

6 The method according to Claim 1 , wherein said betting display at said step c) includes a betting frame having sections for betting methods, for stocks items to bet on, a window for the bet amount and a button for making a bet

7 The method according to Claim 6, wherein said betting display further comprises the step of displaying information relating to a clicked stock item, as the stock item to bet on is clicked in said betting display

8 The method according to Claim 1 comprises a further step of f) wherein, in response to a bet information request from a user, the bet records of said user are read from a betting database and the read information is provided to said user

9 The method according to Claim 8 comprises a further step of g), wherein, as said user clicks said bet information, information on the stocks concerned is displayed

10 The method according to any one of Claim 1 to Claim 9, wherein said step d) includes the steps of d- 1) accessing said database to process a user's request if said user makes a bet on said betting display, d-2) producing a record in said betting database and d-3) calculating a dividend and updating said bet information according to the calculated dividend

1 1 A method for stock racing game on the Internet, comprising the steps of a) providing each Internet user gaming access to said game server with a web document hyper-linked to a web page with a game status display and a web page with a betting display, b) sending said game status display web page to the Internet user if a word hyper-lmked to that web page in the provided web document is clicked by said user, c) sending said betting display web page to said user if a word hyper-linked to that web page in the provided web document is clicked by said user, to allow said user to select the betting date, betting method and stock item in accordance with the kind of the race and enter the bet amount, d) constructing a betting database based on the information comprising the kind of the race, bet date, bet method, the stock item and the bet amount determined and transmitted by said user, and e) determining the ranking in the race according to the profit rates of runners when said game is over and paying a dividend according to the result of said game to all users who have been confirmed as the winners of the game

12 The method according to Claim 1 1 comprises a further step of f), wherein, in response to a bet information request from a user, the bet records of said user in said database are transmitted to said user