6 869 358

6,869,358 Title:

System and a method for operating on-line governmental lottery games

The present invention relates to a system and a method for facilitating governmental lottery games with a screening, a verification, and a subscription play function. A lottery agent system of the present invention includes a plurality of player terminals on which lottery players can play lottery games, including purchasing and receiving lottery tickets, an agent server for facilitating the purchase and screening of players and winning tickets, and a governmental lottery administrator for providing security or serial numbers for verification. The present invention further discloses a method for claiming awards for the winning tickets upon a drawing of winning numbers. Upon receiving information of the winning tickets, the state provides the agent server with claim validation numbers associated with the winning tickets for claims on lottery awards by winning players.

What is claimed is:

1. A system for facilitating governmental lottery play over an electronic network, comprising: an agent server connected via said electronic network for receiving player andticket information transmitted from a plurality of player terminals, for transmitting said ticket information to a governmental lottery administrator, and for receiving serial numbers issued by said governmental lottery administrator in association witheach lottery ticket; a database in said agent server for storing said player and ticket information and said serial numbers associated with each lottery ticket; and a screening unit in said agent server, having criteria required by the governmentallottery administrator pre-stored therein, for verifying that each player satisfies said criteria prior to transmitting said ticket information to said governmental lottery administrator.

2. The system according to claim 1, further including a verification unit in said agent server for receiving winning numbers drawn by a governmental entity and for comparing said winning numbers with said ticket information stored in saiddatabase to determine if there are any winning lottery tickets of which numbers match said winning numbers.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said verification unit verifies serial numbers of said winning lottery tickets with said serial numbers previously stored in said database.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the agent server receives a claim validation number issued by the governmental lottery administrator associated with each of the winning lottery tickets with verified serial numbers.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the agent server verifies winning lottery tickets with the player's information and serial numbers and claim validation numbers issued by the governmental lottery administrator stored in the database.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein said ticket information includes subscription play information, said system further including a subscription play unit for monitoring subscription play of the same lottery numbers for a specifiednumber of draws.

7. The system according to claim 6, further including a verification unit in said agent server for receiving winning numbers drawn by a governmental entity and for comparing said winning numbers with said ticket information stored in saiddatabase to determine if there are any winning lottery tickets of which numbers match said winning numbers.

8. The system according to claim 1, further including a banking server and a banking database for storing player account information, said banking server for debiting a player's account when said player purchases a lottery ticket and forcrediting said player's account with a winning amount upon a win from said lottery ticket, said banking server for communicating and transmitting debits and credits of money with said governmental lottery administrator.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said banking server communicates with a credit card provider of said player and debits and credits a credit card account of said player upon purchase of a lottery ticket or a win from a lottery ticketpurchased by said player.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the banker server allows said player to use a prepaid credit card to purchase lottery tickets, wherein the prepaid credit card bears a credit or sum of money to be subtracted down each time said playerpurchases the lottery tickets.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the prepaid credit card bears a user identification number, wherein the player can enter the identification number for proper debit/credit by the agent server.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein said criteria includes a minimum age and residency within the border of the governmental entity governing said governmental lottery.

13. The system according to claim 1, wherein said agent server is configured to transmit to said player terminals lottery game data upon confirmation of purchase of a lottery ticket from said governmental lottery administrator, whereby an imagein the form of a lottery ticket including ticket numbers selected by said player and said associated serial numbers is displayed on said player terminal of said player.

14. The system according to claim 1, wherein said database includes pre-stored serial numbers associated with instant lottery tickets for facilitating play of instant lottery upon verifying that the player satisfies the criteria by the agentserver.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic network is Internet.

16. A method for conducting governmental lottery play over an electronic network, comprising the steps of: receiving player and ticket information entered by lottery players; verifying that said lottery players satisfy criteria required by thegovernmental entity governing said governmental lottery play; storing said player and ticket information of said verified lottery players; receiving serial numbers issued by a governmental entity server, each serial number being associated with eachlottery ticket; receiving winning numbers from said governmental entity server; determining winning tickets by comparing said winning numbers with ticket numbers entered by said verified lottery players; and verifying said winning tickets with saidserial numbers.

17. The method according to claim 16, further including the step of crediting a winning amount of each winning ticket to an account of each corresponding winning player.

18. The method according to claim 16, further including the step of debiting accounts of said verified players for purchases of said lottery tickets.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein said criteria includes a minimum age and residency within the border of said governmental entity.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the ticket information includes subscription play information including the subscription lottery number and the number of times to be played.

21. The method according to claim 20, further including the steps of monitoring the number of times to be played and stopping when the number of times to be played reaches zero.

22. The method according to claim 16, further includes the steps of: transmitting information of said winning tickets to the governmental entity server, said information including said serial numbers associated with said winning tickets; andreceiving claim validation numbers associated with said winning tickets from the governmental entity server, said claim validation numbers being issued by and stored in the governmental entity server.

23. The method according to claim 22, further including the steps of: providing said claim validation numbers to each winning player; claiming a predetermined winning amount by submitting said claim validation numbers; verifying said submittedclaim validation numbers with said claim validation numbers stored in the governmental entity server; and rewarding said winning amount to said each winning player.

24. The method according to claim 16, further including the step of: pre-storing serial numbers associated with instant lottery tickets for facilitating play of instant lottery upon verifying that the lottery player satisfies the criteria.

25. The method according to claim 16, further including the step of notifying the player prior to or at the expiration of the subscription time period that player is to end or had ended.