Interactive game playing preferences

• US 7,722,453 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2002
• Issued: 05/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Haki Access Solutions Ltd. (Turnbrock Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Lark, David R., Rowe, Richard E., Paulsen, Craig A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hotaling, II; John M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): D'Agostino; Paul A.
• Application Number:
  US10/106,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20020142825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,982 Days
• Field of Search: 463 16- 20, 463/25, 463/29, 463/21, 463/43, 273/138.1, 273/143
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions
• 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

A disclosed gaming machine may be customized for game play according to one or more preferences using preference information that is not correlated to an identity of a player. Therefore, the gaming machine may be configured to one or more player preferences without requiring the player to reveal their identity. The gaming machine may receive the preference information from at least one of a configuration instrument designed to store preference information, such as a cashless ticket voucher, ii) a display interface on the gaming machine, iii) a remote server, iv) a speech recognition interface on the gaming machine and v) combinations thereof. The preference information used to configure the gaming machine may be selected by the player, selected by a gaming establishment, generated by the gaming machine and combinations thereof.

Claims

1. A method of configuring a gaming machine according to one or more preferences, the method comprising:

providing a gaming machine operable to generate a game play for a wager-based game comprising a first input device designed to read preference information stored on the first configuration instrument when the first configuration instrument is presented by a game player at the gaming machine;

receiving preference information stored on the first configuration instrument carried by the game player via the first input device including preferences selected by the game player or preferences selected by a gaming establishment;

receiving preference information stored on the first configuration instrument via the first input device including first preference information selected by the gaming establishment wherein the first preference information specifies one or more preferences selected by the gaming establishment and stored to the first configuration instrument without knowledge of the game player;

comparing preferences specified by the preference information stored on the first configuration instrument with preferences available on the gaming machine to determine whether the gaming machine is configurable to utilize the preference information;

for each preference specified by the preference information for which the gaming machine is determined configurable, configuring the gaming machine using the preference information; and

generating the play of the wager-based game on the gaming machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference information comprises one or more of promotional opportunities, preferred games, preferred game features for said preferred games, preferred gaming machine settings, preferred bonus games and preferred progressive games.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the preferred games are selected from the group consisting of video slots games, video poker games, video black jack games, video pachinko games, video card games, video keno games and video games of chance.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the preferred gaming features for said preferred games is selected from the group consisting of game versions, game color schemes, game graphical features, a game presentation speed, game paytables and game audio features.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the preferred gaming machine settings is selected from the group consisting of a volume setting, an input interface configuration, a display setting, a denomination setting, a betting preference settings, a language setting and a beverage setting.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration instrument is selected from the group consisting of a printed ticket, a cell phone, a magnetic striped-card, a smart card, an optical scan sheet, a media printed with preference information, a cell phone and a hand-held computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reading the preference information from the first configuration instrument.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the preference information is read from the first configuration instrument using one or more of a ticket reader, a bar-code reader, a card reader, a wire-less interface, a bill validator, an optical scan sheet reader, a text scanner and a smart card reader.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the preference information to a video display.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is configured without receiving a player tracking card from a game player participating in the game play.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is configured without receiving identification information from a game player participating in the game play.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is configured without accessing a player tracking account of a game player participating in the game play.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is configured without accessing a remote server connected to the gaming machine.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the preference information is selected by a patron of a gaming establishment that maintains the gaming machine.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration instrument is designed to store authentication information used to validate the first configuration instrument.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the authentication information is selected from the group consisting of a bar code, an instrument type, an issue date, a validation number, an issue time, an instrument number, an instrument sequence number, a gaming machine identification number and biometric information.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration instrument is designed to store indicia of credit information used to add credits for the game play on the gaming machine.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the credits are promotional credits.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing preference information to the first configuration instrument.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

configuring a second gaming machine using the first configuration instrument.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein a configuration of the second gaming machine is the same as the configuration of the gaming machine.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein a configuration of the second gaming machine is different than the configuration of the gaming machine.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a second configuration instrument.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the second configuration instrument is a generated using a printer and a printable media.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the second configuration instrument stores one or more of the following preference information that is stored on the first configuration instrument, preference information that is input using a display interface, preference information received from a remote server, preference information generated by the gaming machine, preference information input using a speech recognition interface and combinations thereof.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

storing indicia of credit information to the second configuration instrument wherein the indicia of credit information is used to add credits to the gaming machine.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

without receiving preference information during a game play session from a game player, executing a game play on the gaming machine; and

generating a second configuration instrument.

28. The method of claim 1, generating a second configuration instrument wherein the second configuration instrument stores preference information received from one or more of a remote server, preference information generated by the gaming machine based upon the gaming play and combinations thereof.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

configuring a second gaming machine using the second configuration instrument.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

adding credits used for a game play on a second gaming machine using the second configuration instrument.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding credits to the gaming machine using indicia of credit information stored on the first configuration instrument.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

authenticating the indicia of credit information stored on the first configuration instrument.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending preference information to the remote server.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating the first configuration instrument.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

when the first configuration instrument is not authentic,

blocking configuration of the gaming machine using the preference information received from the first configuration instrument.

36. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending an authentication request to the remote server wherein the authentication request comprises information used by the remote server to authenticate the first configuration instrument.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

receiving an authentication reply from the remote server wherein the authentication reply comprises information indicating an authentication status of the first configuration instrument.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

when the authentication status of the first configuration instrument is non-authentic, blocking the configuration of the gaming machine using the preference information received from the first configuration instrument.

39. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the preference information to a memory storage device on the gaming machine.

40. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting preference information to an audio device.

41. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for a bonus game that uses game events from multiple games to determine a bonus game outcome,

storing bonus game information about a state of the bonus game to a second configuration instrument.

42. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

on a second gaming machine, reading bonus game information from the second configuration instrument and initializing the bonus game to the state of the bonus game indicated by the bonus game information.

43. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reading bonus game information from the first configuration instrument and initializing the bonus game to a state of the bonus game indicated by the bonus game information.

44. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

loading one or more software modules used to configure the gaming machine from a memory storage device and executing the game play on the gaming machine using the one or more software modules.

45. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

downloading one or more software modules used to configure the gaming machine from a remote storage device and executing the game play on the gaming machine using the one or more software modules.

46. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

printing a ticket voucher used as the first configuration instrument using a printer connected to a computer located in a player'"'"'s home.

90. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference information is not correlated to an identity of a player so that the identity of the player can not be determined from the preference information.

47. A gaming machine comprising:

a master gaming controller that is designed or configured i) to control a wager-based game played on the gaming machine ii) to receive preference information stored on a first configuration instrument carried by a game player including preferences selected by the game player or preferences selected by a gaming establishment;

iii) to receive preference information stored on the first configuration instrument including first preference information selected by the gaming establishment wherein the first preference information specifies one or more preferences selected by the gaming establishment and stored to the first configuration instrument without knowledge of the game player;

iv) to compare the preferences specified by the preference information stored on the first configuration instrument with preferences available on the gaming machine to determine whether the gaming machine is configurable to utilize the preference information, v) for each preference specified by the preference information for which the gaming machine is determined configurable, to configure the gaming machine using the preference information; and

vi) to generate the play of the first wager-based game on the gaming machine;

one or more input devices used to input the preference information into the gaming machine; and

a first input device designed to read the preference information stored on the first configuration instrument including the preferences selected by the game player or the preferences selected by the gaming establishment when the first configuration instrument is presented by the game player at the gaming machine.

48. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the preference information comprises one or more of promotional opportunities, preferred games, preferred game features for said preferred games, preferred gaming machine settings, preferred bonus games and preferred progressive games.

49. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the preferred games are selected from the group consisting of video slots games, video poker games, video black jack games, video pachinko games, video card games, video keno games and video games of chance.

50. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the preferred gaming features for said preferred games is selected from the group consisting of game versions, game color schemes, game graphical features, a game presentation speed, game paytables and game audio features.

51. The gaming machine of claim 48, wherein the preferred gaming machine settings is selected from the group consisting of a volume setting, an input interface configuration, a display setting, a denomination setting, a betting preference settings, a language setting and a beverage setting.

52. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the first configuration instrument is selected from the group consisting of a printed ticket, a cell phone, a magnetic striped-card, a smart card, an optical scan sheet, a media printed with preference information, a cell phone and a hand-held computing device.

53. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the preference information is read from the first configuration instrument using one or more of a ticket reader, a bar-code reader, a card reader, a wire-less interface, a bill validator, an optical scan sheet reader, a text scanner and a smart card reader.

54. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the first configuration instrument is designed to store authentication information used to authenticate the first configuration instrument.

55. The gaming machine of claim 54, wherein the authentication information is selected from the group consisting of a bar code, an instrument type, an issue date, a validation number, an issue time, an instrument number, an instrument sequence number, a gaming machine identification number and biometric information.

56. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the first configuration instrument is designed to store indicia of credit information used to add credits for game play on the gaming machine.

57. The gaming machine of claim 56, wherein the credits are promotional credits.

58. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

one or more output devices used to store the preference information to the first configuration instrument.

59. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the first configuration instrument is used to configure a second gaming machine.

60. The gaming machine of claim 59, wherein a configuration of the second gaming machine is the same as the configuration of the gaming machine.

61. The gaming machine of claim 59, wherein a configuration of the second gaming machine is different than the configuration of the gaming machine.

62. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the first configuration instrument is used as an indicia of credit for game play on the gaming machine.

63. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to authenticate the first configuration instrument.

64. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a video display used to display the preference information.

65. The gaming machine of claim 64, wherein the video display further comprises a touch screen used to input the preference information.

66. The gaming machine of claim 65, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to generate a touch screen interface used to input the preference information.

67. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein one of the input devices is a card reader used to read player tracking information from a player tracking card and wherein the gaming machine is configured without receiving the player tracking card.

68. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the gaming machine is configured without receiving identification information from a user that plays the game on the gaming machine.

69. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the gaming machine is configured without accessing a player tracking account of a user that plays the game on the gaming machine.

70. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the gaming machine is configured without accessing a remote server.

71. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the preference information is selected by a patron of a gaming establishment that maintains the gaming machine.

72. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a printer designed to print on a printable media.

73. The gaming machine of claim 72, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to generate a second configuration instrument by using the printer to print preference information to the printable media.

74. The gaming machine of claim 73, wherein the second configuration instrument stores one or more of the following:

preference information that is read from a first configuration instrument, preference information that is input using a touch screen display interface, preference information that is received from a remote server, preference information that is generated by the gaming machine, preference information that is input using a speech recognition interface and combinations thereof.

75. The gaming machine of claim 73, wherein the second configuration instrument is configured to be used as an indicia of credit for game play on the gaming machine.

76. The gaming machine of claim 73, wherein master gaming controller is further designed or configured to store credits to the second configuration instrument.

77. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a communication interface used to communicate with a remote server.

78. The gaming machine of claim 77, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to send the preference information to the remote server.

79. The gaming machine of claim 78, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to send an authentication request to the remote server wherein the authentication request comprises information used by the remote server to authenticate a configuration instrument.

80. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a memory device used to store the preference information.

81. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to generate the preference information.

82. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a microphone used to receive preference information.

83. The gaming machine of claim 82, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed or configured to recognize speech patterns containing the preference information input using the microphone.

84. The gaming machine of claim 47, further comprising:

a sound projection device used to output the preference information.

85. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the preference information includes bonus game information that indicates a state of a bonus game.

86. The gaming machine of claim 85, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed to configure the bonus game to the state of the bonus game indicated by the bonus game information.

87. The gaming machine of claim 86, wherein the bonus game generates a bonus award using game events that occur during a plurality of game plays.

88. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed to load one or more software modules used to configure the gaming machine from a memory storage device and to execute the game play on the gaming machine using the one or more software modules.

89. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the master gaming controller is further designed to download one or more software modules used to configure the gaming machine from a remote storage device and to execute the game play on the gaming machine using the one or more software modules.

91. The gaming machine of claim 47, wherein the preference information is not correlated to an identity of a player so that the identity of the player can not be determined from the preference information.