Wireless gaming environment

• US 6,682,421 B1
• Filed: 04/07/2000
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Oberberger, Michael M., Rowe, Richard E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hotaling, II, John M.
• Application Number:
  US09/544,884
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1, 463/16, 463/42, 463/43, 463/25, 700/91-93
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/403 Connection between platform and handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/406 Transmission via wireless network, e.g. pager or GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• 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 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements

Abstract

A disclosed hand-held device provides a game service system having a wire-less communication interface, a display screen and a microprocessor which generates a number of game service interfaces on the display screen. The hand-held device may input ticket voucher information and communicate with a remote transaction server such that a ticket voucher may be validated. Additionally, the hand-held device may be used to provide a variety of gaming services using different game service interfaces provided on the device. These hand-held devices may be checked out by a game service representative in a secure manner such that the game service representative may roam a game playing area and provide various game services to game players in the game playing area using the hand-held device. These game services may include ticket validation, a prize validation, food services, accommodation services or a gaming operations services.

Claims

1. In a transaction server, a method for generating a game service transaction, the method comprising;

receiving a transaction validation request for validating a voucher from a portable hand-held device via wireless communications wherein the validation of the voucher is for allowing the indicia of credit amount stored on the voucher to be exchanged for cash when a game player presents the voucher to a non-game player utilizing the portable hand-held device in game playing area;

marking the transaction validation request pending;

determining whether to approve or reject the validation of the voucher;

generating a transaction validation reply indicating whether the validation of the voucher has been approved or rejected;

sending the transaction validation reply to the hand-held device via wireless communications.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a transaction confirmation from the portable hand-held device and marking the transaction complete.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising

receiving a second transaction validation request for performing a game service transaction from a portable hand-held device via wireless communications;

marking the transaction validation request pending;

determining whether to approve or reject the game service transaction;

generating a transaction validation reply indicating whether the game service transaction has been approved or rejected;

sending the transaction validation reply to the hand-held device via wireless communications.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the game service transaction is selected from the group consisting of a prize ticket validation, a food service, an accommodation service, and a prize service and a maintenance service.

5. A game service transaction network in a game playing area, the game service transaction network comprising;

one or more gaming machines;

one or more portable hand-held devices providing game service transactions in the game playing area using a wire-less communication interface wherein the portable hand-held devices are adapted for validating a voucher storing an indicia of credit amount and wherein the validation of the voucher is for allowing the indicia of credit amount stored on the voucher to be exchanged for cash when a game player presents the voucher to a non-game player utilizing the portable hand-held device in the game playing area;

one or more transaction servers; and

one or more transaction server transceivers allowing the transaction servers to receive communications from the wire-less communication interfaces on the one or more portable hand-held devices and send communications to the wire-less communication interfaces on the one or more portable hand-held devices

wherein at least the gaming machines are capable of generating the voucher storing the indicia of credit amount.

6. The game service transaction network of claim 5, further comprising one or more transaction relays that allow communications from the hand-held devices to be relayed to the one or more transaction server receivers.

7. The game service transaction network of claim 5, wherein the one or more gaming machines are each selected from the group consisting of video slot, mechanical slot, video black jack, video pai gow poker, video poker and video keno.

8. A method of exchanging an indicia of credit for cash using a portable hand-held device capable of providing one or more types of game service transactions, the method comprising:

in the portable hand-held device, receiving a request for validating a voucher storing an indicia of credit amount wherein the validation of the voucher is for allowing the indicia of credit amount stored on the voucher to be exchanged for cash when a game player presents the voucher to a non-game player utilizing the portable hand-held device in a game playing area and wherein the validation of the voucher is one of the one or more types of game service transactions provided on the portable hand-held device;

sending a game service transaction validation request for validation of the voucher from the portable hand-held device to a transaction server via wireless communications wherein the game service transaction validation request comprises one or more data packets; and

receiving a game service transaction validation reply from the transaction server in the portable hand-held device via wireless communications wherein the game service transaction validation reply approves or rejects the validation of the voucher.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the portable hand-held device is operable at a plurality of locations within a game playing area.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the game playing area is one of a casino, a restaurant, a hotel, a bar, a store and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more data packets comprise information stored on the voucher used by the transaction server to approve or reject the validation of the voucher.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more data packets comprise at least one of player tracking information, player identification information and combinations thereof.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the voucher is selected from the group consisting of a printed ticket, a smart card and a magnetic-striped card.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein voucher is a printed ticket and information used to validate the printed ticket voucher is stored on the printed ticket voucher in a bar-code format.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the portable hand-held device comprises one or more of a touch screen display, a wireless interface, input buttons, a processor, a memory and combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving at least one of voucher information or game service transaction information from an input mechanism connected to the portable hand-held device.

17. The method of claim of claim 16, wherein the input mechanism is selected from the group consisting of a card reader, a bar-code reader, a gaming machine, a transaction server, a storage device, a key board, a touch screen, a microphone or a personal digital assistant.

18. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

outputting at least one of voucher information or game service transaction information to an output mechanism connected to the portable hand-held device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the external device is selected from the group consisting of a printer, a personal digital assistant, a smart card, a transaction server, a gaming machine, or a storage device.

20. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

when the cash has been exchanged, sending a transaction confirmation to the transaction server from the portable hand-held device.

21. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

when the validation of the voucher is cancelled, sending a transaction cancellation to the transaction server from the portable hand-held device.

22. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating one or more game service interfaces and

displaying the one or more game service interfaces on a display on the portable hand-held device.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more game services interfaces are selected from the group consisting of a login interface, an input/output interface, a voucher validation interface, a prize services interface, a food services interface, an accommodation services interface and a gaming operation interface.

24. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating a menu of game service interfaces in the portable hand-held device;

receiving a selection of a game service interface from the menu of game service interfaces on the portable hand-held device via an input mechanism; and

displaying the selected game service interface to a display on the portable hand-held device.

25. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating a login interface on a display on the portable hand-held device;

receiving login information from an input mechanism on the portable hand-held device; and

authorizing access to the portable hand-held device using the login information.

26. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

storing records of at least one of approved gaming transactions or approved voucher validations to a memory on the portable hand-held device.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

comparing the records of the at least the approved gaming transactions or the approved voucher validations stored on the hand-held device to records of approved gaming transactions stored on the transaction server.

28. The method of claim 8, wherein the voucher storing an indicia of credit amount is generated from a play of a game of chance.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the game of chance is selected from the group consisting of video slot games, mechanical slot games, video blackjack games, video pai gow poker games, video poker games and video keno games.

30. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

in the portable hand-held device, receiving a request to perform a second type of game service transaction different from the validation of the voucher;

sending the game service transaction validation request for the second type of game service transaction from the portable hand-held device to the transaction server via wireless communications; and

receiving a game service transaction validation reply from the transaction server in the portable hand-held device via wireless communications wherein the game service transaction validation reply comprises information that at least one of approves the second type of game service transaction or rejects the second type of game service transaction.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the second type of game service transaction is selected from the group consisting of a prize ticket validation, a food service, an accommodation service, and a prize service and a maintenance service.