Patent Publication Number: US-2004053676-A1

Title: Gaming device having a varied wild symbol in a bonus game

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] Contemporary gaming machines such as slot type games and card games are known. Certain known gaming machines include wild symbols or wild cards in such games to enhance the player&#39;s excitement because of the increased likelihood of obtaining a winning combination. One gaming device described in PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/AU97/00103 provides for a randomly chosen wild symbol for each play of a slot-type game to increase the chance of obtaining a winning combination. The symbol is chosen from among any of the possible reel symbols, and the chosen symbol is displayed during game play. The chosen wild symbol may not appear on any of the reels in a play of the game and thus not provide any increased chance of winning an award or an increased award in that play of the game.  
       [0002] Other known gaming machines provide a bonus event upon the occurrence of a qualifying condition or triggering event. These machines provide the player with a bonus award or opportunity to play a bonus game through which the player may be provided an additional award. To maintain player interest, it is desirable to provide the player with a feature where through a randomly selected wild symbol in a game or bonus event the wild symbol is certain to increase the chance of or size of a possible award.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] The present invention provides a gaming device that randomly selects a wild symbol or card from the plurality of symbols or cards randomly generated and displayed to the player in each iteration of the game. The present invention increases the player&#39;s enjoyment by enabling the player to anticipate the choosing of a particular wild symbol that will maximize the award to the player. The wild symbol is chosen from the random outcome such as the set of symbols randomly generated on the reels and displayed to the player. Thus, in each game, the player will obtain an increased chance of receiving or increasing an award amount upon the selection and display of the wild symbol. The invention can be incorporated as either a base game or as a bonus game played upon the occurrence of a qualifying condition in a base game.  
       [0004] In one embodiment, the gaming device is a slot-type game. After the reels spin and the symbols are generated in each game, the gaming device randomly selects one of the generated symbols on one or more of the pay lines as a wild symbol that will substitute for any other symbol. The gaming device will display to the player the randomly generated symbols for the play of the game prior to selecting the wild symbol. In one embodiment, possible wild symbols are displayed continually in sequence to the player before displaying the chosen wild symbol. Because the wild symbol will be one of the randomly generated symbols on the reels, the player knows that the chances of obtaining a winning combination or a higher paying winning combination will increase once the wild symbol is randomly chosen and displayed. Certain symbols on the reels, when wild, will trigger a greater award to the player than other symbols either because there are more occurrences of that symbol randomly generated on the reels or a better combination will result if a certain one of the randomly generated symbols is the wild symbol. Therefore, the player will root for these more advantageous symbols after the reels are spun and stopped in each game, increasing the player&#39;s excitement.  
       [0005] In another embodiment, the gaming device displays a card based game such as video poker. In this embodiment, once the final five card hand is reached in the game, the gaming device randomly chooses one of the final face values or cards to be wild. Again, the player will root for a certain face value or card to be wild to maximize the award at the end of each bonus game. For example, a final hand may consist of a Eight, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. The player will root for the Eight to be wild because a straight will occur whereas if any of the other cards are chosen to be wild, only a pair will occur.  
       [0006] It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device that randomly chooses a wild symbol from the final displayed symbols in a game to increase the award provided to a player.  
       [0007] Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
     [0008]FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a slot-type game embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention.  
     [0009]FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a video poker embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the electronic configuration of one embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention.  
     [0011]FIGS. 3A, 3B and  3 C are plan views of a slot-type game embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention, illustrating the display of the wild symbol.  
     [0012]FIGS. 4A, 4B and  4 C are plan views of a slot-type game with scatter pay feature embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention, illustrating the display of the wild symbol.  
     [0013]FIGS. 5A, 5B and  5 C are plan views of a video poker embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention, illustrating the display of the wild symbol.  
     [0014]FIGS. 6A and 6B are plan views of a slot-type game embodiment of the gaming device of the present invention utilized as a bonus event, illustrating the display of the wild symbol. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     Gaming Device and Electronics  
     [0015] Referring now to the drawings, two embodiments of the gaming device of the present invention are illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B as gaming device  10   a  and  10   b,  respectively. Gaming device  10   a  and gaming device  10   b  are generally referred to herein as gaming device  10 . Gaming device  10  is constructed so that a player can operate it while standing or sitting. It should be appreciated that gaming device  10  can be constructed as a pub-style table-top game (not shown) which a player can operate preferably while sitting. Furthermore, gaming device  10  can be constructed with varying cabinet and display designs. Gaming device  10  can incorporate any game apparatus for operating any game such as slot, blackjack, poker and keno, any of their bonus qualifying conditions and any of their secondary and bonus round games. The symbols and indicia used on and in gaming device  10  may be in mechanical, electrical or video form.  
     [0016] As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, gaming device  10  includes a coin slot  12  and a bill acceptor  14  where the player inserts money, coins or tokens. The player can place coins in the coin slot  12  or paper money or ticket vouchers in the bill acceptor  14 . Other devices could be used for accepting payment such as readers or validators for credit cards or debit cards. When a player inserts money in gaming device  10 , a number of credits corresponding to the amount deposited is shown in a credit display  16 . After depositing the appropriate amount of money, a player can begin the game by pulling arm  18  or pushing deal or play button  20 .  
     [0017] As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, gaming device  10  also includes a bet display  22  and a bet one button  24 . The player places a bet by pushing the bet one button  24 . The player can increase the bet by one credit each time the player pushes the bet one button  24 . When the player pushes the bet one button  24 , the number of credits shown in the credit display  16  decreases by one, and the number of credits shown in the bet display  22  increases by one. A player may cash out and thereby receive a number of coins corresponding to the number of remaining credits by pushing a cash out button  26 . When the player cashes out, the player receives the coins in a coin pay out tray  28 . The gaming device  10  may employ other pay out mechanisms such as credit slips redeemable by a cashier or electronically recordable cards which keep track of the player&#39;s credits.  
     [0018] Gaming device  10  also includes one or more display devices. The embodiment shown in FIG. 1A includes a central display device  30 , but other embodiments such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1B can include a central display device  30  and an upper display device  32 . Each embodiment preferably also includes a wild symbol display  33 . The wild symbol display  33  can be a separate display device as shown in FIG. 1A or can be incorporated in central display device  30  as illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3C and  4 A through  4 C or in upper display device  32  as illustrated in FIG. 1B. A display device can be any viewing surface such as glass, a video monitor or screen, a liquid crystal display or any other display mechanism.  
     [0019] A slot machine game of gaming device  10  as shown in FIG. 1A preferably displays a plurality of reels  34 , such as three to five reels  34 , in mechanical or video form on one or more of the display devices. Each reel  34  displays a plurality of indicia such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers, letters, bars or other symbols which preferably correspond to a theme associated with gaming device  10 . If the reels  34  are in video form, the display device displaying the video reels  34  is preferably a video monitor.  
     [0020] Similarly, if the game is card based such as video poker, the display device is preferably a video monitor as shown in FIG. 1B. The cards  35  are associated with one or more decks of cards used in conventional poker games including any wild cards. The cards  35  may further display a variety of images such as bells, hearts, fruits, numbers, letters or other images which may correspond to a theme associated with gaming device  10 . Furthermore, each gaming device  10  includes speakers  36  for making sounds or playing music.  
     [0021] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the general electronic configuration of gaming device  10  preferably includes: a processor  38 ; a memory device or data storage device  40  for storing program code or other data; a display device  30 ; a sound card  42 ; a plurality of speakers  36 ; and one or more input devices  44 . The processor  38  is preferably a microprocessor or microcontroller-based platform which is capable of displaying images, symbols and other indicia such as images of people, characters, places, things and faces of cards. The data storage device  40  can include random access memory (RAM)  46  for storing event data or other data generated or used during a particular game. The data storage device  40  can also include read only memory (ROM)  48 . ROM  48  preferably stores program code which controls the gaming device  10  so that it plays a particular game in accordance with applicable game rules and pay tables.  
     [0022] As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the player preferably uses the input devices  44 , such as pull arm  18 , deal or play button  20 , the bet one button  24 , the cash out button  26  and the hold buttons  27  to input signals into gaming device  10 . In certain instances it is preferable to use a touch screen  50  and an associated touch screen controller  52  instead of a conventional video monitor display device. Touch screen  50  and touch screen controller  52  are connected to a video controller  54  and processor  38 . A player can make decisions and input signals into the gaming device  10  by touching touch screen  50  at the appropriate locations. As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the processor  38  can be connected to coin slot  12  or bill acceptor  14 . The processor  38  can be programmed to require a player to deposit a certain amount of money in order to start the game.  
     [0023] It should be appreciated that although a processor  38  and data storage device  40  are preferable implementations of the present invention, the present invention can also be implemented using one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC&#39;s) or other hard-wired devices, or using mechanical devices (collectively or alternatively referred to herein as a “processor”). Furthermore, although the processor  38  and data storage device  40  preferably reside on each gaming device  10  unit, it is possible to provide some or all of their functions at a central location such as a network server for communication to a playing station such as over a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), Internet connection, microwave link, and the like. The processor  38  and memory device  40  are at times generally referred to herein as the “computer” or “controller.” 
     [0024] With reference to FIG. 1A, to operate gaming device  10  in the slot-type game embodiment, the player must insert the appropriate amount of money, tokens or other currency at coin slot  12  or bill acceptor  14  and then pull the arm  18  or push the deal or play button  20 . The reels  34  will then begin to spin. Eventually, the reels  34  will come to a stop. After the reels  34  stop, processor  38  randomly selects one of the symbols on any of the pay lines to be a wild symbol. If the game has a scatter pay, processor  38  randomly selects one of the symbols displayed on any of the stopped reels  34  to be a wild symbol. After selecting the wild symbol, gaming device  10  displays the chosen symbol on wild symbol display  33 . Then, the final position of reels  34  is compared to a pay table, and the appropriate award is provided to the player. Depending upon where the reels  34  stop and the wild symbol selected, the player may reach an award outcome and win additional credits, or the player may reach a non-award outcome and win no credits. It should be appreciated that the present invention can include a scatter pay feature or one or more pay lines, such as pay line  56 , wherein the pay lines can be horizontal, diagonal or any combination thereof.  
     [0025] Similarly, with reference to FIG. 1B, to operate gaming device  10  in the video poker embodiment, the player must insert the appropriate amount of money or tokens at coin slot  12  or bill acceptor  14  and then push the deal or play button  20 . Gaming device  10  enables the player to play a conventional game of video poker and initially deals five cards  35  all face up from a single fifty-two card deck. If the player wishes to draw, the player selects the cards  35  to hold by pressing related hold buttons  27  or the touch screen  50 . The player then presses the deal button  20  and the unwanted cards  35  are removed from the display  30  and replacement cards  35  are dealt from the remaining cards in the deck. This results in a final five-card hand  35 . Then, processor  38  randomly selects one of the cards or face values displayed in the final five-card hand  35  to be a wild symbol. After selecting the wild symbol, gaming device  10  displays the chosen symbol, a card or face value, on wild symbol display  33 . With the wild symbol substituting for any other card, the final five-card hand  35  is compared to a pay table which utilizes conventional poker hand rankings to determine the winning hands. The player is provided with an award based on a winning hand and the credits the player wagered.  
     [0026] It should be appreciated that there may be additional variations of poker games such as a hand having a different number of cards, multiple hands simultaneously played, or variations of conventional poker hand rankings which gaming device  10  can be adapted to play. It should also be appreciated that other card-based games could be used in connection with the present invention as a base game or bonus game.  
     [0027] In addition to winning credits in this manner, in one embodiment gaming device  10  also gives players the opportunity to win credits in a secondary or bonus event, such as a bonus game. This embodiment of gaming device  10  includes a program which will automatically begin a bonus game when the player has achieved a qualifying condition in the game. In another embodiment, gaming device  10  enables the player to play one or more bonus games upon the occurrence of a qualifying condition. This qualifying condition can be a particular arrangement of one or more indicia on a display device such as symbols on a pay line or a particular hand in a poker game. The gaming device  10  may use a video-based display device  30  to enable the player to play the bonus game.  
     Variable Wild Symbol  
     [0028] In a preferred embodiment, after the completion of each game, gaming device  10  randomly selects one of the symbols or cards randomly generated and displayed upon the completion of the spin of the reels, deal of the cards or other such event to be a wild symbol. The wild symbol can be substituted for any other symbol or card to help achieve a winning combination. In the slot-type game embodiment, the wild symbol is chosen from the set of symbols appearing on the reels. In the video poker embodiment, the wild symbol is a particular card or face value chosen from the set of cards or face values appearing in the final hand or draw. This feature increases the player&#39;s enjoyment of the game because the wild symbol chosen is always one of the symbols randomly generated in and displayed at the completion of game play. Therefore, the wild symbol will increase the chance of or the size of any award to be won in the game, but the size of the increased award depends upon which displayed symbol is chosen.  
     [0029] For example, in a slot-type base game embodiment, an award is provided upon the occurrence of three or more of any one symbol in a pay line. In this example, after one game has been played as illustrated in FIG. 3A, a cherry symbol, two “Bar” symbols, and two “7” symbols occurred on the pay line  56  and are displayed to the player. In this example, the occurrence of four “7” symbols in a pay line triggers a larger award than four “Bar” symbols, and the occurrence of any four like symbols triggers a larger award than any three like symbols.  
     [0030] Next, gaming device  10  randomly selects one of the three displayed symbols on pay line  56 , cherry, “7” or “Bar,” to be a wild symbol. Once the symbol is selected, gaming device  10  displays the wild symbol on wild symbol display  33 . After seeing the symbols displayed on the pay line but prior to seeing the selected wild symbol, the player will root for a particular symbol to appear as the wild symbol. In some embodiments, player excitement can be increased by displaying the possible wild symbols in sequence in the wild symbol display  33  prior to displaying the selected symbol.  
     [0031] In this example, the player will root for a “Bar” to be the wild symbol because this selection would trigger the highest award possible for this example, that for the occurrence of four “7” symbols as illustrated in FIG. 3B. However, the worst that can happen is that the cherry symbol is chosen, and gaming device  10  provides to the player the award corresponding to the occurrence of three “7” symbols as illustrated in FIG. 3C or three “Bars”. Thus, in the present invention, randomly selecting a wild symbol from the displayed symbols increases the award provided to the player and increases player excitement because the award increase is temporarily unknown.  
     [0032] In another example illustrated in FIGS. 4A through 4D, the invention can be used in connection with a scatter pay feature in a slot-type game embodiment. In a scatter pay feature, an award is provided upon the occurrence of a certain number of symbols anywhere on the reels  34  of a slot game. For example, an award is provided if five or more “7” symbols appear anywhere on the reels  34  of a slot game whereas other symbols only trigger an award if three or more appear on pay line  56 . In this example, the award increases with the number of like symbols appearing, either “7” symbols scattered or other like symbols on pay line  56 .  
     [0033] Various possibilities for winning combinations exist in the example as illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 4C. Because of the variety of possibilities, the player&#39;s excitement will increase in anticipation of which symbol is selected and displayed in wild symbol display  33 . In the illustrated example at FIG. 4B, the player will root for a diamond symbol to be the wild symbol because then gaming device  10  will provide the award for six scattered “7” symbols. Also, in one embodiment, gaming device  10  may provide awards for any and all winning combinations achieved. Thus, the player may root for a heart symbol to the wild symbol because then gaming device  10  would provide the awards for three “Bar” symbols occurring in the pay line  56  and for five scattered “7” symbols as shown in FIG. 4C. Thus, depending on the pay table and the number of symbols used in the game, any number of possible winning combinations are available upon the selection and display of the wild symbol to increase player enjoyment.  
     [0034] In another example, in the video poker embodiment, gaming device  10  randomly selects a wild symbol after the completion of the game as illustrated in FIG. 5A. Upon the completion of a single game, gaming device  10  displays the cards  35  of the Jack of Clubs, the Jack of Hearts, and the Seven, Eight, and Nine of Diamonds as shown in FIG. 5A. Next, gaming device  10  randomly selects one of the four face values of the cards  35  to be the wild symbol, i.e. either Jack, Seven, Eight or Nine, and displays the chosen value in wild symbol display  33 . In this example, after seeing the final five-card hand  35  the player will root for a Jack to be the wild symbol because the gaming device  10  will provide the award for a straight flush as shown in FIG. 5B. On the other hand, if any of the other symbols, Seven, Eight or Nine, are selected to be the wild symbol, only the award for three Jacks will be triggered as illustrated in FIG. 5C.  
     [0035] In other embodiments, the invention can be used as part of a bonus event in connection with a base game. In one embodiment, upon the occurrence of a qualifying condition in a base game, a bonus event occurs where one of the displayed symbols at the end of the base game is chosen to be a wild symbol. In an example illustrated in FIG. 6A, a slot-type game triggers a bonus event and upon the occurrence of a qualifying event such as the appearance of a special or triggering symbol  37  when the reels  34  have stopped spinning. In this example, the bonus event consists of the processor  38  of gaming device  10  randomly selecting one of the symbols appearing on the pay line  56  of the base game, “Bar,” cherry, diamond or “7,” to be a wild symbol and displayed in wild symbol display  33  as shown in FIG. 6B. The same could occur on a game with a scatter pay feature where the wild symbol is randomly selected from among all the displayed symbols on the stopped reels  34 .  
     [0036] It should be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to any game, including but not limited to any variation of video poker, any slot-type game, black-jack, or other game where the wild symbol concept can enhance the chance of an increased award. Further, the present invention can be applied to gaming devices employing any variety of base games capable of generating a bonus event. It should also be appreciated that the invention can be utilized as a separate bonus game triggered upon the occurrence of a qualifying event in a base game. Also, the probability of any particular symbol being chosen by processor  38  of gaming device  10  as the wild symbol can be adjusted to conform to any pay out rules or regulations.  
     [0037] It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.