Proportional payout method for progressive linked gaming machines
First Claim
1. A method for distributing a progressive jackpot among players at progressive linked gaming machines comprisingproviding a plurality of gaming machines, each of said gaming machines being capable of a) accepting a bet of an amount of money from a player, b) after accepting said bet, performing a play cycle initiated by said player, and c) generating an outcome of said play cycle, said outcome being one of a plurality of possible outcomes, at least one of said outcomes being a progressive jackpot-winning outcome;
- collecting betting data from said gaming machines, said betting data representing said amounts of money bet by players at each of said machines,determining from said betting data the value of a progressive jackpot,detecting the occurrence of said progressive jackpot-winning outcome at one of said gaming machines; and
upon the occurrence of said progressive jackpot-winning outcome, distributing at least a portion of said progressive jackpot among a plurality of eligible players, all of whom will receive a portion of said jackpot, selected from among said players playing at said plurality of said gaming machines, said eligible players being selected independently of any of said outcomes at said plurality of said gaming machines.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
A payout method for a group of linked gaming machines that provide a progressive jackpot pays a proportion of the jackpot to eligible players at each linked machine. Data from each of a group of linked slot machines is sent to a central controller which determines the value of the progressive jackpot by accumulating a predetermined fraction of the money bet at each linked machine. When a progressive jackpot-winning outcome occurs at one of the linked machines, the winning machine signals the controller which then announces the win. The eligibility of the players to share in the progressive jackpot may be conditioned upon placing a maximum bet at the gaming machine and initiating play at the gaming machine within a predetermined time interval before the progressive jackpot-winning outcome occurs.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for distributing a progressive jackpot among players at progressive linked gaming machines comprising
providing a plurality of gaming machines, each of said gaming machines being capable of a) accepting a bet of an amount of money from a player, b) after accepting said bet, performing a play cycle initiated by said player, and c) generating an outcome of said play cycle, said outcome being one of a plurality of possible outcomes, at least one of said outcomes being a progressive jackpot-winning outcome; -
collecting betting data from said gaming machines, said betting data representing said amounts of money bet by players at each of said machines, determining from said betting data the value of a progressive jackpot, detecting the occurrence of said progressive jackpot-winning outcome at one of said gaming machines; and upon the occurrence of said progressive jackpot-winning outcome, distributing at least a portion of said progressive jackpot among a plurality of eligible players, all of whom will receive a portion of said jackpot, selected from among said players playing at said plurality of said gaming machines, said eligible players being selected independently of any of said outcomes at said plurality of said gaming machines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for conducting a betting game using linked gaming machines comprising:
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a plurality of gaming machines; a progressive controller for said gaming machines, each of said gaming machines being linked to said progressive controller by a data link; a progressive jackpot display; and means for announcing a progressive jackpot-winning outcome of play at said gaming machines; each of said gaming machines comprising means for accepting a bet of an amount of money made by a player, means for transmitting betting data to said controller, said betting data representing said amount of said bet, play-initiating means operable by said player for initiating a play cycle of said gaming machine, means responsive to said play-initiating means for performing said play cycle and generating an outcome of said play cycle, said outcome of said play cycle being one of a plurality of possible outcomes, at least one of said possible outcomes being said progressive jackpot-winning outcome, means for indicating said outcome of said play cycle to said player at each of said gaming machines, and means for transmitting outcome data to said progressive controller, said outcome data representing at least said progressive jackpot-winning outcome; said controller comprising means for receiving said betting data from each of said gaming machines, means for computing a progressive jackpot sum from said betting data, means for transmitting data to said progressive jackpot display, said data representing the amount of said progressive jackpot, means for receiving said outcome data from each of said gaming machines, means for recognizing said progressive jackpot-winning outcome, means for determining the eligibility of each of said players at each of said gaming machines to receive a portion of said progressive jackpot, each eligible player being certain to receive a portion of said progressive jackpot, each of said eligible players being selected independently of any of said outcomes at said plurality of said gaming machines, and means for actuating said means for announcing a progressive jackpot-winning outcome; said progressive jackpot display comprising means for receiving said progressive jackpot sum data from said progressive controller, and means for visibly displaying said progressive jackpot sum. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A progressive controller for a plurality of linked gaming machines comprising
means for receiving betting data from each of a plurality of gaming machines, said betting data representing an amount of money bet by players at said gaming machines, means for computing a jackpot sum from said betting data, means for transmitting data representing said jackpot sum to a jackpot display, means for receiving outcome data from each of said gaming machines, said outcome data representing an outcome of a play cycle of one of said gaming machines, means for recognizing a progressive jackpot-winning outcome, means for determining eligibility of each of said players at each of said gaming machines to receive a share of said progressive jackpot, each eligible player being certain to receive a portion of said progressive jackpot, each of said eligible players being selected independently of any of said outcomes at said plurality of said gaming machines, and means for actuating means for announcing said progressive jackpot-winning outcome.
Specification