Abstract:
Methods and systems for hosting a betting pool are disclosed. The betting pool can be hosted by a lead participant. Pool participants can be maintained through a partner relationship module. The betting pool lead participant manages events associated with the betting pool through an event manager and through a pool manager. Winning participants in the betting pool are determined and payouts can be processed.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The present embodiments relate generally to systems and methods for providing individuals to host electronic open-ended betting pools for the benefit of individuals even beyond their known circles of acquaintances anywhere in the world where gambling is legal, and more specifically to systems, methods and services for making closed-ended betting pools open-ended. 
     2. Background 
     All betting pools hosted by individuals at workplaces or in communities are closed-ended i.e. limited to people within the workplace or the community of which they are part of. Such betting pools are also non-auditable and limit financial gains up to a total amount wagered by members of the betting pool which is closed-ended (individuals known to each other within the workplace or community). Individuals and communities usually form a betting pools predicting the outcome of local, regional, national or international sporting, social, political and other kinds of events. 
     Existing betting companies including internet based betting companies do not provide systems, methods or service for individuals or communities to host their own open-ended betting pools nor closed-ended betting pools. Such companies do have the two extremes of making or losing money depending on the outcome of the event on which the bets were placed. In most cases such companies could end up not sharing any proceeds from the betting event with even a minority of the individuals who placed bets on the event. 
     Present systems, methods and services do not provide any form of tiered payments to individuals whose bets were placed on the outcome within certain threshold of the results of the event. Present systems, methods and services also do not allow the host of closed-ended betting pools to increase the placement of bets from outside the community or workplace to maximize the money in the pool. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments disclosed herein address the above stated needs by considering the opportunity for individuals and communities participating in betting pools. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention include methods and systems for enabling open-ended betting pools. The service based on methods and systems described below will allow individuals and communities to establish and manage open-ended betting pools across geographic boundaries, jurisdictions and time zones, regardless of base currency of the country in which the individual is placing a bet from, which can be audited as well. Participation in the betting pool will be restricted to individuals hereinafter referred as “bidders” from countries in which gambling is legal and conform to local gambling laws. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the invention. Together with the general description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrate, system for implementing various embodiments of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates logic elements in accordance with at east one embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating methods in accordance with at least cine embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention. 
     The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiments of the invention” does not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation. 
     Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action. 
     Embodiments of the invention allow bidders to participate in pools setup either by themselves, friends, family or unknown hosts and communities. This method allows bidders to increase the potential size of their winning by participating in an open-ended pool which would have otherwise been limited to bidders only known to each other. This invention will also allow bidders to bet on pools set up for local, regional and global sporting, political, social, financial and other types of events which are either set up by the service provider or pool owners. 
     Bidders can view live pools, number of participants in a pool, names of other bidders who have listed the bidder as a buddy, wager required, total wager in the pool before placing their own wager. Pool owner at their discretion can prevent other interested bidders from participating in their own pool. First time bidders will be required to register with pool service provider using the logic described below for the partner relationship management (PRM) module  320 . 
     The logic modules can receive input from each partner through the web interface which will be validated through web services from public domain as well as internally developed web services. For example, the following list of variables can be obtained for setting up a partner profile: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Key 
                 Element 
                 Attribute 
                 Length 
                 Values 
                 Mandatory 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Y 
                 Partner Type 
                 AlphaNum 
                 1 
                 B - bidder/pool participant, C - content provider, S -  
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 non-financial service provider, P - payment service 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 provider 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Partner Identifier Number 
                 Num 
                 16 
                 Should be unique except for partners who have 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 more than 1 relationship with our entity, generated 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 by system 
               
               
                   
                 Partner name 
                 AlphaNum 
                 30 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Address Line 1 
                 AlphaNum 
                 40 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Address Line 2 
                 AlphaNum 
                 40 
                   
                 N 
               
               
                   
                 City 
                 AlphaNum 
                 25 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Postal Code 
                 AlphaNum 
                 10 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 State/Region 
                 AlphaNum 
                 20 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Country 
                 Alpha 
                 3 
                 ISO ALPHA-3 code 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49alpha.htm) 
               
               
                   
                 Home Phone Number 
                 Num 
                 15 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Mobile Phone Number 
                 Num 
                 15 
                   
                 N 
               
               
                   
                 e-mail address 
                 AlphaNum 
                 35 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Creation Date 
                 Date 
                 8 
                 YYYYMMDD, ISO 8601 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Creation Time 
                 Time 
                 6 
                 HH:MM:SS, ISO 8601 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Last Update Date 
                 Date 
                 8 
                 YYYYMMDD, ISO 8601 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Last Update Time 
                 Time 
                 6 
                 HH:MM:SS, ISO 8601 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Financial information required for settling debits and credits to accounts will be based on set up of billing profile unless partner payment preference is a 3 rd  party-payment service provider such as PayPal. For example, the following list of variables can be obtained for setting up a partner profile: 
                                                                           Key   Element   Attribute   Length   Values   Mandatory                                Y   Partner Type   AlphaNum   1   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   Y       Y   Partner Identifier Number   Num   16   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   Y           Partner name   AlphaNum   30   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   Y           Home Phone Number   Num   15   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   Y           Mobile Phone Number   Num   15   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   N           e-mail address   AlphaNum   35   Derived from Partner Relationship Table   Y           Billing Address Line 1   AlphaNum   40   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated. If                       same as primary address, allow copying details                       from primary table           Billing Address Line 2   AlphaNum   40   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   N                       party payment service provider is associated. If                       same as primary address, allow copying details                       from primary table           Billing City   AlphaNum   25   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated. If                       same as primary address, allow copying details                       from primary table           Billing Postal Code   AlphaNum   10   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated. If                       same as primary address, allow copying details                       from primary table           Billing State/Region   AlphaNum   20   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated. If                       same as primary address, allow copying details                       from primary table           Billing Country   Alpha   3   Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.                       ISO ALPHA-3 code                       (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49 alpha.htm)           Payment Type   Alpha       Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.                       AMEX/Visa/MasterCard/PayPal           Credit Card Number   Num       Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.           Name on Credit Card   Alpha       Required for only Partner Type “B”unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.           Expiration Date   Date       Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.                       MMYY format           Security Code   Num       Required for only Partner Type “B” unless 3rd   Y                       party payment service provider is associated.           Bank Name   Alpha       Used only if no credit card details provided   Y           Bank Account Number   Num       Used only if no credit card details provided   Y           IBAN   AlphaNum       Used only if no credit card details provided,   Y                       mutually exclusive of SWIFT code           SWIFT Code           Used only if no credit card details provided,   Y                       mutually exclusive of IBAN code           3rd Party Payment Service           PayPal support for now           Provider           Creation Date   Date   8   YYYYMMDD, ISO 8601   Y           Creation Time   Time   6   HH:MM:SS, ISO 8601   Y           Last Update Date   Date   8   YYYYMMDD, ISO 8601   Y           Last Update Time   Time   6   HH:MM:SS, ISO 8601   Y                    
Once the details in the partner profile are validated, the partner is activated for conducting transactions through this system.
 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system level diagram is illustrated showing an exemplary architecture according to at least one embodiment of the invention. For example, bidders  110 / 140  known to each other can setup a pool for an event (Event  1 ) defined by them as well as allow placing wagers on event (Event  3 ) by bidders from the same country not known to them. Bidders  120  can place wager on events in multiple pools including those setup by the service provider (Event  5 ) with the same country or foreign countries too. Communities of bidders  130  within the same country can place their wager on pools for events setup by service provider. 
     Pool Service Provider  160  hosts additional logic to support 3 rd  party payment service provider (PayPal)  170  allowing bidders to pay for their wagers on events associated with pools and to providers of premium services and content. Credit card or electronic funds transfer (EFT) processors  180  registered as partners will provide direct and indirect content and services to bidders. Content providers and service providers  190 - 200  can attract new clients through Pool Service Provider resulting in additional revenue from the content and service providers in the form of a referral fee. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a system for hosting and managing betting pools is illustrated. The system can include logic  210  to manage the life of the betting pool from inception to settlement based on methods and sub-methods of the Pool Manager. The Pool Manager will allow Host Bidder to setup betting pool associated with a pending event which is already setup by the Host Bidder or by Pool Service Provider. The Pool Manager also verifies bidder&#39;s eligibility to place a wager on the event related to the pool contingent upon bidder being accepted by the Host Bidder of the pool. The logic embedded in the Pool Manager will also verify bidder&#39;s payment for the wager is processed and credited to the pool account. Bidder can also place wager in multiples of base wager of up to a maximum of three-times the base wager. The base wager amount should be a minimum of USD 15 and cannot exceed 1,000 in base wager currency. The logic of the Pool Manager also allows Pool Service Provider or Host Bidder to associate a pre-defined event with the pool. Through the Pool Manager, an event established by a Host Bidder can be made accessible to other registered bidders not known to the Host Bidder. Logic in Pool Manager will also perform high-level data gathering required to support the logic and other logic modules based on the Pool Master schema shown below: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Key 
                 Element 
                 Attribute 
                 Length 
                 Values 
                 Mandatory 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Y 
                 Pool ID 
                 Num 
                 20 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Pool Name 
                 AlphaNum 
                 60 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Open Date 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Expiration 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Date 
               
               
                   
                 Expiration 
                 Time 
                 6 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Time 
               
               
                   
                 Settlement 
                 Date 
                 9 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Date 
               
               
                   
                 Owner 
                 Num 
                 16 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Identifier 
               
               
                   
                 Number 
               
               
                   
                 Owner Name 
                 AlphaNum 
                 30 
                 Partner (Bidder name)/Pool 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Service Provider Name, must 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 match ID and name from 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 PRM Table 
               
               
                   
                 Finite 
                 Alpha 
                 1 
                 Y, N 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Outcome 
               
               
                   
                 Expected 
               
               
                   
                 Open Ended 
                 Alpha 
                 1 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Pool 
               
               
                   
                 Base Wager 
                 Num 
                 9 
               
               
                   
                 Base Wager 
                 Alpha 
                 3 
               
               
                   
                 Currency 
               
               
                   
                 Creation 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Date 
               
               
                   
                 Creation 
                 Time 
                 6 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Time 
               
               
                   
                 Last Update 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Date 
               
               
                   
                 Last Update 
                 Time 
                 6 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Time 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Logic in Pool Manager  210  will also perform high-level data gathering required to support the logic and other logic modules based on the Pool Master Definition schema shown below: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Key 
                 Element 
                 Attribute 
                 Length 
                 Values 
                 Mandatory 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Y 
                 Pool ID 
                 Num 
                 20 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Pool Name 
                 AlphaNum 
                 60 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Date 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Time 
                 Time 
                 6 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Transaction 
                 AlphaNum 
                 3 
                 001 - New Wager, 002 - Wager 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Type 
                   
                   
                 Payment From Bidder Processed, 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 003 - Settlement Payment To 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Winning Bidders Processed, 004 - 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Adjustment Debit, 005 - Adjustment 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Credit, 999 - Pool closed prematurely 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Partner 
                 Num 
                 16 
                 Derived from Partner Relationship 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Identifier 
                   
                   
                 Table 
               
               
                   
                 Number 
               
               
                   
                 Partner IP 
                 Hex 
                 32 
               
               
                   
                 Address 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Sequence 
                 Num 
                 3 
                 Auto-increment starting from 001 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Number 
                   
                   
                 through 999 
               
               
                   
                 Transaction 
                 Num 
                 9 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Amount in 
               
               
                   
                 local 
               
               
                   
                 currency 
               
               
                   
                 Transaction 
                 Alpha 
                 3 
                 Currency codes - ISO 4217, 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Currency 
                   
                   
                 http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods- 
               
               
                   
                 code 
                   
                   
                 services/popstds/currencycodeslist.html 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The Event Manager  230  includes the logic for allowing Pool Service Provider or Host Bidder to establish an event based on no pre-defined outcome or pre-defined outcome. These events could be setup using feed from external sources or Host Bidder defined events either with or without projected probabilities for each possible outcome of the event. The Event Manager also includes the logic for assigning outcome of an event defined by Host Bidder. The logic module supports required data gathering based on the Pool Event Master definition schema shown below: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 Key 
                 Element 
                 Attribute 
                 Length 
                 Values 
                 Mandatory 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Y 
                 Pool ID 
                 Num 
                 20 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Pool Name 
                 AlphaNum 
                 60 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Set-up Date 
                 Date 
                 8 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Set-up Time 
                 Time 
                 6 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                 Y 
                 Sequence 
                 Num 
                 3 
                 Auto-increment starting from 001 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Number 
                   
                   
                 through 999 
               
               
                   
                 Sub- 
                 Num 
                 3 
                 Auto-increment starting from 001 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 sequence 
                   
                   
                 through 999 
               
               
                   
                 Number 
               
               
                   
                 Outcome 
                 AlphaNum 
                 60 
                   
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Name 
               
               
                   
                 Outcome 
                 AlphaNum 
                 1 
                 Boolean - “B”, Numeric - “N”, 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Type 
                   
                   
                 Ranking - “R” 
               
               
                   
                 Projected 
                 Num 
                 10 
                 For Boolean store either 0 for 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Outcome 
                   
                   
                 FALSE or 1 for TRUE. For 
               
               
                   
                 Value 
                   
                   
                 numerical outcome, absolute 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 numerical value must be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 assigned. For ranking, assign 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ascending rank beginning with 1 
               
               
                   
                 Actual 
                 Num 
                 10 
                 For Boolean store either 0 for 
                 Y 
               
               
                   
                 Outcome 
                   
                   
                 FALSE or 1 for TRUE. For 
               
               
                   
                 Value 
                   
                   
                 numerical outcome, absolute 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 numerical value must be 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 assigned. For ranking, assign 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ascending rank beginning with 1 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     The Billing module  220  has the logic to process payments of bidders placing wagers on pools, settlement payment to bidders in the pool as determined, payments from service providers for referring bidders to service providers&#39; services and content. The Billing module&#39;s logic also performs the function of data to support the logic of the billing module and other modules. 
     The Billing module interfaces with third-party payment service providers  170  (example: PayPal) and other  180  local EFT service providers. The Billing module also sends payment confirmation status to the Pool Manager for confirming acceptance of bidders&#39; wager on the pool. If the Billing Manager is unable to verify payment through third-party payment service provider, then the logic of the Pool Manager will reject bidder&#39;s wager on the pool. Interaction between all logic modules is implemented using standard service oriented architecture (SOA) based on enterprise service bus (ESB). 
     The Payout Settlement module  310  has the logic to determine which bidders qualify for payout and how much based on the algorithm below: 
     
       
         
               
             
           
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 IF &lt;Pool Master.Finite Outcome Expected&gt; = “Y” 
               
               
                   VAR &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt; = 0; 
               
               
                   VAR &lt;WINNING OUTCOME SEQUENCE&gt; = 0; 
               
               
                   INITIALIZE ARRAY &lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary Settlement&gt;; 
               
               
                   LOOP TABLE &lt;Pool Event Master&gt; UNTIL &lt;Pool Master.Pool ID&gt; = &lt;Pool 
               
               
                   Event Master.Pool ID&gt; 
               
               
                     IF &lt;Pool Event Master.Projected Outcome Value&gt; = &lt;Pool Event 
               
               
                     Master.Actual Outcome Value&gt; 
               
               
                       &lt;WINNING OUTCOME SEQUENCE&gt; = &lt;Pool Event 
               
               
                       Master.Sequence Number&gt;; 
               
               
                     ELSE 
               
               
                       IF &lt;WINNING OUTCOME SEQUENCE&gt; != 0 
               
               
                         &lt;WINNING OUTCOME SEQUENCE&gt; = 0; 
               
               
                       ENDIF 
               
               
                     ENDIF 
               
               
                   ENDLOOP 
               
               
                   LOOP TABLE &lt;Pool Transactions&gt; UNTIL &lt;Pool Transactions.Pool ID&gt; = 
               
               
                   &lt;Pool Master.Pool ID&gt; AND &lt;Pool Transactions.Transaction Type&gt; = “002” 
               
               
                     VAR &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt; = &lt;Pool Transactions.Transaction 
               
               
                     Amount in local currency&gt; + &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt;; 
               
               
                     IF &lt;Pool Transactions.Sequence Number&gt; = &lt;WINNING OUTCOME 
               
               
                     SEQUENCE&gt; 
               
               
                       WRITE TO ARRAY &lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary 
               
               
                       Settlement&gt; 
               
               
                       Pool ID, Pool Name, Partner Identifier Number, Sequence 
               
               
                       Number, Transaction Amount in Local Currency, Transaction 
               
               
                       Currency Code, Payout in Local Currency = 0 /* write partial 
               
               
                       record so at the end actual settlement amount can be calculated */ 
               
               
                       ENDIF 
               
               
                   END LOOP TABLE 
               
               
                 /* If payout settlement needs to be done, write-out payout settlement transactions for 
               
               
                 further processing*/ 
               
               
                   IF ARRAY &lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary Settlement&gt; is NOT EMPTY 
               
               
                     VAR &lt;TOTAL PAYOUT&gt; = 0.75 * &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt;; 
               
               
                     LOOP ARRAY &lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary Settlement&gt; TILL 
               
               
                     NULL 
               
               
                       &lt;Payout Amount&gt; = (&lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary 
               
               
                       Settlement.Transaction Amount in local currency[n]&gt;/ 
               
               
                       &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt;) * &lt;TOTAL PAYOUT&gt;; 
               
               
                       WRITE to TABLE &lt;POOL TRANSACTIONS&gt; 
               
               
                         Pool ID, Pool Name, Date, Time, Transaction Type = 
               
               
                         “003”, Partner Identifier Number, Sequence Number, 
               
               
                         Transaction Amount in Local Currency = &lt;Payout 
               
               
                         Amount&gt;, Transaction Currency Code /* write settlement 
               
               
                         record */ 
               
               
                       n++ ; 
               
               
                     END LOOP ARRAY 
               
               
                 ELSE /* Process Payout to bidder with bet closest to the actual outcome 
               
               
                 */ 
               
               
                   VAR &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt; = 0; 
               
               
                   VAR &lt;Payout Amount&gt; = 0; 
               
               
                   INITIALIZE ARRAY &lt;Pool Transactions Preliminary Settlement&gt;; 
               
               
                   INITIALIZE ARRAY &lt;Nearest Bidder&gt;; 
               
               
                   LOOP TABLE &lt;Pool Transactions&gt; UNTIL &lt;Pool Transactions.Pool 
               
               
                   ID&gt; = &lt;Pool Master.Pool ID&gt; and &lt;Pool Transactions.Transaction 
               
               
                   Type&gt; = “002” 
               
               
                     LOOP TABLE &lt;Pool Event Master&gt; UNTIL &lt;Pool 
               
               
                     Transactions.Pool ID&gt; = &lt;Pool Event Master.Pool ID&gt; AND 
               
               
                     &lt;Pool Transactions.Sequence Number&gt; = &lt;Pool Event 
               
               
                     Master.Sequence Number&gt; 
               
               
                     &lt;Proximity Rate&gt; = &lt;Pool Event Master.Projected Outcome 
               
               
                     Value&gt; / &lt;Pool Event Master.Actual Outcome Value&gt; 
               
               
                       WRITE TO ARRAY &lt;Nearest Bidder&gt; 
               
               
                       Pool ID, Pool Name, Partner Identifier Number, Sequence 
               
               
                       Number, Proximity Rate/* write partial record so at the 
               
               
                       end actual settlement amount can be calculated */ 
               
               
                     ENDLOOP 
               
               
                     &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt; = &lt;Pool Transactions.Transaction 
               
               
                     Amount in local currency&gt; + &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt;; 
               
               
                   ENDLOOP 
               
               
                     SORT ARRAY &lt;Nearest Bidder&gt; DESCENDING &lt;Proximity 
               
               
                     Rate&gt; 
               
               
                     &lt;Payout Amount&gt; = &lt;SUMMARY WAGER&gt; * 0.70 
               
               
                     WRITE to TABLE &lt;POOL TRANSACTIONS&gt; 
               
               
                       Pool ID[1], Pool Name[1], Date, Time, Transaction Type = 
               
               
                       “003”, Partner Identifier Number[1], Sequence 
               
               
                       Number[1], Transaction Amount in Local Currency = 
               
               
                       &lt;Payout Amount&gt;, Transaction Currency Code /* write 
               
               
                       settlement record */ 
               
               
                 ENDIF 
               
               
                 /* Complete Payout through payment service provider */ 
               
               
                 INIT AUDIT_CHECK PARM (Pool ID) /* Verify total payout does not exceed the 
               
               
                 75% threshold of total wagered amount in the pool /* 
               
               
                 LOOP TABLE &lt;Pool Transactions&gt; UNTIL &lt;Pool Transactions.Transaction Type&gt; = 
               
               
                 “003” AND &lt;Pool Transactions.Payment Date&gt; = NULL 
               
               
                   INIT EXTRNAL_SECURED_PAYMENT_SERVICE /* Paypal or EFT 
               
               
                   Processor*/ 
               
               
                   IF ACKNOWLEDGMENT is “OK” 
               
               
                     UPDATE TABLE &lt;Pool Transactions&gt; 
               
               
                       &lt;Pool Tranactions.Payment Date&gt; = SYSTEM DATE, &lt;Pool 
               
               
                       Transactions.Payment Time&gt; = SYSTEM TIME; 
               
               
                     INIT WINNER_NOTIFICATION /* Notify Winners via preferred email 
               
               
                     address */ 
               
               
                   ENDIF 
               
               
                 ENDLOOP 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Logic in module  330  Audit Controller maintains a log of all interactions between partners and the Pool Service Provider. In an event of a dispute arising between partners and the Pool Service Provider or between partners, the Audit Controller can provide activity insight based on date, time, financial transactions, partner identification and authentication. The logic in module  330  also provides control point for both inbound (accounts receivable) and outbound payments (accounts payable). For outbound payments, the logic in module  330  checks that total payment to pool participants does not exceed predetermined thresholds (75% of total wagered amount for the pool in case the outcome of the event matches exactly with wager&#39;s predicted outcome for the event associated with the pool or else 70% of total wagered amount for the pool for wager with nearest outcome to the actual outcome of the event). 
     Logic in module  340  Concierge allows partners to buy and sell products or services from each other including third-party service and content providers, buy gift vouchers which can be redeemed by other members with the pool service provider. 
     Logic in module  350  Analytics aggregates, sorts and presents data related to open events such as number of wagers and total wager per event; data related to closed events such as number of wagers, total wager, number of winners and total payout per event, number of wagers and total wager per pool; number of winners and total payout per pool, other daily and monthly statistics. 
     Those of ordinary skill in the art understand that data, information and signals may be represented in a number of different ways, using various technologies and techniques. The logical blocks in the flow charts, circuits, and components described in connection with the various embodiments may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or some combination thereof. Those of ordinary skill in the art would know to implement the described embodiments using various design options, depending upon the particular constraints and considerations of the situation. Such design choices are not a departure from the scope of the present invention. 
     The various logical blocks depicted in the flow charts, circuits, and components may be implemented using a personal computer, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), using discrete or integrated circuitry, or a combination of these. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, microcontroller, or state machine. 
     The method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a DVD/CD, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal. 
     The various steps and activities in the embodiments described herein may be performed in the exemplary order illustrated in the figures, or another order, depending upon the particularities of the implementation. Various other activities and steps may be performed in a sequence other than that illustrated in the figures. 
     The disclosure of the various embodiments is provided so as to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present invention. Design choices and modifications to the various embodiments will occur to practitioners of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The present invention is not intended to be limited only to those specific versions which are discussed herein for the sake of illustration, but is to be accorded the widest scope for the features and aspects of the invention enabled herein and recited in the appended claims.