The invention relates to casino gaming systems and methods of operating casino games having enhanced game play. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Casinos offer a wide variety of gambling games. Although these games are characterised in that they are games of chance, each game has its own rules of game play which need to be known in order to play the game properly. The complexity of the rules vary from game to game. For first-time or novice players, games having more complex rules prove to be daunting and, hence, less appealing to play.

The game of Big Wheel (or Chocolate Wheel as it is otherwise commonly known) is generally regarded as being one of the easiest games to play. Furthermore, Big Wheel is a dealer determined communal game, in that a plurality of players can participate in the same game, although they may wager on different game outcomes, and only the dealer, as opposed to any players, can physically effect the game outcome. The Big Wheel is a rotatable wheel, split into a plurality of segments, and an indicator. The Big Wheel game is played by spinning the wheel and allowing the wheel to come to rest. The resulting segment indicated by the indicator, when the wheel comes to rest, determines the outcome of the game.

Each segment includes some form of symbol or insignia. Different symbols appear on a different number of segments. Before the game is begun, players place wagers on which symbol will be the outcome of the game. The rate of return on a wager on a particular symbol depends upon how many segments carry the symbol. Therefore, a symbol which appears on a large number of segments, eg 24 of 52 segments, has a much greater chance of being the outcome of a game than a symbol which appears on only one or two segments, and hence would provide a relatively small rate of return. Conversely, the symbol which appears on only one or two segments would provide larger rates of return.

The simplicity of the Big Wheel game play proves to be initially attractive to first-time or novice players. However, the repetitiveness and lack of variety associated with the game play ultimately results in players losing interest in the

game. Furthermore, the rates of return on each symbol are fixed; hence, more experienced players tend to prefer other games over Big Wheel which provide more varied and potentially larger rates of return.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming system and a method of operating a gambling game which can attract longer interest in game play for a player. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a gambling game, the game being a communal game and including a plurality of player terminals which permit wagers to be placed on possible game outcomes, the method including the steps of: receiving player wagers on possible game outcomes, one possible game outcome being a bonus feature, at said terminals; determining the game outcome; crediting any player winnings resulting from the game outcome, other than the bonus feature; and if said determined game outcome is the bonus feature, then: displaying bonus options on a respective terminal of each bonus feature player, being each player who wagered on the bonus feature; receiving a selected bonus option from said respective terminal; and crediting each said bonus feature player based upon their selected bonus option.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a gaming system, including a plurality of electronic player terminals and a game outcome determining device, each terminal allowing a respective player to place wagers on possible game outcomes of said game outcome determining device, wherein one possible game outcome is a bonus feature, said game having a primary mode, in which a game outcome is determined by using said game outcome determining device, and a bonus mode, which is instigated only when the game outcome of said primary mode is the bonus feature and there is at least one winning player that placed a wager on said bonus feature, said bonus mode

allowing said at least one winning player to select a bonus option at the respective winning player terminal.

The present invention advantageously provides a player with the option of placing a wager on a bonus feature, thereby, enhancing the variety of potential game play and providing variety in potential rate of returns on wagers placed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment given in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a preferred game outcome determining device in the form of a Big Wheel;

Fig. 2 shows a preferred pre-game screen shot on a player terminal;

Fig. 3 shows a preferred bonus feature screen shot; and

Fig. 4 shows the outcome screen shot of Fig. 3 after a bonus option is selected.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Fig. 1 shows a game outcome determining device in the form of a Big Wheel 10. The Big Wheel 10 has 52 segments. 50 of the segments include symbols or insignia selected from the letters A to E. The Big Wheel 10 can be spun by a human operator (dealer). When the Big wheel comes to rest, an indicator 12 points to a segment which is. determined to be the outcome of a game.

The letters A to E appear in different numbers of segments. This affects the chance that each letter will be the outcome to a game and the rate of return that each letter provides against a player's wager. The following table sets out a possible rate of return for the Big Wheel 10 of Fig. 1 :

The Big Wheel 10 also includes two bonus segments 14, which have a 2/52 chance of being the outcome of a game. The significance of the bonus segments will be discussed later. In close proximity to the Big Wheel are a number of player terminals via which players are able to place wagers on a game. The terminals include output means in the form a display and input means to allow players to place their wagers. The input means is preferably in the form of a touch screen display. The terminals are all connected to a central controller. Fig. 2 shows a preferred screen shot of a player terminal prior to the commencement of a game. In this screen shot the possible game outcomes A to E are represented by the playing cards 10 through to Ace. A player is able to select and place a wager on the potential outcomes, which also includes the bonus segment. The display includes the time remaining to place a wager on the next game. Once this time reaches zero no more wagers are accepted.

Once the time for placing wagers has ended, a human operator (dealer) spins the Big Wheel 10 to begin the game. When the Big Wheel comes to rest, the segment indicated by the indicator 12 is determined. A sensor is preferably provided which detects the game outcome and informs the central controller. Alternatively, the operator is provided with a terminal via which the game outcome is manually inputted and the central controller informed, although this is less preferred as an implementation as it is more prone to human error.

When the game outcome is not a bonus segment, the central controller determines whether there are any winning players and credits any calculated winnings to the respective terminals of winning players.

When the game outcome is a bonus segment and there are any winning players, the central controller instigates a bonus feature on the respective terminals of the winning player(s). Fig. 3 shows a preferred screen shot of a winning player terminal. The winning player is provided with a number of mystery bonus prize options to select from. To minimise the delay in the start of the next normal game, the winning player is provided with a certain amount of time to select a bonus option. The time remaining is displayed. When the winning player

selects a bonus option, the bonus prize is revealed, see Fig. 4, and the central controller credits the winning player's terminal accordingly.

If the winning player does not select a bonus option within the time provided, a bonus option is randomly selected on the player's behalf. Of course, the present invention may be implemented so that other wagers may be won when the bonus feature is the game outcome. In that case, the other wagers may be credited before, during or after determination of the bonus feature outcome.

It will be appreciated that many modifications may be made to the gaming system described above subject to falling within the scope of the annexed claims. Big Wheel is anticipated to be only one type of communal game to which the present invention could be applied. With modifications to accommodate the rules of the respective games, the present invention could be applied to many communal games. Furthermore, although the system has been primarily described with terminals in close proximity to the Big Wheel, the system could be implemented with remote player terminals. Where remote player terminals are employed, these terminals would require a live video feed, or similar display, of the current game.