Patent Publication Number: US-8979640-B2

Title: Player tracking method and a player tracking system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to patent application Ser. No. 12/428,917, filed on Apr. 23, 2009, entitled “A PLAYER TRACKING METHOD AND A PLAYER TRACKING SYSTEM”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/047,574, filed on Apr. 24, 2008, entitled “A METHOD OF GAMING, A GAMING SYSTEM, AND A GAME CONTROLLER”, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a player tracking method and a player tracking system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Many gaming venues employ player tracking (player loyalty) systems. Players participating in the system are provided with a player tracking card, such a smart card which they can insert into a card reader associated with a gaming machine while they play the gaming machine if they wish to accrue reward points which can be redeemed at a later date, for example, for food or beverages. Current player tracking systems require the player to leave their card in the car reader while playing in order to be eligible to accrue points. A problem with this approach is that player&#39;s tend to lose cards by leaving them in the card reader. One attempt to address this problem has been to provide lanyards that can be kept around the player&#39;s neck while the card is inserted, however the position of the card reader can make this uncomfortable or impractical. 
     There is a need for an alternative player tracking system and method. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In a first aspect, the invention provides, a method of player tracking for gaming, the method including:
         receiving a player identifier at a player identifier input device associated with a gaming terminal;   monitoring play of the gaming terminal in response to receipt of the player identifier, the monitoring being performed to determine whether to take any action in respect of a player record of a player tracking module corresponding to the player identifier, the monitoring being carried out such that if the player identifier was received by being read from a player tracking device by the player identifier input device and the player tracking device is removed from a position at which the player tracking device can be read, the monitoring continues after the player tracking device is removed; and   stopping monitoring of play of the gaming terminal automatically in response to at least one end condition occurring.       

     In an embodiment, the end condition includes receiving the same player identifier at a different gaming terminal. 
     In an embodiment, the end condition includes a time out condition occurring in respect of the gaming terminal. 
     In an embodiment, the player identifier is always received by being read from a player tracking device. 
     In an embodiment, the monitoring is performed to determine whether to alter a loyalty points balance stored in the player record. 
     In a second aspect, the invention provides, a player tracking system including:
         a monitoring module arranged to monitoring play of a gaming terminal in response to receipt of the player identifier, the monitoring being performed to determine whether to take any action in respect of a player record of a player tracking module corresponding to the player identifier,   the player tracking system arranged such that if the player identifier was received by being read from a player tracking device by a player identifier input device and the player tracking device is removed from a position at which the player tracking device can be read, the monitoring continues after the player tracking device is removed, and   the monitoring module arranged to monitor for at least one end condition and stop monitoring of play of the gaming terminal automatically in response to the at least one end condition occurring.       

     In an embodiment, the player tracking system includes:
         a plurality of gaming terminals; and   a plurality of player identifier input devices associated with respective ones of the gaming terminals and operable to receive the player identifier.       

     In an embodiment, the monitoring module is arranged to automatically end monitoring of a gaming machine if the same player identifier is received at a different gaming machine. 
     In an embodiment, the monitoring module is arranged to start monitoring play of the different gaming machine. 
     In an embodiment, the monitoring module is arranged to automatically end monitoring of a gaming machine if a time out condition occurs in respect of the gaming terminal. 
     In an embodiment, the player identifier input device includes a card reader of a player marketing module. 
     In a third aspect, the invention provides computer program code which when executed implements the above method. 
     In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a computer readable medium including the above program code. 
     In a fifth aspect, the invention provides a data signal including the above program code. 
     In a sixth aspect, the invention provides transmitting and receiving the above data signal. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described in relation to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a gaming machine of an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a gaming machine of an embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the memory of a gaming machine; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a player marketing module of the gaming system of an embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing how a plurality of gaming machines are networked and in data communication with a player tracking system; 
         FIG. 6  is a functional block diagram of a player tracking system; 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart of a gaming method of an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     Features, further aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Also, various embodiments of the aspects described in the preceding paragraphs will be apparent from the appended claims, the following description and/or the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to the drawings, there is shown a gaming system which includes a player tracking system where player tracking continues after a player tracking device, such as a player tracking card is removed from the player tracking device reader up until an end condition is met. 
     Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that some venues have electronic gaming tables playable by a plurality of players. For the purpose of this specification, a player position at such a table should be understood as being within the meaning of “a gaming terminal”. Accordingly, within this specification “gaming terminal” encompasses a single player, electronic gaming machine arranged to play one or more resident games, a player position at a gaming terminal, and an interactive video gaming terminal in a server based gaming system. 
     A typical stand alone gaming machine  10  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The gaming machine  10  includes a console  12  having a display  14  on which is displayed representations of a game that can be played by a player. A mid-trim  20  of the gaming machine  10  houses a bank of buttons  22  for enabling a player to interact with the gaming machine, in particular during game play. The mid-trim  20  also houses a credit input mechanism for example a coin input chute and/or a bill collector  24 B. Other credit input mechanisms may also be employed, for example, a card reader for reading a smart card, debit card or credit card. 
     Artwork and/or information, for example pay tables and details of bonus awards and other information or images relating to the game may be provided on a front panel  29  of the console  12 . A coin tray  30  is mounted beneath the front panel  29  for dispensing cash payouts from the gaming machine  10 . 
     The display  14  shown in  FIG. 1  is in the form of a video display unit, particularly a cathode ray tube screen device. Alternatively, the display  14  may be a liquid crystal display, plasma screen, any other suitable video display unit, or the visible portion of an electromechanical device. The top box  26  also includes a display which may be of the same type as the display  14 , or of a different type. 
     A player marketing module (PMM)  50  having a display  52  is connected to the gaming machine  10 . The main purpose of the PMM  50  is to allow the player to interact with the player loyalty system  540  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a block diagram of operative components of a typical gaming machine which may be the same as or different to the gaming machine of  FIG. 1 . 
     The gaming machine  100  includes a game controller  101  having a processor  102 . Instructions and data to control operation of the processor  102  are stored in a memory  103 , which is in data communication with the processor  102 . Herein the term “processor” is used to refer generically to any device that can process game play instructions in accordance with game play rules and may include: a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmable logic device or other computational device, a general purpose computer (e.g. a PC) or a server. 
     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 . 
     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 peripheral devices of the gaming machine  100 . 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 . Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the reference to random numbers includes computer generated pseudo-random numbers. 
     In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , a player interface  120  includes peripheral devices that communicate with the game controller  101  include one or more displays  106 , a touch screen and/or 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 based on 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. 
       FIG. 3  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. 
     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  to be provided remotely from the game controller  101 . 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a player marketing module  50 . Player marketing modules have other names in the art such as player tracking modules. The player marketing module  50  is connected via input/output port  57  to a serial input output port of the input/output section  105  of the electronic gaming machine. The player marketing module has a player tracking device reader  54  which provides a player identifier input device and a display  52  which may be a touch screen display. In one embodiment, the player tracking device reader is a smart card reader  54  for the purpose of reading a player tracking device in the form of a smart card, for example as part of a loyalty program. However other reading devices may be employed and the player tracking device may be in the form of a magnetic card, proximity card employing radio frequency identification technology, a flash drive or any other portable storage medium capable of being read by a reading device. 
     The PMM  50  may also have buttons  53  for receiving a player input (at least in embodiments where there is no touch screen display) and a speaker  51 . In one alternative embodiment, these buttons are employed to enter a player identifier number. 
     Input received from the player tracking device reader  54  is processed by processor  55  based on the data stored in memory  56 . The PMM  50  is connected to the loyalty system by a network card  58 . Thus, in the embodiment, the gaming machine  10  communicates with the central player tracking system  540  via the PMM  50  as described in further detail below. 
     Processor  55  is arranged to start a monitoring routine  56 A stored in memory  56  when it receives a player identifier. It will be appreciated that this monitoring routine and the PMM  50  are part of the player tracking system  540 . To this end, the processor  55  is also arranged in data communication with a gaming machine  10  via input output port  57  to obtain data about play of the game on the gaming machine, such as the number of games played, amount wagered, amount won, amount lost etc. Depending on the implementation, the processor either forwards the raw data to the player tracking system  540  in association with the player identifier or processes the raw data and forwards processed data to the player tracking system  540 . 
     As described in further detail below, the player tracking system of the embodiment is arranged to continue to monitor play of the gaming machine until an end condition occurs but in such a manner that monitoring continues without the player tracking device having to be within reading distance of the player tracking device reader. 
     To this end, in one embodiment, the monitoring routine may involve monitoring for a time out condition to be met at the gaming machine which is being monitored and automatically stoping monitoring if the time out condition is met. In one example, a time out condition may be met if the gaming machine is idle in a defined time period. PMM  50  may be arranged to output a message via display  52  if monitoring is stopped, the message asking for the player&#39;s tracking device to be presented to the gaming machine again if they wish to accrue the benefits of player tracking. 
       FIG. 5  shows a series of electronic gaming machines  10  connected via respective player marketing modules  50  over a communications network  510  to a central player tracking system  540  which has a player tracking database  541  storing player records for a plurality of players registered with the tracking system  540 . The communications network  510  may be any suitable communications network for example an Ethernet. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the player tracking system  540  has a monitoring module  542 . The monitoring module  542  has a login module  542 A which tracks which players are currently logged into the system and prevents a player from being logged in via the PMM  50  of more than one gaming machine  10 . In one example, this is achieved by refusing to checking the identifications received from PMMs  50  to determine whether data containing the same player identifier is received from two or more PMMs within a defined time period, for example a short period such as 10 seconds. If such data is received, the monitoring module  542  may instruct each PMM  50  to ask the player with a message via display  52  to represent their player tracking device within a defined period such that the PMMs will cease monitoring if the player identifier is not provided. Thus, the monitoring will stop automatically at any machines where the player is not present. In another example, where the same identification is received after a relatively long period (but still within the time out period) the monitoring module may assume that the player has moved machines and instruct the prior gaming machine to cease monitoring while allowing monitoring from the new gaming machine. 
       FIG. 6  shows that a time out module  542 B may be implemented at the player tracking system  540  as an alternative or an addition to the time out function described above as being implemented at the PMM  50 . 
     While monitoring is occurring, player tracking controller  543  takes actions based on loyalty rules  543 A and the player record stored in database  541 . A typical action is to award loyalty points against the player record identified by the player identifier. Another exemplary action is to make a bonus award to the player. 
     It will be appreciated that depending on the embodiment, the monitoring module may be provide by the central player tracking system alone, the PMM alone, by a combination thereof, or in some other manner. 
     The method  700  of an embodiment is summarised in  FIG. 7 . A player identifier  710  is received. Monitoring is started  720 . Monitoring continues  730  even if the identifier was provided by a player tracking device and the tracking device is removed. It is determined  740  whether an end condition is met. If not, monitoring continues  730 . If an end condition is met, monitoring is stopped automatically  750 . 
     Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that other end conditions could be applied. For example, proximity sensors could be deployed to the gaming terminals and employed to determine that the player is still at the gaming machine. 
     The technique can also account for machine which can be locked by a player, such that they do not terminate an instance of monitoring while a gaming machine is locked. 
     The above monitoring techniques could be embodied in program code or by hardware modules. The program code could be supplied in a number of ways, for example on a computer readable medium, such as a disc or a memory (for example, that could replace part or all of memory  103 ) or by receiving a data signal (for example, by transmitting it from a server). 
     Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that a player tracking device does not have to be kept in a position where it can be read. Such embodiments advantageously make it less likely that players will lose player tracking devices such as cards by leaving them in the PMM. Embodiments of the invention have the advantage that they prevent players from rorting the system. 
     It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, that features of embodiments of the invention can be combined to form other embodiments. 
     It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art in any country. 
     In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context indicates otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention. 
     It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Several embodiments are described above with reference to the drawings. These drawings illustrate certain details of specific embodiments that implement the systems and methods and programs of the present invention. However, describing the invention with drawings should not be construed as imposing on the invention any limitations associated with features shown in the drawings. It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention. 
     The present invention contemplates methods, systems and program products on any electronic device and/or machine-readable media suitable for accomplishing its operations. Certain embodiments of the present invention may be implemented using an existing computer processor and/or by a special purpose computer processor incorporated for this or another purpose or by a hardwired system, for example. 
     Embodiments within the scope of the present invention include program products comprising machine-readable media for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. By way of example, such machine-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such a connection is properly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.