Patent Publication Number: US-9836911-B2

Title: Gaming system and a method of gaming

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Australian Patent Application No. AU2007900083, having an international filing date of Jan. 9, 2007, entitled “A Gaming System and a Method of Gaming”, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a gaming system and to a method of gaming. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is known to provide a gaming system which comprises a game controller arranged to implement any one of a plurality of games, the game implemented by the gaming system being selectable by a player 
     However, while such gaming systems provide users with enjoyment, a need exists for alternative gaming systems in order to maintain or increase player enjoyment. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming system comprising: 
     a game controller arranged to selectively implement one of a plurality of games in response to player input; and 
     a denomination selector arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination, each game being associated with at least one bet denomination, and wherein at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games is different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games. 
     In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming system comprising: 
     a game controller arranged to selectively implement one of a plurality of games in response to a player selection; 
     wherein the gaming system is arranged to allow independent specification of denominations available to a player for at least two games of the plurality of games. 
     In one embodiment, the gaming system further comprises a denomination selector arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination. 
     The bet denomination(s) associated with a game may be different to the bet denomination(s) associated with all of the other games. 
     In one arrangement, at least one game has a plurality of associated bet denominations. 
     In one variation, at least two games have at least one bet denomination of the same amount. 
     The gaming system may comprise a touch screen display arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a game and a bet denomination by touching the display. 
     The gaming system may comprise a prize meter arranged to maintain a record of a special prize value associated with at least some of the games, wherein the special prize value changes in proportion to the credit value. 
     The gaming system may be implemented as a stand alone gaming machine or across a network. 
     In an arrangement wherein the gaming system is implemented across a network, one or more progressive meters shared with multiple networked player operable gaming machines may be provided. 
     In one variation, multiple bonus prizes may be provided with each bonus prize being associated with a particular denomination. 
     In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of gaming comprising: 
     facilitating selection by a player of a game from a plurality of games, each game being associated with at least one bet denomination, and the at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games being different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games; and 
     implementing the selected game. 
     In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program arranged when loaded into a computer to instruct the computer to operate in accordance with a gaming system comprising: 
     a game controller arranged to selectively implement one of a plurality of games in response to player input; and 
     a denomination selector arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination, each game being associated with at least one bet denomination, and wherein at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games is different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games. 
     In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to operate in accordance with a gaming system comprising: 
     a game controller arranged to selectively implement one of a plurality of games in response to player input; and 
     a denomination selector arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination, each game being associated with at least one bet denomination, and wherein at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games is different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games. 
     In accordance with a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided data signal having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer to operate in accordance with a gaming system comprising: 
     a game controller arranged to selectively implement one of a plurality of games in response to player input; and 
     a denomination selector arranged to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination, each game being associated with at least one bet denomination, and wherein at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games is different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Certain embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of functional components of a gaming system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic representation of a gaming system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention with the gaming system implemented in the form of a stand alone gaming machine; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of operative components of the gaming machine shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of components of a memory of the gaming machine shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a gaming system in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention with the gaming system implemented over a network; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating game play of a gaming system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a diagrammatic representation of an example screen displayed by a gaming system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention during implementation of a game. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, there is shown a schematic block diagram of a gaming system  10  arranged to implement a probabilistic game selected from a plurality of probabilistic games by a player. Typical probabilistic games include games of the type wherein several symbols from a set of symbols are randomly displayed, and a game outcome is determined on the basis of the displayed symbols. 
     With some such probabilistic games, the set of symbols include standard symbols and function symbols, and the game outcome is determined on the basis of the displayed standard symbols and the function associated with any displayed function symbol. For example, standard symbols may resemble fruit such as apples, pears and bananas with a win outcome being determined when a predetermined number of the same fruit appear on a display in the same line, scattered, and so on. The function associated with a function symbol may be for example a wild function wherein display of the function symbol is treated during consideration of the game outcome as any of the standard symbols. A function symbol may be represented as the word “WILD”, a star, or by any other suitable word or symbol. Other functions are also envisaged such as scatter functions, multiplier functions, repeat win functions, jackpot functions and feature commencement functions. 
     The present gaming system  10  operates such that each selectable game has one or more associated bet denominations with at least one bet denomination of at least one of the games being different to at least one bet denomination of at least one of the other games. 
     The gaming system  10  is configured so as to allow independent specification of denominations available to a player for at least two available games so that it is possible to provide a player with the option of selecting a game and selecting a bet denomination from specific denominations uniquely assigned to the game. 
     During use, the gaming system  10  operates such that a player is provided with the option of selecting a game, and where the selected game has more than one associated bet denomination, with the option of selecting the desired bet denomination for the game. 
     The bet denominations available for a game may be different to the denominations available for at least one other game such that at least 2 games have no bet denominations in common. Each game may have one or more associated bet denominations, and at least two games may have at least one bet denomination of the same amount. 
     The gaming system  10  comprises a player interface  30  and a game controller  32 . The player interface  30  is arranged to enable interaction between a player and the gaming system and for this purpose includes input/output components required for the player to enter instructions and play the game. 
     Components of the player interface  30  may vary but will typically include a credit mechanism  34  to enable a player to input credits and receive payouts, one or more displays  36  which may comprise a touch screen, and a game play mechanism  38  which may include buttons arranged to enable a player to input game playing instructions. 
     The game controller  32  is in data communication with the player interface  30  and typically includes a processor  40  arranged to process game play instructions and output game player outcomes to the display  36 . Typically, the game play instructions are stored as program code in a memory  42  that can also be hardwired. It will be understood that in this specification the term “processor” is used to refer generically to any device that can process game play instructions and may include a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable logic device or other computational device such as a personal computer or a server. 
     The memory  42  is arranged to store game instruction data  18  indicative of a plurality of games which may be implemented by the gaming system. 
     The memory  42  is also arranged to store bet denomination data  20  indicative of one or more bet denominations associated with each of the plurality of games. It will be understood that each game has one or more associated bet denominations with the bet denomination(s) associated with a game being independent of the denomination(s) associated with the other games. In this way, it is possible to provide for independent selection of a game and bet denomination by a player. 
     The game controller  32  further includes a random number generator  22  usable by the processor  40  during implementation of a probabilistic game. 
     It will be appreciated that the random number generator  22  may be of a type which is arranged to generate pseudo random numbers based on a seed number, and that in this specification the term “random” will be understood accordingly to mean truly random or pseudo random. 
     The game controller  32  also comprises a game selector  24  arranged, in this example in association with the display  36  and/or the game play mechanism  38 , to facilitate selection by a player of a game to be implemented by the gaming system  10 , and a denomination selector  26  arranged, in this example in association with the display  36  and/or the game play mechanism  38 , to facilitate selection by a player of a bet denomination to be used during implementation of the selected game. 
     The game controller  32  also comprises an outcome generator  28  which in accordance with the game instructions  18  determines game outcomes during implementation of a selected game. 
     In the embodiments described below, the game selector  24 , the denomination selector  26 , and the outcome generator  28  are at least partly implemented using the processor  40  and associated software, although it will be understood that other implementations are envisaged. 
     The gaming system  10  can take a number of different forms. 
     In a first form, a stand alone gaming machine is provided wherein all or most components required for implementing a selected game are present in a player operable gaming machine. 
     In a second form, a distributed architecture is provided wherein some of the components required for implementing a selected game are present in a player operable gaming machine and some of the components required for implementing the game are located remotely relative to the gaming machine. For example, a “thick client” architecture may be used wherein part of the game is executed on a player operable gaming machine and part of the game is executed remotely, such as by a gaming server; or a “thin client” architecture may be used wherein most of the game is executed remotely such as by a gaming server and a player operable gaming machine is used only to display audible and/or visible gaming information to the player and receive gaming inputs from the player. 
     However, it will be understood that other arrangements are envisaged. For example, an architecture may be provided wherein a gaming machine is networked to a gaming server and the respective functions of the gaming machine and the gaming server are selectively modifiable. For example, the gaming system may operate in stand alone gaming machine mode, “thick client” mode or “thin client” mode depending on the selected game being played, operating conditions, and so on. Other variations will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. 
     A gaming system in the form of a stand alone gaming machine  44  is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The gaming machine  44  includes a console  46  having a display  48  on which is displayed representations of a game  49  that can be played by a player. A mid-trim  50  of the gaming machine  44  houses a bank of buttons  52  for enabling a player to interact with the gaming machine, in particular during gameplay. The mid-trim  50  also houses a credit input mechanism  54  which in this example includes a coin input chute  54 A and a bill collector  54 B. Other credit input mechanisms may also be employed, for example, a card reader for reading a smart card, debit card or credit card. A reading device may also be provided for the purpose of reading a player tracking device, for example as part of a loyalty program. The player tracking device may be in the form of a card, flash drive or any other portable storage medium capable of being read by the reading device. 
     A top box  56  may carry artwork  58 , including for example pay tables and details of bonus awards and other information or images relating to the game. Further artwork and/or information may be provided on a front panel  59  of the console  46 . A coin tray  60  is mounted beneath the front panel  59  for dispensing cash payouts from the gaming machine  44 . 
     The display  48  is in the form of a video display unit, particularly a cathode ray tube screen device. Alternatively, the display  48  may be a liquid crystal display, plasma screen, or any other suitable video display unit. The top box  56  may also include a display, for example a video display unit, which may be of the same type as the display  48 , or of a different type. 
     The display  48  in this example is arranged to display representations of several games which are selectable by a player, a selected game being implemented by the gaming machine  44 . 
     The games which are implementable by the gaming machine  44  may be of a type including one or more physical or virtual reels. Such gaming machines including actual rotatable reels are commonly termed stepper machines. 
     A stepper machine typically has a separate motor for each reel, and the game controller of such a gaming machine has a stop determining function that determines the stop position for each reel. For example, if there are five reels, each having twenty symbols, the stop determining function might determine that the stop positions are positions  3 ,  13 ,  7 ,  9  and  17 . When a reel stops, the symbols will be in one of a plurality of possible symbol positions for that reel relative to the stop position. 
       FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of operative components of a typical gaming machine  100  which may be the same as or different to the gaming machine  40  shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     The gaming machine  100  includes a game controller  101  having a processor  102 . Instructions and data to control operation of the processor  102  in accordance with the present invention are stored in a memory  103  which is in data communication with the processor  102 . 
     Typically, the gaming machine  100  will include both volatile and non-volatile memory and more than one of each type of memory, with such memories being collectively represented by the memory  103 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of the main components of an exemplary memory  103 . The memory  103  includes RAM  103 A, EPROM  103 B and a mass storage device  103 C. The RAM  103 A typically temporarily holds program files for execution by the processor  102  and related data. The EPROM  103 B may be a boot ROM device and/or may contain some system or game related code. The mass storage device  103 C is typically used to store game programs, the integrity of which may be verified and/or authenticated by the processor  102  using protected code from the EPROM  103 B or elsewhere. 
     The gaming machine has hardware meters  104  for purposes including ensuring regulatory compliance and monitoring player credit, an input/output (I/O) interface  105  for communicating with a player interface  120  of the gaming machine  100 , the player interface  120  having several peripheral devices. The input/output interface  105  and/or the peripheral devices may be intelligent devices with their own memory for storing associated instructions and data for use with the input/output interface or the peripheral devices. A random number generator module  113  generates random numbers for use by the processor  102 . 
     The hardware meters  104  may include a progressive meter which is contributed to by at least some of the available games, the progressive meter incrementing in proportion to the credit value of the bet per game. For example, the progressive meter may maintain a record of a bonus or jackpot prize associated with all of the games and the gaming system  100  arranged such that a player of any of the games may receive the bonus or jackpot prize by satisfying a predetermined condition defined for the games. 
     In an alternative arrangement, instead of providing each of the gaming systems  100  with a progressive meter, one or more shared progressive meters may be provided, for example as part of the jackpot server  207  of the networked gaming system  200  shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In one variation, multiple bonus or jackpot prizes may be provided with each bonus or jackpot prize being associated with a particular denomination. In this way, each denomination has an associated jackpot. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , the peripheral devices that communicate with the game controller  101  comprise one or more displays  106 , a touch screen and/or bank of buttons  107 , a card and/or ticket reader  108 , a printer  109 , a bill acceptor and/or coin input mechanism  110  and a coin output mechanism  111 . Additional hardware may be included as part of the gaming machine  100 , or hardware may be omitted as required for the specific implementation. 
     In addition, the gaming machine  100  may include a communications interface, for example a network card  112 . The network card may, for example, send status information, accounting information or other information to a central controller, server or database and receive data or commands from the central controller, server or database. 
     It is also possible for the operative components of the gaming machine  100  to be distributed, for example input/output devices  106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111  may be provided remotely from the game controller  101 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a gaming system  200  in accordance with an alternative embodiment. The gaming system  200  includes a network  201 , which for example may be an Ethernet network, a LAN or a WAN. In this example, three banks  203  of two gaming machines  202  are connected to the network  201 . The gaming machines  202  provide a player operable interface and may be the same as the gaming machines  40 ,  100  shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , or may have simplified functionality depending on the requirements for implementing game play. While banks  203  of two gaming machines are illustrated in  FIG. 5 , banks of one, three or more gaming machines are also envisaged. 
     One or more displays  204  may also be connected to the network  201 . The displays  204  may, for example, be associated with one or more banks  203  of gaming machines. The displays  204  may be used to display representations associated with game play on the gaming machines  202 , and/or used to display other representations, for example promotional or informational material. 
     In a thick client embodiment, a game server  205  implements part of the game played by a player using a gaming machine  202  and the gaming machine  202  implements part of the game. With this embodiment, as both the game server  205  and the gaming machine  202  implement part of the game, they collectively provide a game controller. A database management server  206  may manage storage of game programs and associated data for downloading or access by the gaming devices  202  in a database  206 A. Typically, if the gaming system enables players to participate in a Jackpot game, a Jackpot server  207  will be provided to monitor and carry out the Jackpot game. 
     In a variation of the above thick client embodiment, the gaming machine  202  may implement the game, with the game server  205  functioning merely to serve data indicative of a game to the gaming machine  202  for implementation. 
     With this implementation, a data signal containing a computer program usable by the client terminal to implement the gaming system may be transferred from the game server to the client terminal, for example in response to a request by the client terminal. 
     In a thin client embodiment, the game server  205  implements most or all of the game played by a player using a gaming machine  202  and the gaming machine  202  essentially provides only the player interface. With this embodiment, the game server  205  provides the game controller. The gaming machine will receive player instructions, and pass the instructions to the game server which will process them and return game play outcomes to the gaming machine for display. In a thin client embodiment, the gaming machines could be computer terminals, e.g. PCs running software that provides a player interface operable using standard computer input and output components. 
     Servers are also typically provided to assist in the administration of the gaming system  200 , including for example a gaming floor management server  208  and a licensing server  209  to monitor the use of licenses relating to particular games. An administrator terminal  210  is provided to allow an administrator to monitor the network  201  and the devices connected to the network. 
     The gaming system  200  may communicate with other gaming systems, other local networks such as a corporate network, and/or a wide area network such as the Internet, for example through a firewall  211 . 
     A loyalty program server  212  may also be provided. 
     Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that in accordance with known techniques, functionality at the server side of the network may be distributed over a plurality of different computers. For example, elements may be run as a single “engine” on one server or a separate server may be provided. For example, the game server  205  could run a random number generator engine. Alternatively, a separate random number generator server could be provided. 
     During operation, the game controller, whether implemented in a stand alone gaming machine  44  or over a network  201 , provides a player with the option to select a game from a plurality of games, and to select the bet denomination to be used during implementation of the selected game. 
     Examples of specific implementations of the gaming system will now be described in relation to a stand alone gaming machine  44  although it will be understood that implementation may also be carried out using other gaming system architectures such as a network architecture of the type shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     A specific example will now be described in relation to flow diagram  250  shown in  FIG. 6  which illustrates steps  252  to  262  of a method of gaming implemented by the gaming system according to the present embodiment. 
     In this example, four selectable games are provided and shown on the display  48 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Each of the games has an associated graphical identifier (not shown) including indicia representative of the game disposed in game regions  280 ,  282 ,  284 ,  286 . 
     In this example, the display  48  is a touch screen display and a game is selectable by a player by touching a denomination identifier  290  associated with the desired denomination amount and the desired game. 
     The gaming system then implements the selected game using the selected bet denomination. 
     It will be understood that other variations are possible. For example, the gaming system may first require a player to select a desired game, then subsequently require a player to select a desired denomination, or alternatively the gaming system may first require a player to select a desired denomination, then subsequently require a player to select a desired game. 
     In the present example, each game has multiple available bet denominations with the available denominations for two games being the same and the available denominations for the remaining two games also being the same. However, it will be understood that other variations are possible. For example, one bet denomination may be available for each game with at least some of the denominations being different, the available bet denominations for a game may be different to the available denominations for all of the other games, or the number of denominations for the games may be different. 
     Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.