The present invention relates to an electronic wagering system and method, and is concerned particularly, although not exclusively, with a system and method for facilitating a wager over a telecommunications network.

The placing and management of bets using electronic communication devices has become popular in certain territories. However, consumers of betting products want more and different ways to engage with the providers of betting services and also want to have access to different types of wager.

Embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a system and a method that at least partly addresses the aforementioned need.

The present invention is defined in the attached independent claims, to which reference should now be made. Further, preferred features may be found in the sub-claims appended thereto .

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic online wagering system, for providing a betting service to one or more users, the system comprising one or more user terminal devices, at least one system server and a communications network through which the or each user terminal device is arranged to communicate electronically with the system server and/or one or more of the other user terminal devices, wherein the display of the user terminal comprises a touch/proximity sensitive screen arranged in use to display plural selectable wager proposition to the user which the user selects or discards using a hand swiping motion, the direction of the motion determining the proposition to select or discard.

The selectable wager propositions may include propositions based on one or more of the user's profile, user preferences, browsing history and physical location.

The selectable wager propositions may be created by the user and communicated via the network to the server and to one or more fellow users.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic online wagering system, for providing a betting service to one or more users, the system comprising one or more user terminal devices, at least one system server and a communications network through which the or each user terminal device is arranged to communicate electronically with the system server and/or one or more of the other user terminal devices, wherein the system is arranged to provide to a user one or more wager propositions based on one or more of the user's profile, browsing history and physical location.

The selectable wager propositions may include a proposition created by the user and communicated via the network to the server and to one or more fellow users.

The display of the user terminal may comprise a touch/proximity sensitive screen arranged in use to display plural selectable wager proposition to the user, and the user may select or discard a proposition using a hand swiping motion, the direction of the motion determining the proposition to select or discard.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic online wagering system, for providing a betting service to one or more users, the system comprising one or more user terminal devices, at least one system server and a communications network through which the or each user terminal device is arranged to communicate electronically with the system server and/or one or more of the other user terminal devices, wherein the user may create a wager proposal using the interface, which wager proposal is communicated via the network to the server and to one or more fellow users.

The interface may allow the user to determine odds for the wager proposition. Alternatively, the odds for the user- created wager proposition may be determined by the booking engine at the server.

The display of the user terminal may comprise a touch/proximity sensitive screen arranged in use to display plural wager proposition to the user, and the user may select or discard a proposition using a hand swiping motion, the direction of the motion determining the proposition to select or discard. The wager propositions may include propositions based on one or more of the user's profile, browsing history and physical location .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of wagering, the method comprising selecting a wagering proposition from a plurality of wagering propositions presented on a touch/proximity sensitive display screen of a user terminal device, wherein the step of selecting comprises a user hand swiping motion, the direction of the motion determining the proposition to be selected or discarded.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of wagering, the method comprising providing to a user terminal device one or more wager propositions, created at a booking engine located at a remote server over a communications network, which wager propositions are based on one or more of the user's profile, browsing history and physical location.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of wagering, wherein user creates a wager proposal using an interface of a user terminal device and communicates the wager proposal to a remote system server and to one or more fellow user terminal devices over a communications network.

The interface may comprise two, three or more user-selectable options which the user may select using a swiping gesture, for example of the hand, the direction of which is used to determine the selection.

The system and/or method may be provided through a platform which may conveniently be implemented on a user terminal device via an app, and/or via a website, portal or similar.

Where the user may create a wager proposal using the interface, which wager proposal is communicated via the network to the server and to one or more fellow users, the system and/or method may comprise peer-to-peer wagering. A secure fund store may be provided to hold funds independently of the participants when a wager has been placed.

The server may provide to the user the odds for a particular wager, which the user may accept, decline, or modify and which odds may then be communicated to one or more fellow users, for example via social media, a messaging app or via the system itself.

Payment for a wager may be made using a payment card, such as a debit card or credit card, or else via an e-wallet provider, or else using a crypto-currency or electronic currency.

Transactions between a user and the system and/or between users may be enabled through a blockchain.

Wagers may be offered to a user based upon the physical location of the user, such as proximity to an event, such that the wager is linked to the event. The user's location may be determined using a satellite positioning function of the user's terminal device and/or the Wi-Fi or cellular connection of the user's terminal device or any combination thereof.

The, or each, terminal device may comprise a processor, a memory, a display, and a user interface.

The user's terminal device may comprise one or more of (but is not limited to) : a cellular telephone, electronic notebook, laptop or desktop computer or personal digital assistant or any combination thereof.

The interface may comprise one or more of (but is not limited to): a video camera, microphone, keyboard, mouse or touchscreen or any combination thereof.

The user terminal device may include a display which may comprise one or more of (but is not limited to): a screen, monitor, projector or loudspeaker or any combination thereof.

The network may comprise one or more of (but is not limited to): a packet data network, local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN) or any combination thereof.

The system server may comprise a processor and a memory. The server may include a booking engine for creating and/or managing and/or placing bets and/or processing of bets after they have been placed.

The server may include a matching engine for matching group, one to one, one-to-several, and/or many-to-many bets and/or book keeper and/or peer betting.

The server may include a payment engine for accepting payments, and/or the depositing and/or withdrawal of payments. The payment engine may also convert deposits into tokens or chips.

The server may comprise a plurality of servers.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a computer programme product on a computer readable medium, comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to any statement herein.

The invention also comprises a program for causing a device to perform a method according to any statement herein.

The invention may include any combination of the features or limitations referred to herein, except such a combination of features as are mutually exclusive, or mutually inconsistent . A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows schematically a wagering system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows an example of a user terminal device of the embodiment of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows schematically a server of the embodiment of Figure 1;

Figures 4(a) and 4(b) show examples of an interface of the terminal device of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a schematic flow diagram of a payment process used with the system;

Figures 6(a) and 6(b) show schematically interface screens used in selecting a wager using the terminal device of Figure

2;

Figures 7(a) and 7(b) show schematically further interface screens of the terminal device of Figure 2;

Figure 8 shows a still further interface screen of the terminal device of Figure 2; and Figure 9 shows schematically an example of a process for a peer-to-peer bet, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Turning to Figure 1, this shows generally at 100 a system providing an electronic platform for wagering in which one or more users are able to place bets against a book keeper or against other users. The system comprises one or more user terminal devices 110, a network 120 and a system server 130.

Figure 2 shows schematically one of the user terminal devices 110, which in this case is a mobile phone, but may be an electronic notebook, laptop or desktop computer or personal digital assistant or other similar such device. The terminal device 110 has an interface 112 on a display screen 114.

Figure 3 shows schematically the system server 130, which has several modules including a booking engine 132, a matching engine 134 and a payment engine 136. The booking engine is used to create, manage, and place bets based on a user preference. The matching engine is used to match bets, as will be described below, for group, or one to one, peer to peer bets. The payment engine may be used to accept payment, for example in the form of currency, assets, tokens, coins or cryptocurrency.

Figures 4(a) and 4(b) show user interfaces 112 on a terminal device 110. A user is able to top up their betting wallet on the platform by selecting an amount as shown at 200. The user is then requested to connect to a crypto wallet such as Metamask, traditional debit/credit cards or using a wallet provider like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay as shown at 210.

For users registering with a crypto wallet, they may not have to provide any "Know Your Customer" (KYC) information, depending on which country they are accessing the platform through. Users paying using traditional methods will need to provide KYC.

Once credited, the balance for the user, shown at 220, will be displayed.

After crediting their account, the money deposited is exchanged for tokens which may be used for staking or to fund liquidity pools used by decentralised exchanges. Rewards earned by the pools will then be used as loyalty rewards that can be used on the platform, as illustrated schematically at Figure 5, which shows the steps of topping up of a crypto or fiat currency S300, depositing funds in the user wallet S310, using the funds for staking or yield farming S320 and rewards paid through staking or yield farming S330, which rewards are returned to the user's wallet.

Traders can also speculate on the prices of the token and this can be traded on major cryptocurrency / token exchanges, including, for example, Uniswap (Decentralised Exchange) and Binance (Centralised Exchange). Figures 6(a) and 6(b) show interface screens in which the user is able to select a wager using a swipe gesture. The screen displays flash cards 400 in which a dismiss/skip action 410 is presented to the user, along with a choice of outcomes. Figure 6(a) shows two selectable outcomes 420 and 430 (in this case corresponding to "yes" or "no" answers), and in Figure 6(b) there are three selectable outcomes 440, 450 and 460 (corresponding to "lose", "win" and "draw").

Referring now to Figures 7(a) and 7(b), users are able to change their bet amount by selecting the current amount 500 and then selecting the nominal or any new value using the plus symbol 510.

Three main types of betting are available, in this example using the flash cards 400:

1) Traditional bets

The platform will generate live (ongoing) or upcoming bets and the user will be given the odds for each outcome in a form of a card on their terminal. The card interface will provide the users to select a value for the bet and choose the desired outcome through a swipe interface though their terminal.

2) Proximity based bets

If the user is in proximity of a venue or place of establishment that hosts an event or sport the user will receive bets in the form of flash cards for that specific event or sport. The user will be able to place bets in form of a swipe interface through their terminal. 3) Peer to Peer Betting

A user can create peer to peer bets through the use of an odds creation betting engine. A user creates a bet by typing or using speech prediction in the terminal 110. As an example, "they believe X team will win the premiership football". Connecting through the network 120 the server 130 will provide the suggested odds. A first user is then able to place a wager and modify the odds through the terminal 110. The user is then able to send the bet to a friend, to peers or to any other user by sharing on social media, messaging services or through the platform. One or more users who also subscribe to the platform can accept the bet. The bet will be locked in escrow by the platform and funds will be released to the winning party minus any fees.

Figure 8 shows how a user can view bets placed and the outcome in a managed bets screen.

Referring to all of the Figures, examples will be described of online betting using wagering systems and methods according to embodiments of the present invention.

Users are customers or potential customers wishing to participate in an on-line betting scenario and/or to view information associated with the bets in the platform. The users may also seek to create or participate in a bet with other users or with the book keeper that may be delivered via the network 120. Users may review data (such as bets, for example) that have been created or initiated by other users or by the book keeper in order to make bet matching decisions. Data, as used herein, refers to any type of numeric, voice, video, text, or script data, or any other suitable information in any appropriate format that may be communicated from one point to another.

The user terminal device 110 may comprise any one of several types of device that may be used to access the network 120. For example, the terminal device 110 may be a cellular telephone / mobile, an electronic notebook, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any other suitable device (wireless or otherwise: some of which can perform web browsing), component, or element capable of accessing one or more elements within the platform. The interface 112, which may be provided in conjunction with the items listed above, may further comprise any suitable interface for a human user such as a video camera, a microphone, a keyboard, a mouse, or any other appropriate equipment according to particular configurations and arrangements. In addition, interface may be a unique element designed specifically for communications involving the platform.

The display 114, in one embodiment, is a computer monitor. Alternatively, the display may be a projector, speaker, or other device that allows user to appreciate information that the platform transmits.

The network 120 is a communicative platform operable to exchange data or information emanating from the user. The network could be any packet data network offering a communications interface or exchange between any two nodes in the platform. The network may be any local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), virtual private network (VPN), intranet, or any other appropriate architecture or system that facilitates communications in a network or telephonic environment, including a combination of any networks or systems described above. In various embodiments, the network connections may include, but are not limited to, wired and/or wireless mediums which may be provisioned with routers and firewalls.

The server 130 is operable to receive and to communicate information to the terminal devices 110. In some embodiments, server 130 may comprise a plurality of servers or other equipment, each performing different or the same functions in order to receive and communicate information to terminal device 110. Server 130 may include software and/or algorithms to achieve the operations for processing, communicating, delivering, gathering, uploading, maintaining, and/or generally managing data, as described herein. Alternatively, such operations and techniques may be achieved by any suitable hardware, component, device, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), additional software, field programmable gate array (FPGA), server, processor, algorithm, erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or any other suitable object that is operable to facilitate such operations .

According to a first example, a user is interested in participating in an on-line bet against the bookie. With terminal device 110 a user can access via the Internet a website or application managed by the server 130. As part of an onboarding process, the server 130 may ask the user a series of questions which may be used to identify characteristics of the bets that user wishes to partake in. The server 130 may ask about location, likes and interests of the user. The server 130 may further use the registration process to discover what user may be looking for in a bet, such as sport, location, in game, pre-game, novelty etc. The server 130 may request a payment in the form of traditional payments methods such as by debit or credit card. The server 130 may also request payment through other monetary or virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. The payment provided by the user through the terminal device 110 will top up the user's account. In exchange for topping up their account the user will be provided with a value in their virtual wallet. This value may be in the form of a proprietary virtual token, coin and / or may represent a monetary value amount for example USD, GBP, EUR, BTC, ETH.

The user can partake in bets through the terminal device 110. For every bet, the user can decide to place a wager. The server 130 will keep a record of the value and bet that the user has decided to take part in. For example, the user may decide to bet on a particular team to win a game being played in a football league. Another example could be a particular player scoring within a certain timeframe of the game. The server 130 will monitor the bets placed and once the bet has completed it will inform the user of the outcome through the terminal device 110. Based on the outcome of the bet, the user will either be rewarded with the value of the odds or have the amount deducted from their wallet holdings. Furthermore, the server 130 may also identify how important certain factors are when presenting a bet to the user. For example, the server 130 will capture certain elements of a bet to make suggested bets to the user. This data may be collected automatically for example through the user's location or as a result of repetitive betting on the same team or player. Another example might be asking the user which sport or team they support. All data about the user will be stored as a profile. This activity will be completed by multiple users to contain multiple profiles.

As another example, a user may be interested in participating in an on-line bet against a friend or peer. Again, the user can access the Internet via terminal device 110, and thereby access a website or application managed by the server. As before, user data and preferences may be gathered and payment may be made by the user. The user can create their own bet, which could be with the help of artificial intelligence or by user input. When creating the bet, the user, through the terminal device 110, may be asked a series of questions to help create the bet. For example, the user may decide to bet another user, whom they may or may not know, whether a particular team will win a particular sport. The server 130 will check to see whether the game exists and return back the odds for the bet. The user can then choose whether or not to place the bet and can share the bet through the platform, messaging service, social service or otherwise. Another user can then decide to accept, modify, or decline the bet. If both users accept the bet, then the amount waged is locked in escrow by the platform. Based on the outcome of the bet the user will either be rewarded with the value of the odds or have the amount deducted from their wallet holdings .

A peer to peer bet could be betting a friend through a 1:1 bet. Once the bet has been placed by two users it is no longer available for other people to bet against. The system will not allow multiple people to bet against that person. A peer to peer bet could also create a many-to-many relationship. This will mean that a user's bet could be covered by one or more people. If a user's bet has not been matched then this will not be accepted and will be cancelled within a specific timeframe. In the case of a group bet, e.g. betting on who will win a competition, a user can create the betting pool and each person can bet on who they believe will win the competition. These again can be placed on an equal playing field meaning every person pays the same amount in the group, or the odds can be provided and each person will pay the odds for that competitor to win. If a competitor wins on which nobody bet, this would be a "no bet" and all participants in the bet will be refunded their stake.

Where the bet is offered based on physical location, this may be determined using the terminal device 110, for example using GPS, Wi-Fi or cellular connections to obtain the location. Where the location matches with the physical location of an event, such as a sporting event, bets associated with the event will be provided to the user.

Other modules may be provided in the server, such as but not limited to a risk management module, a user access module, a reporting module, an analytics module, a user profile module, a KYC (Know Your Customer) module and/or an AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) module.

As well as storing location information for users, the system may also track a user's online activity, for example using pixel data, so that users may be retargeted or marketed to. For example, if a user repeatedly bets on a particular sports team, merchandise of that team may be advertised to the user through social platforms.

Embodiments of the present invention enable the creation of a community-based wagering system that has fully automated "Decentralised Predictions".

Any third party known as a Betting Feed Provider can create a wager on the system. They may not partake in the actual wager itself. This can be completed by entering the bet manually or providing it through a feed that is ingested by the platform.

Players will then be able to participate in a wager through an interface terminal.

The funds from the wager are distributed automatically by the bet management platform. Fees through spread betting are then provided to:

• Betting feed provider (e.g. a tv broadcaster or sports book provider, but could be anyone)

• Validators (individuals or organisations who provide proof of the result of the event being wagered) • Bet management platform

In return for providing bets and validating the outcome of a wage both the betting feed provider and the validators will earn a percentage of the NGR (Net Gaming Revenue). This will be placed in a staking pool and they will be able to withdraw the amount at any time from the platform.

Betting Feed Providers

Any person or company can provide the bet construct.

For every bet created the system will automatically pair users, as will be explained below, based on an order book.

The betting feed providers are paid a percentage of the spread amount placed for that particular bet.

Players

Players can bet on an outcome of a wage that is provided by the bet management platform.

The platform will put the bet amount from both parties into a blockchain smart contract and hold the bet until the outcome or timeframe of the bet has expired.

Validators

To ensure bet fixing is not possible the community can validate the bet results based on their expertise in a particular field. Validator Process:

A user deposits an amount to become a validator. Based on the amount deposited the user will be able to provide / verify X number of betting results.

As an example, the validator may choose Reality TV as a subject area. The user will be presented with the wager and decide who won the bet or if the bet is still in play.

If a validator provides an incorrect response, they will have a portion of their deposit deducted. Repeat offenders will be blacklisted from the system.

If a validator provides a correct response, they will receive part of the betting spread amount. This will be calculated based on:

(Validators weighted by number of correct responses / NGR over a period of time) / total bets during the timeframe

A wager can only be validated by someone that hasn't participated in the bet.

Time locked Bets:

All bets will have an expiry date / time. This means that if for any reason the result of the bet is not available by the expiry date / time then the amount will be deposited back to the user. An example of an end-to-end betting process will now be given, with reference to Figure 9.

Firstly, a Betting Feed Provider adds a new bet to the platform. Then, players place their expected outcome and the amount they wish to bet on the bet created. This amount will be placed into the platform through a smart contract.

The platform will pair users to offset the bet against one another. A bet does not need to be covered completely, i.e.

If the bet placed was 2:1 odds

• Player A placed a bet for 10 USD for outcome A

• Player B placed a bet for 5 USD for outcome B

The bet has not been matched which will in turn create a full bet being placed for Player B and a partial bet being placed for 5 USD.

This will mean that another player could also place a bet for outcome B and cover the additional 5 USD on a separate play between player A and C.

The betting provider can also provide a results feed which details the correct outcome of the bet.

Since the bets are created by the community and to ensure there is no fixing each bet will be validated by a community member. Based on the stakes and risk of the bet, this will determine the number of validations required. Once the bet outcome has been validated then the amount will be available in the users account to withdraw back into their wallet.

The betting process will not change for the end user. This all happens behind the scenes.

The following is an example of a walkthrough based on the above process, again with reference to Figure 9. This is the peer to peer based betting model. The figure is simplified for a 2:1 bet.

1)Player A accesses the platform through an interface and an active network connection

2)Player A selects a topic of interest e.g. sports, reality tv, etc.

3)Player A can then swipe based on the outcome of a bet as described above, e.g. Outcome A to win.

4)Let's say Player A places a bet on Outcome A for $10, there will be three possible next steps: a.There are no bets placed on Outcome B to match the bet so the bet is added to Bet Pool 1. Once the bet is matched, the user is informed through a notification e.g. email, sms, push notification etc . b.The bet is partially matched. There was already $5 from Player B in the Bet Pool 1 so the bet is matched for $5 only. The other $5 is placed into Bet Pool 1. When Player C places their bet, the other $5 is covered resulting in the full bet being matched for player A. Once the bet is matched, the user is informed through a notification e.g. email, sms, push notification, etc. c.The bet is matched by user(s). Player B and Player C already had bets placed for Outcome B which constitutes to 15$ in Bet Pool 1. When Player A placed a bet for Outcome A it places the bet against Player B for $5 and a partial bet for Placer C of $5. The user is informed immediately that the bet has been matched.

For this example, Player A was the first person to place a bet so the description below proceeds on the basis of 4a.

5)Player B followed steps 1- 3 above but places a $5 bet on Outcome B. Since there was already a bet in Bet Pool 1 for Outcome A from Player A for $10, Player B's bet is matched immediately. Player A's bet is then partially matched and the player is informed that $5 of their bet has been matched by another party.

6)Player C followed steps 1 - 3 above but places a $15 bet on Outcome B. There is already a leftover amount of $5 in Bet Pool 1 from Player A. $5 of Player C's bet is placed in Bet Pool 1 and is partially matched immediately. Player A's bet is now matched in full and the player is informed. The other $10 is then placed in Bet Pool 2 for Outcome B.

7)Player D followed Steps 1 - 3 above but places a $10 bet on Outcome A. There is already a leftover amount of $10 in Bet Pool 2 from Player C. $10 of Player D's bet is placed in Bet Pool 2 to match the partial bet of Player C. This process can happen with an infinite number of Players.

In the example above both Player A and Player D placed a bet on Outcome A for a total of $20. This will then be added to the order book (a list of bets in sequence of how they are placed). Since Player A placed the first bet for Outcome A, their bet needs to be matched in full before Player D's bet is matched.

Where the term "cryptocurrency" is used above, it should be taken to cover both coins and tokens. Crypto tokens are built on top of other blockchains, whereas coins have their own blockchain, and may or may not be considered a "currency"

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance, it should be understood that the applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features referred to herein, and/or shown in the drawings, whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.