Electronic amusement device offering secondary game of chance and method for operating same

• US 6,692,353 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2001
• Issued: 02/17/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zynga Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Lech, Robert R., Jorasch, James A., Tulley, Stephen C., Walker, Jay S., Mik, Magdalena
• Primary Examiner(s): Walberg, Teresa
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, BINH AN DUC
• Application Number:
  US10/029,143
• Publication Number:
  US 20020090987A1
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/12, 463/13, 463/17, 463/18, 463/19, 463/20, 463/30, 463/37, 463/40, 463/41, 463/42, 463/43, 273/138.1, 273/142.B, 273/297, 273/293, 273/142.R, 273/143.R, 273/237, 273/269
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3234 about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00

Abstract

An electronic amusement device and a method for operating the device are disclosed. In accordance with the present invention, a slot machine server controls a secondary game of chance played at a client slot machine. The server receives a player identifier corresponding to a player and a client identifier corresponding to a client slot machine. The server retrieves registration data relating to a secondary game of chance corresponding to the player identifier and the client identifier. The server further receives an outcome from the client slot machine and analyzes the outcome based on game requirements associated with the secondary game of chance, thereby determining whether the outcome satisfies at least one of the game requirements. Once all of the game requirements have been satisfied, the server updates a session status indicating the completion of the game requirements.

Claims

1. A method for determining eligible client identifiers associated with a secondary game of chance, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving historic data associated with a plurality of slot machines, each slot machine having a corresponding client identifier;

ranking the slot machines based on the historic data;

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines; and

associating the subset of slot machines with a single player and at least one completion parameter, such that the player is provided with an award if the at least one completion parameter is satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical data represents a number of plays.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical data represents an amount of winnings.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the historical data represents an amount of coins received.

5. A slot machine server, comprising:

a processor;

a memory connected to said processor storing a program to control the operation of said processor;

said processor operative with said program in said memory to;

receive historic data associated with a plurality of slot machines, each slot machine having a corresponding client identifier,

rank the slot machines based on the historic data,

identify a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines; and

associating the subset of slot machines with a single player and at least one completion parameter, such that the player is provided with an award if the player satisfies the at least one completion parameter by playing each of the slot machines of the subset of slot machines.

6. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for determining eligible client identifiers associated with a secondary game of chance, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:

receiving historic data associated with a plurality of slot machines, each slot machine having a corresponding client identifier;

ranking the slot machines based on the historic data;

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines; and

associating the subset of slot machines with a single player and at least one completion parameter, such that the player is provided with an award if the player satisfies the at least one completion parameter by playing each of the slot machines of the subset of slot machines.

7. A method for determining eligible client identifiers associated with a secondary game of chance, the method comprising the steps of:

determining data associated with a plurality of slot machines, each slot machine having a corresponding client identifier;

ranking the slot machines based on the data;

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines; and

associating the subset of slot machines with a single player and at least one completion parameter, such that the player is provided with an award if the player satisfies the at least one completion parameter by playing each of the slot machines of the subset of slot machines.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data comprises data indicative of a profitability of each respective slot machine of the plurality of slot machines.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as most profitable.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the data comprises data indicative of a duration for which each respective slot machine has been present at the casino.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as having been present at the casino for a relatively long period of time.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as having been present at the casino for a relatively short period of time.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the data comprises data indicative of a location of each respective slot machine of the plurality of slot machines.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as being located closes to a predetermined area of a casino.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the data comprises data indicative of a highest maximum wager amount of each respective slot machine of the plurality of slot machines.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as having the relatively highest maximum wager amount.

17. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying a particular player; and

wherein the data comprises data indicative of how often the particular player has played each respective slot machines of the plurality of slot machines.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines comprises:

identifying a subset of the ranked slot machines, the subset comprising at least two distinct slot machines and the subset further comprising slot machines that ranked as having been played least often by the particular player.

19. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

outputting an indication of the subset of slot machines to the player.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory connected to said processor storing a program to control the operation of said processor;

said processor operative with said program in said memory to;

perform the method of claim 7.

21. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform:

the method of claim 7.