Gaming Machine

• US 20160027239A1
• Filed: 10/05/2015
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Interblock DOO
• Original Assignee: Aruze Gaming America Incorporated (Aruze Gaming America, Inc. /Okada/), Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Inventors: KIDO, Katsuhiro, MUNAKATA, Hiroki
• Granted Patent: US 9,672,684 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/00 Roulette games aspects of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions showing representations related to the game A63F13/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/007 Details about the compartments or sectors, e.g. sectors having different sizes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/0094 with a plurality of roulette wheels A63F5/043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/045 using a rotating wheel and a fixed indicator, e.g. fortune wheels
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/046 with a horizontal wheel, i.e. wheel with a vertical rotation axle
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• 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 17/3272 Games involving multiple players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3297 Fairground games, e.g. Tivoli, coin pusher machines, cranes
• 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 machine of the present invention stores a bet area on which a bet is placed and a game value placed as the bet in each gaming terminal, rotates and stops the wheel to determine a resulting symbol from the plurality of symbols, awards a payout based on the resulting symbol and the odds set for the bet area on which the bet is placed in the gaming terminal, and then adjusts the payout rate by changing the odds set for the bet areas in the gaming terminals.

Claims

1. A gaming machine, comprising:

a wheel having a plurality of symbol arrangement areas in which a plurality of symbols are arranged on the same plane, respectively, the wheel being capable of rotating in such a manner that the symbols are visible;

a fixed pointer, which is separate from the wheel and which is arranged to point to the various symbol arrangement areas as the symbol arrangement areas rotate past the pointer while the wheel rotates;

a plurality of gaming terminals each having a display for displaying a plurality of bet areas corresponding to the symbols, each gaming terminal structured to receive a bet of a game value on a bet area and to award a payout based on odds set for the bet area; and

a center controller which stores a bet area on which a bet is placed and a game value placed as the bet in each gaming terminal, determines a resulting symbol from the plurality of symbols which controls rotation of the wheel such that when the wheel stops rotating the pointer points to a symbol arrangement area having the resulting symbol, and awards a payout based on the resulting symbol and the odds set for the bet area on which the bet is placed in the gaming terminal,

wherein the payout rate may be adjusted by changing the number of symbols arranged in the symbol arrangement areas.

2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the center controller switches a form of displaying the odds set for the bet areas on the display of the gaming terminal.

3. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a payout rate for the gaming machine may be adjusted by 1) increasing the number of symbols of one given type that are arranged in the symbol arrangement areas on the wheel and that that can be bet upon;

and

     2) decreasing the number of symbols of one or more other given types that are arranged in the symbol arrangement areas on the wheel and that can be bet upon.

4. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein each of the gaming terminals has an input device and the gaming machine rotates the wheel based on operation of the input device.

5. The gaming machine according to claim 4, wherein the gaming machine activates a given input device if it meets a predetermined condition and rotates the wheel based on operation of the activated input device.

6. The gaming machine according to claim 4, wherein:

each of the gaming terminals has an operation period measurement device which measures the operation period of the input device; and

the center controller rotates the wheel at a rotation speed corresponding to the operation period measured by the operation period measurement device.

7. The gaming machine according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation speed data storage which stores therein rotation speed data regulating the rotation speed of the wheel relative to the rotation angle of the wheel, the center controller controlling a motor for rotating the wheel to change the rotation speed of the wheel based on the rotation speed data stored in the rotation speed data storage.

8. The gaming machine according to claim 7, wherein:

the rotation speed data regulates the rotation speed so that the rotation is accelerated or decelerated relative to the rotation angle within a predetermined period; and

the center controller controls the motor to accelerate or decelerate the rotation of the wheel based on the rotation speed data stored in the rotation speed data storage.

9. The gaming machine according to claim 8, wherein:

the center controller controls the motor to rapidly decelerate the rotation of the wheel and then gradually decelerate the rotation of the wheel to stop the wheel, based on the rotation speed data stored in the rotation speed data storage.