WO2007002721A2

WO2007002721A2 - Wagering system with possible tie

Info

Publication number: WO2007002721A2
Application number: PCT/US2006/025094
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ralf Wilhelms
Original assignee: Ralf Wilhelms
Priority date: 2005-06-28
Filing date: 2006-06-27
Publication date: 2007-01-04
Also published as: WO2007002721A3; US20060290061A1

Abstract

A pari-mutual wagering system offering a plurality of wagering options to bettors for individual predictions of the individual outcomes sporting contests in contest groupings having a plurality of such sporting contests. At least one of the individual sporting contests of each plurality will have a at least one overtime period to determine a contest winner in the event of a tie at the end of regulation play. The wagering options include a bet on a tie at the end of regulation play and before such an overtime period for contests which have an overtime period. Winners from the bettors betting on any grouping would receive larger prize awards correlating to their correct number of outcomes. The system can also be employed as a game for fun where points are awarded for the most correct predictions of outcomes or a prize is awarded to the bettor with the most correct predictions.

Description

P C T/ Ii S O S / EiI S O 9 MI- WAGERING SYSTEM WITH POSSIBLE TIE

PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial Number 60/694,506, filed on June 28, 2005, and U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 11/443,981, filed on May 25, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of wagering systems. More particularly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to wagering systems involving pari-mutual wagering on one or a plurality of different sports games, teams, or events.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Sports wagering is limited by the drawbacks associated with fixed odds wagering. The profitability of providing fixed odds wagering on a given group of outcomes depends on the ability of the casino or "house" to reliably split the betting money into offsetting groups corresponding to each outcome as weighted by the odds offered by the house. The house needs to do this "offsetting" because with fixed odds wagering each individual player is in effect betting against the house. Accordingly, the ability of the house to minimize the risk to its own capital is limited by its ability to split the betting pool into appropriately weighted and offsetting groups. As a result of these limitations of fixed odds wagering, sports betting casinos typically offer sports betting in relation to only a very limited range of choices and do not commonly offer high odds payouts. With many sports, odds are conventionally set that have a higher level of payout for the perceived weaker team. From time to time the house may adjust the point spreads and payout odds offered on future sports wagers in an attempt to maintain a balance between wagers on both sides. However, for a given sports wager, the terms or payout odds are conventionally fixed so that the bettor is in effect wagering against the house. With conventional fixed-odds sports wagering, in order to hedge its risks and maintain profitability, the house must be able to reliably divide the betting money into offsetting groups. Such fixed-odds methods lack the flexibility to efficiently accommodate a sports wagering game structure involving a larger number of players. WAGERING SYSTEM WITH POSSIBLE TIE

PRIORITY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Sports wagering is limited by the drawbacks associated with fixed odds wagering. The profitability of providing fixed odds wagering on a given group of outcomes depends on the ability of the casino or "house" to reliably split the betting money into offsetting groups corresponding to each outcome as weighted by the odds offered by the house. The house needs to do this "offsetting" because with fixed odds wagering each individual player is in effect betting against the house. Accordingly, the ability of the house to minimize the risk to its own capital is limited by its ability to split the betting pool into appropriately weighted and offsetting groups. As a result of these limitations of fixed odds wagering, sports betting casinos typically offer sports betting in relation to only a very limited range of choices and do not commonly offer high odds payouts. With many sports, odds are conventionally set that have a higher level of payout for the perceived weaker team. From time to time the house may adjust the point spreads and payout odds offered on future sports wagers in an attempt to maintain a balance between wagers on both sides. However, for a given sports wager, the terms or payout odds are conventionally fixed so that the bettor is in effect wagering against the house. With conventional fixed-odds sports wagering, in order to hedge its risks and maintain profitability, the house must be able to reliably divide the betting money into offsetting groups. Such fixed-odds methods lack the flexibility to efficiently accommodate a sports wagering game structure involving a larger number of players. For example on a football or basketball game, the house conventionally sets a point "spread" which is a point handicap placed against the stronger team. By handicapping the stronger team, the house is attempting to attract bettors to the weaker team in the hopes that the stronger team will beat the point spread. However, this type of against the house betting is still a gamble for the house and is also limited as to the number of teams and sports which can be combined due to the different nature of spreads and sports and the risks involved.

Pari-mutual betting involves a more efficient and safer betting system than fixed odds wagering in that the house does not have to rely on its ability to divide the betting pool in order to avoid risk to its own capital. The term pari-mutual derives from the French expression meaning "a wager among ourselves." The basic principle of pari-mutual wagering is that the winners share the total stakes wagered on an event minus a fixed commission for the house. Thus, pari-mutual wagering is a form of betting in which the loser's wagers (less a fixed percentage for the house) are distributed among the winners. The bettors compete against each other rather than against the house. Unlike fixed odds wagering, in pari-mutual wagering the house does not win money directly from the players, but rather only collects a commission for holding and paying against the wagers. While the house will not win money directly from the bettors in this type of system, neither will it lose money to the bettors. The house inherently has a far lower level of risk to its capital with pari-mutual wagering than with fixed odds wagering. This fact in turn means that with pari-mutual wagering the house is much more able to offer a wide variety of betting options as well as betting options with high odds payouts than is the case with fixed odds wagering. The reason this is so is that the house's flexibility in providing betting options is not limited by the need to divide the betting stakes into offsetting groups in order to hedge the house's risk to capital. Pari-mutual wagering offers the possibility of high odds payouts with every game offered, as opposed to the even money payouts typical of casino sports wagering. The bettor does not have to select a multi-event parlay in order to potentially receive a large odds payout. A single correct choice amongst many by the bettor may result in a high-odds payout without the handicap of a point spread, hi addition, high odds payouts are possible even if the selected player does not finish in first place, thereby enhancing bettor enjoyment. Also, the bettor can place wagers on a wider number of finish positions, providing greater utility and enhancing the bettor's ability to apply knowledge and skill. Thus, pan-mutual sports wagering is popular because it offers potential high odds payout for every game or group of events, regardless of event type, game type, sport, or length of game. It allows a single correct choice to be a sufficient condition for payout eligibility without having to beat a house imposed handicap or spread. Further, it has no limitations with respect to choice of wagers or sport participants by the bettor.

Currently, however, pari-mutual wagering is generally limited to the ultimate outcome of the individual sports contests where such contests have overtime rules to determine an ultimate winner of the event. Frequently a team that may be favored to win an event outright has a lousy history of winning sporting events in overtime if the event was tied at the close of regulation play- However, conventional pari-mutual play does not offer the ability to bet on the occurrence of a tie in a sporting game or event that has overtime provisions at the end of regulation play. The ability to bet on the occurrence of a tie at the end of regulation, no matter the outcome of overtime play, increases the possibility of more remotely occurring betting scenarios and increases the potential payout if the bettor correctly bets on the occurrence of a tie. Thus, there is a current need for a pari-mutual wagering system which provides bettors the option of betting on the occurrence of a tie in a sporting game or event at the cessation of regulation time, but prior to the play of any overtime or extra inning play which determines an ultimate outcome of the game in question.

Such a system of wagering should allow for play through casinos, through betting windows, on the internet, by telephone, or by other means for bettors to forward funds to the holder or house, along with bets on the outcome of one or a plurality of sporting events. Such a system of wagering should allow for the mixing of sports in one bet, for example where a bet might be placed on the outcome of play at the end of regulation time, but before any overtime play, for a baseball game, a basketball game, and a football game. Such a system should also provide the option to bet on the ultimate outcome of the game after overtime play, combined with the outcome of play at the end of regulation play.

Additionally, the method herein described would also be an excellent game to be played for fun or prizes by families and also by groups such as office pools. In such cases as a family, points could be awarded instead of money and the person with the most correct bets on the plurality of sporting events would be awarded the most points with other bettors getting proportionally less. The person with the most points at the end of one or a plurality of different wagers would win. hi the case of an office pool, the same scenario would work to allow the game f δ be played tor a prize tor example to the person who bets most correctly on the outcome of one or a plurality of different multiple-event wagers. Points would be awarded to the persons with the most correct wagers in a decreasing system and then the person who has the most points at the end of one or a plurality of wagers featuring a plurality of different sporting events would be declared the winner and would either get a prize or the honor of being the winner.

With respect to the above, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components or steps set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the invention are capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art once they review this disclosure. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other devices, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important, therefore, that the objects and claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal advantage of the present invention to provide a pari-mutual wagering system that allows for the betting on the occurrence of a tie of a sporting event at the end of regulation time as one of three outcomes. The bettor can bet upon one of the participants in the event to win, one to lose, or, that both will tie, at cessation of regulation play. In betting on the three outcomes, the bettor can be provided with options to bet upon sporting events of the same sport or sporting events that are mixed as to sports. Further, bettors can be provided with the ability to bet on such sporting events, in mixed sports or the same sport over a defined number of dates where different games on different dates are wagered upon by bettors in the pool as to an outcome. The more events included in the pool on which bettors bet for a win, loss, or tie, the more potential for obscure outcomes and very large winnings by the small number of bettors with the most correct prediction of outcomes. The betting options offered by the house and on which it holds bets upon which the house retains a percentage are infinite in the number and types of sports event combinations that can be combined. Further, the options can include multiple meetings on multiple dates of teams in one sport or multiple meetings on multiple dates of pairings of teams of different sports. Or, the wagering could provide for multiple teams of different sports on the same date or multiple teams playing the same sport on the same date. Further, in another scenario of the method herein noted above, the game may be played for fun by groups or a family or in an office pool, both of which would employ a points system to award the most points to the most-correct bettor on a plurality of sporting events at the end of regulation time. The wagering options for all such pooled bettor wagering offered would include a win by one of the participants in any one event, a loss by one of the two participants in any one event, and a tie of both participants of any one event. However, the win, loss, or tie would be determined at the end of regulation play and prior to any overtime play between the two participants in any one event in sports that provide for overtime play to determine an ultimate winner.

Still further, a fourth outcome can be provided for wagering in such events. This would be the ultimate outcome if overtime occurs in the contest. In this instance the wagerers would be betting on the outcome of the game at the end of overtime as to a win, loss, or tie by the participants and the outcome of overtime play in the event of a tie. Providing for wagering on both the tie and the ultimate outcome in the event of a tie can certainly provide for obscure outcomes, especially where a large pool of bettors is betting upon a plurality of different sporting events. If the sporting events are in a plurality of different sports and/or on a plurality of different dates, the provision of wagering on both the tie at the end of regulation and the outcome at the end of overtime on some games that reach that stage, along with the normal win, loss, or tie for other games that do not enter overtime, creates the possibility of huge payouts for the few bettors getting the ultimate outcome correctly.

Additionally, the system described above would be an excellent method for running a state or private lottery where winners conventionally pick a plurality of random numbers in any given contest and participate in winnings from the pool of bets based on the correctness of their chosen numbers in that contest. Using the method disclosed herein, a plurality of sporting events can be chosen for betting upon in a given contest and wagers from bettors taken based upon the winner, the loser, or tie at the end of regulation. The bettors with the most correct bets as to the three potential outcomes for individual events in the plurality of sports events included in a given contest would win a larger percentage of the pool of wagers. Bettors with less correct predictions would consequently win smaller amounts of the wagered money. The house which determines the sporting events included in a given contest would, of course, take its set share of the pool of wagers on that contest.

By including events that end in a tie at the end of regulation play of one or a plurality of sporting events which might ultimately be decided in overtime periods or other tie-breakers, the possibility of huge payouts to a relatively small number of bettors who correctly predict the outcomes of the plurality of different events in any contest is greatly increased. Just as in state lotteries when such huge payouts occur, more people play and more is bet oh subsequent contests to cause subsequent huge jackpots or payouts. This increases the take for the house no matter the eventual outcome of any one series of events in a contest.

Still further, as noted above the game apparatus and method herein described may also be employed for fun or for prizes for the enjoyment of families or groups of people such as an office staff. In this manner, instead of money being pooled by participants, a prearranged system of points will be awarded to the persons with the most correct bets on the plurality of sporting events with other bettors getting less, in a manner proportionate to the correct wagers on their card. The person with the most points at the end of one or a plurality of different wagers on sporting events would win bragging rights or a prearranged prize for having the most points. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of steps and method set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other methods and systems for pari-mutual betting for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and steps insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pari-mutual betting method that allows for wagers on the outcome of sporting events at cessation of regulation play, rather than at the end of ail play oi sucn an event including overtime.

It is an object of this invention to allow such wagering on the outcome of sporting events at the end of regulation play, where wagerers may bet on a win, loss, or tie of the two participants in any given sporting event. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a pari-mutual betting system which will provide contests including betting on a series of sporting events of the same or different sports on the same or different dates, with the outcome of all events included in a contest to be determined at the end of regulation play before any overtime play.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a system of pari-mutual wagering which provides for highly unpredictable outcomes of the ultimate contest due to wagering on ties at the end of regulation play of the individual matches included in the contest, thereby increasing the payouts to fewer correct wagerers.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a system of pari-mutual wagering which allows for mixing of the sports included in the individual matches on any individual contest card.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a system of betting on sports events that may be employed for fun, points, or prizes depending on the group using it.

There has thus been outlined rather broadly the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification illustrate embodiments of the disclosed pari mutual wagering system and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 depicts a top view of an exemplar betting card or screen employed with the method herein showing an individual contest offered to bettors to predict from a plurality of teams and events on which to wager allowing the choice of a win, loss, or tie at the end of regulation play. FIG. 2"¹depϊcts^"a"tojp"vl'eWof ah exemplar betting card or screen employed for the method herein showing an individual contest offered to bettors to wager upon a plurality of teams and events and pick outcomes for each event from a win, loss, or tie at the end of regulation play, with the additional wager of determining the ultimate winner in overtime if a tie occurs. FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of an exemplar of the pari-mutuel wagering system.

Fig. 4 depicts a flow chart of a typical pooling and wagering system according to the disclosed method and system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings fig 1-4, wherein similar parts are identified by like reference numerals, there is seen in FIG. 1 a top view of an exemplar betting card 12 employed for the method herein. The betting card 12 lists a plurality of athletic contests 14 in one or a plurality of sports which may be held on one or a plurality of different dates.

Wagering on a plurality of different sporting contests in one or a plurality of different sports over a long term helps peak interest in the outcome at the end of that term since new coverage will increase as the results continue to limit the correct bettors. This results in increased interest with new potential wagerers for future contest groupings. Also, providing wagerers with contest groupings allowing bets on a plurality of different types of sports on a single date or on a plurality of dates, so long as at least one of those events has the potential for a tie at the end of regulation, also peaks bettor interest due to the potential huge payout or jackpot and the inclusion of multiple sports on the same contest grouping.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one athletic contest 14 from the contest groupings offered by the house for wagers will include a sporting contest where a tie can occur at the end of regulation play irrespective of the ultimate outcome of that match. Examples of such include football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball and many other sports. For the highest payout to the fewest eventual correct bettors, all or at least a plurality of individual athletic contests 14 on individual contest groupings offered by the house to wagerers should include offering a wager by the bettors for a tie 16 in addition to a win 18 and loss 20. The individual athletic contests 14 in any individual contest grouping offered by the house would be provided through indica on paper or on computer screens. Means for bettor

8 designation fo^'f tne outcome όi each ol me athletic contests 14 offered in an individual contest grouping would be provided. Such means for bettor designation can be betting cards 12 listing the athletic contests 14 in a contest grouping. Or, computer screens can be provided over the Internet, the house or casino network, other electronic networks which would allow for electronic input of bettor designation of the outcomes of each athletic contest 14 in a contest grouping. Individual bettors in the pool of bettors on any offered athletic grouping would designate a winner or loser of any athletic contests 14 included which cannot end in a tie if such events are included in the athletic grouping. The bettors in the pool betting on the athletic grouping would designate a winner, or a loser, or a tie for the athletic contests 14, in any athletic grouping that allows for a tie at the cessation of regulation play, before any overtime play or other means for breaking a tie is initiated by the participants in that athletic contest 14. Consequently, bettors in this embodiment are betting on the possibility of a tie at the end of regulation play, irrespective of the eventual outcome of the athletic contest 14 after overtime or other tie-breaker occurs.

Should one or more athletic contests 14 in an athletic grouping offered by the house or casino end in a tie, the pool of bettors who correctly bet the outcome of the individual athletic contests 14 at the end of regulation play will shrink and thereby increase the eventual payout.

As noted, there thus exists the potential for one, or very few bettors upon individual athletic contests 14 offered in different athletic groupings listed on wagering cards 12 or other means to designate such athletic groupings, to be the only correct bettors based on one or more tie outcomes at the end of regulation play. Such outcomes could yield large winnings to those very few bettors thereby increasing publicity for the game with a large payout and resulting publicity. Inclusion of the possibility of a tie at cessation of regulation play, irrespective of the event outcome, would be especially valuable to lotteries and such where the outcome of a plurality of contests with millions of bettors and resulting multi-million dollar pools of wagers on a given athletic grouping of athletic contests 14. A tie occurring on any of the individual athletic contests 14 would need to be correctly predicted by wagerers and where a tie in one or more athletic contests 14 occurs, it would subsequently shrink the pool of correct wagers thereby increasing the eventual payout. If the athletic contests 14 occur on different dates over a term of time, with each outcome of each athletic event 14 included in an athletic grouping, great interest will occur from publicity. For lotteries, it would also be reassuring to bettors that the outcome is not fixed by the lottery or by players of the sports, since the tie at the end of regulation in a game with overtime is not easily engineered. If the athletic contests 14 in an athletic grouping includes a plurality^' of dϊϊierent sports, bettor conridence would be further increased since the possibility of organized cheating in different sports on different dates is even more remote, especially with the inclusion of a tie in the possible outcomes.

FIG. 2 as noted depicts a top view of a second betting card 112 employed for an alternative preferred mode of the method herein, showing an athletic grouping including a plurality of athletic contests 14 with a plurality of teams on which to wager for a win, loss, or tie at the end of regulation play. This embodiment provides the bettor means to make an additional wager where the bettor wagers upon the ultimate winner in overtime 22, if there is a tie at the end of regulation, and the athletic contest 14 allows for overtime play or other means to determine a winner after a tie at the end of regulation play. Players would have to bet on the tie 16 to occur first to be able to bet on the winner in overtime 22. Consequently, the number of bettors on an athletic grouping who will win the most money from the pool of wagers bet on the contests 14, will decrease in proportion to the number of games which tie. The number of correct predictions will shrink again amongst the surviving bettors if those bettors must first predict a tie and then accurately predict the eventual winner in overtime, if the bettor predicted a tie in the first place.

Consequently, this embodiment of the disclosed method has additional potential to increase the winnings of ever-fewer correct bettors on the different athletic contests 14 in an athletic grouping offered by the house, since they first must be correct about a tie and then be correct about the eventual winner of the events 14. If all of the athletic contests 14 in an offered athletic grouping have the potential for a tie outcome, the potential for the number of correct bettors in the pool to receive large payouts will increase.

The size of the payouts to the correct bettors in any contest with a plurality of sporting events where even some are bet upon for both a tie and eventual winner are thus inversely proportional to the number of bettors who get both the tie prediction and eventual winner prediction correct. As with the earlier mode of the method of wagering herein, such outcomes make for very large cash payouts to ever-fewer bettors, since correctly predicting the tie is hard to accomplish. Such large cash payouts will result in increased publicity and thereby advance sales of future wagering options presented by the house.

The cards 12 shown are exemplars only and could also be computerized entry cards or online entry cards that are filled in by a bettor in screens presented with various contests 14 by the house in groups of contests presented by the house as wagering options. As noted earlier, the method anticipates the mixing of contests of different sports to further enliven the wagering and

10 wagering options ior a plurality of teams on a single day or for a plurality of teams on a plurality of dates. This is an especially valuable tool for the house since large payouts to bettors will yield increased play on subsequent wagering options offered by the house and increased revenues to the house from their set percentage of the wagering pool. Finally, as noted above, the method herein may also be employed for the fun of playing for families or groups of individuals rather than for money winnings. In such an embodiment, points would be awarded to the bettor with the most correct wager on any individual outcome of a plurality of sports contests and multiple individual outcomes of a grouping of multiple sports contests. The player with the highest point count at the end of a defined number of sports contests in the grouping would have bragging rights to being the winner. Alternatively, a prize could be provided to the person with the highest point count in such an embodiment of the method herein. This would be attractive to small groups of people such as an office or church group who wishes to play the game for fun. In the alternative, entry cards into such a manner of play could be sold at a fixed price and points awarded to the individual cards with the most correct wagers. A plurality of cards would be provided to participants on which to wager outcomes from a plurality of athletic contests. At the end of all the contests, the player with the most points could be awarded a prize rather than a cut of the proceeds. The alternate embodiment would work well for fund raising for groups in place of lottery or raffle and such since the players would pay a fixed fee for the plurality of cards on which contests were printed and points would determine the winner of a prize. It would also provide a means of determining the ultimate winner of such a prize that did not entail a drawing of the winning ticket which tends to be suspect by many players. The ultimate winner with the most points would instead be based on correctly picking a winner or a tie of the various individual contests.

The method and components shown in the drawings and described in detail herein disclose arrangements of elements of particular construction and configuration for illustrating preferred embodiments of structure of the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that elements of different construction and configuration and using different steps and process procedures and other arrangements thereof, other than those illustrated and described, may be employed for providing a pari-mutuel wagering system in accordance with the spirit of this invention.

As such, while the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modifications, various changes and substitutions are

11 inteϋidia inthέ'tόfe'goinfe dteelftSurδ,^' ώid will be appreciated that in some instance some features of the invention could be employed without a corresponding use of other features, without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. All such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art are considered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly defined in the appended claims.

Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

I claim:

12

Claims

I . " " "Α'paπ-mumar wagering sysxem comprising the steps of: offering a plurality of wagering options to bettors; said wagering options including individual predictions of the individual outcomes of individual sporting contests, in a grouping having a plurality of said sporting contests; at least one of said individual sporting contests of each said plurality having a regulation play period and having at least one overtime play period to determine an ultimate winner in said individual sporting contest should a tie occur upon cessation of said regulation play period; providing means for bettors to designate an outcome of either a winner or a tie at the end of said regulation play period but before said overtime play period in said individual sporting contests in said grouping; and awarding bettors prize awards proportional to their respective correct number of said outcomes predicted from said grouping of said sporting contests, wherein said bettors with the highest number of correct said outcomes receive a larger of said prize awards than said bettors with lower numbers of said correct outcomes.

2. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1 , additionally comprising: providing means for bettors to designate a final outcome of said individual sporting contests in said grouping in said individual sporting contests when said outcome at the end of said regulation play is a tie; and allowing said bettors to designate a final outcome of said individual sporting contests in said grouping in said individual sporting contests if they also predict said tie at the end of said regulation play.

3. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1, additionally comprising: collecting said wagers from said bettors to form a pool of said wagers; allocating a portion of said pool for an operator of said wagering system; and allocating a remaining portion of said pool for said prize awards.

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4. me paπ-muxuai wagering sysiem of claim 2, additionally comprising: collecting money wagers from said bettors to form a pool of said wagers; allocating a portion of said pool for an operator of said wagering system; and allocating a remaining portion of said pool for said prize awards.

5. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1, additionally comprising: defining a points system whereby said prize awards are points.

6. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 2, additionally comprising: defining a points system whereby said prize awards are points.

7. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1, additionally comprising: designating an individual prize to be awarded; and awarding said individual prize to a respective said bettor having a highest correct number of said outcomes predicted from said grouping of said sporting contests.

8. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 2, additionally comprising: designating an individual prize to be awarded; and awarding said individual prize to a respective said bettor having a highest sum total of said predictions.

9. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 5, additionally comprising: designating an individual prize to be awarded; and awarding said individual prize to a respective said bettor having a highest number of said points.

14 LO". 'TEt^'parT-mύtM''Wa^'geΗri'g system ot claim 6, additionally comprising: designating an individual prize to be awarded; and awarding said individual prize to a respective said bettor having a highest number of said points.

11. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1 wherein said individual sporting contests are one or a combination of sports contests from a group consisting of football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball.

12. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 2 wherein said individual sporting contests are one or a combination of sports contests from a group consisting of football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball.

13. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 3 wherein said individual sporting contests are one or a combination of sports contests from a group consisting of football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball.

14. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 4 wherein said individual sporting contests are one or a combination of sports contests from a group consisting of football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball.

15. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 5 wherein said individual sporting contests are one or a combination of sports contests from a group consisting of football, basketball, soccer, boxing, wrestling, tennis, hockey and handball.

15 ϊβ. Th¥pM-Mmύkl 'Wagering system o± claim 1 wherein said plurality ot wagering options is provided indicia on individual cards, said indicia providing points on said card for said bettor to designate said final outcome theron.

17. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 2 wherein said plurality of wagering options is provided indicia on individual cards, said indicia providing points on said card for said bettor to designate said final outcome theron.

18. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of wagering options is provided by computer screens over a network to said bettor, said computer screens providing points on said screen for said bettor to designate said final outcome.

19. The pari-mutual wagering system of claim 2 wherein said plurality of wagering options is provided by computer screens over a network to said bettor, said computer screens providing points on said screen for said bettor to designate said final outcome.

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