Wagering Game With Enhanced Wager-Per-Line Feature

• US 20090325681A1
• Filed: 06/26/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Jaffe, Joel R., Hornik, Jeremy M., Englman, Allon G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,562,425 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• 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 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• 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 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• 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 machine for conducting a wagering game by a player includes a display, a credit indicator and a controller. The display is for displaying a wagering-game outcome having a plurality of symbols arranged in an array. The array includes a plurality of paylines for indicating symbol combinations in the array. The player is required to play all of the plurality of paylines in exchange for a minimum wager amount. The credit indicator indicates the number of available credits for making a wager amount. The controller is in communication with the display and the credit indicator. In response to the number of available credits being less than the minimum wager amount, the controller causes the display to display a group of player options for allowing the player to select a disposition for the available credits. The group of player options includes a reduced-payline option to play less than all paylines for a subsequent wagering-game outcome.

Claims

1. A gaming machine for conducting a wagering game by a player, comprising:

a display for displaying a wagering-game outcome having a plurality of symbols arranged in an array, the array including a plurality of paylines for indicating symbol combinations in the array, the player being required to play all of the plurality of paylines in exchange for a minimum wager amount;

a credit indicator for indicating the number of available credits for making a wager amount; and

a controller in communication with the display and the credit indicator,

wherein in response to the number of available credits being less than the minimum wager amount, the controller causing the display to display a group of player options for allowing the player to select a disposition for the available credits, the group of player options including a reduced-payline option to play less than all paylines for a subsequent wagering-game outcome.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the minimum wager amount corresponds to a wager of one credit on each of the plurality of paylines.

3. The gaming machine of claim 1, further including wager-amount-selection buttons, one of the wager-amount-selection buttons corresponding to the minimum wager amount, the other wager-amount-selection buttons corresponding to wager amounts higher than the minimum wager amount.

4. The gaming machine of claim 3, wherein the wager-amount-selection buttons are push buttons.

5. The gaming machine of claim 3, wherein the wager amounts for the other wager-amount-selection buttons are different credit multiples for each payline.

6. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the minimum wager amount is equally applied to the plurality of paylines.

7. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the group of player options is displayed to the player on the display in a popup window.

8. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the player options includes a wagering event that permits the player to wager the available credits for a result of either (i) a win of an amount that provides the player with the minimum wager amount or (ii) a loss of the available credits.

9. The gaming machine of claim 1, wherein the group of player options includes at least two of (i) a cash out option, (ii) an insert-additional-credits option, (iii) a wagering-event option, and (iv) the reduced-payline option.

10. The gaming machine of claim 9, wherein the wagering-event option provides the player with an opportunity to win just enough credits to cause the available credits to equal the minimum wager amount.

11. The gaming machine of claim 9, wherein the reduced-payline option provides the player at least one selectable option for wagering all of the available credits on at least one payline.

12. The gaming machine of claim 9, wherein the reduced-payline option allows the player to select a number of credits per payline, and wherein a number of active paylines corresponds to the player'"'"'s selection.

13. The gaming machine of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of payline indicators, the plurality of payline indicators configured to indicate the active paylines.

14. A method of conducting a wagering game, the wagering game having a plurality of symbols arranged in an array and including a plurality of paylines indicating symbol combinations in the array, the method comprising the acts of:

in a first play of the wagering game, requiring a player to wager a minimum wager amount corresponding to all of the plurality of paylines;

displaying a plurality of symbols randomly arranged in the array;

indicating an outcome of the first play of the wagering game;

in response to the outcome of the first play being a winning outcome, providing an award to the player; and

in response to a player'"'"'s available credits being less than the minimum wager amount corresponding to the plurality of paylines and prior to a second play of the wagering game, displaying a group of player options for allowing the player to select a disposition for the available credits, the group of player options including an option to play less than all paylines for the second play of the wagering game.

15. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the group of player options includes at least one wagering-event option.

16. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the player options includes a wagering event that permits the player to wager the available credits for a result of either (i) a win of an amount that provides the player with the minimum wager amount or (ii) a loss of the available credits.

17. The gaming machine of claim 14, further comprising the act of conducting the second play of the wagering game with less than all of the paylines, and using payline indicators to indicate the active paylines.

18. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for directing a gaming system to perform the method of claim 14.

19. A method of conducting a wagering game for a human player, the wagering game having a plurality of symbols arranged in an array and including a plurality of paylines indicating symbol combinations in the array, the method comprising the acts of:

in a first play of the wagering game, requiring a player to wager a minimum wager amount corresponding to a wager on all of the plurality of paylines;

displaying on a display device a plurality of symbols randomly arranged in the array;

displaying an outcome of the first play of the wagering game on the display device;

in response to the outcome being a winning outcome in the first play of the wagering game, providing an award to the player; and

in response to a player'"'"'s available credits being less than the minimum wager amount corresponding to the plurality of paylines and prior to a second play of the wagering game, providing, by displaying a popup window on the display device, a player with at least the options to (i) cash out the player'"'"'s available credits and (ii) wager the available credits on a reduced number of paylines in the second play.

20. The gaming machine of claim 19, further comprising the act of, prior to the second play of the wagering game, allowing the player to select a number of paylines less than the plurality of paylines.

21. The gaming machine of claim 19, wherein the available credits are applied equally to each of the reduced number of paylines on a wager-per-line basis that is equivalent to the available credits.

22. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for directing a gaming system to perform the method of claim 19.