Lottery games having non-numeric characters

Abstract

A system and method for a lottery game in which characters are drawn is disclosed. The characters are drawn from character sets in accordance with a template. The template has multiple character positions associated with the character sets with at least one of the sets including non-numeric characters. Winners of the lottery game are determined by comparing characters selected by players to the drawn lottery characters. In an exemplary embodiment the template represents a license plate. Also disclosed are a lottery ticket, a play slip, and a lottery game entry machine in accordance with the lottery game.

1 . A method for playing a lottery game in which a player selects player characters, the method comprising the steps of: 
 a) drawing lottery characters from one or more character sets in accordance with a template, the template having a plurality of character positions, each character position associated with one of the one or more character sets, at least one of the one or more character sets including one or more non-numeric characters; and    b) comparing the selected player characters and the drawn lottery characters to determine if the player is a winner of the lottery game.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step of: 
 c) the player selecting the selected player characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the template further has a country identifier position and wherein the method further comprises the steps of: 
 d) the player selecting a player country identifier from a country set in accordance with the template; and    e) drawing a lottery country identifier from the country set in accordance with the template;    wherein the step of comparing the selected player characters and the drawn lottery characters further includes comparing the selected player country and the drawn lottery country in determining if the player is the winner of the lottery game.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the template further has a state identifier position and wherein the method further comprises the steps of: 
 d) the player selecting a player state identifier from a state set in accordance with the template; and    e) drawing a lottery state identifier from the state set in accordance with the template;    wherein the step of comparing the selected player characters and the drawn lottery characters further includes comparing the selected player state and the drawn lottery state in determining if the player is the winner of the lottery game.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the template further has a region identifier position and wherein the method further comprises the steps of: 
 f) the player selecting a player region identifier from a region set in accordance with the template; and    g) drawing a lottery region identifier from the region set in accordance with the template;    wherein the steps of comparing the selected player characters and player state and the drawn lottery characters and lottery state further includes comparing the selected player region and the drawn lottery region in determining if the player is the winner of the lottery game.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of the player selecting player characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template comprises the step of: 
 the player selecting two or more player characters from a character set as alternative selections for at least one of the plurality of character positions in a single lottery character selection.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of the at least one player selecting player characters comprises the step of: 
 the player selecting all player characters from a character set as alternative selections for at least one of the plurality of character positions in a single lottery character selection.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the template is a representation of a license plate.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the license plate is a simulated license plate.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the license plate is an actual license plate.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the steps of: 
 c) comparing the drawn lottery characters to a registered license plate registered to an owner; and    d) distributing a bonus to the owner if the drawn lottery characters match the registered license plate.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of drawing lottery characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template comprises the steps of: 
 a1) receiving a first set of one or more characters from an other lottery game for one or more of the plurality of positions in the template;    a2) drawing a second set of one or more characters for one or more other of the plurality of positions in the template; and    a3) generating at least a portion of the lottery characters by combining the first and second sets.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of drawing lottery characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template comprises the steps of: 
 a1) receiving a first set of one or more characters from a first other lottery game for one or more of the plurality of positions in the template;    a2) receiving a second set of one or more characters from a second other lottery game for one or more other of the plurality of positions in the template; and    a3) generating at least a portion of the lottery characters by combining the first and second sets.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the player is one of a plurality of players, the lottery game is hosted in two or more regions with each of the plurality of players being associated with a respective one of the two or more regions, the step of drawing lottery characters is performed in each of the two or more regions, and the method further comprises the steps of: 
 c) collecting a fee from each of the plurality of players in their respective region;    d) accumulating collected fees in the respective regions;    e) drawing multi-region lottery characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template; and    f) comparing the selected player characters for each of the plurality of players and the drawn multi-region lottery characters to determine one or more winners within the plurality of players.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises: 
 g) distributing at least a portion of the collected fees in each of the two or more regions to the one or more winners.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of comparing the selected player characters for each of the plurality of players and the drawn multi-region lottery characters to determine one or more winners within the plurality of players comprises: 
 comparing the selected player characters for each of the plurality of players and the drawn multi-region lottery characters regardless of the regions associated with each of the plurality of players to determine the one or more winners within the plurality of players.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the player is one of a plurality of players of the lottery game and wherein the method further comprises the steps of: 
 c) collecting a fee from each of the plurality of players;    d) accumulating collected fees up to a predetermined number of subsequent drawings of lottery characters if there are no winners of the lottery game based on drawn lottery characters; and    e) distributing all collected fees to one or more of the plurality of players after the predetermined number of subsequent drawings according to a predetermined allocation schedule.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the collected fee is based at least in part on the number of chances each of the plurality of players has of winning for one drawing of lottery characters.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the predetermined allocation schedule is a percentage basis based at least in part on a number of matches between players characters of each player and the lottery characters drawn on a last of the predetermined number of subsequent drawings.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the template includes a subset of characters and wherein the method further comprises the steps of: 
 c) receiving an add-on game selection from the player corresponding to the subset of characters; and    d) the player selecting player subset characters from the one or more character sets in accordance with the template for the subset of characters; and    e) comparing the selected player subset characters and the drawn lottery characters to determine if the player is a winner of the add-on game.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the non-numeric characters are alphabetic characters.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the one or more character sets further includes numeric characters.  
   
   
       23 . A play slip for playing a lottery game in which characters are drawn in accordance with a template, the template having a plurality of character positions, each character position associated with a respective character set, at least one of the respective character sets including one or more non-numeric characters for selection, the play slip comprising: 
 a plurality of character selection areas for one selection of characters for the lottery game, each character selection area associated with one character position of the template, at least one character selection area including one or more non-numeric characters for selecting one or more non-numeric characters for at least one character position in accordance with the template.    
   
   
       24 . The play slip of  claim 23 , the play slip further comprising: 
 a multi-character selection indicator associated with one of the plurality of character selection areas enabling selection of two of more characters for a single character position in accordance with the template.    
   
   
       25 . The play slip of  claim 24 , wherein the multi-character selection indicator enables selection of all characters for the single character position.  
   
   
       26 . The play slip of  claim 23 , wherein the template further has at least one of a country, a state, or a region geographic identifier position and wherein the play slip further comprises: 
 a geographic identifier selection area for at least one of countries, states, or regions for one selection of one or more geographic identifiers for the lottery game.    
   
   
       27 . The play slip of  claim 23 , further comprising: 
 a plurality of other character selection areas for an other selection of characters for the lottery game.    
   
   
       28 . A lottery ticket for use with a lottery game in which character are drawn, the lottery ticket comprising: 
 a background depicting a representation of a simulated license plate; and    a player character display area on the background, the player character display area displaying one selection of characters selected by a player for a drawing of characters for the lottery game, at least one selected character displayed in the player character display area being non-numeric.    
   
   
       29 . The lottery ticket of  claim 28 , further comprising: 
 at least one other player character display area on the background, the at least one other player character display area displaying at least one other selection of characters selected by the player for the drawing of characters for the lottery game.    
   
   
       30 . The lottery ticket of  claim 28 , wherein the selection of characters displayed in the player character display area indicates an alternate character selection for at least one character position within the displayed selection of characters.  
   
   
       31 . A lottery game entry machine for playing a lottery game in which characters are drawn in accordance with a template, the template having a plurality of character positions, each character position associated with a respective character set, at least one of the respective character sets including one or more non-numeric characters for selection, the lottery game entry machine comprising: 
 a keypad; and    at least one button on the keypad, the at least one button enabling selection of one or more non-numeric characters for at least one of the plurality of character positions for a drawing of the lottery game in accordance with the template for the lottery game.    
   
   
       32 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 31 , wherein the keypad is a keypad graphical user interface (GUI) and wherein the lottery game entry machine further comprises: 
 a display that displays the keypad GUI.    
   
   
       33 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 32 , wherein the template includes a first character position associated with a first set of characters and a second character position associated with a second set of characters, the second character position adjacent the first character position, and wherein the display displays the first set of characters for selection of one or more characters from the first set of characters for the first character position and automatically displays the second set of characters for selection of one or more characters from the second set of characters for the second character position upon selection of the one or more characters for the first character position.  
   
   
       34 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 33 , wherein the first set of characters include alphabetic characters and the second set of characters include numeric characters.  
   
   
       35 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 31 , wherein the lottery game entry machine further comprises: 
 a housing coupled to the keypad, the housing configured as a self-service terminal.    
   
   
       36 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 31 , wherein the at least one button enables selection of multiple characters as alternative selections for at least one of the plurality of character positions in a single lottery character selection for the lottery game.  
   
   
       37 . The lottery game entry machine of  claim 31 , wherein the template further has a geographic identifier position and wherein the lottery game entry machine further comprises: 
 one or more geographic identifier buttons on the keypad, the geographic identifier buttons enabling the selection of one or more geographic identifiers for the geographic identifier position in accordance with the template for the lottery game.