Patent Application
20050261054
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gaming devices such as slot machines and, more specifically, to mechanisms for allowing users to wager on personal information such as birthdays, telephone numbers and zodiac signs.
B. Description of Related Art
Approximately 160,000 gaming devices were sold in 2003. The following quote is from IGT, a gaming device manufacturer, from their 2003 annual report, page 25:
As can be seen from the above, there is a need in the art for “more sophisticated interactive games”. Our research on betting habits of patrons of Pari-Mutual Harness Track Races found that a majority of these patrons used personal information, such as telephone numbers, license plate numbers, and birthdays to make their bets. This result is surprising in that there is a large amount of information on each horse, driver and trainer involved in each race. But for a majority of betting patrons, betting using personal information was more fun than analyzing the race itself and betting in a more “rational” manner. Enabling game device patrons to bet on personal information is obviously an improvement in the art.
Walker et al. 6,511,376 teaches a method and apparatus for using player input codes to affect the outcome of a game device. This input could be a lucky number derived from a player's personal information. Walker uses this player input to affect the outcome of a conventional game device. “The CPU retrieves a combinational algorithm from an algorithm database and then applies the combinational algorithm to the player number and the generated random number to form a combined value. The CPU looks up the combined value in a probability table to determine resulting reel positions.” This is an improvement over previous gaming devices with no player input. However a patron must convert his personal information into a number, which only modifies the results. This is obviously not as exciting as being able to wager directly on personal information, such as birthdays, telephone numbers and license plate numbers.
Stern 10/077,041 teaches a video slot machine apparatus and method wherein a player can wager directly on a number of his/her choice. This is obvious improvement over Walker, which allows a player to only indirectly wager with a number of his/her choice. Stern teaches that each reel should be identical to the set of selectable elements. For example, if a player were allowed to select from the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 then each reel would be identical and consist of just these elements. This method has a number of disadvantages.
Stern teaches away from each reel having a different set of elements. For example, Reel 1: January, February, March . . . December; Reel 2: 0, 1, 2, . . . 31; Reel 3: 00, 01, 02 . . . 99 for a Birthday game. In a similar fashion, Stern teaches away from a License Plate game where the first reel would have the names of all the states and the next six reels would have the numbers 0-9 and letters A-Z.
Stern teaches that each element on a reel has an equal chance of being randomly selected. For a License Plate game, each of six reels may be composed of 34 elements, the numbers 0-9 and letters A-Z. The odds of randomly hitting one particular plate number would be 1,544,805,416 to 1′. As this number would infrequently, at best, be matched, there is little entertainment value in this method.
Stern teaches away from eliminating certain results. In a Birthday game using Stern's teaching, a player could input their birthday, for example 05 17 51. The result from Stern could be a non-calendar date, for example 2255 51. An improved Birthday game would eliminate “illegal” results. Having an “illegal” result is no fun for a player, and considerably decreases the odds of a player winning. In a similar fashion, using Stern's teaching a Telephone game could produce a result of 000-000-0000 an obvious “illegal” phone number. An improved Telephone Game would eliminate non-assigned area codes.
Stern teaches away from Multi-Line play. In a Birthday Game, for example, a mother might want to wager on the birthdays of her children. Similarly, she might want to bet on her children's telephone numbers. There is an obvious benefit to be able to bet multiple lines.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved game devices, such as slot machines, which allow patrons to bet on personal information, such as birthdays, telephone numbers and license plate numbers.
Systems and methods consistent with the principles of this invention provide systems and methods for a gaming device with wagering on personal information.
One aspect of the invention is directed to a gaming device with wagering on personal information such as birthdays, anniversaries, telephone numbers, license plate numbers, birthstones, Chinese Lunar Calendar (Year of the Rat, Year of the Ox, etc.) and horoscope signs. Another aspect is directed to allowing multiple wagers at once, such as wagering on a plurality of birthdays at the same time.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward eliminating “illegal” results. For instance in a calendar date based game, any result for a day of the month higher than 31 would be an “illegal” number.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward having different sets of gaming elements in different positions. For instance in a calendar date based game, if the day of the month were represented by two positions, the first position would be the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3 while the second position would be 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward having different multiples of gaming elements in different positions. For instance, in a calendar date based game, if the days of the month were represented by two positions, the second position would be composed of the set 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or any multiples such as 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9 while the set for the first position would be composed of: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3 or multiples thereof. In this manner each date would have the same chance of being displayed.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward modifying the set of game elements in a particular position depending upon what is bet. For instance, in a calendar date based game, if a bet is made on a date in the month of April, the set of allowable results for the date position would be limited to 1-30. Another example would be in modifying the set of gaming elements in the year field in a calendar date based game. If the year field included the set 00-99 the chance of a result of a particular date would be 37,200 to 1, while if the year field was limited to the set of plus/minus ten the odds of a particular result would be 7,440 to 1.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward choosing a winning result based upon a random number. For example, if the odds of winning a particular bet were 7,440 to 1, a random number between 1-7,440 would be acquired. If that number matched a predetermined number a winner would be declared, without reference to reels, positions, etc.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a user interface that presents to a player a plurality of personal information to wager on. For instance in a calendar date based game, a player's, player's children's, pet's, or parent's birthdays may be displayed and a means for the player to choose which, if any, to wager on.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a user interface that displays a player's bet. For instance, in a calendar date based game, the date bet upon. Additionally a user interface that shows additional personal information about a wager. For instance, in a calendar date based game a player may bet upon a child's birthday. In this case, the child's name and picture may be displayed. Additionally a user interface that allows a player to quickly select a sub-set of their personal information to wager, for example, five of their children's birth dates for a five-line machine.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a gaming machine that has a plurality of betting lines and an equal number of discreet reels.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a user interface that verifies with a player that their bet is entered correctly. For example, a game device could convert a player's bet into speech.
Another aspect of the invention is directed toward a slot-machine-type, keno-type, bingo-type or user-selectable-elements-type gaming device
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate the invention and, together with the description, explain the invention. In the drawings,
The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents.
Game devices fall into two broad categories; electronic and mechanical. Game types fall into the broad categories of; slots, cards, keno, bingo, and player-selectable reveal. Although concepts consistent with the present invention are primarily described herein in relation to an electronic slot machine, these concepts may be implemented with other types of game devices and other types of games. One skilled in the art would appreciate that other game devices and games share similar functionality that could be incorporated into the concepts described here.
The functionality of the present invention requires a player to input wagering choices to the gaming device. The particular method of this input is irrelevant. Below are a few methods of player input to a gaming device. These methods are well known in the art and one skilled in the art would appreciate that other input devices share similar functionality that could be incorporated into the concepts described herein.
A keyboard, mouse or touch-screen would allow a player to input wagering choices gaming device 100 while the player is physically at device 100. A player may enter their wagering choices away from gaming device 100, either through the Internet, a stand-alone kiosk or an attended kiosk. This information could be stored on a network 170 attached to gaming device 100 accessed by a player by a swipe card or Personal Identify Number (PIN) number. Additionally this information could be stored solely on a player's swipe card.
For the sake of clarity the remaining description herein will be described with reference to a gaming device having both a touch-screen and a swipe card reader for player input.
The present invention describes wagering on Personal Information. Player enjoyment of the gaming experience is greater when the player can bet on personal information. One broad class of personal information is date related such as anniversaries, birthdays, etc. both for a player and his/her family and loved ones. Another broad category of personal information is based on derived symbols, such as Horoscope Signs, Birth Stones and Chinese Lunar Calendar. One skilled in the art will appreciate that many cultures have similar derived personal information. Another broad category of personal information is names. The last broad category of personal information is assigned, such as license plate numbers and telephone numbers.
For the sake of clarity the remaining description herein will be primarily described with reference to date-based personal information, although as mentioned above, the concepts of the invention are not limited to such information. One skilled in the art would appreciate that other personal information share similar functionality that could be incorporated into the concepts described herein.
Date-Based Slot Machines
Slot machines vary in the number of reels and the maximum number of bets available per play. The following are a few of the different combinations possible, discussed to illustrate, but not limit the current invention. One example would be a two-reel machine with the first reel showing months (
Slot machine players have the perception that multiple line slot machines are a zero/sum game. That is, if one line wins it is less likely that another line will win. This perception might make a player feel that playing multiple lines is in effect betting against him/herself. Another embodiment of our current invention would have an independent reel for each betting line. That is if there are six betting lines there would be six independent reels.
Wagering on personal information is by definition personal. For example, a player might want to wager only on a subset of their personal information, such as the birth dates of their three children. In this example the player might become unhappy seeing a winning date on a line not played. Therefore an improved gaming device may have the number of wagering lines displayed by the gaming device modified by player input.
One skilled in the art would appreciate that there are many different combinations of number of reels and maximum number of wagers allowed. While the present invention is described with reference to a few specific embodiments, the description is illustrative of the invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications to the present invention can be made to the preferred embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as described herein.
One method of eliminating “illegal” results consistent with the current invention would be to eliminate the illegal results based upon the wager. For example, in the three-reel slot shown in
The odds of hitting a month/date match in a month with 28 days is 336 to 1 (12×28) while the odds of hitting a month/date match in a month with 31 days is 372 to 1 (12×31). One skilled in the art would appreciate how the use of null (non-displayed) reel elements can be applied to the discussion below. One alternative method would be to have different winning payoffs, dependent upon how many days in the month that was wagered on.
One method of modifying results consistent with the current invention would be to bump the reel if an “illegal” result is recognized. In the above example, if reel 230 showed “February” and reel 231 showed “30”, reel 231 would be moved one element and checked again. In this example, reel 231 should show “31” and be moved one element forward again, which would result in a “legal” number of “1”.
This method of bumping solves the problem of “illegal” results in the above example, it does result in a new problem of “February 1” being statistically more likely to occur than any other date. One method to solve this new problem would be to randomize the location of the elements on the reel. Whereas in our current example the first five elements are “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” after randomizing, they might be “30,12, 5,1,19”. Using this method the location of elements on date reel 231 would have to be randomized before each play.
Most slot machines stop the left-most reel spinning first, then in order from left to right. One method to solve the six-reel problem is to take action depending upon the results of the first reel. For example, if reel 520 stops at a “1” the only legal results can be “0”, “1” or “2” for reel 421. One solution would be to keep reel 521 spinning until a legal result is obtained. Another solution would be to switch to another reel. For example, if reel 520 has a result of “0” then reel 602 is substituted for reel 521 and if reel 520 has a result of “1” then reel 603 is substituted for reel 521. In a similar fashion reel 611, 612 or 613 would be substituted for reel 523. By substituting reels, statistically accurate “legal” results can be obtained.
Another method to solve this six-slot problem is to use a two-digit reel for the month with the numbers 1-12 and a second two-digit reel for the day of the month numbered 1-31 to determine the results. These two digit reels would not be displayed to the player. Instead reels 520, 521, 522 and 523 would be virtual reels. The method these virtual reels are generated is not functionally important. They may be generated with reference to the two-digit reel. For example, use the first digit of the two-digit reel for in place of reel 520 and the second digit of the two-digit reel (plus a constant, such as “3”) in place of reel 521. So if two-digit reel was at “12” reel 520 would show “1” and reel 521 would show “5”.
We have discussed two problems above, “illegal” results and a statistically higher chance of a winning result by betting on months with fewer days. The odds of a month/date/2-digit year match are 37,200 to 1 for a month with 31 days (12×31×100). Upon a player making a wager and initiating a “spin” sequence a random number is generated to determine if a player has won. In this example a random number between 1-37,000 may be generated and if the generated number matches a predetermined number, the player wins. The player would see a virtual reel spin. This virtual reel could be random or pre-generated. If the end result is a match would be determined by the method described above.
When odds are discussed, it is for clarification purposes only and do not limit the current invention. A casino is required to have a certain percentage return, but that does not limit any individual wager. The variables of “chance of winning” and “payout” are adjustable by the owner of the gaming devices described.
We discussed above the disadvantages of “illegal” results. However non-“illegal” elements or additional legal elements may be added to a reel, such as cherries. This allows a game device owner to decrease the odds of a winning match while the player still perceives the game as fair. It also may allow for a payoff on other elements such as a cherry or cherries, which may be advantageous.
A wild card element may be added to a reel. A wild card element is the same as a match for that particular reel.
A subset of the total possible elements may be used for a reel.
Odds have been discussed above for clarification purposes only and do not limit the current invention. We have discussed methods for changing the odds of a successful match. Adding null elements increases the odds of a match. Adding elements such as cherries decreases the odds of a matching date. Adding wildcard elements increases the odds of a match. These and other methods discussed above and other methods known in the art allow our present invention to have great flexibility in setting odds for successful matches.
It is particularly important that a gamer believes a particular gaming device is fair. We discussed above payoff odds being different depending upon which month is wager on. That payoff information could be statically posted on a gaming device as is currently done. One alternative would be to have a separate display, showing the wager and the possible payoffs. Recent price decreases in high-resolution displays allows another alternative shown in
One iteration of the present invention stores a player's personal information. A subset of this information may be displayed to a player, determined by the type of game device. For example, a player's personal information may include, birth date, anniversary date, license plate number, telephone number and horoscope sign. When playing a date-based game, in this example only the player's birth date and anniversary date would be displayed as a choice for wagering.
When wagering on a date-based gaming device, a player may want to wager on subsets of his/her personal information. For example, on a multi-line machine a player may wish to wager on his/her children's birthdays. An improved user interface would allow these subsets, or “favorites”, to be selected easily, perhaps even displayed with a user chosen name, such as “children's bdays”. There is an obvious benefit in allowing a player to quickly select a wager. An additional improvement would be to allow multiple “favorites” to be picked at the same time.
It may be desirable to not show a line that a player is not betting on. For example, a player may have a “children's bdays” favorite with four date. If playing on a six-line machine, the display of the two unused lines may be suppressed.
The use of bonus reels is well known in the art. Some personal information such as horoscope signs and Chinese Lunar Calendar signs, state of residence (i.e. Alabama, Arkansas, etc.), etc. is well suited to be used as elements on a bonus reel.
Personal Information, such as dates, can also be used as a basis for playing traditional (non-slot) Keno-type games.
No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only one item is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used.
The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/569,298, filed May 7, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60569298 | May 2004 | US |
