# US 7,407,437 B2 · Word based lottery game

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- Number: US 7,407,437 B2
- Document ID: US7407437B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 10/662,736
- Filed: 2003-09-15
- Published: 2005-03-17
- Granted: 2008-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2003-09-15
- Assignees: Scientific Games International, Inc.
- Inventors: Alan Kyle Bozeman
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7407437B2

## CPC

- G07F 17/32: for games, toys, sports, or amusements
- G07F 17/329: {Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards}
- G07C 15/006: {electronically}
- Y10S 283/903: Lottery ticket
- G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00})
- G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- Y10S: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

## Abstract

A lottery terminal apparatus and method of playing a word based lottery includes a value input device, a display unit and a lottery input unit for receiving alphabetical game play information wherein the display unit is adapted to visually display the received alphabetical game play information. The lottery terminal unit further includes a controller having a memory and a processor, wherein the controller is operatively coupled to the display unit and is programmed to receive wager data in response to a wager made by a person. The controller and method may assign a prize value to the alphabetical game play information received from the lottery input unit and randomly select an alphabetic sample based on a distribution of choices. The controller may further determine a correlation between the alphabetic sample and the alphanumeric game play information to determine a payout value based on a comparison of the alphabetic sample and the alphanumeric game play information to determine the prize value.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for playing a word based lottery game, comprising the steps of:
receiving a word based play phrase from a user that comprises a plurality of words designated at the sole discretion of the user;
receiving a wager from the user;
assigning a prize value to each of the plurality of words chosen by the user that is based on the commonality of letters that form each selected word in the play phrase;
generating a random string of letters;
determining if the letters within the randomly generated string of letters forms any of the plurality of words; and
determining a payout value that is a function of the total number of the play phrase words formed by the string of letters and the prize value of the words.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the word based play phrase further comprises the step of reading the word based play phrase from a word based lottery play slip.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the word based play phrase further comprises the step of receiving digits keyed in manually by the user.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the word based play phrase further comprises the steps of:
presenting a menu of phrases to the user; and
receiving a phrase selection from the user from the menu of phrases.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of printing a word based lottery ticket, the word based lottery ticket comprising:
a section listing the word based play phrase; and
a covered section that includes the random string of letters.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of modifying the prize value associated with each of the plurality of words.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the prize value is further dependent upon the wager.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the prize associated with each of the plurality of words may be changed by the user.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the user is awarded the prize associated with a word in the play phrase if all of the letters in the randomly generated string of letters are present in the word even if the word contains additional letters not in the string of letters.

### Claim 10

A method for producing a word based lottery game, comprising the steps of:
the lottery game player generating a random word based play phrase that comprises a plurality of words;
assigning a prize value to each of the plurality of words that is based on the commonality of letters that form each selected word in the play phrase;
generating a random string of letters;
printing the player selected word based play phrase, the prize value, and the random string of letters on a lottery ticket, with the random string of letters being covered with a removable coating; and
providing the lottery ticket to the player, wherein the player removes the coating to determine if the random letters form one or more of the plurality of words, whereby the prize value associated with the formed words is won by the player.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the prize value is further dependent upon the wager placed by the lottery game player.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the prize associated with each of the plurality of words may be changed by the player.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the player is awarded the prize associated with a word in the play phrase if all of the letters in the randomly generated string of letters are present in the word even if the word contains additional letters not in the string of letters.