Method and apparatus for conducting a game of chance

Abstract

A system and method are provided for playing a game of chance. The game of chance may include, for example, a lottery-type game. A result of the game of chance is revealed to a player in another medium. In one example, the result is revealed during multiple game instances of one or more online games. In one example, the online game includes a slot machine type game.

1 . A method for playing a game of chance comprising acts of: 
 issuing a ticket to a player, the ticket including a code printed on a surface of the ticket, the ticket being associated with a plurality of results;    providing for the player to play another game on a different medium than the issued ticket, wherein the plurality of results are revealed to the player; and    providing for the player to selectively control a rate at which the plurality of results are revealed.    
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of providing for the player to play another game further comprises an act of providing for the player to play an instance of the another game, and wherein the act of providing for the player to selectively control the rate at which the plurality of results are revealed further comprises an act of providing for the player to control an association of one or more win opportunities with the instance of the another game.  
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising an act of revealing, to the player, at least one of the plurality of results in association with at least one of the one or more win opportunities.  
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the at least one of the one or more win opportunities occurs during play of the instance of the another game.  
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising an act of permitting the player to associate at least two of the win opportunities with the instance of the another game.  
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the code is used to gain security access to obtain results of the game of chance.  
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of issuing a ticket includes issuing at least one of a lottery ticket, a scratch ticket, and a pull-tab ticket.  
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the act of providing further comprises an act of providing a computer-based game which the player plays to reveal the plurality of results of the game of chance.  
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the act of providing a computer-based game further comprises an act of permitting access to the plurality of results of the game of chance by using the code as a decryption key to obtain the plurality of results.  
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of storing, on a server, the plurality of results of the game of chance.  
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , further comprising an act of storing, in a database of a computer system, a portion of a decryption key, the portion being used along with the code by the computer system to obtain the plurality of results.  
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the act of providing the computer-based game includes an act of permitting access to a website to play the slot machine game.  
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising an act of obtaining, from the database of the computer system, the portion of the decryption key based on an identifier printed on the ticket.  
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the identifier is a serial number associated with the ticket.  
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of presenting, to the player, an interface in which the player is permitted to enter the code to obtain security access to the results.  
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the another game is a slot machine game.  
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the slot machine game is a game of chance.  
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the plurality of results related to a spin of the slot machine game is determined by a random number generator.  
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the another game is a slot machine game, and wherein the act of providing for the player to control the association of the one or more win opportunities includes an act of associating the one or more win opportunities with an instance of the slot machine game.  
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein the act of providing for the player to control the association of the one or more win opportunities includes an act of associating the one or more win opportunities with a game element of an instance of the another game.  
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the act of associating includes linking at least one of the one or more win opportunities with a result of a payline of the slot machine game.  
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the act of associating further comprises permitting the player to selectively control a number of win opportunities associated with a slot machine game instance by selecting one or more paylines of the slot machine game instance.  
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 22 , further comprising an act of permitting the player to select the one or more paylines in an interface associated with the slot machine game instance.  
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the ticket discloses the number of game instances of the slot machine game awarded to the player.  
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the ticket discloses the number of win opportunities awarded to the player.  
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the prize total for the ticket is predetermined.  
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the plurality of results are revealed to the player in a sequence, and wherein the sequence of reveals is predetermined.  
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 26 , wherein the sequence of reveals are randomly determined by the client.  
     
     
         29 . The method according to  claim 27 , wherein the sequence of reveals is stored in a database of a server.  
     
     
         30 . The method according to  claim 25 , wherein a prize awarded to the player is associated with a win opportunity.  
     
     
         31 . The method according to  claim 30 , wherein the awarded prize is predetermined.  
     
     
         32 . The method according to  claim 31 , wherein the prize won by the player is at least one of cash, merchandise, and credit.  
     
     
         33 . The method according to  claim 30 , wherein an indication of the awarded prize is stored in a database of a server, and is downloaded to a computer presenting the computer-based game to the player.  
     
     
         34 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of associating, with the ticket, additional opportunities to win.  
     
     
         35 . The method according to  claim 34 , wherein the additional opportunities to win include one or more additional reveals of results associated with the game of chance.  
     
     
         36 . The method according to  claim 35 , wherein the one or more additional reveals of results are presented during play of an online game.  
     
     
         37 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of providing, by a first server associated with a first game, a result associated with the game of chance.  
     
     
         38 . The method according to  claim 37 , further comprising an act of storing, in a memory of a computer system, the result associated with the game of chance.  
     
     
         39 . The method according to  claim 38 , further comprising an act of associating the result with an indication of the ticket.  
     
     
         40 . The method according to  claim 39 , wherein the indication of the ticket is unique among indicators of a plurality of tickets.  
     
     
         41 . The method according to  claim 37 , wherein the first server further comprises a random number generator, and the random number generator performs an act of determining a set numbers associated with the issued ticket.  
     
     
         42 . The method according to  claim 37 , further comprising an act of determining a set of winning numbers associated with the game of chance.  
     
     
         43 . The method according to  claim 42 , further comprising an act of determining the result of the game of chance based on a comparison of the set of numbers associated with the issued ticket and the set of winning numbers.  
     
     
         44 . The method according to  claim 41 , wherein the game of chance includes at least one of a Keno game and a bingo game, and the act of determining a set of numbers associated with the issued ticket comprises an act of selecting a predetermined number of numbers from a predetermined set of numbers.  
     
     
         45 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of permitting the player to redeem the issued ticket without playing the game on the different medium.  
     
     
         46 . The method according to  claim 27 , wherein the sequence of reveals is determined by a predetermined game script.  
     
     
         47 . The method according to  claim 27 , wherein the sequence of reveals is determined dynamically by a game playing computer system.  
     
     
         48 . The method according to  claim 46 , further comprising an act of determining a predetermined game script where a magnitude of prizes awarded for reveals associated with later win opportunities are progressively greater than the magnitude of prizes associated with reveals associated with earlier win opportunities.  
     
     
         49 . The method according to  claim 46 , further comprising an act of determining, for an issued ticket indicated as a losing ticket, a game script comprising an indication that the player was substantially close to winning.  
     
     
         50 . The method according to  claim 45 , wherein the player must wait a predetermined time period before redeeming the ticket.  
     
     
         51 . The method according to  claim 45 , wherein the player must wait until a specific event has been completed before redeeming the ticket.  
     
     
         52 . The method according to  claim 45 , wherein the player is permitted to redeem the ticket online.  
     
     
         53 . The method according to  claim 52 , wherein the player is permitted to redeem the ticket to play one or more additional online games.  
     
     
         54 . The method according to  claim 53 , further comprising an act of receiving an access code for playing the one or more additional online games.  
     
     
         55 . The method according to  claim 54 , wherein the access code is transmitted electronically to the player.  
     
     
         56 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the player must wait until a specific event has been completed before gaining access to obtain results associated with the ticket.  
     
     
         57 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the issued ticket discloses a number of game instances awarded to the player.  
     
     
         58 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the issued ticket discloses a number of win opportunities awarded to the player.  
     
     
         59 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the prize total for the ticket is determined after the ticket is issued to the player.  
     
     
         60 . The method according to  claim 59 , further comprising an act of determining an outcome associated with the ticket based on a drawing.  
     
     
         61 . The method according to  claim 60 , further comprising an act of permitting the player to play the another game in response to the act of determining the outcome.  
     
     
         62 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the prize total for the ticket is determined prior to issuing the ticket to the player.  
     
     
         63 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of downloading a game program, the game program, when executed, renders an interface of the another game in an interface of a game-playing computer system.  
     
     
         64 . The method according to  claim 63 , wherein the game program does not require an installation of one or more components on the game-playing computer system.  
     
     
         65 . The method according to  claim 63 , wherein the game program executes within a browser program window in an interface of the game-playing computer system.  
     
     
         66 . The method according to  claim 63 , wherein the game program is programmed using Macromedia Flash programming.  
     
     
         67 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising an act of associating, with the ticket, an additional opportunity to win a prize.  
     
     
         68 . The method according to  claim 67 , wherein the act of associating further comprises an act of providing the additional opportunity to win the prize separate from play of the another game.  
     
     
         69 . The method according to  claim 68 , providing the additional opportunity to win the prize includes an act of providing a separate game in which the player is awarded the prize.  
     
     
         70 . The method according to  claim 69 , wherein the separate game is a number matching game.  
     
     
         71 . The method according to  claim 67 , wherein the prize is at least a portion of a prize associated with the another game.  
     
     
         72 . The method according to  claim 67 , wherein the prize includes a prize separate from a prize associated with the game of chance.  
     
     
         73 . The method according to  claim 72 , wherein the separate prize includes at least one of a group comprising rewards points, coupons, discounts and promotional items.  
     
     
         74 . The method according to  claim 70 , further comprising acts of: 
 selecting one or more numbers associated with the player;    determining one or more numbers associated with the win opportunity;    comparing the one or more numbers associated with the player to the one or more numbers associated with the win opportunity; and    revealing the prize based on the act of comparing.