U.S. patent application number 09/908439 was filed with the patent office on 2002-03-07 for dynamic tournament gaming method and system.
Invention is credited to Barnett, Michael, Giacalone, Louis David JR., Pascal, Andrew.
Application Number | 20020028707 09/908439 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24699955 |
Filed Date | 2002-03-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020028707 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Pascal, Andrew ; et
al. |
March 7, 2002 |
Dynamic tournament gaming method and system
Abstract
Dynamic tournament gaming method and system, including the
provision of a plurality of gaming terminals selectively
interlinkable together with a host terminal so that current players
of the terminals desiring to participate in group tournament play
can be notified of the opportunity and provided with the choice to
play or not. If a current player chooses to play, he so signifies,
enters his entry fee into the terminal, and awaits start of the
event. Upon start of the tournament by the host terminal, the
player will play the tournament game over and over as fast as
possible to accumulate as many points as possible during a
particular pre-announced tournament period. The host terminal will
continuously monitor the terminals of all play participants,
dynamically record play status, and control termination of the game
period. It will also conduct an accounting of the results, issue
win results notification, and perhaps provide remote pay-out of
game winnings.
Inventors: |
Pascal, Andrew; (Woodside,
CA) ; Giacalone, Louis David JR.; (Palo Alto, CA)
; Barnett, Michael; (Santa Clara, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OPPENHEIMER WOLFF & DONNELLY
P. O. BOX 10356
PALO ALTO
CA
94303
US
|
Family ID: |
24699955 |
Appl. No.: |
09/908439 |
Filed: |
July 17, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09908439 |
Jul 17, 2001 |
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08672775 |
Jun 28, 1996 |
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6287202 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/42 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 2300/50 20130101;
A63F 2009/241 20130101; A63F 13/08 20130101; A63F 2300/404
20130101; G07F 17/3211 20130101; G07F 17/3276 20130101; A63F 13/12
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/42 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of conducting a gaming tournament, comprising:
providing a plurality of gaming terminals each having
communications capability, play capability for a particular type of
game, and equivalent win probability characteristics;
communicatively linking at least some of said terminals;
communicating a "START PLAY" command to each of the linked
terminals enabling them to commence tournament play; repetitively
playing the game in an attempt to earn a winning score of points
vis-a-vis players playing on the others of said linked terminals;
communicating an "END PLAY" command to each said linked terminal
disabling them from further game play after a predetermined play
time has elapsed; causing each terminal to report the scores of
points earned by its player during the period from the START time
to the END time; processing the reported scores of points to
determine a winner; identifying the winner; and causing the winning
player to be rewarded.
2. A method of conducting a gaming tournament as recited in claim 1
and further comprising: providing a master terminal communicatively
linked to said linked terminals; causing said master terminal to
communicate said "START PLAY" command and said "END PLAY" command;
and causing said master terminal to receive and process the
reported scores of points and to determine the winner.
3. A method of conducting a gaming tournament as recited in claim 1
wherein various ones of said terminals are linked to other
terminals when players attendant the terminals sign on and pay an
entry fee.
4. A method of conducting a gaming tournament as recited in claim 3
wherein once a predetermined number of players have signed on,
further entry to the game is closed and a game start sequence is
commenced.
5. A method of conducting a gaming tournament as recited in claim 1
wherein a sequence leading up to issuance of said "START PLAY"
command is generated in response to an event selected from the
group consisting of a particular time of day, an arbitrary
operator's choice, an ad hoc start request, and the completion of
the linking together of a predetermined number of terminals.
6. A method of conducting a gaming tournament as recited in claim 1
wherein the linking of said plurality of gaming terminals is
accomplished by broadcasting over a communicative network a request
to identify those terminals qualified and available to play in the
tournament; sending promotional information to the identified
terminals; and securely linking those terminals for which an entry
fee has been paid.
7. A tournament gaming system, comprising: a plurality of gaming
terminals each having communications capability, play capability
for a particular type of game, and equivalent win probability
characteristics; a master terminal; a communications network
communicatively linking at least some of said terminals to said
master terminal, said master terminal being operative to
communicate a "START PLAY" command to each of the linked terminals
enabling them to commence tournament play, during which
corresponding players repetitively play the tournament game in an
attempt to earn a winning score of points vis-a-vis players playing
on the others of said linked terminals, said master terminal being
further operative to communicate an "END PLAY" command to said
linked terminals disabling them from further game play, and causing
each terminal to report the scores of points earned by its player
during the period from the START time to the END time, and to
process the reported scores of points to determine a winner.
8. A tournament gaming system, comprising: a plurality of gaming
terminals each having communications capability, play capability
for a particular type of game, and equivalent win probability
characteristics; a communications network communicatively linking
said terminals together, one of said terminals being operative to
communicate a "START PLAY" command to each of the other linked
terminals enabling all linked terminals to commence tournament
play, during which corresponding players repetitively play the game
in an attempt to earn a winning score of points vis-a-vis other
players playing on the others of said linked terminals, said one
terminal being further operative to communicate an "END PLAY"
command to said linked terminals disabling them from further game
play after a predetermined event has occurred, and causing each
terminal to report the scores of points earned by its player during
the period from the START time to the END time, and to process the
reported scores of points to determine a winner.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to apparatus for
playing games of chance, and more particularly to a method and
apparatus for allowing a number of players to participate
simultaneously in a tournament using a plurality of gaming
terminals networked together and under control of a master
terminal.
[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Slot tournaments are a popular slot merchandising practice
in casinos. A slot tournament is a group function wherein a player
pays a set amount of money to join the tournament, and his entry
fee goes into a pot which is paid out to the tournament winner or
winners, less the house percentage. The machines used for the
tournament are specially configured machines that, upon the
issuance of a "start" command by a game controller, allow the
players to play as fast as they can without requiring that coins be
put into the machines. The wins, or "points", are accumulated, held
and displayed by each machine as points. At the end of a fixed
period of time, a "stop" command is given, and all of the machines
are disabled. The winner is the person having the highest
accumulated score of win points obtained during the tournament
period. In most tournaments the winner takes the entire pot.
[0005] Currently, tournaments must be run on specially set-up
machines in a special area, and there must be at least one live
host to run the game. Moreover, the games must be configured,
tested and certified as being equal in every respect so that each
player has an equal chance to win. Heretofore the machines used for
such tournament were carefully selected, but ordinary casino-type
slot machines which were enabled at a tournament "start" time and
disabled at a tournament "end" time. The accumulated score of each
gaming unit had to be visually acquired and recorded by the
tournament host, an accounting of all scores accumulated and
processed, and a winner orally announced or otherwise posted. The
circumstance and machine requirements practically dictated that all
machines be located in a single vicinity or room, and that they be
dedicated to tournament play. This, of course, limits the
opportunity of the general public to have access to the tournament,
and makes the tournament costly to conduct on the part of the
gaming establishment because it must provide hosts or monitors,
dedicate certain machines to tournament use, and provide a suitable
facility for the conduct of the tournament.
[0006] There is thus a need for a new system and apparatus using
state-of-the-art technology to improve all aspects of the conduct
of tournament play, e.g., make tournament play more available to
all who would enjoy the play, simplify the establishment's
monitoring requirements, and reduce overhead expense.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0007] It is therefore a principal object of the present invention
to provide a method and system of the type described which makes it
possible to conduct a slot tournament using any of a plurality of
gaming terminals spread throughout a casino.
[0008] Another object of the present invention is to provide a
plurality of networked gaming terminals all in communication with,
and under control of, a host terminal.
[0009] A further objective of the present invention is to provide a
method and system of the type described which allows a host or
master terminal to automatically communicate with a plurality of
gaming terminals and offer to the current player of each terminal
the opportunity to play in a tournament without leaving his
position on the casino floor.
[0010] Still another objective of the present invention is to
provide a method and system of the type disclosed which has
improved in terminal marketing capability.
[0011] Briefly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention
includes the provision of a plurality of gaming terminals
selectively interlinkable together with a host terminal so that
current players of the terminals desiring to participate in group
tournament play can be notified of the opportunity and provided
with the choice to play or not. If a current player chooses to
play, he so signifies, enters his entry fee into the terminal, and
awaits start of the event. Upon start of the tournament by the host
terminal, the player will play the tournament game over and over as
fast as possible to accumulate as many points as possible during a
particular pre-announced tournament period. The host terminal will
continuously monitor the terminals of all play participants,
dynamically record play status, and control termination of the game
period. It will also conduct an accounting of the results, issue
win results notification, and perhaps provide remote pay-out of
game winnings.
[0012] An important advantage of the present invention is that it
does not require dedicated terminals; i.e., any qualified terminal
in the facility can be used and any current player of the gaming
units can elect to play.
[0013] Another advantage of the present invention is that at most
it requires a single terminal operator, and alternatively, the
tournament could be run by a pre-programmed but unmanned host
terminal.
[0014] Still another advantage of the present invention is that it
enhances public access to tournament play.
[0015] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that play
is not limited to a single room, particular machines, or even the
same casino facility or location.
[0016] These and other objects and advantages of the present
invention will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art
following a review of the detailed description of the preferred
embodiment which makes reference to the several figures of the
drawing.
IN THE DRAWING
[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of gaming
terminals linked together in a network in accordance with the
present invention;
[0018] FIGS. 2a and 2b are generalized logic diagrams illustrating
the tournament play process in terms of the master an slave units
in accordance with the present invention; and
[0019] FIGS. 3a and 3b are logic flow diagrams more specifically
illustrating the tournament play process implemented by the master
and slave units respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0020] Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, two banks 10 and 12
of gaming terminals (slave units) 14 are illustrated linked in a
communications network with a master or host terminal 16, the
latter of which may be configured as a regular gaming terminal or
as a stand-alone, dedicated control unit. The network connection
can be accomplished by use of any suitable communications media
including cable, fiberoptics, wireless or any other suitable
data-carrying linkage, and need not necessarily be limited to a
local area network (LAN). In fact, the network can be comprised of
a wide area network (WAN) or other type of any secure transmission
medium communicatively connecting terminals at any location,
proximate or remote. Although the gaming terminals are preferably
of the state-of-the-art variety manufactured by Silicon Gaming,
Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., it is to be understood that the
terminals can take many forms so long as they have the attributes
of "sameness", meaning that when played, each will have the same
probability of winning, and each can receive and transmit the data
required to control the play and report the results. Having the
same probability of winning is referred to in the gaming industry
as having the same "percentaging model".
[0021] In accordance with the present invention, it is required
that each participating gaming terminal be constrained to have
precisely the same tournament period or playing time. In the
preferred terminals, means is provided for informing the player
that at some subsequent time a tournament is to be conducted, and
that, if he wishes to participate, he should so indicate by taking
some responsive action, including perhaps the deposit of a
specified entry fee. The terminals should have the capability of
being placed in a "wait" state during at least the final moments of
the game start countdown, and should have the capability of being
remotely initialized and controlled for tournament play.
[0022] In the preferred embodiment, each terminal has the
capability of reporting to the master terminal its current play
status, i.e., the number of points accumulated by the player. Each
terminal also has the capability of being remotely enabled at the
start of the tournament period, and of being remotely disabled at
the end of the tournament period, or perhaps at some other
arbitrary time before the end of the tournament period if some
predetermined winning score has been reached by one of the
terminals to end tournament play. In accordance with the present
invention, the terminals and network are such that they will allow
an operator or programmed host computer or terminal to remotely set
up the tournament without requiring actual physical contact with
the participating terminals. Only those terminals with players
desiring to participate in the tournament will be communicatively
linked to the master, and other non-electing terminals will
continue to be available for normal game play. Furthermore, when no
tournament is being conducted, all of the terminals can revert to
regular play status. In accordance with the present invention,
using the above-mentioned preferred gaming terminals, players can
also set up their own tournaments on an ad hoc basis, and they can
be managed by one of the playing terminals or by a non-playing host
that is computer-generated.
[0023] To implement the preferred embodiment, there must be a
network that permits communication with the machines and a master
machine or network server that sets up and controls play of the
tournament. The master can be programmed with predetermined
"regular" starting times and buy-in amounts, and is capable of
broadcasting a signal to all machines on the network causing them
to run a pre-programmed announcement that a tournament is going to
begin in "T" minutes, that the buy-in amount is "X" dollars, and
briefly explaining how a slot tournament works. As the time
approaches for beginning a tournament, additional notices can be
caused to appear on the screen of machines that are currently being
played to inform the players of the number of players currently
enrolled in the tournament and the size of the jackpot. When the
tournament begins, a modified conventional slot game is presented.
For example, when the tournament starts, the user will push the
"spin" button as fast as he can, without putting additional money
in. Each push of the button will cause a new play cycle to be
commenced. The winner is the player who accumulates the largest win
points in a fixed period of time, usually ten minutes. Upon the
assertion of remote commands, all of the games for logged-in
terminals will start and end simultaneously.
[0024] An exemplary cycle of events for a tournament in accordance
with the present invention is as follows:
[0025] 1) An announcement will be given that a tournament is to
begin at a particular time, e.g., "Ten minutes until a new
tournament begins." Only players of eligible machines are notified
of the tournament, i.e., those terminals which are capable of
playing the same type of game (for example, poker, or a three-reel
slot game, etc.), have the same hold percentages, and have
tournament software resident on the machines (or are receptive of
communicated tournament software).
[0026] 2) After the announcement is given, each terminal will
display an announcement of how players can "buy in". For example,
players who wish to play will insert the amount of money (the
"entry fee") that is required to enter the tournament.
[0027] 3) Once enough players have signed up ("logged in") for the
tournament, or the time to start the tournament has been reached,
the logged-in terminals will be initialized for play start, and
actually started simultaneously with other participating
machines.
[0028] 4) During tournament play, the players will accumulate
points by playing the game as fast as they possibly can or as fast
as they choose to play. Following each play, the game is
automatically reset to await the next player input; i.e., there is
no need to input a coin or hit a reset button.
[0029] 5) When the announced tournament period has elapsed, or when
a player reaches a predetermined tournament point goal, the
tournament will end.
[0030] 6) The winner will then be determined, notified and paid,
and all participating machines will be returned to their normal
state. In the usual case, the winner is paid a portion of the
tournament pot with payment being made either from the machine
itself or manually from a casino host or attendant.
[0031] There are basically two ways of starting and conducting a
tournament. One uses a master machine that will start and control
the progress of the tournament. The other uses a masterless group
of machines that are preprogrammed to cooperatively start and
jointly manage the tournament. Examples of ways in which a
tournament can be started include the following:
[0032] 1) Manually, via a casino host person using any networked
machine;
[0033] 2) At certain times during the day, for example every three
hours, or at some regularly appointed time, a tournament may be
started;
[0034] 3) When a certain number of machines have been committed to
participation, for example, when 50 machines have committed players
indicating that they wish to participate in the tournament;
[0035] 4) A group of players may set up a tournament themselves;
for example, a group of twelve people might decide that they wish
to play a tournament, in which case the machines will allow them to
create, start and run their own tournament.
[0036] Regardless of the method used to start the tournaments, all
machines must begin the game at the same time. Accordingly, a
"start" command will be broadcast to all machines to signal the
start of the tournament.
[0037] When the tournament is underway, players try to earn as many
points as possible. Points are quantitatively equal to the normal
credits that the slot machine normally pays for winning
combinations, except that the points do not represent money in any
way. If the player hits a "1,000" point combination during
tournament play, he will not win $1,000; he will get 1,000 points
or "points". For a "reel slot machine" style game, players start
and play as many spins as possible in order to maximize the number
of points earned. A master machine or network controller will
continually collect the scores from all machines and form a ranked
list to be broadcast to the players.
[0038] The players' scores will be communicated to a master
terminal where they are accumulated and perhaps transmitted back to
the terminals for display. During play, a player may be notified as
to his/her standing against other players. The game is complete
upon passage of a particular period of time, or upon the
determination that one of the players has reached a predetermined
winning level of play. Following completion of the game, the winner
or winners will be notified, and payment will be made either at the
winning terminal or by a host official.
[0039] Turning now to FIGS. 2a and 2b, the principal operative
steps taken by the master and slave units in conducting a
tournament are presented in high-level flow diagrams. Referring
first to FIG. 2a, when the master determines (20) that it is time
to start a tournament, it in effect goes out and identifies slave
machines (22) that it thinks are eligible for tournament play,
i.e., it identifies terminals that have the appropriate
percentaging, have a person sitting there waiting to play, have the
right game initialized, etc. This is to say that the master
identifies a group of machines that are all potentially available
for tournament play. The master then announces (24) the tournament
by broadcasting messages to the players telling them that the
tournament is about to begin. It then collects (26) all the buy-ins
(someone inserts money indicating the desire to participate in the
tournament), figures out which of these machines are really going
to be in the tournament based on the buy-ins, and begins the
tournament (28). During the tournament, it updates (30) the
tournament standings (for its own internal auditing). The standings
(34) could also be broadcast to the playing terminals.
Subsequently, the master ends the tournament (32), and distributes
awards (34) to the winners.
[0040] On the slave side, FIG. 2b, if a particular terminal is in
an idle state (36),i.e., just sitting there unattended, then
chances are it is not eligible for tournament play. In order for a
terminal to be eligible, it must have a player either playing or
waiting to play. A terminal is classified as idle if no player is
actively playing a game and for the last three minutes no one has
used this machine. A player is identified (38) if during the last
three minutes someone has been using this machines; there is a good
chance that someone is currently sitting there playing. Such a
machine is thus identified as available for tournament play. An
announcement of the upcoming tournament is then sent to this unit
to entice the player to enter the tournament. Alternatively, if a
machine is found to be sitting idle, the master may go ahead and
run the advertisement that a tournament is about to start and
perhaps attract someone to sit and play. This is optional and
really depends on how one identifies slave machines as eligible for
tournament play.
[0041] The slave will receive the tournament announcement (40) when
the master sends it, and if the player elects to play, the slave
terminal will perform the buy-in function (42) by collecting money
from the player and sending notice thereof to the master. When the
master sends the START PLAY signal (44) to the terminal to allow
the player to begin playing, the player will play the game as fast
as possible and accumulate points. An END PLAY sequence (48) will
terminate play when the master determines that either (1) someone
has hit a certain point total or (2) a certain amount of time has
elapsed. Subsequently, each slave unit will receive notice of the
awards as announced by the master, and the winner, or winners, (50)
will receive pay-out from their terminal.
[0042] Referring now to FIG. 3a, the function of the master unit is
presented in a more detailed flowchart. Initially, the unit is in a
wait state (52) awaiting a START CYCLE signal to be generated in
response to any of several conditions, such as, for example, (1) a
particular time of day is reached, (2) an operator has caused a
manual start, (3) an ad hoc tournament has been requested by a
group of players who want to play a tournament, or (4) some minimum
number of in-use machines have been identified, etc. A START signal
broadcasts (54) a slave machine search message identifying the
criteria a slave machine should use to determine whether or not it
is eligible, i.e., it specifies some set of parameters that
uniquely identifies whether or not a slave machine is available for
the tournament. For example, the message might indicate that the
terminal must have the Fort Knox game and have a 96% hold
percentage. Furthermore, it might specify that the game is a
three-point game, etc. All of the tournament machines have the same
parameters in order to qualify.
[0043] After the master broadcasts its search for eligible slave
units, it will collect the IDs (56) of those machines that are
available and send some sort of promotional message (advertising to
entice the player) to each slave machine (58), and it will then
collect buy-ins (60) from the slave machines. This cycle will
continue until the master determines that it is ready to start the
game (62), i.e., it will constantly search for new machines until
some condition is met, e.g. a minimum number of available
terminals, a published start time is reached, etc. Once the master
is ready to start, it broadcasts (64) a START signal to all of the
committed slave machines, and the tournament is commenced. During
the tournament the master may collect point totals (66) from the
slaves as the game progresses and broadcast the score list to the
slaves, so that the list can be displayed to the players. The
master will continue doing this until the end of the tournament
(70) has been reached, at which time the master sends out an END
PLAY message (72). Several conditions ending the tournament are set
out above. Once the tournament has been completed, the master
collects all of the final scores (74), figures out the winner(s)
(76), and sends out pay messages (78) to the slave machine(s) of
the winner(s).
[0044] In FIG. 3b, the slave operational process is depicted.
First, the unit determines whether or not it is in use (80), and if
it is in use, it evaluates the tournament parameters and determines
if this machine is available for tournament play (82), has an
operator, etc. If the machine is available for tournament play, it
waits (84) for the slave search message from the master. When it
receives such a message, it checks the parameters (parms):
essentially, it determines whether or not this machine has a
tournament game with the right percentaging model and all the
parameters needed to match (86). If not, it merely waits for
someone else to come along and ask for a tournament. If it does
match, then it plays the invitation movie or some other
announcement to attract the player and entice him to buy in. And if
the player buys in (90), the buy-in information is sent (92) back
to the master, and the slave unit waits for a START PLAY signal
from the master (94). In the meantime, the player can continue
playing other games on the machine. Once a START PLAY command is
received, the player is allowed (96) to start playing the
tournament game, and, as requested, the unit periodically sends the
score to the master (98). The unit may also collect the ranked
scores (100) from the master and display the scores to the player
(102). This may continue until the end of the game, at which time
the master will announce the end of the game (104) by asserting an
END GAME signal. At the end of the game, the unit will wait for win
information from the master (106) and, if there are winnings, the
unit will pay them to the player (108).
[0045] Although the usual case mentioned above requires as a start
condition that a minimum number of terminals be available for play,
an alternative play mode might be that if, after a predetermined
time has elapsed following the initial tournament announcement (or
perhaps an announced start time has passed), the number of
available terminals has not reached the minimum, the system may
designate a number of terminals (either real or virtual) to run in
an automatic play mode and thereby meet the minimum terminal
requirement. These automatic terminals would play on behalf of the
house, and should one of such terminals win the tournament, the
winnings would be retained by the house.
[0046] Although the present invention has been described above in
terms of a specific embodiment, it is anticipated that alterations
and modifications thereof will no doubt become apparent to those
skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the following
claims be interpreted as covering all such alterations and
modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the
invention.
* * * * *