Patent Grant
6955600
This application relates to the following co-pending commonly owned applications: “GAMING DEVICE HAVING A RE-TRIGGERING SYMBOL BONUS SCHEME,” Ser. No. 09/981,133.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device having a re-triggering symbol bonus scheme with a bonus symbol accumulator.
The base or primary game of most slot machines involves one or more mechanical or video spinning reels, each of which display a plurality of symbols. In many such games, a triggering event such as a symbol or combination of symbols yield one or more opportunities or chances in a bonus or secondary game, which is played in addition to the base game.
It is desirable to provide players with new and different gaming devices with new and different bonus schemes for the enjoyment and entertainment of players.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a gaming device having a slot base game and a slot bonus game wherein one or more bonus triggering symbols in the base game are employed as bonus re-triggers in the bonus game. In one preferred embodiment, the occurrence of a predetermined combination of a plurality of bonus triggering symbols (such as three bonus triggering symbols along a payline) in a base game triggers a corresponding bonus game. In that bonus game, the same bonus triggering symbols in any position (i.e., a scatter pay) functions as the bonus re-trigger in the bonus game which causes one or more additional activations of the reels or one or more re-triggers of that entire bonus game. The probability of obtaining the bonus re-trigger in the bonus game which is based on the same bonus symbols needed to trigger the bonus game in the base game is greater than the probability of obtaining the bonus trigger in the base game because the combination of bonus triggering symbols can occur anywhere on the reels in the bonus game to cause the bonus re-trigger (i.e., a scatter pay).
Accordingly, the present invention provides a gaming device, which includes a symbol or symbol combination in a primary or base game which triggers a secondary or bonus game, and a symbol or symbol combination in the secondary or bonus game which is more likely to occur in the bonus game and which re-triggers the secondary or bonus game or a portion thereof. More generally, the present invention provides a gaming device which includes a bonus triggering event in a primary or base game which triggers a secondary or bonus game and a bonus re-triggering event in the secondary or bonus game which re-triggers the secondary or bonus game or a portion thereof. The bonus triggering event in the primary or base game and the bonus re-triggering event in the secondary or bonus game preferably employ the same symbols or symbol combinations such that the bonus re-triggering event in the secondary or bonus game is more likely to occur in the bonus game than the bonus triggering event in the primary or base game.
The bonus re-trigger in the bonus game may, for instance, provide the player a bonus game extension such as additional or free spins in the bonus game, a replay of the entire bonus game, or a modification to the bonus game such as changing the bonus re-triggering symbol or bonus re-triggering combination of symbols in the bonus game. The bonus-retrigger can alternatively cause other changes in the bonus game as desired by the game implementor. For instance, the bonus re-trigger may cause a modification of the bonus award pay scale or table such as doubling or tripling subsequent award values in the bonus game.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, an accumulator accumulates bonus triggering symbols until a pre-determined number of secondary game or bonus re-triggering symbols are obtained by a player in the secondary game or bonus game. The accumulated bonus re-triggering symbols are in one embodiment, preferably the same symbol. Additionally, the bonus re-triggering symbols in the bonus game may be the same symbol as the bonus triggering symbol in the primary game or a different symbol. The accumulator preferably accumulates bonus re-triggering symbols in conjunction with one or more bonus re-triggering events. Once the accumulator accumulates the predetermined number of bonus re-triggering symbols in the bonus game, the gaming device provides the player with a bonus re-trigger. The re-triggering of the bonus game includes at least one re-trigger of the bonus game, at least one additional spin in the bonus game, at least one additional turn, or any combination thereof.
In a further embodiment, the gaming device provides a bonus re-trigger to the player when the accumulator accumulates the bonus triggering symbols in a pre-determined order in the bonus game. In this embodiment, the bonus re-triggering symbols are preferably accumulated one at a time. Alternatively, the symbols may be accumulated in one or more turns.
In yet another embodiment, the gaming device provides a bonus retrigger to the player when the accumulator accumulates a predetermined number of activated bonus triggering symbols.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a re-triggering symbol bonus scheme.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a re-triggering symbol bonus scheme in conjunction with other re-triggering symbol bonus schemes.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.
Referring now to the drawings, two embodiments of the gaming device of the present invention are illustrated in
Gaming device 10 may be adapted to incorporate any primary game such as slot, poker, blackjack, keno, or any of the bonus triggering events and any of the bonus round games associated with these games, in conjunction with the present invention. The symbols and indicia used on and in gaming device 10 may be in mechanical, electronic, electrical or video form.
As illustrated in
As shown in
A player may “cash out” and thereby receive a number of coins corresponding to the number of remaining credits by pushing a cash out button 26. When the player “cashes out,” the player receives the coins in a coin payout tray 28. The gaming device 10 may employ other payout mechanisms such as credit slips redeemable by a cashier or electronically recordable cards which keep track of the player's credits.
Gaming device 10 also includes one or more display devices. The embodiment shown in
Each reel 34 displays a plurality of indicia or symbols such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers, letters, bars or other images or symbols which preferably correspond to a theme associated with the gaming device 10. Furthermore, gaming device 10 preferably includes speakers 36 for making sounds or playing music.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
It should be appreciated that although a processor 38 and memory device 40 are preferable implementations of the present invention, the present invention can also be implemented using one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC's) or other hard-wired devices, or using mechanical devices (collectively referred to herein as a “processor”). Furthermore, although the processor 38 and memory device 40 preferably reside on each gaming device 10 unit, it is possible to provide some or all of their functions at a central location such as a network server for communication to a playing station such as over a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), Internet connection, microwave link, and the like. The processor 38 and memory device 40 are generally referred to herein as the “computer” or “controller.”
With reference to
In addition to winning credits in this manner, preferably gaming device 10 also gives players the opportunity to win credits in a bonus round. This type of gaming device 10 will include a program which will automatically begin a bonus round when the player has achieved a qualifying condition in the game. This qualifying condition can be a particular arrangement of indicia on a display device as discussed in detail below. The gaming device 10 in one embodiment uses a video-based central display device 30 to enable the player to play the bonus round. In one embodiment as discussed below, the qualifying condition is a predetermined combination of indicia or symbols appearing on a plurality of reels 34. As illustrated in the five reel slot game shown in
Bonus Re-Trigger
Referring now to
Referring now to
Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in
In
In
Referring now to
In another embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
It should be appreciated that the number of bonus re-triggering symbols needed to re-trigger the bonus game may also be randomly determined by the processor. In this embodiment, a probability of being selected by the processor is associated with the number of bonus re-triggering symbols to be accumulated by the accumulator when the number is randomly determined by the processor.
In
Referring specifically to
In the player's next turn or spin, the player obtains another “D” symbol as illustrated in FIG. 7B. The “D” symbol is accumulated in the bonus re-trigger symbol accumulator display 76. The player only needs to accumulate one more “D” symbol to re-trigger the bonus game.
Referring to
It should be appreciated that the player could accumulate the predetermined number of bonus re-triggering symbols in a single turn or a plurality of turns. It should also be appreciated that this bonus re-trigger could be employed during one or a plurality of bonus games (including re-triggered bonus games). The bonus re-triggering event illustrated in
In another embodiment of the present invention, the player must accumulate the bonus re-triggering symbols in a particular order to obtain a bonus re-trigger in the bonus game. In this embodiment, if the player does not accumulate the bonus re-triggering symbols in the specified order, the player does not obtain a bonus re-trigger. Furthermore, the particular combination of bonus re-triggering symbols and the order of the bonus re-triggering symbols may be pre-determined or randomly determined by the processor.
In one embodiment, the player accumulates the bonus re-triggering symbols one at a time. For instance, if the first and second symbols in a predetermined order of the bonus re-triggering symbols appears on one or more paylines during the same turn, the player only accumulates the first bonus re-triggering symbol. The player accumulates the other bonus re-triggering symbols in the specified order in the player's remaining turns in the bonus game. It should be appreciated that a player can accumulate the bonus re-triggering symbols in a pre-determined order during a single turn, or during a plurality of turns in the bonus game.
In a further embodiment, a bonus re-triggering symbol becomes activated in the bonus game. In this embodiment, the accumulator accumulates only the activated bonus re-triggering symbols until a predetermined number of activated bonus re-triggering symbols are obtained in the bonus game. The gaming device then provides the player with a bonus re-trigger as described above.
In another embodiment, the primary and secondary games are operated in a data network such as the internet. In this manner, a player can access and play the primary and secondary games using a personal computer or similar device that has a data network or internet connection.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a gaming device which includes a secondary game triggering event in a primary game which triggers a secondary game, a secondary game re-triggering event in the secondary game which re-triggers the entire secondary game or a portion thereof, wherein the secondary game re-triggering event in the secondary game is more likely to occur in the secondary game than the secondary game triggering event in the primary game. In addition, the gaming device provides another opportunity to re-trigger the secondary game by including a secondary re-triggering symbol accumulator in the secondary game. The accumulator accumulates secondary re-triggering symbols until a pre-determined number of secondary re-triggering symbols are obtained in the secondary game. Preferably, the secondary game re-triggering event in the secondary game and the secondary game triggering event in the primary game employ the same triggering symbols.
While the present invention is described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, and is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the claims. Modifications and variations in the present invention may be made without departing from the novel aspects of the invention as defined in the claims, and this application is limited only by the scope of the claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/981,133, filed on Oct. 15, 2001 entitled “Gaming Device Having a Re-Triggering Symbol Bonus Scheme.”
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| Number | Date | Country |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09981133 | Oct 2001 | US |
| Child | 10071441 | US |
