Gaming device and method having purchasable enhanced paytables

• US 7,846,018 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2006
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Baerlocher, Anthony J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US11/557,843
• Publication Number:
  US 20090170588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,490 Days
• Field of Search: 463 16- 25
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• 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 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

An apparatus and method for a game having a paytable selection feature which may be implemented with a primary or base game, a secondary or bonus game, or both. In one embodiment, the gaming device employs an initial paytable and enables a player pay a fee to purchase a different paytable for a plurality of plays of the game. If the player chooses to purchase a different paytable, the gaming device determines a game outcome for a plurality of plays of the game and provides any awards based on the different paytable. If the player does not choose to select a different paytable, the gaming device determines a game outcome for each of those plays and provides any awards based on the initial paytable. In one embodiment, the player has the opportunity to see the different paytable prior to paying the fee to purchase it.

Claims

1. A gaming device comprising:

at least one input device;

at least one display device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to;

(a) enable a player to pay a fee to replace a first paytable with a second different paytable for a plurality of plays of a game, each of said first and second paytables having an average expected payback;

(b) if the player does not pay the fee;

(i) enable the player to input a wager to cause a play of the game, wherein said game employs the first paytable,

(ii) determine a game outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) provide to the player any awards associated with said determined game outcome based on the first paytable and the wager input by the player to cause said play of the game employing the first paytable; and

(c) if the player pays the fee, for each of said plurality of plays of the game;

(i) enable the player to input a wager to cause said play of the game, wherein said game employs the second different paytable,

(ii) determine a game outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) provide to the player any awards associated with said determined game outcome based on the second different paytable and the wager input by the player to cause said play of the game employing the second different paytable, wherein said awards are not determined based on said fee.

2. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the average expected payback of the second paytable is greater than the average expected payback of the first paytable.

3. The gaming device of claim 1, which includes a plurality of second paytables.

4. The gaming device of claim 3, wherein the average expected payback of the each of the second paytables is greater than the average expected payback of the first paytable.

5. The gaming device of claim 3, wherein each of the second paytables has a different average expected payback.

6. The gaming device of claim 3, wherein each of the second paytables has the same average expected payback.

7. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device display the first paytable to the player.

8. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device display the second different paytable to the player prior to the player paying the fee to replace the first paytable with said second different paytable.

9. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the fee is equal to the difference between the average expected payback of the second different paytable and the average expected payback of the first paytable, multiplied by the total amount wagered in said plurality of plays of the games.

10. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a predetermined number of plays.

11. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays in a designated amount of time.

12. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays based on the player'"'"'s wager level.

13. The gaming device of claim 1, wherein the second paytable provides at least one advantage over the first paytable, said at least one advantage selected from the group consisting of:

(i) higher awards, (ii) higher awards for designated symbol combinations, (iii) higher multipliers, (iv) random multipliers, (v) a different number of winning symbol combinations, (vi) different types of winning symbol combinations, (vii) a different number of symbols;

(viii) different types of symbols; and

(ix) a different proportion or ordering of symbols.

14. A gaming device comprising:

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to;

(a) display a game upon a wager by a player, said game associated with a plurality of different paytables, said plurality of different paytables including an initial paytable and at least one other paytable, wherein each of said plurality of different paytables has an average expected payback;

(b) enable a player to pay a fee associated with the at least one other paytable, said fee being separate from the wager, wherein;

(i) if the fee is not paid, the initial paytable is employed to determine an outcome for at least one play of the game, and

(ii) if said fee is paid, the initial paytable is replaced with a selected one of the other paytables to determine an outcome for each of a plurality of plays of said game, and any awards from said plurality of plays of said game are not based on the fee.

15. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the selected one of the other paytables is selected by the processor.

16. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the selected one of the other paytables is selected by the player.

17. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein said selected other paytable is displayed to the player before the processor receives the fee to replace the initial paytable with said other paytable.

18. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the selected other paytable has a higher average expected payout than the initial paytable.

19. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a predetermined number of plays.

20. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays in a designated amount of time.

21. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays based on the player'"'"'s wager level.

22. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the player places the wager to cause each of the plurality of plays of the game.

23. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the fee is equal to the difference between the average expected payback of the selected other paytable and the average expected payback of the initial paytable, multiplied by the sum of the wagers on each of said plurality of plays of the game.

24. The gaming device of claim 14, wherein the selected other paytable provides at least one advantage over the initial paytable, said at least one advantage selected from the group consisting of:

(i) higher awards, (ii) higher awards for designated symbol combinations, (iii) higher multipliers, (iv) random multipliers, (v) a different number of winning symbol combinations, (vi) different types of winning symbol combinations, (vii) a different number of symbols;

(viii) different types of symbols; and

(ix) a different proportion or ordering of symbols.

25. A gaming device comprising:

at least one display device;

at least one input device;

at least one processor;

at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the at least one input device to;

(a) display a game, said game associated with a plurality of paytables, said paytables including a first paytable and at least one second different paytable, wherein a fee is associated with said at least one second different paytable

(b) enable a player to choose to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(c) if the player does not choose to replace the first paytable with said second different paytable;

(i) enable the player to input a wager to cause at least one play of the game,

(ii) determine an outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) provide to the player any awards associated with said determined outcome based on the first paytable; and

(d) if the player chooses to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(i) enable the player to input the wager to cause one of a plurality of plays of the game,

(ii) determine an outcome for said play of the game and determine any award associated with said outcome based on the second different paytable,

(iii) keep a portion of the determined award to pay at least part of the fee associated with the second paytable,

(iv) provide to the player any remaining amount of said determined award after said portion is kept to pay the fee,

(v) repeat (i) to (iv) until the fee associated with the second paytable is paid in full, and

(vi) when the fee is paid is full, enable the player to input the wager to cause each of a plurality of additional plays of the game and for each of said additional plays of the game, provide to the player any awards associated with any determined outcomes based on the second paytable without keeping any portion of said awards.

26. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein said at least one processor is programmed to display the first paytable to the player.

27. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein said plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device to display the second different paytable to the player before enabling the player to choose whether to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable.

28. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein the fee includes an amount of money.

29. The gaming device of claim 28, which includes an Indicator to indicate the amount of said fee to the player.

30. The gaming device of claim 29, wherein said amount indicated by the indicator is decremented each time a portion of one of the determined awards is kept to pay the fee.

31. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein each of said plurality of paytables has an average expected payback.

32. The gaming device of claim 31, wherein the second paytable has a higher average expected payout than the first paytable.

33. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes one of:

a predetermined number of plays, a number of plays in a designated amount of time, a number of plays based on the player'"'"'s wager level, and an unlimited number of plays.

34. The gaming device of claim 25, wherein said plurality of additional plays of the game includes one of:

a predetermined number of additional plays, a number of additional plays in a designated amount of time, a number of additional plays based on the players wager level, and an unlimited number of additional plays.

35. A method of operating a gaming device including a plurality of instructions, said method comprising:

(a) providing a first paytable associated with a game, said first paytable having an average expected payback;

(b) providing at least one second different paytable associated with said game, said second different paytable having an average expected payback;

(c) enabling a player to pay a fee to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(d) if the player does not pay the fee;

(i) enabling the player to input a wager to cause a play of the game, wherein said game employs the first paytable,

(ii) causing at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to determine a game outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) providing to the player any awards associated with said determined game outcome based on the first paytable and the wager input by the player to cause said play of the game employing the first paytable; and

(e) if the player pays the fee, for each of a plurality of plays of the game;

(i) enabling the player to input a wager to cause said play of the game, wherein said game employs the second different paytable,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to determine a game outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) providing to the player any awards associated with said determined game outcome based on the second different paytable and the wager input by the player to cause said play of the game employing the second paytable, wherein said awards are not determined based on said fee.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the average expected payback of the second paytable is greater than the average expected payback of the first paytable.

37. The method of claim 35, which includes a plurality of second paytables.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein each of the second paytables has the same average expected payback.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein each of the second paytables has a different average expected payback.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the average expected payback of the each of the second paytables is greater than the average expected payback of the first paytable.

41. The method of claim 35, which includes causing at least one display device to display the first paytable to the player.

42. The method of claim 35, which includes causing at least one display device to display the second different paytable to the player prior to the player paying the fee to replace the first paytable with said second different paytable.

43. The method of claim 35, wherein the fee is equal to the difference between the average expected payback of the second different paytable and the average expected payback of the first paytable, multiplied by the total amount wagered in said plurality of plays of the games.

44. The method of claim 35, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a predetermined number of plays.

45. The method of claim 35, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays in a designated amount of time.

46. The method of claim 35, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays based on the player'"'"'s wager level.

47. The method of claim 35, which includes providing at least one advantage in said plays of the game employing the second different paytable, said at least one advantage selected from the group consisting of:

(i) higher awards, (ii) higher awards for designated symbol combinations, (iii) higher multipliers, (iv) random multipliers, (v) a different number of winning symbol combinations, (vi) different types of winning symbol combinations, (vii) a different number of symbols;

(viii) different types of symbols; and

(ix) a different proportion or ordering of symbols.

48. The method of claim 35, which is provided to the player through a data network.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the data network is an internet.

50. A method of operating a gaming device including a plurality of instructions, said method comprising:

(a) providing a plurality of different paytables in a game operable upon a wager, said paytables including an initial paytable and at least one other paytable, each of said paytables having an average expected payback;

(b) enabling a player to pay a fee, said fee being different from the wager;

(c) if said fee is not paid, causing at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to employ the initial paytable to determine an outcome for at least one play of the game; and

(d) if said fee is paid, causing the at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to replace the initial paytable with a selected one of the other paytables to determine an outcome for each of a plurality of plays of said game, wherein any awards associated with the determined outcomes from said plurality of plays of the game are not based on the selected paytable.

51. The method of claim 50, which includes enabling the player to select said one of the other paytables.

52. The method of claim 50, which includes making said selected other paytable displayable to the player before enabling the player to pay the fee to replace the initial paytable with said selected other paytable.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the selected other paytable has a higher average expected payout than the initial paytable.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a predetermined number of plays.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays in a designated amount of time.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes a number of plays based on the player'"'"'s wager level.

57. The method of claim 50, wherein the fee is equal to the difference between the average expected payback of the selected other paytable and the average expected payback of the initial paytable, multiplied by the sum of the wagers on each of said plurality of plays of the game.

58. The method of claim 50, which includes providing at least one advantage in the selected other paytable, said at least one advantage selected from the group consisting of:

(i) higher awards, (ii) higher awards for designated symbol combinations, (iii) higher multipliers, (iv) random multipliers, (v) a different number of winning symbol combinations, (vi) different types of winning symbol combinations, (vii) a different number of symbols;

(viii) different types of symbols; and

(ix) a different proportion or ordering of symbols.

59. The method of claim 50, which is provided to the player through a data network.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein the data network is an internet.

61. A method of operating a gaming device including a plurality of instructions, said method comprising:

(a) providing a plurality of paytables associated with a game operable on a wager, said paytables including a first paytable and at least one second different paytable, wherein said at least one second different paytable is associated with a fee;

(b) enabling a player to choose to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(c) if the player chooses not to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(i) enabling the player to input the wager to cause at least one play of the game,

(ii) causing at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to determine an outcome for said play of the game, and

(iii) providing to the player any awards associated with said determined outcome based on the first paytable; and

(d) if the player chooses to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable;

(i) enabling the player to input the wager to cause one of a plurality of plays of the game,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to determine an outcome for said play of the game and determining any award associated with said outcome based on the second different paytable,

(iii) causing the at least one processor to execute said plurality of instructions to keep a portion of the determined award to pay at least part of the fee associated with the second paytable,

(iv) providing to the player any remaining amount of said determined award after said portion is kept to pay the fee,

(v) repeating (i) to (iv) until the fee associated with the second paytable is paid in full, and

(vi) when said fee is paid is full, enabling the player to input the wager to cause each of a plurality of additional plays of the game, and for each of said additional plays of the game, providing to the player any awards associated with any determined outcomes based on the second paytable without keeping any portion of said awards.

62. The method of claim 61, which includes causing at least one display device to display the first paytable to the player.

63. The method of claim 61, which includes causing at least one display device to display the second different paytable to the player before enabling the player to choose whether to replace the first paytable with the second different paytable.

64. The method of claim 61, wherein the fee includes an amount of money.

65. The method of claim 64, which includes indicating to the player the amount of said fee in an indicator.

66. The method of claim 65, which includes decrementing the amount indicated in the indicator each time a portion of one of the determined awards is kept to pay the fee.

67. The method of claim 61, wherein each of said plurality of paytables has an average expected payback.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the second paytable has a higher average expected payout than the first paytable.

69. The method of claim 61, wherein said plurality of plays of the game includes one of:

a predetermined number of plays, a number of plays in a designated amount of time, a number of plays based on the players wager level, and an unlimited number of plays.

70. The method of claim 61, wherein said plurality of additional plays of the game includes one of:

a predetermined number of additional plays, a number of additional plays in a designated amount of time, a number of additional plays based on the players wager level, and an unlimited number of additional plays.

71. The method of claim 61, which is provided to the player through a data network.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the data network is an internet.