Abstract:
An electronic amusement device and a method for operating the device are disclosed. The device conducts a game of chance that preferably incorporates game elements that change and expire during the game. The device performs the steps of generating and displaying a subject game element having a first class. The step of displaying includes displaying an indicia of the first class. The device further assigns a second class to the subject game element, and displays the subject game element, thereby displaying an indicia of the second class.

Description:
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/004,885, filed Jan. 9, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,781 for “ELECTRONIC AMUSEMENT DEVICE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAME.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an electronic amusement device and more particularly to an electronic amusement device such as a slot machine having the ability to display game symbols which change or expire during a game. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Slot machines generate greater than ten billion dollars per year in revenue for US casinos, with individual machines typically earning between fifty and one hundred and fifty dollars per day. One of the fastest growing segments of slot machine play is video poker, a game in which various elements of draw poker are represented on a video display. Players draw and hold cards in an effort to attain a hand high enough to qualify for a prize or payment. Starting with “Jacks or Better,” video poker quickly expanded into “Deuces Wild” and “Joker Poker” as well as countless variations of the above with different payout schedules. Players are attracted to the relatively high payouts possible for top hands such as a royal flush, as well as the frequent lower-end payouts for hands as low as a pair of jacks. Additionally, many players find that the interactive nature of the game, choosing which cards to draw, provides a more exciting game than the traditional reel-based slot machine, in which the player simply passively watches the outcome. 
     Although popular with players, video poker has a number of disadvantages from the casino&#39;s perspective. First, game speed can be significantly slower than conventional reel machines. Players sometimes agonize over a particular play, taking their time in deciding what the correct play is. With no incentive to accelerate play, players sometimes languish over their decisions. Casinos prefer a faster-paced game since profits rise in direct proportion to the number of hands completed per hour. Additionally, the house edge associated with video poker has consistently deteriorated as casinos have begun to compete more for players. Because full payout tables are provided on the face of the machine, players can easily distinguish between high payout machines and low payout machines. Competition for video poker players has resulted in some video poker machines which pay out in excess of 100% with perfect playing strategy. Although most players are not playing perfectly, the growing availability of books and computer software is resulting in more and more sophisticated players. The slow play and declining house advantage, when combined with the significant cost of player complimentaries, such as free meals and drinks, has resulted in shrinking casino profits for video poker. Consequently, there is a need to increase the house advantage without appearing to disadvantage the player. 
     Thus, it would be very desirable to provide a slot machine which offers to players the involvement and excitement of video poker while offering the casino the speed of play and high house advantage currently associated with traditional reel slot machines. Such a machine could result in significantly enhanced revenues for casino operators and provide more enjoyable play for casino patrons. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming device utilizing game symbols that expire throughout a game. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an electronic amusement device and method is disclosed for conducting a game of chance. The method includes the steps of generating a subject game element having a first class, and displaying the subject game element, thereby displaying an indicia of the first class. The method also includes the step of assigning a second class to the subject game element. The method further includes the step of displaying the subject game element, thereby displaying an indicia of the second class. The disclosed electronic amusement device implements the steps of the described method. 
     In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, an electronic amusement device and method is disclosed for conducting a game of chance. The method includes the steps of receiving a game element request signal and generating a game element having a first class. The method also includes the step of displaying the game element, thereby displaying an indicia of the first class. The method further includes the steps of receiving a placement signal and displaying the game element at a location in accordance with the received placement signal. A second class is assigned to the game element, and the game element is redisplayed, thereby displaying an indicia of the second class. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the following description of the invention, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a gaming device constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
       F 1 G.  2  is a table showing components of the payout database of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a table showing components of the card database of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the gaming device of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 5A–5H  together comprise sample screens from the video display of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an illustration of the game element of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a gaming device in accordance with the present embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a flowchart illustrating the deck initialization process of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart illustrating the card dealing process of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating the card placement process of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 11A–11B  together comprise a flowchart illustrating the card monitoring and update process of the present invention; 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart illustrating the shuffling process of the present invention; 
         FIG. 13  is a flowchart illustrating the payout calculation process of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 14  is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the gaming device of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Description of the System 
     In accordance with the present invention there is provided herein a gaming method and apparatus, illustrated by way of a video poker gaming device. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a block diagram of a gaming device  100  including a central processing unit (CPU)  102  and a data storage device  104  connected to the CPU. Further connected to CPU  102  are: a player card tracking device  114 , a random number generator  112 , a video display area  500 , a hopper controller  122 , a clock  106 , a starting controller  150 , and a coin/bill acceptor  124 . 
     Gaining device  100  comprises conventional components, with the exception of card database  300 . For purposes of better illustrating the invention, standard components, well known to those skilled in the art, are described only briefly. Although the present embodiment of the invention is described as implemented with physical components, the invention applies equally well to and includes software embodiments such as would be implemented on the Internet and other computer data networks. 
     Referring again to CPU  102 , the device  100  comprises one of many well known processing units, for example a Pentium class CPU manufactured by Intel Corp. Data storage device  104  comprises an appropriate combination of magnetic and optical memory, such as disk drive memory, and semiconductor memory such as random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). In addition to payout database  200  and card database  300 , data storage device  104  stores appropriate operating system and control software (not shown), functional to operate gaming device  100  in the manner described below. Random number generator  112  comprises one of many well known random or pseudo-random number generators suitable for use in a gaming device. 
     Coin/Bill acceptor  124  is operative to receive one or more coins or bills, and to transmit an appropriate value signal to CPU  102 . Hopper controller  122 , and hopper  130  connected thereto, are operative under the control of CPU  102  to dispense and output coins to a player. Video display  500  preferably comprises a touch sensitive screen capable of processing player selections through tactile interaction. Alternatively, video display  500  may comprise any conventional video display apparatus, for example, a cathode ray tube or a liquid crystal display screen. 
     Starting controller  150  comprises a player-operated device such as a handle or button for initiating the play of a game. 
     Player card tracking device  114  comprises a player tracking interface including a card reader  138  for receiving a player tracking card, a display  142  for communicating alpha/numeric messages to the player, and a keypad  140  for receiving player input such as a player identifier. 
     Gaming device  100  may include a conventional network interface (not shown) for communicating with a centrally controlled network server, allowing for the remote monitoring and audit of gaming device  100 . 
     Payout database  200  comprises a conventional payout database such as those found in most video poker machines. The database serves to associate a particular outcome or hand value, such as a full house, with a particular coin payout based on the number of coins wagered. Payout database  200  is shown to include ten records  232  through  250 , each of which includes two fields: an outcome field  210  and a payout field  220 . The final poker hands represented in outcome  210  illustrate conventional poker rankings typical of a video draw poker game. Record  238 , for example, indicates an outcome of “FULL HOUSE” which includes all hands with both three of a kind and two of a kind. Other hand rankings, such as those incorporating jokers, wild cards, or specific card bonuses are, of course, also within the scope of the present invention. 
     The profitability of the game for the casino is directly related to the values stored in payout field  220 , although player skill levels will also have an impact. Payouts  220  might be set so that the casino retains some advantage, even in the face of expert play. Record  238 , for example, indicates a payout of five dollars associated with an outcome of “FULL HOUSE.” Although the payouts of payout field  220  represent the wager of a single coin for each card purchased, additional fields could be added to allow multiple coin wagers as illustrated in  FIG. 4  below. The values shown in payout field  220  are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is described card database  300  shown to include five records  340 ,  342 ,  344 ,  346 , and  348 , each of which includes seven fields: card identifier  310 , rank  312 , suit  314 , status  316 , location  318 , time dealt  320 , and duration  322 . This database serves to monitor and update a deck of fifty-two cards, each card having a unique rank/suit combination, or class, as implemented in the present invention. Card identifier  310  uniquely identifies each card, and may be a number from one to fifty-two for each card of a standard deck of cards. Such a numeric identifier simplifies the card manipulation operations as described in more detail with reference to the figures below. Rank  312  identifies the rank of the card and contains the standard deck values of ace, deuce, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, and king. Rank  312  could of course also store non-standard ranks such as wild card, joker, or other bonus type card values. Instead of storing the rank description, rank  312  could simply store numeric identifiers which were associated with descriptions stored in ROM. The suit of each card is stored in suit  314  and may include conventional suits such as hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds. Record  344 , for example, indicates a card with a rank of “J” (a Jack) and a suit of clubs. Wild cards could include a fixed rank with any suit, or a fixed suit with any rank. A suit-wild Jack, for example, might represent either the jack of clubs, jack of diamonds, jack of hearts, or jack of spades. 
     Although the present embodiment identifies the use of a standard fifty-two card deck with one card of each rank and suit, it should be noted that some card values may be over or underrepresented. Thus, for example, there may be fewer royal cards (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace) and a correspondingly larger number of low value cards. Such an arrangement has the advantage of decreasing the probability that a player attains a royal flush, allowing the machine to offer a higher payout for such a final hand configuration. 
     The status of each card is stored in status  316 , with values indicating where the particular card is within the game cycle as described more fully with reference to  FIGS. 7 to 13  below. Cards are initially assigned a status of “IN DECK” to indicate that they are ready to enter game play. Once a card has been dealt it is described as “DEALT” and is displayed to the player in video display  500 . Discarded cards have their status changed to “DISCARDED” while cards placed into play maintain their “DEALT” status. After a predetermined amount of time, “DEALT” cards change to “FIRST ALTERATION WARNING,” a status which indicates that the card will soon change into another card value, with a corresponding change in status to “FIRST ALTERATION.” Associated with such a status change is a change in rank or suit as described more fully with reference to  FIG. 11  below. A “FINAL ALTERATION WARNING” and “FINAL ALTERATION” status correspond to a second alteration of the card&#39;s rank and/or suit. Finally, the card may have a status of “EXPIRATION WARNING” to indicate that the card is about to expire and return to the discarded cards queue. 
     Each card has a corresponding location  318  in order to facilitate tracking of cards throughout the operation of the present invention, identifying either where the card is in the queue prior to being dealt, where the card is in the discard pile, or where the card has been placed by the player. Record  340 , for example, indicates that the card is currently scheduled to be the fifth card dealt. 
     In order to manage the timing requirements of the present invention, card database  300  includes the fields time dealt  320  and duration  322 . As each card is dealt to the player, CPU  102  retrieves the current time from clock  106  and updates the time dealt field to indicate the current time. This allows CPU  102  to calculate how long the card has been exposed to the player so that future alterations may be made. Duration  322  indicates the amount of time that is to elapse before the next card alteration. Record  348 , for example, shows a time dealt of 09:03:22 (hours/minutes/seconds) with a 120 second window before the card changes. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a plan view is shown of gaming device  100  of the present invention which, for purposes of discussion, is generally divided into three sections: an upper panel  201 , a display panel  202 , an interface panel  204 , and a lower panel  206 . Upper panel  201  includes a pay table comprising, for example, pay amounts corresponding to various draw poker hands. These values correspond to those shown in the payout database  200  of  FIG. 2 , and may be printed on glass with a back lighting scheme for maximum player visibility. Display panel  202  contains display area  500  which displays the card values to the player and acts as the player interface through the above described touch screen functionality. The elements of display area  500  will be described more fully with reference to  FIG. 5A  below. Interface panel  204  houses starting controller  150 , player tracking device  114  (including card reader  138 , keypad  140 , and display  142  shown set to read “INSERT CARD”) and coin/bill acceptor  124 . Lower panel  206  includes promotional messages which may serve to attract players to the game, or to provide rules/instructions concerning operation of the game. 
     In order to more fully describe the display area  500  of the present invention, reference is made to  FIGS. 5A–H  which illustrate an exemplary game play of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5A  shows an enlarged view of the display area  500  of  FIG. 4 . This area is electronically displayed to the player and changes during the course of the game as described in more detail below. Game element signal request generator  510  labeled “DEAL A CARD” (“deal button”) is used by the player to request another card, and is associated with the payment of one or more credits. Players touch the screen at this location, providing a signal to CPU  102  that another card has been requested. Location  520  is the area of display  500  (“screen”) that displays cards which have been requested via deal button  510 . The requested game element  525  (“card”) in this embodiment is an electronic representation of a conventional playing card, and has a corresponding attribute  530  which identifies the rank and suit of the card. In the example shown in  FIG. 5A , the attribute  530  value is a rank of ace and a suit of hearts. 
     Players may choose to discard a dealt card by touching the discard button  535  labeled “DISCARD A CARD,” transmitting a signal to CPU  102  to initiate further processing of the card as described more fully in  FIG. 10  below. Cards that are not discarded are placed within either game set  540  or game set  550 . Game set  540  incorporates five card locations  560  through  568 , each capable of displaying a particular game element  525 . Game set  550  contains five card locations  570  through  578 , with similar display capabilities. Players request to “cash-out” a particular game set  540  or  550  by pressing an evaluation signal generator  580  or  590  (“cash-out button”), respectively. Such a cash-out process is performed after the player has accumulated one or more cards  525  within a particular game set  540  or  550 , with the cards  525  qualifying for a payout as indicated by payout field  220  of payout database  200 . 
     In the example illustrated in  FIG. 5A , the player is dealt an ace of hearts as card  525 , and must decide what to do with the card.  FIG. 5B  illustrates the changes to display  500  which reflect the decision to place card  525  in location  560  of game set  540 . The electronic representation of the ace of hearts is deleted from location  520  and then appears at location  560 , responsive to the player indicating the location by touching the screen at location  560  thereby initiating a placement signal. At this point, the player is ready to request another card be dealt by touching deal button  510 . In an alternative embodiment, some cards  525  may be restricted to certain game sets  540  or  550 . For example, royal cards might be restricted to game set  540 . Cards  525  could also be restricted to an individual location, with the ace of spades restricted to location  560 , for example. 
       FIG. 5C  shows a later stage of the game in which the player has placed cards  525  in game set  540 , specifically locations  560  (ace of hearts),  562  (jack of spades),  564  (king of spades), and  566  (queen of diamonds). Location  568  shows no card  525  and is thus available to the player for future card placement. With four cards to the straight, the player may request cards  525  to be dealt in an effort to complete the straight with a ten of some suit. Such a hand, if cashed-out via cash-out button  580 , would receive a payout of two coins as shown for record  242  of payout database  200 . Game set  550  has been populated with only two cards  525 —location  570  (five of hearts) and  572  (five of clubs). The remaining three locations are available for additional cards. In this case, the player might be hoping for two more fives to complete a four of a kind, or for one more five to complete a three of a kind. 
       FIG. 5D  illustrates the time element of one embodiment of the present invention in that one of the cards  525  is indicating that it is about to change. Location  560  is highlighted as a warning to the player that the card is about to change to another rank or suit. The highlighting effect might take the form of a border that flashes, a color change, or a resizing of the card. Any mechanism sufficient to attract the attention of the player is sufficient. In one embodiment, location  560  remains the same visually but is accompanied by an audible warning.  FIG. 5E  shows display  500  after the card  525  in location  560  has changed rank. In this example, the ace of hearts has been replaced with the nine of hearts. Various protocols may be used in determining the value of the replacement card. The changed value could be determined in advance, assigned randomly, increased in sequence (e.g. cards always increase in rank and change from clubs to hearts to diamonds to spades and back again), decreased in sequence, etc. Some cards could increase while others decreased. Instead of changing value, the card could simply change location, moving from one game set to another. 
     After requesting another card by touching deal button  510 , the player receives a ten of clubs as shown in  FIG. 5F . Although this card could be discarded or placed within game set  550 , the player has noticed that the four existing cards  525  of game set  540  are missing only a ten in order to complete a straight, so the player selects this location by touching location  568  of game set  540 . The ten of clubs is then deleted from location  520  and placed into location  568 , with the result shown in  FIG. 5G . Having achieved a straight in game set  540 , the player decides to receive payment by touching the cash-out button  580 , which transmits a signal to CPU  102  to initiate the payment process as described in more detail with reference to  FIG. 13  below. Note that the player is encouraged to act quickly as the remaining cards  525  in locations  562  through  568  may change to other ranks or suits, either eliminating the straight or reducing the hand to a lower payout outcome such as a pair of kings. In rare cases, correct strategy might in fact be to wait for cards to change. A player with a game set including the ace, king, queen, and jack of spades along with a ten of clubs would have a straight and could cash-out for the value of a straight. If the ten of clubs were the next card to change, however, the player might wait in the hopes that the card changed suit to spades—completing the royal flush. 
     After receiving appropriate credit, all of the locations in game set  540  are cleared so that new cards  525  can be placed into them, as illustrated in  FIG. 5H . The player has requested another card  525  and has received the three of hearts as shown in location  520 . Once again, the player faces the choice of discarding this card or placing it into one of the two game sets. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , there are shown several alternate embodiments of a card  525  in location  520 , with a rank  610  of ace and a suit  615  of hearts. In one embodiment, the card has a lock button  620  and an unlock button  630 . Lock button  620  is engaged by a touch from the player and serves to prevent the card from changing values. Such a lock might apply to either the rank  610  or the suit  615 , or to a combination of both. A limit of one locked card per game set could be imposed, or the player could be charged one or more credits for the privilege of locking the card. In another embodiment, the locking process only serves to extend the duration of the card, or merely prevents the card from disappearing entirely. In embodiments where the number of locked cards is limited, unlock button  630  would allow players to switch the selection of which card is to be locked. In an alternative embodiment, the player is able to lock a series of one or more cards at the same time, such as by specifying a column of cards (e.g. the third location of each game set). 
     Card display  640  enables players to view the rank and suit that the card is scheduled to change into. In the example illustrated, the ace of hearts will turn into the king of clubs, the queen of hearts, the three of clubs, and finally into the four of spades. Such advance warning would allow players to more appropriately place their cards, although it would require relatively skillful play to coordinate the timing of the changes. In order to improve the player&#39;s timing efforts, a countdown display  650  could be located on each card  525  to show the number of seconds before the next scheduled card change. 
     Although the embodiment described above receives player input via touch screen capability, those of ordinary skill will appreciate that such player requests may be made via physical buttons as well. In particular, each location  560  through  568  and  570  through  578  could be identified with the numerals 1 through 5 and 6 through 10, corresponding to ten like numbered buttons of gaming device  100 . A player who wanted to place a card  525  in location  576  would thus depress the physical button labeled nine. Such buttons could also be associated with a particular row, such as by labeling the button “FIRST ROW SECOND POSITION,” for example. Similar physical representations could be made for deal button  510 , discard button  535 , cash-out button  580 , and cash-out button  590 . 
     Description of the Operation 
     Having thus described the architecture of the gaming apparatus and components of the present embodiment, the operation of the apparatus will now be described in greater detail with reference to  FIGS. 7–13  and continuing reference to  FIGS. 1–6 . It is to be understood that the software instructions necessary to provide the functionality described herein are preferably stored in storage device  104  of gaming device  100 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , a flowchart is depicted illustrating the major routines or processes executed by gaming device  100  during a typical game. At the beginning of a game, CPU  102  processes a deck initialization routine  800 . Deck initialization routine  800  randomly arranges the cards of a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. This process simulates the shuffling of a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. 
     CPU  102  processes routines  900 ,  1000 ,  1100 ,  1200  and  1300  in an iterative fashion throughout the game. Deal card routine  900  deals a new card to the player upon request. Place card routine  1000  allows a player to place a dealt card in a location within display area  500 . Place card routine  1000  also processes a player request to discard a card. Monitor/update card status routine  1100  instructs CPU  102  to maintain the cards that have been placed by or dealt to the player. The instructions of monitor/update card status routine  1100  determine when and how to alter the cards on the playing field. 
     Shuffle discards routine  1200  instructs CPU  102  when and how to shuffle the cards that have been discarded either explicitly by the player or automatically through the alteration of placed cards. Calculate payout routine  1300  instructs CPU  102  how to evaluate a hand upon the player&#39;s request. Calculate payout routine  1300  includes instructions for evaluating an identified hand, determining a corresponding payout amount and delivering the payout amount to the player. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8 , a flowchart is presented depicting the process steps of deck initialization routine  800 . Deck initialization routine  800  initializes the records of card database  300  to simulate the shuffling of a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. At step  810 , CPU  102  is instructed to assign a unique card rank and suit combination to each record. This is accomplished by initializing card rank field  312  and suit field  314  of every record so that every record is defined to represent a different card in a standard fifty-two card deck. At step  812 , CPU  102  is instructed to populate status field  316  of every record with data indicating that every card is “IN DECK.” At step  814 , CPU  102  is instructed to populate card identifier field  310  of each record with a randomly generated, unique card identifier. Preferably, card identifiers are numbers between 1 and 52. At step  816 , deck initialization process  800  instructs CPU  102  to populate each location field  318  with the contents of the corresponding card identifier field  310 . This indicates each card&#39;s relative location within the shuffled deck of cards. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 9 , a flowchart is presented depicting the process steps of deal card routine  900 . Generally, deal card routine  900  determines when to deal a card to the player, selects a record from card database  300  representing the card to be dealt, and displays the card to the player. At step  910 , CPU  102  is instructed to check for a card request signal from the player. The card request signal is generated by a player touching deal button  510  on video display  500 , and may be checked by polling for an input or receiving a hardware interrupt. At decision step  912 , CPU  102  is instructed to end the routine if a card request signal is not received. In the event a card request signal is received, CPU  102  processes step  914  and identifies the record representing the next card to be dealt. Step  914  may be accomplished by maintaining a pointer to the next card to be dealt. Alternatively, step  914  may be accomplished by searching location field  318  of card database  300  for the record having the lowest value and a status of “IN DECK.” At steps  916  and  918 , CPU  102  is instructed to update the identified card record to indicate that it has been dealt. This is accomplished by updating the contents of status field  316  to “DEALT,” and populating time dealt field  320  and duration field  322  with data representing the current system time and a display duration, respectively. The display duration may be a fixed value, such as 120 seconds, or it may be randomly assigned within a range of values, depending on the implementation. At step  920 , the card is displayed on the video display by CPU  102 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 10 , a flowchart is presented depicting the process steps of card placement routine  1000 . Generally, card placement routine  1000  processes a user request to place or discard a dealt card. At step  1010 , CPU  102  is instructed to determine whether a card discard signal has been received indicating that the player has requested the dealt card to be discarded. If a card discard signal is received, decision step  1012  directs CPU  102  to process steps  1014  and  1016 . At step  1014 , CPU  102  updates status field  316  of the record representing the most recently dealt card. The status field is changed to reflect a status of “DISCARDED.” At step  1016 , CPU  102  removes the card from video display  500 . 
     If a card discard signal is not received, CPU  102  determines whether a card placement signal has been received at step  1018 . If a card placement signal has not been received, decision block  1020  directs CPU  102  to end card placement process  1000 . Otherwise, CPU  102  processes step  1022 ,  1024  and  1026  to complete a card placement At step  1022 , CPU  102  receives the location selection of the player identifying the location to which the dealt card is to be placed. At step  1024 , the contents of location field  318  of the record representing the dealt card is updated to reflect the placement of the card. Card placement routine concludes with step  1026  which instructs CPU  102  to display the card at the selected location. Although step  1026  may simply entail erasing the card from the dealt location and redisplaying it at the selected location, step  1026  may be performed using animation. 
     The card status monitor/update routine  1100  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 11A and 11B . Routine  1100  is performed for every record representing a displayed card and begins with step  1110 , wherein CPU  102  is instructed to determine whether to display a warning indicia. Typically, a warning indicia will be displayed for a short time prior to the time that a card changes or expires. The determination of step  1112  can be accomplished by comparing the system time to the contents of time dealt field  320  plus the contents of duration field  322  less some predetermined constant representing a warning duration. If a warning is required, decision step  1112  directs CPU  102  to process steps  1114  and  1116 . Step  1114  directs CPU  102  to update status field  316  of the record corresponding to the card that is about to change or expire. Depending on the contents of status field  316 , step  1114  causes the status to change from “DEALT” to “FIRST ALTERATION WARNING,” from “FIRST ALTERATION” to “FINAL ALTERATION WARNING,” or from “FINAL ALTERATION” to “EXPIRATION WARNING.” The appropriate warning indicia, such as a flashing border or highlighted card, is displayed on video display  500  at step  1116 . 
     If no warning is required, step  1112  directs CPU  102  to determine whether the display duration of the card has elapsed, as shown by step  1118 . If the display duration has not elapsed, decision block  1120  terminates routine  1100 . Otherwise, it determines whether the card is expiring or changing its value at step  1122 . If the card is not changing its value, decision step  1124  instructs CPU  102  to continue processing at step  1130 . If the card is expiring, CPU  102  processes step  1126  and updates status field  316  of the record with data indicating that the card is “DISCARDED.” At step  1128 , CPU  102  removes the card from the field of play on video display  500 . 
     Process steps  1130 – 1138  describe the steps required to change the attributes of a card. At step  1130 , CPU  102  identifies a replacement record in card database  300 . The replacement record may be selected in any number of manners including randomly selecting the replacement record from all records representing the cards in the deck or selecting the record representing the next available card from the deck. At step  1132 , CPU  102  updates status field  316 , location field  318 , time dealt field  320  and duration field  322  of the replacement card record. Step  1132  initializes the replacement record to take the place of the displayed record. Status field  316  of the replacement record is changed to “DEALT.” Location field  318  of the replacement record is set equal to location field  318  of the displayed record. Time dealt field  320  is populated with the system time. Duration field  322  may be populated with a fixed time or a randomly generated time from within a range of possible durations. 
     At step  1134 , CPU  102  updates status field  316  of the record representing the displayed card to indicate that the card has been “DISCARDED.” At step  1136 , CPU  102  removes the displayed card from the field of play on video display  500 . At step  1138 , CPU  102  displays the card represented by the replacement record. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 12 , a flowchart is presented depicting the process steps of shuffle discard routine  1200 . Generally, shuffle discard routine  1200  simulates the shuffling of the discarded cards. At step  1210 , CPU  102  determines whether the discarded cards should be shuffled. Such a determination may be based on the number of records representing cards in the deck, or the number of records representing discarded cards. If the discarded cards should be shuffled, decision step  1212  directs CPU  102  to continue processing at step  1214 . Otherwise, CPU  102  is directed to terminate the routine. 
     At step  1214 , CPU  102  randomly reassigns all of the card identifiers to the records having a status of “DISCARDED.” Step  1214  essentially shuffles the card identifiers of the records representing discarded cards. At step  1216 , CPU  102  changes the contents of status field  316  to “IN DECK” for all records having status field  316  containing “DISCARDED.” At step  1218 , CPU  102  populates location field  318  of the shuffled records with the corresponding card identifier to indicate the position within the deck. Although the preferred embodiment envisions placing the shuffled cards at the end of the deck, other variations are possible. Note that for embodiments in which an infinite deck is used, there is no need to shuffle the discards as there is an inexhaustible supply of new cards to be dealt. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 13 , a flowchart is presented depicting the process steps of payout calculation routine  1300 . At step  1310 , CPU  102  determines whether a payout request signal has been received from the player. At decision step  1312 , if no payout request signal has been received, the routine terminates. Otherwise, CPU  102  identifies the hand that the player has requested to cash out at step  1314 . At step  1316 , CPU  102  determines the outcome of the hand based on the records corresponding to the displayed cards of the identified hand. Determining the outcome of step  1316  is essentially determining the strength of the hand (e.g. three of a kind or a straight). For those hands in which fewer than five cards are required (e.g. three of a kind) the remaining cards may have an assigned class of a null game element so as to allow analysis of hands without five cards placed. At step  1318 , CPU  102  retrieves a payout corresponding to the determined outcome, and awards the payout at step  1320 . Awarding the payout may include activating hopper  130  to dispense the awarded payout or updating credit data (not shown) stored by data storage device  104 . Payout levels may depend on the number of coins wagered per card dealt. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 14 , there is shown a plan view of gaming device  1400 , a slot machine for conducting a game of chance in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the present invention. Gaming device  1400  not only includes conventional components of a traditional three reel slot machine, but also many of the components of gaming device  100  described with respect to the video poker embodiment illustrated by  FIGS. 1–13 . 
     As shown, gaming device  1400  includes a conventional three reel slot machine mechanism on the lower portion of the device. After placing a wager, a player begins a slot machine game by pulling the traditional slot handle or by pressing start button  1420 . Beginning a game initiates the rotation of the three slot reels, reel  1432 , reel  1434  and reel  1436 . At least one slot reel includes a reel stop  1430  bearing a new card symbol representing a new card. 
     Unlike gaming device  100 , a player may not simply purchase a new card to play the video poker game displayed on the upper portion of gaming device  1400 . A new card is provided to a player only upon spinning the slot reels and achieving a result including new card symbol  1430 . Upon achieving a result including new card symbol  1430 , a game element request signal is generated based on the slot result and the player is provided a new card for the video poker game, the player proceeding with the video poker game as previously described with reference to  FIGS. 1–13 . 
     Gaming device  1400  allows a player to participate in two games simultaneously, thereby enhancing the gaming experience. Gaming device  1400  further encourages a player to initiate more plays per hour in order to achieve as many new card symbols  1430  as possible to complete or improve poker hand  1440  or  1410 , displayed in the upper display area of the device. 
     While the best mode for carrying out the invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which the invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention. These alternative embodiments are within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention embodies the scope of the claims appended hereto.