System for trade-in bonus

• US 10,650,640 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2019
• Issued: 05/12/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acres Technology
• Original Assignee: Acres Technology
• Inventors: Acres, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Milap
• Application Number:
  US16/507,379
• Publication Number:
  US 20190333336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 307 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3265 Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming systems that allow customers to wager, or “trade-in” an object of value or winning situation for a chance to win an even more valuable award. The chance for valuable award may be a bonus game or chance to win a bonus game. Bonus awards are “funded” by the savings achieved from the players trading in their wins in the base game, which would otherwise be paid. Players who do not trade-in see no changes from the base game paytable, while those players who participate in the trade-in bonus have a different gaming experience.

Claims

1. At least one non-transitory memory device, which stores a plurality of instructions, for use with an electronic gaming device that uses a paytable stored in a memory device, and that displays, on a display device, randomly determined outcomes, the plurality of instructions, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to:

generate a set of predefined symbols and display, on the display device, a randomly determined outcome as a set of the predefined symbols;

track one or more of the set of predefined symbols traded in by a player of a game on the electronic gaming device after the randomly determined outcome is displayed;

determine when at least two symbols of the set of predefined symbols are traded in by the player;

determine if the at least two symbols comprise one of a plurality of winning outcomes in the paytable;

add bonus points to a bonus point total if it is determined that the at least two symbols comprise one of the plurality of winning outcomes in the paytable; and

provide a bonus to the player of the electronic gaming device when the bonus point total exceeds a predefined threshold to earn the bonus.

2. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to provide the bonus to the player by spinning a wheel.

3. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to provide the bonus as a bonus symbol stored in a bonus symbol accumulator.

4. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 3, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to periodically draw a symbol and compare it to at least one bonus symbol stored in the bonus symbol accumulator.

5. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to award a second bonus to a player who holds a bonus symbol in the bonus symbol accumulator that matches the drawn symbol.

6. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 1 wherein the set of predefined symbols appear on playing cards.

7. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 1 wherein the electronic gaming device is a slot machine.

8. At least one non-transitory memory device, which stores a plurality of instructions, for use with a game played on an electronic gaming device having a payout schedule stored in a memory device, the electronic gaining device displaying, on a display device, randomly determined outcomes, the plurality of instructions, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to:

generate a first randomly determined outcome as a set of predefined symbols representing an interim holding after a first stage of the game;

offer to a player of the game on the electronic gaming device to surrender only a portion of the interim holding after the first stage, wherein the portion includes a quantity of symbols less than a total quantity of symbols in the set;

provide an opportunity for a bonus award in exchange for surrender by the player if the surrendered portion has at least two symbols comprising one of a plurality of winning outcomes in the payout schedule, wherein the bonus award comprises one or more bonus points added to a bonus point total for the player; and

provide at least one award, if any, after completion of the game, according to the payout schedule when the player elects not to surrender any of the interim holding.

9. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 8, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to allocate at least in part a cost of the bonus award savings from not paying on the surrendered interim holding.

10. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 8 in which the bonus award is a plurality of bonus points.

11. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to initiate a bonus eligibility session after the bonus exceeds a pre-defined number of bonus points.

12. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 8 wherein the set of predefined symbols appear on playing cards.

13. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 8 wherein the electronic gaming device is a slot machine.

14. At least one non-transitory memory device, which stores a plurality of instructions, for use with a gambling device having a paytable, stored in a memory device, the gambling device displaying, on a display device, randomly determined symbols on a plurality of reels, the plurality of instructions, when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to:

automatically generate a randomly determined outcome as a set of the randomly determined symbols;

display the set of randomly determined symbols after the plurality of reels stop spinning;

accept only a portion of the displayed set of randomly determined symbols as discards selected by a player of a game played on the gambling device, wherein the portion comprises at least two symbols and less than a total quantity of symbols in the set of randomly determined symbols;

compare the accepted discards to a plurality of predefined winning outcomes of the paytable; and

generate an award for the player when the accepted discards match one of the plurality of winning outcomes of the paytable, wherein the award comprises one or more bonus points to be added to a bonus point total for the player.

15. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 14 in which the symbols appear on playing cards.

16. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to award at least one bonus point for accepting a discard of any two dissimilar symbols.

17. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to award at least two bonus points for accepting a discard of any pair of symbols having a first value.

18. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 17, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the processor to award at least three bonus points for accepting a discard of any pair of symbols having a second value, greater than the first value.

19. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 14 wherein the gambling device is a slot machine.

20. The at least one non-transitory memory device of claim 14 wherein the randomly determined symbols appear on playing cards.