Systems and methods for interprocess communication of wagering opportunities and/or wager requests

Abstract

Various embodiments may include offering wagering opportunities, receiving wager requests, balancing risk, determining wager requests to accepted based on risk, forming wagers based on wager request, and/or performing other actions by one or more apparatus. Further methods and apparatus are described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising: a tangible machine readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to:
 offer, for a limited amount of time, a wagering opportunity defined by particular odds for each of at least two outcomes of an event, in which the particular odds are held constant throughout the amount of time;   receive a plurality of respective first wager requests for wagers based on a first outcome of the at least two outcomes during the amount of time;   receive a plurality of respective second wager requests for wagers based on a second outcome of the at least two outcomes during the amount of time, in which wagers related to the first outcome offset a risk associated with wagers related to the second outcome; and   determine a respective first portion of a first wager request and a respective second portion of a second wager request to accept based on a cumulative risk of accepting both the first portion and the second portion.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which offering the wagering opportunity includes:
 determining that the event has at least the two possible outcomes;   determining a demand for the wagering opportunity associated with the event;   determining that the wagering opportunity should be offered based on the demand;   determining odds for each of the at least two outcomes for the wagering opportunity;   determining a spread for the wagering opportunity;   determining a start time for an offering of the wagering opportunity;   determining the amount of time for the offering of the wagering opportunity; and   transmitting information about the wagering opportunity at the start time.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , in which determining the demand includes determining the demand based on at least one of a demand from a prior offered wagering opportunity, and a request for a wagering opportunity. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , in which the outcomes are mutually exclusive. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which each wager request may be received from a respective bettor, and in which the computing device is caused to login the respective bettor, present the respective bettor with an interface through which the respective bettor may submit information about the wager request, and confirm the wager request with the respective bettor. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , in which the interface includes an interface of a mobile device. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which determining the respective portions includes:
 determining a first risk for a house based on wagers placed on an event, in which the risk is based on an amount of money that the house may be obligated to pay if a first outcome of the event occurs;   determining a second risk that the house may take on by accepting the first portion, in which the first portion is associated with the first outcome;   determining a third risk that the house may take on by accepting the second portion, in which the second portion is associated with the second outcome, in which the third risk offsets at least a part of the first and second risks; and   determining the first portion and the second portion that should be accepted to reduce a combined risk of the first risk and second risk offset by the third risk.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the first risk includes a risk from an imbalance in risk from a prior wagering opportunity. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the first portion and second portion are determined to minimize the combined risk. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the first portion and the second portion are determined such that the combined risk is within at least one of a desired percentage of total wagered amounts and a desired value. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the computing device is further caused to: form a first wager with a first bettor based on the first portion and a second wager with a second bettor based on the second portion. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the computing device is further caused to reject at least one second wager request based on a determination that accepting the second wager request would cause an imbalance in risk. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , in which the determination of the first and second portion is made after the amount of time has passed. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the computing device is further caused to charge a commission for the second wager request that is based on the particular odds of the second wager request. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the computing device is further caused to record data regarding an imbalance in demand for wagers on the second outcome. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , in which the computing device is further caused to: sell the data to a gaming provider. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , in which the computing device is further caused to: use the data to determine a second wagering opportunity to be offered. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the computing device is further cause to receive a request for an offering of a second wagering opportunity with a second spread; determine an odds for the second wagering opportunity based on the spread, a spread of the first wagering opportunity, an odds of the first wagering opportunity, and a conversion between one spread and another spread; and offering the second wagering opportunity. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , in which the apparatus further comprises the computing device. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , in which the computing device includes a processor.