SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RECOMMENDING GAMES TO ANONYMOUS PLAYERS USING DISTRIBUTED STORAGE

• US 20130303274A1
• Filed: 07/12/2013
• Published: 11/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Igt Canada Solutions Ulc (GTECH SpA)
• Original Assignee: Igt Canada Solutions Ulc (GTECH SpA)
• Inventors: Gadher, Bharat, Idris, Fayez, Pleskonjic, Dragan, Post, Peter, McIntyre, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,558,625 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/29
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• 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 17/3239 Tracking of individual players

Abstract

While a player is playing one game on a gaming machine, the systems and methods described herein recommend other games to the player based on the player'"'"'s real time game play, if the player is anonymous. Upon the player selecting a different game, the system may automatically transfers the player'"'"'s credits between games or gaming machines. Each gaming machine may carry out one or more game.

Claims

1. A method for recommending games using distributed storage comprising:

receiving, at a local computing device from a gaming terminal, player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in a first game, where the player is playing anonymously, without the use of a player tracking card;

generating, at the local computing device, an export data set using parsing rules, wherein the exported data comprises at least some of the player and game play data;

transmitting, from the local computing device to a central server, the exported data set;

receiving, at the local computing device from the a central server, a set of game recommendations generating using the export data set and other game play data stored at the central server, wherein the set of game recommendations identify at least a second game;

providing the set of game recommendations;

detecting a selection by the player of the second game identified in the set of game recommendations; and

receiving, at the local computing device, additional player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in the second game.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parsing rules are defined by user preferences.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the parsing rules are defined by regulatory requirements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the player and game play data comprises private and non-private data, and wherein the method further comprises:

generating the export data set using the parsing rules by separating the private and non-private data, wherein the export data set comprises non-private data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the local computing device is coupled to a plurality of gaming terminals, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a collection of available games from the plurality of gaming terminals;

providing the collection of available games to the central server;

wherein the set of game recommendations identify games from the collection of available games.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the export data set by applying a hashing algorithm to the player and game play data.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

generating a tag using the hashing algorithm, wherein the tag links the export data set to the player and game play data; and

transmitting the tag with the export data set.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the local computing device is located a first jurisdiction, the gaming terminal being licensed for the first jurisdiction, and wherein the central server is located in a second jurisdiction.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second game is played on a second gaming terminal, wherein the method further comprises:

transferring credits from the first gaming terminal to the second gaming terminal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a threshold amount of data for the player'"'"'s real time game play; and

partitioning the data for the player'"'"'s real time game play into a plurality of game events, and wherein the export data comprises the one or more events of the plurality of game events, and wherein the gaming model corresponds to one or more events of the plurality of game events.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a signal initiated by the player that identifies the player as an active player in the first game;

detecting, as player and game play data, play of an individual game in a designated area assigned to the player as part of the first game, while the remaining players have an option to concurrently play a community game displayed on additional designated areas assigned to different players;

detecting, as player and game play data, the concurrently display of a plurality of icons in the designated area assigned to the player, each icon being associated with a particular wager amount, wherein the icons concurrently displayed are associated with a plurality of different wager amounts, and wherein at least some of the icons are associated with a hidden prize;

receiving, as player and game play data, a signal identifying a particular icon being touched;

detecting, as player and game play data, a deduction of the wager amount associated with the icon touched by the player from a bank of credits associated with the first player; and

detecting, as player and game play data, a grant of an award to the player associated with the icon touched by the player.

11. The method of 1, wherein the player'"'"'s real time game play is associated with game factors, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the gaming model comprises a collection of game factors representing a predetermined gaming and play behavior model of game player.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the game factors comprise one or more members selected from the grouping consisting of:

game session length, play behavior, game behavior, game language, game location, game selection, elapsed time with one game, wagering behavior, game type, game theme, wager amounts, wager denominations, play rates, typical bonus values, game brand, prize distributions, amounts of incremental wagers, frequency of wagering, for instance the presence or absence of multiple rounds of wagering in a game, the number of rounds of wagers permitted in a game, maximum wager amounts permitted, minimum wager amounts permitted, amount of wagering, elapsed time between selected events for instance starting a new game, reaction to bonus rounds, reaction to progressive outputs, pay table features, amount of incremental wagers, frequency of wagering, elapsed time for player reaction, amount of wagering, elapsed time between wagers, frequency of player action, game rules, game complexity, ability for a player to control or have an effect on a game outcome, whether an outcome is predetermined, whether parallel wagering is provided, average game speed, average wager amounts, average wager rate, presence or frequency of bonus rounds, presence and frequency of progressive outputs, payout percentages, win rates, win percentages, loss rates, loss percentages, use of special features, frequency of use of special features, number of lines played, total amount wagered, and type of payment received.

14. A method for recommending games using distributed storage comprising:

receiving, at a central server, export data, from each of a plurality of local computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of local computing devices is configured with parsing rules to generate the export data from player and game play data corresponding to real time game play by at least one player on one or more gaming machines, wherein the player is playing anonymously, without the use of a player tracking card;

storing the export data as part of a collective pool of game play data comprising additional player and game play data;

receiving additional player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in a first game;

generating a set of game recommendations using the a collective pool of game play data and the additional player and game play data, wherein the set of game recommendations identify at least a second game; and

providing the set of game recommendations.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the parsing rules are defined by user preferences received anonymously from the player.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the parsing rules are defined by regulatory requirements.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the player and game play data comprises private and non-private data, and wherein the export data comprises non-private data.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a jurisdiction of the player;

processing the collective pool of game play data using the jurisdiction of the player;

generating a set of game recommendations using processed collective pool of game play data and the jurisdiction of the player.

19. The method of claim 18, furthering comprising:

weighting the processed collective pool of game play data based on the jurisdiction of the player.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of local computing devices are located in different jurisdictions that the central server.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a threshold amount of data for the player'"'"'s real time game play in the first game;

partitioning the collective pool of data into a plurality of game events to generate the plurality of gaming models; and

partitioning the data for the player'"'"'s real time game play into a plurality of game events, wherein the gaming model corresponds to one or more events of the plurality of game events for the player'"'"'s real time game play.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising applying data from the player'"'"'s real time game play to an algorithm to determine that the player is a certain type of player, then selecting the set of recommended games based on the certain type of player.

25. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the method further comprises:

determining each of the plurality of models from the collective pool of game play data using cluster analysis; and

associating a set of recommended games with each of the plurality of gaming models.

26. The method of claim 14, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a game player type, wherein the game player type is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting a threshold amount of data for the player'"'"'s real time game play;

determining the game player type based on analysis of the data for the player'"'"'s real time game play; and

determining that the gaming model corresponds to the game player type.

22. The method of 14, wherein the collective pool of game play data and the player'"'"'s real time game play is associated with game factors, wherein the set of recommended games is associated with a gaming model of a plurality of gaming models, and wherein the gaming model comprises a collection of game factors representing a predetermined gaming and play behavior model of game player.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the game factors comprise one or more members selected from the grouping consisting of:

game session length, play behavior, game behavior, game language, game location, game selection, elapsed time with one game, wagering behavior, game type, game theme, wager amounts, wager denominations, play rates, typical bonus values, game brand, prize distributions, amounts of incremental wagers, frequency of wagering, for instance the presence or absence of multiple rounds of wagering in a game, the number of rounds of wagers permitted in a game, maximum wager amounts permitted, minimum wager amounts permitted, amount of wagering, elapsed time between selected events for instance starting a new game, reaction to bonus rounds, reaction to progressive outputs, pay table features, amount of incremental wagers, frequency of wagering, elapsed time for player reaction, amount of wagering, elapsed time between wagers, frequency of player action, game rules, game complexity, ability for a player to control or have an effect on a game outcome, whether an outcome is predetermined, whether parallel wagering is provided, average game speed, average wager amounts, average wager rate, presence or frequency of bonus rounds, presence and frequency of progressive outputs, payout percentages, win rates, win percentages, loss rates, loss percentages, use of special features, frequency of use of special features, number of lines played, total amount wagered, and type of payment received.

27. A gaming system comprising one or more processors and one or more data storage devices storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to:

receive, at a central server, export data, from each of a plurality of local computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of local computing devices is configured with parsing rules to generate the export data from player and game play data corresponding to real time game play by at least one player on one or more gaming machines, wherein the player is playing anonymously, without the use of a player tracking card;

store the export data as part of a collective pool of game play data comprising additional player and game play data;

receive additional player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in a first game;

generate a set of game recommendations using the a collective pool of game play data and the additional player and game play data, wherein the set of game recommendations identify at least a second game; and

provide the set of game recommendations.

28. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a method of controlling computing application interactions with an electronic learning platform, the method comprising:

receiving, at a central server, export data, from each of a plurality of local computing devices, wherein each of the plurality of local computing devices is configured with parsing rules to generate the export data from player and game play data corresponding to real time game play on one or more gaming machines, wherein the player is playing anonymously, without the use of a player tracking card;

storing the export data as part of a collective pool of game play data comprising additional player and game play data;

receiving additional player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in a first game;

generating a set of game recommendations using the a collective pool of game play data and the additional player and game play data, wherein the set of game recommendations identify at least a second game; and

providing the set of game recommendations.

29. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform a method of controlling computing application interactions with an electronic learning platform, the method comprising:

receiving, at a local computing device from a gaming terminal, player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in a first game, wherein the player is playing anonymously, without the use of a player tracking card;

generating, at the local computing device, an export data set using parsing rules, wherein the exported data comprises at least some of the player and game play data;

transmitting, from the local computing device to a central server, the exported data set;

receiving, at the local computing device from the a central server, a set of game recommendations generating using the export data set and other game play data stored at the central server, wherein the set of game recommendations identify at least a second game;

providing the set of game recommendations;

detecting a selection by the player of the second game identified in the set of game recommendations; and

receiving, at the local computing device, additional player and game play data corresponding to a player'"'"'s real time game play in the second game.