SUSPENDING WAGERING GAME PLAY ON WAGERING GAME MACHINES

• US 20100167810A1
• Filed: 02/23/2007
• Published: 07/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Fitzsimons, Matthew R., Lee, Steven J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,197,338 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3234 about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system

Abstract

Systems and methods for suspending wagering game play on wagering game machines are described herein. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a content signal associated with regulated operations. The method can also include determining whether an enable signal is detected. Additionally, if the enable signal is not detected, the method can call for prohibiting performance of the regulated operations.

Claims

1. A wagering game machine comprising:

a network interface unit configured to receive a content signal including data;

a content presentation unit to perform regulated operations using the data included in the content signal; and

a regulated operations controller configured to determine quality of the content signal, to suspend performance of the regulated operations after the quality of the content signal falls below a quality threshold, and to resume performance of the regulated operations after the quality of the content signal rises above the quality threshold.

2. The wagering game machine of claim 1 further comprising:

a user interface to present an indication that regulated operations will be suspended, the user interface to present the indication before the regulated operations are suspended by the regulated operations controller.

3. The wagering game machine of claim 1, wherein the regulated operations include presentation of wagering games upon which monetary value can be wagered.

4. The wagering game machine of claim 1, wherein the data includes information from the World Wide Web.

5. The wagering game machine of claim 1, wherein the regulated operations controller is configured to suspend the regulated operations before the content signal is out of range.

6. A machine-readable medium including instructions which when executed cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a content signal associated with regulated operations of a wagering game machine;

determining that an enable signal has not been detected; and

after determining that the enable signal has not been detected, suspending performance of the regulated operations on the wagering game machine.

7. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, the operations further comprising:

determining that a quality of the enable signal is below a quality threshold; and

presenting an indication that the regulated operations will be suspended.

8. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, the operations further comprising:

after suspending performance of the regulated operations, resuming performance of the regulated operations.

9. The machine-medium of claim 6, the operations further comprising:

after suspending performance of the regulated operations, detecting the enable signal.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the regulated operations include presenting a wagering game upon which monetary value can be wagered.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the content signal has a broader range than the enable signal.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the content signal is a Wi-Fi signal.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the enable signal conforms to a protocol selected from the group consisting of RFID, Bluetooth, Wireless USB, and Infrared Data Association.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the regulated operations are selected from the group consisting of presenting a wagering game, receiving a wager associated with a wagering game, and presenting copyrighted content.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the suspending performance of the regulated operations includes writing contents of a main memory to a storage device and displaying in a graphical user interface an indication that the regulated operations will be suspended.

16. A method comprising:

presenting a wagering game using data received in a content signal;

determining whether the presenting is occurring within an area in which wagering game presentations are permitted; and

after determining the presenting is not occurring within an area in which wagering game presentations are permitted, suspending the presenting of the wagering game.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

after suspending the presenting of the wagering game, resuming the presenting of the wagering game.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining whether the presenting is occurring within an area in which wagering game presentations are permitted includes,

determining whether a quality of the content signal has dropped below a quality threshold.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein determining whether the presenting is occurring within an area in which wagering game presentations are permitted includes,

determining whether an enable signal is detected, wherein the enable signal has a lesser range than the content signal.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein determining whether the presenting is occurring within an area in which wagering game presentations are permitted includes,

querying RFID tags and determining whether a response is received.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the suspending includes presenting an indication that the wagering game is being presented in an area in which wagering games are prohibited and that the wagering game presentations will be suspended.