WAGERING GAME WITH COMMUNITY EVENT POKER GAME

• US 20110130192A1
• Filed: 11/03/2008
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Englman, Allon G., Gomez, Benjamin T., Palermo, James V.
• Granted Patent: US 8,979,657 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• 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 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A gaming system for conducting a wagering game includes a display for displaying a base game of the wagering game in response to receiving a wager input from a player and a controller coupled to the display. The controller is programmed to randomly increment during game play a bonus-time eligibility counter for a community bonus game, decrement the bonus-time eligibility counter as real time progresses, and render a player eligible to play the community bonus game if the bonus-time eligibility counter is greater than zero when a community bonus game is triggered.

Claims

1. A gaming system for playing a wagering game, comprising:

a display for displaying a base game of the wagering game in response to receiving a wager input from a player; and

a controller coupled to the display and programmed to

randomly increment during game play a player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter for a community bonus game,

decrement the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter as real time progresses, and

render a player eligible to play the community bonus game if the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter is greater than zero when a community bonus game is triggered.

2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to:

provide a community bonus multiplier associated with the eligibility time, and

award the community bonus multiplier if the player wins an award during the community bonus game.

3. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein, in response to filling an initial level of a plurality of levels of the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter, the controller is further programmed to increment eligibility time into a subsequently higher level of the plurality of levels, the subsequently higher level being associated with an incrementally higher community bonus multiplier than a bonus multiplier associated with the initial level.

4. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further programmed to:

add time to a first segment of the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter, the first segment having a corresponding first community bonus multiplier; and

add time to a second segment of the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter if the first segment is full, the second segment having a second community bonus multiplier that is larger than the first community bonus multiplier.

5. The gaming system of claim 4, wherein the controller is further programmed to multiply a community bonus award with the second community bonus multiplier to increase the community bonus award when the community bonus is triggered during the second segment of the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter.

6. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the display further includes an indicator for the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter.

7. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the eligibility time includes time units that are incremented and decremented in real time.

8. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the controller is programmed to further increment eligibility time to the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter responsive to an extra wager input.

9. The gaming system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of networked gaming terminals having a master gaming terminal, the master gaming terminal randomly determining if the community bonus game is triggered.

10. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the controller is programmed to increment eligibility time to the player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter responsive to a player'"'"'s purchase of additional eligibility time.

11. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the base game is a card based game and wherein the controller is programmed to randomly increment during game play a player'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter for a community bonus game by randomly associating an extra time increment with a dealt card.

12. The gaming system of claim 11, wherein the extra time increment is between about one second and about sixty seconds.

13. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system, the method comprising:

conducting a first base wagering game having a first EV at a first gaming machine in response to receiving a wager input from a player;

randomly incrementing, during game play of the first base wagering game at the first gaming machine, a first gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus-time eligibility counter for a community event bonus game, a first gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus multiplier, or both the first gaming machine'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter for the community event bonus game and the first gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus multiplier;

decrementing the first gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter in real time; and

rendering a player at the first gaming machine eligible to play the community event bonus game if the bonus-time eligibility counter of the first gaming machine is greater than zero when a community event bonus game is triggered.

14. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 13, further comprising:

conducting a second base wagering game having a second EV at a second gaming machine in response to receiving a wager input from a player;

randomly incrementing, during game play of the second base wagering game at the second gaming machine, a second gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus-time eligibility counter for a community event bonus game, the second gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus multiplier, or both the second gaming machine'"'"'s bonus-time eligibility counter for the community event bonus game and the second gaming machine'"'"'s community event bonus multiplier;

decrementing the second gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter in real time; and

rendering a player at the second gaming machine eligible to play the community event bonus game if the bonus-time eligibility counter of the second gaming machine is greater than zero when a community event bonus game is triggered.

15. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV and the second EV are substantially equal, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing is at least substantially equally applied to each of the first base wagering game and the second base wagering game.

16. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV and the second EV are different, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing is at least substantially equally applied to each of the first base wagering game and the second base wagering game.

17. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV is higher than the second EV, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing for the second base wagering game is executed at a higher frequency than the act of randomly incrementing for the first base wagering game.

18. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV is higher than the second EV, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing for the second base wagering game is configured to award, on average, higher incremental values for the second gaming machine community event bonus-time eligibility counter.

19. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV is higher than the second EV, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing for the second base wagering game is configured to award, on average, higher community event bonus multipliers for the second gaming machine.

20. The method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 14, wherein the first EV is higher than the second EV, and wherein the act of randomly incrementing is configured to award, on average, for the second base wagering game, higher incremental values for the second gaming machine community event bonus-time eligibility counter and higher community event bonus multipliers.

21. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system, the method comprising:

conducting a community event bonus game; and

awarding one or more awards to each eligible player,

wherein the act of awarding one or more awards comprises awarding, a first value of awards to players who obtained eligibility for the community event bonus game on a first base wagering game having a first EV and awarding a second value of awards to players who obtained eligibility for the community event bonus game on a second base wagering game having a second EV lower than the first EV, and

wherein the first value of awards is statistically lower than the second value of awards.

22. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 21,

wherein the act of awarding one or more awards comprises providing awards consistent with a first pay table for players obtaining eligibility for the community event bonus game on the first base wagering game having the first EV and providing awards consistent with a second pay table for players obtaining eligibility for the community event bonus game on the second base wagering game having the second EV, and

wherein the first pay table provides a lower payout than the second pay table.

23. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 21,

wherein the act of awarding one or more awards comprises providing a greater number of plays of the community event bonus game for players obtaining eligibility for the community event bonus game on the second base wagering game having the second EV.

24. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system according to claim 21,

wherein the act of awarding one or more awards comprises awarding, during play of one of or both of the base wagering game and the community event bonus game, higher community event bonus multipliers to players obtaining eligibility for the community event game on the second base wagering game having the second EV.

25. A method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming system, the method comprising:

conducting a community event bonus game; and

awarding one or more awards to each eligible player,

wherein the act of awarding one or more awards to each eligible player comprises

discriminating between players of base wagering games having different EVs,

applying a first community event bonus EV to players of base wagering games having a first EV, and

applying a second community event bonus EV to players of base wagering games having a second EV,

wherein the first community event bonus EV is lower than the second community event bonus EV,

wherein the first EV is higher than the second EV, and

wherein the sum of the EVs of the first community event bonus EV and the first EV is at least substantially the same as the sum of the EVs of the second community event bonus EV and the second EV.

26. A gaming system for playing a wagering game, comprising:

a gaming machine comprising a display, the gaming machine being configured to display an outcome of a wagering game conducted on the gaming machine in response to a wager input from a player, the outcome of the wagering game comprising the display of an array of randomly determined symbols; and

a controller coupled to the display and programmed to

increment the gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter for a community bonus game responsive to the wager input,

increment during game play at least one of the gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter for a community bonus game or a benefit associated with a community bonus game conducted on the gaming machine responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol in the array of randomly determined symbols,

decrement the gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter as real time progresses,

render a gaming machine eligible to play the community bonus game if the gaming machine bonus-time eligibility counter is greater than zero when a community bonus game is triggered, and

modify any award realized via the gaming machine during the community bonus game by any benefit associated with the community bonus game conducted on the gaming machine.

27. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26,

wherein the wagering game comprises a bonus game,

wherein the game play comprises bonus game play, and

wherein the controller coupled to the display is programmed to increment during bonus game play at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game benefit responsive to an occurrence of the community bonus game symbol in an array of randomly determined symbols displayed during the bonus game.

28. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26,

wherein the wagering game comprises a bonus game,

wherein the game play comprises bonus game play, and

wherein the controller coupled to the display is programmed to increment during bonus game play at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game benefit responsive to a selection of a player-selectable element associated with a community bonus game symbol from an array of player-selectable elements.

29. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26, wherein the gaming system is configured to increment during game play the at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol in the array of randomly determined symbols and responsive to the occurrence of a winning outcome in the array of randomly determined symbols along an active payline, the winning outcome being associated with an award exceeding a minimum win threshold.

30. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26, wherein the gaming system is configured to increment during game play the at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol in the array of randomly determined symbols and responsive to the occurrence of a wager exceeding a minimum threshold.

31. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 30, wherein the minimum threshold is a max bet wager.

32. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 30, wherein the minimum threshold is an extra wager placed on top of a max bet wager.

33. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26, wherein the gaming system is configured to increment during game play the at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game only responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol along an active payline in the array of randomly determined symbols.

34. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26, wherein the gaming system is configured to increment during game play the at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game only responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol along an active payline in the array of randomly determined symbols.

35. A gaming system for playing a wagering game according to claim 26, wherein the gaming system is configured to increment during game play the at least one of the bonus-time eligibility counter for the community bonus game or the benefit associated with the community bonus game only responsive to an occurrence of a community bonus game symbol along an active payline in the array of randomly determined symbols and an occurrence of a winning outcome along that active payline.