SOCIAL GAME
A method and apparatus for enabling multiple players to participate in an online game in a landbased gaming terminal. Each player is associated with a color or a pattern, by selecting the color or pattern using for example buttons on the screen. The player deposits money, places a wager, and chooses a number or color to bet on using his or her unique color. Once the game is activated, the terminal determines for each player his or her balance and winning according to the result of the game. Each player can individually cash his or her balance, or all players can cash their balances at once.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a social game in general, and to a terminal for multi-player mini roulette in particular.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Games involving betting are popular. An example to such a game is a roulette game which involves spinning a walled wheel comprising thirty seven parts, numbered zero to thirty six. A small ball spins within the wheel, and when the wheel and the ball come to a stop, the part of the wheel on which the ball stopped is the winning number. Prior to spinning the wheel one or more players place their bets. Each bet can be a number between one and thirty six. Alternatively, a player can bet on the number to be odd, even, in the range of zero to twelve, thirteen to twenty-four, or twenty-five to thirty-six. If the ball stops on the part marked with a zero, the game operator collects the bets.
Traditional games, including roulettes are social games, wherein an operator activates the game and collects the bets from multiple players. Another type of games is terminal-based games, such as terminal-based roulette, wherein a player is using a gaming terminal, which imitates the traditional game. In such roulette terminals, either a physical wheel is rotated, or a computerized illustration is provided. However, each such gaming terminal is limited to one person playing at a time. If a number of people wish to play simultaneously, they either have to take turns, or to decide on a common bet and keep track of their relative contributions to the bet, and calculate their winnings and loses, which often leads to disputes.
There is therefore a need for a gaming terminal that would enable a multiplicity of people to play a game simultaneously using a terminal, without having to agree on a bet or to keep the balance of each individual's winnings or loses.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for enabling multiple players to participate in an online game, without having to keep track of each player's balance. The disclosed invention provides a terminal which associates a color with each player, so that the deposit, bet, balance and cash out of each player are displayed with this color so that different players' actions and balances are easily distinguishable.
In accordance with the disclosed invention, there is thus provided a terminal for enabling two or more players to simultaneously play a game, the terminal comprising: two or more coded buttons, wherein each player presses a different coded button prior to depositing a sum or prior to placing a bet or prior to choosing a bet sum; a display, the display displaying: two or more coded numeric displays for displaying a balance or a winning or losing sum for each of player, wherein each coded numeric display corresponds to one coded button; and a presentation of the game. The game is optionally a roulette game, and the presentation of the game preferably shows a roulette wheel divided into thirty-seven parts, each of the thirty-seven parts carrying a number ranging between zero and thirty-six, wherein each part carries a different number. The game can also be a baccarat game, or any other game.
Within the terminal, the coded buttons are touch-sensitive areas in a display. Within the terminal, the coded buttons and the coded numeric displays are optionally color or pattern coded. The terminal optionally comprises a numeric keypad for entering a number. The number is optionally a voucher number, or a credit card number. The terminal optionally comprises a betting button for indicating a bet. The betting button can be selected from the group consisting of: a button denoting the numbers between one and eighteen; a button denoting the numbers between nineteen and thirty-six; button indicating odd numbers; or a button indicating even numbers. The terminal optionally comprises a display having a first window for showing the roulette wheel and a second window for enabling the players to deposit a sum, to play a roulette game or to cash out money. The terminal can comprise a display having a single window presenting displays alternating between showing the roulette wheel and enabling the players to deposit a sum, to play a roulette game or to cash out money.
Another aspect of the disclosed invention relates to a method for playing a game using a terminal by two or more players, the method comprising the steps of: activating a button associated with one player; each player depositing a sum; each of player placing a bet; each player indicating a bet sum; activating a button to start the game; and determining a sum won or lost by each player. Within the method, the button associated with one player can be color coded or pattern coded. The method can further comprise a step of displaying the sum won or lost by each player, or a step of cashing out a balance by a player. Within the method, the game can be a roulette game or a baccarat game.
Yet another aspect of the disclosed invention relates to a computer readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose computer, the set of instructions comprising: activating a button associated with one of two or more players; each of player depositing a sum; each player placing a bet; each player indicating a bet sum; activating a spin button to spin a roulette wheel; and determining a sum won or lost by each player.
Non-limiting embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the following description of exemplary embodiments, in conjunction with the figures. The figures are generally not shown to scale and any sizes are only meant to be exemplary and not necessarily limiting. In the figures, identical structures, elements or parts that appear in more than one figure are preferably labeled with a same or similar number in all the figures in which they appear, in which:
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a novel solution which enhances and adds to the capabilities of currently available online games, and discloses multi-player games, such as multi-player roulette or baccarat games.
In a preferred embodiment of the disclosed invention, a gaming terminal is providing players with a game, such as a roulette game. Unlike ordinary gaming terminals, a terminal according to the disclosed invention supports deposits by multiple players, wherein each player is assigned a differentiating factor, such as a distinct color or pattern. The terminal lets each player to deposit or cash-out separately, by letting the player indicate his color (or other factor), for example by pushing a button prior to performing the relevant operation. When the terminal is in “play” state, each player selects the bet sum and makes his own choices, again, after choosing his or her assigned color. The bet sum and total balance are displayed for each player and are indicated by the relevant color. After the game was activated, for example in roulette after the wheel as spun and has stopped, and the result is known, each user's balance is calculated based on his or her previous balance, bet sum and result, and the win and new balance are displayed.
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It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the disclosed invention is not limited to a game of roulette, but can rather be used for a multi-player version of any online game. Such games may include any game in which every player plays against the house, i.e. the computerized system, rather than against another player. The same model can be used in all these games, wherein a player chooses a color, a pattern or another distinctive feature, deposits a sum and places a bet using the indicative feature, and his or her bet, win, and balance are presented using the distinctive feature. The display preferably further shows an illustration, a video, or another presentation of a game.
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The disclosed invention suggests a method and apparatus for enabling a group of users to participate simultaneously in an online game. The number of players that can play simultaneously is not limited, and is generally determined by taking into account considerations such as maximal number of players who can still stand around the terminal and see it, buttons size or color range, or the like. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the disclosed invention is not limited to the exemplary displayed terminals and other terminals, having different user interfaces can be designed without departing form the spirit of the disclosed invention. In particular, a terminal having a single screen can be used. When using a single-screen terminal, the display on the single screen optionally alternates between different modes such as payment, placing a wager and making selections relevant to the game according to users' selections and actions.
The present invention has been described using non-limiting detailed descriptions of embodiments thereof that are provided by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It should be understood that features described with respect to one embodiment may be used with other embodiments and that not all embodiments of the invention have all of the features shown in a particular figure or described with respect to one of the embodiments. It is noted that some of the above described embodiments may describe the best mode contemplated by the inventors and therefore include structure, acts or details of structures and acts that may not be essential to the invention and which are described as examples.
The present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Structure and acts described herein are replaceable by equivalents, which perform the same function, even if the structure or acts are different, as known in the art. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims which follow. When used in the following claims, the terms “comprise”, “include”, “have” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to”.
Claims
1. A terminal for enabling at least two players to simultaneously play a game, the terminal comprising:
- at least two coded buttons, wherein each of the at least two players presses a different coded button prior to depositing a sum or prior to placing a bet or prior to choosing a bet sum;
- a display, the display displaying: at least two coded numeric displays for displaying an one or more of the group consisting of: balance, a winning sum, a losing sum, or a bet sum, for each of the at least two players, wherein each coded numeric display corresponds to one of the at least two coded buttons;
- and a presentation of the game.
2. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the game is a roulette game.
3. The terminal of claim 2 wherein the presentation of the game shows a roulette wheel divided into a predetermined number of parts, wherein each part carries a different number.
4. The terminal of claim 2 wherein the presentation of the game shows a roulette wheel divided into thirty-seven parts, each of the thirty-seven parts carrying a number ranging between zero and thirty-six, wherein each part carries a different number.
5. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the game is a baccarat game.
6. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the at least two coded buttons are touch-sensitive areas on the display.
7. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the at least two coded buttons and the at least two coded numeric displays are color coded.
8. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the at least two coded buttons and the at least two coded numeric displays are pattern coded.
9. The terminal of claim 1 wherein the terminal further comprises a numeric keypad for entering a number.
10. The terminal of claim 9 wherein the number is a voucher number.
11. The terminal of claim 9 wherein the number is a credit card number.
12. The terminal of claim 1 further comprising an at least one betting button for indicating a bet.
13. The terminal of claim 12 wherein the at least one betting button is selected from the group consisting of: a button denoting the numbers between one and eighteen; a button denoting the numbers between nineteen and thirty-six; a button indicating odd numbers; or a button indicating even numbers.
14. The terminal of claim 1 comprising a display having a first window for showing the roulette wheel and a second window for enabling the at least two players to deposit a sum, to play a roulette game pr to cash out money.
15. The terminal of claim 1 comprising a display having a single window presenting displays alternating between showing the roulette wheel and enabling the at least two players to deposit a sum, to play a roulette game pr to cash out money.
16. A method for playing a game using a terminal by at least two players, the method comprising the steps of:
- activating a button associated with one of the at least two players;
- each of the at least two players depositing a sum;
- each of the at least two players placing a bet;
- each of the of the at least two players indicating a bet sum;
- activating a button to activate the game; and
- determining a sum won or lost by each of the at least two players.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the button associated with one of the at least two players is color coded.
18. The method of claim 16 wherein the button associated with one of the at least two players is pattern coded.
19. The method of claim 16 further comprising a step of displaying the sum won or lost by each of the at least two players.
20. The method of claim 16 further comprising a step of cashing out a balance by at least one of the at least two players.
21. The method of claim 16 wherein the game is a roulette game.
22. The method of claim 16 wherein the game is a baccarat game.
23. A computer readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose computer, the set of instructions comprising:
- activating a button associated with one of at least two players;
- each of the at least two players depositing a sum;
- each of the at least two players placing a bet;
- each of the of the at least two players indicating a bet sum;
- activating a spin button to spin a roulette wheel; and
- determining a sum won or lost by each of the at least two players.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 15, 2007
Publication Date: Mar 25, 2010
Applicant: VIDEOB HOLDINGS LIMITED (Douglas, Isle of Man)
Inventors: Sagi Harari (Douglas), Silver Teigar (Douglas)
Application Number: 12/523,078
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101);