Method and system for playing games on a network

1. A method of playing game instances on the Internet, comprising:

first receiving player identification at a game playing Internet accessible node (GPIAN) for first and second players;

transmitting, via the Internet, from the GPIAN, first information related to communications between: (a) the GPIAN, and (b) a first Internet accessible node from which the first player communicates with the GPIAN;

wherein said first information is utilized in subsequent Internet communications between the GPIAN and the first Internet accessible node;

wherein said first information is stored on the first Internet accessible node so that it is available in subsequent different Internet connections by the first player;

second receiving, via the Internet, at the GPIAN, first responsive information indicative of said first information being present on said first Internet accessible node;

first playing with the first player a first instance of a game, wherein one or more game play representations are transmitted to the first player via the first Internet accessible node;

second playing with the second player a second instance of a game, wherein one or more game play representations are transmitted to the second player and from the GPIAN while the first player is playing the first instance;

transmitting to at least one of the first and second players, respectively, during one of said first and second games instances, a presentation substantially unrelated to plays of the one game instance, wherein said presentation is advertising a product or service;

wherein said step of second receiving at the GPIAN occurs when the first player has reconnected the first Internet accessible node to the Internet after said first information has been stored on the first Internet accessible node and said first Internet accessible node has disconnected from the Internet.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the following steps:

identifying at least one of the first and second players as requesting to join one of one or more game tournaments, wherein each tournament includes a plurality of instances of a game for playing by each of the players identified, wherein for each of the players, at least one of the following (a) and (b) must be satisfied for the player to complete one of the tournaments:

(a) a predetermined number of instances of the game must be played by the player;

(b) a predetermined amount of time must elapse between the commencement of the tournament and the termination of the tournament;

for each tournament, the following steps are performed:

(A1) selecting the identified players to be included in the tournament;

(A2) grouping the players into groups, wherein for each group, the players therein compete against one another in playing instances of the game;

(A3) determining one or more winning players for each group;

(A4) establishing a modified version of the game by changing a rule of the game while retaining another rule for the game;

(A5) combining the winning players from different groups into one or more new groups for competing against one another in playing instances of the modified version of the game.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 further including:

for the first player, the following steps are performed:

(A) receiving, from the GPIAN via the Internet, one or more interactive game presentations for presenting on at least a portion of a display for the first Internet accessible node, and wherein said interactive game presentations are interactive, via the Internet, between the first player and said GPIAN;

(B) providing, to the first Internet accessible node, concurrently with at least one of the interactive game presentations, said advertising presentation;

(C) providing to the first player over time, one or more additional advertising presentations, each said additional advertising presentation for providing information related to one of a product and a service;

(D) receiving, via the Internet, data indicative of an action by the first player in response to one of said first and said additional advertising presentations, wherein said data is transmitted:

(i) from said first Internet accessible node, and

(ii) to a destination node of the Internet, said destination node identified at said first Internet accessible node by a destination Internet address used for transmitting said data;

(E) transmitting to the first player, via the Internet, another presentation for presenting to the first player at said first Internet accessible node, wherein said another presentation is responsive to said step (D).

4. The method of claim 1, further including:

(a) periodically transmitting one of said additional advertising presentations to said first Internet accessible node;

(b) forcing a display of at least one of said presentation and said additional advertising presentations to be exposed on a display at said first Internet accessible node;

(c) transmitting further information to said first Internet accessible node, said further information related to the product or service of the advertising presentation;

(d) presenting said advertising presentation on said first Internet accessible node, wherein at least a portion of a display maintains a graphical format displayed prior to said present step of presenting.

5. The method of claim 1, further

generating first and second sequences of electronic card representations, respectively, for playing the first game and the second game;

wherein said first and second sequences have at least different card representations in at least one identical card representation position, in each of said first and second sequences.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein further including comparing a requested wager by the first player with an acceptable wager limit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said first and second players play their games via differently addressed Internet nodes for accessing said GPIAN.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first information includes executable instructions for receiving advertisement information via the network.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said step of transmitting includes transmitting from one of: a World Wide Web server and an Internet interface.

10. The method as claimed in claim 7, further including repeatedly performing the following steps:

determining, for at least one of said first and second players, a corresponding opponent's play that is responsive to a play made by the at least one player, and presenting, via a transmission on the network, a presentation of the corresponding opponent's play to the at least one player.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said opponent's play is determined without manual intervention during said opponent's play.

12. A method of playing a game on a communications network, comprising:

first receiving player identification, for first and second players, at a game playing network accessible node (GPNAN);

transmitting, via the network, from the (GPNAN, first information related to communications between: (a1) the GPNAN, and (a2) a first network accessible node from which the first player communicates with the GPNAN;

wherein said first information is utilized in subsequent network communications between the GPNAN and the first network accessible node, and wherein said first information is stored on the first network accessible node so that it is available in a subsequent different network connection by the first player;

second receiving at the GPNAN, via the network, first responsive information indicative of said first information being present on said first network accessible node;

using, by the GPNAN, said first responsive information for one or more of (b1) providing the first player with access to a service offered by the GPNAN, (b2) determining that a network transmission received at the first network accessible node will be processed in a predetermined expected manner, and (b3) determining that the first network accessible node has a predetermined program element available;

first playing, with the first player, a first game instance of a game, wherein one or more corresponding game play representations of the first game instance are transmitted from the GPNAN to the first player via the first network accessible node, wherein for at least most game plays by the first player, there is a responsive game play transmission on the network by the GPNAN;

second playing with the second player a second game instance of a game, wherein one or more corresponding game play representations of the second game instance are transmitted from the GPNAN to a second network accessible node for presenting the game play representations of the second game instance to the second player, wherein the game play representations of the second game instance are transmitted to the second network accessible node while the first player is playing the first game instance;

transmitting by the GPNAN to at least the first player, additional information on the network, wherein said transmitting of said additional information has, as a consequence, a display of an advertising presentation on said first network accessible node, said display occurring concurrently with a display of one of the corresponding game play representations for playing the first game instance, said advertising presentation presenting advertising related to a purchase of a product or service;

wherein said step of second receiving at the GPNAN occurs when the first player has reconnected the first network accessible node to the network after (i) and (ii) following: (i) said first information has been stored on the first network accessible node, and (ii) said first network accessible node has disconnected from the network.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said additional information is transmitted during the playing of said first game instance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said additional information is transmitted in a different network transmission from the transmission of the one corresponding game play representation.

15. The method of claim 15, wherein said display of the advertising being made visible to the first player is not a response from an immediately previous input by the first player.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said additional information is transmitted concurrently with a response from the GPNAN to a game play transmission by the first player.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein said advertising presentation accepts an input from the first player for presenting further information on the first network accessible node.

18. The method of claim 12, further including a step of selecting said advertising presentation using a result from comparing information about the first player with information related to said advertising presentation.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said information related to said advertising presentation includes profile information for identifying a player to which said advertising presentation is to be presented.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said step of selecting includes:

accessing personal information about the first player; and

using said personal information for identifying said advertising presentation (AD), wherein said personal information includes data satisfying a predetermined criteria corresponding to the AD.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein said advertising presentation changes from a first display to a second display of another advertising presentation without there being an intervening input by the first player.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said step of transmitting results in, periodically, an advertising presentation currently being displayed at the first network accessible node being replaced by a display of a different advertising presentation.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said advertising presentation does not affect a change in playing the first game instance.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein at least one of said advertising presentation and said another advertising presentation is capable of receiving an input from the the first player for requesting additional advertising information.

25. The method of claim 12, wherein for at least most game plays by the second player, there is a responsive game play transmission on the network by the GPNAN.

26. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of using includes determining whether a program element downloaded in response to an input by the first player to the GPNAN is properly performing.

27. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of said steps of claim 12 includes a step of the GPNAN communicating on the network with an Internet Protocol.

28. The method of claim 12, wherein the second player plays the second game at a second network accessible node that has a different network identification from the first network accessible node.

29. The method as claimed in claim 12, further including a step of:

outputting, from the GPNAN, a network transmission (T) to the second player, wherein as a consequence of T, at least one interactive advertising presentation is presented to the second player.

30. The method of claim 29 further including providing to the second player over time, one or more additional outputs from the GPNAN, wherein as a consequence of said one or more additional outputs, one or more additional advertising presentations are presented to the second player, each said additional advertising presentation for providing information related to one of a product and a service.

31. The method of claim 29, further including a step of:

third receiving, via the network, data indicative of an action by the second player in response to said at least one interactive advertising presentation and said additional advertising presentations, wherein said data is transmitted:

(i) from said second network accessible node, and

(ii) to a destination node of the network, said destination node identified at said second network accessible node by a destination network address used for transmitting said data.

32. The method of claim 31, further including a step of:

transmitting to the second player, via the network, another presentation for presenting to the player at said second network accessible node, wherein said another presentation is responsive to said third receiving step.

33. The method of claim 12, wherein the first and second games are card games.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said step of first playing includes transmitting a sequence of card representations from the GPNAN to the first player for playing said first game, wherein said sequence is not transmitted by the GPNAN to the second player for playing said second game.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of second playing includes transmitting a sequence of card representations from the GPNAN to the second player for playing said second game, wherein said sequence is not transmitted by the GPNAN to the first player for playing said first game.

36. The method as claimed in claim 33, further including a step of transmitting a dealer's card hand in each of said first and second games.

37. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein for the first and second games, and a probability of said first and second players each receiving an identical sequence of game play configurations is substantially equal to chance.

38. The method of claim 12, wherein for substantially every play of said first game by the first player there is a corresponding transmission on the network between said GPNAN and said first player, wherein said corresponding transmission occurs prior to a subsequent game play by the first player in said first game.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein for substantially every play of said second game by the second player, there is a corresponding transmission on the network between said GPNAN and said second player, wherein said corresponding transmission occurs prior to a subsequent game play by the second player in said second game.

40. The method of claim 12, further including transmitting, via the network, from the GPNAN, second information related to communications between: (a) the GPNAN, and (b) the second network accessible node, wherein said second information is utilized in subsequent network communications between the GPNAN and the second network accessible node, and wherein said second information is stored on the second network accessible node so that it is available in subsequent different network connections by the second player.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said second information includes executable instructions for receiving advertisement information via the network.

42. The method as claimed in claim 12, further including a step of maintaining a status of each of said first and second games so that each of said first and second games are played with a same effect as if the other of said first and second games were not being played.

43. The method as claimed in claim 12, further including a step of selecting the advertising presentation using personal information supplied by the first player.

44. The method of claim 12, further including a step of providing to the first player a ranking of another player that plays a game with the GPNAN, wherein said ranking is used to determine a prize for at least one of the players being ranked.

45. The method of claim 12, wherein said step of first playing includes accessing the network at one of: a reduced network charge, and free of charge.

46. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein said step of first playing includes storing a current configuration of said first game, and accessing said current configuration using player identification data provided with a game play request received from the first player.

47. The method as claimed in claim 12, further including a step of receiving a wager request from the first player via a transmission on the network, and determining whether the wager request is acceptable.

48. The method of claim 12, wherein one or more of said steps of first and second playing include providing one or more Internet transmissions, cable television transmissions, and local area network transmissions to one of the first and second players playing, respectively, the first and second games.

49. The method of claim 12, further including playing of a third game between said GPIAN and the second player, wherein a third collection of one or more game play representations is transmitted to the second player, and wherein the transmissions of the game play representations for the third collection and the first collection overlap in time.

50. The method of claim 12, further comprising the following steps:

identifying at least one of the first and second players as requesting to join one of one or more game tournaments, wherein each tournament includes a plurality of instances of a game for playing by each of the players identified, wherein for each of the players, at least one of the following (a) and (b) must be satisfied for the player to complete one of the tournaments:

(a) a predetermined number of instances of the game must be played by the player;

(b) a predetermined amount of time must elapse between the commencement of the tournament and the termination of the tournament;

for each tournament, the following steps are performed:

(A1) selecting the identified players to be included in the tournament;

(A2) grouping the players into groups, wherein for each group, the players therein compete against one another in playing instances of the game; and

(A3) determining one or more winning players for each group.

51. The method of claim 50, further including for at least one of the tournaments:

establishing a modified version of the game by changing a rule of the game while retaining another rule for the game; and

combining the winning players from different groups into one or more new groups for competing against one another in playing instances of the modified version of the game.

52. An apparatus for playing a game on a communications network, comprising:

a store for storing player identification, for first and second players, said store accessible by a game playing network accessible node (GPNAN);

a network interface for transmitting, via the network, from the GPNAN, first information related to communications between: (a1) the GPNAN, and (a2) a first network accessible node from which the first player communicates with the GPNAN;

wherein said first information is utilized in subsequent network communications between the GPNAN and the first network accessible node, and wherein said first information is stored on the first network accessible node so that it is available in a subsequent different network connection by the first player;

wherein said network interface receives, via the network, first responsive information indicative of said first information being present on said first network accessible node;

wherein said first responsive information is used for one or more of: (b1) providing the first player with access to a service offered by the GPNAN, (b2) determining that a network transmission received at the first network accessible node will be processed in a predetermined expected manner, and (b3) determining that the first network accessible node has a predetermined program element available;

a game controller for playing a first game instance of a game with the first player, wherein one or more corresponding game play representations of the first game instance are transmitted from the GPNAN to the first player via the first network accessible node, wherein for at least most game plays by the first player, there is a responsive game play transmission on the network by the GPNAN;

wherein said game controller plays a second game instance of a game with the second player, wherein, one or more corresponding game play representations of the second game instance are transmitted from the GPNAN to a second network accessible node for presenting the game play representations of the second game instance to the second player, wherein the game play representations of the second game instance are transmitted to the second network accessible node while the first player is playing the first game instance;

one or more programmatic elements for combining advertising related information with game playing information to obtain a resulting combination that is in a format: (a) acceptable for being transmitted on the network by the GPNAN to at least the first player, and (b) processed by the first network accessible node so that, as a consequence of such processing, a display of an advertising presentation on said first network accessible node is provided, said display occurring concurrently with a display of one of the corresponding game play representations for playing the first game instance, said advertising presentation presenting advertising related to a purchase of a product or service;

wherein said GPNAN receives said first responsive information for identifying the first player, and said GPNAN receives said first responsive information when the first player has reconnected the first network accessible node to the network after (i) and (ii) following: (i) said first information has been stored on the first network accessible node, and (ii) said first network accessible node has disconnected from the network.

53. An apparatus for a service on a communications network, comprising:

a store for storing user identification, for first and second users, said store accessible by a service providing network accessible node (SPNAN);

a network interface for transmitting, via the network, from the SPNAN, first information related to communications between: (a1) the SPNAN, and (a2) a first network accessible node from which the first user communicates with the SPNAN;

wherein said first information is utilized in subsequent network communications between the SPNAN and the first network accessible node, and wherein said first information is stored on the first network accessible node so that it is available in a subsequent different network connection by the first user;

wherein said network interface receives, via the network, first responsive information indicative of said first information being present on said first network accessible node;

wherein said first responsive information is used for one or more of: (b1) providing the first user with access to a service offered by the SPNAN, (b2) determining that a network transmission received at the first network accessible node will be processed in a predetermined expected manner, and (b3) determining that the first network accessible node has a predetermined program element available;

a controller for providing access to an instance of a first service to the first user, wherein one or more corresponding service display representations of the first service are transmitted from the SPNAN to the first user via the first network accessible node, wherein at least most of the service display representations are interactive with the first user for providing corresponding responsive transmissions on the network via the SPNAN during the instance of the first service;

wherein said SPNAN provides a second instance of a service with the second user, wherein one or more corresponding service representations for the second instance are transmitted from the SPNAN to a second network accessible node for presenting the service representations of the second instance to the second user, wherein the service representations of the second instance are transmitted to the second network accessible node while the first user is interacting with the instance of the first service;

one or more programmatic elements for combining advertising related information with service related information to obtain a resulting combination that is in a format: (a) acceptable for being transmitted on the network by the SPNAN to at least the first user, and (b) processed by the first network accessible node so that, as a consequence of such processing, a display of an advertising presentation corresponding to said advertising information is provided on said first network accessible node, said display occurring concurrently with a display of one of the corresponding service representations for the instance of the first service, said advertising presentation presenting advertising related to a purchase of a product or service;

wherein said SPNAN receives said first responsive information for identifying the first user, and said SPNAN receives said first responsive information when the first user has reconnected the first network accessible node to the network after (i) and (ii) following: (i) said first information has been stored on the first network accessible node, and (ii) said first network accessible node has disconnected from the network.

54. The method as claimed in claim 53, wherein when the network is the Internet, each of the instance of the first service and the second instance is one or more of:

(a) a game; and

(b) substantially any interactive service available on the Internet through an Internet service provider by which the user accesses the Internet, such that when the user connects to the Internet, said Internet service provider provides a communication to a predetermined website that subsequently transmits said said advertising information to said first network accessible node.