Electronic gaming environment with display of multiple instances of single-player games and multiplayer bonus game

• US 8,313,372 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2009
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cork Group Trading Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Cork Group Trading Ltd.
• Inventors: Naicker, Theo, Rottcher, Hylton David, McRoberts, Duncan Andrew Keith
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, David L
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCulloch, Jr., William H
• Application Number:
  US12/462,730
• Publication Number:
  US 20110034240A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16, 463/20, 463/25, 273/142.R
• US Class Current: 463/25
• 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

Abstract

A gaming server, game playing apparatus and a method for facilitating play of a multiplayer game by multiple players each playing an instance of single-player wager game at a workstation having a display. Multiple single-player wager game instances are aggregated into a multiplayer game environment. In the single-player wager game, one of the possible rewards for a turn of play is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game. The bonus game is played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit at the time the bonus game is triggered. A result in the bonus game is generated randomly by a bonus machine from a finite set of possible results. The winnings in the bonus game is the product of the player'"'"'s multiplier credit multiplied by the result. Winnings are obtained from the game proprietor, are independent of results for other players, and are not shared with such other players. The bonus machine can take several forms, including a wheel, a reel, or a machine randomly selecting a numbered ball.

Claims

1. A gaming server comprising:

a central processing unit and a memory storing program instructions for execution by the central processing unit, the central processing unit generating results of play of multiple instances of a single-player wager game, wherein the multiple instances are aggregated into a multiplayer gaming environment;

wherein the multiple instances are played by multiple players each using workstations communicating with the gaming server over a communications network;

wherein, the single-player wager game features a pay table in which one of a plurality of possible rewards for a turn of play of the single-player wager game is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game aspect of the single-player wager game;

wherein the gaming server is operative to randomly initiate the play of a bonus game wherein during play of the bonus game, play of all of the aggregated instances of the single-player wager game is temporarily suspended;

wherein the bonus game is only played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit prior to the initiation of play of the bonus game by the gaming server;

wherein multiplier credit for the players accumulates during a period prior to a triggering of the bonus game by the gaming server and is not subject to decrease during said period due to a change in a rate of play or temporary interruption of play by the players; and

wherein the bonus game is characterized by a result for each player participating in the bonus game randomly generated from a set of finite possible outcomes, and winnings in the bonus game being the product of the multiplier credit multiplied by the result, whereby a player participating in the bonus game obtains the winnings in the bonus game from the game'"'"'s proprietor and the player'"'"'s winnings are independent of results for other players participating in the bonus game and are not shared with such other players.

2. The gaming server of claim 1, wherein the bonus game is further characterized by a spinning of a wheel having a multitude of spokes, each spoke being assigned a result in the form of an integer wheel multiplier, with a player participating in the bonus game winning an amount equal to the player'"'"'s accumulated multiplier credit upon initiation of the play of the bonus game multiplied by the wheel multiplier for the spoke of the wheel that comes to a rest in a position around the periphery of the wheel which is associated with the player.

3. The gaming server of claim 1, wherein the single-player wager game comprises a video slots game.

4. The gaming server of claim 3, wherein the video slots game comprises a five reel slots game having a multitude of pay lines.

5. The gaming server of claim 4, wherein the pay table comprises a table of credit awards for particular combinations of symbols appearing on one or more pay lines, the pay table further comprising awards of multiplier credits awarded to the player for an occurrence of two or more like symbols associated with bonus game multiplier credit appearing on the one or more pay lines.

6. The gaming server of claim 4, wherein the workstations and the gaming server are implemented in a physical casino environment.

10. The gaming server of claim 1, wherein the network comprises the Internet.

7. A casino, comprising:

a gaming server and

a plurality of workstations in the form of video slots machines,

the gaming server comprising;

a central processing unit and a memory storing program instructions for execution by the central processing unit, the central processing unit generating results of play of multiple instances of a single-player wager game, wherein the multiple instances are aggregated into a multiplayer gaming environment;

wherein the multiple instances are played by multiple players each using said workstations, said workstations communicating with the gaming server over a communications network;

wherein, the single-player wager game features a pay table in which one of a plurality of possible rewards for a turn of play of the single-player wager game is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game aspect of the single-player wager game;

wherein the gaming server is operative to randomly initiate the play of a bonus game wherein during play of the bonus game, play of all of the aggregated instances of the single-player wager game is temporarily suspended;

wherein the bonus game is only played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit prior to the initiation of play of the bonus game by the gaming server;

wherein multiplier credit for the players accumulates during a period prior to a triggering of the bonus game by the gaming server and is not subject to decrease during said period due to a change in a rate of play or temporary interruption of play by the players; and

wherein the bonus game is characterized by a result for each player participating in the bonus game randomly generated from a set of finite possible outcomes, and winnings in the bonus game being the product of the multiplier credit multiplied by the result, whereby a player participating in the bonus game obtains the winnings in the bonus game from the game'"'"'s proprietor and the player'"'"'s winnings are independent of results for other players participating in the bonus game and are not shared with such other players.

8. The casino of claim 7, further comprising a bonus device in the form of a wheel which is displayable on screen displays of the workstations.

9. The casino of claim 7, further comprising a bonus device in the form of a physical wheel, and wherein the workstations are physically arranged around the periphery of the wheel.

11. A multiplayer wager game apparatus comprising:

a bonus device randomly generating a result from a set of finite possible outcomes;

a plurality of workstations;

a gaming server in communication with the plurality of workstations over a communications network, the gaming server including a central processing unit and a memory storing program instructions for execution by the central processing unit, the central processing unit generating results of play of multiple instances of a single-player wager game played by the plurality of workstations;

wherein, the single-player wager game features a pay table in which one of a plurality of possible rewards for a turn of play of the single-player wager game is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game aspect of the single-player wager game;

wherein the gaming server is operative to randomly initiate the play of the bonus game wherein during play of the bonus game, play of the single-player wager game by the workstations is temporarily suspended;

wherein the bonus game is played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit prior to the initiation of play of the bonus game by the gaming server;

wherein multiplier credit for the players accumulates during a period prior to a triggering of the bonus game by the gaming server and is not subject to decrease during said period due to a change in a rate of play or temporary interruption of play by the player; and

wherein the bonus game is characterized by a result for each player participating in the bonus game randomly generated by the bonus device from the set of finite possible outcomes, and winnings in the bonus game being the product of the multiplier credit multiplied by the result, whereby a player participating in the bonus game obtains the winnings in the bonus game from the game'"'"'s proprietor and their winnings are independent of results for other players participating in the bonus game and are not shared with such other players.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the bonus device comprises a spinning wheel having a multitude of spokes, each spoke being assigned a result in the form of an integer wheel multiplier, with a player participating in the bonus game winning an amount equal to the player'"'"'s accumulated multiplier credit upon initiation of the play of the bonus game multiplied by the wheel multiplier for the spoke of the wheel that comes to a rest in a position around the periphery of the wheel which is associated with the player.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the bonus device comprises a spinning reel having a pay line, the reel having indexed positions each comprising a result in the form of an integer, wherein the winning in the bonus game for a player participating in the bonus game is the product of the integer for the indexed position coming to rest on the pay line multiplied by the multiplier credit for such player.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the bonus device comprises a machine randomly selecting a ball from a plurality of balls, each of the plurality of balls associated with a result in the form of an integer, wherein the winning in the bonus game for a player participating in the bonus game is the product of the integer on the selected ball multiplied by the multiplier credit for such player.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the single-player wager game comprises a video slots game.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the video slots game comprises a five reel slots game having a multitude of pay lines.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the pay table for the single-player game comprises a table of credit awards for particular combinations of symbols appearing on one or more pay lines, the pay table further comprising awards of multiplier credits awarded to the player for an occurrence of two or more like symbols associated with a bonus game multiplier credit appearing on the one or more pay lines.

18. A method for facilitating play of a multiplayer game by multiple players each playing an instance of single-player wager game at a workstation having a display, comprising the steps of:

in a gaming server, aggregating multiple single-player wager game instances into a multiplayer game environment wherein the gaming server transmits datagrams to the workstations containing information whereby each player can view game action of other aggregated players on their display in addition to each player'"'"'s own game action;

providing in the single-player wager game a pay table in which one of a plurality of possible rewards for a turn of play of the single-player wager game is an award of a multiplier credit useable in a bonus game aspect of the single-player wager game;

in the gaming server, randomly initiating play of the bonus game wherein during play of the bonus game, play of the single-player wager game by the workstations is temporarily suspended;

wherein the bonus game is played by those players having accumulated at least one multiplier credit prior to the initiation of play of the bonus game by the gaming server;

wherein multiplier credit for the players accumulates during a period prior to the triggering of the bonus game by the gaming server and is not subject to decrease in said period due to a change in a rate of play or temporary interruption of play by the player; and

generating for each player participating in the bonus game a result, the result generated randomly from a set of finite possible outcomes, wherein winnings in the bonus game for a player participating in the bonus game is the product of the player'"'"'s multiplier credit multiplied by the result, whereby a player participating in the bonus game obtains the winnings in the bonus game from the game'"'"'s proprietor and the player'"'"'s winnings are independent of results for other players participating in the bonus game and are not shared with such other players.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the result is generated randomly by a bonus device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the bonus device comprises a spinning wheel having a multitude of spokes, each spoke being assigned a result in the form of an integer wheel multiplier, with a player participating in the bonus game winning an amount equal to the player'"'"'s accumulated multiplier credit upon-initiation of the play of the bonus game multiplied by the wheel multiplier for the spoke of the wheel that comes to a rest in a position around the periphery of the wheel which is associated with the player'"'"'s workstation.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the bonus device comprises a spinning reel having a pay line, the reel having indexed positions each comprising a result in the form of an integer, wherein the winning in the bonus game for a player participating in the bonus game is the product of the integer for the indexed position coming to rest on the pay line multiplied by the multiplier credit for such player.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the bonus device comprises a machine randomly selecting a ball from a plurality of balls, each of the plurality of balls associated with a result in the form of an integer, wherein the winning in the bonus game for a play participating in the bonus game is the product of the integer on the selected ball multiplied by the multiplier credit for such player.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the bonus device comprises a random number generator.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the single-player wager game comprises a video slots game.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the video slots game comprises a five reel slots game having a multitude of pay lines.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the pay table for the single-player game comprises a table of credit awards for particular combinations of symbols appearing on one or more pay lines, the pay table further comprising awards of multiplier credits awarded to the player for the occurrence of two or more like symbols associated with bonus game multiplier credit appearing on the one or more pay lines.