Patents Examined by Wei Lee
  • Patent number: 10032338
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a gaming system and method providing a gaming tournament having a variable average expected point payout. Generally, during the gaming tournament, the gaming system enables each tournament player to play a tournament game at an EGM. The gaming system accumulates one or more tournament points for the tournament player when a play of the tournament game results in a winning outcome. At various points during the tournament, the gaming system increases or decreases an average expected point payout of the tournament game to change the tournament players' gaming experience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: David R. Lark, Benjamin R. Holsclaw, Bradford Brown, Ronald P. Papson, Robert W. Ruymann
  • Patent number: 10026260
    Abstract: In accordance with some embodiments, a plurality of outcomes are generated and used to create a video presentation of representative outcomes (e.g., for a roulette game) for one or more players. The video presentation is recorded onto a tangible medium (e.g., DVD or CD-ROM) or otherwise provided to one or more players (e.g., a player may access the video presentation online). This allows one or more players to purchase a video presentation of (e.g., predetermined) outcomes in a jurisdiction in which gambling is legal yet view the presentation at the player's convenience (e.g., from any jurisdiction and at any time). At least one player who is associated with such a video presentation may subsequently redeem it for a redemption value associated therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Jay S. Walker
  • Patent number: 9997007
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming devices and methods for implementing mystery bonus results in place of base game results on a gaming display. The gaming device comprises a base game having a base game display. A random number generator is optionally operable with the base game to obtain a base game result, and the base game display operative to display the base game result. A base game pay table is tied to the base game result and includes winning outcomes and non-winning outcomes. A bonus game award mechanism is configured to determine a threshold tied to a bonus result, track play of the base game, advance a counter responsive to play at the base game, display the bonus result at the base game display in place of the base game result when the counter bears a predefined relationship with the threshold, and award a bonus to a player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: PATENT INVESTMENT & LICENSING COMPANY
    Inventor: John F. Acres
  • Patent number: 9984528
    Abstract: A gaming table includes a network analyzer. The network analyzer detects antenna reflection coefficients faster than RFID tags can be read, enabling game state information to be monitored quickly. The network analyzer detects changes in the reflection coefficients that result from movements of a human appendage, enabling the system to change game states in response to the detected hand movements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: Magnet Consulting, Inc.
    Inventors: Forrest S. Seitz, Joshua K. Hoyt, Bartley A. Johnson
  • Patent number: 9943768
    Abstract: An example system includes: a data acquisition unit for performing near field communication with a data storage medium having a near field communication function and acquiring character data stored in the data storage medium; an information processing unit for performing information processing to control a character corresponding to the character data, which has been acquired by the data acquisition unit, as a non player character; and a data changing unit for changing the character data depending on a processing result of the information processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiharu Izuno, Shinya Saito, Kaori Miyachi, Masahiro Shiotani, Masahiro Sakurai, Kenji Anabuki
  • Patent number: 9928680
    Abstract: Various embodiments include determining a value of a statistic describing cards that have been dealt from a deck, and modifying the rules of a game based on the statistic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: CFPH, LLC
    Inventors: Howard W. Lutnick, Lee Amaitis, Stephen M. Merkel, Kevin Burman, Manu Gambhir
  • Patent number: 9925466
    Abstract: A method of managing an on-going interactive event. The method includes transferring statements between participants over a computer network, during a live interactive event, analyzing, by a computer, at least some of the transferred statements, so as to generate feedback on said event and controlling the event responsive to the generated feedback.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: INVOKE SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Aharon Ronen Mizrahi, Amir Meir Weisenstern
  • Patent number: 9919205
    Abstract: Provided is a method of applying multiple crosshairs, and more particularly, a method of applying multiple crosshairs in a shooting game, in which a background and a target are displayed on a screen by a user's operation and crosshairs are displayed on the screen. The method comprises displaying multiple crosshairs on the screen, and upon receiving a shooting instruction, shooting a projectile toward the crosshairs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Inventor: Sin Woo Kim
  • Patent number: 9916724
    Abstract: A gaming machine (10) has a display (14) and a game controller arranged to control images displayed on the display (14). The game controller is arranged to play a game wherein one or more random events arc caused to be displayed on the display (14) and, if a predefined winning event results, the machine (10) awards a prize which is credited to a credit meter of the machine (10). The credit meter includes two meter displays, a first meter display (42.1) indicating credit which is available for expenditure in the machine (10) to play at least one game and a second meter display (42.2) indicating credit set aside by at least one of a player and the game controller and which credit is unavailable to the player for wagering on a game but which is only available by termination of a playing session.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
    Inventors: Nicholas Luke Bennett, Natalie Bryant, Peter Stathis
  • Patent number: 9911281
    Abstract: A game system including a plurality of symbols, a rotor and an award amount. The plurality of symbols include at least one secondary award group of the symbols. A wager is placeable on the secondary award group. The rotor displays the symbols and a plurality of ball landings adjacent to the symbols. A plurality of the symbols are indicatable after multiple spins of the rotor. The game system is operable to provide a secondary award based on the indication of one or more symbols within the secondary award group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: Mark C. Nicely
  • Patent number: 9898897
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides various embodiments directed to a gaming system and method providing an enhanced winning hand display feature. In one embodiment, the gaming system displays a plurality of initial hands of cards, receives a hand formation input, and forms and displays a complete hand for each initial hand. For each complete hand, the gaming system determines whether that complete hand forms a winning hand associated with one of a plurality of different winning hand categories. If at least one complete hand forms a winning hand associated with one of the winning hand categories, for each complete hand that forms one such winning hand, the gaming system displays the winning hand category associated with that winning hand, receives a selection of a displayed winning hand category, and adds an enhancement to the display of any complete hand that forms a winning hand associated with the selected winning hand category.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventor: David R. Lark
  • Patent number: 9881444
    Abstract: A gaming system compatible with patron-controlled portable electronic devices, such as smart phones or tablet computers, is described. When a Player surpasses predetermined game play parameters on a game of an EGM, a bonus game or related game material may be “unlocked” and offered to the Player for download onto the Player's Portable Electronic Device (PED). Upon installation, the game or content may be viewed or played on their PED at a later time and at their leisure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Dwayne R. Nelson, Steven G. LeMay
  • Patent number: 9865136
    Abstract: A system for computer gaming includes a processor configured to provide a first table of a first group of players grouped together to play a first hand and provide to each of the first group of players one or more cards for the first hand. The system includes an interface couple to the processor and configured to receive from a first player of the first group of players a request to fold the one or more cards of the first player. The processor is also configured to automatically move the first player to a second table of a second group of players grouped together to play a second hand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Inventors: Robert S. Burnside, Jerry W. Biesel
  • Patent number: 9855502
    Abstract: To enable prevention of reading and running of a game program in an illegitimate storage medium, the disclosed slot machine includes: an SSD device including a flash memory configured to store a game program for running a game and an authentication program including an authentication key, which authenticates the game program; and a memory controller SD23 having a reference key corresponding to the authentication key, which is configured to control the storage area, and a CPU core, wherein the CPU core executes the steps of: (A) executing the authentication program in which the reference key is retrieved from the memory controller to determine whether the authentication key matches with the reference key, and if the authentication key matches with the reference key, the game program is authenticated by the authentication program; (B) starting a game by running the game program when the game program is authenticated in the step (A).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignees: Universal Entertainment Corporation, Aruze Gaming America, Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroatsu Ike, Masahide Narimatsu, Shinya Hashizume
  • Patent number: 9852488
    Abstract: A method of managing bets is provided. The method includes receiving win bets and group bets. Each win bet includes a bet that a participant selected from a set of participants in an event will win the event. Each group bet includes a bet that one of a subset of the set of participants will win the event. Results of the event identifying a winning participant from the set of participants are received. An amount of a win bet payout for at least a portion of the win bets that comprise a bet on the winning participant is determined. An amount of a group bet payout for at least one of the group bets is also determined. In this manner, a bettor may bet on all participants in an event other than a particular participant, such as the favorite participant, and thus effectively bet against the particular participant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: CANTOR INDEX LLC
    Inventors: Lee M. Amaitis, Joseph M. Asher, Adam Burgis, Dominic Crosthwaite
  • Patent number: 9846991
    Abstract: A gaming machine is disclosed which comprises at least one meter arranged to generate game meter data. The gaming machine is arranged to forward meter data generated by the at least one meter to a remote data storage device arranged to store meter data associated with a plurality of games. The gaming machine is also arranged to retrieve meter data associated with a game from the remote data storage device when the gaming machine is requested to provide the meter data associated with the game. An associated gaming system and method of gaming are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED
    Inventors: Jeff Himmelright, David Lawdensky, Gary Frerking, Jeffrey Topham, David Salour
  • Patent number: 9842466
    Abstract: Gaming systems, gaming devices and methods that provide games that control volatility. In one embodiment, the gaming system disclosed herein enables a player to select values, or cells associated with values, that are displayed in a particular arrangement. The player selected values are distributed to other values or cells according to one or more predefined rules. In one embodiment, one or more of the player selectable values are progressive award values. At some point during the game, the gaming system randomly picks one of the remaining values that have not been selected and provides an award to the player based at least in part on the selected value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Scott A. Caputo, Ernie M. Lafky, Bryan D. Wolf, Paulina Rodgers, Cameron A. Filipour, Adam M. Meyer, Adam M. Singer
  • Patent number: 9842469
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a successive choice game including methods and apparatus are described. Further embodiments are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: CFPH, LLC
    Inventors: Lee Amaitis, Noel Fuentes
  • Patent number: 9826923
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an automated system of measuring and assessing an individual's improvement in motion (for example, a patient's recovery) through exercise performance. In an embodiment of the system of the present invention, two approaches for monitoring movement are introduced for quantifying an individual's performance. Both approaches consider the control population as their reference and consider the difference, or what is referred to in this application as the distance, between the individual's data and the control population as the measure of performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Inventors: Roshanak Houmanfar, Michelle Elisabeth Karg, Danica Kulic
  • Patent number: 9805555
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the disclosed gaming device include a housing which supports a plurality of mechanical reels and a plurality of stop input devices which are configured to provide a Pachisuro-style slot game. Each of the plurality of reels is associated with a different one of the plurality of stop input devices. Each stop input device enables a player to stop the respective reel when the reel is spinning by activating the stop input device. Each reel includes a plurality of stop positions and each stop position includes a symbol. The gaming device also includes a processor and a memory device. For each reel, the processor randomly determines the stop position at which the reel ultimately stops based on a virtual map stored in the memory device for an initiating stop position of that reel which is selected by the player's activation of the stop input device for that reel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: IGT
    Inventors: Anthony J. Baerlocher, Bryan D. Wolf