Controlling and presenting virtual wagering game environments

• US 8,460,107 B2
• Filed: 10/09/2009
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Barclay, Brian J., Guinn, Andrew C., Louie, Daniel P., Schwartz, Richard T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coburn, Corbett B
• Application Number:
  US13/122,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20110190066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,341 Days
• Field of Search: 463/41
• US Class Current: 463/41
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In embodiments, the operations can include determining a player avatar population in a location of a virtual wagering game environment and determining a wagering game machine object supply in the location of the virtual wagering game environment. The wagering game machine object supply is an amount of available wagering game machine objects within a boundary of the location. The operations can further include determining a supply availability ratio, where the supply availability ratio indicates a restriction on the amount of the available wagering game machine objects in the location compared to the player avatar population. The operations can further include determining that the wagering game machine object supply is not compliant with the supply availability ratio and modifying the wagering game machine object supply to comply with the supply availability ratio.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining a first number that represents an amount of player avatars within a virtual wagering game environment that are not using at least one of a plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects in the virtual wagering game environment;

determining a second number that represents a subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects within the virtual wagering game environment that are not being used by the player avatars;

comparing the first number to the second number;

based on the comparing, determining that the second number is greater than the first number; and

causing one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars in response to the determining that the second number is greater than the first number.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determining that the second number is greater than the first number comprises determining that the second number is more than one value greater than the first number, and wherein the causing the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars comprises causing the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machines objects to be either only one value more than, only one value less than, or equal in value to the number of the player avatars.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the causing the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars comprises positioning one or more player bots at the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects making the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects unavailable for use by the player avatars.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the causing the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars comprises removing the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects from the virtual wagering game environment.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the removing the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects is according to performance statistics associated with the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects is sponsored by a sponsor that offers gifts for using the at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects; and

ensuring that the at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects remains available for use by the player avatars.

7. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more processors causes the set of one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining a first number that represents an amount of player avatars within a wagering game environment that are not using virtual wagering game machine objects in the wagering game environment;

determining a second number that represents an amount of the virtual wagering game machine objects within the wagering game environment that are not being used by the player avatars;

comparing the first number to the second number;

based on the comparing, determining that the second number is greater than the first number; and

causing one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars in response to the determining that the second number is greater than the first number.

8. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 7, wherein the operation of determining that the second number is greater than the first number includes an operation comprising determining that the second number is more than one value greater than the first number, and wherein the operation of causing the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an operation comprising causing the amount of the virtual wagering game machine objects within the wagering game environment that are not being used to be either only one value more than, only one value less than, or equal in value to the first number.

9. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 7, wherein the operation of causing the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an operation comprising positioning one or more player bots at the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects making the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects unavailable for use by the player avatars.

10. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 7, wherein the operation of causing the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an operation comprising removing one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects from the virtual wagering game environment.

11. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 10, wherein the operation of the removing the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects is based on performance statistics of one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects within the wagering game environment that are not being used.

12. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 7, said operations further comprising:

determining that at least one of the virtual wagering game machine objects within the wagering game environment that are not being used is sponsored by a sponsor that offers gifts for using the at least one of the virtual wagering game machine objects; and

ensuring that the at least one of the virtual wagering game machine objects remains available for use by the player avatars.

13. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory storage devices configured to store instructions which, when

executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the system to

determine a number of player avatars within a boundary of a location of a virtual wagering game environment, wherein the number of the player avatars are not using virtual wagering game machine objects,

determine a number of the virtual wagering game machine objects, within the virtual wagering game environment, that are not being used by the player avatars,

determine that the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects is greater than the number of the player avatars, and

cause one or more of the number of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars based on determination that the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects is greater than the number of the player avatars.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the instruction to determine that the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects is greater than the number of the player avatars includes an instruction to determine that the number of the virtual wagering game machines objects not being used by the player avatars is more than one value greater than the number of the player avatars, and wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to cause the number of the virtual wagering game machines objects to be either only one value more than, only one value less than, or equal in value to the number of the player avatars.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to position one or more player bots at the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects to make the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects unavailable for use by the player avatars.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to remove one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects from the virtual wagering game environment.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the instruction to remove the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects is according to performance statistics associated with the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects.

18. The system claim 13, wherein the one or more memory storage devices are configured to store instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, further cause the system to

determine that at least one of the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects are sponsored by a sponsor that offers gifts for using the at least one of the virtual wagering game machine objects;

and

ensure that the at least one of the one or more of the number of the virtual wagering game machine objects remains available for use by the player avatars.

19. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storage device configured to store instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the apparatus to

determine a first number that represents an amount of player avatars within a virtual wagering game environment that are not using at least one of a plurality of wagering game machine objects in the virtual wagering game environment,

determine a second number that represents a subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects, wherein the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects are not being used by the player avatars,

based on comparison of the first number to the second number, determine that second number is greater than the first number, and

in response, cause one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instruction to determine that the second number is greater than the first number includes an instruction to determine that the second number is more than one value greater than the first number, and wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to cause the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machines objects to be either only one value more than, only one value less than, or equal in value to the number of the player avatars.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to position one or more player bots at the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to make the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects unavailable for use by the player avatars.

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the instruction to cause the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the player avatars includes an instruction to disable use of the one or more of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects from the virtual wagering game environment according to performance statistics associated with the one or more of the virtual wagering game machine objects.

23. The apparatus claim 19, wherein the one or more memory storage devices are configured to store instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to

determine that at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects is sponsored by a sponsor that offers gifts for using the at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects;

and

ensure that the at least one of the subset of the plurality of virtual wagering game machine objects remains available for use by the player avatars.

24. An apparatus comprising:

means for determining a first number that represents an amount of player avatars that are not using virtual wagering game machine objects within a virtual wagering game environment;

means for determining a second number that represents at least a portion of the virtual wagering game machine objects within the virtual wagering game environment that are not being used by the amount of player avatars;

means for determining that the second number is greater than the first number; and

means for causing one or more of the at least a portion of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the amount of player avatars in response to the determining that the second number is greater than the first number.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for determining that the second number is greater than the first number comprises means for determining that the second number is more than one value greater than the first number, and wherein the means for causing the one or more of the at least a portion of the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the amount of player avatars comprises causing the at least a portion of the virtual wagering game machines objects to be either only one value more than, only one value less than, or equal in value to the first number.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for causing the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the amount of player avatars comprises means for positioning one or more player bots at the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects making the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects unavailable for use by the player avatars.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for causing the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects to become unavailable for use by the amount of player avatars comprises means for causing the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects to become deactivated according to performance statistics associated with the one or more of the at least a portion the virtual wagering game machine objects.

28. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising:

determining that at least one of the portion of the virtual wagering game machine objects that are not being used is sponsored by a sponsor that offers gifts for using the at least one of the virtual wagering game machine objects; and

ensuring that the at least one of the portion of the virtual wagering game machine objects remains available for use by the player avatars.