Gaming device including awards that generate another award

• US 6,796,902 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Issued: 09/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Glavich, Paulina, Baerlocher, Anthony J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica
• Assistant Examiner(s): RADA, ALEX P
• Application Number:
  US09/966,663
• Publication Number:
  US 20030064780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• Field of Search: 463/1-2, 463/7, 463/9-13, 463/16-21, 463/23, 463/30-31, 463/36-38, 463/138.1, 463/139, 463/236, 463/237, 463/242, 273/158.1, 273/139, 273/236, 273/237, 273/242
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• 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

Abstract

The present invention includes a gaming device and preferably a bonus round of a gaming device having a processor and a game that presents one or more selectable choices to a player. After a selection is made, the processor accesses an award database and generates an award for the player. Certain awards of the database provide pecuniary gain outcomes, such as a gaming device credit or a game multiplier. One or more supplementing awards of the database include a pecuniary gain outcome and an additional award generation outcome.

Claims

1. A gaming device comprising:

a processor;

a game controlled by the processor and displayed by a display device;

a plurality of selections in the game;

a plurality of awards associated with said selections; and

at least one supplementing award associated with at least one of said selections, said supplementing award adapted to be provided to a player by the processor when the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award, each supplementing award including an award which is automatically provided to the player and at least one additional award generation which automatically provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to the player for said supplementing award.

2. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the selections are player selectable.

3. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes at least one database of said awards and said supplementing awards accessible by the processor.

4. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes a plurality of databases accessible by the processor, wherein each database has a number of awards and at least one supplementing award.

5. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein each award generation provides a number of game credits or a game credit multiplier.

6. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said additional award includes a number of free games.

7. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said award generation includes an additional selection.

8. The gaming device of claim 7, wherein said additional selection is one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

9. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said award generation yields another supplementing award.

10. The gaming device of claim 9, wherein said another supplementing award is associated with one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

11. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein a plurality of supplementing awards are displayed on an electromechanical device controlled by the processor.

12. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes a supplementing award limit defining a maximum number of supplementing awards associated with said selections.

13. A gaming device comprising:

a processor;

a game controlled by the processor and displayed by a display device;

a plurality of selections in the game;

a plurality of awards associated with said selections; and

at least one supplementing award associated with said selections and adapted to be provided to a player by the processor, said supplementing award including an award which is automatically provided to the player and a random award generation which automatically provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to the player for said supplementing award.

14. The gaming device of claim 13, wherein the processor randomly generates said supplementing award from among the plurality of awards.

15. The gaming device of claim 13, wherein the selections are player selectable.

16. The gaming device of claim 13, wherein said award associated with said supplementing award is a game credit or a game credit multiplier.

17. The gaming device of claim 13, wherein said random award generation yields an award, a supplementing award, an additional pick of a selection or a free game.

18. The gaming device of claim 13, which includes storage means accessible by the processor for storing a plurality of groups of awards and supplementing awards.

19. A gaming device comprising:

a processor;

a game controlled by the processor and displayed by a display device;

a plurality of awards in the game; and

a plurality of supplementing awards in the game adapted to be provided to a player by the processor, each of said supplementing awards including one of the awards which is automatically provided to the player and an award generation that chooses one of the plurality of awards which is an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award automatically provided to the player for said supplementing award.

20. The gaming device of claim 19, wherein the award generation chooses from remaining unselected awards of the plurality of awards.

21. A gaming device comprising:

a display device; and

a processor adapted to communicate with said display device;

said display device and said processor adapted to;

(a) enable a player to pick at least one selection from a plurality of selections;

(b) generate a supplementing award associated with one of said selections;

(c) automatically provide an award to the player associated with said supplementing award it the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award; and

(d) provide an award generation associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award, which automatically provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to the player for said supplementing award.

22. The gaming device of claim 21, wherein said display device and said processor are adapted to provide at least one additional supplementing award as an outcome of the award generation.

23. The gaming device of claim 21, wherein said display device and said processor are adapted to provide at least one additional selection as an outcome of the award generation.

24. The gaming device of claim 21, wherein said award generation is a random generation.

25. A gaming device comprising:

a display device; and

a processor adapted to communicate with said display device;

said display device and said processor adapted to;

(a) enable a player to pick at least one selection from a plurality of selections;

(b) generate a supplementing award associated with one of said selections;

(c) automatically provide an award to the player associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award; and

(d) provide an award generation associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award, wherein said award generation automatically yields an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award provided to the player and another supplementing award which automatically provides a further independently randomly determined guaranteed award to the player for said supplementing award.

26. A gaming device comprising:

a processor;

a game controlled by the processor and displayed by a display device;

a plurality of selections in the game;

a plurality of awards associated with said selections;

at least one supplementing award associated with said selections, wherein the supplementing award includes an award which is automatically provided to the player and at least one additional award generation which automatically provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to a player;

a probability of selecting an award associated with each of the awards; and

a processor operable to enable a player to pick one of the selections, randomly associate one of the awards with the picked selection based on the probabilities, automatically provide an award and at least one additional award generation that provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to the player when the supplementing award is associated with the picked selection and automatically provides one of the awards to the player when the supplementing award is not associated with the picked selection.

27. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein the probabilities associated with at least two of the awards are different.

28. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein the probabilities associated with each of the awards is the same.

29. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein the probability associated with the supplementing award is less than the probabilities associated with at least one of the awards.

30. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein the probability associated with the supplementing award is greater than the probabilities associated with at least one of the awards.

31. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein the selections are player selectable.

32. The gaming device of claim 26, which includes at least one database of said awards and said supplementing awards accessible by the processor.

33. The gaming device of claim 26, which includes a plurality of databases accessible by the processor, wherein each database has a number of awards and at least one supplementing award.

34. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein each award generation provides a number of game credits or a game credit multiplier.

35. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein said additional award includes a number of free games.

36. The gaming device of claim 26, wherein said award generation includes an additional selection.

37. The gaming device of claim 36, wherein said additional selection is one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

38. The gaming device of claim 36, wherein said award generation yields another supplementing award.

39. The gaming device of claim 38, wherein said another supplementing award is associated with one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

40. The gaming device of claim 36, wherein a plurality of supplementing awards are displayed on an electromechanical device controlled by the processor.

41. The gaming device of claim 36, which includes a supplementing award limit defining a maximum number of supplementing awards associated with said selections.

42. A method of operating a gaming device controlled by a processor, said method comprising:

(a) enabling a player to pick at least one selection from a plurality of selections;

(b) generating a supplementing award associated with one of said selections;

(c) automatically providing to the player an award associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award; and

(d) providing an award generation associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award, which automatically provides an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award to the player for said supplementing award.

43. The method of claim 42, which includes providing at least one database of said awards and said supplementing awards, which is accessible by the processor.

44. The method of claim 42, which includes providing a plurality of databases which are accessible by the processor, wherein each database has a number of awards and at least one supplementing award.

45. The method of claim 42, which includes providing a number of game credits or a game credit multiplier for each award generation.

46. The method of claim 42, wherein said additional award includes a number of free games.

47. The method of claim 42, which includes providing an additional selection for each award generation.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein said additional selection is one, of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

49. The method of claim 42, which includes providing another supplementing award for each award generation.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein said another supplementing award is associated with one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

51. The method of claim 42, which includes displaying a plurality of supplementing awards on an electromechanical device controlled by the processor.

52. The method of claim 42, which includes determining a supplementing award limit which defines a maximum number of supplementing awards associated with said selections.

53. The method of claim 42, which includes associating a probability of selecting an award with each of the awards, wherein the awards are randomly associated with the selections based on the probabilities.

54. A method of operating a gaming device controlled by a processor, said method comprising:

(a) enabling a player to pick at least one selection from a plurality of selections;

(b) generating a supplementing award associated with one of said selections;

(c) automatically providing to the player an award associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award; and

(d) providing an award generation associated with said supplementing award if the player picks the selection associated with the supplementing award, wherein said award generation automatically yields an independently randomly determined guaranteed additional award provided to the player and another supplementing award which automatically provides a further independently randomly determined guaranteed award to the player for said supplementing award.

55. The method of claim 54, which includes providing at least one database of said awards and said supplementing awards, which is accessible by the processor.

56. The method of claim 54, which includes providing a plurality of databases which are accessible by the processor, wherein each database has a number of awards and at least one supplementing award.

57. The method of claim 54, which includes providing a number of game credits or a game credit multiplier for each award generation.

58. The method of claim 54, wherein said additional award includes a number of free games.

59. The method of claim 54, which includes providing an additional selection for each award generation.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein said additional selection is one of the plurality of selections not previously selected.

61. The method of claim 54, which includes displaying a plurality of supplementing awards on an electromechanical device controlled by the processor.

62. The method of claim 54, which includes determining a supplementing award limit which defines a maximum number of supplementing awards associated with said selections.

63. The method of claim 54, which includes associating a probability of selecting an award with each of the awards, wherein the awards are randomly associated with the selections based on the probabilities.