U.S. patent application number 11/106335 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-02 for ball draw based random number generation.
This patent application is currently assigned to Multimedia Games, Inc.. Invention is credited to Brian A. Watkins.
Application Number | 20060247019 11/106335 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37115633 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060247019 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Watkins; Brian A. |
November 2, 2006 |
Ball draw based random number generation
Abstract
A random number is generated using two or more designations
taken from a ball draw and applied to affect a game. The random
number generation process preferably results in a uniform
distribution of random numbers across a certain range. The
uniformity in which the random numbers may be distributed over a
certain range allows the numbers to be employed to affect games in
a uniform and unbiased fashion.
Inventors: |
Watkins; Brian A.; (Austin,
TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE CULBERTSON GROUP, P.C.
1114 LOST CREEK BLVD.
SUITE 420
AUSTIN
TX
78746
US
|
Assignee: |
Multimedia Games, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
37115633 |
Appl. No.: |
11/106335 |
Filed: |
April 14, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
463/22 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07C 15/001
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/022 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Claims
1. A method including: (a) generating a random number using two or
more designations of a ball draw; and (b) employing the random
number to affect a game.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the random number is generated in
a process that produces a uniform distribution of random numbers
over a potential range, each respective random number in the
uniform distribution being generated using two or more designations
from a respective ball draw.
3. The method of claim 1 further including employing the ball draw
in conducting the game.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein employing the random number to
affect the game includes selecting a graphic presentation from a
number of alternate graphic presentations.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein selecting the graphic presentation
includes correlating the random number to an index value range and
identifying a respective graphic presentation associated with that
index value range.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the random number is generated
from the first three designations in the ball draw using a formula
(n-1)*(n-2)*x+(n-2)*(y-(y>x))+z-(z>x)-(z>y) where n equals
a number of designations available for the ball draw, where x, y,
and z are, respectively, the first three designations in the ball
draw, and where the ball draw is produced from a pool of
designations 0 through n-1.
7. A method including: (a) generating a ball draw for a game; (b)
generating a random number from two or more designations of the
ball draw; and (c) applying the random number to affect the
game.
8. The method of claim 7 further including selecting a graphic
presentation for display in the game, the graphic presentation
being selected at least in part according to the random number.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the random number is generated in
a process that produces a uniform distribution of random numbers
over a potential range, each respective random number in the
uniform distribution being generated using two or more designations
from a respective ball draw.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the game includes a bingo-type
game and wherein the ball draw matched against bingo cards in the
bingo-type game to identify bingo results for the bingo-type
game.
11. The method of claim 7 wherein the random number is generated
from the first three designations in the ball draw using a formula
(n-1)*(n-2)*x+(n-2)*(y-(y>x))+z-(z>x)-(z>y) where n equals
the number of designations available for the ball draw, where x, y,
and z are, respectively, the first three designations in the ball
draw, and where the ball draw is produced from a pool of
designations 1 through n-1.
12. A system including: (a) a ball draw generating device; (b) an
indexing controller for generating a random number based on two or
more designations taken from a ball draw generated by the ball draw
generating device; and (c) a game controller for applying the
random number to affect a game.
13. The system of claim 12 further including a video display device
for producing a video display for the game.
14. The system of claim 12 wherein the game controller has access
to an index table correlating each one of a number of index values
to a respective game affecting feature, and wherein the game
controller correlates the random number with one of the index
values to select a respective one of the game affecting
features.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein each game affecting feature
includes at least a portion of a graphic presentation to be
displayed to a player through a player video display.
16. The system of claim 14 wherein each game affecting feature
includes a bonus game indicator for indicating a bonus game to be
presented to a player through a player station.
17. A program product having a set of machine-readable instructions
that when executed are configured to: (a) generate a random number
using two or more designations of a ball draw; and (b) employ the
random number to affect a game.
18. The program product of claim 17 wherein the machine-readable
instructions are executable to generate the random number using a
process that produces a uniform distribution of random numbers over
a potential range, each respective random number in the uniform
distribution being generated using two or more designations from a
respective ball draw.
19. The program product of claim 17 wherein the machine-readable
instructions are executable to employ the ball draw to conduct the
game affected by the random number.
20. The program product of claim 17 wherein the machine-readable
instructions are executable to access an index table correlating
each one of a number of index values to a respective game affecting
feature, and to correlate the random number with one of the index
values to select a respective one of the game affecting features.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to electronically implemented games
of chance such as electronic bingo games. More particularly, the
invention relates to using two or more designations from a ball
draw or other sequence of designations to generate a random number
which is then used to affect some aspect of a game.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The game referred to generally as "bingo" is played with
predetermined bingo cards that include a number of designations
randomly arranged in a grid, matrix, or other layout of spots or
locations. In the traditional bingo game sequence, a number of the
predetermined bingo cards are sold for play in a particular game.
After the sale of bingo cards is closed for a given game,
designations are randomly selected from a pool of available
designations and matched to the designations on each bingo card
that is in play in the bingo game. This matching of randomly
selected bingo designations with a card in play in the game is
commonly referred to as daubing the card.
[0003] In traditional bingo games, daubing is done manually by the
player holding the bingo card. More recent bingo gaming systems
automatically check for designation matches for each bingo card in
play in a game as designations are randomly selected for the game.
Regardless of how the bingo cards in play are daubed, the first
card which is daubed in some predefined, game ending pattern of
matched card locations is considered a winning card for the game.
Patterns achieved in the game other than the game ending pattern
may also be associated with prizes.
[0004] A large number of variations have been developed on the
traditional bingo game played with paper bingo cards. Bingo may be
played through a network of interconnected player stations using
data representations of bingo cards (bingo card representations) in
place of the traditional paper bingo cards. Also, the order in
which tasks are done has also been varied. For example, bingo cards
or bingo card representations may also be pre-matched to a random
series of bingo designations and then sold to players with the
resulting daub patterns obscured or otherwise kept from the
purchasing players. A player purchasing the pre-daubed bingo card
or bingo card representation may reveal or otherwise view the
daubed pattern to see if the card or card representation they have
purchased produced any winning pattern of matches. Games in which
bingo cards or card representations are matched with a sequence of
bingo designations, including traditional bingo and variations on
the game of bingo, will all be referred to in this document as
bingo-type games. The present disclosure and accompanying claims
will also refer to any sequence of designations taken from a pool
of designations as a "ball draw," regardless of how the
designations are actually produced. Under this definition, a ball
draw may be a sequence of numbers from a random number generator,
from a pseudo random number generator, or any other suitable device
or system, and not necessarily a sequence obtained from a physical
ball draw.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention provides apparatus, methods, and
program products for generating a random number that may be used to
affect a game in a gaming system. The random number is generated
using two or more designations taken from a ball draw. The random
number generation process according to the invention preferably
results in a uniform distribution of random numbers across a
certain range. The uniformity in which random numbers generated
according to the present invention may be distributed over a
certain range allows the numbers to be employed to affect games in
a uniform and unbiased fashion.
[0006] The random number generated according to the present
invention may be applied to affect a game by indicating a prize to
be awarded in the game, by indicating a graphic presentation to be
selected for display in the game, indicating a tangential game (a
bonus game or a completely separate game) that a player enter, or
in some other manner. In one preferred form of the invention, the
random number is generated using designations from a ball draw for
a given bingo-type game and the number is applied to affect that
particular bingo-type game.
[0007] One preferred gaming system according to principles of the
present invention includes a ball draw generating device, an
indexing controller, and a game controller. The ball draw
generating device generates a ball draw in some fashion and the
indexing controller applies two or more designations from the ball
draw to generate a random number. The game controller then applies
the random number to affect a game in some manner.
[0008] The present invention also includes a program product stored
on at least one storage medium. The program product includes a set
of machine-readable instructions that when executed are configured
to carry out the methods disclosed herein.
[0009] These and other advantages and features of the invention
will be apparent from the following description of preferred
embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a high level diagrammatic representation of a
gaming system embodying principles of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a gaming method
embodying principles of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation showing the
relationship between a bingo pattern achieved in a bingo-type game,
a number of potential graphic presentations, and a final graphic
presentation that may be selected using a ball draw-generated
random number according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a high level diagrammatic representation of a
gaming system 100 employing the present invention. Gaming system
100 will be described herein as it applies to a bingo gaming system
that conducts bingo-type games. In particular, gaming system 100
may comprise a bingo gaming system such as that disclosed in U.S.
Patent Publication No. 2004-0152499 entitled "Method, System, and
Program Product for Conducting Multiple Concurrent Bingo-Type
Games," the entire content of which is incorporated herein by this
reference. However, it will be appreciated that the present
invention is not limited to bingo gaming systems. Rather, the
present invention may be employed in many different types of gaming
systems that may use or produce a ball draw.
[0014] Gaming system 100 of FIG. 1 includes a central game server
(CGS) 101 that cooperates with a number of other components to
enable bingo players, preferably at many different remote gaming
sites, to participate in bingo games. Each gaming site includes a
local area server (LAS) 102 and a number of electronic player
stations (EPSs) 103. In the normal operation of gaming system 100,
a player at any EPS 103 in the system may participate in a given
bingo game with players at any other EPSs 103 in the system.
[0015] Gaming system 100 includes an indexing controller 105 that
uses two or more designations from a ball draw to generate a random
number for use in the gaming system. Gaming system 100 also
includes a game controller 106 that is responsible for employing
the random number to affect a game as will be described in detail
below. Although FIG. 1 shows indexing controller 105 and game
controller 106 at CGS 101, the indexing controller and game
controller may be implemented at either CGS 101, LAS 102, or EPS
103. Also, the various functions of indexing controller 105 and
game controller 106 as described further below may be distributed
across different components of gaming system 100 so that portions
of the functions are performed through a combination of CGS 101,
LAS 102, and EPS 103. EPSs 103 are shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1
and without internal details because the invention is not limited
to any particular type of player stations and because the details
of the player stations are not necessary for an understanding of
the present invention. However, it will be appreciated that an EPS
103 may include a computer system having nonvolatile memory,
volatile memory, a user interface arrangement, and a communications
interface, all operably interconnected. The volatile and
nonvolatile memory of the EPS 103 may store computer program code
that may be executed to perform or direct the various functions
provided by the EPS. An EPS 103 will also commonly include one or
more video display devices, one or more of which may be configured
as touch screens. Graphics processors may be included for providing
the required driving signals to the various video display devices,
and touch screen controllers may be included for supporting the
touch screens. In addition, each EPS 103 will commonly include a
sound system for providing high quality audio output at the EPS and
a visual alerting system such as a light mounted at the top of the
EPS. Each EPS 103 may also include a device for receiving value and
issuing value in the course of play. This device may accept
currency, vouchers, or tokens, for example, and also output
currency, vouchers, or tokens. It should further be noted that the
EPSs 103 need not be identical throughout gaming system 100.
Rather, there may be wide variations in the various components
included in each respective EPS 103 depending upon the particular
games that are available at the respective EPS and depending upon
many other factors.
[0016] The LASs 102 are also shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1 and
without internal components in order to avoid obscuring the
invention in unnecessary details. Each LAS 102 included in gaming
system 100 may include one or more computer systems each having one
or more processors, nonvolatile memory, volatile memory, a user
interface arrangement (for system operator access), and a
communications interface, all operatively interconnected. The
volatile and nonvolatile memory may store computer program code
that may be executed by the respective processor to cause the
processor to perform or direct the various functions provided by
LAS 102.
[0017] Regardless of the specific configuration of an LAS 102, in a
bingo-type game conducted through gaming system 100, each LAS may
serve to transfer or relay information from its respective EPSs 103
to CGS 101, and transfer or relay information from the CGS to the
LAS's respective EPSs 103. Each LAS 102 according to the present
invention may also have the ability to actually conduct bingo-type
games in certain situations. For example, where one LAS 102 serves
a large number of EPSs 103, the LAS 102 may group players or game
play requests from its respective EPSs 103 during a time of high
player activity, obtain or produce a ball draw, identify bingo
patterns, and return bingo results to the EPSs rather than having
the CGS 101 perform these tasks. Also, each LAS 102 may be
configured to perform the tasks normally performed by CGS 101 in
the event the communications link between the respective LAS and
CGS is degraded below a certain level or is severed altogether.
[0018] CGS 101 may also include one or more computer systems, each
including one or more processors, nonvolatile memory, volatile
memory, a user interface arrangement (for system operator access),
and a communications interface, all operably interconnected.
Regardless of the particular configuration for CGS 101, in the
normal operation of gaming system 100, CGS 101 accepts players for
participation in bingo-type games offered through the system,
produces or obtains ball draws, identifies the achieved patterns in
the bingo-type games, and communicates the results to the players
at the various EPSs 103.
[0019] Again, it should be noted that the particular configuration
of hardware components illustrated in FIG. 1 is shown only to
provide a convenient example which may be used to describe the
present invention. The present invention is not limited to any
particular gaming system or gaming system structure. Also, although
the system components shown in FIG. 1 are described above as having
processing devices operating under the control of operational
program code, it will be appreciated that special purpose
processing devices or circuits may be configured to provide some or
all of the functions described above or described in further detail
below.
[0020] Also, although some preferred forms of the present invention
may be implemented in a networked, electronic bingo gaming system
such as that described with reference to FIG. 1, the invention may
also be employed in non-electronic bingo-type games. For purposes
of convenience in the following disclosure with regard to
bingo-type games and in the claims, the term "bingo card" will mean
either a physical bingo card or an electronic or other data
representation of a bingo card unless specified otherwise.
[0021] FIG. 2 provides a flow diagram illustrating a gaming method
200 embodying principles of the present invention. In general, the
method includes generating a ball draw as indicated at process
block 202, and generating a random number as shown at process block
204. This random number is generated from two or more of the
designations in the ball draw produced at block 202. As shown at
process block 206, the method includes employing the ball
draw-generated random number to affect a game in some manner.
[0022] Generating a ball draw as shown at process block 202 in FIG.
2 may be accomplished in a number of different ways within the
scope of the present invention. The invention is not limited to any
particular manner for generating the ball draw, to any particular
number of designations in the ball draw, or to any particular
number of designations from which the ball draw is produced. In one
preferred form of the invention, the ball draw is generated with a
random number generator which takes a pool of available
designations, for example the numbers 0 through 74, and places the
designations in a random order. Other forms of the invention may
use a physical ball draw device in which the designations are
randomly selected from a mixing chamber either manually or in some
automated fashion. Still other forms of the invention may use a
suitable pseudo random number generator for generating a ball draw
as shown at process block 202 in FIG. 2. Any of these ball draw
producing elements may be located at any suitable location in a
gaming system embodying the principles of the present invention.
For example, gaming system 100 shown in FIG. 1 may employ a ball
draw producing device (ball draw generating device) at CGS 101
along with the indexing controller 105 and game controller 106.
[0023] Generating a random number as shown at process block 204
preferably involves a process that provides a uniform distribution
of random numbers over a certain range. That is, the preferred
random number generating process employed at process block 204 is
one that, when applied to a number of different ball draws, results
in a number of random numbers that are uniformly distributed over a
certain range. The example gaming system 100 shown in FIG. 1
performs the random number generating step with indexing controller
105 under the control of operational program code. However, the
present invention is not limited to this location for generating
the desired random numbers.
[0024] One preferred form of the invention employs the following
formula to generate a random number at process block 204 in FIG. 2.
This formula uses the first three designations drawn in a ball draw
created from a pool of designations 0 through n-1.
(n-1)*(n-2)*x+(n-2)*(y-(y>x)) +z-(z>x)-(z>y) where [0025]
n=the number of designations available for the ball draw; and
[0026] x, y, and z=respective designations in the ball draw; and
[0027] the ">" symbol represents a logical operation that
produces a value of 1 for TRUE and a value of 0 for FALSE. Applying
this formula to the first three designations in a ball draw results
in a random number from 0 to (n)*(n-1)*(n-2)-1, where n equals the
number of designations available for the ball draw. For example,
for a ball draw selected from the set of designations 0 through 74,
the resulting random number would be in the range from 0 to 405149.
It is also noted that this formula applied to a number of different
ball draws generated from the pool of designations 0 through n-1
produces a uniform distribution of random numbers in the range from
0 to (n)*(n-1)*(n-2)-1, inclusive. Also, although the above formula
uses the first three designations of a ball draw, other formulae
may be derived to use more or less than the first three
designations from the ball draw.
[0028] It will be noted that the above-described formula for
generating a random number from a ball draw requires numeric values
to represent the possible designations in the draw. However, this
does not require that the ball draw designations must comprise
numeric values. Rather, non-numeric values may be used for ball
draw designations, provided that the non-numeric ball draw
designations are mapped to numeric values. For example, a pool of
designations from which a ball draw is generated may comprise the
designations B-1 through B-15, I-1 through I-15, N-1 through N-15,
G-1 through G-15, and O-1 through O-15. In this case, each of these
non-numeric ball draw designations could be uniquely mapped to a
respective number from 0 to 74, inclusive, and the mapped numeric
values of the first three non-numeric ball draw designations from a
ball draw could be used in the formula described above to generate
the desired random number.
[0029] Regardless of how the random number is generated at process
block 204 in FIG. 2, the random number may be used in any suitable
manner to affect a game as indicated at process block 206. For
example, the ball draw-generated random number may be used at
process block 206 to affect a game by selecting a graphic
presentation to be displayed to a player in the course of the game.
A detailed example of this particular use of the random number will
be described below with reference to FIG. 3. However, the invention
is by no means limited to this manner of use to affect a game.
Other forms of the invention may employ the ball draw-generated
random number to select a tangential game (that is, a bonus game or
a completely separate game) or to select a result in a tangential
game. Such a tangential game may be a game such as a bingo game, a
lottery game, a simulated contest such as a horse race, dog race,
or boxing match, a card game, a trivia game, or any other type of
game. Yet other forms of the invention may employ the random number
generated at process block 204 to modify a characteristic of play
in a game, such as winning probabilities or hit (win)
frequencies.
[0030] In some forms of the invention, the ball draw-generated
random number may be used to affect a game which otherwise uses
that ball draw in the conduct of the game. For example, the
invention may be employed in a gaming system for conducting
bingo-type games, each bingo-type game using a ball draw to
identify the results for the various bingo card representations
entered in the game. In this example, the same ball draw used to
identify results in a given bingo-type game may be used according
to the invention to generate a random number which is applied to
affect the bingo-type game in some fashion. That is, the ball draw
produced at process block 202 in FIG. 2 may be a ball draw also
used to match against various card representations and identify the
results in a bingo-type game. However, the ball draw from which the
random number is generated need not be a ball draw used in
conducting any game. For example, the ball draw generated at
process block 202 in FIG. 2 may be used solely for producing the
desired random number, and a different ball draw may be produced
and used for identifying bingo results in a bingo-type game which
is affected by the ball draw-generated random number.
[0031] One preferred way of using the random number to affect the
game as shown at process block 206 involves correlating the random
number to some game affecting feature such as a graphic
presentation used in the game or to a game result, for example. An
index table may be used to effect this correlation. In such a
table, index values are divided up into different ranges of index
values and each range of index values is correlated to a game
affecting feature. These index values are preferably taken from a
universe of potential random numbers so that a given random number
generated according to the invention at process block 204 in FIG. 2
will be included in at least one of the index value ranges, and
thus, will be associated with a given one of the game affecting
features.
[0032] The following simple, example table may be used to describe
an index table within the scope of the present invention.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE I Index Value Range Game Affecting Feature
0-81029 Feature 1 81030-162059 Feature 2 162060-243089 Feature 3
243090-324119 Feature 4 324120-405149 Feature 5
In this simple example, there are five different index value
ranges. Each index value range correlates to a respective game
affecting feature. It may be assumed for this example that the
random number that may be generated according to the invention will
have a value from 0 to 405149, taken from the 75-designation pool,
three-designation example and formula described above. This overall
range is broken down into the five index value ranges. Each random
number generated from the formula given above will fall within one
of the five index value ranges in Table I, and thus will correlate
to one of the game affecting features. For example, the random
number 187640 falls in the third range of index values, and thus
would correlate to game affecting Feature 3. As another example,
the random number 393423 falls in the fifth range of index values,
and thus would correlate to game affecting Feature 5. By using this
index value table to correlate a random number to a given game
affecting feature, it can be seen how a given random number
generated from the ball draw may be used to identify or select a
particular game affecting feature from a number of available
features.
[0033] It will be appreciated that numerous variations are possible
on the basic example shown in Table I. In one variation, the index
value ranges may be unequal or non-uniform. In another variation,
one or more potential random numbers may not correlate to any game
affecting feature. Of course, the invention is not limited to any
particular game affecting feature. As discussed above, such
features may include graphic presentations, tangential games,
tangential game results, game play characteristics, or any other
features that may affect the game.
[0034] The invention is not limited to any structure or arrangement
for performing the step shown at block 206 in FIG. 2 of applying
the ball draw-generated random number to affect a game. As the
invention is applied in electronic bingo systems such as that shown
in FIG. 1, the ball draw-generated random number is preferably
applied through game controller 106. Thus, where an indexing table
is used to select a game affecting feature as described above, game
controller 106 will have access to the indexing table for applying
the ball draw-generated random number to locate the corresponding
game affecting feature.
[0035] As mentioned above, one preferred use of a ball
draw-generated random number may be in selecting a graphic
presentation to be used in a game. An example of this use may be
described in connection with the gaming system set out in U.S.
provisional patent application No. 60/610,339, entitled "Player
Action Influenced Prize Distribution in a Bingo Game," the entire
content of which is incorporated herein by this reference. In this
gaming system, bingo-type games are employed to mimic play in a
card game such as draw poker. Each bingo result in the system is
mapped to a number of different groups of playing card
representations. A particular one of these different groups of
playing card representations is assigned to a player for a given
game play and the player is allowed to take various actions
relating to the card representation, such as discarding certain
cards or holding certain cards. The actions taken by the player in
light of an exposed portion of the playing card representations
determine the prize ultimately awarded to the player in the game.
In this system, the present invention may be used to select one of
the various playing card representation groups mapped to a
particular result in a game.
[0036] FIG. 3 may be used in connection with Table II below to
describe how the present invention may be employed to select a
graphic presentation for use in a game conducted according to the
gaming system described in U.S. provisional patent application No.
60/610,339. Referring to FIG. 3, a bingo pattern or group of
patterns 302 are mapped to a set 304 of different playing card
groups. The respective playing card groups are labeled groups 1.0,
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 in the figure. Each respective playing card
group 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 will contain a different set of
playing card representations that will be displayed to a player on
a video display device associated with the player's player station
(such as an EPS 103 described above in FIG. 1). A particular one of
these playing card groups must be selected to define a player
display for a given instance of the game. The display produced for
the selected playing card group is shown at 306 in FIG. 3, as a set
of five playing cards.
[0037] The following Table II is similar to Table I above, with the
exception that the game affecting features are defined as the
different playing card groups from set 304 in FIG. 3.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE II Index Value Range Game Affecting Feature
0-81029 Card Group 1.0 81030-162059 Card Group 1.1 162060-243089
Card Group 1.2 243090-324119 Card Group 1.3 324120-405149 Card
Group 1.4
The index value ranges are again taken from the example described
above in which a formula is applied to generate a random number
based on the first three designations selected from the
75-designation pool. Once again the overall range of values that
the random number may have 0 to 405149, inclusive, is evenly
divided in the five example ranges, although the invention is not
limited to this even division.
[0038] Several specific examples with reference to FIG. 3 and Table
II will be illustrative of the present invention. For these
examples, assume that a player in a bingo-type game conducted
according to the invention described in U.S. provisional patent
application No. 60/610,339 has obtained bingo pattern A in a
bingo-type game. Although, this pattern A maps to the set 304 of
playing card groups in FIG. 3, it does not map to any particular
one of the playing card groups in the set. Thus, something must be
applied to select one of the available playing card groups 1.0,
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, or 1.4. This selection may be accomplished by the
present invention by generating a random number from a suitable
ball draw in the interval 0 to 405149 and employing the
correlations set out in Table II to define a particular one of the
available playing card groups.
That playing card group may then be displayed to the player to
continue the process described in U.S. provisional patent
application No. 60/610,339.
[0039] For a first example, assume that the first three
designations from the ball draw are 5, 34, and 18. Applying the
indexing formula above, the resulting random number is:
29435=(75-1)*(75-2)*5+(75-2)*(34-(34>5))+18-(18>5)-(18>34)
The random number falls within the index value range 0-81029, and
thus, from Table II, the random number correlates with the playing
card group 1.0, which is selected for display to the player in
accordance with the game described in U.S. provisional patent
application No. 60/610,339. It will be noted that in this example,
the ball draw from which the designations 5, 34, and 18 were taken
may be the ball draw used to conduct the underlying bingo-type game
to identify the pattern A achieved by the player, or may be a
separate ball draw.
[0040] As a second example, assume that the first three
designations from a ball draw are 12, 25, and 56. Applying the
indexing formula for this situation results in the random number
66630 calculated: 66630=(75-1)*(75-2)*12+(75-2)*(25-(25>12))+56
-(56>12)-(56>25) This random number 66630 falls within the
index value range 0-81029 listed in Table II and again correlates
to playing card group 1.0 in the table. Thus, the random number is
applied through indexing Table II to select playing card group 1.0
for display to the player in the course of the game. Again, the
ball draw from which designations 12, 25, and 56 are taken may or
may not be the same ball draw used to identify the result for the
player falling in pattern group A.
[0041] As a final example, assume the first three designations from
a ball draw are 64, 41, and 23. Applying the preferred indexing
formula to this set of three designations results in the random
number:
348744=(75-1)*(75-2)*64+(75-2)*(41-(41>64))+23-(23>64)-(23>41)
This random number 348744 falls within the index value range
324120-405149 and thus correlates to playing card group 1.4.
Therefore, although the player has obtained a pattern in the
bingo-type game at the same pattern level A, the player is
presented with a different playing card group with which to finish
their play in the game.
[0042] It will be noted from the above three examples that the ball
draw-generated random number may be applied to select a graphic
presentation, namely a respective playing card group, to affect
play in the game. In an actual implementation of the invention
described in U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/610,339, a
large number of different playing card groups may be defined.
Randomly selecting the different playing card groups for display to
the player in the course of the game helps ensure that the game
appears as random as an actual draw poker game. This application of
the ball draw-generated random number according to the invention
together with the system described in U.S. provisional patent
application No. 60/610,339 may provide a very realistic and
effective simulation of draw poker or some other playing card game
while still obtaining the player's result in the game from the
underlying bingo-type game.
[0043] It should be noted that although the random number produced
from a ball draw according to the present invention will be
uniformly distributed over the given range, the manner in which the
random number is used to affect a game may introduce certain
biases. For example, a ball draw may be used to play a bingo game
and the random number generated from the ball draw as described
above may be used to regulate some further event that is specified
by the pattern produced for a player in the bingo game. In this
case, although the random number produced from the ball draw will
be uniform over the potential range, the ball draw itself may be
biased because certain ball draws may be slightly more likely than
others to produce the pattern produced for the player. The bias in
the ball draw in this case will translate to a bias in the number
generated from the ball draw.
[0044] The bias introduced by how a random number produced
according to the present invention is applied may not detract from
a given application of the random number, and thus the random
number may be used without correction. However, correction for the
bias may be desirable in other instances. One preferred method for
correcting for the bias described in the preceding paragraph for a
given bingo pattern involves first empirically measuring the
distribution of random numbers given that the particular bingo
pattern was hit. This empirical distribution of random numbers may
be generated by repeatedly simulating the play of the bingo game
and calculating the random number according to the invention for
each simulation in which the given pattern is achieved. The
empirically determined distribution of random numbers may then be
considered in specifying how the actual random numbers will affect
the game when the given pattern is hit.
[0045] The above described preferred embodiments are intended to
illustrate the principles of the invention, but not to limit the
scope of the invention. Various other embodiments and modifications
to these preferred embodiments may be made by those skilled in the
art without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0046] As used herein, whether in the above description or the
following claims, the terms "comprising", "including", "carrying",
"having", "containing", "involving", and the like are to be
understood to be open-ended, that is, to mean including but not
limited to. Only the transitional phrases "consisting of" and
"consisting essentially of", respectively, shall be closed or
semi-closed transitional phrases, as set forth, with respect to
claims, in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent
Examining Procedures (Eighth Edition, August 2001 as revised May
2004), Section 2111.03.
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