STOLLERY, Anthony, Ross Glen (75A Oceanbeach Road, Mount Maunganui, 3116, NZ)
| WHAT WE CLAIM IS:
1. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines, characterised by the steps of:
(i) collecting activity data from a plurality of gaming machines, said activity data indicating the size of wagers made by players of individual machines, and
(ii) determining a trigger condition for a prize pool, and
(iii) allocating a portion of wagers made by players of the plurality of gaming machines to the prize pool, and
(iv) distributing at least a portion of the prize pool as rewards to at least two selected players when the trigger condition is satisfied,
wherein the rewards are distributed to selected players based on at least one activity based qualification condition.
2. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the activity data includes information regarding the size of wagers made by the players of individual machines, the time at which wagers are made, or the period which a particular machine has been operated uninterrupted.
3. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 1 or 2 wherein the activity data is used to reward players for characteristics of their playing.
4. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in any of Claims 1 - 3 wherein the activity data is employed to determine a wagering rate for a player.
5. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the wagering rate is a currency value for a specific period of time.
6. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in any of Claims 1 - 5, wherein the trigger condition for the prize pool is an activity based trigger condition.
7. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 1 - 6 wherein the portion of wagers allocated to the prize pool is a percentage value of each wager made by the players.
8 A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 1 - 7 wherein the prize pool has an advertised or currency value.
9. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the advertised currency value is less than the value of the prize pool.
10. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 1 - 9 wherein a primary jackpot prize is distributed to the player who's activity satisfies the trigger condition.
11. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines according to Claim 10 wherein the advertised currency value is equal to the primary jackpot prize.
12. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines according to Claims 1 - 11 wherein a consolation reward is distributed to selected players not receiving payment of the primary jackpot prize.
13. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines according to Claim 12 wherein the distribution of consolation rewards is based on the activity data of the selected players.
14. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 12 -
13 wherein the selected players each receive a consolation reward of a different value.
15. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 12 -
14 wherein the consolation rewards are distributed to the selected players in a hierarchy according to their activity data.
16. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as claimed in Claims 1 -
15 wherein after distribution of the rewards, a remainder currency value is retained within the prize pool.
17 A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines according to Claim 16 wherein the remainder currency value can is advertised or displayed as the next primary jackpot reward to be won.
18. A method of operating a plurality of gaming machines as substantially described herein.
19. Computer executable instructions configured to execute the steps of
(i) collecting activity data from a plurality of gaming machines, said activity data indicating the size of wagers made by players of individual machines, and
(ii) determining a trigger condition for a prize pool, and
(iii) allocating a portion of wagers made by players of the plurality of gaming machines to the prize pool, and
(iv) distributing at least a portion of the prize pool as rewards to at least two selected players when the trigger condition is satisfied,
20. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claim 19 wherein the activity data includes information regarding the size of wagers made by the players of individual machines, the time at which wagers are made, or the period which a particular machine has been operated uninterrupted.
21. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 or 20 wherein the activity data is used to reward players for characteristics of their playing.
22. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 21 wherein the activity data is employed to determine a wagering rate for a player.
23. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claim 22 wherein the wagering rate is a currency value for a specific period of time.
24. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 23 wherein the trigger condition for the prize pool is an activity based trigger condition.
25. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 24 wherein the portion of wagers allocated to the prize pool is a percentage value of each wager made by the players.
26. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 25 wherein a primary jackpot prize is distributed to the player who's activity satisfies the trigger condition.
27. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claim 26 wherein the prize pool has an advertised currency value.
28. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 27 wherein the advertised currency value is equal to the primary jackpot prize.
29. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claim 28 wherein a consolation reward is distributed to selected players not receiving payment of the primary jackpot prize.
30. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 29 wherein the distribution of consolation rewards is based on the activity data of the selected players.
31. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claim 30 wherein the selected players each receive a consolation reward of different value.
32. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 29 - 31 wherein the consolation rewards are distributed to the selected players in a hierarchy according to their activity data.
33. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 29 - 32 wherein after distribution of the rewards, a remainder currency value is retained within the prize pool.
34. Computer executable instructions as claimed in Claims 19 - 33 wherein the remainder currency value can is advertised or displayed as the next primary jackpot reward to be won.
35. Computer executable as substantially described herein. |
GAMING METHODOLOGY AND APPARATUS
STATEMENT OF CORRESPONDING APPLICATIONS
This application is based on the Provisional specification filed in relation to New Zealand Patent Application Number 549369, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a gaming methodology and apparatus. In particular the present invention may facilitate the delivery of consolation jackpot prizes to users of gaming machines dependent on each user's previpus activities in relation to such machines. Reference throughout this specification will also be made to the present invention being used in relation to slot machine based gaming systems, but those skilled in the art should appreciate that other applications are also envisioned and within the scope of the invention.
BACKGROUND ART
Jackpot offers are a useful enticement in gaming machine operations. Providing a jackpot to the users of a network or collection of gaming machines provides an extra level of interest to users aside from winning rewards on individual plays of a particular machine. However, the obvious problem associated with jackpot systems is that only one player can win the jackpot.
Existing forms of jackpots are also generally won through a random selection process in which a random number is generated for each player. An attempt is then made to match random numbers with a pre-assigned random value for the jackpot. With this technique there is no direct relationship between the activities of each player and their ability to subsequently trigger a jackpot win. Each player has an equal chance of winning the jackpot irrespective of their prior activities in
relation to any of the gaming machines of the network.
One attempt has been made to address some of these issues through the provision of consolation prizes which are distributed at the time at which a primary jackpot is won. These consolation prizes attempt to reward players for participating in the jackpot scheme. In particular, one such consolation prize system is described in US Patent Application No. US2004/0242320. This specification describes the provision of a consolation prize as a secondary jackpot.
Initially a jackpot is awarded to an individual player as a mini jackpot. However the group of users who did not win the main jackpot are given additional free plays for further chances to win the secondary jackpot.
Although this consolation scheme does provide players a further chance to win if they miss out on the main jackpot, players will still lose if the allocated free play does not win.
Furthermore, in such systems all users or players are treated equally irrespective of how long the players have been playing and the size or rate of wagers made over time. Valuable players who wager at high rates and play for extended periods of time are not given preferential treatment by such prior art consolation prize systems.
It would therefore be of advantage over the prior art to have an improved methodology and apparatus which could potentially address the above problems.
In particular it would be of advantage to have a gaming methodology and apparatus which offered an initial jackpot, where the jackpot is won based on the activity of players. Furthermore, improvements which subsequently delivered consolation prizes based on the previous activities of players would also be of advantage.
All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this
specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications are referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term 'comprise' may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term 'comprise 1 shall have an inclusive meaning - i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term 'comprised' or 'comprising' is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
•■ ' ■ Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a plurality of gaming machines, characterised by the steps of:
i) collecting activity data from a plurality of gaming machines, said activity data indicating the size of wagers made by players of individual machines, and
ii) determining a trigger condition for a prize pool, and
iii) allocating a portion of wagers made by players of the plurality of gaming machines to the prize pool, and
iv) distributing at least a portion of the prize pool as rewards to at least two selected players when the trigger condition is satisfied,
wherein rewards are distributed to selected players based on at least one activity based qualification condition.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a plurality of gaming machines substantially as described above wherein the trigger condition for the prize pool is an activity based trigger condition.
The present invention is adapted to provide a gaming methodology and can be used to operate a plurality of gaming machines. The present invention may include specific apparatus or components configured to facilitate the operational methodology of the present invention, where these components may be incorporated in one or more gaming machines or alternatively may be retrofitted to existing gaming machines.
The present invention aims to control or modify the operation of a collection of gaming machines, preferably which are connected together via a computer system network. In such instances a central control system may be employed both to receive information in conjunction with the present invention, and also to issue commands to affect the operation of each of the gaming machines provided within the collection. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the numbers of machines present within such collections, and/or the geographical distribution of such machines can vary substantially over a number of different embodiments and applications.
Reference throughout this specification will be made to the present invention being
used to operate or control the operation of a collection of gaming machines networked together at a single geographical location. However, those skilled in the art should appreciate that other arrangements and collections of gaming machines may also employ the present invention and reference to the above only throughout this specification should in no way be seen as limiting.
Preferably the present invention may be employed to distribute rewards to individual users or players of the gaming machines involved. The present invention may monitor the activities of such players and use the information collected to control how such rewards are distributed to individual or selected players.
In a preferred embodiment the present invention may receive or actively collect activity data from the set of gaming machines with which it operates. Such activity data may include information regarding the size of wagers made by the players of individual machines, and also preferably the times at which such wagers were made. This activity data may be employed to determine a wagering rate for a player, being a currency value for a specific unit period of time. Such activity data may be employed to assess the value of each player to the operator of the gaming machines - potentially to reward players for making high wagers, for a fast rate of play and/or for playing a gaming machine for extended periods of time.
As discussed above, preferably the present invention may manage a prize pool from which rewards may be distributed to players. Such a prize pool may have a trigger condition determined for it, where the satisfaction of this trigger condition will prompt the distribution of rewards to players.
In a preferred embodiment the trigger condition which prompts the distribution of rewards may be an activity based trigger condition. In such instances a value for a trigger condition may be calculated from the individual player or machine activity
data collected and may consist of, for example, the value of currency played, a measurement of how long each gaming machine has been played without interruption, or the speed or rate at which plays are completed. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that a number of different activity measures or calculations may be employed to determine a trigger condition, where such calculations have been made with respect to data available on the activities of the players involved.
In a further preferred embodiment, the trigger condition for a prize pool may be a currency value which funds directed to the prize pool must exceed prior to rewards being distributed.
In a preferred embodiment a prize pool may be filled or receive currency through the allocation of a portion of the wagers made by players of the gaming machines. This prize pool may be filled with a percentage value of each wager made by players using the collection of machines, where the wagering activity of all players will contribute towards the trigger condition value of the jackpot. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the exact proportions or percentage value of currency allocated to the prize pool may vary depending on the particular application in which the present invention is employed.
In this embodiment, the portion of wagers allocated to the prize pool may be divided into separate sub-pools. These categories include a pool providing an advertised or displayed currency value, a pool providing a remainder currency value, a consolation prize pool and a primary jackpot pool. In such embodiments the advertised currency value may be less than the total actual currency value associated with or present within the prize pool. The advertised currency value may be used to promote play on the network of gaming machines by indicating that the advertised prize pool value will be distributed as a single prize to the winner of a primary jackpot reward.
In such embodiments the actual currency value of the prize pool may therefore be greater than the advertised jackpot value to allow some currency to remain in the prize pool to pay out further consolation prizes to additional players. This may be that the total currency value of the sub-pools add to the total of the prize pool. Therefore, payment of a primary jackpot prize may not necessarily cause the prize pool to be emptied and it will still therefore contain a remainder currency value which can immediately be advertised as the next jackpot reward to be won. In effect the advertised jackpot can be won by a single player, and subsequently a new predefined, designated reset value may then be advertised for the next jackpot prize available.
Once the trigger condition of the prize pool has been satisfied, rewards can be distributed to at least two selected players based on an activity based qualification condition associated with each of the selected players. Such a qualification condition can indicate a characteristic of the player's behaviour over time to allow for the distribution of consolation prizes to one or more players who do not necessarily win a main reward distributed from the prize pool.
For example, in one preferred embodiment the player who's most recent wager tips the prize pool value over the trigger value may win a main or advertised jackpot reward to be distributed from the prize pool. One or more additional selected players may also receive smaller consolation rewards from the prize pool - depending on the strength of their previous activities in relation to the set of gaming machines.
For example, in a further preferred embodiment such consolation prize winning players may be selected by measuring the dollar rate at which players wager currency when playing the machines provided. In such instances players with higher average rates of wagering and higher values of wagers would potentially qualify for a consolation reward.
In some embodiments a threshold value for players' qualification conditions may be set to determine whether a player receives a consolation prize. In such embodiments all players with qualification condition values greater than the threshold activity level may qualify for the receipt of a consolation prize once a primary or main advertised jackpot prize has been won.
However, in other embodiments only a fixed number of consolation prizes may be distributed to the most valuable players using the gaming network. In such embodiments the values of qualification conditions associated with each player may be ranked and a fixed number of consolation prizes may be distributed.
In a preferred embodiment a hierarchy of rewards may be distributed once the trigger condition of the prize pool has been satisfied. For example, in such embodiments the sequential distribution of rewards may reduce in value for each subsequent player given a reward depending on the actual values associated with each player's qualification condition.
However, in other embodiments a flat value consolation prize may be distributed in combination with a main jackpot prize with an advertised currency value. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that various different arrangements or schemes for assigning values to jackpot and consolation prizes may be implemented in accordance with the present invention.
The present invention may provide many potential advantages over the prior art.
The present invention allows a jackpot scheme to be run in relation to a network of gaming machines which can also allot consolation prizes to players who do not win the main jackpot prize.
Furthermore, such consolation prizes may also be awarded to players which have the highest value to the operator of the gaming machine network. In particular, the
activities of all players on the network may be compared against one another for an assessment as to which players should receive a consolation prize when a main jackpot is won.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows a block schematic diagram of a gaming machine network and associated jackpot system controller provided in accordance with the present invention, and
Figure 2 shows a flowchart of processes executed and information managed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Figure 1 shows a block schematic diagram of a gaming machine network (1) and associated jackpot system controller provided in accordance with the present invention.
The network (1 ) consists of or incorporates a number of individual gaming machines (2a - 2h) which are connected or linked together via a computer networking channel (3). This channel may consist of or include physical cable wiring, a link to a telecommunications network, or wireless communication channels if required.
Each gaming machine (2) includes an activity reporting and jackpot control element (4) integrated within the construction of each machine. Each element (4) is connected to the network channel (3) to communicate with a jackpot system
controller (5). The jackpot system controller (-5) receives player activity data from each machine (2) and can also issue control signals to each machine to indicate a jackpot has been won and to trigger the release of prizes to winning players.
The jackpot system controller (5) assesses the activity data supplied by each gaming machine (2) to in turn trigger the release of jackpot prizes and also consolation prizes, as discussed in more detail with respect to figure 2.
Figure 2 shows a flowchart of processes executed and information managed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
The initial stage (A) of this process starts with the jackpot system controller (5) receiving wager activity data from a single gaming machine (2).
At stage (B) the system controller (5) stores this activity data in association with a machine identity for the gaming machine with which the wager involved was made. Data is stored in relation to each machine identity to indicate the size of wagers made by the machine's player, the rate at which such wagers were made, and preferably the time at which such wagers were made. This recorded information can be used to ascertain how long and how quickly a machine has been played consecutively, and also a dollar rate for the wagers made by a player of the machine over a specific or unit period of time. For example, such information may be used to determine that the current player of a machine wagers $20.00 every ten minutes of play.
At stage (C) a portion of the wager made is attributed or allocated to a jackpot prize pool. In the preferred embodiment shown 4% of every wager made is allocated to the jackpot prize pool. This jackpot prize pool also has a trigger condition currency value in a preferred embodiment between $800 and $1000. However, those skilled in the art should appreciate that this trigger condition may be arbitrarily set in any number of different embodiments depending on the gaming
regulatory environment involved.
At stage (D) the jackpot system controller (5) determines whether the trigger condition currency value for the prize pool has been exceeded or met by the portion of the wager allocated at stage (C). If the trigger condition has not been met the process returns to stage (A) to receive activity data relating to the next wager made on any of the machines of the gaming network.
If the trigger condition has been met by the most recent wager stage, (E) is completed to distribute a primary jackpot reward to the player of the machine which triggered the jackpot pay out. In a preferred embodiment the jackpot winner receives the advertised currency value of the jackpot.
Preferably the actual value of currency present within the prize pool may be greater than the advertised currency value of the jackpot. This means that the primary jackpot reward can be distributed to a single jackpot winning player while still retaining some remainder currency within the prize pool for distribution as consolation prizes, and also to start off the next subsequent round of jackpot rewards to be distributed.
Next, stage (F) is completed to assess which of the remaining machines in the network has the highest wagering rate over the last relevant period of play. The relevant period of play can be varied according to the requirements of the situation and an example of a suitable period is 10 minutes. Once this machine has been identified, stage (G) will be triggered to distribute a reward to the player of the identified machine.
In the following stage (H) the second highest wagering rate machine is identified, and a pay out is triggered through this machine at stage (I).
At stage (J) the third highest wagering rate machine is identified, and a pay out is
triggered to the player of this machine at stage (K).
The process of determining wagering rates and paying out consolation rewards may be repeated as desired by the operator of the gaming machines, distributing consolation rewards to players of value to the operator.
The exact value of such consolation rewards may also vary depending on the implementation provided of the present invention. In some embodiments the value of such consolation prizes may be a static currency value, or in other instances consolation prize values may consist of a percentage value of the actual value of the prize pool. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that such variable reward setting schemes are within the scope of the present invention.
Furthermore, in other instances such consolation rewards may not necessarily be distributed to the top three ranking players of the network based on wagering rates. In one alternative embodiment a threshold wagering rate value may be predetermined, with any player exceeding this rate at the time the jackpot is won qualifying for a consolation reward or prize.
The final stage (L) is then completed where the value of the jackpot prize pool is set to a predefined designated reset value and the jackpot system controller (5) returns to stage (A) to await the receipt of further activity information from the machines of the network. This predefined designated reset value will then allow a new jackpot value to be advertised to prospective players of the network, encouraging further wagers to win the next round of jackpot and consolation prizes on offer.
Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.
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