Wagering Game For Awarding Attributes In A Plurality Of Plays

• US 20110098102A1
• Filed: 10/25/2010
• Published: 04/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: SeLegue, Dylan B., Jaffe, Joel R., Gomez, Benjamin T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,591,313 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• 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 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• 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

A method for conducting a computer-implemented wagering game includes using a processor to execute a plurality of plays of the wagering game, each play having an expected value. A plurality of randomly selected symbols, which are associated with each play, are displayed on a display. The processor is used to randomly assign a plurality of attributes across the plurality of plays. Each attribute increases an expected value of the play to which the attribute is assigned, from a first value to a second value. The first value is in the absence of the attribute and the second value is in the presence of the attribute.

Claims

1. A method of conducting a computer-implemented wagering game, the method comprising:

using a processor to execute a plurality of plays of the wagering game, each play having an expected value;

displaying on a display a plurality of randomly selected symbols associated with each play; and

using the processor to randomly assign a plurality of attributes across the plurality of plays, each attribute increasing the expected value of the play of the wagering game to which the attribute is assigned, the expected value increasing from a first value to a second value, the first value of the expected value being in the absence of the attribute and the second value of the expected value being in the presence of the attribute.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plays are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plays includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plays includes hands of poker.

6. The method of claim 1, further including receiving from a player, via an input device, an input indicative of a wager for each of the plurality of plays.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the assigning of the plurality of attributes occurs in response to a triggering event.

8. A gaming system comprising:

a wager input device configured to receive a wager from a player for playing a plurality of plays of a wagering game;

a display configured to display a plurality of randomly selected symbols associated with each play of the plurality of plays; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the display, at least one of the processors being operative to

execute the plurality of plays of the wagering game, each play having an expected value, and

randomly assign a plurality of attributes across the plurality of plays, each attribute increasing the expected value of the play to which the attribute is assigned, the expected value increasing from a first value to a second value, the first value of the expected value being in the absence of the attribute and the second value of the expected value being in the presence of the attribute.

9. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of attributes is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the assigning of the plurality of attributes occurs in response to a triggering event.

10. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of attributes are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

11. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of plays are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

12. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of plays includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

13. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of plays includes hands of poker.

14. A method for conducting a wagering game, comprising:

awarding a plurality of attributes;

awarding a plurality of plays of the wagering game, each play having an expected value;

randomly assigning the plurality of attributes to the plurality of plays;

displaying, on a display device, randomly selected symbols associated with each play of the plurality of plays; and

using a processor to determine an outcome of each of the plays taking in account any attributes assigned to a specific play such that the expected value of the specific play increases from a first value to a second value based on an assigned attribute.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of attributes is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the awarding of the plurality of attributes occurs in response to a triggering event.

16. The method of claim 14, further including receiving from a player, via an input device, an input indicative of a wager for each of the plurality of plays.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of attributes are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of plays are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of plays includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of plays includes hands of poker.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of attributes are awarded in accordance with a weighted function such that the number of attributes per play increases with a sequential number of the plurality of plays.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the weighted function includes reordering plays of the plurality of the plays such that a play with a lower number of assigned attributes is played before a play with a higher number of assigned attributes.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein, after the randomly assigning of the plurality of attributes to the plurality of plays, at least some plays of the plurality of plays are reordered to display an outcome of a play to which a smaller number of attributes has been assigned before an outcome of a play to which a larger number of attributes has been assigned.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

randomly assigning an X number of attributes of the plurality of attributes to a first play of the plurality of plays and an Y number of attributes of the plurality of attributes to a second play of the plurality of plays, the X number of attributes being larger than the Y number of attributes, the outcome of the first play being initially intended to be displayed before the outcome of the second play; and

reordering the sequence of plays such that the outcome of the second play is displayed before the outcome of the first play.