This application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2012902049, filed 18 May 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This present invention relates to a system and method of conducting a subscription based on-line gaming system, and in particular, to a system and method of conducting a subscription based online gaming system that provides multiple tournaments and pri2e rewards.

BACKGROUND ART

Competitive games that enable players to play against other players in a tournament situation are popular forms of entertainment. Such games can exist in a variety of forms and generally based upon a number of individual players putting their skills and luck up against other players to determine an overall winner. Generally, competitions or tournaments offer a prize or a series of prizes to the players to reward successful players as they progress through the tournament.

In recent times, card games such as poker and the numerous variations thereof, have become a popular form of entertainment. Such a game enables individual players to compete against each other on the basis of skill and chance, and provide a means for players to place bets on the outcome. Poker games are a common form of gambling that offer individual players numerous opportunities to place bets on the outcome of the various 'hands' within a game. Bets can be placed by the players in the form of money or chips that represent a currency value, or token or other such non-monetary items can also be used.

With the onset of computer and internet based technologies. It has become increasingly popular for poker games to be conducted on-line through a host server, with remote players accessing the remote server to compete against other players. The games may be conducted in a non-gambling format where token bets are placed that do not bear a monetary value, or a gambling format whereby the players bet with monetary currency.

Poker tournaments are becoming particularly popular with players pitting their skills against a large number of other players to compete for a prize. Many gambling venues host poker tournaments whereby players compete in a tournament format with the number of players being steadily reduced based on the outcome of separate matches within the tournament, to determine an individual winner- Such tournaments may offer a cash prize to players based on how far they progress through the tournament, with the largest prize being offered to the overall winner of the tournament. More recently, such tournaments have been conducted on-line through a host server that enables multiple players to access the server to compete with various players from various countries.

As poker and other such games are substantially based on players making or placing bets based on the potential outcome of the game, mere is a potential for players to lose significant amounts of money and for significant amounts of money to change hands during the course of a game. For this reason, many governments and regulatory bodies have introduced laws to control and in many instances prohibit gambling in a variety of forms. Such laws may prohibit operators from offering gambling games within a specified region or jurisdiction and may also prohibit players from playing any such games offered by the operators.

Many laws relating to gambling are specifically related to the existence of on-line gambling which can be remotely accessed by individuals relatively anonymously and can be conducted in an unregulated manner, Due to the restrictive nature of such laws, particularly in countries such as the USA, many online gaming operators are based outside of the jurisdiction of such gambling laws, Whilst this may prevent action being taken against the gaming operators, there is a still a risk that the players that play the game and who are located within the jurisdiction of the law may be exposed to legal action.

Whilst most laws relating to gambling are directed towards games which enable individuals to place a bet or wager on the outcome of a game, such laws generally do not extend towards instances where prizes are awarded to the individual by an operator, where the operator does not generate revenue from bets or wagers placed by the individuals. Whilst such prize based games have been proposed, as the game operator is not able to raise revenue from bets or wagers made by the players, such prizes typically award little to no prize money and have limited appeal to players,

Thus, there is a need to provide a means for providing and operating an on-line gaming system that provides interest to players by offering a variety of tournament options as well as prize money, without relying on bets or wagers placed by the players.

The above references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art. In particular, the above prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or well known by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understanding of the inventive step of the present invention of which the identification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.

STATEMENT OF INVENTION

The invention according to one or more aspects is as defined in the independent claims, Some optional and/or preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims,

Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention there is provided a computer- implemented method of conducting an on-line gaming system, comprising: subscribing, at a host server, a plurality of remotely located players, each player selecting one of a plurality of membership levels upon subscription to assign said subscribed player with playing privileges in accordance with their membership level; hosting a continuous multi-level game tournament for play by each subscribed player, access to each game hosted within the multi-level game tournament being restricted in accordance with each players membership level, whereby access for a player to a game at a level higher than permitted in accordance with their membership level is only possible through success in a game at an immediately lower game level; awarding players that have obtained success in the continuous multi-level game tournament with one or more primary awards, the one or more primary awards including access to one or more secondary game tournaments; hosting said plurality of secondary game tournaments for play by players in accordance with each player's primary award; awarding players that have obtained success in said secondary game tournaments with one or more secondary awards, the one or more secondary awards including access to a multi-level tertiary game tournament; hosting said tertiary game tournament for play by players in accordance with each player's secondary award; and awarding players that have obtained success in the tertiary game tournament with a tertiary award.

In one embodiment, the step of subscribing a plurality of remotely located players comprises allowing each player to select between a free membership level or a premium membership level, with the premium membership level requiring payment of a premium membership fee.

The premium membership level may comprises at least three classes of membership, each class of membership may require payment of a different premium membership fee and provides different levels of access to games hosted in the continuous multilevel game tournament. The premium membership fee may be collected by the host server to form a pool from which the tertiary and secondary awards may be paid from.

The continuous multi-level game tournament may comprise games restricted to individual levels played at regularly spaced time intervals over a twenty-four hour period. The continuous multi-level game tournament may be structured such that access by a player to a game at a level higher than that which their membership permits is only achievable through finishing in a top percentage of the immediately lower game level. The top percentage may be the top 20 percent of players in the immediately lower game level.

In one embodiment, the step of awarding players that have obtained success in the continuous multi-level game tournament with one or more primary awards may include awarding those players that have finished in a top percentage of players in the highest level of the multi-level game tournament. For those players with a premium membership, the top percentage may be the top 20 percent of players in the highest level of the multi-level game tournament. For those players with a free membership, the top percentage may be the top 10 percent of players in the highest level of the multi-level game tournament. The primary award may include access to a monthly member's tournament to be hosted by the host server at a dedicated time each month, the monthly member's tournament being said secondary game tournament.

In another embodiment, the step of awarding players that have obtained success in the continuous multi-level game tournament with one or more primary awards includes awarding those players that have won a level of the multi-level game tournament. The primary award may include access to a weekly winner's tournament to be hosted by a host server at a dedicated time each week, the weekly winner's tournament being said secondary game tournament. The step of awarding players that have obtained success in said secondary game tournaments with one or more secondary awards further includes awarding a cash prize to the players based on a finishing position in the secondary game tournament. The step of awarding players that have obtained success in said secondary game tournaments with one or more secondary awards further includes awarding the players with entry into a qualifier to obtain entry into the multi-level tertiary game tournament.

The multi-level tertiary game tournament may comprise a multi-level Jackpot tournament hosted by the host server at a dedicated time. The Jackpot tournament may be hosted by the host server every month and the tertiary prizes may include cash prizes for each level of the multi-level Jackpot Tournament

The games comprising the continuous multi-level game tournament secondary tournaments or multi-level tertiary game tournaments may be one or more games of chance. The one or more games of chance may be any one or more of Texas Hold'em, Aussie Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer- implemented method of providing an on-line gaming system over a computer network comprising: r enrolling a plurality of players for accessing the gaming system in accordance with one of a plurality of membership categories; hosting a plurality of member gaming tournaments for participation by each enrolled player, each member gaming tournament being freely accessible by each enrolled player and being hosted in a hierarchical manner such that success in one member gaming tournament will result in the player progressing to another member gaming tournament located higher in hierarchy; awarding players based upon their success in the member gaming tournaments; hosting a plurality of qualifying tournaments whereby access to participate in the qualifying tournaments is reliant upon awards obtained within the member gaming tournaments; awarding players participating in the qualifying tournaments based on their success in the qualifying tournaments; and hosting a award tournament whereby access to the award tournament is reliant upon awards obtained within any of the qualifying tournaments or member gaming tournaments; and providing a monetary prize to players successfiil in the award tournament based upon a predetermined prize award.

In another aspect, there is provided a computer-implemented method of hosting an on-line gaming tournament over a computer network, comprising: subscribing a plurality of players, each player selecting a membership level upon subscription enabling said player with playing privileges in accordance with said membership level; hosting a plurality of primary level game tournaments for play by each player, a starting position within the tournament being dependent upon membership level; awarding each player with primary awards in accordance with success in the primary level game tournaments, said primary awards including play money and/or points redeemable in secondary level game tournaments; hosting a plurality of secondary level game tournaments for play by players having accumulated sufficient primary awards; and providing monetary awards to players depending upon success on in one or more of said secondary level game tournaments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be better understood from the following non-limiting description of preferred embodiments, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an environment for providing the gaming system of the present invention in accordance with a preferred embodiment; and

Fig. 2 is a flow diagram showing the manner in which the game system of the present invention is structured.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred features of the present invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the features illustrated in and described with reference to the drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of the invention.

It will be appreciated that in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention below, all prizes, percentages, points, money references, chips and play money amounts are provided for eased of understanding of the present invention and may vary as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a simplified view of an environment 10 for implementing the gaming system of the present invention in accordance with a preferred embodiment. In essence, the environment 10 is hosted by a host to enable a plurality of remotely located players to access the gaming system and take part in one or more tournaments and compete against other players. It will be appreciated that the following discussion describes the structure of such an environment 10, but variations to the environment 10 as would be appreciated by those skilled, are also envisaged.

The environment 10 includes one or more servers 12 which communicate with a distributed computing network 14 via wired or wireless communication channels, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In a preferred embodiment, the distributed computing network 14 is the internet. A plurality of players 16 are connected to the distributed computing network 14 by way of computer devices, such as personal computers, mobile phones and/or tablet devices. In such an arrangement, multiple players 16 are able to access the gaming system hosted by the servers 12.

As will be appreciated, the servers 12 are configured to host a dedicated gaming site for the players 16 to access. The servers 12 are also able to house multiple databases necessary for the proper operation of the methods and systems of the present invention. The server 12 may be any of a number of servers known to those skilled in the art and are intended to be operably connected to the network 14 so as to operably link to the plurality of players 16. The servers 12 typically include a central processing unit or CPU that includes one or more microprocessors and memory operably connected to the CPU. The memory can include any combination of random access memory (RAM), a storage medium such as a magnetic hard disk drive(s) and the like.

The memory of the server may be used for storing an operating system, databases, software applications and the like for execution on the CPU. As will be discussed in more detail below, in a preferred embodiment, the database stores data relating to each registered player in a relational database. The data relating to each player may include a variety of information such as the player's name; credit card or bank account details, membership level and past playing history.

Referring to Figure 2, the system 20 of the present invention is shown in flow diagram form. Each player accesses the servers 12 via the network 14 from their remote location. Upon accessing the system for the first time, a player creates a player profile 22 that establishes their user details, as well as any preferred useraame and password settings as may be required. Once a user profile is established for the user in step 22, it is stored in the memory in the server such that when the player next accesses the system, the player is able to simply recall their profile and their game settings and any other data will be automatically updated.

Once the player has established a user profile in step 22, the player then selects an appropriate membership package. The system may offer a variety of different types of membership packages ranging from a basic membership package 23 a and premium membership packages 23b, 23c and 23d. It will be appreciated that the number of membership packages provided and the playing conditions they offer may vary.

In a preferred form, the basic membership package 23 a may be a free membership package that provides the player with basic access to regular member games hosted by the system. The system is structured so that a player with a basic membership package is able to compete in poker tournaments with no risk of losing money as there is no requirement for the player with a basic membership package to buy-in to the games where they would be asked to deposit funds or enter their credit card details, as will be discussed in more detail below in relation to the premium membership packages 33b, 33c and 33d,

In a preferred arrangement, if a player selects premium membership 23b, the player is provided with a variety of different options.

If the player selects a bronze membership, they will be required to pay a monthly fee, for example a $10 monthly fee that may be either directly deposited from the players bank account or may be charged to the players registered credit card. In return for the membership fee, the player will be provided with unlimited entry to member tournaments at a level 1, 2 or 3 stage as well as access to a message board hosted by the servers 12 to enable the player to communicate with other registered players having the same or higher membership. A bronze membership may also provide the player with a monthly newsletter and instant access to monthly member tournaments and free entry to member tournaments outside their membership level as well as enable the player to control the amount of advertisement they receive during game play.

If a player selects silver membership 23c, the player may be required to pay a monthly fee greater than that required for bronze membership, for example a $20 monthly fee, that may be either directly deposited from the players bank account or may be charged to the players registered credit card. In return for the membership fee, the player may be provided with unlimited entry to member tournaments at a level 1, 2, 3 and 4 stage, as well as access to a message board hosted by the servers 12 to enable the player to communicate with other registered players having the similar membership entitlements. A silver membership may also enable the player to receive tips on how to play as well as gain instant access to monthly member tournaments and to control the amount of advertisement they receive during game play. Such a silver membership may also provide the player with a monthly newsletter and instant access to monthly member tournaments and free entry to member tournaments outside their membership level.

If a player selects gold membership 23d, the player may be required to pay a monthly fee greater than that required for silver membership, for example a $40 monthly fee, that may be either directly deposited from the players bank account or may be charged to the players registered credit card. In return for the membership fee, the player may be provided with unlimited entry to member tournaments at a level 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 stage, as well as access to a message board hosted by the servers 12 to enable the player to communicate with other registered players having similar membership entitlements. A gold membership may also enable the player to receive tips on how to play as well as gain instant access to monthly member tournaments and to remove any advertisements they receive during game play. The gold ember may be also provided with live support to assist mem with any technical problems they may encounter. Such a gold membership may also provide the player with a monthly newsletter and instant access to monthly member tournaments and free entry to member tournaments outside their membership level.

It will be appreciated that the membership packages offered with the game system of the present invention are typically graded to provide a basic minimum package that still enables the player to access the system but from a basic level, to a higher graded package whereby the player is able more control over the level of play and automatically qualifies for regular tournaments without having to qualify for limited places in regular tournaments.

As represented in Figure 2 as box 24, each player, irrespective of their level of membership, has access to regular member tournaments 24 hosted by the host server on a continual basis. Regular member tournaments 24 consist of 'n' individual game levels 24a. In a preferred form, there are 7 levels of games hosted by the host server and each game cycle starts at midnight and is repeated six (6) times per day, in accordance with the following schedule:

By providing such a schedule of games the system is able to host level 1 - 5 games twelve times per day, and level 6 - 7 games six times per day. Such a program of games being hosted by the host server provides opportunities for players across global time zones to participate in tournaments against other like-minded players.

As discussed above, the level of game 24a mat each player is able to enter is dependent upon their membership level. For basic members 23a, each player is only able to initially access level 1 game and can only proceed to the next level game by wirining the previous level game. Failure to win in a previous level game will result in that player reraming to level 1 game.

For players with a bronze membership, they are able to access any of level 1, 2, or 3 games. To progress to a level 4 game (and beyond), the player must finish in the top 20% of a level 3 game and failure to finish in the top 20% of a level 4 - 7 game, will result in the player having to return to either a level 1, 2 or 3 game. In this regard, by way of incentive, players that progress from level 3 to level 4 can win extra entries into level 4 games. This can be achieved in the following manner: - If the player wins a level 1, 2 or 3 game, the player is awarded 2 extra entries into a level 4 game;

- If the player comes 2 ^nd in a level 1, 2, or 3 game, the player is awarded 1 extra entry into a level 4 game, It will be appreciated that the player can use their extra entry into a level 4 game without having to previously finish in the top 20% of the level 3 game. Other incentive arrangements may also be employed.

For players with a silver membership, they are able to access any of level 1 , 2, 3 or 4 games. To progress to a level 5 game (and beyond), the player must finish in the top 20% of the level 4 game and failure to win a level 5 - 7 game, will result in the player having to return to either a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 game (if no extra entries have previously been awarded). In this regard, by way of incentive, players that progress from level 4 to level 5 can win extra entries into level 5 games. This can be achieved in the following manner:

- If the player wins a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 game, the player is awarded 2 extra entries into a level 5 game;

- If the player comes 2 ^nd in a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 game, the player is awarded 1 extra entry into a level 5 game,

It will be appreciated that the player can use their extra entry into a level 5 game without having to previously win the level 4 game. Other incentive arrangements may also be employed.

For players with a gold membership, they are able to access any of level 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 games. To progress to a level 6 game (and beyond), the player must finish in the top 20 percent of the level 5 game and failure to win a level 6 - 7 game, will result in the player having to return to either a level 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 game (if no extra entries have previously been awarded). In this regard, by way of incentive, players that progress from level 5, to level 6 can win extra entries into level 6 games. This can be achieved in the following manner:

- If the player wins a level 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 game, the player is awarded 2 extra entries into a level 6 game;

- If the player comes 2 ^nd in a level 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 game, the player is awarded 1 extra entry into a level 6 game; It will be appreciated that the player can use their extra entry into a level 6 game without having to previously win the level 5 game. Other incentive arrangements may also be employed.

Each of the member tournaments 24a are unique multiple single table tournaments open to all players, regardless of the level of membership. Such tournaments 24a are free to enter and all players can enter at their membership starting level or below and play as often as they wish.

As discussed previously, in a preferred embodiment, for the member tournament 24, each game 24a is restricted to a level, typically level 1 -7, with the winner and/or the top 20% of players in each level being eligible to progress to the next level. Failure of a player to finish in the top 20% of a game 24a will result in that player having to start again at the start level dictated by their particular membership status.

For each member tournament 24, there is no betting or money required by the player to take part in each game 24a. Each of the games 24 are based on players playing with allocated chips or tokens with the winner, or top 20% being determined by the number of players with the highest number of chips or tokens at the end of a predetenriined time. The reward for winning or finishing in the top 20% of the game is progress to the next game level. Such an arrangement provides an incentive to the players to progress through the various levels of games 24a and provides players with a means for measuring their skill in accordance with their peers.

An example of the manner in which the member tournament 24 may operate is as follows. For a level game 24a _s 1000 players may register with the server to play in 100 single "tables" each consisting of 10 players each. The games to be played may be Texas Hold' em or Aussie Hold' em or any other derivative of a card game. Each of the 100 "table" winners then continue playing in 10 "tables" of 10 players with the winner of each "table" then progressing to a final "table" where an overall winner of the game 24a is determined. In such an arrangement, each of the 100 players that make it through the first stage fall within the top 10% of the level and will be awarded with progress through to the next level. The overall winner of the level game 24a will also qualify for entry to a secondary tournament, referred to as a Weekly Winner's Tournament (WWT) 26, which will have secondary awards, such as cash prizes, as will be discussed in more detail below.

The game system of the present invention also rewards individual players that have successfully completed the highest level, namely level 7 of the members tournament 24, and have also placed in the top 10 percent for Free Basic Members or the top 20% for premium members. This reward is referred to as a primary award and includes free entry into a secondary tournament, which is a monthly member's Tournament 25.

All players who successfully qualify for the monthly member's tournament 25 are sent an invitation by the server together with a password to facilitate entry into the tournament, Each remote player logs into the server at the predetennined time and enters the password where the server assigns the player to any one of 10 tables. Each of the tables play down until there are 700 players left, or a number as near as possible to 700 players, with an equal number of players being eliminated from each table. The 700 players are then assigned by the server to 70 tables of 10 players each and each table plays down until 3 platers remain on each table (210 players in total). These 201 players are then assigned by the server to 21 individual tables of 10 players each, with play continuing until a winner remains.

Secondary Prizes are then awarded in accordance with the following table: For the top 10 players:

Other prizes:

It will be appreciated that the general structure of the member tournaments 24 as hosted by the server of the present invention provides a general platform for players to compete in an environment substantially devoid of wagering real money, The server is able to provide a safe and friendly environment for players to compete at a variety of levels and offers rewards and progress through the game levels based on success. With the basic member tournaments 24 a player having a free basic membership is able to compete with players having a premium gold membership, across a variety of levels, which ensures that a degree of variety amongst players and game levels is able to be achieved to enhance the playing experience.

As discussed above, all premium members who are overall winners of the level games 24a in the member tournament 24 will also qualify for entry into a secondary tournament, namely the Weekly Winner's Tournament (WWT) 26, which will have secondary awards, such as cash prizes, as will be discussed in more detail below.

The Weekly Winners Tournament (WWT) 26 is typically run as a weekly tournament and all qualifiers are initially split into single "tables" of 10 players, with each "table" playing until the total number of players remaining in the WWT is 100, with an equal number of players eliminated from each table. Then game play continues until a winner is determined,

By way of an example, the WWT may be hosted by the host server as follows:

The server may issue an invitation to all qualified players that sets out the designated tome for the WWT and provides each qualified player with a password to facilitate entry to the WWT.

Each qualified player then logs into the server at a predetennined time prior to commencement of the WWT and is then assigned to one of 100 tables, where the number of players assigned by the server to each table is controlled to ensure an even distribution of players across the 100 tables. For example, if there are 380 qualified players, the server distributed the players such that there are 20 tables with 3 players and 80 tables with 4 players, If there are less than 200 qualified players, the players are distributed over 20 tables, with the top 5 players from each table then forming the players that progress to the next round so as to form 100 players.

The 100 players in the next round are then assigned by the server to randomly play on 10 tables of 10 players to play down to find a winner of each of the 10 players. The final 10 players are then combined by the server to play on a single table to play down to an individual winner. The winners of the WWT are awarded secondary awards as follows:

In accordance with the gaming system 20 of the present invention, by hosting an ongoing member tournament 24, players are able to be awarded through their participation and success within the game levels 24a of the member tournament 24 by awarding points to the individual players. Points can then be used by the players to access prizes and restricted tournaments in accordance with the total number of points accumulated by each player.

Irrespective of whether a player has a free basic membership or a premium membership, each player can receive points by either purchasing the points at a shop 27 hosted by the server and accessible by the players or by winning points as they play in the member tournament 24,

In order to purchase points at the shop 27, each individual player must firstly qualify by performing a task, such as correctly answering a question. In this regard, through successfully performing the assigned task, the player can access point packages as shown below.

Upon purchase of a points package, the points become immediately available for use by the player as desired. The server will record the purchase and download the appropriate points into the players profile where a tally of points will be regularly updated as the player accumulates and users the points. As discussed above, players can accumulate points through playing the member tournament as a reward for success within the tournament. In this regard, points may be awarded based on the player's number of consecutive wins in the game levels 24a of the member tournament 24 in accordance with the following regime:

As each player is awarded points during the member tournament 24, the server stores the tally of accumulated points with the individual player's profile and the points become immediately available to the player for use.

As will be discussed in more detail below, the system of the present invention enables individual players to use points for entry into special dedicated tournaments where entry is restricted and monetary prizes may be awarded.

As well as the qualifying tournaments referred to previously wherein the server issues an invitation to individual players based on their success in the member tournament games, individual members having either a free basic or a premium membership, are able to enter into regular Cash Tournaments 29 hosted by the server. To obtain access to such Cash Tournaments 29 each of the individual members must use points either accumulated through their game play or purchased from the server, to access the tournaments,

Cash Tournaments 29 are played as single table tournaments and are scheduled by the server at specific predetermined times. Whilst the players use their accumulated points to enter the Cash Tournaments, prizes are paid out as real cash prizes, depending upon the level of tournament that the player enters.

The Cash Tournaments are split into levels (1 - 5) with the number of points required to enter different level Cash Tournaments varying in accordance with the following table: ^'

Each Cash Tournament 29 game is played as a single table tournament consisting of 10 players. Players "buy-in" to the games by using their accumulated points whereby the server will deduct the points from the player's tally and reserve the player's position in the Cash Tournament. As soon as all 10 places in the cash Tournament are taken by individual players, the server will post a schedule for the game and prove all registered players with a password to log-in to the game in order to play. The prizes awarded to the players consist as cash prizes and Monthly Jackpot Tournament entries.

In order to provide players with an opportunity to accumulate points more quickly without the need to purchase points, the server also hosts regular Points Tournaments 28 which offers points as prizes. Points Tournaments 28 are available to all free basic and premium members who have accumulated sufficient points to gain entry into the desired level of game.

Points Tournaments 28 are played as single-table tournaments and comprise 10 seats which are assigned to the first 10 entries, in much the same manner as Cash Tournaments 29, referred to above, The server functions to register each of the players and as soon as 10 players have registered; the server sends each player an invitation to the event to be hosted at a specified time, together with a password to provide the registered player with access to the event. There are 5 game levels for the Points Tournaments 28 and each level requires a differing amount of points for entry in accordance with the following table:

As indicated in the table provided above, prizes are awarded for first, second and third place in each game, in the form of points, which are immediately available for use by the player. In order to provide an overall goal or objective to all players, the system 20 of the present invention hosts a tertiary game tournament, namely a monthly Jackpot Tournament 40, which has the opportunity to offer significant tertiary awards and prizes to the winners), Access to the Jackpot Tournament 40 is open to all members, including those members having Free Basic membership as well as a premium membership package, The monthly Jackpot Tournaments are typically hosted by the server at a dedicated time, for example, the last Saturday of each month. The Monthly Jackpot Tournaments also have different levels (i.e. level 1 - 4) which offer differing prizes and have different buy-in requirements, as will be discussed in more detail below.

As depicted in Figure 2, entry to the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40 can only be obtained as part of a prize for winning Weekly Winners Tournament 26 and the Monthly Members Tournament 25, as indicated above. However, players are also able to obtain entry into the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40 by participating in a series of Qualifying Tournaments 30, where the ultimate goal is entry into the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40.

In a preferred form, the Qualifying Tournaments 30 may comprise a first pre- qualifying tournament (Pre-Qualifier #1) which has a low point "Buy-in" entry so that it is able to be accessed by most players. Players register with the Host Server for entry into Pre-Qualifier #1 and all entries are mixed by the Host server and assigned to a predetermined number tables of 10 players, depending on the number of entrants, and the players compete until a winner is established for each level 1 - 4 ofPre-Qualifier#l.

Winners of Pre-Qualifier #1 gain access into the next Pre-Qualifier stage, Pre- Qualifier #2, in accordance with the following table:

For Pie-Qualifier #2, players are also able to buy-in by using their accumulated points in addition to qualification by Pre-Qualifier #1 and by winning other Tournaments referred to previously. However, in order to buy-in to Pre-Qualifier #2, the number of points required is significantly greater than that required for entry into Pre-Qualifier # 1 - typically by a factor of 10.

The Hosts server registers all entrants for the Pre-Qualifier #2 and all entries are mixed by the Host server and assigned to a predetennined number tables of 10 players, depending on the number of entrants, and the players compete until a winner is established for each level 1 - 4 of Pre-Qualifier #2.

Winners of Pre-Qualifier #2 gain access into the next qualification stage, Qualifier, in accordance with the following table:

For the Qualifier, players are also able to buy-in by using their accumulated points in addition to qualification by Pre-Qualifier #2 and by winning other Tournaments referred to previously. However, in order to buy-in to the Qualifier, the number of points required is significantly greater than that required for entry into Pre-Qualifier #1 and #2 - typically by a factor of 10 when compared to the buy-in point requirement of Pre-Qualifier #2.

The Hosts server registers all entrants for the Qualifier and all entries are mixed by the Host server and assigned to predetermined number tables of 10 players, depending on the number of entrants, and the players compete until each table has 5 players remaining. All of the players remaining are then assigned qualification to the Monthly Jackpot Tournament.

Winners of Qualifier gain access into the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40 in accordance with the following table:

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, Pre-Qualifier #1 and Pre-Qualifier #2 tournaments are hosted every hour, depending upon registrations and the Qualifier tournament is hosted twice per week. Such an arrangement ensures that there is ample opportunity for players to obtain access to the Monthly Jackpot Tournament, 40 Which are held on the last Saturday of each month and which is open for registrations 7 days prior to the tournament.

As previously discussed, entry into the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40 is only possible through winning entry through one of the various tournaments hosted by the server, or via wirining through the pre-qualification stages. Once entry is obtained the players register for the Monthly Jackpot Tournament during the 7 day period prior to the event, and upon registration the Host server will send the player a pass-word to be used to access the event. Players who obtain entry to the Monthly Jackpot Tournament via the Qualifier are automatically registered by the Host Server when registration is opened.

The Monthly Jackpot Tournament is played as a normal multi-table tournament whereby players all play down to an overall winner. Prizes are payed out for each level as if they are a separate tournament and are paid to the winner according to the place achieved at the level the player has entered. This is in accordance with the table below:

As will be appreciated, if the overall winner of the Monthly Jackpot Tournament is a player that is entered as a level 4 player, then that player will be eligible for all level 1, 2, 3 and 4 prize pools. Similarly, if the winner is a player registered in level 3, then- that player will be eligible for the level 1, 2 and 3 prize pools, with the highest level 4 ranked player being awarded the level 4 prize pool.

The prize pools awarded for each level in the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40 will be determined at the start of each month or a predetermined time before commencement of the Monthly Jackpot Tournament 40. The prizes will typically be based on the monthly membership fees collected for each level of membership and distributed accordingly.

In each of the above referenced tournaments, the games will be played in accordance with the following card game rules: Texas Hold' em, Aussie Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo.

Aussie Hold'em is a variation of Texas Hold'em, and is designed to make the game more exciting with larger pots by encouraging more player participation, This is achieved by adding one simple variation to Texas Hold'em.

In Aussie Hold'em, the cards are dealt to the players as normal with the players to the left of the dealer posting their small and high blinds, play continues as normal until after the flop, it is at this stage where the game change occurs. The remaining players in the hand are given the option of posting a high blind equivalent to the pot to receive an extra card. Any player that take an extra card then has to choose from the three cards in his hand which card to discard once that is done play then continues as to the rules of Texas Hold'em, A time limit will be placed on the remaining players in the hand to post the high blind equivalent and the same time limit will apply to the players in discarding the card they don't wish to keep if they don't discard in time they will automatically loose the extra card they received.

By providing the option of playing Aussie Hold'em, especially for Member and Cash Tournaments, more exciting and involved game play is offered over conventional card games.

It will be appreciated that the system and method of the present invention does not require individual players to risk money in order to win a prize but rather provides an environment where by players can register and compete against other registered players in the game of poker and variations thereof and if successful obtain prizes and rewards based on their level of skill.

The prizes offered by the host of the gaming system are predetermined and derived by advertising revenue and the sale of membership packages and membership renewal fees, Thus the prizes are not dependent upon the amount of bets placed during the game and the host does not take a commission fee based on each hand played.

Throughout the specification and claims the word "comprise" and its derivatives are intended to have an inclusive rather than exclusive meaning unless the contrary is expressly stated or the context requires otherwise. That is, the word "comprise" and its derivatives will be taken to indicate the inclusion of not only the listed components, steps or features that it directly references, but also other components, steps or features not specifically listed, unless the contrary is expressly stated or the context requires otherwise.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made to the methods of the invention described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.