System, method and apparatus for gaming in a convenient environment

• US 10,706,688 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2018
• Issued: 07/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kelly, Bryan M., Lyons, Martin S., Link, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Harper, Tramar Y
• Application Number:
  US16/129,395
• Publication Number:
  US 20190102997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• 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 17/3267 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 17/3272 Games involving multiple players

Abstract

A system, method and device is set forth for play by multiple players using their mobile devices. Each player tethers their mobile device to a console for remote play whereupon, for each player, a separate account is established for the player. The player may fund their account for value for regulated gaming. The system, method and device are configure to be easily introduce into an existing casino enterprise system such they appear to the system as a gaming device while supporting separate and simultaneous play by the players.

Claims

1. A system for supporting localized remote gaming by one or more players each using a mobile player device having a video interface and including a game console having a large console display to display a plurality of gaming events for a plurality of players and one or more console processors for one or more of (a) controlling the large console display to display gaming event content including outcomes for each event or (b) receiving from a remote source event content for display of event outcomes at the large console display for each event, the system comprising:

a wireless communication network to provide for wireless communication between the one or more console processors and the mobile player devices;

a tethering unit, associated with the game console, having a tethering unit display, the tethering unit controlled by the one or more console processors to display content for players to functionally tether their devices to the console by one or more of (a) scanning or entering a code or (b) entering the mobile device cellular number;

the one or more console processors configured to, upon each player tethering their mobile player device via the tethering unit configuring a unique player account associated with each tethered mobile player device including credit, wager and win meter data as well as data representing transaction receipts between the player and their account;

means for each player of a tethered mobile player device to apply credits for wagering to their account; and

the one or more processors configured to receive wireless instructions from the video interface of a tethered mobile player device to register a wager on a selected game event, the one or more processors configured to control the large console display and video interface to display the play and outcome for one or more game events and for each player credit meter, win meter and wager meter data.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the mobile player device is a cellular telephone having a unique telephone number the system comprising the tethering unit including a user interface for a player to enter the cellular telephone number to functionally tether their mobile player device to the game console.

3. The system of claim 1 comprising the one or more processors configured to control the tethering unit display to display a code readable by a player device to tether the mobile player device to the game console.

4. The system of claim 1 comprising the one or more processors configured to control the large console display to display for each tethered mobile player device one or more of credit, wager and win meter data in a display window allocated to the player at the console display.

5. The system of claim 4 comprising the one or more processors configured to control the large console display to display for each tethered mobile player device one or more of credit, wager and win meter data in a display window allocated to the player at the large console display wherein the location of the window at the display is related to the order in which players tethered their mobile player devices to the game console.

6. The system of claim 1 comprising the one or more console processors configured to associate an account code with the player account associated with each tethered mobile player device for allocating funds to the player account.

7. The system of claim 6 comprising one or more of the tethering unit or a kiosk configured to receive the account code and a physical value instrument including currency, a voucher or a machine readable card and to associate the value represented by the instrument with the player account.

8. The system of claim 1 comprising the one or more processors configured to provide over the wireless communication network to one or more mobile player devices a bonus game for play.

9. The system of claim 1 comprising the tethering unit configured to receive information to allocate data related to one or more of a player'"'"'s wager, play and outcome to a corresponding player loyalty account.

10. In a casino environment including gaming machines and a wide area network (WAN) to support communications between each gaming machine and back-end servers supporting accounting and player tracking functions, a system for providing a multi-player gaming console to support wireless gaming by one or more players each using a mobile player device having a video interface, the game console having a large console video display to display one or more gaming events to the one or more players, the system comprising:

a game console processing module configured to include,

(1) a data structure storing,

a. software applications to support each of a plurality of wagering games and video displays therefor,

b. software to support wired and wireless communications between each mobile player device and the game console processing module,

c. player account identification data associated with each player who has tethered their mobile player device to the game console for play, and

d. transaction data including authorization numbers, gaming win and wager meter data, transaction receipts for funds in and funds out,

(2) a multi-channel wireless transceiver;

(3) a tethering unit including a player interface;

(4) a WAN communication interface;

(5) a processor configured to,

a. receive from a player at the tethering unit player interface input of a player account number,

b. generate and wirelessly send via the transceiver to the mobile player device for display at the video interface a code and receive from the player at the tethering unit player interface input corresponding to the sent code to uniquely associate the player device to an account at the data structure and tether the player device to the game console for gaming,

c. receive at the tethering unit player interface data representing the tender of value for gaming and input to associate the value with the player'"'"'s account, and

d. transmit to the player mobile device via the transceiver a message including a resource locator interface which when selected by the player causes the processor to,

i. cause the player mobile device to display a game interface for the player to transmit game play related inputs to the processor,

ii. control the large console video display to display the game at a video display interface of the game console,

iii. account at least at the player'"'"'s account for game wagers and wins,

iv. display at the large console video display data to associate the player with the game displayed at the large console video display, and

e. package and transmit to the back-end servers data supporting accounting and player tracking functions for each player.