The present invention relates to bingo-type games. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for assigning prizes in bingo-type games.
Casino gaming is currently one of the highest profile growth industries in the United States. Casino gamers lured by the opportunity to win cash, prizes, and bulging jackpots lay down billions of dollars annually. In an effort to attract new gamers and tempt traditional gamers with new exciting options, casinos are supplementing their traditional game offerings such as Blackjack, Craps, and Roulette with electronic games. Electronic games are now offered in many forms including slot machines, card games such as Blackjack and Poker, dice games, and numerous variations and combinations of the aforementioned. To keep the gamer's interest, these electronic games often incorporate unique lights, music, video displays, and interactive or competitive elements. In contrast, electronic lottery-type games such as Bingo or Keno progress slowly, offer fixed payouts, and do not present visual stimulation or the perception of competition to the gamer.
To increase player interest in a bingo-type game, U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,017 to Enzminger et al. for “Method for Assigning Prizes in Bingo-type Games” issued May 27, 2003 discloses a method for assigning a prize based on achieving one of several winning target patterns (e.g., a straight line, a diagonal line, the letter “X”). The Enzminger et al. method determines the probabilities in achieving a number of target patterns on a bingo card. Next, pattern sets (e.g., a target pattern, or group of target patterns) are associated with prize levels to give a desired prize distribution. Target patterns and associated probabilities are then mapped to different pattern sets to give the desired prize level probability. In this way, Enzminger et al. attempt to overcome the fixed payout disadvantage of prior art Bingo games, but fail to provide a fundamentally improved user experience because payouts are simply defined by the pattern sets at the onset of each game session.
However, to keep a Bingo player's interest or attract new players, the game must offer more than a variety of different prize distributions. Moreover, Enzminger et al. teach a method with a fixed number of drawn balls. Therefore, the method violates a fundamental rule of Bingo in which there must be at least one winner. Additionally, the method relies on the player remembering a number of different patterns which make it difficult to recognize when the player has won. What is needed is to offer a player the perception of challenge and competition along with a method of assigning prizes that is simple to indicate and easily understood.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a system and method for assigning prizes in bingo-type games that overcomes the shortcomings associated with the prior art. Aside from the method of assigning prizes, the present invention provides for a way to make the bingo gaming experience more exciting for a player by presenting the perception of challenge and competition.
The present described system and method provides for improved user experience in connection with bingo-type games. Bingo games traditionally have fixed predetermined prizes. Therefore, to enhance a bingo game's appeal, a system and method for assigning prizes based on the number of balls drawn for a player to win is disclosed. Additionally, the disclosed system and method includes elements that provide excitement and stimulation to a player such as competitive play with opponents.
An electronic bingo gaming system includes a game ID manager and a predetermined number associated of card managers. The game ID manager is connected to at least one card manager, and there is no maximum number of card managers that can be connected to a game ID manager. The game ID manager may also be linked to other game ID managers. The game ID manager functions in a server capacity to its associated card managers and is responsible for generating game IDs. Each generated game ID defines a random ball drawing sequence and pattern of card win spots (e.g., a line, a diagonal line, four corners). The game ID manager transmits a game ID to its associated card managers which generate the player and opponent card or cards. The player and opponent cards are data structures that are indicated on the card manager display with numbers as in traditional Bingo, or may alternatively include sets of symbols or indicia.
A player can choose to play one or more game cards by inserting coins, cash, credit card, or other cashless payment into the card manager. The player can determine the payout multiplier by selecting the number of credits to play per game. The player may also be able to select one or more of the following: card win spots, number of opponents and game cards per opponent, and game odds table. The card manager transmits the player selections to the game ID manager and receives a game ID in response. The card manager generates and displays the player and opponent cards with a pattern of win spots. A winning payout table corresponding to the game attributes (e.g., # player cards, # opponent cards, win spots, etc.) is also displayed dynamically or statically using a video display or mechanical device. The game operator may easily calibrate the game payout rate by varying the game attributes to maximize the players' interest and excitement.
The game ID manager “calls off” each drawn ball by transmitting the selection to the card manager. The card manager displays the drawn ball in a drawn ball sequence display area and marks any matched spots on the displayed player and opponent cards. As the ball drawing progresses, the card manager may include an indicator in the form of slot machine-type reels or a display to represent the size of the game payout. This game payout indicator adds an exciting element to the player and also improves the “feel” of the game by keeping the player appraised of the ongoing game status. The ball drawing continues until the player or opponent wins by marking all win spots.
Additional embodiments of the game may include a progressive jackpot where a predetermined percentage of every play is contributed to a jackpot. Since a number of game ID managers may be linked over a geographic area via a WAN, the progressive jackpot can grow quickly and substantially due to contributions from the multiple card managers. The game ID managers administer jackpot additions and payouts in communication with the card managers. This progressive jackpot offering adds an element of excitement and competition to a player.
Referring now to the drawings and especially
The game ID manager 100 is responsible for generating game IDs, each game ID defines a particular game with a ball drawing sequence and game card win spot arrangement. As shown in
Card manager 120 serves as a game interface for a player. As shown in
Each game card data structure includes an arrangement of one or more win spots determined by the game ID manager 100. Each spot of the spot arrangement has an indicia assignment chosen by the card manager microprocessor 300. Indicia assigned to the game card data structure by the card manager microprocessor 300 may be randomly generated, or alternatively, may be stored in the card manager RAM 302 or ROM 304 as a data structure mask.
The game cards are displayed on the card manager first visual display region 316 which includes a video controller 318 and display terminal 320. The first visual display region 316 may display additional information about the game, including the game ID number, number of player credits, number of credits played, and player winnings. If a progressive jackpot is included in the game system, the jackpot total may also be displayed in this area. The displayed game card may be a game card with a five-by-five matrix of number, as in traditional bingo, or alternatively may be any shape with a number of spots and indicia assignments, the indicia including alphanumeric characters, symbols or other.
As a game starts, the game ID manager 100 transmits an ordered sequence of draw indicia to its card managers 120 via the card manager links 280. The transmitted draw indicia correspond to indicia on the displayed game cards dealt to the player and other displayed game cards indicated on the card manager first visual display region 316. Drawn indicia are displayed on the card manager indicia table display region 322 which includes a video controller 324 and display terminal 326. The indicia table display region 322 displays the draw indicia as they are received from the game ID manager 100 in the order that they were received. The indicia table display region 322 displays discrete prize levels corresponding to ranges of drawn indicia required to match all of the win spots on a game card. It is obvious that more valuable prizes are assigned to an initial range of draw indicia since the probability of covering a given number of win spots with the first few drawn indicia is quite low.
For example, the player game card shown in
To determine the winning payout corresponding to a range of draw indicia, the card manager 120 first determines the prize levels and game payout rate. The game operator may select any number of prize levels for the game. An example game prize level and payout rate is shown in Table 1 below where the Payout Percentage for each prize level is calculated by:
where BP(n) is the Bingo win probability after n indicia are drawn, O is the prize level winning payout, TC is the total number of cards dealt in a game, and PC is the total number of cards dealt to a player. The Bingo win probability after n indicia are drawn is calculated by:
where D is the count of draw indicia to win a bingo game, W is the number of spots in the arrangement of spots, and T is the total number of draw indicia (e.g., 75 for traditional Bingo). The sum of the payout percentages gives the game payout rate.
If a player elects to play multiple game cards, the game variables need to be changed by the game so the game payout rate remains relatively constant. Table 2 shows an example payout percentage and game payout for a player with two game cards. If a player selects to play two game cards, and all other game variables are held constant, the game payout drops from 91.6% to 73.3%. Since a payout rate below 90% would be frustrating to a player and thus undesirable, the game may increase the payout rate by varying the winning payout per prize level, number of win spots, or both if a player elects to play multiple game cards.
If the winning payout per prize level is desired to remain constant, the game may vary the number of win spots on the game cards. Table 3 shows a payout percentage distribution and payout rate for a game where the game cards have five win spots. By decreasing the number of win spots per card from six to five, the game is easier to win and has a payout rate of more than one hundred percent. Now, if the game generated cards with five win spots thirty percent of the time, and game cards with six win spots the remainder of the time, the overall game payout rate will be 92.8% (0.3*1.38+0.7*0.733, using payout rates shown in Table 2 and 3), thereby keeping the game payout rate relatively constant.
Alternatively, if the number of spots per game card is desired to remain constant, the game may vary the prize payout per prize level. Table 4 shows a payout percentage distribution and payout rate for a game where the player selects to play two game cards each with six win spots. Since the quantity of win spots is desired to be constant, the game may now vary the prize payouts per each prize level to achieve an acceptable game payout rate. By comparing Table 2 and 4, by increasing the prize payouts for the middle four ranges, the game has increased the game payout rate from 73.3% to 92.9%.
As is obvious to those skilled in the art, in addition to the above described embodiments for maintaining a relatively constant game payout rate, a combination of the two may be employed in which the game card win spots and prize payouts are varied.
The card manager 120 may also include a speaker 314 for playing music or broadcasting synthesized speech during game play. Card manager 120 may also include a means to accept game payment or wagers via a bill acceptor 340, which may alternatively or additionally include means to accept coins, credit cards or payment vouchers. In connection with player control 306 pay button 308, a payout means 338 may include a voucher printer or means to distribute coins or tokens.
Referring now to
In
In
If instead an opponent wins the game and the player loses, if the game incorporates a progressive jackpot, a portion of the player's bet is transferred to the jackpot, which is administered by the game ID manager in block 434 and the card manager sends the game results to the game ID manager in block 436. In block 438 the card manager determines if the player has adequate credits to play another game. If so, the player may again select game options in
An example of the method illustrated in
The player selects to play a game again, buying a game with two credits. The new game ID is 1318773 and the player's remaining credit is 97. The game progresses with a ball drawing sequence of 38, 58, 11, 8, 64, 12, 40, 70, 19, 23, 62, 1, 13, 20, 30, 41, 50, and 61. The game ends when the eighteenth ball that has the value of 61 is drawn and the player card has bingo, having completed the marking of the four corner spots on the card. The player wins the game and the winning payout is calculated as the number of credits played for that game multiplied by the winning payout for the associated range of draw indicia to mark all of the winning spots. The player wins 150 credits.
In contrast to the above examples where a player competes with opponents, a player may select to play the game alone. If the game were traditional Bingo, a sole player would be assured to win every game by the time all the balls were drawn. Since having a winning player every game is undesirable to a game system operator, the game payout rate may be changed by assigning a zero prize payout to certain ranges of draw indicia. This way, in keeping with traditional Bingo, there may still be a winner for each game, but the winning prize payout may be zero. For example, prize payouts of zero may be assigned for draw indicia in the draw sequence after sixty balls are counted. Therefore, if the player marks all spots in the spot arrangement before sixty balls are counted, a non-zero prize is won, otherwise the prize won is zero.
In an alternative embodiment of the game system, a game ID manager may generate game IDs continuously. For example, ten per second, each game ID has an associated pre-defined drawing sequence of indicia. A database correlating the game ID and the drawing sequence of indicia is stored in each card manager. By combining a large pool of game IDs, for example, ten million, and rapid game ID generation, it is impossible for a player to predict a pre-defined drawing sequence for a specific game ID. This embodiment can simplify the communication between a game ID manager and its card manager. A game ID manager need only broadcast the generated game ID and, therefore, there is no drawn indicia information in the communication channel, and the game ID manager need not receive information from its card manager. In this way, the card manager does not need a random number generator and the game ID received by the card manager at the moment a player starts a game is used to retrieve the predetermined ball draw sequence.