Gaming system and method for normalizing average expected payouts to players

• US 8,323,092 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander Casey Naglestad, Wolf, Bryan D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US13/335,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20120094745A1
• Time in Patent Office: 348 Days
• Field of Search: 463/20, 463/21, 463/25
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes

Abstract

The gaming system disclosed herein accounts for game play over a gaming session in determining a bonus game attribute for a triggered bonus game. The gaming system maintains a plurality of different bonus game attributes. Each different bonus game attribute is associated with a different bonus game attribute modification event and an initial probability of that bonus game attribute being selected for a play of a bonus game. For each bonus game attribute modification event that occurs, the gaming system modifies the probability that the associated bonus game attribute will be selected for a play of a bonus game. Upon an occurrence of a bonus game triggering event, the gaming system randomly selects one of the maintained bonus game attributes. The gaming system then displays a bonus game and determines a bonus game award utilizing the selected bonus game attribute.

Claims

1. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) enabling a player to place one of a plurality of different wager amounts on a play a base game, each different wager amount associated with one of a plurality of wager levels, each wager level associated with a different one of a plurality of different bonus game attributes, each of the bonus game attributes having a probability of being selected for a play of a bonus game;

(b) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to modify the probability of the bonus game attribute associated with the wager level associated with the placed wager amount;

(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus game triggering event occurs;

(d) if the bonus game triggering event does not occur, repeating (a) to (d) until the bonus game triggering event occurs; and

(e) if the bonus game triggering event occurs;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly select one of the bonus game attributes, said random selection based on the then current probabilities associated with each of the bonus game attributes,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly determine a bonus game award, said determined bonus game award based, at least in part, on the randomly selected bonus game attribute, and

(iii) causing at least one display device to display the determined bonus game award to the player.

2. The method of claim 1, which includes causing a remote controller to maintain a database of the different bonus game attributes, the wager level associated with each bonus game attribute and the then current probability of being selected associated with each bonus game attribute.

3. The method of claim 1, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to identify the player that placed one of the wager amounts.

4. The method of claim 3, which includes causing a remote controller to maintain, for said identified player, a database of the different bonus game attributes, the wager level associated with each bonus game attribute and the then current probability of being selected associated with each bonus game attribute.

5. The method of claim 1, which includes, when the player places one of the plurality of different wager amounts, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to modify the probability associated with at least one of the bonus game attributes not associated with the wager level associated with the placed wager amount.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein which probability associated with at least one of the bonus game attributes not associated with the wager level associated with the placed wager amount is modified is based on the placed wager amount.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each placed wager is associated with a bonus game attribute modification event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination that the bonus game triggering event will occur is independent of any displayed event in any play of any base game.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to any of the different wager amounts being placed, each bonus game attribute has the same probability of being selected.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to any of the different wager amounts being placed, a plurality of the bonus game attributes each have a different probability of being selected.

11. The method of claim 1, which includes, after displaying the determined bonus game award to the player, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to reset any modified probabilities associated with the bonus game attributes to a designated probability.

12. The method of claim 1, which is executed through a data network.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the data network is an internet.

14. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) enabling a player to place a plurality of different wager amounts on a play of a base game, each different wager amount associated with one of a plurality of wager levels; and

(b) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to maintain a plurality of different bonus game attributes, each bonus game attribute associated with a different one of the plurality of wager levels;

(c) at a first point in time, if the player placed one of the plurality of different wager amounts for a first play of the base game, a first quantity of a first one of the wager amounts have been placed on plays of the base game and a bonus game triggering event occurs in association with the first play of the base game;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly select one of the maintained plurality of different bonus game attributes, the bonus game attribute associated with the wager level associated with the first one of the wager amounts having a first probability of being selected at the first point in time,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a first bonus game award, said determined first bonus game award based, at least in part, on the randomly selected bonus game attribute, and

(iii) causing at least one display device to display the determined first bonus game award to the player, and

(d) at a second, subsequent point in time, if the player placed one of the plurality of different wager amounts on a second play of the base game, a second, different quantity of the first one of the wager amounts have been placed on plays of the base game and the bonus game triggering event occurs in association with the second play of the base game;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly select one of the plurality of different bonus game attributes, the bonus game attribute associated with the wager level associated with the first one of the wager amounts having a second, different probability of being selected at the second, subsequent point in time,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a second bonus game award, said determined second bonus game award based, at least in part, on the randomly selected bonus game attribute, and

(iii) causing the at least one display device to display the determined second bonus game award to the player.

15. The method of claim 14, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to identify each player that placed one of the wager amounts.

16. The method of claim 15, which includes causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to maintain, for each identified player, the different bonus game attributes.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the determination that the bonus game triggering event will occur is independent of any displayed event in any play of any base game.

18. The method of claim 14, which is executed through a data network.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the data network is an internet.

20. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to maintain a plurality of bonus game attributes for a plurality of gaming devices, each bonus game attribute having a probability of being selected;

(b) if a bonus game attribute modification event occurs in association with any of the gaming devices, then for each of the plurality of gaming devices, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to modify at least one of the probabilities of at least one of the bonus game attributes;

(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus game triggering event occurs in association with one of the gaming devices;

(d) if the bonus game triggering event does not occur, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to repeat (b) to (d) until the bonus game triggering event occurs; and

(e) if the bonus game triggering event occurs in association with one of the gaming devices;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly select one of the bonus game attributes, said random selection based on the then current probabilities of the maintained bonus game attributes,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a bonus game award, said determined bonus game award based, at least in part, on the randomly selected bonus game attribute, and

(iii) causing at least one display device to display the determined bonus game award to the player of said gaming device associated with the bonus game triggering event.

21. The method of claim 20, which includes, if the bonus game attribute modification event occurs in association with any of the gaming devices, then for each of the plurality of gaming devices, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to modify a plurality of the probabilities of a plurality of the bonus game attributes.

22. The gaming system of claim 20, wherein the determination that the bonus game triggering event will occur is independent of any displayed event in any play of any base game.

23. The gaming system of claim 20, which includes, after displaying the determined bonus game award to the player of said gaming device associated with the bonus game triggering event, for each of the plurality of gaming devices, for each of any modified probabilities of the maintained bonus game attributes, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to reset said modified probability to a designated probability.

24. The method of claim 20, which is executed through a data network.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the data network is an internet.

26. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:

(a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions to maintain a plurality of different bonus game attributes, each of the bonus game attributes associated with a different one of a plurality of different wager levels, each wager level associated with one of a plurality of different wager amounts;

(b) enabling a player to place one of the plurality of different wager amounts to play a base game;

(c) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to generate a random number of the bonus game attribute associated with the wager level associated with the wager amount placed, said random number generated from a predefined range of random numbers;

(d) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine if a bonus game triggering event occurs;

(e) if the bonus game triggering event does not occur, repeating (b) to (e) until the bonus game triggering event occurs; and

(f) if the bonus game triggering event occurs;

(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine which of said generated random numbers is a designated random number, said determination being based on a comparison between at least one of any random numbers generated for each of said bonus game attributes,

(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine a bonus game award, said determined bonus game award based, at least in part, on the bonus game attribute of the designated random number, and

(iii) causing at least one display device to display the determined bonus game award to the player.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said determination of which of said generated random numbers is the designated random number is based on a comparison between each of any generated random numbers for each of said bonus game attributes.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein one of said generated random numbers is the designated random number if said generated random number is one of:

a highest generated random number, a lowest generated random number, a generated random number closest to a mean number, a generated random number closest to a mode number, a generated random number closest to a median number, and a generated random number closest to a randomly generated supplemental number.

29. The method of claim 26, which includes, if a plurality of said generated random numbers are each determined to be the designated random number, for each random number determined to be the designated random number, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly generate another random number from the predefined range of random numbers.

30. The method of claim 26, which includes, if a plurality of said generated random numbers are each determined to be the designated random number, for each generated random number, causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to randomly generate another random number from the predefined range of random numbers.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein each wager placed is associated with a bonus game attribute modification event.

32. The method of claim 26, which is executed through a data network.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the data network is an internet.