Patent Application
20090156286
The invention relates to a gaming system and provides an interactive gaming environment. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method which improves player interactivity and excitement in the playing of a casino style game.
Casino games such as keno, blackjack, roulette, and various poker games are very popular and avid users of such games are familiar with how to play each of these games. In contrast, new users of such games may have a hard time playing such games due to their unfamiliarity with such games making selection of symbols and/or numbers when required during play difficult. In developing new games and/or features for existing games, developers attempt to incorporate features which will assist in maintaining avid player excitement while keeping the new features easy to play so that new users do not shy away from the playing these games.
For example, keno is a known casino game in which a player selects a quantity of numbers usually ranging between 1 and 100 on a ticket or computer screen. The quantity of numbers allowed to be selected may depend upon whether the keno game is a live keno game or being played on a video game machine. For instance, in a live casino keno game, a player may be allowed to select up to fifteen numbers per game, whereas, most video keno games allow players to select at most ten numbers per keno game.
The payout for winning a keno game may depend upon numerous factors which include amount wagered, quantity of numbers selected, range of numbers available for selection, and number of player selections matching randomly drawn numbers (typically twenty) in a game. The potential payouts may be available for display in the form of a payout table.
In video keno, the selection of numbers may be indicated by player activation of numbers displayed on a video display or screen. The video display having a player interface may comprise a grid that includes numerically sequenced squares which may be activated by pressing defined keys or through a touch sensitive display screen. The selected numerical squares may be highlighted when activated to illustrate which numbers have been selected. Once the player has selected a quantity of numbers for the game, the video keno game machine or a central server randomly selects winning numbers and compares these winning numbers to the player's selected numbers to determine a potential payout.
The speed of the game depends upon the time needed for the player to select their numbers to be played. Often a player's selection takes a considerable amount of time as a player attempts to select numbers which they feel have a better chance of being matched with the randomly drawn numbers. For instance, a player may attempt to select ‘Hot’ numbers or numbers which they have believe have been chosen with more frequency over a particular time frame. New players of keno may want assistance in the selection of numbers, whereas, avid player may want a new method of choosing numbers or alternative number combinations to increase their excitement during play.
Furthermore, increased time for selecting numbers for play reduces the number of games that may be played within a given time period. Therefore, there is a need for a gaming apparatus and method which increases the number of games a player may play in a given amount of time. The apparatus and method should be interactive and increase both an avid player's and new player's enjoyment of the game.
Aspects of the present invention overcome problems and limitations of the prior art by providing an apparatus and method for operating a casino style game. In an aspect of the invention, numbers or symbols in a game that have not been randomly drawn over a defined period of time are determined. These numbers or symbols may be ranked and displayed on a user interface for potential use in a gaming event. A player may select all of the displayed numbers or symbols, select a few of the numbers or symbols, or select none of the displayed numbers or symbols for use in a gaming event.
In aspect of the invention, an apparatus for playing keno may comprise a display, card reader, memory, and a processor coupled to the memory to execute computer-executable instructions. In an embodiment, a set of numbers that have not been randomly selected over a period of time ‘ready numbers’ may be ranked and displayed for selection. The numbers, if selected, may be displayed on a grid comprising columns and rows. An outcome set of random numbers may be drawn and compared to a player's selected numbers to determine any potential payouts for any matching numbers.
In another aspect of the invention, a set or group of numbers that have been randomly selected more frequently than other randomly selected numbers over a period of time ‘hot numbers’ may also be displayed. A player may select a combination of both ‘ready’ and ‘hot’ numbers for use in a gaming event. The selected numbers may be displayed on a grid comprising columns and rows. An outcome set of random numbers may be drawn and compared to a player's selected numbers to determine any potential payouts for any matching numbers.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the invention may be partially or wholly implemented with other casino games, such as roulette, blackjack, and any type of poker game.
In certain embodiments of the invention, the invention may be partially or wholly implemented with a computer-readable medium, for example, by storing computer-executable instructions or modules, or by utilizing computer-readable data structures. The present invention may be partially or wholly implemented in other configurations such as a handheld computer game, a casino software game, a wireless handheld casino game, and/or known gaming systems such as Xbox or PlayStation. Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readable data structures.
The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
The present invention may take physical form in certain parts and steps, embodiments of which will be described in detail in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
In an aspect of the invention, game machines 102-106 may be networked together through a communications network such as communications network 112. Communications network 112 may represent: 1) a local area network (LAN); 2) a simple point-to-point network (such as direct modem-to-modem connection); and/or 3) a wide area network (WAN), including the Internet and other commercial based network services. Game machines 102-106 may also be connected to central servers 108 and 110 through communications network 112 using various well-known protocols, such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP, BLUETOOTH, Wi-Fi, ultra wide band (UWB), low power radio frequency (LPRF), radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared communication, IrDA, third-generation (3G) cellular data communications, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), or other wireless communication networks or the like may be used as the communications protocol. The gaming machines 102-106 may be physically connected to each other or one or more networks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radio waves or other media.
The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings should be broadly interpreted to include not only systems in which remote storage devices are coupled together via one or more communication paths, but also stand-alone devices that may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that have storage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a “physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised of the data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across all physical networks. A “network,” as used herein, may also include a network of “virtual” servers, processes, threads, or other ongoing computational processes which communicate with each other, some or all of which may be hosted on a single game machine which may provide information to client servers, processes, threads or other ongoing computational processes on that same game machine, other game machines, or both.
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In another aspect of the invention, additional gaming machines may be grouped into gaming banks throughout a casino or other establishment. For example, additional gaming machines such as gaming machines 114 and 116 may be networked together through a network 118. Gaming machines 114 and 116 may be located at a second different location than gaming machines 102-106. Gaming machines 114 and 116 may also be operatively coupled to central server 108 through network 118 and to gaming machines 102-106 via network 112. Furthermore, additional gaming machines may be installed at a third location such as gaming machines 120-124 and may also be networked and operatively coupled to central server 108 through network 127 and/or gaming machines 102-106 and/or gaming machines 114 and 116.
In an aspect of the invention, networking of gaming machines may enable a chosen gaming machine in the network to act as a random number server for all of the networked machines. In an embodiment, different networked machines may act as the random number server based on criteria such as current processing load of each gaming machine during a particular time period.
In an aspect of the invention, wireless handheld gaming machines 130 and 132 may be networked through a wireless network 138. Gaming machines 130 and 132 may be located at different locations than gaming machines 102-106, 114-116, and 120-124. Gaming machines 130 and 132 may be operatively coupled to a central server 108 through network 138 and/or gaming machines 102-106 and/or gaming machines 114-116 and/or gaming machines 120-124.
Gaming machines 102-106 may also include various input devices (226, 228, and 230). The input devices 226, 228, and 230 may include keyboards, track balls, mice, joy sticks, buttons, bill and coin validators, or touchscreens. Gaming machines 102-106 may also include card readers (232, 234, and 236) to enable a player to identify themselves for game tracking purposes.
In
In an aspect of the invention, a group of ready numbers 308 may be determined and displayed on user interface 302. The ready numbers 308 may represent numbers that have not been randomly selected over a period of time or numbers which have not been selected as frequently as other numbers over a period of time. For example, a period of time may comprise an amount of time measured from the last reset of the game machine.
In an aspect of the invention, a player may insert their playing card into a card reader of the gaming machine. The insertion of the playing card may reset the time period for calculation of ready numbers. Those skilled in the art will realize that alternative time periods may be used in calculating ready numbers.
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In another aspect of the invention, a set of hot numbers 318 may be displayed on user interface 302. The hot numbers 318 may represent numbers that have been recently selected more that other numbers in random outcome sets over a period of time. For example, a period of time may comprise an amount of time measured from the last reset of the game machine.
In an aspect of the invention, a player may insert their playing card into a card reader of the gaming machine. The insertion of the playing card may reset the time period for calculation of hot numbers. Those skilled in the art will realize that alternative time periods may be used in calculating hot numbers.
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In another aspect of the invention, a 5 by 5 matrix 702 may be used in which a player may select up to a maximum of five numbers per game. Those skilled in the art will realize that numerous different matrix configurations may be used in accordance with various aspects of the invention, such as small as 5 by 5 (in
In a further embodiment, the use of the combination of hot and ready numbers may be used for additional casino games other than Keno. In
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While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.
