Gaming device having a first game scheme involving a symbol generator, a second game and a first game terminator

• US 20040171415A1
• Filed: 03/04/2004
• Published: 09/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Baerlocher, Anthony J., Webb, Bayard S.
• Granted Patent: US 6,981,917 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• 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 17/3267 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 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming device including a primary game having one or more symbol generators and one or more secondary games associated with the symbol generators. The gaming device activates the symbol generators for a number of activations. When the symbol generator generates one or more predetermined symbols, the gaming device operates one or more of the secondary games associated with the symbol generators. In one embodiment, the gaming device continues to activate the symbol generators until at least one of the symbol generators generates one or more termination symbols, or until there are no activations remaining in the primary game.

Claims

1. A gaming device comprising:

a first game;

a plurality of symbol generators in said first game, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators including a terminator symbol and at least one of said symbol generators including a second game triggering symbol;

an independently operated second game, said second game associated with the symbol generator having said second game triggering symbol;

a termination condition associated with the symbol generator having the terminator symbol, wherein said termination condition occurs when a designated number of the terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator;

at least one display device operable to display the first game and the second game; and

a processor operable with the display device to activate the symbol generators for a number of activations, initiate the second game when the second game triggering symbol is generated by the symbol generator including said second game triggering symbol in said activations and terminate the first game when the termination condition occurs in said activations.

2. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the symbol generators include at least one reel.

3. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the symbol generators include at least one wheel.

4. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the symbol generators include at least one representation of a playing card.

5. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the symbol generators each include at least one second game triggering symbol.

6. The gaming device of claim 5, which includes a plurality of second games, each of said second games associated with at least one of said symbol generators, wherein said second games are initiated when at least one of said second game triggering symbols is generated by said symbol generators associated with said second games.

7. The gaming device of claim 6, wherein at least two of said second games are different.

8. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the second game includes at least one win condition.

9. The gaming device of claim 8, which includes an award provided to a player when the win condition occurs.

10. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the second game includes a plurality of selections.

11. The gaming device of claim 10, wherein one of the selections includes an award provided to a player when the player picks said selection.

12. The gaming device of claim 10, wherein a plurality of the selections each include an award provided to a player when the player picks said selections.

13. The gaming device of claim 10, wherein all of the selections include at least one award, and wherein said awards associated with the picked selections are provided to a player.

14. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes a terminator display which displays the number of the terminator symbols generated by the symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

15. A gaming device comprising:

a first game;

a plurality of symbol generators in the first game, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators adapted to generate at least one terminator symbol, a plurality of said symbol generators adapted to generate at least one predetermined symbol;

a plurality of independently operable second games associated with said symbol generators, each of said second games associated with at least one of said symbol generators including said predetermined symbol;

at least one display device operable to display the first game and the second game; and

a processor operable with the display device to;

(a) activate the symbol generators;

(b) initiate at least one of the second games associated with said symbol generators when said predetermined symbol is generated by said symbol generators, and

(c) repeat steps (a) to (b) for a designated number of activations until a designated number of terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator including said terminator symbol or until there are no activations remaining.

16. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the symbol generators include at least one reel.

17. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the symbol generators include at least one wheel.

18. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the symbol generators include at least one representation of a playing card.

19. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein at least one of the second games includes a plurality of selections.

20. The gaming device of claim 19, which includes an award associated with at least one of said selections, wherein said award is provided to a player when the player picks said selection.

21. The gaming device of claim 19, which includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, wherein at least one of said awards is associated with each of said selections, and wherein said awards associated with the picked selections are provided to a player.

22. The gaming device of claim 19, which includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, wherein at least one of said awards is associated with each of said selections, and wherein a player can pick a designated number of said selections and the awards associated with the picked selections are provided to the player.

23. The gaming device of claim 19, which includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, wherein at least one of said awards is associated with each of a plurality of said selections, and wherein a player can pick at least one selection and the player is provided any awards associated with the picked selections.

24. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein at least one of the second games includes at least one win condition.

25. The gaming device of claim 24, which includes an award provided to a player when the win condition occurs.

26. The gaming device of claim 15, which includes a terminator display which displays the number of the terminator symbol generated by the symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

27. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the designated number of activations is randomly determined by the processor.

28. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the designated number of activations is predetermined by the processor.

29. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the designated number of terminator symbols is randomly determined by the processor.

30. The gaming device of claim 15, wherein the designated number of terminator symbols is predetermined by the processor.

31. The gaming device of claim 17, wherein each of the secondary games is associated with a different one of said symbol generators including said predetermined symbol.

32. A method for operating a gaming device, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a first game to a player, said first game including a plurality of symbol generators, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators including a terminator symbol and at least one of said symbol generators including a second game triggering symbol;

(b) associating a termination condition with said symbol generator including said terminator symbol, said termination condition occurring when a designated number of the terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator having said terminator symbol;

(c) activating the symbol generators;

(d) initiating and displaying an independently operated second game when the second game triggering symbol is generated by said symbol generator which has the second game triggering symbol; and

(e) repeating steps (c) to (d) for a designated number of activations of the symbol generators until the termination condition occurs or until there are no activations remaining.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein initiating the independently operated second game includes providing a plurality of selections to a player, at least one of said selections including an award.

34. The method of claim 33, which includes providing the award to the player when the player picks said selection including said award.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein initiating the independently operated second game includes providing a plurality of selections to a player, a plurality of said selections including an award.

36. The method of claim 35, which includes enabling the player to pick at least one selection and providing the awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

37. The method of claim 32, which includes displaying a terminator display, wherein the terminator display indicates the number of terminator symbols generated by the symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

38. The method of claim 32, which includes operating the gaming device through a data network.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the data network is an internet.

40. A method for operating a gaming device, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a first game to a player, said first game including a plurality of symbol generators, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators including a terminator symbol and at least one of said symbol generators including a predetermined symbol;

(b) displaying a plurality of independently operable second games, each of said second games being associated with at least one of said symbol generators including said predetermined symbol; and

(c) associating a termination condition with said symbol, generator including said terminator symbol, said termination condition occurring when a designated number of the terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator having said terminator symbol;

(d) activating the symbol generators;

(e) initiating the second games associated with any symbol generators which generated the predetermined symbol;

(f) repeating steps (d) to (e) for a designated number of activations of the symbol generators until the termination condition occurs or until there are no activations remaining.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein initiating the second games includes providing a plurality of selections to a player for at least one of the initiated second games.

42. The method of claim 41, which includes associating an award with one of the selections, wherein the award is provided to the player when the player picks the selection including the award.

43. The method of claim 41, which includes associating a plurality of awards with the selections, and enabling a player to pick at lest one of the selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selection to the player.

44. The method of claim 41, which includes associating awards with all of the selections, and enabling a player to pick at lest one of the selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selection to the player.

45. The method of claim 40, which includes displaying a terminator display to a player, wherein the terminator display indicates the number of terminator symbols generated by the symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

46. The method of claim 40, which includes randomly determining the designated number of activations.

47. The method of claim 40, which includes pre-determining the designated number of activations.

48. The method of claim 40, which includes randomly determining the designated number of terminator symbols.

49. The method of claim 40, which includes pre-determining the designated number of terminator symbols.

50. The method of claim 41, which includes resetting the picked selections after a randomly determined number of activations of the first game.

51. The method of claim 41, which includes resetting the picked selections after a predetermined number of activations of the first game.

52. The method of claim 40, which includes operating the gaming device through a data network.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the data network is an internet.

54. A gaming device comprising:

a first game;

a plurality of symbol generators in the first game, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one said symbol generators adapted to generate at least one terminator symbol, a plurality of said symbol generators adapted to generate at least one predetermined symbol;

a plurality of independently operable second games associated with said symbol generators, each of said second games associated with at least one of said symbol generators including said predetermined symbol;

at least one display device operable to display the first game and the second game; and

a processor operable with the display device to;

(a) activate the symbol generators;

(b) initiate at least one of the second games associated with said symbol generators when said predetermined symbol is generated by said symbol generators, and

(c) repeat steps (a) to (b) for a designated number of activations until a designated number of terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

55. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the symbol generators include at least one reel.

56. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the symbol generators include at least one representation of a playing card.

57. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the symbol generators include at least one representation of a playing card.

58. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein at least one of the second games includes a plurality of selections.

59. The gaming device of claim 58, which includes an award associated with at least one of said selections, and enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing any awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

60. The gaming device of claim 58, which includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, and enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing any awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

61. The gaming device of claim 58, which includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, wherein at least one of said awards is associated with each of said selections, and enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing any awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

62. The gaming device of claim 58, wherein includes a plurality of awards associated with the selections, wherein at least one of said awards is associated with each of said selections, and enabling the player to pick a designated number of selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

63. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein each of the second games includes at least one win condition.

64. The gaming device of claim 63, which includes an award provided to player when the win condition occurs.

65. The gaming device of claim 54, which includes a terminator display which displays the number of the terminator symbol generated by the symbol generator including said terminator symbol.

66. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the designated number of activations is randomly determined by the processor.

67. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the designated number of activations is predetermined by the processor.

68. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the designated number of terminator symbols is randomly determined by the processor.

69. The gaming device of claim 54, wherein the designated number of terminator symbols is predetermined by the processor.

70. A method for operating a gaming device, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a first game to a player, said first game including a plurality of symbol generators, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators including a terminator symbol and at least one of said symbol generators including a second game triggering symbol;

(b) associating a termination condition with said symbol generator including said terminator symbol, said termination condition occurring when a designated number of the terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator having said terminator symbol;

(c) activating the symbol generators;

(d) initiating and displaying an independently operated second game when the second game triggering symbol is generated by said symbol generator which has the second game triggering symbol; and

(e) repeating steps (c) to (d) for a designated number of activations of the symbol generators until the termination condition occurs.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein initiating the independently operated second game includes displaying a plurality of selections to a player, at least one of said selections including an award.

72. The method of claim 71, which includes providing the award to the player when the player picks said selection including said award.

73. The method of claim 70, wherein initiating the independently operated second game includes displaying a plurality of selections to a player, each of said selections including an award.

74. The method of claim 73, which includes enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

75. The method of claim 70, which includes associating a termination indicator with the symbol generator including the terminator symbol, wherein the termination indicator indicates to a player when the terminator symbol summary of the invention generated by the symbol generator.

76. The method of claim 70, which includes operating the gaming device through a data network.

77. A method for operating a gaming device, the method comprising:

(a) displaying a first game to a player, said game including a plurality of symbol generators, each of said symbol generators including a plurality of symbols, at least one of said symbol generators including a terminator symbol and at least one of said symbol generators including a predetermined symbol;

(b) displaying a plurality of independently operable second games, each of said second games being associated with at least one of said symbol generators including said predetermined symbol; and

(c) associating a termination condition with said symbol generators including said terminator symbol, said termination condition occurring when a designated number of the terminator symbols are generated by said symbol generator having said terminator symbol;

(d) activating the symbol generators;

(e) initiating the second games associated with any symbol generators which generated the predetermined symbol;

(f) repeating steps (d) to (e) for a designated number of activations of the symbol generators until the termination condition occurs.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein the step of initiating the second games includes providing a plurality of selections to a player for at least one of the initiated second games.

80. The method of claim 79, which includes associating an award with one of the selections, wherein the award is provided to the player when the player picks the selection including the award.

81. The method of claim 79, which includes associating a plurality of awards with the selections, and enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

82. The method of claim 79, which includes associating awards with all of the selections, and enabling the player to pick at least one of the selections and providing the awards associated with the picked selections to the player.

88. The method of claim 79, which includes resetting the picked selections after a randomly determined number of activations of the first game.

89. The method of claim 79, which includes resetting the picked selections after a predetermined number of activations of the first game.

83. The method of claim 78, which includes displaying a terminator display to a player, wherein the terminator display indicates the number of terminator symbols generated by the symbol generated including said terminator symbol.

84. The method of claim 78, which includes randomly determining the designated number of activations.

85. The method of claim 78, which includes pre-determining the designated number of activations.

86. The method of claim 78, which includes randomly determining the designated number of terminator symbols.

87. The method of claim 78, wherein includes pre-determining the designated number of terminator symbols.

90. The method of claim 78, which includes operating the gaming device through a data network.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the data network is an internet.