Patent ID: 6923719

Claim:
On a computing machine, a method of converting a number representing a game arrangement into a symbolic representation of the game arrangement, wherein the game arrangement is specified by a unique combination of positions and symbols associated with a particular game, the method comprising receiving the number representing the game arrangement; determining a “ways to place” function used to produce the number, wherein the determining step includes determining whether the game is position dependent; and converting the number into a symbolic representation of the game arrangement by performing the following steps: for a given position or symbol associated with the game arrangement, (a) setting the given position or symbol to a particular value of the position or symbol and calculating the number of ways to place the remaining free positions or symbols available beyond the given position or symbol, (b) using the calculated number of ways to place in a comparison with the received number representing the game arrangement, and (c) from said comparison, determining whether the particular value of the given position or symbol appears in the symbolic representation of the game arrangement; and setting one or more symbols or positions of the symbolic representation from the determination made in (c).