The present invention is directed to a lottery ticket. The lottery ticket includes a matching identifier for matching with identifiers of one or more other lottery tickets to form a winning combination of lottery tickets.

A share table issuance device (1) issues first through N-th share tables (T1 to TN) to first through N-th object persons, respectively. N represents an integer of 2 or greater. The first through N-th share tables (T1 to TN) each include first through N-th ticket fields (D1 to DN), first through N-th share fields (E1 to EN), and an object person field (Cn). The same draw ticket is allocated to n-th ticket fields (Dn) included in the first through N-th share tables (T1 to TN). n represents an integer from 1 to N. A share written in an n-th share field (En) included in an n-th share table (Tn) differs from a share written in an n-th share field (En) included in a k-th share table (Tk). k represents an integer from 1 to N, which differs from the integer represented by n.

A lottery ticket bin for use in multi-bin dispenser array includes a housing having an open top and a drawer that slides into and out of the housing, the drawer also having an open top and a ticket compartment for receipt of a supply of interconnected lottery tickets through the open top. A component section adjacent a front of the drawer includes a first cable connection port, and a second cable connection port is fixed to the housing adjacent the component section in a closed position of the drawer, the second cable connection port in communication with a circuit board fixed to an exterior of the housing. A cable is connected between the first and second cable connection ports and a length so as to accommodate a fully open position of the drawer relative to the housing. The cable folds into a cable storage section configured with the drawer.

A gaming machine having a utility shelf movably attached thereto wherein the utility shelf is adapted to move between a stowed position and a play position where the stowed position is substantially non-horizontal and the play position is substantially horizontal. In this manner, gaming machine players may play bingo (or other live, card-based games) simultaneously while playing a gaming machine.

A method of conducting and playing a lottery game includes providing a chance to win including consecutively drawn player characters selected from a first pool of characters and a trigger player character selected from a second pool of characters, providing a result including consecutively drawn result characters selected from the first pool of characters and a trigger result character selected from the second pool of characters, and comparing the chance to win to the result. When the trigger player character matches the trigger result character, a basic prize is won when all or a plurality of the player characters matches all or a plurality of the result characters, and a second more valuable prize is won when the same conditions apply in addition to when the position of at least one of the player characters matches the position of at least one of the result characters.

A method and associated system are provided for producing a perforation line between adjacent lottery tickets in an automated production line wherein a substrate having lottery tickets printed thereon is conveyed through a perforation station in the production line prior to being folded into a Z-fold pattern for subsequent packaging. A perforation machine in the line is controlled by a controller for defining the perforation lines, wherein the control process includes determining the perforation lines that correspond to fold lines in the Z-fold pattern and, for these perforation lines, programming the perforation machine to generate a second perforation profile that is different from a first perforation profile of non-fold perforation lines that lie between the fold lines in the Z-fold pattern. The second perforation profile is specifically tailored to produce a stronger perforation line to compensate for weakness induced in the perforation line from being folded.

Methods and apparatus for playing an instant win gaming ticket. An instant win gaming ticket has multiple instant win games which can be played by the player. The amount won per game is dependent on the results of at least one previous game on the same ticket. The player plays the games on a single ticket and the amount the player wins for each game depends on whether previously played games on the same ticket were won or lost.

A full-color protected document, and methods and systems for making same, secured by a removable Scratch-Off Coating, where the protection against document alteration and/or copy type attacks is provided by digitally imaging Benday patterns and/or digital imaged background patterns around the variable indicia. By printing Benday patterns and/or imaged background using the same process color imagers, usability and integrity of the protected document are achieved relative to the consumer's perspective while at the same time providing a more secure, less expensive, and more aesthetically pleasing document design.

A security-enhanced document includes a substrate and variable indicia comprising ink having a signal. The variable indicia is of a specific type and is applied to the substrate using a specific application technique. At least one other printed portion, which is a back of the document, has background ink noise, and the type of ink of the back of the document is of the same type of ink applied to the substrate using the same application technique as the ink of the variable indicia. The document also includes a scratch-off-coating applied over the variable indicia. The document has a signal-to-noise ratio of the ink of the variable indicia relative to the background ink noise of the back of the document that is not appreciable, thereby making the variable indicia unreadable with reference to the back of the document when the scratch-off-coating remains intact.

Implementations of an electronic bingo system are provided. In some implementations, the electronic bingo system comprises a portable computing device configured to take a picture of a bingo card and store an image of the bingo card on the portable computing device, receive an indication of a ball in play during a game of live bingo, determine if the image has an indication of ball in play printed on the image; recognize when a winning bingo pattern exists for the image based on the received indications of a ball in play and the indications printed on the loaded bingo card; and alert a user of the portable computing device when a winning bingo pattern exists for the loaded bingo card. In some implementations, the portable computing device is a mobile phone.