This invention relates to wagering games, gaming machines, gaming systems, and associated methods. More particularly, the invention relates to out-of-revenue tournament gaming machines, systems, and related methods.
Various gaming systems have been developed to provide in-revenue and out-of-revenue gaming machines and systems. Most of those systems are either dedicated to in-revenue operation or out-of-revenue operation. An example of in-revenue operation is where play at a gaming machine or system is initiated with a money (or equivalent) wager by a player. An example of out-of-revenue operation is where game play at a gaming machine or system does not require a wager (e.g. tournament or free play).
There continues to be a need for innovative methods and gaming systems which provide convertibility between in-revenue and out-of-revenue gaming operation. There is also a need for innovative methods and systems for presenting tournament games in different ways to generate player interest and excitement.
Methods, systems, devices, and software products are provided for slot machine competitions to allow bettors to bet on slot machine competition players and events. A bettor interface is provided showing a group of currently remaining gaming machines in the competition and enabling selection of machines to wager upon, and a wagering interface display area presents a group of potential wagers to be made. At least some of the potential wagers presented with a target point total and calculated wager odds of reaching said target point total. Fixed or portable devices may be enabled to connect to the network to access the competition wager interface and allow bettors view, make selections, and activate wagers on the eventual outcome of the competition through the competition wager interface.
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, a convertible in-revenue and out-of-revenue gaming system includes a control center server connected to automatically convert operating modes and control in-revenue and out-of-revenue operations of one or more banks of gaming machines. A competition wagering controller provides an interface for bettor devices to place wagers on competition players. Each gaming machine may include a video camera connected to provide a live video feed to one or more displays, such as during competition play when live video feed of the players and the player competition positions may be driven in real-time to an overhead display by the control center server operating in a competition controller mode.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of illustrative embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.
Systems, methods, devices, and program products are described herein including a bettor interface allowing bettors to wager on the outcome of a slot tournament. The preferred version is embodied as an improvement to the inventions described in the above-cited related application titled “Convertible In-Revenue And Out-Of-Revenue Gaming System And Method With A Real-Time Streaming Video Feed And Display”. As such, the features herein may be used in any working combination or subcombination with the features of the related applications above, for example U.S. Pat. No. 9,443,394. The details set forth in the related applications will not be repeated except as necessary to set forth the present invention, however the related applications are incorporated by reference above in this disclosure.
Referring to
An example competition wager interface 1000 (“bettor interface 1000”) is show in
Presenting the bettor interface 1000 also includes causing display of a third wagering interface display area 1003 shown with the label “Wager Here”, which is controlled by the selection of the one or more currently remaining gaming machines indicators 1004, and presenting a group of potential wagers 1005 to be made on the eventual outcome of the competition, at least some of the potential wagers presented with a target point total and calculated wager odds of reaching said target point total. The displayed odds are preferably adjusted as the tournament progresses to reflect the current point totals reached by each player. This has the advantage of allowing the bettor interface 1000 to provide bettors with ability to wager as the tournament progresses, a more exciting scenario than merely wagering before the tournament starts on a desired player to win or achieve a certain point goal. The displayed odds in items 1005 are based at least on the current point score of the selected tournament player. The displayed odds at items 1005 may also be based on the credits wagered on particular players, providing ability to “make book” or adjust the payouts available for a particular wager based on the risk to the casino operator. Further, while the depicted third wagering interface display area 1003 shows items 1005 with available wagers and odds for reaching a designated point total, other types of wagers may be available, such as “win”, “win, place, or show”, or other wagers such as achieving certain competition or tournament goals particular to the particular competition or tournament conducted.
The depicted process at blocks 2010 through 2014 shows how process is enabled on at least one handheld device or other connected to the network to access the competition wager interface to allow a bettor on the device to view, make selections, and activate wagers on the eventual outcome of the competition through the competition wager interface. Multiple bettors preferably bet on each tournament, and there may be more bettors than tournament players. At block 2010, the bettor selects as desired player/machine by selecting an indicator 1004, in response to which the process updates the third wagering interface display 1003 at block 2011 to show the point totals for multiple available wagers for the selected players, such as the totals shown in
A bettor selects a desired wager from the third wagering interface display 1003, and may be required to confirm placing a wager or activate a separate “place wager” button 1006 to enter the wager at block 2014. When a wager is activated at block 2014, the process continues to update all the bettor interface areas at block 2016 and allows further selections and wagers to be entered. The process also updates the bettor's balances and amounts wagered, such as those amounts on line 1007 of
In some versions, the process may also provide that the third wagering interface display area includes a graphical meter presented behind or beside the presentation of the group of potential wagers, such as the meter 7002 shown in
The block diagram generally shows an example networked gaming system 3700 which may be any suitable system such as those described in the related applications cited above. The system is associated with one or more gaming facilities is shown including host server 3707 connecting to a set of backend servers and floor server 3705 which in turn connects to a network of gaming machines 103 including one or more convertible in-revenue/out-of-revenue gaming systems 100 in accordance with one or more embodiments. Each of the convertible in-revenue/out-of-revenue gaming systems 100 includes control center server 101, one or more banks of the networked gaming machines 103, and overhead display 111 (optionally) operably connected to automatically convert the gaming operating mode of each of the banks from in-revenue to out-of-revenue and vice-versa as described above.
As shown in
In one or more embodiments, game server 3721 may provide server-based games and/or game services to network connected gaming devices, such as gaming machines 103 (which may be connected by network cable or wirelessly). Progressive server 3710 may accumulate progressive awards by receiving defined amounts (such as a percentage of the wagers from eligible gaming devices or by receiving funding from marketing or casino funds) and provide progressive awards to winning gaming devices upon a progressive event, such as a progressive jackpot game outcome or other triggering event such as a random or pseudo-random win determination at a networked gaming device or server (such as to provide a large potential award to players playing the community feature game). Accounting server 3709 may receive gaming data from each of the networked gaming devices and perform audit functions. Player account server 3708 may maintain player account records and persistent data such as accumulated player points. While
In one or more embodiments, networked gaming system 3700 may include web server 3711 connected to a public web network, such as worldwide web (WWW) network 3713. Community Website 3715 may externally connect through network 3713 to web server 3711 through a firewall in order to provide access by networked gaming system 3700 to player information, such as a player's community website game or associated points obtained from non-wagering gaming activity. Such a service, for example, may be offered to a casino operator on a fee basis or through a subscription service with the community website provider, whereby a casino operator may access a player's records, view a player's activity at community website 3715, and choose, based on the player's activity, to offer or provide promotional credits or incentives to the player at the casino operator's facilities. Community website 3715 may be the host server for a competition wager interface presented to internet connected devices such as device 3733. In such cases, a secure protocol is preferably established through the firewall to allow internet based bettors to access the tournament wagering controller 3734 capabilities.
Community website 3715 may offer players a variety of games to play including a tournament or other competitive game which may be operated substantially as disclosed above. For example, the website may include a menu of available games which may include tournament or tournament qualifying games that may be played at the request of a player-visitor to community website 3715. In these examples, one or more tournaments or competitions may be programmed, such as through control center server 101 as substantially described herein or a server hosting community website 3715, and made available for participants to enroll (such as by paying a fee using a credit card or, if no fee is required, by simply entering a player name) and play a game associated with a selected tournament or competition during an active period of the selected tournament or competition, such as during a 24 hour, 1 week, or 1 month period. The scores achieved by each of the participants during the active tournament or competition period may be posted on a leader board that may be displayed on Community Website 3715. Each participant may play the associated game on personal computer 3731 or wireless device 3733, such as an iPad® tablet or, an iPhone® or Blackberry® phone, personal data assistant, etc. which may connect through internet 3713 to Community Website 3715. Each participant may use the associated keyboard or touchpad of their internet device as a user interface to perform the functions of a button deck on gaming machines 103 and view the game through the associated display. In one or more embodiments, in addition to the conventional game play initiated by pressing the play button (e.g. ‘enter’ button on player keyboard), random or pseudo-random interactive bonus features may display on or about the game display and player may have the opportunity to score additional points by popping or selecting one or more items such as by pressing the ‘space’ bar.
While playing, if the participant has a video camera operational, the participant's video stream may be displayed on a webpage of Community Website 3715 along with a real-time updated score and position on the leader board. Also, any other participants who may be playing in the selected tournament or competition, may have their video, score, and position displayed either simultaneously with the other participants or on a rotational basis. Depending upon the size of the participant's display, a portion of the player's screen may be used for the game while another portion may show the leader board and participant videos. The bettor devices 3733 and 3715 may also include a camera for showing video of the bettors celebrating their wins on the leader board.
The tournaments or competitions as described may be played on demand by a participant, in which case players may be provided a window of time in which to play in the tournament or competition, such as a day, week, or month. Alternatively, the tournaments or competitions may be scheduled as described herein by programming such as through the use of control center server 101 and played on a scheduled basis with a fixed start and stop time. Tournaments or competitions may be played in sessions or at one time. Tournaments or competitions may include several heats, such that winners from sessions in a first heat may advance to play in a second heat and so forth until a final heat is completed to determine the winners.
One example of an out-of-revenue operational mode upon which bettors may bet through interface 1000 may be a tournament event (such as shown for example in
Throughout the tournament event, leader board 601 may be displayed on a real-time basis to present tournament standings and live video feed 603 may be displayed to present player reactions on overhead display 111. Leader board 601 may also be updated to show total wagers placed on each player by bettors. During tournaments, the player's video may be displayed for a certain amount of time along with their current position. The video feed may then be switched so that overhead display 111 shows live video of another player participating in the tournament. In one implementation, video of all players in the tournament, or some subset such as the top five players, may be serially displayed on overhead display 111. That is, video of the first place player is displayed for a time, then switched to the second place player, then the third place player and so forth, returning to video of the first place player upon completion of showing all or the designated subset of players. Also, some implementations may cause the video displayed at overhead display 111 to be switched when there is a change in rankings of the players in a tournament. For example, the video displayed at overhead display 111 may be switched to live video of the new first place player when a lower ranking player overtakes the leader to become the new first place player. At the completion of a tournament the winner's video may be shown on overhead signs with a celebratory message. In one or more instances, a player may opt for anonymity while playing. In one or embodiments, the player may select a player avatar from a set of available avatars and/or a pseudonym which may be displayed in place of a live video feed of the player. Further, at the conclusion of a tournament, or when a player reaches a milestone on which bettors have bet, the leader board may be update to indicate celebratory messages telling the player that designate bettors have won their bets based on the players progress. Video of the bettors may also be shown to encourage and thank the player for achieving the milestone. Generally the processes described above may also include simultaneously displaying a leader board at a respective display system of at least one of the networked gaming machines converted to the competition operating mode, the leader board including current relative positions of participants in the group play, the leader board further including an indication of how much bettor wagering is backing the respective participants in the group play.
Referring to
In one or more embodiments, video feed may be delivered to each of displays 113 during an event to show video feeds of each of the participating players, such as by cycling every five seconds to rotate real-time or quasi-real-time images of the players, and/or to show a video feed of the respective player during the course of the event.
In one or more embodiments, the player video feeds and the leader board may be broadcast to wireless devices, such as cellular phones. For example, a gaming facility or operator may maintain a website server and website, enabling individuals to dial- or log-in to the website to receive audio-visual broadcasts of events occurring within the facility. The website server may receive updates through the network of various events that may be occurring simultaneously and update web pages associated with the website, enabling visitors to the website to view streaming and fixed content. The website may be maintained through a controlled-access intranet or broadly accessible internet service. In the case of controlled-access, each patron of a gaming facility may be provided a temporary username and password, such as may be provided during a patron's stay at a resort associated with the gaming facility. Patrons may thereby use their remote wireless device to enroll in a gaming event and pay an entry fee, monitor their time to attend the gaming event, and monitor their position within a gaming event in the case where there are more than one session or round associated with the gaming event.
In one or more embodiments, the invention further may be embodied as one or more tangible nontransitory computer readable medium containing program code instructions executable for providing the processes described above. Such program code may be executable by the systems described above, such as the tournament controller or a tournament wagering controller, alone or in combination with related client program code. Other suitable systems may also execute the program code. Further, the invention may be embodied as a mobile or fixed terminal device programmed to interact with the tournament wagering controller 3734 to provide the bettor interface 1000 according to the various embodiments herein.
Referring generally to the forgoing description and to the following claims, as used herein the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, that is, to mean including but not limited to. Any use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another, or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. Rather, unless specifically stated otherwise, such ordinal terms are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term).
The term “each” may be used in the following claims for convenience in describing characteristics or features of multiple elements, and any such use of the term “each” is in the inclusive sense unless specifically stated otherwise. For example, if a claim defines two or more elements as “each” having a characteristic or feature, the use of the term “each” is not intended to exclude from the claim scope a situation having a third one of the elements which does not have the defined characteristic or feature.
The above described example embodiments are intended to illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit the scope of the invention. Various other embodiments and modifications to these preferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/706,882, filed Dec. 9, 2019, entitled “Wagering System Including Tournament Mode And Third Party Bettor Interface,” which application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/716,067, filed Sep. 26, 2017, entitled “Wagering System Including Tournament Mode And Third Party Bettor Interface,” which application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/687,792, filed Aug. 28, 2017, entitled “Gaming System and Method With a Real-Time Streaming Video Feed and Display,” which application is continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/263,044, filed Sep. 16, 2016, entitled ‘Convertible In-Revenue And Out-Of-Revenue Gaming System And Method With A Real-Time Streaming Video Feed And Display’ (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,747,754), which application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/925,660 filed Jun. 24, 2013, and entitled “Convertible In-Revenue and Out-of-Revenue Gaming System and Method with a Real-Time Streaming Video Feed and Display” (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,443,394) which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/241,043 filed Sep. 22, 2011, and entitled “Convertible In-Revenue and Out-Of-Revenue Gaming System and Method With A Real-Time Streaming Video Feed and Display,” (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,469,788), which claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 61/388,590 filed Sep. 30, 2010, entitled “Convertible In-Revenue and Out-Of-Revenue Gaming System and Method With A Real-Time Streaming Video Feed and Display,” and U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 61/405,652 filed Oct. 22, 2010, having the same title. The entire content of each of these applications is incorporated herein by this reference. This application also claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), of U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 62/400,047 filed Sep. 26, 2016, entitled “Wagering System Including Tournament Mode and Third Party Bettor Interface.” The entire content of this application is incorporated herein by this reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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20050181856 | Cannon | Aug 2005 | A1 |
20090325686 | Davis | Dec 2009 | A1 |
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20210312765 A1 | Oct 2021 | US |
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61405652 | Oct 2010 | US | |
61388590 | Sep 2010 | US |
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Parent | 16706882 | Dec 2019 | US |
Child | 17352208 | US | |
Parent | 15716067 | Sep 2017 | US |
Child | 16706882 | US | |
Parent | 15263044 | Sep 2016 | US |
Child | 15687792 | US | |
Parent | 13925660 | Jun 2013 | US |
Child | 15263044 | US | |
Parent | 13241043 | Sep 2011 | US |
Child | 13925660 | US |
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Parent | 15687792 | Aug 2017 | US |
Child | 15716067 | US |