Arrangements for awarding future prizes in an electronic game system
A method includes receiving a number of game play requests in a current game from one or more player stations. For some of the game play requests in the current game, a result in the current game is displayed at the respective player station from which the respective game play request was received. However, a respective future result is awarded for some game play requests. These future results may or may not have any present value, but are in any case associated with a play in a game to be conducted at some designated time in the future and thus represents at least some potential value. These future results are communicated to a respective receiving player at the player's respective player station to advise the receiving player that they have won a chance to participate in a future game.
The present invention relates to electronic games such as electronic sweepstakes games and electronic wagering games. More particularly, the invention relates to a system in such electronic games for awarding prizes having some potential future value in addition to the regular prizes having some current value. The invention encompasses both methods for awarding future value prizes in a game, and apparatus and program products for implementing these methods.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious types of electronically implemented wagering games have become popular over the past ten to twenty years. These games include modern reel-type games or “slot machines,” video poker machines, electronic lottery games, and electronic bingo games. Electronic sweepstakes games have also proven popular. All of these games award prizes to the various players according to some prize distribution for the respective game. The prize distribution defines a number of different prize levels at different prize values along with a respective probability of obtaining the respective prize on a given play in the game.
Many modern reel-type games having either mechanical or video reel displays, and video poker machines employ result identifying algorithm that is designed to identify results at the frequencies defined by the result distribution for the game. In these games, each time a play is entered at the gaming machine the result identifying algorithm identifies the result from the play from the various results available in the game, and the identified result is immediately awarded to the player.
Electronically implemented lottery systems provide another way to assign results in various types of game presentations. In an electronic lottery gaming system, such as the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,385, the results are identified through a set of electronic lottery game play records, and may be communicated to the player in any number of different game presentations employed at a given electronic lottery player terminal. A “game presentation” as used in this disclosure refers to the symbols and graphic representations used to communicate a result to a player. The set of electronic lottery game play records is analogous to a set of printed paper lottery game tickets, and defines some prize distribution for the lottery game. Each time a game play request is entered at an electronic lottery player station, one of the electronic lottery game play records is assigned for the play and the result for the play is read from the assigned game play record.
The electronic sweepstakes game described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/365,058 also identifies a result for each play in the game by selecting one or more records from a predefined record set which is produced to provide some desired prize distribution in the sweepstakes game. A difference between lottery games and this electronic sweepstakes game is that the sweepstakes game is not a wagering game and does not require a player to place a wager in return for a play in the game. Rather, an entry in the sweepstakes game corresponding to a record in the sweepstakes game record set is given to a player typically in association with the player's purchase of some good or service. For example, a purchaser may be given one sweepstakes entry in the electronic sweepstakes game described in U.S. patent application No. 11/365,058 in response to their purchase of a unit of Internet access time. The results for the various sweepstakes entries are revealed to the purchaser/player through a reveal station which may portray the results according to any one of a number of different game presentations.
In electronic bingo games such as that disclosed in U.S. patent application publication No. 2004-0152499-A1 each play in the bingo gaming system is entered at a player terminal. This bingo gaming system quickly groups the various bingo game entries (that is, game play requests) and conducts a bingo game for each group to identify a result in the game for each player. The results in the game for each player are returned to the respective player terminal and may be displayed at the player terminal by a suitable game presentation, which may imitate play in a card game, a traditional reel-type game, or some other game. In the case of a bingo game, the desired prize distribution may be produced by mapping one or more bingo patterns to each prize level so that the overall probability of achieving any bingo pattern mapped to a give prize level is approximately equal to the desired probability of awarding the prize at that prize level. This mapping of bingo patterns to produce a desired prize distribution is shown for example in U.S. patent application publication No. 2004-0048647-A1.
One persistent issue with electronically implemented games such as electronic lotteries, electronic bingo games, and even modern slot machines is that players may soon tire of a given game presentation and switch to some other type of game. Game providers and operators must continuously introduce new games and new game presentations in order to capture and attempt to hold the players' interest. The cost of producing new games and game presentations greatly increases the cost of providing the game system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention provides a sense of anticipation in an electronic game to help capture and hold the players' interest. This sense of anticipation is created according to the present invention by including “future results” in the prize distribution for a game. These future results are each associated with a play in another game to be conducted at some point in the future and are assigned to players in the same fashion as regular, current results in the game. The invention also encompasses apparatus for awarding a future result in an electronic game and conducting a future game to identify or reveal the value that is ultimately associated with the future result.
In one method embodying the principles of the invention, a number of game play requests in a current game are received from one or more player stations. For some of the game play requests in the current game (sometimes referred to as “first game play requests”), the invention includes displaying a result in the current game at the respective player station from which the respective game play request was received. However, for some game play requests (sometimes referred to as “second game play requests”), the invention includes awarding a respective future result which may or may not have any present value, but is in any case associated with a play in a game to be conducted at some designated time in the future and thus represents at least some potential value. These future results are communicated to a respective receiving player at the player's respective player station to advise the receiving player that they have won a chance to participate in a future game.
The future game within the scope of the present invention may be an entirely separate game in which results are determined entirely independently of the current game. Alternatively, the future game may be dependent upon the current game is some fashion. For example, one preferred arrangement may define a certain future game value for each future result. In this arrangement, the value of the future result is set in the current game but is revealed to the receiving player only in the course of the future game conducted after the future result is awarded to the player. Thus, the future game may involve revealing results that have already been assigned to the player via the future result, and may not involve any separate result determination. Alternatively, the results for the various participants in a future game may be awarded separately as part of the future game.
A future game according to the invention may have a relatively high winning prize and thus the future result according to the invention may have a high potential value. The high potential value of the future results may attract players to the current games offering future prizes. Furthermore, because each future result may only be associated with a potential prize value in a separate game, and because the payout in the separate game may be controlled separately from the current game, a relatively large number of future results may be awarded according to the invention. The frequency with which future results may be rewarded may also be very attractive to players in the current game and encourage players to participate in the current game. These players in the current game essentially compete for the future results to have a chance at the high value prize that may be available in the future game. Also, depending upon how the future game is conducted, players may be attracted to the current game by the shear spectacle of the periodic, high-potential value future game. For example, some forms of the present invention may conduct a competition between the players obtaining a future result in the current game. One of the participants may win a single high-value prize while the other contestants may win relatively low-level consolation prizes.
The current game may be, for example, an electronic lottery game, an electronic sweepstakes game, a bingo game, or a game such as a mechanical or video reel-type game or video poker game in which results are identified employing a result identifying algorithm. The future result may have not current value in some forms of the invention, however, other forms of the invention may provide a current value as an alternative value to the potential value represented by the future result. For example, a future result may have a current value of $500, while the highest prize available in the separate, future game may be considerably higher, say $10,000. Where the ultimate value of a future result is not determined in the current game, the separate game conducted for the future result receiving players to identify the results in the future game may be any type of game. The future game may be a drawing, a reel-type game, a lottery game, a bingo game, a card game, or multiple instances of these types of games or a series made up a combination of any of these types of games. In particular, the future game may be a tournament of a series of games, where the player with the highest score wins the future game and the typically high-value prize paid in the future game. In either a competitive or non-competitive format for the future game, the present invention may include using a suitable display device to publicly display aspects of the future game as it is being conducted in order to build excitement for the future game and thus encourage play in the current game.
One preferred apparatus according to the present invention includes one or more player stations, each including a respective player input device and a respective result communication device. The apparatus further includes a result awarding arrangement for receiving a number of game play requests which have been entered in a current game through the one or more player stations. The result awarding arrangement awards a current result for each of one or more of the received game play requests, and also awards a future result as described above for each of one or more of the received game play requests. The apparatus may further include a future game arrangement for conducting the future game in a competitive or non-competitive format to identify future game results or to simply reveal future game results defined in the current game. The apparatus may include one or more separate future game player stations, or may include one or more player stations used in the current game. A public display device as mentioned above may be associated with the future game arrangement for displaying aspects of the future game whether the future game is a competition on non-competitive game.
Because the invention may be implemented using one or more general processing devices, the invention further encompasses a program product stored on one or more computer readable devices. One preferred program product includes result program code and player station program code. The result program code is executable for awarding either a current result or a future result for each of a number of game play requests in the current game as described above. The result program code is also executable for causing each respective current result and future result to be communicated to a respective player station. The player station program code is executable for generating a respective game play request for a current game in response to a player input at a player station. The player station program code also facilitates the receipt of each respective current result and future result communicated to the respective player station, and causes the respective player station to provide a respective result presentation for each received result. A program product according to the present invention may also include future game program code which is executable for identifying a result in the future game to determine a value of a particular future result, or for revealing a result in the future game to reveal a result that has been defined in the current game for the particular future result.
These and other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.
In the following description of preferred embodiments,
As shown in
The process steps shown at process blocks 101 and 102 are performed for each game play request received in the particular gaming system. The step indicated at process block 105 or the step indicated at process block 107 will be performed for each received game play request depending upon whether the awarded result is a current result or a future result. The step of providing a current value option as shown at process block 108 may or may not be performed for each awarded future result. Also, the step of conducting a future game as shown at process block 110 in
The step of receiving a game play request as indicated at process block 101 in
The result awarding step shown in process block 102 in
According to the present invention, the result awarded as indicated at process block 102 in
The decision indicated at decision block 104 in
The process of displaying a current result as indicated at process block 105 in
The manner in which a future result may be displayed to a receiving player as indicated at process block 107 may also vary widely within the scope of the present intention. For example, in the game system 200 shown in
Where the current value option is provided to a player as indicated at process block 108 in
The future game may be conducted as indicated at process block 110 in
In some forms of the invention, a future game may be conducted as a noncompetitive game for a given player who has received a future result. An example of a noncompetitive game may comprise a simple wheel spin in a roulette-type game, or a single play in a reel-type game or card game. Alternatively, a noncompetitive future game may include a number of individual plays in some game and the result for the future game is determined by some score for the player after they have completed their series of plays. Other preferred forms of the invention may collect two or more future result receiving players into a group and conduct a competitive game or a series of competitive games between the players. For example, the future game may comprise a reel-type game tournament, or card game tournament, for a random drawing between competing players. Whether the future game is a competitive game or noncompetitive game, the invention preferably includes some arrangement to publicly display aspects of the future game to increase excitement in the gaming facility and to add entertainment value in the game system. In the example system 200 shown in
It will be appreciated that the example game system 200 shown in
Where the player stations 202 in
Also, where the result awarding arrangement 201 in
It should be noted that in the variation of the invention in which the value of the future result in the future game is known, the invention requires no separate arrangement, such as future game controller 209, for identifying the result for the future game. Rather, the invention will include some future game player interface such as interface 208, or potentially a player station 202, which simply reveals the value for the player's future result, perhaps under the control of future game program code. For example, a future game player interface such as interface 208 in
A particular result awarding arrangement 201 may be described with reference to
Result awarding arrangement 201 shown in
As shown in
In order to allow a game operator to add results in a game, including future results and current results, two different types of result levels are included with the result levels 409 of result level structure 400. The result levels 409 associated with result identifiers 0 through 10 (in column 401) may be referred to as first result levels. These first result levels each include an unalterable result value in column 402 of result level structure 400. In addition to the first result levels, result level structure 400 includes a number of second result levels identified by result identifiers 11 through 15 in column 401. Each second result level includes a user definable result value field under column 402 rather than a unalterable result value. All of the user definable result value fields which are shown in
In the operation of the system shown in
In the result awarding arrangement 201 shown in
As used herein, whether in the above description or the following claims, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, that is, to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of,” respectively, shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases, as set forth, with respect to claims, in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent Examining Procedures (Eighth Edition, August 2001 as revised May 2004), Section 2111.03.
Any use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another, or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed. Rather, unless specifically stated otherwise, such ordinal terms are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term).
The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit the scope of the invention. Various other embodiments and modifications to these preferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the following claims. In particular, the various processing steps described above may be performed by any suitable processing device or devices included in the system.
Claims
1. A method including:
- (a) receiving a number of game play requests in a current game, the number of game play requests in the current game being received from one or more player stations;
- (b) displaying a result in the current game for a first game play request included in the number of game play requests, the result in the current game being displayed at the respective player station from which the respective first game play request was received; and
- (c) awarding a future result for each of one or more second game play requests included in the number of game play requests, each future result being associated with a play in a future game to be conducted at some designated time in the future and being communicated to a respective receiving player at a respective one of the player stations.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the current game is an electronic lottery game.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the current game is an electronic sweepstakes game.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the current game is a bingo game.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the current game is a game in which results are identified employing a result identifying algorithm.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein each future result has no current value.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein each future result has a current value that is tradable for the respective play which is associated with the respective future result.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the respective play in the future game entitles the respective receiving player to one or more future game play requests to be entered at the player station where the respective second game play request was entered.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the respective play in the future game entitles the respective receiving player to one or more future game play requests to be entered at a different player station than the player station where the respective second game play request was entered.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein awarding a respective future result for each of one or more second game play requests includes awarding a respective future result for two or more second game play requests and further including conducting the future game as a competition between the respective receiving players.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the future game is a drawing between the respective receiving players.
12. The method of claim 10 further including displaying aspects of the competition at a public display.
13. An apparatus including:
- (a) one or more player stations, each player station including a respective player input device and a respective result communication device; and
- (b) a result awarding arrangement for receiving a number of game play requests in a current game which have been entered at the one or more player stations, the result awarding arrangement also for awarding a current result for each of one or more first game play requests included in the number of game play requests and for awarding a future result for each of one or more second game play requests included in the number of game play requests, each future result being associated with a play in a future game to be conducted at some designated time in the future.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the result awarding arrangement awards a respective future result for each of two or more second game play requests and further including a future game arrangement for conducting the future game as a competition between the players associated with the two or more second game play requests.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the future game arrangement includes a random drawing device.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 further including a public display device for displaying aspects of the future game.
17. The apparatus of claim 13 further including a future game player station through which the future game is conducted.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the future game player station is distinct from any of the one or more player stations.
19. A program product stored on one or more computer readable devices, the program product including:
- (a) result program code executable for awarding either a current result or a future result for each of a number of game play requests in a current game, each future result being associated with a play in a future game to be conducted at some designated time in the future, the result program code also being executable for causing each respective current result and future result to be communicated to a respective player station associated with the game play request for which the respective result was awarded; and
- (b) player station program code executable for generating a respective game play request for a current game in response to a player input at a player station, for causing each respective current result and future result communicated to a respective player station executing the result program code to be received, and for causing the respective player station to provide a respective result presentation for each received result.
20. The program product of claim 19 further including future game program code executable for identifying a result in the future game to determine a value of the future result.
21. The program product of claim 19 further including future game program code executable for revealing a value for a respective future result in the future game.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 6, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 20, 2007
Inventors: Clifton E. Lind (Austin, TX), Jefferson C. Lind (Austin, TX)
Application Number: 11/447,397
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101);