U.S. patent application number 12/457214 was filed with the patent office on 2011-05-12 for slot machine group tournament management and scoring system.
Invention is credited to Thomas Christopher Delibassis, Andrew William White.
Application Number | 20110111856 12/457214 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43974577 |
Filed Date | 2011-05-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110111856 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
White; Andrew William ; et
al. |
May 12, 2011 |
Slot machine group tournament management and scoring system
Abstract
It is a software system to manage the registration and scoring
process for running casino-based slot machine tournaments (FIG.
1).
Inventors: |
White; Andrew William; (St.
Catharines, CA) ; Delibassis; Thomas Christopher;
(St. Catharines, CA) |
Family ID: |
43974577 |
Appl. No.: |
12/457214 |
Filed: |
June 4, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61058628 |
Jun 4, 2008 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
463/42 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07F 17/3276 20130101;
G07F 17/32 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
463/42 |
International
Class: |
A63F 9/24 20060101
A63F009/24 |
Claims
1. Software system allows user (a casino) to set up a slot machine
tournament (where `x` number of players compete in a "session" to
see who scores the highest number of credits, or who gets to a
fixed number of credits in the shortest time), of `y` number of
sessions. The system organizes the sessions based on user input
describing the number of sessions per `phase` of the tournament,
how many slot machines will be used for each session, and how the
rankings are to be determined.
2. The system handles the awarding of prizing based on scoring
automatically.
3. The system allows the scores from each session to be inputted
manually, or collected automatically via computer network
connection to the slot machines.
4. The system allows for the collection of a digitized signature
from each competitor via a touch screen computer to validate
his/her score at the end of each session, and stores the digitized
signature in a computer database.
5. The system allows for the casino to send email to the
competitors before, during, and after the tournament for the
purposes of marketing and information dissemination.
Description
[0001] We are claiming priority on this application from filing a
provisional patent previously, under application No. 61/058,628 on
Jun. 4, 2008.
[0002] The present invention relates to a slot machine group
tournament management and scoring system.
[0003] The device is comprised of the following components: [0004]
Software--the main system software runs on a computer server
connected to a computer network, and allows users (casino
employees) to access the system via a computer internet browser
program. [0005] Database--all data entered in to the system is
stored in a computer based database. [0006] Touch screen
computer--is used to enter scores, player signatures, and other
data. [0007] Video Display Units--are used to display scores
(leader board) to the tournament players. [0008] Computer
Kiosk--are used to allow tournament players to sign up (register)
for future tournaments without the aid of a casino employee. [0009]
Computer based-printer--is used to print registration tickets,
receipts, prize certificates, scoring sheets, and other information
on paper.
[0010] System Steps: [0011] 1. Using the browser-based access to
the software system, a casino employee "signs in" to the system
using a user identification string and password combination. This
functionality allows the system to identify who is accessing the
system, and only provide the limited functionality pre-assigned to
the user. [0012] 2. Using the browser-based access to the software
system, a casino employee "sets up" a new tournament configuration
(by choosing dates of play, number of sessions, number of phases,
number of slot machines, how scoring is determined, how prizes are
awarded, and any other rules of play), or chooses a "saved"
preconfigured tournament or tournament template. [0013] 3. Using
the browser-based access to the software system, a casino employee
then takes player "registrations", whereby a casino customer
(player) reserves a place in the tournament, and receives a
"ticket" indicating all the particular information relevant to his
slot tournament "session(s)". A tournament may be free to enter, or
may have an entry fee (determined in step 2) (FIG. 2). [0014] 4.
Using a computer-based kiosk, a customer may register for a
tournament himself by "swiping" his player card through the kiosk's
magnetic card stripe reader, and then choosing options presented to
him on a touch screen display on the kiosk (FIG. 2). [0015] 5. Once
a slot tournament session has been played, the scores from all
available tournament slot machines are entered into the software
system in one of two ways: (i) by manually being entered via the
browser based access to the software system through a network
connected computer or touch screen, or (ii) by being automatically
collected via computer network connection directly to the slot
machines (FIG. 3). [0016] 6. Once all sessions and phases have been
played, the software system determines prizes and rankings
according the tournament rules identified in step 2 (FIG. 4 and
FIG. 5). [0017] 7. Once any scores have been entered into the
software system, the scores may be displayed on a video display
terminal. The system may be structured to use a kiosk-computer for
player self-registration. The system may be used with our without a
touch screen computer for the inputting of scores, player
signatures, and other data. The system may or may not be connected
to secondary video display units to show leader boards and other
tournament information.
[0018] The system may also be used for different kinds of casino
gaming tournaments, including blackjack and video poker.
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