WO2002022225A1

WO2002022225A1 - Automated wagering

Info

Publication number: WO2002022225A1
Application number: PCT/AU2001/001089
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tim Wooller
Original assignee: Beirne, Dominic, J.
Priority date: 2000-09-18
Filing date: 2001-08-30
Publication date: 2002-03-21
Also published as: AUPR022000A0

Abstract

A method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the steps of: the betting company computer system transmitting and updating wagering information to an automated betting computer system; a customer entering wagering criteria into the customer terminal; the customer terminal transmitting the wagering criteria to the automated betting computer system; the automated betting computer system performing selected comparisons between the wagering information received from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria received from the customer terminal and determining desirable wagers; and the automated betting computer system effecting the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the automated betting computer system.

Description

Automated Wagering

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a new type of automated wagering or betting, and in particular, to a method of and system for facilitating placing multiple wagers on events utilising a computer system. Also, the present invention relates to a computer readable medium of instructions facilitating placing multiple wagers on events .

Background Art

There is a group of punters (customers or users) who bet frequently and in a systematic manner on the outcome of events which can include forms of racing, horse racing, sports events, games, casino games, stock market fluctuations, or any other event to which odds may be assigned. These customers assess the odds on offer by a betting company or the like and place wagers on the outcomes that are Overlays' , that is where the return offered for a betting outcome exceeds the customer assessed probability of the betting outcome. Thus, the expected monetary return over time to the customer exceeds the amount wagered.

At present, customers who desire to place a relatively large number of wagers close to close of betting are unable to do so. Additionally, these customers may have problems obtaining a high quality frequent odds update which is required for the optimal placement of wagers . When the odds on offer (the return) fluctuate with time there are two important principles which govern the betting behaviour of this group of customers:

1) It is best to determine and place the wagers as late as possible. This is because the return offered is being affected by other wagers being placed; and 2) In general, it is necessary for a customer to place a large number of wagers in order to cover all the overlays.

The betting company is an organisation which accepts wagers, for example the New South Wales TAB, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a casino, a stock exchange, a brokerage house, or any other similar type of organisation.

In the present application the following definitions should be recognised: a customer can be any person, group of persons, organisation or other entity desiring to place a wager; a wager can be in respect of any sporting or non-sporting event, stock price, equity or other commercial transaction, game of chance, or an outcome of any event to which a probability of occurrence of the event may be assigned; a betting company can be any person, group of persons, or organisation which deals in any of the aforementioned areas and includes a brokerage house.

The current technology used by customers for this type of relatively high frequency wagering involves the customer calculating the wagers and transmitting a file (or set) of wagers to the betting company. This process limits how late the customer can place the wagers and the number of wagers which can be placed.

Presently, one of the reasons for these limitations is the absence of a high speed mode of communication between a customer and the betting company coupled with the low information density in the wagers being placed by the customer. Low bandwidth presents a problem as the current wagering architecture requires the computation of wagers that are going to be placed to be determined at the customer terminal. Thus all odds information and calculated wagers must be transmitted via the communications channel linking the betting company computer system and the customer terminal. The quality of service presently available to a customer is limited by the data transfer rates over the communication channel.

It is also known how to place wagers by using a computer system connected to a computer network. However, this does not overcome the aforementioned limitations. There is difficulty in obtaining a high speed digital communications channel between a customer's computer system and the betting company's computer system for high volume wagering. Additionally, the customer is still presently confined to being able to only transmit low information density in the wagers placed by the customer in the betting company's computer system.

Turning now to consider the most related prior art patent documents which have been identified, US 6 012 983 discloses a method and device for automated gaming play of a gaming device. The gaming device is a casino machine. The '983 patent does not relate to facilitating relatively high volume wagering by a customer where the customer only has access to a relatively low bandwidth communication channel. Furthermore, the gaming device does not transmit or update wagering information to an automated computer system as per the present invention. The '983 patent is directed to allowing a player to play a gaming device when the gaming device is unattended by the player, quite distinct to the present invention.

US 6 001 016 discloses a method and system for remote play of a gaming device, such as a slot machine. The present invention is not concerned with automated play of a slot machine. A slot network server stores play preferences and communicates with a remote wagering terminal and a plurality of gaming devices. The present invention is distinguished as it is not limited to a slot machine, rather wagering information pertains to any event of chance. In the present invention a customer assesses the probability of a selected event occurring and constructs wagering criteria for transmission to a betting company computer system based on this assessment, distinct to the '016 document disclosure of betting on a slot machine which has somewhat fixed probabilities of events occurring. In the present invention the monetary return from winning may be dependent on the number of customers wagering on an event, however in the '016 patent only one user can bet on a particular event at a particular slot machine and odds or winnings are thus not dependent on the number of wagers placed. The '016 patent is not concerned with the problem of placing wagers close to a cut-off time or where odds may change in time.

US 5 830 067 relates to a proxy player machine for automated play of bingo in the absence of a player. No disclosures are made concerning a relatively high communications bandwidth channel to a betting company computer system compared with the communications channel with a customer terminal. The '067 patent is not directed to facilitating high volume wagering on multiple events by a customer who may have concerns about a betting cut-off time or where odds change in time.

Each of the aforementioned prior art patents are further distinguished from the present invention as they are concerned with pure games of chance, distinct from being concerned with outcomes that involve a market. In a market system, information about the market' s outcomes can exist and this information can be combined with a customer' s information about the market to facilitate the identification of desired wagers .

In a networked data communications system, customers have access to terminals which are capable of requesting and receiving information from local or remote information sources. In such a system a terminal may be any type of computer or computerised device, a personal computer (PC), a mobile or cellular phone, a telephone, a mobile data terminal, a radio modem, a portable computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, or any other similar type of electronic device. The capability of the terminal to request and/or receive information can be provided by an application program, hardware or other such entity.

In such a system an information source may be a server (for example, a host computer) coupled to an information storage device (for example, a hard disk drive). The exchange of information (i.e., the request and/or receipt of information) between the terminal and the information source is facilitated by a connection referred to as a communication channel. The communication channel can be physically realised via a metallic cable (for example, a telephone line), semi-conducting cable, an electromagnetic signal (for example, a radio frequency (RF) signal), an optical fibre cable, a microwave link, a satellite link or any other such medium or combination thereof connected to a network infrastructure.

The infrastructure may be a telephone switch, a base station, a bridge, a router, or any other such specialised component, which facilitates the connection between the terminal and the network. Collectively, the interconnected group of terminals, physical connections, infrastructure and information sources is referred to as a computer network or data communications network.

The computer network itself may take a variety of forms. It may be located within a local geographic area, such as an office building, and consist of only a limited number of terminals and information sources. This type of computer network is commonly referred to as a Local Area Network (LAN). On a broader scale, it may be larger and support more users over a wider geographic area, such as across a city. This type of network is commonly referred to as a Wide Area Network (WAN). On an even broader scale LAN and WAN networks may be interconnected across a country or globally. An example of a globally connected computer network is the Internet. This identifies a need for a new type of method of, and, system and computer readable medium of instructions for, facilitating placing multiple wagers on events utilising a computer system which overcomes the problems inherent in the prior art.

Disclosure Of Invention

The present invention seeks to reduce the communications bandwidth required by a customer terminal to effect the placement of a relatively high number of wagers. This is achieved by interposing a computer system (or software resident on a betting company's computer system) which is able to communicate at a low bandwidth with the customer's terminal and a higher bandwidth with the betting company's computer system.

The present invention seeks to provide a method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the steps of: the betting company computer system transmitting and updating wagering information to an automated betting computer system; a customer entering wagering criteria into the customer terminal; the customer terminal transmitting the wagering criteria to the automated betting computer system; the automated betting computer system performing selected comparisons between the wagering information received from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria received from the customer terminal and determining desirable wagers; and the automated betting computer system effecting the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the automated betting computer system. According to a particular embodiment the present invention further seeks to provide that the wagering information includes: details of events available for the placing of wagers; starting times for said events; odds information; identification information for the event to which the odds apply; and/or information regarding the closing time for selected wagers.

In another embodiment, the automated computer betting system is a component of the betting company computer system. Furthermore, the automated betting computer system can calculate an estimate of the time required to place a customer's wagers on the betting company computer system based on customers past transactions and the performance of the betting company computer system.

According to another aspect of the present invention the customer is presented with an estimate of the latest time by which they must transmit wagering criteria so that the automated betting computer system can effect the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system.

In a specific embodiment the wagering criteria includes any of the following: a set of assessed probabilities; information pertinent to the outcome of the event to be wagered on; details as to how to combine wagering information or odds assigned to any given event, and, wagering criteria or the set of assessed probabilities; the expected minimum monetary gain required to proceed with a wager; the extent of the overlay required; the multiples of monetary units bets should be placed in; the bet types to be wagered; the limits on monetary amounts to wager; and/or the minimum or maximum level of winnings.

In yet another embodiment the wagering criteria is transmitted to the automated betting computer system by an Internet interface or an e-mail interface. Also, the customer can use a telephone to contact an operator and verbally inform the operator of the wagering criteria, the operator effecting the placement of the wagering criteria in the automated betting computer system. Preferably, the automated betting computer system stores the wagering criteria and the wagering information in memory. According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention the selected comparisons between the wagering information and the wagering criteria can include any of the following: a determination of the wagers to be placed; a determination of the time required to calculate the wagers; an estimation of the time at which the betting company computer system will close wagering on a given event; a determination of the latest time at which a given set of wagers may be placed at the betting company computer system; and/or a determination if individual wagers may be combined into complex wagers covering the same betting outcomes.

According to yet another embodiment, after the selected comparisons between the wagering information and the wagering criteria have been performed the wagers are placed at the betting company computer system automatically, or, information is transmitted to the customer terminal prompting the customer to effect placement of the wagers. The customer can modify the algorithm for the determination of the wagers. Additionally, the betting company computer system can be a stock exchange computer system and the placing of wagers is the trading of stocks or equities. Furthermore, there may be at least one firewall and/or other communications security measures provided.

Broadly, a relatively large number of wagers are transmitted to the automated betting computer system by a single transfer of wagering criteria from the customer terminal. Also broadly, the invention allows multiple wagers to be placed by multiple customers wagering on the same event.

According to another form of the present invention, there is sought to be provided a method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the steps of: a customer entering wagering criteria into the customer terminal and the customer terminal transmitting the wagering criteria to the betting company computer system via a betting company computer system interface; the betting company computer system transmitting the wagering criteria to an automated betting computer system; the automated betting computer system performing selected comparisons between wagering information received from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria and then determining desirable wagers; and the automated betting computer system effecting the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the betting company computer system. The automated betting computer system could be a component of the betting company computer system.

According to yet another form of the present invention, there is sought to be provided a system for facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the components of: the betting company computer system which provides wagering information and receives wagers; an automated betting computer system which receives wagering information from the betting company computer system and places desirable wagers in the betting company computer system, said desirable wagers based on the results of selected comparisons between the wagering information received from the betting company computer system and wagering criteria received from the customer terminal; the customer terminal which transmits the wagering criteria to the automated betting computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system occurs at a significantly greater data transfer rate than the data transfer rate of information between the customer terminal and the automated betting computer system.

Broadly, the automated betting computer system includes the following components: a customer interface; a receive odds information component; a calculate wagers component; a place wagers component; a supervisory component; and a data storage component.

According to yet another form of the present invention, there is sought to be provided a computer-readable medium of instructions for directing a computer system to place wagers on a betting company computer system, including the steps of: enabling the computer system to receive and store in memory wagering information from the betting company computer system; enabling the computer system to receive and store in memory wagering criteria from a customer terminal; performing selected comparisons between the wagering information from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria from the customer terminal and determining desirable wagers therefrom; enabling the computer system to effect the placement of desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the computer system. The computer system may be an automated betting computer system. The computer-readable medium of instructions may also be a component of the betting company computer system or reside on the betting company computer system.

In another preferred form of the invention there is provided a computer readable medium of instructions for directing a computer system to place wagers on a betting company computer system, a system for facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer terminal into a betting company computer system, and a method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer terminal into a betting company computer system, substantially as herein described in the specification with reference to the accompanying figures.

Brief description Of Figures The present invention will become apparent from the following description, which is given by way of example only, of a preferred but non-limiting embodiment thereof, described in connection with the accompanying figures, wherein:

• Figure 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein, the figure shows a schematic of the system;

• Figure 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention wherein, the figure shows a more detailed schematic of the automated betting computer system architecture;

• Figure 3 illustrates a particular embodiment of the present invention wherein, the figure shows a generalised flow diagram of the 'receive odds information' component;

• Figure 4 illustrates a particular embodiment of the present invention wherein, the figure shows a generalised flow diagram of the 'place wagers' component;

• Figure 5 illustrates a particular embodiment of the present invention wherein, the figure shows a generalised flow diagram of the 'calculate wagers' component.

Modes For Carrying Out The Invention

The present invention provides a new method of, and/or, system and computer readable medium of instructions for facilitating placing multiple wagers on an event or events utilising a computer system.

I. Preferred embodiment

A preferred, but non-limiting, embodiment of the present invention is shown in figure 1. Reference will be made to horse racing terms for ease of explication, however it should be realised that the present invention is by no means limited to horse racing events only. Explanation of the components of the invention follow hereinafter:

Betting company computer system 10; This is the betting company's wagering system. This is typically a computer, or group of computers.

Firewall A ll ;

This is a security filter that ensures the integrity of the betting company's computer systems.

Automated betting computer system 12;

This is generally a computer system which can operate as an agent for the customer, interposed between the betting company computer system 10 and the customer terminal 14. In an alternate embodiment the automated betting computer system 12 is not embodied as a distinct computer system/hardware, but is provided by software/hardware components resident on the betting company computer system 10.

Firewall B 13;

This is a security filter that ensures the integrity of the automated betting computer system 12 and the betting company's computer systems 10.

Customer terminal 14; This is the customer's communication means, for example a computer system or phone. It should be noted that the presence of the firewalls 11 and 13 are not an essential feature of the present invention but are a preferred embodiment only.

The automated betting computer system 12 accepts from the customer a small volume (or quantity) of information (wagering criteria) which can be used to determine which bets or wagers to place on the betting company's computer system 10. This information can include any of the following:

• A market (or set of customer assessed probabilities);

• Other related information such as the condition of the track; • Other information that is required to configure the betting agent, for example:

• How to combine the odds markets and the customer's market to form a betting market,

• How much 'extra' value is required before a wager is to be placed, • What multiples of dollar bets should be placed, or the extent of the overlay required,

• Which bet types (for example, Win, Place, Quinella, Trifecta) should be placed,

• The limits on how much to wager, how much to attempt to win etc.

This information can be obtained by the automated betting computer system 12 from the customer by a variety of means including: an Internet Web interface; an email interface; and/or a phone.

The automated betting computer system 12 stores the information (wagering criteria) received from the customer for later use. The customer can enter information many hours, or conceivably days, prior to the event being wagered on or via the customer terminal 14. At the same time this is occurring the automated betting computer system 12 accepts from the betting company computer system 10 the current odds information and other information regarding the events that are available to wager on (wagering information). This wagering information is stored in the automated betting computer system 12.

In a preferred but non-limiting embodiment, the main components of the automated betting computer system 12 are shown in figure 2. With reference to figure 2, the function of these components is as follows:

Customer Interface 20;

This component allows the customer to enter his or her information and perform enquiries about the operation of the automated betting computer system 12. Some of the operations available to the customer include, for example:

Display the available events that could be bet on Display the current betting parameters associated with events Modify the betting parameters

Obtain a list of wagers placed by the customer so far • Obtain a report of the profit, or loss, of the system so far

Obtain a list of wagers that would be placed if betting was to proceed

In an alternate embodiment, the customer interface component 20 could actually be an interface for the customer via a betting company's existing web interface (or other function). For example, TAB Limited (an Australian betting company) could collect the wagering criteria from the customer using TAB Limited 's computer systems and then forward this information to the automated betting computer system 12 (or betting software if not a separate hardware computer system). In this example the automated betting computer system 12 is not dealing directly with the customer. However, the automated betting computer system 12 is still receiving relatively 'low bandwidth' information.

Receive Odds Information 21 ; This component processes data (wagering information) received from the betting company computer system 10 and stores the odds for use by the automated betting computer system 12. This information received is also stored by time so that the time sequence of odds is available. This allows analysis of odds trends if the customer wishes to use this facility. The information received may include:

• Details of events available for wagering

• The scheduled start times for events

• The current odds available

A generalised flow diagram illustrating a possible functioning of this component is presented in figure 3. Step 30 of the receive odds information component 21 waits for the next information message or data. If the message is validated at step 31 the information is saved to storage means at step 32, or the procedure reverts to waiting for next information message if the message is not in a valid format. After information has been saved to storage means (for example magnetic or solid state memory) the receive odds information component 21 informs the supervisory module 24 that new information is available at step 33 and then the procedure reverts to waiting for next information message step 30.

The supervisory functions component (or module/s) 24 can be informed whenever wagering information received from the betting company computer system 10 has changed.

Calculate Wagers 22; This component is able to calculate the wagers that should be placed using the customer's wagering criteria and the odds information or wagering information from the betting company computer system 10. The wagers that are calculated are stored for either transmission to the betting company computer system 10 or review by the customer.

The supervisory functions module 24 is informed of the time taken to calculate the set of wagers. This component is also able to 'join' many wagers together to form a smaller set of wagers that still invest the same amount of money on each combination.

A generalised flow diagram illustrating a possible functioning of the calculate wagers component 22 is presented in figure 5. Step 50 of the calculate wagers component 22 waits for a command from the supervisory module 24. Subsequent to this the steps in component 51 may be performed. As mentioned previously, these steps should not be considered to be limited to horse racing even though this is shown in figure 5. At step 52 the wager computation rate information is updated and the supervisory module 24 is informed that the calculation is complete, computational rate information can then be passed on to the supervisory module 24.

Place Wagers 23;

This component is able to take a set of wagers, previously calculated by calculate wagers 22, and ensure that these wagers are purchased. The supervisory functions module 24 is informed of the time taken to place the set of wagers, this allows the automated betting computer system 12 to adjust its operation dynamically to take into account the actual performance of the betting company's computer system 10. A generalised flow diagram illustrating a possible functioning of the place wagers component 23 is presented in figure 4. Step 40 of the place wagers component 23 waits for the next event, whilst waiting wagers may be continued to be sold. When an event is received at step 41 the procedure branches according to whether the event is from the supervisory module 24, selling is complete or it is an unknown event. If a valid event from the supervisory module 24, then the sale of wagers is commenced at step 42. If the event is unknown, the procedure branches to initial step 40. If selling is complete, step 43 occurs which ensures that results of wagers have been recorded. At the following step 44 the selling rate information is recorded and the supervisory module 24 is informed of the current available selling rate.

Supervisory Functions 24;

The supervisory functions (modules) control the operation of other components. The supervisory functions are responsible for determining multiple factors including, for example:

• The time to place wagers (if the customer has enabled this)

• When to calculate wagers

The automated betting computer system 12 is continuously monitoring available information required to make a decision of the time that will be required to place the customer's wagers.

The time required is estimated from the performance reported by the calculate wagers module 22 and the place wagers module 23. Using this information the automated betting computer system 12 is able to make an estimate of the required calculation and sale time for the wagers based on past or previous customer transactions. This information is kept up-to-date by periodically calculating the wagers that would be placed as the events start time approaches. This process allows an accurate determination of the time to calculate the wagers and the number of wagers that will result from the process. The sale time for the wagers can then be estimated from the number of wagers and the historical performance that is reported by the place wagers component 23.

The automated betting computer system 12 may also monitor odds and other wagering information from which the automated betting computer system 12 is able to estimate the close of betting time for an event. These two pieces of information can then be combined to form an estimate of the time that betting must commence in order to ensure that all wagers are placed. This information can be used to: trigger the betting process automatically; or to prompt the customer of the requirement to place the wagers .

In order to reduce the number of wagers to a minimum, and thus allow the customer to bet later in time, the automated betting computer system 12 is able to 'join' together many simple wagers into more complex wagers. The more complex wagers cover the same betting outcomes using a single complex wager instead of many simple wagers .

In further embodiments of the present invention, the following features may be provided:

• The 'automatic bet time' system is not a necessary feature. The automated betting computer system 12 could allow the customer to select the time to place the wagers.

• The automated betting computer system 12 could be operated by the betting company itself, or by a third party who is trusted by the betting company. • The firewall A and firewall B components could be integrated with one or other of the computer systems and need not be specialised hardware components .

• It is possible to integrate the entire set of automated betting computer system software components into the betting company's computer systems

10. In this case there would not be separate hardware items.

• Lower-volume customers who have slow communications links, for example customers who are using the Internet, would be able to use the automated betting computer system 12 to determine and place their wagers in a more efficient manner.

In a further preferred implementation of the present invention a customer is permitted to have a hierarchical set of wagering criteria. This means that there is a base set of criteria for the customer and the customer may override this base set for a particular horse race meeting (or other event) . Further the customer may override the meeting criteria for a particular race (or event). This provides the customer with significant flexibility as the markets or wagers available for each meeting and possibly each race may vary in nature and require different wagering parameters.

According to a further embodiment, there may also be a mode of operation of the method or system where the wagers are calculated but not sold. In this mode of operation the customer is able to evaluate the wagering criteria that they have supplied and the automated betting computer system can report what the gain/loss would have been if the wagers had been sold. This facility may or may not assume that placing the wagers would not have affected the outcome. A more sophisticated version of this embodiment could take into account the effect of placing the wagers themselves .

II. Other embodiments In a particular but non-limiting embodiment, provided by way of example only, customer interface details for a customer terminal 14 are now provided. The customer interface may be implemented using a web browser and appropriate software on the automated betting computer system 12 (or the betting company computer system 10). This provides a means to provide the interface to the customer that works in conjunction with the Internet.

According to a particular aspect, each access to a web server triggers an event which may include one or more of the following events: Authenticate customer and obtain wagering account details;

Display available events that could be bet on;

Show customer the current wagering criteria (either the base wagering criteria, special meeting wagering criteria or per-race/event wagering criteria) ;

Update or modify the wagering criteria; Show the customer various reports including: results and dividend information, odds variations reports, gain/loss so far, wagers placed, etc. ;

Trigger calculation of wagers and report result;

Trigger placement of wagers; etc.

Obviously, the exact set of reports and queries to the system could vary significantly depending on the implementation and the event which is wagered upon.

Additionally, the customer interface could be integrated into a betting company's existing web interface system so as to provide a 'seamless' system. In this situation the customer may not realise that they are interacting with the automated betting computer system 12, instead of the betting company's computer system 10.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the customer terminal 14 could be a standard telephone. In this embodiment the customer calls an operator who takes verbal instructions from the customer and then the operator effects those instructions on the automatic betting computer system 12 via a computer terminal.

In still a further embodiment of the present invention, the extension of the present invention to other 'markets' is possible, for example any other form of racing or the stock market. The automated betting computer system 12 could be applied to the stock market with suitable substitutions of data formats .

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the customer could be allowed to download their own 'algorithm' for the computation of wagers. In a system with this facility the customer's algorithm would have access to the information stored in the automated betting computer system 12 and would be able to determine the wagers to place.

It should be noted that the computer network as referenced in this specification should be taken to include all forms of connected or communicating computers or terminals having at least two terminals connected or communicating as hereinbefore described. That is, the term computer network should be taken to include any type of terminal as hereinbefore defined, computer, computerised device, peripheral computer equipment, computerised accessory, mobile or cellular phone, telephone, digital electronic device or other similar type of computerised electronic device or part thereof which is rendered such that it is capable of communicating with at least one of any of the aforementioned entities. Said communication of information or data can occur over any data communications network, computer network, wireless network, internetwork, intranetwork, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, the Internet 2, transient or temporary network, combinations of the above or any other type of network providing for computerised, electronic or digital devices. Furthermore, references to the terms connecting, communicating, transmitting, requesting, receiving, exchanging and the like, and permutations thereof, as applied to the term computer network and/or components thereof should be taken to pertain to the transfer of information or data. Such transfers of information or data can be facilitated for by any form of entity/entities for facilitating such, including, but not limited to, metallic wires or cables, semiconducting wires or cables, optical fibres and optical devices, wireless means, electromagnetic waves and the like and modulations thereof, acoustic waves and the like and modulations thereof, control of electric and/or magnetic fields, and/or the transportation of all forms of memory devices.

The invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, in any or all combinations of two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which the invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

Although the preferred embodiment has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made herein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as hereinbefore described and as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

The claims:

1. A method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the steps of: the betting company computer system transmitting and updating wagering information to an automated betting computer system; a customer entering wagering criteria into the customer terminal; the customer terminal transmitting the wagering criteria to the automated betting computer system; the automated betting computer system performing selected comparisons between the wagering information received from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria received from the customer terminal and determining desirable wagers; and the automated betting computer system effecting the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the automated betting computer system.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the wagering information includes: details of events available for the placing of wagers; starting times for said events; odds information; identification information for the event to which the odds apply; and/or information regarding the closing time for selected wagers.

3. The method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the automated computer betting system is a component of the betting company computer system.

4. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the automated betting computer system calculates an estimate of the time required to place a customer's wagers on the betting company computer system based on customers past transactions and the performance of the betting company computer system.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the customer is presented with an estimate of the latest time by which they must transmit wagering criteria so that the automated betting computer system can effect the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system.

6. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the wagering criteria includes any of the following: a set of assessed probabilities; information pertinent to the outcome of the event to be wagered on; details as to how to combine wagering information or odds assigned to any given event, and, wagering criteria or the set of assessed probabilities; the expected minimum monetary gain required to proceed with a wager; the extent of the overlay required; the multiples of monetary units bets should be placed in; the bet types to be wagered; the limits on monetary amounts to wager; and/or the minimum or maximum level of winnings.

7. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the wagering criteria is transmitted to the automated betting computer system by an Internet interface or an e-mail interface.

8. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the customer can use a telephone to contact an operator and verbally inform the operator of the wagering criteria, the operator effecting the placement of the wagering criteria in the automated betting computer system.

9. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the automated betting computer system stores the wagering criteria and the wagering information in memory.

10. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 9, wherein the selected comparisons between the wagering information and the wagering criteria can include any of the following: a determination of the wagers to be placed; a determination of the time required to calculate the wagers; an estimation of the time at which the betting company computer system will close wagering on a given event; a determination of the latest time at which a given set of wagers may be placed at the betting company computer system; and/or a determination if individual wagers may be combined into complex wagers covering the same betting outcomes.

11. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 10, wherein after the selected comparisons between the wagering information and the wagering criteria have been performed the wagers are placed at the betting company computer system automatically, or, information is transmitted to the customer terminal prompting the customer to effect placement of the wagers .

12. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 11 , wherein the customer can modify the algorithm for the determination of the wagers .

13. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 12, wherein the betting company computer system is a stock exchange computer system and the placing of wagers is the trading of stocks or equities.

14. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 13, wherein at least one firewall and/or other communications security measures are provided.

15. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 14, wherein a relatively large number of wagers are transmitted to the automated betting computer system by a single transfer of wagering criteria from the customer terminal.

16. The method as claimed in any one of the claims 1 to 15, wherein the method allows multiple wagers to be placed by multiple customers wagering on the same event.

17. A method of facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the steps of: a customer entering wagering criteria into the customer terminal and the customer terminal transmitting the wagering criteria to the betting company computer system via a betting company computer system interface; the betting company computer system transmitting the wagering criteria to an automated betting computer system; the automated betting computer system performing selected comparisons between wagering information received from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria and then determining desirable wagers; and the automated betting computer system effecting the placement of the determined desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the betting company computer system.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the automated betting computer system is a component of the betting company computer system.

19. A system for facilitating wagers to be placed by a customer, via a customer terminal, into a betting company computer system, including the components of: the betting company computer system which provides wagering information and receives wagers; an automated betting computer system which receives wagering information from the betting company computer system and places desirable wagers in the betting company computer system, said desirable wagers based on the results of selected comparisons between the wagering information received from the betting company computer system and wagering criteria received from the customer terminal; the customer terminal which transmits the wagering criteria to the automated betting computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the automated betting computer system occurs at a significantly greater data transfer rate than the data transfer rate of information between the customer terminal and the automated betting computer system.

20. The system as claimed in claim 19, wherein the automated betting computer system includes the following components: a customer interface; a receive odds information component; a calculate wagers component; a place wagers component; a supervisory component; and a data storage component.

21. A computer-readable medium of instructions for directing a computer system to place wagers on a betting company computer system, including the steps of: enabling the computer system to receive and store in memory wagering information from the betting company computer system; enabling the computer system to receive and store in memory wagering criteria from a customer terminal; performing selected comparisons between the wagering information from the betting company computer system and the wagering criteria from the customer terminal and determining desirable wagers therefrom; enabling the computer system to effect the placement of desirable wagers in the betting company computer system; whereby the transfer of information between the betting company computer system and the computer system utilises a greater communications bandwidth than the transfer of information between the customer terminal and the computer system.

22. The computer-readable medium of instructions as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the computer system is an automated betting computer system.

23. The computer-readable medium of instructions as claimed in either claim 21 or claim 22, wherein the computer-readable medium of instructions is on a component of the betting company computer system or resides on the betting company computer system.