Abstract: A gaming apparatus includes a player terminal operable by a player to simulate a slots game, and a random event generator for generating a random event upon which an outcome of the slots game is based. The slots game has a plurality of successful outcomes, each associated with a corresponding prize. A wagering facility enables the player to place a wager on the occurrence of any specific successful outcome of the slots game, or to make a plurality of different wagers, each corresponding to a different specific one of the successful outcomes of the slots game. The different specific successful outcomes include a favourable outcome and a number of intermediate outcomes. The prize corresponding to the favourable outcome is a jackpot prize. The prize corresponding to an intermediate outcome is repayment of the player's wager at fixed odds inversely proportional to the probability of that intermediate outcome occurring.

Abstract: A gaming apparatus includes a player terminal operable by a player to simulate a slots game, and a random event generator for generating a random event upon which an outcome of the slots game is based. The slots game has a plurality of successful outcomes, each associated with a corresponding prize. A wagering facility enables the player to place a wager on the occurrence of any specific successful outcome of the slots game, or to make a plurality of different wagers, each corresponding to a different specific one of the successful outcomes of the slots game. The different specific successful outcomes include a favorable outcome and a number of intermediate outcomes. The prize corresponding to the favorable outcome is a jackpot prize. The prize corresponding to an intermediate outcome is repayment of the player's wager at fixed odds inversely proportional to the probability of that intermediate outcome occurring.

Abstract: A gaming system comprises a primary wagering facility which is usable by a player to place an initial wager on a turn of a game of blackjack, and a secondary wagering facility which automatically places a side wager on the same turn of the game of blackjack. The side wager relates to an outcome which is a function of a number of different playing cards contained in the blackjack hand dealt to the player in turn of the game of blackjack. The side wager is paid at odds of at least 2 to 1 if the first dealt card in the player's hand is of a predetermined rank.

Abstract: A system for playing a multiplayer zero-sum game includes a gaming server operable under program control to regulate the progress of at least one instance of the multiplayer zero-sum game by a predetermined plurality of players, a user access facility corresponding to each player, a plurality of portals associated with a plurality of competing game provider entities, and a clearing account facility having a separate clearing account for each game provider entity. Each user access facility is operable by a player to access the gaming server for participation in the at least one instance of the multiplayer zero-sum game through a selectable one of the plurality of portals, wherein each portal can be logically connected to a plurality of user access facilities simultaneously.

Abstract: A control system (1) for an online casino game has a man-machine interface (FIG. 1) operable by a player to regulate the progress of the game, and includes a switch means (8) operable by the player to selectively switch the man-machine interface between two modes in which the player may regulate the progress of the particular game. The two modes are a regular mode in which the interface is of a predetermined complexity, and an expert mode in which the interface is of an increased complexity relative to that of the regular mode. The control system is activatable by the player to automatically regulate the progress of a selectable number of consecutive turns of the game without further intervention from the player. The automatic progress of the consecutive turns of the game is interruptible by the player at anytime before completion thereof.

Abstract: A jackpot wagering system includes a number of player terminals, a random event generator and an accumulation facility. Each player terminal is operable by a respective player to place a corresponding wager on one or more different turns of a game of chance, while the accumulation facility is responsive to placement of each wager to accumulate a portion thereof in an accumulation account; The random event generator is activatable by placement of each wager to generate a random event upon which an outcome of a turn of the game of chance is based, the outcome being one of a number of possible outcomes that includes a favorable outcome causing the player who placed that wager to win the contents of the accumulation account.

Abstract: A multiplayer gaming system that is usable by a number of participating players to play a multiplayer game, comprises a plurality of player stations, each player station enabling a respective participating player to place a wager on an outcome of the multiplayer game and to play a separate instance of a same single-player game having a plurality of possible results, and an application web server communicable with each one of the plurality of player stations. The application web server is operable to determine an outcome of the multiplayer game as a function of the combined results of the separate instances of the single-player game played at the plurality of player stations. The outcome of the multiplayer game is either a favourable outcome if one or more participating players are determined by the application web server as being a winner of the multiplayer game, or an unfavourable outcome in which none of the participating players is determined as being a winner.

Abstract: A system for concurrent gaming comprises a gaming server and a client computer connected to the gaming server by means of an open communication network. The gaming server is instructable by the client to randomly select multiple, concurrent hands of playing cards to a player in a turn of a game of Caribbean Stud poker. The compositions of the multiple, randomly selected concurrent hands is transmitted by the gaming server along the communication network to the client computer where they are displayed to the player, under program control as part of a simulation of the game of Caribbean Stud poker. Gaming server also generates the gaming server also randomly selects a hand associated with a dealer in the game, the composition of the dealer's hand being also transmitted by the gaming server to the client computer and displayed as part of the simulation. The player then makes desired game play decisions, in turn, as a function of each one of the, multiple concurrent hands and the dealer's hand.

Abstract: A gaming system comprises a primary wagering facility which is usable by a player to place an initial wager on a turn of a game of blackjack, and a secondary wagering facility which automatically places a side wager on the same turn of the game of blackjack. The system provides for two blackjack hands, a first one for the player and a second one for a dealer. The system includes an accumulation facility which accumulates a fixed portion of the wager in a pooled jackpot. The side wager relates to an outcome of a first three cards dealt in the player's hand. In particular, the side wager is deemed to be successful if one or more of the first three cards dealt in the player's hand is of a predetermined rank, or is of a particular suite, or both. In order to increase the appeal of the gaming system, the predetermined rank is selected to be a seven, and the particular suite is selected to be diamonds.

Abstract: A menu system includes a display means for displaying game data to a number of available casino games playable by a player at an online casino. The display means is switchable between an overview mode and a detailed mode. The game data relating to any game that is displayed in the detailed mode is a superset of corresponding game data displayed for the same game in the overview mode, and the available games for which game data is displayed in the overview mode being a subset of the available games for which game data is displayed in the detailed mode. The menu system includes a categorisation facility that is operable to categorise the number of available casino games playable by the player into a number of different game categories. The game data displayed by the display means is sorted by game category and the number of game categories in the detailed mode is greater than the number of game categories in the overview mode.

Abstract: A gaming system (1) comprises a primary wagering facility (6) which is usable by a player to place an initial wager on a turn of a game of blackjack, and a secondary wagering facility (7) which automatically places a side wager on the same turn of the game of blackjack. The system provides for two blackjack hands, a first one for the player and a second one for a dealer. The system includes an accumulation facility (10) which accumulates a fixed portion of the side wager in a pooled jackpot. The side wager relates to an outcome of a first three cards dealt in the player's hand. In particular, the side wager is deemed to be successful if one or more of the first three cards dealt in the player's hand is of a predetermined rank, or is of a particular suite, or both.

Abstract: A gaming apparatus includes a player terminal operable by a player to simulate a slots game, and a random event generator for generating a random event upon which an outcome of the slots game is based. The slots game has a plurality of successful outcomes, each successful outcome causing the player to win a corresponding prize. A wagering facility enables the player to place a wager on the occurrence of any specific successful outcome of the slots game, or to make a plurality of different wagers, each corresponding to a different specific one of the successful outcomes of the slots game. The different specific successful outcomes include a favourable outcome and a number of intermediate outcomes. The player's prize corresponding to the favourable outcome is a jackpot prize, while that corresponding to an intermediate outcome is repayment of the player's wager at fixed odds inversely proportional to the probability of that intermediate outcome occurring.

Abstract: A decision support system comprises a decision repository with at least one stored game play decision for a particular hand held by a player and a corresponding first card held by a dealer, in a game of blackjack, and a programming facility operable, selectively, by the player to amend the at least one stored game play decision. The decision repository has a stored game play decision for every possible combination of a particular hand held by the player and corresponding first card held by the dealer.

Abstract: Player identification system (100) includes a betting terminal (1) at which a player playes a wagering game. During the play of the game, the system takes a photograph of the players face with camera (13). The photograph is used for player identification purposes and is logged into database (10).

Abstract: A menu system includes a display means for displaying game data to a number of available casino games playable by a player at an online casino. The display means is switchable between an overview mode and a detailed mode. The game data relating to any game that is displayed in the detailed mode is a superset of corresponding game data displayed for the same game in the overview mode, and the available games for which game data is displayed in the overview mode being a subset of the available games for which game data is displayed in the detailed mode. The menu system includes a categorisation facility that is operable to categorise the number of available casino games playable by the player into a number of different game categories. The game data displayed by the display means is sorted by game category and the number of game categories in the detailed mode is greater than the number of game categories in the overview mode.

Abstract: a wager administration system comprises a primary wagering facility operable by a player to place an initial wager on a desired primary individual number in a turn of the game of roulette, and a secondary wagering facility instructable by the player to place an additional wager on an individual number adjacent the primary individual number on a layout of a roulette wheel. The secondary wagering facility is also instructable by the player to place additional wagers on each on of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 or 16 individual numbers, selectively, located closest to the primary individual number and circumferentially to one side of thereof on a layout of a roulette wheel.

Abstract: A promotion for inducing players to play wager games takes the form of bonus play. The bonus play, in one form, takes the form of “free” turns of play in which a player credit account is not debited by such turns of play. Winnings from bonus play can take the form of cashable credit, bonus credit, or additional bonus play, as dictated by the pay table of the wager game. In other embodiments, the operator exercises control over the utilization and features of the bonus play, such as by fixing the wagering for the bonus play in advance and limiting the availability of the bonus play to a particular time period. Bonus play is played in a bonus mode of operation and the player may switch between bonus mode and a regular mode. A pay table featuring bonus play as one of the awards for a winning result of a wager game is also described. A pay table featuring an award of bonus credit is also described. Bonus credit is credit which is not subject to immediate withdrawal by the player.

Abstract: A betting terminal comprises a gaming server that regulates the progress of any one of a number of different selectable games, a user access facility usable by a player to select any one of the games for play and to place a wager thereon, a communication network providing communication between the gaming server and the gaming server, a watchdog controller configurable to disable the user access facility for play upon the occurrence of a predetermined event, and a reset facility activatable to re-enable the user access facility for play. The predetermined event con be configured to be any one of the effluxion of a configurable period of time, the completion of a configurable number of turns of any of the different games, and the earlier of the effluxion of the configurable period of time and the completion of the configurable number of turns of any of the different games.

Abstract: A gaming system comprises one or more player stations, a repository containing a number of different software programs, and a download server communicable with the repository and each one of the player stations by means of a communication network. Each player station is identified by a unique code and is operable by a respective player to play a corresponding game. Each software program in the repository is executable on any player station to generate a simulation of a different game. One or more of selected software programs contained in the repository are encrypted, remotely from any of the player Stations, as a function of the unique identification code of a particular of the player stations. The download server is responsive to the encryption and downloads the encrypted software program or programs to the particular player station whose unique identification code was used for encryption.

Abstract: A gaming apparatus includes a player terminal operable by a player to simulate a slots game, and a random event generator for generating a random event upon which an outcome of the slots game is based. The slots game has a plurality of successful outcomes, each successful outcome causing the player to win a corresponding prize. A wagering facility enables the player to place a wager on the occurrence of any specific successful outcome of the slots game, or to make a plurality of different wagers, each corresponding to a different specific one of the successful outcomes of the slots game. The different specific successful outcomes include a favourable outcome and a number of intermediate outcomes. The player's prize corresponding to the favourable outcome is a jackpot prize, while that corresponding to an intermediate outcome is repayment of the player's wager at fixed odds inversely proportional to the probability of that intermediate outcome occurring.