Method and apparatus that control risk and uncertainty in a lottery game

Abstract

A process is provided. The process generates, with a lottery machine apparatus, a predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a set of game indicia. Further, the process prints, with a lottery ticket printer, a set of lottery tickets for a lottery game such that each of the lottery tickets in the set of lottery tickets distinctly corresponds to one of the unique combinations of the set of game indicia. In addition, the process distributes a subset of the set of lottery tickets in a plurality of lots. The process also determines a maximum prize winner by selecting a winning unique combination from a subset of the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the first set of game indicia that is associated with the subset of the set of lottery tickets.

1 . A method comprising:
 generating, with a lottery machine apparatus, a predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a set of game indicia, each of the unique combinations having a same quantity of game indicia;   printing, with a lottery ticket printer, a set of lottery tickets for a lottery game such that each of the lottery tickets in the set of lottery tickets distinctly corresponds to one of the unique combinations of the set of game indicia;   distributing a subset of the set of lottery tickets in a plurality of lots;   determining a maximum prize winner by selecting a winning unique combination from a subset of the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the first set of game indicia that is associated with the subset of the set of lottery tickets; and   determining a plurality of secondary prize winning matches based upon a plurality of partial matches from the predetermined quantity of unique combinations and a quantity of the plurality of lots that is distributed.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein odds for winning a maximum prize are based upon a quantity of the lottery tickets in the subset of the set of lottery tickets. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein odds for winning a secondary prize in a plurality of secondary prizes. are fixed. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subset of the set of lottery tickets is distributed according to a single price. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subset of the set of lottery tickets is distributed according to multiple prices that each corresponds to a proportionate distribution of a prize. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining the plurality of lots according to a predetermined indicium that is selected from the set of game indicia. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the lottery machine apparatus comprises a processor. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 generating, with a lottery machine apparatus, a first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and a second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia;   printing, with a lottery ticket printer, a set of lottery tickets for a lottery game such that each of the lottery tickets in the set of lottery tickets distinctly corresponds to one of the first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and to one of the second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia;   distributing a subset of the set of lottery tickets in a plurality of lots;   determining a maximum prize winner by selecting a winning unique combination from a subset of a set of the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the first set of game indicia and the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the second set of game indicia that are associated with the subset of the set of lottery tickets; and   determining a plurality of secondary prize winning matches based upon a plurality of partial matches from the first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and the second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein odds for winning a maximum prize are based upon a quantity of the lottery tickets in the subset of the set of lottery tickets. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein odds for winning a secondary prize in a plurality of secondary prizes are fixed. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the subset of the set of lottery tickets is distributed according to a single price. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the subset of the set of lottery tickets is distributed according to multiple prices that each corresponds to a proportionate distribution of a prize. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining the plurality of lots according to the first set of first game indicia. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising determining the plurality of lots according to the second set of second game indicia. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the lottery machine apparatus comprises a processor. 
     
     
         16 . A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
 generate a predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a set of game indicia, each of the unique combinations having a same quantity of game indicia;   print a set of lottery tickets for a lottery game such that each of the lottery tickets in the set of lottery tickets distinctly corresponds to one of the unique combinations of the set of game indicia;   distribute a subset of the set of lottery tickets in a plurality of lots;   determine a maximum prize winner by selecting a winning unique combination from a subset of the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the first set of game indicia that is associated with the subset of the set of lottery tickets; and   determine a plurality of secondary prize winning matches based upon a plurality of partial matches from the predetermined quantity of unique combinations and a quantity of the plurality of lots that is distributed.   
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein odds for winning a maximum prize are based upon a quantity of the lottery tickets in the subset of the set of lottery tickets. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of claim of  claim 16 , wherein odds for winning a secondary prize in a plurality of secondary prizes are fixed. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein the computer is further caused to determine the plurality of lots according to a predetermined indicium that is selected from the set of game indicia. 
     
     
         20 . A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:
 generate, with a lottery machine apparatus, a first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and a second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia;   print, with a lottery ticket printer, a set of lottery tickets for a lottery game such that each of the lottery tickets in the set of lottery tickets distinctly corresponds to one of the first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and to one of the second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia;   distribute a subset of the set of lottery tickets in a plurality of lots;   determine a maximum prize winner by selecting a winning unique combination from a subset of a set of the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the first set of game indicia and the predetermined quantity of unique combinations of the second set of game indicia that are associated with the subset of the set of lottery tickets; and   determine a plurality of secondary prize winning matches based upon a plurality of partial matches from the first predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a first set of first game indicia and the second predetermined quantity of unique combinations of a second set of second game indicia.