System and Method for Bonus Gaming Using a Mobile Device

• US 20120122558A1
• Filed: 11/15/2010
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Lyons, Martin S., Kelly, Bryan M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,550,903 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 11/0074 Game concepts, rules or strategies
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2011/0093 characterised by the game theory or winning strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0038 by providing the operator with simple or augmented images from one or more cameras located onboard the vehicle, e.g. tele-operation images analyzed by a computer and used for automatic navigation G05D1/0246
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 5/00 Methods or arrangements for verifying the correctness of markings on a record carrier; Column detection devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/10 Terrestrial scenes scenes under surveillance with static cameras G06V20/52; scenes perceived from the exterior of a vehicle G06V20/56; scenes perceived from the interior of a vehicle G06V20/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/161 Detection; Localisation; Normalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/166 using acquisition arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• 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 17/3237 about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• 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 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/359 Augmented reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3245 of image modifying data, e.g. handwritten addenda, highlights or augmented reality information

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for enabling a player to use a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device to become eligible for mobile promotions in addition to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine. The method includes: enabling enrollment in the mobile bonus feature system; displaying a list of mobile promotions associated with games on underlying gaming machines; enabling selection of a mobile promotion and an associated game on an underlying gaming machine; once the player meets criteria of the mobile promotion on the underlying gaming machine, enabling the player to use a camera of the mobile device, which is controlled by the mobile bonus feature system, to take a photo of a game result that satisfies the mobile promotion; securely transmitting the photo of the game result to a web service; analyzing the photo of the game result to confirm the player has met the criteria of the mobile promotion; and once confirmed, awarding the player a bonus associated with the mobile promotion.

Claims

1. A method of enabling a player to use a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device to become eligible for mobile promotions in addition to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine, the method comprising:

enabling enrollment in the mobile bonus feature system;

displaying a list of mobile promotions associated with games on underlying gaming machines;

enabling selection of a mobile promotion and an associated game on an underlying gaming machine;

once the player meets criteria of the mobile promotion on the underlying gaming machine, enabling the player to use a camera of the mobile device, which is controlled by the mobile bonus feature system, to take a photo of a game result that satisfies the mobile promotion;

securely transmitting the photo of the game result to a web service,

analyzing the photo of the game result to confirm the player has met the criteria of the mobile promotion; and

once confirmed, awarding the player a bonus associated with the mobile promotion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player value tracking system that enables a player to be offered bonuses available to other players in their demographic.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the player'"'"'s demographic includes location, jurisdiction, age, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player value tracking system in which, as players participate in the mobile promotion, a player value increases based upon the player'"'"'s average bet, enabling higher value, and more targeted bonuses, to be offered.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player value tracking system, wherein the player value tracking system only tracks events captured by the mobile bonus feature system, and not winning activity from games on the underlying gaming machine.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player registration module that generates new records for a player value tracking system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player registration module, wherein the player registration module receives identification data from a player to ensure that the player does not register multiple accounts, as part of a fraud prevention system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player registration module, wherein the player registration module electronically fingerprints a mobile bonus feature application to only a single mobile device account or only a single mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player web interface that provides a portal to a player registration module.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player web interface that provides general advertising of the mobile bonus feature system and current promotions.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player web interface that provides an ability to push updates to the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a player web interface that enables software and encryption keys on the mobile device to be periodically updated as an anti-hacking measure.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a bonus match system, wherein the bonus match system is used, once an image or image set has been analyzed, to determine a state of a gaming machine at an image capture time, from which a correct bonus to be awarded is calculated.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a bonus match system, wherein the bonus match system parses a list of possible bonuses to generate a list of matching bonuses.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a bonus match system, wherein possible bonus records in the bonus match system include:

type of bonus, game identifier, game qualifying conditions, bet qualifying conditions, geographic restrictions, demographic restrictions, time restrictions, quantity, or combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the type of bonus is physical, virtual, or combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the game identifier record includes a name of the game on the underlying gaming machine to which the mobile promotion is associated.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the game qualifying conditions record includes symbols or game states that must be matched to win the mobile promotion.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the bet qualifying conditions record includes conditions by which a bonus is restricted, including a minimum denomination played, a minimum number of lines played, a minimum total bet, or combinations thereof.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the geographic restrictions record includes location-based restrictions to restrict the eligibility of some bonuses that include a cell tower identifier, reverse DNS lookup, GPS address, or combinations thereof.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the demographic restrictions record includes bonuses that are available only to players in certain demographic groups including age-ranges, gender, residency, or combinations thereof.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the time restrictions record includes bonuses that are only available at certain times of a week or for a fixed length of time.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein the quantity record includes a limit to be set on the number of redemptions before a bonus expires.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes a bonus award system, wherein the bonus award system distributes awards to winning players.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes an image analysis system, wherein the image analysis system determines an arrangement of symbols presented in an image captured by a player.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile bonus feature system includes an image analysis system, wherein the image analysis system includes a library of all candidate symbol images that are detectable, and wherein an arrangement of symbols on a mobile phone display are identified from this library of images.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein determination of a mobile device'"'"'s location is used to narrow a number of possible games in the library, against which to compare captured game images, by comparing the mobile devices location against a list of known games near the mobile device'"'"'s location.

28. A method of enabling a player to determining an arrangement of symbols associated with mobile promotions in additional to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine, wherein animated symbols constituting a win are configured to flash in conjunction with a symbol matrix when a win occurs, and wherein the player employs a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device, the method comprising:

enabling access to every frame of animation of each animated symbol which represents a win using an image analysis system in the mobile bonus feature system, wherein each frame is available to be compared against candidate sub-images;

capturing multiple images when the player presses an image capture button, wherein the multiple captured images are spaced in time to capture at least a half a cycle of a symbol matrix over a known symbol flash time between consecutive captures;

attempting to determine the symbol matrix from a first captured image;

if the symbol matrix is not determined from the first captured image, capturing second and subsequent image to fill in any blanks in determining the symbol matrix;

attempting to determine the symbol matrix from second or subsequent images, as necessary until the symbol matrix is determined; and

validating the win using the animated symbols after determining the symbol matrix.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein a winning symbol flashes at a certain rate, and a bonus is flagged as suspicious if the winning symbol flash is not present in the captured image, or a sequence is not captured at a correct rate.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein known symbol flash time is approximately ten frames or one-third of a second.

31. A method of enabling hacker prevention for a gaming system in which a player uses a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device to become eligible for mobile promotions in addition to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine, the method comprising:

enabling the player to use a camera of the mobile device, which is controlled by the mobile bonus feature system, to capture photos of a game result that satisfies the mobile promotion;

comparing each shown reel segment captured by the camera of the mobile device against every legal reel strip for a particular game to ensure that the shown reel segment is a legal reel strip;

determining a game configuration to be valid, if the shown reel segment is found to be a legal reel strip,

generating a suspicious notification if a shown reel segment is not a legal reel strip;

determining a geographic position of the mobile device to limit possible legal strips in an identified jurisdiction associated with the determined geographic location; and

sending the game configuration as data to a player'"'"'s value tracking system, with respect to evaluation of success for different holds for games.

32. A method of enabling hacker prevention for a gaming system in which a player uses a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device to become eligible for mobile promotions in additional to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine, the method comprising:

enabling the player to use a camera of the mobile device, which is controlled by the mobile bonus feature system, to capture images of a game result that satisfies the mobile promotion;

validating an amount won by the player and an associated bet value, as represented on a display of the mobile device, against a known pay table to ensure the winning amount matches known bet value and pay table parameters;

validating a progressive prize value in which the progressive prize values are known for a given time, by using a time stamp of captured images to determine expected progressive values; and

flagging a winning amount or a progressive prize value as suspicious if the winning amount or a progressive prize value is not within a small range of expected values.

33. A method of enabling replay attack prevention for a gaming system in which a player uses a mobile bonus feature system and a mobile device to become eligible for mobile promotions in addition to prizes or awards offered by a game on an underlying gaming machine, wherein a replay attack occurs when an unscrupulous person captures multiple images of a win triggering game result and submits the images as multiple entries, thereby attempting to earn multiple awards, the method comprising:

protecting against a replay attack by comparing an arrangement of symbols in a symbol matrix obtained from the captured image of a winning prize against possible arrangements of symbols in symbol matrixes for a same game to confirm that the images represent different winning results;

protecting against a replay attack by comparing values of a credit, denomination, bet and win meters, and progressive meters against possible values of a credit, denomination, bet and win meters, and progressive meters for a same game to confirm that the images represent different winning results;

protecting against a replay attack by comparing a time and geographic location of a winning prize against times and geographic locations of previously submitted winning prizes to confirm that the images represent different winning results; and

awarding a winning prize after the winning prize passes the replay attack protections.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein public key encryption is employed, and wherein server applications only permit a connection from a mobile device to participate in a mobile promotion that is authenticated by a digital signature.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein players may use a mobile device to capture images of a gaming machine and obtain access to capabilities selected from a group consisting of:

providing information regarding tournaments across venues, enabling download of a mobile version of a game associated with a captured image, sending a free copy of a mobile game for winning a designated amount; and

determining what games are available from a gaming machine manufacturer from a captured image of a game.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the mobile device includes a camera, gyroscope, location tracking components, and optical recognition components.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the gyroscope provides orientation derivation capabilities.

38. The method of claim 33, wherein the location tracking components include a digital compass and a GPS system (Global Positioning System).

39. The method of claim 33, wherein the location tracking components enable accurate position and orientation of the mobile device and its user to be derived.

40. The method of claim 33, wherein the mobile device is a smart phone that includes a built-in camera.