Patent Grant
10223868
This disclosure relates generally to drawings with participant interaction and more particularly to such drawings in which participants may enter or play remotely via a mobile computing device.
Casinos use a variety of promotional activities to draw players to play the games on the casino floor. One such promotion is a drawing, which may be open only to members of the player's club for the casino. Doing so provides an incentive to join the players' club and also an easy way to enter participants into the drawing, namely via a kiosk with a card reader that when swiped with a player's card enters that player in an electronically operated drawing. The drawing system communicates with the player tracking system, which allocates electronic tickets to each player based on his or her level of play. As a result, players are motivated to increase play, which enhances the chances of a drawing win, up until the winning tickets are drawn. The winners are announced via video displays when the winning tickets are drawn.
These prior art systems suffer from several disadvantages. First, there are few winners. Second, losers have no involvement. Third, the drama is limited to the live drawing event and results in a few very happy people and a great many unhappy—or at least disinterested—people. As a result of these disadvantages, there is very limited player motivation to enter this type of drawing. Often under 10% of eligible customers enter and of those, fewer than half attend the live drawing. In addition, there is very limited effectiveness in using the drawing to draw in new players, something in which casinos have a vital interest.
Referring to
The gaming device 10 includes a cabinet 15 housing components to operate the gaming device 10. The cabinet 15 may include a gaming display 20, a base portion 13, a top box 18, and a player interface panel 30. The gaming display 20 may include mechanical spinning reels (
The base portion 13 may include a lighted panel 14, a coin return (not shown), and a gaming handle 12 operable on a partially rotating pivot joint 11. The game handle 12 is traditionally included on mechanical spinning-reel games, where the handle may be pulled toward a player to initiate the spinning of reels 22 after placement of a wager. The top box 18 may include a lighted panel 17, a video display (such as an LCD monitor), a mechanical bonus device (not shown), and a candle light indicator 19. The player interface panel 30 may include various devices so that a player can interact with the gaming device 10.
The player interface panel 30 may include one or more game buttons 32 that can be actuated by the player to cause the gaming device 10 to perform a specific action. For example, some of the game buttons 32 may cause the gaming device 10 to bet a credit to be wagered during the next game, change the number of lines being played on a multi-line game, cash out the credits remaining on the gaming device (as indicated on the credit meter 27), or request assistance from casino personnel, such as by lighting the candle 19. In addition, the player interface panel 30 may include one or more game actuating buttons 33. The game actuating buttons 33 may initiate a game with a pre-specified amount of credits. On some gaming devices 10 a “Max Bet” game actuating button 33 may be included that places the maximum credit wager on a game and initiates the game. The player interface panel 30 may further include a bill acceptor 37 and a ticket printer 38. The bill acceptor 37 may accept and validate paper money or previously printed tickets with a credit balance. The ticket printer 38 may print out tickets reflecting the balance of the credits that remain on the gaming device 10 when a player cashes out by pressing one of the game buttons 32 programmed to cause a ‘cashout.’ These tickets may be inserted into other gaming machines or redeemed at a cashier station or kiosk for cash.
The gaming device 10 may also include one or more speakers 26 to transmit auditory information or sounds to the player. The auditory information may include specific sounds associated with particular events that occur during game play on the gaming device 10. For example, a particularly festive sound may be played during a large win or when a bonus is triggered. The speakers 26 may also transmit “attract” sounds to entice nearby players when the game is not currently being played.
The gaming device 10 may further include a secondary display 25. This secondary display 25 may be a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma screen, or the like. The secondary display 25 may show any combination of primary game information and ancillary information to the player. For example, the secondary display 25 may show player tracking information, secondary bonus information, advertisements, or player selectable game options.
The gaming device 10 may include a separate information window (not shown) dedicated to supplying any combination of information related to primary game play, secondary bonus information, player tracking information, secondary bonus information, advertisements or player selectable game options. This window may be fixed in size and location or may have its size and location vary temporally as communication needs change. One example of such a resizable window is International Game Technology's “service window”. Another example is Las Vegas Gaming Incorporated's retrofit technology which allows information to be placed over areas of the game or the secondary display screen at various times and in various situations.
The gaming device 10 includes a microprocessor 40 that controls operation of the gaming device 10. If the gaming device 10 is a standalone gaming device, the microprocessor 40 may control virtually all of the operations of the gaming devices and attached equipment, such as operating game logic stored in memory (not shown) as firmware, controlling the display 20 to represent the outcome of a game, communicating with the other peripheral devices (such as the bill acceptor 37), and orchestrating the lighting and sound emanating from the gaming device 10. In other embodiments where the gaming device 10 is coupled to a network 50, as described below, the microprocessor 40 may have different tasks depending on the setup and function of the gaming device. For example, the microprocessor 40 may be responsible for running the base game of the gaming device and executing instructions received over the network 50 from a bonus server or player tracking server. In a server-based gaming setup, the microprocessor 40 may act as a terminal to execute instructions from a remote server that is running game play on the gaming device.
The microprocessor 40 may be coupled to a machine communication interface (MCI) 42 that connects the gaming device 10 to a gaming network 50. The MCI 42 may be coupled to the microprocessor 40 through a serial connection, a parallel connection, an optical connection, or in some cases a wireless connection. The gaming device 10 may include memory 41 (MEM), such as a random access memory (RAM), coupled to the microprocessor 40 and which can be used to store gaming information, such as storing total coin-in statistics about a present or past gaming session, which can be communicated to a remote server or database through the MCI 42. The MCI 42 may also facilitate communication between the network 50 and the secondary display 25 or a player tracking unit 45 housed in the gaming cabinet 15.
The player tracking unit 45 may include an identification device 46 and one or more buttons 47 associated with the player tracking unit 45. The identification device 46 serves to identify a player, by, for example, reading a player-tracking device, such as a player tracking card that is issued by the casino to individual players who choose to have such a card. The identification device 46 may instead, or additionally, identify players through other methods. Player tracking systems using player tracking cards and card readers 46 are known in the art. Briefly summarizing such a system, a player registers with the casino prior to commencing gaming. The casino issues a unique player-tracking card to the player and opens a corresponding player account that is stored on a server or host computer, described below with reference to
To induce the player to use the card and be an identified player, the casino may award each player points proportional to the money or credits wagered by the player. Players typically accrue points at a rate related to the amount wagered, although other factors may cause the casino to award the player various amounts. The points may be displayed on the secondary display 25 or using other methods. In conventional player tracking systems, the player may take his or her card to a special desk in the casino where a casino employee scans the card to determine how many accrued points are in the player's account. The player may redeem points for selected merchandise, meals in casino restaurants, or the like, which each have assigned point values. In some player tracking systems, the player may use the secondary display 25 to access their player tracking account, such as to check a total number of points, redeem points for various services, make changes to their account, or download promotional credits to the gaming device 10. In other embodiments, the identification device 46 may read other identifying cards (such as driver licenses, credit cards, etc.) to identify a player and match them to a corresponding player tracking account. Although
During typical play on a gaming device 10, a player plays a game by placing a wager and then initiating a gaming session. The player may initially insert monetary bills or previously printed tickets with a credit value into the bill acceptor 37. The player may also put coins into a coin acceptor (not shown) or a credit, debit or casino account card into a card reader/authorizer (not shown). In other embodiments, stored player points or special ‘bonus points’ awarded to the player or accumulated and/or stored in a player account may be able to be substituted at or transferred to the gaming device 10 for credits or other value. For example, a player may convert stored loyalty points to credits or transfer funds from his bank account, credit card, casino account or other source of funding. The selected source of funding may be selected by the player at time of transfer, determined by the casino at the time of transfer or occur automatically according to a predefined selection process. One of skill in the art will readily see that this invention is useful with all gambling devices, regardless of the manner in which wager value-input is accomplished.
The credit meter 27 displays the numeric credit value of the money or other value inserted, transferred, or stored dependent on the denomination of the gaming device 10. That is, if the gaming device 10 is a nickel slot machine and a $20 bill inserted into the bill acceptor 37, the credit meter will reflect 400 credits or one credit for each nickel of the inserted twenty dollars. For gaming devices 10 that support multiple denominations, the credit meter 27 will reflect the amount of credits relative to the denomination selected. Thus, in the above example, if a penny denomination is selected after the $20 is inserted the credit meter will change from 400 credits to 2000 credits.
A wager may be placed by pushing one or more of the game buttons 32, which may be reflected on the bet meter 28. That is, the player can generally depress a “bet one” button (one of the buttons on the player interface panel 30, such as 32), which transfers one credit from the credit meter 27 to the bet meter 28. Each time the button 32 is depressed an additional single credit transfers to the bet meter 28 up to a maximum bet that can be placed on a single play of the electronic gaming device 10. The gaming session may be initiated by pulling the gaming handle 12 or depressing the spin button 33. On some gaming devices 10, a “max bet” button (another one of the buttons 32 on the player interface panel 30) may be depressed to wager the maximum number of credits supported by the gaming device 10 and initiate a gaming session.
If the gaming session does not result in any winning combination, the process of placing a wager may be repeated by the player. Alternatively, the player may cash out any remaining credits on the credit meter 27 by depressing the “cash-out” button (another button 32 on the player interface panel 30), which causes the credits on the credit meter 27 to be paid out in the form of a ticket through the ticket printer 38, or may be paid out in the form of returning coins from a coin hopper (not shown) to a coin return tray.
If instead a winning combination (win) appears on the display 20, the award corresponding to the winning combination is immediately applied to the credit meter 27. For example, if the gaming device 10 is a slot machine, a winning combination of symbols 23 may land on a played payline on reels 22. If any bonus games are initiated, the gaming device 10 may enter into a bonus mode or simply award the player with a bonus amount of credits that are applied to the credit meter 27.
Referring to
During game play, the spinning reels 22A may be controlled by stepper motors (not shown) under the direction of the microprocessor 40 (
A gaming session on a spinning reel slot machine 10A typically includes the player pressing the “bet-one” button (one of the game buttons 32A) to wager a desired number of credits followed by pulling the gaming handle 12 (
Referring to
Because the virtual spinning reels 22B, by virtue of being computer implemented, can have almost any number of stops on a reel strip, it is much easier to have a greater variety of displayed outcomes as compared to spinning-reel slot machines 10A (
With the possible increases in reel 22B numbers and configurations over the mechanical gaming device 10A, video gaming devices 10B often have multiple paylines 24 that may be played. By having more paylines 24 available to play, the player may be more likely to have a winning combination when the reels 22B stop and the gaming session ends. However, since the player typically must wager at least a minimum number of credits to enable each payline 24 to be eligible for winning, the overall odds of winning are not much different, if at all, than if the player is wagering only on a single payline. For example, in a five line game, the player may bet one credit per payline 24 and be eligible for winning symbol combinations that appear on any of the five played paylines 24. This gives a total of five credits wagered and five possible winning paylines 24. If, on the other hand, the player only wagers one credit on one payline 24, but plays five gaming sessions, the odds of winning would be identical as above: five credits wagered and five possible winning paylines 24.
Because the video display 20B can easily modify the image output by the video display 20B, bonuses, such as second screen bonuses are relatively easy to award on the video slot game 10B. That is, if a bonus is triggered during game play, the video display 20B may simply store the resulting screen shot in memory and display a bonus sequence on the video display 20B. After the bonus sequence is completed, the video display 20B may then retrieve the previous screen shot and information from memory, and re-display that image.
Also, as mentioned above, the video display 20B may allow various other game information 21B to be displayed. For example, as shown in
Even with the improved flexibility afforded by the video display 20B, several physical buttons 32B and 33B are usually provided on video slot machines 10B. These buttons may include game buttons 32B that allow a player to choose the number of paylines 24 he or she would like to play and the number of credits wagered on each payline 24. In addition, a max bet button (one of the game buttons 32B) allows a player to place a maximum credit wager on the maximum number of available paylines 24 and initiate a gaming session. A repeat bet or spin button 33B may also be used to initiate each gaming session when the max bet button is not used.
Referring to
The player selectable soft buttons 29C appearing on the screen respectively correspond to each card on the video display 20C. These soft buttons 29C allow players to select specific cards on the video display 20C such that the card corresponding to the selected soft button is “held” before the draw. Typically, video poker machines 10C also include physical game buttons 32C that correspond to the cards in the hand and may be selected to hold a corresponding card. A deal/draw button 33C may also be included to initiate a gaming session after credits have been wagered (with a bet button 32C, for example) and to draw any cards not held after the first hand is displayed.
Although examples of a spinning reel slot machine 10A, a video slot machine 10B, and a video poker machine 10C have been illustrated in
Gaming devices 71 coupled over an optical line 64 may be remote gaming devices in a different location or casino. The optical line 64 may be coupled to the gaming network 50 through an electronic to optical signal converter 63 and may be coupled to the gaming devices 71 through an optical to electronic signal converter 65. The banks of gaming devices 70 coupled to the network 50 may be coupled through a bank controller 60 for compatibility purposes, for local organization and control, or for signal buffering purposes. The network 50 may include serial or parallel signal transmission lines and carry data in accordance with data transfer protocols such as Ethernet transmission lines, Rs-232 lines, firewire lines, USB lines, or other communication protocols. Although not shown in
As mentioned above, each gaming device 70-75 may have an individual processor 40 (
Thus, in some embodiments, the network 50, server 80, and database 90 may be dedicated to communications regarding specific game or tournament play. In other embodiments, however, the network 50, server 80, and database 90 may be part of a player tracking network. For player tracking capabilities, when a player inserts a player tracking card in the card reader 46 (
The various systems described with reference to
Before referring to the drawings, a brief overview of an embodiment will first be provided. In one aspect, a promotional game is conducted over participants' cell phones. During an enrollment period that overlaps with a period for play of the promotional game, those desiring to play text the word ENROLL to a contest phone number. An automated response text confirms enrollment.
During the play period, a participant advances his or her position on a virtual game board. The board has a predefined number of spaces, e.g., 21 spaces, along which the player moves by texting the word PLAY to the contest phone number. An automated response text confirms the number of spaces advanced as a result of the PLAY command. This particular contest limits such advancement to one opportunity per day.
During the play period, participants' gaming wagering and casino purchases are used to generate one drawing ticket, which in this embodiment is called a winvelope, for each $2 spent by the player. In addition, each time the player texts the word PLAY, he or she is awarded a winvelope. And after the player completes progress along the entire game board, i.e, crosses the finish line, the number of winvelopes allocated to the player increases to one for every dollar spent.
During the course of play each player may text COUNT to receive a text message containing his or her current board position and total winvelopes accumulated. Alternatively, or in addition, he or she may go to the casino, text the word STATUS and have the same information depicted with accompanying animation on a video display.
At the end of the play period each player may text PEEK to receive a message indicating whether or not he or she has won any prizes. To see how many prizes and their worth, however, the player may go to the casino, text the word REVEAL and have the prize details depicted with accompanying animation on the video display.
Turning now to
The components are interconnected via the Internet 112 or by a cellular connection indicated by cell tower 114. The components provided by third-party service provider 98 include a promotional server 116 and a switchboard 118. It should be noted that network computing facilitates distribution of computing devices in a common system in a variety of places and ways. As a result, the computer processes that are described herein may be located anywhere and be distributed among different devices at separate locations—or may be primarily on a single device at one location.
In system 92, promotional server 116 is operated by service provider 98. It includes computer code that implements the rules of the promotion, as will soon be explained, and is the primary point of interaction with players. These interactions may take the form of SMS text messaging via cell phones, like phones 100, 102, 104; Internet interactions via computing devices 108, 110; and via video display 106 at the casino, all of which will be described in connection with the description of the operation of system 92.
Promotional server 116 comprises two servers, a central server and a remote procedure call protocol that is encoded in JSON. These may be run on different virtual machines or on the same one. The central server contains a website that employees of casino 106 or third-party provider 98 may log into for configuring the promotion rules and prize structure and to generate reports. The call-protocol server connects to switchboard 118 to send and receive text messages and to components at casino 94, including video display 106.
Switchboard 118 also implements a server using a remote procedure call protocol encoded in JSON. Switchboard 118 interfaces with a commercial provider 120 of SMS text services. The switchboard handles the details of sending and receiving text messages and logs all such messages in a database. SMS provider 120 receives SMS text messages from players' cell phones, like cell phones 100, 102, 104, which are sent to a phone number associated with the promotional contest. In addition SMS provider 120 sends text messages to players phones in response to rules implemented by and commands from promotional server 116.
In casino 94, a player tracking server 122 and associated database 90 in
Concluding the description of system 92, workstation computers 125, 127, which can be located anywhere, may be accessed by either casino employees or employees of the third party service provider to configure contest rules or the contest prize structure or to define content displayed to players via the websites or social media pages accessed by computing devices 108, 110. As will be described, they can also be used to enter data that identifies individuals who are eligible to play the game.
Indicated generally at 128 in
The table above refers to three types of prizes: Cash, Bonuscash, and Mystery Prizes. Here the casino operating the promotion is Acme Casino, which uses the term Bonuscash to refer to its non-cashable credits that can be awarded to players. The Mystery Prizes have cash values but are revealed to the players in a manner different from the Cash and Bonuscash prizes, which is described hereinafter in connection with the flow chart in
Before describing the enrollment process depicted in
But it may be desirable to either track the source of entrants or to limit entrants to a specified class, e.g., members of a particular casino's players' club or to members of subset of that club. This can be done by requiring the player to text a promotional code, e.g., one published in an ad, on a coupon, or in an email, or by requiring the player to text his or her players' club number. In the present case, the promotion is limited to a subset of people who are enrolled in the players' club, which is confirmed in the process depicted in
In the present case, there is a first round of play, which is limited to a subset of players enrolled in the Acme Casino players' club. The enrollment period is open from October 1-22 and the player period is open from October 1-21. And the period during which prizes can be revealed and redeemed runs from October 22 to October 29. There is another round of play that begins December 24, which is open to all members of the players' club. The second round has similar time periods for enrollment play and the period after play when prizes can be revealed and redeemed. And there is a third round open to all players' club members and anyone a member invites to play the promotional game. In the third round any phone number from which texts are received according to the promotional rules is enrolled to play. In other words, in the third round players need not be a member of the players' club (although joining prior to playing could be made a condition). But a player who is not a member must join the players' club before he or she can redeem any prizes won. This is an effective tool for bringing new players and new players' club members to the casino.
Although the system is set up to generate winvelopes for both retail spending in the casino, which is tracked via server 124 in
At the outset, a prospective player initiates the process by texting ENROLL to the contest phone number as shown in box 134 in
Box 136 generates text message 2 (in the table), which is also displayed in
Backtracking to box 140, text message 3 indicates that the player can text HELP in lieu of ENROLL if there is a problem. When a player texts HELP in response (in box 146), system 92 sends text message 7 to the player's phone. The response encourages contact with casino personnel via email or social media.
A dashed line 148 divides an upper process, which was just described, in which everything goes according to plan, i.e., the player does not make any typographical errors, is qualified to enroll to play the game, and texts ENROLL during the enrollment period. In the present case, the period opens at a first time on the day game play starts and extends 10 days into the play period at which time it is cut off because a player enrolled after that time would not be able to complete the game. The math that determines game play, and therefore the maximum length of the enrollment period that will permit a player to finish the game, is described below.
Flow chart 128 coupled with the messages in the table is largely self-explanatory. But a few points are worth mentioning. First, when the player texts to enroll in box 134, to confirm in box 142 or to request help in box 146, he or she may make an error, i.e., send any text that is not one of the keywords, such as a keyword with a typo, depicted in the table. This is shown in boxes 150, 152. The system knows whether the player is enrolled and confirmed because it consults the database of enrolled and confirmed players to check to see if the telephone number from which the text is received is enrolled and confirmed. If so, and depending where the player is in the enrollment process, message 9 in box 154 is generated by the system. If the system does not recognize the phone number and no keywords are texted, e.g., the player attempts to create a keyword but it has a typo, a message as in box 158 is sent to the player. And if the player successfully texts ENROLL but his or her player ID is not among those stored on the system as eligible to participate, a message as in box 160 is sent to the player. And if the player successfully texts ENROLL but is already enrolled, the player receives message 14 in box 162. Boxes 161, 163 describe messages when a player is already enrolled with the same number or already enrolled with a different phone number, respectively. It is possible for a player to have multiple phone numbers associated with his or her player identification number and to play using any of the enrolled phone numbers. Finally, boxes 156, 157 describe responses if an already enrolled or ineligible player simply texts YES.
It should be appreciated that each of the processes reflected in the flowcharts herein can be modified, including the foregoing enrollment process, as needed for rounds two, when all players' club members are eligible, and for round three, when all phones texting to enroll are eligible. Round two will be similar to the first round but the subset is expanded to include all the players' club members. Round three, however, can eliminate the process steps in which eligibility to enroll is checked.
In
The rules for advancing on the game board are that each player must finish in 10-16 days, i.e., text PLAY on 10-16 different days, and each time PLAY is texted the player moves a random number of from 1-3 spaces. These rules could be implemented using a variety of computer algorithms that would be readily apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art. In the present case, a random number from 10-16 is generated and an array of that size is initialized to all 1s. Starting with the first array entry, the entry is incremented to a maximum of 3 before moving to the next array until the total of all the array entries equals 21, the total number of moves. Each sequential increment will be to 3 until the total is either 21 or would be 22 if the next 1 was incremented to 3. In the latter case the last increment will be to 2. This leaves an array that has either all 3s and is or all 3s, one 2, and the remainder 1s, but in all cases having entries that total 21.
Next, a random number from 0 to the total number of 3s is generated. This number determines how many 3s in the matrix might be changed in value. For each 3 that might be changed 0 or 1 is randomly chosen and the result is subtracted from the 3 and added to a 1 in the array. Now the array still adds up to 21 but contains is 2s and 3s. The array is then randomly shuffled using a Knuth/Fisher-Yates random shuffling algorithm. The array of moves, the number of moves already taken, and the last contest day the player moved are all stored as a record in the database. As a result, the players' moves are all predetermined as soon as he or she enrolls. Each player will move 1-3 spaces per PLAY and will finish in 10-16 days. The number of game board spaces advanced with each PLAY and the maximum and minimum number of days to finish can all be set as desired to vary the length or speed of the game using this or a similar algorithm.
The process that was just described, shown above dashed line 174, is when everything goes according to plan, i.e., an enrolled and confirmed player texts PLAY for the first time of the day, does not make any typographical errors, and has texted PLAY during the play period. In the present case, the play period runs for 21 days. As discussed above, each player that texts PLAY daily for the first 16 days of the play period is guaranteed to finish at least by the 16th day and possibly as early as the 10th day.
Below line 174 are processes that depict a variety of conditions that system 92 might encounter. For example, in box 176, if it is after the enrollment end date for the current round and before the enrollment start date of the next round of the game, the system generates message 10 above in response to receipt of the text PLAY. And in box 178 different messages are generated, depending upon player status, when the game play period is over and the time for revealing any prizes won is active—also in response to texting PLAY. If the player is enrolled, confirmed, and qualified, i.e., has moved through all 21 spaces to the finish line, he or she receives message 16 (in box 180) in response to texting PLAY in box 166. The player may then text PEEK in box 182, which generates system responses as will be described in connection with the flow chart of
If the game is still in the play period, as previously described the system checks, in box 168, to confirm the player who texted PLAY in box 166 is enrolled and confirmed. If not, one of three messages is generated depending upon whether the enrollment period is still open and whether the player is eligible to enroll. If the player is eligible but has not yet enrolled, message 19 in box 188 is generated; if not, message 18 in box 190 is returned to the player, and the he or she is invited to text ENROLL (in box 134) to begin the process of
Turning now to
If both the time during which the game can be played and the time in which prizes are revealed is passed, message 10 in box 200 is sent. As with the other diagrams, the process that generates the response requested by the command is above a dashed line 202. Most of the boxes below line 202 describe responses that are similar to those described in previous flow charts with one notable exception. If the period for game play, referred to in the flow charts as the promotional period, is over as determined in box 204; the period during which prizes may be revealed is still in effect; and the player is enrolled, confirmed, and qualified, i.e., has crossed the finish line by moving through all 21 spaces, message 16 in box 206 is sent. This informs the player that he or she may text PEEK as depicted in box 182 to learn whether or not the player has won any prizes, but not the nature of the prizes. The PEEK process is described later in connection with the flow chart in
The process in response to a player who texts STATUS during the reveal period (which immediately follows that play period) and who is determined to be enrolled and confirmed (in box 214) is illustrated above a dashed line 216. For such a player, system 92 retrieves data indicating their current position on the board and the number of accrued winvenlopes. This is sent to a digital controller (not shown) in box 218, which in turn is connected to display 106. In the present implementation, the digital controller is implemented using Bally Technologies CoolSign® digital signage software, but any suitable controller could be used. Data for different players is placed in a queue and the display for each player is shown in the order received.
At the same time the player texts STATUS, message 51 in box 220 is sent to the player. This informs the player that they will be up soon on the display and that he or she can text COUNT to have their game board position and accrued winvelopes, texted as described in
Wally 220, the virtual game show host, starts each sequence with the phrase ‘Next up, the player with the phone number ending in ————. Let's have a look at your status in the game.” Wally speaks the blanks in the foregoing sentence as 6075. This confirms the identity of the player whose status is displayed without disclosing any confidential information. Wally can speak the numerals as a result of conventional text-to-speech software that recognizes data in each player's record and integrates it accordingly with prerecorded portions.
The system displays the player's first name, which is associated with their player record, and the last four digits of their phone number indicated at 222. Next, each square in the game board lights up in sequence from number 1 to the player's current location on the game board where the square is highlighted, like square number 16 in
Consideration will now be given to the processes depicted below line 216 in
In
When system 92 receives a REVEAL text in box 234, it first checks (in box 246) to confirm that the player associated with the phone number from which the text is received is enrolled, confirmed, and qualified to open winvelopes, i.e., has crossed the finish line. As with the STATUS command, data for different players is placed in a queue and the display for each player is shown in the order received.
At the same time the player texts REVEAL, message 47 in box 248 is sent to the player's phone. This informs the player that they will be up soon on the display and that he or she can text PEEK to find out if he or she has won anything as described in
At the beginning of the REVEAL sequence, although not shown in the drawings, a curtain, in front of which Wally 220 stands, is drawn to reveal the screen depicted in
During this initial announcement by Wally, an animated depiction (not shown) of winvelopes drops from the top of the screen into the maw 252 of the Winvelopener 9000, a state-of-the art high-speed envelope opener 254. Immediately thereafter, the panels upon which the word Bonuscash appears, indicated generally at 256, all rotate to show blank spaces as shown in
In
In
Consideration will now be given to some of the math that determines how prizes are awarded and how an awarded prize is revealed. As will be recalled, there are three types of prizes: cash, Bonuscash, and a Mystery Prize. All three types of prizes are awarded in the same fashion, namely by randomly associating each prize with a different winvelope in a deck of a predefined number of winvelopes. The size of the deck depends upon the anticipated number of participants and the estimated level at which each will gamble, which earns additional winvelopes. It is desirable to have a total number of winvelopes large enough so that they are not all distributed and another deck must be opened. This permits the casino to accurately budget for each period of promotional play because the cost of all possible prizes in the deck is known. Of course, not all of the prizes are necessarily awarded in a round. It is also desirable that the deck not be so large that the odds of winning a prize are very low. Those skilled in the art can set the total number of cards in the deck using players' club data. In addition, after running several promotions, player behavior in each promotion can be used to fine tune the total number of cards to meet the objectives of having enough in one deck for each promotion but not so many as to make the odds of winning unappealingly low.
An exemplary prize distribution could include a single top cash prize, e.g., $5,000, and more frequently awarded lesser amounts, e.g., 5 at $250, 50 at $100, etc. The same structure holds true for Bonuscash awards, which may be used like cash but only to play games in the Acme Casino. For example, there could be 25 prizes of $50 Bonuscash with each lower amount being more frequently awarded down to several thousand prizes of $5 Bonuscash. Finally, there could be a fixed number of Mystery Prizes, e.g., 50 each of which comprises a cash award of $100. The difference between an award of $100 cash and an award of a Mystery Prize is the manner in which each is revealed. As will be recalled, the cash and Bonuscash awards are disclosed to the player during the REVEAL sequence shown in
In general, a deck of winvelopes for distribution during play is created by starting with the prize table, which is the number of occurrences of each different prize that can be associated with each winvelope in the deck. So this embodiment would include the number of each amount of cash awards, each amount of bonus cash awards, the number of Mystery Prize awards, and the number of zero prizes. The sum of all of these equals the total number of winvelopes in the deck. Put differently, the prize table is a list of all possible prize types and amounts—including a loss where $0 is awarded—in the deck to be generated and the number of times each prize amount occurs in the deck. The total in the deck for a 21-day play period with an estimated 500 participants could be over a million cards.
To generate the deck, a different one of the prizes is randomly selected from the prize table and placed in the deck under construction. Each prize, including the losses, is placed in sequential order until all of the prizes are gone from the prize table. In other words, these selections are made without replacement. This generates a deck of winvelopes that are each associated with a prize type and/or amount, including losses.
There are a variety of known algorithms for randomly populating a deck with prizes. One that is used here comprises choosing a random number, N, from 0 to X−1, where X is the sum of the weights in the working distribution, which at the outset equals the total number of winvelopes in the deck. Next, loop through all the weights, and consider whether N is less than the current weight. If so, the prize associated with this weigh is chosen. If not, then advance to the next weight. Keep repeating, until N is less than the current weight. When that happens, chose the prize at that weight, save it in the current position, and deduct 1 from the weight in the working distribution. This process is repeated for each prize until the working distribution is empty. This process can be used to create a deck from which winvelopes are distributed in sequential order as players earn them or it can be dynamically implemented to generate winvelopes that are distributed when needed.
Now we consider the unique manner in which the mystery letters are selected and displayed. Of course for a player who received one of the winvelopes that indicated a Mystery Prize is won, all letters in the word Bonuscash will be displayed during the REVEAL sequence. But for those who did not receive an winvelope that designates a Mystery Prize winner, awarding some, but not all of the letters, may enhance the REVEAL sequence and create player anticipation and interest. As will be seen, it is desirable to award some players a “near win,” which is defined as awarding the number of letters greater than or equal to half of the letters in the word (rounded down in the case that the number of letters in the word is not even as is the case with Bonuscash). So a near win for this promotion is 4 or more letters in the word Bonuscash. Code in system 92 considers 6 possible categories in determining the number of letters to allocate to a player who did not win the Mystery Prize. In doing so, the system takes into consideration the number of winvelopes held by a player as well as whether the player has won one of the cash or Bonuscash prizes.
First is a player who has the minimum number of winvelopes (11, one for enrolling and one for each move of a 10-day completion of the board) and has won a cash or Bonuscash prize but not a Mystery Prize. Here it is desirable to send the message that the player should have accrued more winvelopes. Since the player has already won a prize, the system allows for the possibility of the player not receiving any letters. And the player should not realize a near-win event. As a result, a random selection of the number of letters between 0 and 1 less than a near win is made, i.e., this player will be awarded from 0-3 letters.
Second is a player who has less than the average number of winvelopes and has won a cash or Bonuscash prize but not a Mystery Prize. The average number of winvelopes is determined by summing the winvelopes accrued by all qualified players, i.e., those finishing the game, divided by the number of such players. It is also desirable to encourage this player to accrue more winvelopes in future games. As a result, for this category of player, there is still a possibility that the player will not win even a single letter. On the other hand, a near miss is allowed, although not a significant probability that it will occur. To do so, the number of letters is determined by choosing from a uniform distribution over the number of letters in the word less than or equal to 1 less the total number of letters in the word, including zero letters. For the word Bonuscash, this rule results in choosing the number of letters in a uniform random selection over the range 0-8.
Third is the player who has greater than or equal to the average number of winvelopes and the player has won a prize. In this case, even though the player has won a prize, it is desirable to reward the player for the amount of play. In this category, every player will win at least one letter. But since they have won a prize, there will not be a significant probability of a near win event. To achieve these goals, the number of letters is determined by choosing from a uniform distribution over the number of letters in the word less than or equal to 1 less the total number of letters in the word, not including zero letters. For the word Bonuscash, this rule results in choosing the number of letters in a uniform random selection over the range 1-8.
Fourth is the player who has the minimum number of winvelopes and the player has not won a prize. In this case, it is desirable to encourage the player to come back while also sending the message that the player should have accumulated more winvelopes. To achieve these goals, there is a possibility that the player will not win any letters but a near win event is allowed. To do so, this category has the same outcome as the second case above, i.e., choosing the number of letters in a uniform random selection over the range 0-8.
Fifth is the player who has less than the average number of winvelopes and has not won a prize. In this case, even though the player has put some effort into his or her gaming/purchases, it is desirable to encourage the player to play more in the future. To achieve this goal, every player will win at least one letter and the possibility of achieving a near win event. To do so, the number of letters chosen is the same as the third case above, i.e., the number is chosen from a uniform distribution over the number of letters in the word less than or equal to 1 less the total number of letters in the word, not including zero letters. In this embodiment this range is from 1-8 letters.
Sixth is the player who has greater than or equal to the average number of winvelopes and has not won any prizes. This is the most interesting case and represents the player who should receive the largest encouragement. For this player the probability of a near win event is set at 60%. As a result, before selecting over a range of numbers to determine the number of letters, a first process determines whether or not this player will receive a near win event. This first process randomly selects a first number from a uniform distribution over the range of 0-9. If the selection is less than or equal to 3, this player will not receive a near win event. If greater than 3, the player will. The second process determines the number of letters by choosing from a uniform distribution over the number of letters in the word less than or equal to 1 less the total number of letters in the word, including zero letters, i.e., over the range 0-8. The second process is repeated as many times as necessary until the result corresponds to the outcome determined by the first process. For example, the first process results in a 2, which determines that the player should not receive a near win event, i.e., the player should receive 0-3 letters. But the first time the second process is run the outcome is 5 letters. The second process is repeated as many times as is necessary to produce a 0-3 letter outcome, which is what the player receives. Likewise, the first process may select a number in the range of 4-9, which determines that the outcome will be a near miss, i.e., 4-8 letters. If so, the second process is repeated as many times as is necessary to produce an outcome of 4-8 letters, which is awarded to the player.
Finally, we consider how each player's letters awarded, if any, according to the above processes are presented on display 106 during the REVEAL process described in
This technique for displaying the letters has the effect of randomly distributing the revealed letters over all of the player's winvelopes, which makes for a more interesting REVEAL process as well as revealing each letter in a random order, which reduces predictability and also increases interest.
Some embodiments of the invention have been described above, and in addition, some specific details are shown for purposes of illustrating the inventive principles. However, numerous other arrangements may be devised in accordance with the inventive principles of this patent disclosure. Further, well known processes have not been described in detail in order not to obscure the invention. Thus, while the invention is described in conjunction with the specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings, it is not limited to these embodiments or drawings. Rather, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that come within the scope and spirit of the inventive principles set out in the appended claims.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/041,244, filed Sep. 30, 2013, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
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