Patent ID: 7896740

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memory, in which the memory stores instructions, which, when executed, cause the processor to: determine a first set of entries in a sports competition, in which each entry of the first set of entries corresponds to a respective participant of a set of participants participating in the sports competition and in which the sports competition has one or more stages; receive a buy order placed by a first user of a plurality of users, in which the buy order is associated with at least one entry of the first set of entries; receive a sell order placed by a second user of the plurality of users associated with the at least one entry of the first set of entries, in which the second user does not own the at least one entry at a time the sell order is placed; match the buy order with the sell order thereby creating a short sale of the at least one entry to the first user; settle with the second user, at a predetermined time, any differential between a first price of the at least one entry at the time the sell order is placed and a second price of the at least one entry at the predetermined time; determine a winning entry of the first set of entries based on at least one first outcome of the sports competition; and determine a payout, in which the payout is paid to one or more users who hold the winning entry.