Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to jackpot awarding systems, controllers and methods of gaming. It particularly relates to techniques for implementing event-based jackpots for table games such as Blackjack and Poker.

Background of the Invention

Having a progressive jackpot associated with a casino table game is now widespread and features in most casinos worldwide. Typically, a physical bet sensing device is used to detect side bets made by players, said side bets contributing to an incrementing jackpot fund and confirming a player’s eligibility to win the jackpot. Hereafter, such table-based jackpots will be referred to as “side bet” jackpots.

Typically, side bet jackpots are triggered by either a specific predefined game outcome or by random means. The possibility of winning a jackpot draws more players to the casino game and encourages the players to play for longer as they hope to win the jackpot prize.

Jones, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,405) discloses a method and apparatus for including a progressive side bet jackpot component in a live casino table game. In addition to playing a live casino table game, each player makes an additional wager at the beginning of each hand that makes that player eligible to win all or part of a jackpot. If during the play of the hand, a player is dealt a predetermined arrangement of cards, the player wins a preselected percentage of the jackpot amount.

Australian Patent Application No. 2016202032 provides a method of awarding a house funded jackpot prize in a wager game having a plurality of different options for wagering on potential game outcomes. According to ‘032 a wager option having a particularly high house advantage (and thus corresponding low probability of occurring) is set as a jackpot prize trigger. Responsive to determining the prize trigger outcome, a house funded jackpot prize is awarded to each player that placed a wager on the wager option having the greater house advantage. The prize structure may be configured such that the jackpot prize is fully funded by the increase in revenue generated by additional wagers placed on the higher house advantage wager option and moreover the overall game revenue generated by the addition of the aforementioned prize structure is greater than if there were no house funded jackpot prize.

In the case of side bet jackpots (whether house or player funded), Typically, game event output signals are used to initiate contributions to the jackpot fund. Such game event signals are output from devices such as bet registration sensors, camera systems, RFID detection means, dealer input devices, card dealing shoes and so on.

Bet registration means are employed to detect a side bet consisting betting chips for use in generating the afore-described game event output signals. Reliability limitations of the current technology typically require a single betting chip to be placed on a sensing device to register the bet to contribute to the jackpot. Such registration means also typically require substantive modifications to be made to the gaming tables and the associated cost of such registration means can be prohibitive. The means can also be cumbersome to operate and prone to technical malfunction. Additionally, some suppliers of said equipment restrict access to data and output signals so they cannot be used for the purpose of initiating jackpot contributions.

While technologies utilising RFID and camera technology exist to detect players' bets on table games, such technologies are expensive and often not accurate enough to be used to detect jackpot side bets with a high degree of accuracy.

Another drawback in relation to implementing side bet jackpots is that certain games, such as Sic-bo and Roulette do not have fixed player seating making it difficult for the player to identify side bet registration devices.

Yet another drawback is that even the minimum valued chip in the casino may still be too high value for the side bet game to make it an attractive proposition for the player when taking into consideration the chances of winning.

A still further drawback is the additional burden placed on the dealer to manage the side bet jackpot game, communicate instructions to the players, collect the side bet game wagers, and so on. Side bet jackpots would be more attractive to some players if they could wager a small amount but the overhead of managing a high volume of low denomination chips for the casino makes it unattractive, as it will slow down the game.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with a first aspect there is provided a system for awarding a jackpot prize for a table-based wager game, the system comprising: at least one table on which the wager game is playable, each table implementing a table controller configured to record either a jackpot enabled or a jackpot disabled state for the table; a jackpot controller implementing a house funded prize pool triggerable by a predefined game event occurring on any one of the jackpot enabled tables and wherein the controller is configured to periodically increment the prize pool by a value dependent on the number of jackpot enabled tables as determined from the table controllers; and wherein, for each play of the wager game on a jackpot enabled table, a determination is made as to whether the predefined game event has occurred and wherein responsive to making a positive determination, the player(s) having achieved the predefined game event is awarded a prize from the house funded prize pool provided they placed a qualifying wager on the corresponding game.

In an embodiment the jackpot controller is electrically communicable with the table controller for receiving jackpot related communications.

In an embodiment the jackpot related communications comprise an indication of whether a player at the corresponding table has achieved the predefined game event.

In an embodiment the jackpot related communications comprise an indication of whether the table is jackpot enabled. In an embodiment the jackpot controller periodically polls each game controller to determine whether it is jackpot enabled.

In an embodiment the game controller at each table periodically sends a communication to the jackpot controller to provide the indication of whether the table jackpot enabled.

In an embodiment the prize pool is incremented at predefined fixed intervals determined by the jackpot controller.

In an embodiment responsive to awarding the jackpot prize, the prize pool is re-seeded to a non-zero house funded amount.

In an embodiment where the predefined game event is a predefined game outcome.

In an embodiment where the predefined game outcome would ordinarily result in a winning outcome for the player, the player is also awarded the ordinary prize.

In an embodiment the wager game is a card game.

In an embodiment the wager game is blackjack and wherein the predefined game event is achieving 3 Sevens of Diamonds comprising either a players’ first 3 cards dealt or a players’ first 2 cards dealt and the dealers’ upcard.

In an embodiment the jackpot is automatically enabled when the table is opened for play and the jackpot is automatically disabled when the table is closed for play.

In accordance with a second aspect there is provide a system for awarding a jackpot prize for a table-based wager game, the system comprising: a jackpot controller implementing a house funded prize pool triggerable by a predefined game event occurring on any one of a plurality of jackpot enabled tables and wherein the controller is configured to periodically increment the prize pool by a value dependent, at least in part, on the number of jackpot enabled tables; and wherein, for each play of the wager game on a jackpot enabled table, a determination is made as to whether the predefined game event has occurred and wherein responsive to making a positive determination, the player(s) having achieved the predefined game event is awarded a prize from the house funded prize pool provided they placed a qualifying wager on the corresponding game.

In an embodiment each jackpot enabled table causes the prize pool to be incremented by a set amount.

In an embodiment each jackpot enabled table is associated with a table type and wherein different table types are configured to cause the jackpot prize pool to be incremented by different amounts.

In an embodiment different table types are eligible for different jackpot prizes awarded from the prize pool. In accordance with a further aspect there is provided a system for awarding a jackpot prize for a table-based wager game, the system comprising: at least one table on which the wager game is playable, each table comprising: a means of determining tables that are jackpot enabled; for each play of the wager game, determining whether the resultant game outcome corresponds to a jackpot prize trigger outcome; and responsive to determining the jackpot trigger outcome, awarding a house funded jackpot prize to each player eligible to win the prize based on both having placed a bet confirming their eligibility, and achieving a game outcome matching the jackpot prize trigger outcome and wherein the jackpot prize increments by a predetermined amount, per jackpot enabled table, per a fixed predetermined interval of time.

In an embodiment contributions for all the participating tables are spread throughout the period until the next contribution is due, thereby causing the jackpot to increment in a smooth manner rather than periodical large contributions followed by a period of no contributions.

In another aspect there is provided a system for awarding a jackpot prize for a table-based wager game, the system comprising: at least one table on which the wager game is playable, each table implementing a table controller configured to communicate with a jackpot controller, the tables being either in a jackpot enabled state or jackpot disabled state; the jackpot controller implementing a house funded prize pool triggerable by a predefined game event occurring on any one of the jackpot enabled tables and wherein the controller is configured to periodically increment the prize pool by a value dependent on thr number of jackpot enabled tables; and wherein, for each play of the wager game on a jackpot enabled table, a determination is made as to whether the predefined game event has occurred and wherein responsive to making a positive determination and provided the player who achieved the predefined game event placed a qualifying wager on the corresponding game, the table controller is instructed to send a communication to the jackpot controller to indicate that the jackpot prize has been triggered.

In an embodiment the determination of whether any particular table is jackpot enabled or disabled is set by the jackpot controller. Alternatively, the table controllers may be configured to communicate with the jackpot controller to indicate whether the associated tables are in an enabled or disabled state.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a gaming system, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of operative components of a jackpot controller of the gaming system, according to an embodiment; and Figure 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment.

Detailed Description

Embodiments described herein find particular application for use with table-based games, such as commonly found in casinos. Herein the term “house” will be understood as referring to an establishment which offers wagering games to patrons I players whereby the establishment fulfils the role as the bank, in that patron’s wager against the bank to win. It will also be appreciated that embodiments may readily be retrofitted to existing casino games, for implementing a jackpot prize.

More particularly, embodiments relate to an improved jackpot prize awarding system which is configured to periodically increment a jackpot prize pool without requiring game event output signals and specialised table equipment. As will become evident from subsequent paragraphs, a house-funded jackpot as described herein can advantageously connect to large numbers of tables and aggregate relatively large jackpot funds that can be used to award players who participate in the games.

An embodiment of the present invention that is particularly suited for playing in a casino is shown in Figure 1. According to the illustrated embodiment, the game takes the form of Blackjack played on a physical table 12. It will be understood, however, that embodiments are not so limited and that embodiments may extend to other table games, such as Poker, Roulette, Baccarat and so on.

With reference to Figure 1 , the system 10 includes at least one physical table 12 on which a wager game (in this case Blackjack) is playable. Each table 12 implements a table controller 16 which is communicable with a central jackpot controller 20, as will be described in more detail in subsequent paragraphs.

As persons skilled in the art will understand, Blackjack is a casino banked card game (i.e., players compete against the house rather than each other) where the objective is to get a hand total of closer to 21 than the dealer without going over 21 (known as “busting”). A surface of each table 12 displays the various designated spaces for the dealt dealer and player cards.

According to embodiments described herein, in addition to any normal wins paid during the game, players may be awarded a house funded jackpot prize if they achieve a predefined game event during game play. The predefined game event relates to a game outcome (such as a predefined card hand and will typically be a rare event, i.e., an event that has a relatively low probability of occurring). According to the illustrated embodiment, the predefined game event is being dealt three Diamond suited 7 cards (which is a rare event). It will be understood, however, that other predefined game events can be used to trigger the jackpot.

As will be explained in more detail in subsequent paragraphs, the jackpot is not funded from dedicated side bets. Rather, a house funded periodic variable contribution which varies dependent on the number of tables participating in the jackpot (hereafter “jackpot enabled tables”) is used to increment the jackpot, thereby making all players who placed a qualifying bet eligible to win the jackpot (as opposed to only players who placed a dedicated side bet, as required for conventional table-based jackpot games). Thus, the table 12 does not require any specialised wager sensing or bet registration means.

Each of the gaming tables 12 that participate in the jackpot are provided with a table controller 16 implementing a communication circuit for communicating with the central jackpot controller 20 over a network 22, e.g., via Local Area Network. When a table is open and ready to participate in the jackpot, the croupier will press a button (e.g., labelled “open table” or “start jackpot”) or actuate some other suitable input device (e.g., touchscreen, keypad, footswitch etc.) to indicate to the jackpot controller 20 that the table is jackpot enabled. Similarly, when the table is closed or no longer wishes to participate in the jackpot, the croupier will press a button labelled “close jackpot” (or, again, actuate some other suitable input device) to indicate that the table is no longer jackpot enabled. Response to the croupier indicating that the table is either jackpot enabled or jackpot closed, the table controller 16 is configured to communicate a signal representative of that state (i.e. , either jackpot enabled or jackpot closed) to the central jackpot controller 20. The signal sent to the central jackpot controller 20 may also include a unique identifier for the associated table 12. The table controller 16 may also cause a display 18 associated with the table to display an indication of the table state to casino patrons. The display 18 may also display a current prize pool value. In an alternative embodiment, the jackpot controller 20 can be updated independently of the table controllers to identify the jackpot enabled tables (e.g., by an administrator).

In one embodiment, when a table is open for play the system can automatically register the table as jackpot enabled during the table open period and disable the jackpot when the table is closed. Alternatively, a table can be open for play and the jackpot can be enabled and disabled separately and not conditional on opening and closing the table, thus allowing for the jackpot to be offered for specific sessions if desired.

It will be understood that the communication signals sent by the respective communication table controllers 16 could take any suitable electronic form, depending only on the desired implementation.

According to the presently described embodiment, the central jackpot controller 20 is responsible for implementing a house funded jackpot for wager games played on the gaming tables 12 (although it will be understood that the jackpot controller 20 could be incorporated into other network elements, such as a player tracking system etc., depending on the desired implementation).

With additional reference Figure 2, the jackpot controller 20 implements various modules for carrying out the above functionality.

In more detail, the jackpot controller 20 includes a processor 250 which is arranged to carry out a number of functions associated with maintaining a prize pool and awarding of jackpot prizes therefrom. It will be apparent that the processor 250 implements several modules, namely a prize trigger module 252, account module 254, communications module 256 and display controller module 258 based on program code stored in memory 260. For simplicity, only those modules (which may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of the two) needed to carry out embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

The account module 254 is configured to initiate and maintain a house funded prize pool. New prize pools may be initiated with a minimum start value (i.e. , a reseed value). Once initiated, the account module 254 is configured to periodically increment the prize pool dependent, at least in part, on the number of tables that have indicated they are participating in the jackpot (using techniques as afore-described). In this regard, the account module 254 is configured to maintain a table register (stored in memory 260) which stores a unique identifier for each jackpot enabled table. The table register is dynamically updated in response to receiving table state indications from the respective table controllers 16. In one embodiment, the account module 254 evaluates the table register at predefined fixed intervals (e.g., 30 seconds) and increments the prize pool based on the number of jackpot enabled tables participating at that time. The increment value for any number of jackpot enabled tables may be stored in a lookup table.

Regarding the increment value, casinos typically collect data and analyse game metrics such as: table open hours, the average number of players per table, rounds per hour, average bet turnover per game and mathematical house advantage of the underlying game. Using this data, a casino can estimate the profit per hand. Calculations can then be made to determine the value of a single unit of contribution to a jackpot fund per fixed time period (e.g., 30 seconds) which would equal a percentage of the estimated win per game per table. Further calculations can then be derived by evaluating the odds of triggering the predefined game event (e.g., Royal Flush in a Poker Game, 3 Seven of Diamonds in a Blackjack game, etc.). With this information, a casino can model the size and hit frequency of a progressive jackpot prize based on the unit of contribution per set time period. Furthermore, the casino can make assumptions such as the following: if we allocate 1% or our estimated win per table to fund a periodically incrementing jackpot of said average size and said hit frequency, will that attract more players and more bet turnover such that the overall outcome is a net increase in the win. By way of example, based on an evaluation of the data discussed above, the account module 254 may be programmed to increment the prize pool by 30 cents per jackpot enabled table evaluated every 30 seconds. Thus, if at the end of the 30 second interval the table register indicates 10 jackpot enabled tables, the account module 254 would increment the prize pool by $3.

Returning to Figure 1 , an electronic display 18 located at each gaming table 12 is communicatively linked to the jackpot controller 20 and displays an odometer value which either shows the current jackpot prize pool value or an approximation of the prize pool value, typically a lower amount which is incrementing towards the actual amount. In an embodiment, the controller 20 may cause the odometer to smoothly increase in value, rather than jump in value at the end of each increment period. By way of example, the odometer may be controlled to smoothly increase in value by evaluating the increment value for the preceding period and then smoothly increasing the odometer by that value over the current period (i.e., such that the current odometer is always lagging behind the actual prize pool value). Other means for smoothing the incrementation of the prize pool or odometer are within the purview of the skilled addressee. Responsive to a player triggering the jackpot (i.e., by achieving the predefined game event), a croupier at that table indicates the same to jackpot controller 20. For example, a handset operated by the croupier may be controlled to cause the table controller 16 to send a signal to the jackpot controller 20 that indicates that a player has both made a qualifying bet and achieved the predefined game event. The player is then awarded the jackpot prize.

Triggering of a jackpot immediately causes a new jackpot to be initiated by the account module 254 with all subsequent contributions accrued as afore-described.

When the jackpot is triggered, the display 18 on the winning table may also indicate that it was a player on that table which triggered the jackpot prize. The display 18 may also display a winning animation sequence associated with the win. An animation sequence may also be displayed on the displays for tables that did not win the jackpot. A central display 300 may also be provided that displays some or all of the information afore described.

Figure 3 depicts a general process flow for implementing an embodiment of the invention. At step S1, a new house funded prize pool is initiated. At step S2, a counter is started and at, at a predefined interval after initialization/reset (e.g., 30 seconds) the account module evaluates the table register to determine the number of jackpot enabled tables (step S3, S4). The prize pool is then incremented by a value determined from the look up table. Steps S2 to S4 are repeated until such time as the jackpot triggers (step S5), whereafter a jackpot prize is awarded to the player(s) that triggered the jackpot (step S6) and a new jackpot prize pool is initiated.

In an alternative embodiment to that described above, each table controller 12 may be configured to periodically communicate to the jackpot controller 30 that it is participating in the jackpot (by sending an appropriate signal as afore-described) which data is then used by the accounting module to determine the prize pool increment value.

In yet an alternative embodiment, each jackpot enabled table may be associated with a table type. For example, the table type may be a minimum bet value for the associated table. In this regard, jackpot enabled tables having different table types may cause the jackpot to be incremented by different values. By way of example, a jackpot enabled table having a minimum bet of $100 may cause the jackpot to increment by a larger value than a jackpot enabled table having a $10 minimum bet. The table type and associated increment amount may be stored in the table register, thereby allowing the account module 254 to determine the cumulative increment amount of all jackpot enabled tables for updating the prize pool at the end of the increment period.

Following from the above-described embodiment, each table type may also qualify for a different prize amount from the total jackpot prize pool. In one embodiment, tables having larger minimum bets may qualify for a greater percentage jackpot prize than tables having smaller minimum bets. By way of example, table types having the largest minimum bet could qualify for 100% of the prize pool, whereas table types having the smallest minimum bet could qualify for 10% of the prize pool. The corresponding potential prize value for each table type may be displayed on the associated table display 18. The potential prize value may thus effectively be considered as the jackpot prize for that table and would increment as a percentage or otherwise of the total increment value. In yet another embodiment, different table types may trigger an increment more frequently than other table types.

One or more of the following advantages may arise from one or more embodiments of the invention as described herein.

A system that makes contributions to a jackpot fund based on elapsed time and a function of the number of jackpot enabled tables enables a periodically incrementing jackpot fund which would increment more quickly when more tables are jackpot enabled and would behave in a similar way to a system which used game output signals to make contributions. The advantage of the aforementioned system would be lower cost, more reliability and less overhead to operate.

Using the aforementioned system, a casino can provide a low-cost, event-based jackpot prize which increments a unit of contribution per predetermined time period. The Jackpot fund increment speed would behave in a similar way to the aforementioned side betting and house-funded systems, visibly incrementing quicker during busy periods when more tables are jackpot enabled, and more slowly during quiet periods when few tables are jackpot enabled, but without the need for expensive equipment or the requirement to access data from certain devices.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.