Electronic wagering

Abstract

The present system incorporates mobile computing devices to play games, such as electronic pull-tabs, in a plurality of venues, each having a local wireless network. Each network communicates with a central system that generates decks of game outcomes and associated awards. All wagers and awards for each game are tracked on the central system, which also provides each game award and associated outcome from a deck stored on the central system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining, based on a play initiation request received from a user device, a player account associated with the user device;   executing, based on the play initiation request from the user device associated with the player account, a game instance of a virtual pull-tab game;   based on executing the game instance of the virtual pull-tab game, determining a result of the game instance;   generating a machine-readable optical code associated with the result of the game instance; and   outputting the machine-readable optical code.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 causing activation of an image capture device configured to capture an image of the machine-readable optical code;   receiving, from the image capture device, image data associated with the machine-readable optical code; and   based on receiving the image data associated with the machine-readable optical code, awarding funds to the player account associated with the user device.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising permitting the player to cash out credits by one or more of: electronic funds transfer, outputting currency, or printing a ticket. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the machine-readable optical code comprises causing the user device to display the machine-readable optical code. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user device comprises one or more of: a smartphone, a tablet, computer, or a laptop. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable optical code comprises one or more of: a barcode, a QR code. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the game instance of the virtual pull-tab game comprises outputting the virtual pull-tab game on one or more of: the user device or an electronic gaming device. 
     
     
         8 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing processor-executable instructions thereon, which, when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to:
 determine, based on a play initiation request received from a user device, a player account associated with the user device;   execute, based on the play initiation request from the user device associated with the player account, a game instance of a virtual pull-tab game;   based on executing the game instance of the virtual pull-tab game, determine a result of the game instance;   generate a machine-readable optical code associated with the result of the game instance; and   output the machine-readable optical code.   
     
     
         9 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to:
 cause activation of an image capture device configured to capture an image of the machine-readable optical code;   receive, from the image capture device, image data associated with the machine-readable optical code; and   based on receiving the image data associated with the machine-readable optical code, award funds to the player account associated with the user device.   
     
     
         10 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor further cause the at least one processor to permit the player to cash out credits by one or more of: electronic funds transfer, outputting currency, or printing a ticket. 
     
     
         11 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to output the machine-readable optical code, further cause the at least one processor to cause the user device to display the machine-readable optical code. 
     
     
         12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the user device comprises one or more of: a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, or a laptop. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the machine-readable optical code comprises one or more of: a barcode, a QR code. 
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 8 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor cause the at least one processor to execute the game instance further cause the at least one processor to output the virtual pull-tab game on one or more of: the user device or an electronic gaming device. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
 determine, based on a play initiation request received from a user device, a player account associated with the user device; 
 execute, based on the play initiation request from the user device associated with the player account, a game instance of a virtual pull-tab game; 
 based on executing the game instance of the virtual pull-tab game, determine a result of the game instance; 
 generate a machine-readable optical code associated with the result of the game instance; and 
 output the machine-readable optical code. 
   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:
 cause activation of an image capture device configured to capture an image of the machine-readable optical code;   receive, from the image capture device, image data associated with the machine-readable optical code; and   based on receiving the image data associated with the machine-readable optical code, award funds to the player account associated with the user device.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors further cause the one or more processors to permit the player to cash out credits by one or more of: electronic funds transfer, outputting currency, or printing a ticket. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the processor-executable instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to output the machine-readable optical code, further cause the one or more processors to cause the user device to display the machine-readable optical code. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the user device comprises one or more of: a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, or a laptop. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the machine-readable optical code comprises one or more of: a barcode, a QR code.