Adjustable wagering game system social interactivity configuration

• US 8,672,744 B1
• Filed: 08/15/2011
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Gronkowski, Timothy T., Guinn, Andrew C., Massing, Scott A., Steere, Noel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US13/209,989
• Time in Patent Office: 946 Days
• Field of Search: 463/25, 463/26
• US Class Current: 463/25
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/323 wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions

Abstract

A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include determining, at a wagering game server, player account information associated with a plurality of players that are logged in at one or more predefined wagering game machines. The operations can also include determining a level of social interactivity to provide during game play to the plurality of players based, at least in part, on the player account information associated with the plurality of players. The operations can further include determining that a current level of social interactivity being provided during game play to the plurality of players is different than the level of social interactivity associated with the player account information, and dynamically changing a configuration of the one or more predefined wagering game machines to provide to the plurality of players the level of social interactivity associated with the player account information.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, at a wagering game server of a wagering game system, player account information associated with a plurality of players that are logged in at one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system, wherein the player account information indicates a first level of social interactivity;

determining, at the wagering game server, that a current level of social interactivity being provided during game play to the plurality of players is different than the first level of social interactivity; and

changing a configuration of the one or more wagering game machines to provide during game play to the plurality of players the first level of social interactivity.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first level of social interactivity is determined by operations comprising:

determining, at the wagering game server, player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players;

determining, at the wagering game server, the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics; and

determining, at the wagering game server, to provide the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics during game play to the plurality of players.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said determining player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players and said determining the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics comprise:

determining, at the wagering game server, a point score for each of one or more categories of the player account information associated with the plurality of players;

determining, at the wagering game server, a social interactivity point score based on the point score for each of the one or more categories of the player account information; and

determining, at the wagering game server, the first level of social interactivity associated with the social interactivity point score.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the one or more categories of the player account information associated with the plurality of players comprises one or more of player demographic information, player preference information, and player gaming activity information associated with the plurality of players.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said changing the configuration of the one or more wagering game machines to provide during game play to the plurality of players the first level of social interactivity comprises providing, via a communication network, a configuration message from the wagering game server to the one or more wagering game machines to cause the one or more wagering game machines to change a social interactivity configuration to provide during game play to the plurality of players the first level of social interactivity.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said determining the player account information associated with the plurality of players that are logged in at the one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system comprises:

identifying, at the wagering game server, a plurality of player accounts associated with the plurality of players that are logged in at the one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system; and

determining, at the wagering game server, the player account information from the plurality of player accounts associated with the plurality of players.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system include one or more electronic table gaming machines in one or more sections of a casino floor of the wagering game system that are configured to provide one of multi-player base and bonus games, and configured to provide two or more levels of social interactivity during game play.

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

determining, at the wagering game server, that one or more of a plurality of players that are logged in at one of the wagering game machines of the wagering game system want to change the current level of social interactivity that is being provided to the plurality of players during game play at the wagering game machine;

causing one or more of the wagering game machine to present a plurality of configuration windows on one or more displays to allow each of the plurality of players to enter configuration input indicating whether one or more players wants to change the current level of social interactivity and a desired level of social interactivity;

receiving, at the wagering game server, the configuration input entered by the plurality of players from the wagering game machine;

determining whether at least a predefined percentage of the plurality of players want to change the current level of social interactivity that is being provided to the plurality of players during game play at the wagering game machine;

in response to determining that at least the predefined percentage of the plurality of players want to change the current level of social interactivity, changing a configuration of the wagering game machine to provide during game play to the plurality of players the desired level of social interactivity; and

in response to determining that less than the predefined percentage of the plurality of players want to change the current level of social interactivity, maintaining the configuration of the wagering game machine to continue to provide during game play to the plurality of players the current level of social interactivity.

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

determining that a plurality of players at a first wagering game machine of the plurality of wagering game machines won a bonus game award that is greater than a predefined award amount;

determining that the plurality of wagering game machines are configured to provide an enhanced level of social interactivity;

determining that the bonus game award won by the plurality of players at the first wagering game machine is to be shared with a plurality of adjacent wagering game machines of the plurality of predefined wagering game machines based, at least in part, on the enhanced level of social interactivity configuration of the plurality of wagering game machines;

determining a percentage of the bonus game award to provide to the plurality of players at the first wagering game machine;

identifying the plurality of adjacent wagering game machines to the first wagering game machine; and

determining a remaining percentage of the bonus game award to distribute across the plurality of adjacent wagering game machines.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein said determining the remaining percentage of the bonus game award to distribute among the plurality of adjacent wagering game machines is based on at least one of proximity of each of the adjacent wagering game machines to the first wagering game machine, occupancy of each of the adjacent wagering game machines, and average player wagers associated with each of the adjacent wagering game machines.

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

determining that a first player is logged in to a mobile wagering game machine of the wagering game system and is attempting to join a multi-player wagering game machine of the wagering system that is configured to provide an enhanced level of social interactivity;

determining first player account information associated with the first player, wherein the first player account information comprises one or more of gaming related achievements, assets, and awards;

causing the multi-player wagering game machine to present the first player account information associated with the first player to a plurality of players at the multi-player wagering game machine;

determining whether at least a predefined percentage of the plurality of players indicate to allow the first player to join the multi-player wagering game machine based on the first player account information;

in response to determining that at least the predefined percentage of the plurality of players indicate to allow the first player to join;

causing the multi-player wagering game machine to allow the first player to join the multi-player wagering game machine via the mobile wagering game machine;

in response to determining that less than the predefined percentage of the plurality of players do not indicate to allow the first player to join;

causing the mobile wagering game machine to present to the first player an indication that the player cannot join the multi-player wagering game machine via the mobile wagering game machine.

12. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, at a wagering game server of a wagering game system, historical player account information associated with players that logged in to the wagering game system in the past during a predefined period of time;

determining, at the wagering game server, a configuration schedule for changing a level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to players that log in at a plurality of wagering game machines of the wagering game system based, at least in part, on the historical player account information; and

changing a configuration of the plurality of wagering game machines for the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines according to the configuration schedule.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said determining the configuration schedule for changing the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to the players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines of the wagering game system based, at least in part, on the historical player account information comprises:

sorting, at the wagering game server, the historical player account information associated with the players according to a time and day of week each player logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time;

determining, at the wagering game server, historical player statistics based on the historical player account information sorted according to the time and day of the week each player logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time; and

determining, at the wagering game server, the configuration schedule for changing the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to the players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines of the wagering game system based on the historical player statistics.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein said determining historical player statistics based on the historical player account information sorted according to the time and day of the week each player logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time and said determining the configuration schedule for changing the level of social interactivity comprise:

determining, at the wagering game server, the historical player statistics for each of a plurality of time periods for each day of the week based on the historical player account information sorted according to the plurality of time periods for each day of the week when each player logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time;

determining, at the wagering game server, a level of social interactivity associated with the historical player statistics for each of the plurality of time periods for each day of the week; and

determining, at the wagering game server, the configuration schedule indicating whether to change the level of social interactivity during each of the plurality of time periods for each day of the week based on the level of social interactivity associated with the historical player statistics for each of the plurality of time periods for each day of the week.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the historical player account information associated with the players comprises one or more of player demographic information, player preference information, and player gaming activity information associated with players.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said changing the configuration of the plurality of wagering game machines for the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to the players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines according to the configuration schedule comprises:

determining, at the wagering game server, a current time and day of week;

determining, at the wagering game server, for the current time and day of the week whether to change the configuration of the plurality of wagering game machines for the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to the players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines according to configuration schedule; and

in response to determining that according to the configuration schedule that for the current time and day of the week the configuration should be changed, providing a configuration message, via a communication network, from the wagering game server to the plurality of wagering game machines to cause the plurality of wagering game machines to change the level of social interactivity that is provided during game play to the players that log in at the plurality of wagering game machines.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein said determining the historical player account information associated with the players that logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time comprises:

identifying, at the wagering game server, a plurality of player accounts associated with the players that logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time; and

determining, at the wagering game server, the historical player account information from the plurality of player accounts associated with the players that logged in to the wagering game system in the past during the predefined period of time.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining, at the wagering game server, player account information associated with a plurality of players that are logged in at one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system;

determining, at the wagering game server, a desired level of social interactivity to provide during game play to the plurality of players based, at least in part, on the player account information associated with the plurality of players;

determining, at the wagering game server, that a current level of social interactivity, based on the configuration schedule, that is being provided during game play to the plurality of players is different than the desired level of social interactivity; and

changing dynamically, a configuration of the one or more wagering game machines to provide during game play to the plurality of players the desired level of social.

19. A wagering game server of a wagering game system, the wagering game server comprising:

a player account unit configured to determine player account information associated with a plurality of players that are logged in at one or more wagering game machines of the wagering game system, and further configured to,

determine player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players; and

a system configuration unit configured to determine, based on the player statistics, a level of social interactivity to provide to the plurality of players during game play, and further configured to,

determine that a current level of social interactivity being provided during game play to the plurality of players is different than the level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics, and

change a configuration of the one or more wagering game machines to provide to the plurality of players during game play, plurality of players the level of social interactivity.

20. The wagering game server of claim 19, wherein the player account unit configured to determine player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players comprises the player account unit configured to:

determine a point score for each of one or more categories of the player account information associated with the plurality of players; and

determine a social interactivity point score based on the point score for each of the one or more categories of the player account information.

21. The wagering game server of claim 20, wherein the system configuration unit configured to determine the level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics comprises the system configuration unit configured to:

determine the level of social interactivity associated with the social interactivity point score.

22. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which, when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:

determining player account information associated with a plurality of players that are logged in at one or more wagering game machines of a wagering game system, wherein the player account information indicates a first level of social interactivity;

determining that a current level of social interactivity being provided during game play to the plurality of players is different than the first level of social interactivity; and

changing a configuration of the one or more wagering game machines to provide during game play to the plurality of players the first level of social interactivity.

23. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 22, wherein the first level of social interactivity is determined by operations comprising:

determining player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players;

determining the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics; and

determining to provide the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics during game play to the plurality of players.

24. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 23, wherein said operation of determining player statistics based on the player account information associated with the plurality of players and said operation of determining the first level of social interactivity associated with the player statistics comprise:

determining a point score for each of one or more categories of the player account information associated with the plurality of players;

determining a social interactivity point score based on the point score for each of the one or more categories of the player account information; and

determining the first level of social interactivity associated with the social interactivity point score.