SYSTEM FOR TRADE-IN BONUS

• US 20110218030A1
• Filed: 03/02/2010
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acres Technology
• Original Assignee: Patent Investment & Licensing Company
• Inventors: Acres, John F.
• Granted Patent: US 9,286,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• 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 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• 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 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3265 Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding
• 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 17/3293 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

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming systems that allow customers to wager, or “trade-in” an object of value or winning situation for a chance to win an even more valuable award. The chance for valuable award may be a bonus game or chance to win a bonus game. Bonus awards are “funded” by the savings achieved from the players trading in their wins in the base game, which would otherwise be paid. Players who do not trade-in see no changes from the base game paytable, while those players who participate in the trade-in bonus have a different gaming experience.

Claims

1. A gaming device comprising:

a standard paytable structured to generate winning outcomes and non-winning outcomes from a random event;

a facility for accepting return of a holding by a player when the holding to be returned is one of a subset of winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes of the paytable;

a bonus generator structured to award the player a bonus outcome in exchange for the player returning the retuned holding.

2. The gaming device according to claim 1 in which the bonus outcome is a number of bonus points.

3. The gaming device according to claim 2, further comprising a bonus awarder structured to award a bonus when the number of bonus points meets or exceeds a pre-defined number.

4. The gaming device according to claim 1 in which the subset of winning outcomes includes the lowest-returning portion of the paytable.

5. The gaming device according to claim 1 in which the bonus generator is contained within the gaming device.

6. The gaming device according to claim 1 in which the bonus generator is separate from the gaming device but connected to the gaming device through a gaming network.

7. A bonus controller coupled to a gaming device that has a paytable having winning outcomes and losing outcomes, the bonus controller comprising:

an input coupled to the gaming device and structured to receive information related to gameplay on the gaming device;

a bonus point incrementor structured to add bonus points to a bonus point total when a player surrenders a holding that, according to the paytable, is a winning outcome; and

a bonus awarder structured to grant a bonus to the player of the gaming device when the bonus point total exceeds a threshold.

8. The bonus controller of claim 7 in which the bonus point incrementor is structured to add bonus points to the bonus point total when a player surrenders a holding that is a potentially a winning outcome.

9. The bonus controller of claim 7 in which the bonus is a wheelspin in which the player is award an amount spun.

10. The bonus controller of claim 7 in which the bonus is a bonus card stored in a bonus card accumulator.

11. The bonus controller of claim 10 in which, periodically, a matching card is drawn and compared to any bonus cards stored in the bonus card accumulator.

12. The bonus controller of claim 11 in which a second bonus is award to a player who holds a card in a bonus card accumulator that matches the matching card.

13. A gaming device having an original payout schedule, comprising:

at least two stages, in which the player has an interim holding after the first stage;

an offer to the player to surrender at least a portion of the interim holding after the first stage;

a bonus facility structured to provide a bonus award in exchange for surrender by the player; and

wherein, when the player elects to not surrender any of the interim holding, a payout of the game is made according to its original payout schedule.

14. The gaming device of claim 13 in which a cost of the bonus award is at least partially supported by a savings from not paying on the surrendered interim holding.

15. The gaming device of claim 13 in which the bonus facility is a bonus accumulator and in which the bonus award is a number of bonus points.

16. The gaming device of claim 15, further comprising a bonus eligibility session after the bonus accumulator exceeds a pre-defined number of bonus points.

17. The gaming device of claim 13 in which the bonus facility is structured to provide a bonus award only when the interim holding is in the original payout schedule of the gaming device.

18. The gaming device of claim 13 in which the bonus facility is structured to provide a bonus award only when the interim holding makes a portion of an entry in the original payout schedule of the gaming device.

19. The gaming device of claim 13 in which the bonus award is made at a first level when the surrendered interim holding is any two dissimilar cards of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

20. The gaming device of claim 19 in which the bonus award is made at a second level, higher than the first level, when the surrendered interim holding is any pair of cards having a value less than a pair of Jacks.

21. The gaming device of claim 20 in which the bonus award is made at a third level, higher than the second level, when the surrendered interim holding is any pair of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

22. A method of playing a game on a gambling device having a paytable including winning outcomes, comprising:

dealing cards to a player;

accepting discards of the dealt cards from the player;

comparing the accepted discards to the winning outcomes of the paytable; and

generating an award for the player when the accepted discards match one of the winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes of the paytable.

23. The method of claim 22 in which the game is draw poker.

24. The method of claim 22 in which the award is one bonus point that is awarded for accepting discards of any two dissimilar cards of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

25. The method of claim 22 in which the award is two bonus points that are awarded for accepting discards of any pair of cards having a value less than a pair of Jacks.

26. The method of claim 22 in which the award is three bonus points that are awarded for accepting discards of any pair of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

27. A method of playing a gaming device, comprising:

receiving an indication of a holding awarded to a player from the gaming device;

returning the holding to the gaming device when the holding is one of a subset of winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes for the device; and

receiving delayed compensation in exchange for returning the winning outcome.

28. The method of claim 27 in which the delayed compensation is a bonus award.

29. The method of claim 27 in which the delayed compensation is the ability to participate in a bonus round.

30. The method of claim 27 in which the subset of winning outcomes is a lowest-returning portion of a paytable of winning outcomes for the gaming device.

31. A method of playing a game on a gaming device, comprising:

providing a player with an interim holding;

offering the player an incentive to return at least a portion of the interim holding while simultaneously offering the player no incentive to hold all of the interim holding; and

providing an award to the player when the at least a portion of the interim holding is returned.

32. The method of claim 31 in which offering the player an incentive comprises offering an award above a paytable of the gaming device.

33. The method of claim 31 in which the incentive is one or more bonus points.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising paying the player an award when a total number of bonus points held by the player exceeds a threshold.

35. The method of claim 33, further comprising awarding the player a bonus when a total number of bonus points held by the player exceeds a threshold.

36. The method of claim 35 in which the bonus is a bonus-winning window.

37. The method of claim 36 in which an amount of time the bonus-winning window is open is measured in games played by the player.

38. The method of claim 36 in which an amount of time the bonus-winning window is open is measured in time.

39. The method of claim 31 in which providing an award to the player comprises providing an award to the player only when the interim holding is in an original payout schedule of the gaming device.

40. The method of claim 31 in which providing an award to the player comprises providing an award to the player only when the interim holding makes a portion of an original payout schedule of the gaming device.

41. The method of claim 31 in which the award is made at a first level when the returned interim holding is any two dissimilar cards of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

42. The method of claim 41 in which the award is made at a second level, higher than the first level, when the returned interim holding is any pair of cards having a value less than a pair of Jacks.

43. The method of claim 42 in which the award is made at a third level, higher than the second level, when the returned interim holding is any pair of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.