Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7785194B2/en
Timestamp: 2020-08-06 08:17:51
Document Index: 365816141

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 2002327664', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2', 'Application No. 2004800265558', 'Application No. 2004800265558', 'Application No. 04788767']

US7785194B2 - Player specific rewards - Google Patents
Player specific rewards Download PDF
US7785194B2
US7785194B2 US10/699,260 US69926003A US7785194B2 US 7785194 B2 US7785194 B2 US 7785194B2 US 69926003 A US69926003 A US 69926003A US 7785194 B2 US7785194 B2 US 7785194B2
US10/699,260
US20040142742A1 (en
2001-09-18 Priority to US32349901P priority Critical
2002-09-18 Priority to US10/247,786 priority patent/US20030078101A1/en
2002-11-01 Priority to US42332302P priority
2003-10-31 Application filed by International Game Technology filed Critical International Game Technology
2003-10-31 Priority to US10/699,260 priority patent/US7785194B2/en
2004-04-01 Assigned to ACRES GAMING INCORPORATED reassignment ACRES GAMING INCORPORATED ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SCHNEIDER, RICHARD J., JORDAN, R. JEFFREY, MASON, SHANNON, RUSSELL, KEITH, WILKINS, KEVAN, GLAZIER, MATT, BOYD, SCOTT A.
2004-07-22 Publication of US20040142742A1 publication Critical patent/US20040142742A1/en
2010-08-31 Publication of US7785194B2 publication Critical patent/US7785194B2/en
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONS
This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application 60/423,323, entitled Player Specific Rewards, filed on Nov. 1, 2002, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
In one aspect, the invention features a gaming network comprising a player processing system and a gaming device coupled to the player processing system. The player processing system is structured to record data about a player. The gaming device is structured to configure a present state of an award based on the recorded data.
In another aspect, the invention features a gaming network comprising a gaming device, player tracking hardware, a player tracking system, and a player specific gaming server. The gaming device has a primary game and a bonus game. The player tracking hardware is coupled to the gaming device and is structured to identify a player of the gaming device. The player tracking system is also coupled to the gaming device and is structured to store data about gameplay of the player of the gaming device. The player specific gaming server is coupled to the player tracking system and to the gaming device. The gaming server is structured to record session information of the bonus game played on the gaming device by the player.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example PSGS system 8 according to embodiments of the invention. The PSGS system, generally, includes a customizable electronic gaming machine 10 (EGM), a set of player tracking hardware 20, a player tracking system 40, and a PSGS server 60. Each of the components can communicate with one another over communication interfaces. For example, the PSGS server 60 communicates to the EGM 10 over a PSGS network 50, which can be a wired or wireless network, or a combination of both. The EGM 10 communicates to the player tracking hardware 20 over a communication link 52, which is well known to those skilled in the art. For example, descriptions of the link 52 and the interaction between an EGM 10 and a player tracking system 20 are included in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,961 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,125, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. A card reader monitor component 30 of the player tracking hardware 20 can communicate directly with machine electronics 14 of the EGM 10 through a separate communication link 54. The player tracking hardware 20 communicates with the player tracking system 40 over a communication link 56, also known as a casino system network. Casino networks are well known in the industry and are detailed in the '961 patent referenced above. The player tracking system 40 communicates to the PSGS server 60 through one or more gateways, illustrated here as a communication link 58. Detailed discussion of the types of communication between all of the components in the PSGS system 8 follows.
In a particular embodiment, a game according to embodiments of the invention includes a base game, which could be a video slot machine for instance. The base game may be played by carded and uncarded players alike. The game can include one or more bonuses. Some of the bonuses are available to carded and uncarded players, while other bonuses are available only to carded players. In one particular bonus, available only to carded players, the players take a simulated “journey” along a path beginning at a first location (initial state) and ending at a known destination (non-initial state). An indicator of where the player is on the journey advances along a displayed route, so the player knows where he or she is in the journey. A player advances to another point (non-initial state) on the journey when events occur. For instance, in a simple embodiment, the journey may begin after the carded player has played for “x” minutes, or has played “y” number of games, or has played “z” amount of value in the game. The last determination, amount of value played in the game, is known as “coin-in”, and is a measure of how much money the patron has spent on the game, no matter how long it took the patron to do so. Using coin-in is a convenient way to measure patron activity. For example, the journey may include 10 stopping points and the player advances to the next stopping point after the player has the minimum amount of coin-in since the previous stopping point. In a more advanced embodiment, the triggering event that causes a player to advance from one stopping point to another can be a random or pseudo random event.
To complete a reward journey, a player may have to spend a relatively long time at the game. Using embodiments of the invention, a player may split portions of the reward journey into multiple “sessions” of play. For instance, the player may initially play the game for 45 minutes and may advance to the second of ten stops on the reward journey. In embodiments of the invention, because the player is a carded player, the PSGS server 60 may record and “store” the player's progress. Thus, when the player returns and re-identifies himnself or herself by inserting his or her player identification card into the game, the game returns to its previously stored state where the player had already advanced to the second (non-initial state) of ten stops in the reward journey. When the player then plays the game enough to advance to the next stopping point, the game automatically advances to the third stopping point, rather than beginning again at the first (initial state). In this way, the entire reward journey can be played over multiple gaming sessions, which encourages players to return to the same casino.
FIG. 2 illustrates in block form a sample game screen that can be used in embodiments of the invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an illustrated sample screen. Almost any conceivable type of game can be used to embody elements of the invention, but for purposes of illustration a video slot machine will be described. The primary game is a 5 or 9-line, 5 reel video slot machine. A 9-line video slot is illustrated in FIG. 3. Typically, the game would have a second screen reward feature that could be won by carded and non-carded players alike. The second reward screen feature could be funded i.e., rewards paid out of, a pool accumulated by an overall payback percentage of the machine, or another reward pool funding mechanism could be employed. In some embodiments, the reward pool operates similar to a personal progressive reward as described below. Personal progressive awards are well known to those skilled in the art.
TABLE 1 Message class name of the message Message Handler class name of the handler for the message Originator Who originated this message? Recipient Who is the intended recipient? Purpose Why is this message being generated? Transport Along each step in the process, what mechanism Mechanism is used? Format What data format is utilized? Data What data is being sent? Response Expected What response (if any) can be expected? Actions Taken What actions will the recipient perform in response?
TABLE 2 Ack Acknowledges receipt if no particular data is needed Bonus Reward Sent to PSGS server 60 to update a database with a current bonus event. Bonus Redemption Sent to PSGS server 60 to update game state at the final conclusion of a game session. Heartbeat Ensures communications are operative in the PSGS system 8. If heartbeat messages are not regularly received by the various components, the various components may shut down. Machine Authentication Upon EGM 10 startup, the game authenticates with the PSGS server 60. When received, the PSGS server 60 makes a database update that the particular EGM 10 is active. Machine Transfer Sent from the PSGS server 60 to a game on the EGM 10 to inform the game of casino configurable options such as timeouts, polling frequencies, which rewards are available to the game, etc. Patron Authentication When a card-in event occurs, the identification of the patron is verified Patron Bet A message sent to the PSGS server 60 that enables it to cumulate the total number of individual bets placed by the patron. Patron Bet Response The PSGS server 60 acknowledges the Patron Bet message and the bet is removed from the game state restoration mechanism. Patron Transfer Sent from the PSGS server 60 to the EGM 10, this message includes information collected from the player tracking system 40, including their name, ID, status, birth date, etc. Session Begin Sent from the EGM 10 to the PSGS server 60, this causes the PSGS server 60 to either retrieve a previously stored gaming session, or to create a new session. Session End Sent to the PSGS server 60 from the EGM 10, this signifies the player has ended the currently active session. Session Transfer Sent to the EGM 10 from the PSGS 60, this message contains a session that was requested by the EGM 10 with a Session Begin message.
TABLE 3 Player ID Unique identifier linking the current player with specific player information in the database. Session ID Unique identifier linking the current session with specific session information in the database. Minimum Target Value Configurable parameter that specifies the lowest value that the Final Target Value can be. Maximum Target Value Configurable parameter that specifies the highest value that the Final Target Value can be. Final Target Value Value that is randomly chosen between the Minimum and Maximum Target Values. This is the value that the player's Current Value must meet or exceed before the Souvenir Redemption can occur. Targets Some number, for example 10 to 15 unique, randomly chosen targets residing between 0 and Final Target Value. Value Value of the target that Current Value must met or exceed before a Souvenir Selection can occur. Achieved Has this target been achieved yet? Unique Reward Selected Was the selected Souvenir unique or was it a duplicate of a previously selected one? Date Achieved The date the souvenir was awarded. Reward ID Unique identifier linking the current session with specific souvenir information in the database (Is it a key chain? A car tag?). Current Value A value that correlates to the total coin in that has occurred since the game session was initially begun. Each time a wager occurs Current Value is incremented by a corresponding amount. (ex. A Max Bet is wagered on a nickel denomination machine (9 lines × 10 coins per line = 90 coins × .05 each = 450 cents). Before the wager, Current Value is 250, after the wager the Current Value has been incremented by 90 and is now 340). Last Target Achieved This equates to the last target in the sequence of Targets above that has actually been achieved. Lucky Coin Triggers These elements are used in the selection of target values that will be used to trigger minor reward animations and/or bonus rounds. Minimum Games Configurable parameter that specifies the lowest value that Number of Games can be. Maximum Games Configurable parameter that specifies the highest value that Number of Games can be. Number Of Games Value that is randomly chosen between the Minimum and Maximum Games. This is the value that the player's Current Game Number must meet or exceed before a minor reward animation can occur. This does not mean that a player has achieved a reward target value, only that the animation sequence will occur. Each time this goal has been met and the animation triggered (whether a bonus was triggered or not), this value will be reinitialized with a new random number in preparation for the next sequence. At that time a new random number will be selected and retained for future comparison. Current Game Number This value reflects the number of games played since the last time an anticipatory animation or souvenir bonus animation was triggered and played. Once Current Game Number meets or exceeds Number Of Games, an animation sequence is triggered and the Number Of Games value is reinitialized.
Final target values that have not been initialized may be indicated by containing a predetermined value, such as −1. One method to determine the final target value is to use a random number generator (RNG) in the EGM 10. The RNG can select a number between the provided minimum target value and the maximum target value The selected number then becomes the final target value. For example, the reward journey may end after 1500 games are played.
a gaming device including a base game and a bonus game, the bonus game playable by players identified to the gaming device;
player tracking hardware structured to identify a player of the gaming device;
a player tracking system structured to store data about gameplay of the player of the gaming device; and
a player processing system structured to record a present state of the bonus game, wherein the present state of the bonus game can be recalled from stored data during a subsequent gaming session, the bonus game including a series of trigger events in which the bonus game advances to a non-initial state upon the occurrence of a trigger event, at a non-initial state a player identified to the gaming device acquires an award randomly selected from a group of possible awards, and at the end of the bonus game the player is rewarded based on the number or types of awards acquired.
2. The gaming network of claim 1 wherein the bonus game has an initial state and more than one non-initial state.
3. The gaming network of claim 2 wherein the bonus game is structured to configure a state of an award to one of the non-initial states.
4. The gaming network of claim 3 wherein the bonus game is structured to configure a state of the award for the player to one of the non-initial states in a present gaming session if the bonus game was in one of the non-initial states in a previous gaming session for the player.
5. The gaming network of claim 1, further comprising message controller resident on the gaming device.
8. A gaming network comprising:
a gaming device having a primary game and a bonus game wherein the bonus game is playable only by a player identified to the gaming device;
a player specific gaming server coupled to the player tracking system and coupled to the gaming device, the gaming server structured to record session information of the bonus game played on the gaming device by the player wherein the present state of the bonus game can be recalled from stored data during a subsequent gaming session, the bonus game having a series of trigger events in which the bonus game advances to a non-initial state upon the occurrence of trigger event, at a non-initial state a player identified to the gaming device acquires an award randomly selected from a group of possible awards, and at the end of the bonus game the player is rewarded based on the number or types of awards acquired.
9. The gaming network of claim 8, further comprising:
a messaging process operative on the gaming device.
10. The gaming network of claim 9 wherein the message controller communicates with the messaging process using discrete messages.
11. The gaming network of claim 8 wherein the gaming device is structured to communicate to the player tracking system over a first communication network and wherein the gaming device is structured to communicate to the player server over a second communication network.
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