A conditional lottery ticket system is disclosed to process conditional
lottery ticket transactions, including the acceptance and validation of
play entries. The conditional lottery ticket system preferably includes a
central lottery server and one or more remote lottery terminals. The
conditional lottery ticket system permits a player to purchase conditional
lottery tickets that are not activated until one or more player-defined
activation conditions are satisfied. The player-defined activation
conditions may include a minimum lottery jackpot, a particular future date
of activation, or the occurrence of a particular external event.
Conditional lottery tickets may be purchased (i) individually and
activated the next time the player-specified activation conditions are
satisfied; (ii) on a subscription basis for a predefined number of times
when the player-specified activation conditions are satisfied; or (iii) on
a perpetual subscription basis, until the subscription is cancelled. The
conditional lottery ticket system permits the player to specify the
numbers to be played for each game, as well as any activation conditions.
After the selected lottery numbers and any activation conditions have been
stored, the lottery terminal preferably prints and issues the official
lottery ticket, indicating the lottery numbers to be played, as well as
any specified activation conditions. The conditional lottery ticket system
preferably evaluates pending conditional lottery tickets to determine if
the player-defined activation conditions of any conditional lottery
tickets are satisfied on a periodic basis, or at some predefined time
period before each lottery drawing.
