Patent Grant
9123211
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to gaming apparatus and methods and, more particularly, to wagering games in which a second spin/play in an advantageous state as compared to a preceding spin/play has wager levels restricted by or that are a function of a wager level selected for the preceding spin/play. An outcome of the second spin/play is at least partially determined by an outcome of the preceding spin/play.
Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Therefore, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to continuously develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a gaming system comprises one or more input devices, one or more display devices, one or more processors, and one or more memory devices storing instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager, the wager being selected from at least one wager amount, the at least one wager amount being a function of a previous wager associated with an immediately preceding wagering game. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a wagering game on the one or more displays, the wagering game being in an advantageous state relative to the immediately preceding wagering game. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display an outcome of the wagering game on the one or more displays, at least a portion of the outcome being enhanced by an outcome of the immediately preceding wagering game.
According to another aspect of the invention, a gaming system comprises one or more input devices, one or more display devices, one or more processors, and one or more memory devices storing instructions. When executed by the one or more processors, the instructions cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the one or more input devices, a first input indicative of a first wager. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a first play of a wagering game on the one or more displays and display a first outcome of the first play on the one or more displays. The instructions further cause the gaming system to, in response to an occurrence of a predetermined event during the first play, place a subsequent second play of the wagering game in an advantageous state. The instructions further cause the gaming system to receive, via at least one of the one or more input devices, a second input indicative of a second wager, the second wager being selected from at least one wager amount, the at least one wager amount being a function of the first wager. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a second play of the wagering game on the one or more displays. The instructions further cause the gaming system to display a second outcome of the second play, at least a portion of the second outcome being associated with the predetermined event of the first play.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method in a gaming system comprises receiving, via at least one of one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager, the wager being selected from at least one wager amount, the at least one wager amount being a function of a previous wager associated with an immediately preceding wagering game. The method further comprises displaying, on at least one of one or more display devices, a wagering game on the one or more displays, the wagering game being in an advantageous state relative to the immediately preceding wagering game. The method further comprises displaying, on at least one of the one or more displays, an outcome of the wagering game, at least a portion of the outcome being enhanced by an outcome of the immediately preceding wagering game.
According to another embodiment of the invention, one or more physical machine-readable storage media include instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations. The operations include receiving, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager, the wager being selected from more than one wager amounts, the more than one wager amounts being a function of a previous wager associated with an immediately preceding wagering game. The operations further include displaying a wagering game on the one or more displays, the wagering game being in an advantageous state relative to the immediately preceding wagering game. The operations further include displaying an outcome of the wagering game on the one or more displays, at least a portion of the outcome being enhanced by an outcome of the immediately preceding wagering game.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, computer readable storage media is encoded with instructions for directing a gaming system to perform the above methods.
Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. For purposes of the present detailed description, the singular includes the plural and vice versa (unless specifically disclaimed); the words “and” and “or” shall be both conjunctive and disjunctive; the word “all” means “any and all”; the word “any” means “any and all”; and the word “including” means “including without limitation.”
Referring to
The gaming terminal 10 illustrated in
Input devices, such as the touch screen 18, buttons 20, a mouse, a joystick, a gesture-sensing device, a voice-recognition device, and a virtual input device, accept player input(s) and transform the player input(s) to electronic data signals indicative of the player input(s), which correspond to an enabled feature for such input(s) at a time of activation (e.g., pressing a “Max Bet” button or soft key to indicate a player's desire to place a maximum wager to play the wagering game). The input(s), once transformed into electronic data signals, are output to a CPU for processing. The electronic data signals are selected from a group consisting essentially of an electrical current, an electrical voltage, an electrical charge, an optical signal, an optical element, a magnetic signal, and a magnetic element.
Turning now to
The CPU 30 is also connected to an input/output (I/O) bus 36, which can include any suitable bus technologies, such as an AGTL+ frontside bus and a PCI backside bus. The I/O bus 36 is connected to various input devices 38, output devices 40, and input/output devices 42 such as those discussed above in connection with
The external system 48 includes, in various aspects, a gaming network, other gaming terminals, a gaming server, a remote controller, communications hardware, or a variety of other interfaced systems or components, in any combination. In yet other aspects, the external system 48 may comprise a player's portable electronic device (e.g., cellular phone, electronic wallet, etc.) and the external system interface 46 is configured to facilitate wireless communication and data transfer between the portable electronic device and the CPU 30, such as by a near-field communication path operating via magnetic-field induction or a frequency-hopping spread spectrum RF signals (e.g., Bluetooth, etc.).
The gaming terminal 10 optionally communicates with the external system 48 such that the terminal operates as a thin, thick, or intermediate client. In general, a wagering game includes an RNG for generating a random number, game logic for determining the outcome based on the randomly generated number, and game assets (e.g., art, sound, etc.) for presenting the determined outcome to a player in an audio-visual manner. The RNG, game logic, and game assets are contained within the gaming terminal 10 (“thick client” gaming terminal), the external system 48 (“thin client” gaming terminal), or are distributed therebetween in any suitable manner (“intermediate client” gaming terminal).
The gaming terminal 10 may include additional peripheral devices or more than one of each component shown in
Referring now to
In response to receiving an input indicative of a wager, the reels 52 are rotated and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with paylines such as paylines 58. The wagering game evaluates the displayed array of symbols on the stopped reels and provides immediate awards and bonus features in accordance with a pay table. The pay table may, for example, include “line pays” or “scatter pays.” Line pays occur when a predetermined type and number of symbols appear along an activated payline, typically in a particular order such as left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top, etc. Scatter pays occur when a predetermined type and number of symbols appear anywhere in the displayed array without regard to position or paylines. Similarly, the wagering game may trigger bonus features based on one or more bonus triggering symbols appearing along an activated payline (i.e., “line trigger”) or anywhere in the displayed array (i.e., “scatter trigger”). The wagering game may also provide mystery awards and features independent of the symbols appearing in the displayed array.
In accord with various methods of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system in accord with the present concepts, the wagering game includes a game sequence in which a player makes a wager and a wagering game outcome is provided or displayed in response to the wager being received or detected. The wagering game outcome is then revealed to the player in due course following initiation of the wagering game. The method comprises the acts of conducting the wagering game using a gaming apparatus, such as the gaming terminal 10 depicted in
In the aforementioned method, for each data signal, the CPU (e.g., CPU 30) is configured to process the electronic data signal, to interpret the data signal (e.g., data signals corresponding to a wager input), and to cause further actions associated with the interpretation of the signal in accord with computer instructions relating to such further actions executed by the controller. As one example, the CPU causes the recording of a digital representation of the wager in one or more storage media (e.g., storage unit 44), the CPU, in accord with associated computer instructions, causing the changing of a state of the storage media from a first state to a second state. This change in state is, for example, effected by changing a magnetization pattern on a magnetically coated surface of a magnetic storage media or changing a magnetic state of a ferromagnetic surface of a magneto-optical disc storage media, a change in state of transistors or capacitors in a volatile or a non-volatile semiconductor memory (e.g., DRAM), etc. The noted second state of the data storage media comprises storage in the storage media of data representing the electronic data signal from the CPU (e.g., the wager in the present example). As another example, the CPU further, in accord with the execution of the instructions relating to the wagering game, causes the primary display 12, other display device, or other output device (e.g., speakers, lights, communication device, etc.) to change from a first state to at least a second state, wherein the second state of the primary display comprises a visual representation of the physical player input (e.g., an acknowledgement to a player), information relating to the physical player input (e.g., an indication of the wager amount), a game sequence, an outcome of the game sequence, or any combination thereof, wherein the game sequence in accord with the present concepts comprises acts described herein. The aforementioned executing of computer instructions relating to the wagering game is further conducted in accord with a random outcome (e.g., determined by a RNG) that is used by the CPU to determine the outcome of the game sequence, using a game logic for determining the outcome based on the randomly generated number. In at least some aspects, the CPU is configured to determine an outcome of the game sequence at least partially in response to the random parameter.
Referring now to
The game screen 60 of
According to the embodiments described herein, the occurrence of a predetermined event during a spin/play of a preceding wagering game places a subsequent spin/play of the wagering game in an advantageous state. In the illustrated embodiment of
It is contemplated that any other suitable type of predetermined event(s) of the preceding spin/play may also trigger an advantageous state of the subsequent spin/play of the wagering game. Such predetermined events may include, but are not limited to, achieving a particular symbol combination, achieving a predetermined number of symbols in a scatter-pay outcome (e.g., anywhere in the array of symbols), randomly selecting one (or more) of the symbols of the array to be WILD in the subsequent spin, a random number appearing on the display and indicating how many WILD symbols will be achieved in the subsequent spin/game, combinations thereof, or the like.
Attention may be drawn to the occurrence of a predetermined event triggering the advantageous state of the subsequent spin/play. For example, if a special standard symbol is achieved during play or in an outcome of a wagering game, the gaming machine may activate an audio and/or visual alarm including playing special sound effect and/or displaying a graphic on a display of the gaming machine. This may be desirable to call attention to the player, thereby enhancing the player's gaming experience. This may also be desirable to attract other players who may wish to receive a similar award and/or gaming experience. In another example, a time delay is added prior to beginning the subsequent game/spin in the advantageous state to “break the rhythm” of the player and to provide the player with additional time to increase his or her wager.
A spin/play in an advantageous state includes an increased likelihood that a winning outcome will be achieved during that spin/play of the wagering game. In the illustrated non-limiting example, during a subsequent spin, the special standard symbol 110 of the first outcome 107 (
In an advantageous state, the subsequent spin/play has a better/higher expected value as compared with the preceding spin (in which the predetermined event occurred), which was in a standard, non-advantageous state. Thus, a player will be incentivized to place a higher wager on the subsequent game(s)/spin(s). For example, some players might choose to bet a minimum amount when a wagering game is in a standard, non-advantageous state and then wish to greatly increase his/her bet to a maximum bet when an advantageous state is achieved. Such unlimited gamesmanship is generally undesirable for manufacturers and operators of wagering games. Accordingly, it may be desirable for such gamesmanship to be limited or restricted.
In some embodiments, the wager options of the subsequent advantageous-state spin/play may be restricted by the wager placed during the immediately preceding spin/play that triggered the advantageous state. Referring back to
Referring back to
According to one embodiment, since at least one additional special standard symbol 124a, 124b was achieved in the outcome 116 of the second spin/play, the wagering game may continue in an advantageous state. Thus, the player's possible wager amounts may be restricted to either 1× (200 credits) or 2× (400 credits) his or her previous wager of 200 credits (as shown in the “bet” meter 120 and the activated possible wager meters 106d, 106e of
In the illustrated embodiment, the player chose to wager the maximum wager of 400 credits, as shown in the “bet” meter 120 of
In some embodiments, the amount of consecutive advantageous-state spins/plays may be limited. For example, it may not be possible for another predetermined event (e.g., the appearance of special standard symbols) to occur during an advantageous-state spin/play; as such, the spin/play subsequent to an advantageous-state spin/play will necessarily be in a standard, non-advantageous state.
Additionally or alternatively, the amount of times a player may increase his or her wager based on previous spins may be restricted. In one non-limiting example, the player may be limited to incrementally increasing his or her wager based on the immediately preceding wager no more than three times in a row. Thus, in the illustrated example, since a special standard symbol 134 was achieved in the third outcome 130 of
As discussed with respect to the illustrated embodiments, achieving a special standard symbol in a game outcome may allow a player to wager an amount of credits outside of and/or greater than the typical range of possible wager amounts. Achieving a special standard symbol may allow the player to wager more credits than the player may wager during standard play by allowing the player to e.g., double the preceding wager amount. This may be desirable so that players who wagered, e.g., a maximum wager during the first spin may still achieve an advantage and not be limited to wagering the same amount for the subsequent spin/play.
Although the embodiments herein are described with respect to reel-based wagering games, the concepts may also be applied to other types of games including, but not limited to poker-type games, keno, bonus games, or the like.
Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims. Moreover, the present concepts expressly include any and all combinations and subcombinations of the preceeding elements and aspects.
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