Unified player rewards

• US 7,410,422 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2003
• Issued: 08/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caesars License Company, LLC (Caesars Entertainment, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Harrah's Operating Company Incorporated (Caesars Entertainment, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fine, Randall A
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US10/462,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20040254010A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,887 Days
• Field of Search: 463 39- 42, 463 16- 20, 463/14, 463/15, 709223-226
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• 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

In a casino enterprise, players earn reward credits from their betting activity at gaming machines, tables and devices. Base credits are earned by players at a fixed rate according to their coin-in; bonus credits are earned at a variable rate as a function of their worth as players to the casino or the property at which they are gaming. Preferably the fixed credit rate is published to the players while the variable rate(s) are not disclosed. The earned credits are combined for the player into a single account balance, from which the player can redeem credits for comps.

Claims

1. A method of awarding credits to a player in response to the player'"'"'s gaming activity, wherein the credits can be redeemed for goods and services, the method comprising:

awarding base credits to the player by applying a base credit rate to an amount of the player'"'"'s betting on a casino game;

awarding bonus credits to the player by applying a bonus credit rate to the player'"'"'s theoretical win for a gaming period during which the player'"'"'s betting occurred;

providing to the player a promotional offer including a number of promotional bonus reward credits and identifying a property at which the promotional bonus reward credits can be received; and

automatically depositing the number of promotional bonus reward credits into an account of the player in response to a first time the player initiates a gaming session at the identified property.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonus credit rate is based on the player'"'"'s accumulated theoretical win for a predetermined time interval.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonus credit rate selectively increases as the player'"'"'s accumulated theoretical win increases during the gaming period.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonus credit rate is based on the player'"'"'s accumulated theoretical win during a casino day that is different from a calendar day.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonus credit rate is determined based on the property at which the betting occurred, where at least two different properties have different bonus credit rates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein awarding bonus credits further comprises:

determining a total number of bonus credits as a product of the bonus credit rate and the player'"'"'s accumulated theoretical win for the gaming period.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing the player to redeem any number of reward credits in the player'"'"'s account at any property associated with the casino.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the player is restricted from gaming; and

responsive to the player being restricted from gaming, reducing the number of reward credits in the player'"'"'s account to zero.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein all reward credits awarded have a predetermined and fixed accounting value that is independent of the property at which the reward credit is earned by the player.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein all reward credits awarded have a predetermined and fixed redeemable cash value that is independent of the property at which the reward credit is earned by the player.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying in real time to the player the number of base reward credits earned by the player from the player'"'"'s betting.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein awarding base reward credits and bonus reward credits further comprises:

posting the base reward credits and the bonus reward credits into the account of the player in response to the player terminating a gaming session.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying to the player in real time a count of a number of coins to be bet for the player to earn an additional base reward credit.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying to the player in real time a count of a number of coins to be bet for the player to earn an additional base reward credit; and

a current number of base reward credits earned by the player during a current gaming session.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, in real time and during a first gaming session by the player at a property, a count of a number of coins to be bet for the player to earn an additional base reward credit; and

a current number of base reward credit earned by the player during a current gaming session;

responsive to the player terminating the first gaming session, posting bonus reward credits to an account of the player; and

displaying in response to initiation of a second gaming session by the player at the property the number of base reward credits and bonus reward credits awarded to the player during the first gaming session.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

posting to the account of the player during a current trip of the player to a casino property additional comp value based on an average theoretical win of the player over a plurality of visits to one or more properties; and

expiring the additional comp value from the player'"'"'s account if the comps are not redeemed by the player during the current trip.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a player'"'"'s tier score in a player tracking program having a plurality of tiers as a function of accumulated base reward credits.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing an employee of a casino to manually award a number of base reward credits to the player, independently of the player'"'"'s betting.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allowing an employee of a casino to manually award a number of base reward credits to the player, independently of the player'"'"'s betting; and

determining the player'"'"'s tier score in a player tracking program having a plurality of tiers as a function of accumulated base reward credits, including any manually awarded base reward credits.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the casino game is a table game and the base credit rate is a function of the theoretical win for the table game and a reinvestment rate associated with the theoretical win.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the casino game is a table game, and the base credit rate is a function of the theoretical win for the table game and a reinvestment rate associated with the theoretical win, and is determined by the property at which the table game is located.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

awarding bonus reward credits to a player as a function of purchases made by the player with a third party.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing reward credits in the account of the player; and

expiring reward credits in the account if an amount of time since the last reward credit was awarded exceeds a predetermined amount of time.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein expiring the reward credits is limited to base reward credits.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein expiring the reward credits is limited to bonus reward credits.

17. A method of awarding credits to a player in response to the player'"'"'s gaming activity, wherein the credits can be redeemed for goods and services, the method comprising:

awarding credits to a player in response to the player'"'"'s gaming activity, wherein the credits can be redeemed for goods and services, the method comprising;

awarding base credits to the player by applying a base credit rate to an amount of the player'"'"'s betting on a casino game;

awarding bonus credits to the player by applying a bonus credit rate to the player'"'"'s theoretical win for a gaming period during which the player'"'"'s betting occurred;

determining a total number of bonus credits as the product of the bonus credit rate and the player'"'"'s accumulated total theoretical win for the gaming period;

determining a total number of base credits awarded; and

awarding bonus credits equal to the difference between the total number of bonus credits and the total number of base credits awarded.