Wagering game for awarding attributes in a plurality of plays

• US 8,591,313 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2010
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Gomez, Benjamin T., Jaffe, Joel R., SeLegue, Dylan B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Suhol, Dmitry
• Assistant Examiner(s): YEN, JASON TAHAI
• Application Number:
  US12/911,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20110098102A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,128 Days
• Field of Search: 463 16- 17, 463/20, 463 25- 27
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3206 Player sensing means, e.g. presence detection, biometrics
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• 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 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

A method for conducting a computer-implemented wagering game includes using a processor to execute a plurality of plays of the wagering game, each play having an expected value. A plurality of randomly selected symbols, which are associated with each play, are displayed on a display. The processor is used to randomly assign a plurality of attributes across the plurality of plays. Each attribute increases an expected value of the play to which the attribute is assigned, from a first value to a second value. The first value is in the absence of the attribute and the second value is in the presence of the attribute.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of conducting wagering games on a wagering game system, the wagering game system including one or more input devices, one or more display devices, and one or more processors, the method comprising:

initially awarding, via at least one of the one or more processors, a plurality of plays Y of the wagering game and a predetermined plurality of attributes X, the plurality of plays Y including play Y1 and play Y2 and the predetermined plurality of attributes X including attribute X1 and attribute X2;

displaying on at least one of the one or more display devices a plurality of randomly selected symbols associated with each play of the plurality of plays Y;

randomly assigning, via at least one of the one or more processors, all of the predetermined plurality of attributes X across the plurality of plays Y such that each of attribute X1 and attribute X2 is assignable to play Y1 or play Y2, each attribute increasing the expected value of the play of the wagering game to which the attribute is assigned, the expected value increasing from a first value to a second value, the first value of the expected value being in the absence of the attribute and the second value of the expected value being in the presence of the attribute; and

in response to assigning all attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X across the plurality of plays Y, including the first attribute X1 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2 and the second attribute X2 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2, executing, via at least one of the one or more processors, the plurality of plays Y, each play having an expected value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein plays of the plurality of plays Y are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes hands of poker.

6. The method of claim 1, further including receiving from a player, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager for each of the plurality of plays Y.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined plurality of attributes X is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the assigning of the predetermined number of attributes X occurs in response to a triggering event.

8. A gaming system comprising:

a wager input device configured to receive a wager from a player for playing a wagering game;

a display device; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the display device, at least one of the processors being operative to

initially award a plurality of plays Y of the wagering game and a predetermined plurality of attributes X,

display a plurality of randomly selected symbols associated with each play of the plurality of plays Y, the plurality of plays Y including play Y1 and play Y2 and the predetermined plurality of attributes X including attribute X1 and attribute X2,

randomly assign all of the predetermined plurality of attributes X across the plurality of plays Y such that each of attribute X1 and attribute X2 is assignable to play Y1 or play Y2, each attribute increasing the expected value of the play of the wagering game to which the attribute is assigned, the expected value increasing from a first value to a second value, the first value of the expected value being in the absence of the attribute and the second value of the expected value being in the presence of the attribute, and

in response to assigning all attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X across the plurality of plays Y, including the first attribute X1 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2 and the second attribute X2 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2, executing the plurality of plays Y, each play having an expected value.

9. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the predetermined plurality of attributes X is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the assigning of the predetermined plurality of attributes X occurs in response to a triggering event.

10. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

11. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein plays of the plurality of plays Y are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

12. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

13. The gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes hands of poker.

14. A computer-implemented method for conducting wagering games on a wagering game system, the wagering game system including one or more input devices, one or more display devices, and one or more processors, the method comprising:

awarding, via at least one of the one or more processors, a predetermined plurality of attributes X including attribute X1 and attribute X2;

awarding, via at least one of the one or more processors, a plurality of plays Y of the wagering game including play Y1 and play Y2, each play having an expected value;

randomly assigning, via at least one of the one or more processors, all of the predetermined plurality of attributes X attributes across the plurality of plays Y such that each of attribute X1 and attribute X2 is assignable to play Y1 or play Y2;

displaying, on at least one of the one or more display devices, randomly selected symbols associated with each play of the plurality of plays Y; and

in response to assigning all attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X across the plurality of plays Y, including the first attribute X1 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2 and the second attribute X2 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2, using at least one of the one or more processors to determine an outcome of each of the plays taking in account any attributes assigned to a specific play such that the expected value of the specific play increases from a first value to a second value based on an assigned attribute.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined plurality of attributes X is a progressive award that increments in response to one or more processor-controlled wagering games or gaming devices linked to the progressive award, and wherein the awarding of the predetermined plurality of attributes X occurs in response to a triggering event.

16. The method of claim 14, further including receiving from a player, via at least one of the one or more input devices, an input indicative of a wager for each of the plurality of plays Y.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X are selected from a group consisting of wilds, non-wild special symbols, multipliers, and payline activator symbols.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein plays of the plurality of plays Y are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of an underlying base game.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes spins of symbol-bearing reels.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of plays Y includes hands of poker.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X are awarded, via at least one of the one or more processors, in accordance with a weighted function such that the number of attributes per play increases with a sequential number of the plurality of plays Y.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the weighted function includes reordering plays of the plurality of the plays Y such that a play with a lower number of assigned attributes is played, via at least one of the one or more processors, before a play with a higher number of assigned attributes.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein, after the randomly assigning of the predetermined plurality of attributes X to the plurality of plays Y, at least some plays of the plurality of plays Y are reordered, via at least one of the one or more processors, to display on at least one of the one or more display devices an outcome of a play to which a smaller number of attributes has been assigned before an outcome of a play to which a larger number of attributes has been assigned.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

randomly assigning, via at least one of the one or more processors, a first number of attributes N1 of the predetermined plurality of attributes X to play Y1 of the plurality of plays Y and a second number of attributes N2 of the predetermined plurality of attributes X to play Y2 of the plurality of plays Y, the first number of attributes N1 being larger than the second number of attributes N1, the outcome of play Y1 being initially intended to be displayed before the outcome of play Y2; and

reordering, via at least one of the one or more processors, the sequence of plays such that the outcome of play Y2 is displayed on at least one of the one or more display devices before the outcome of Y1.

25. A computer-implemented method for conducting wagering games on wagering game system, the wagering game system including one or more input devices, one or more display devices, and one or more processors, the method comprising:

receiving, in response to an input via at least one of the one or more input devices, a wager to play a wagering game;

displaying, via at least one of the one or more display devices, the wagering game;

awarding, by at least one of the one or more processors, a predetermined plurality of attributes X including attribute X1 and attribute X2;

randomly assigning, by at least one of the one or more processors, the predetermined plurality of attributes X among a plurality of outcomes Y, including play Y1 and play Y2, such that each of attribute X1 and attribute X2 is assignable to play Y1 or play Y2; and

in response to assigning all attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X to the plurality of outcomes Y, including the first attribute X1 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2 and the second attribute X2 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2, (i) randomly determining, by at least one of the one or more processors, the plurality of outcomes Y and (ii) modifying, by at least one of the one or more processors, the plurality of outcomes Y by their respective assigned attributes.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the predetermined plurality of attributes X includes multipliers.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, in response to receiving a game condition, a change occurs to a value of at least one of the multipliers.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein outcomes of the plurality of outcomes Y are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of the wagering game.

29. A gaming system comprising:

a wager input device configured to receive a wager from a player for playing a wagering game;

at least one display device; and

one or more processors communicatively coupled to the at least one display device, at least one of the processors being operative to

award a predetermined plurality of attributes X including attribute X1 and attribute X2,

randomly assign the predetermined plurality of attributes X among a plurality of outcomes Y, including play Y1 and play Y2, such that each of attribute X1 and attribute X2 is assignable to play Y1 or play Y2, and

in response to assigning all attributes of the predetermined plurality of attributes X to the plurality of outcomes Y, including the first attribute X1 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2 and the second attribute X2 being assigned to either of play Y1 or play Y2, (i) randomly determine the plurality of outcomes Y and (ii) modify the plurality of outcomes Y by their respective assigned attributes.

30. The gaming system of claim 29, wherein the predetermined plurality of attributes X includes multipliers.

31. The gaming system of claim 30, wherein, in response to receiving a game condition, a change occurs to a value of at least one of the multipliers.

32. The gaming system of claim 29, wherein awards of the predetermined plurality of attributes X are triggered in response to a mystery or symbol-based trigger occurring during play of the wagering game.