Gaming system and method providing one or more incentives to delay expected termination of a gaming session

• US 9,177,440 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2014
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Thompson, Adam J., Bond, Eugene T., Powell, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): D'Agostino, Paul A
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRAY, BRANDON RAMON
• Application Number:
  US14/450,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20140342839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 456 Days
• Field of Search: 463/20, 463/25, 463/26, 463/30, 463/43
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a gaming system and method providing one or more incentives to delay termination of a gaming session. In general, for a player, the gaming system utilizes gaming session data collected from the player'"'"'s previous gaming sessions to determine one or more termination causation events for the player. When a designated number of the termination causation events occur during a current gaming session of the player, the gaming system provides an incentive to the player, wherein the incentive is configured to cause the player to delay expected termination of the player'"'"'s current gaming session. In certain embodiments, the gaming system optimizes an incentive available to be provided to a player based on the effectiveness of prior incentives provided to the player.

Claims

1. A gaming system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to;

(a) following;

(i) receipt, via an acceptor of a gaming device, of a physical item associated with a monetary value;

(ii) identification, via a validator of the gaming device, of the received physical item;

(iii) establishment of a credit balance for a player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the received and identified physical item; and

(iv) receipt of one or more actuations of a wager button of the gaming device to initiate one or more plays of a wagering game, receive, from the gaming device, gaming session data associated with the player'"'"'s gaming activity during a gaming session, the gaming session data including gaming session termination data associated with a termination of the gaming session;

(b) store the received gaming session data;

(c) determine whether to modify at least one termination causation event of a set of one or more stored termination causation events associated with the player based at least in part on the stored gaming session data, wherein each termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events is predicted to cause the player to terminate a subsequent gaming session of the player if said termination causation event occurs in association with the subsequent gaming session;

(d) if it is determined to modify at least one termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events, modify said at least one termination causation event based at least in part on the stored gaming session data; and

(e) for the subsequent gaming session, if one of the termination causation events of the set of one or more stored termination causation events occurs;

(i) determine an incentive, (ii) cause the determined incentive to be provided, and (iii) cause at least one display device to display the determined incentive.

2. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to determine whether to modify said at least one termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events based at least in part on the stored gaming session data and at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) gaming session termination data associated with at least one prior gaming session of the player, (b) gaming session termination data associated with at least one gaming session of at least one other player, and (c) demographic and identification information of the player.

3. The gaming system of claim 2, wherein the demographic and identification information of the player includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) an age of the player, (b) a gender of the player, (c) an income of the player, and (d) a marital status of the player.

4. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the gaming session termination data represents at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a length of the gaming session, (b) a total quantity of credits lost during the gaming session, (c) a total quantity of credits won during the gaming session, and (d) a maximum award amount won during the gaming session.

5. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to determine the incentive based on at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) gaming session termination data associated with at least one prior gaming session of the player, (b) gaming session termination data associated with at least one gaming session of at least one other player, and (c) demographic and identification information of the player.

6. The gaming system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to determine whether the provided incentive is effective at causing the player to delay termination of the subsequent gaming session and, if it is determined that the provided incentive is not effective at causing the player to delay termination of the subsequent gaming session, modify the provided incentive for a second subsequent gaming session.

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

(a) following;

(i) receipt, via an acceptor of a gaming device, of a physical item associated with a monetary value;

(ii) identification, via a validator of the gaming device, of the received physical item;

(iii) establishment of a credit balance for a player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the received and identified physical item; and

(iv) receipt of one or more actuations of a wager button of the gaming device to initiate one or more plays of a wagering game, receiving, from the gaming device, gaming session data associated with the player'"'"'s gaming activity during a gaming session, the gaming session data including gaming session termination data associated with a termination of the gaming session;

(b) causing at least one processor to store the received gaming session data in at least one memory device;

(c) causing the at least one processor to determine whether to modify at least one termination causation event of a set of one or more stored termination causation events associated with the player based at least in part on the stored gaming session data, wherein each termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events is predicted to cause the player to terminate a subsequent gaming session of the player if said termination causation event occurs in association with the subsequent gaming session;

(d) if it is determined to modify at least one termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events, causing the at least one processor to modify said at least one termination causation event based at least in part on the stored gaming session data; and

(e) for the subsequent gaming session, if one of the termination causation events of the set of one or more stored termination causation events occurs;

(i) causing the at least one processor to determine an incentive, (ii) causing the at least one processor to cause the determined incentive to be provided, and (iii) causing the at least one processor to cause at least one display device to display the determined incentive.

8. The method of claim 7, which includes causing the at least one processor to determine whether to modify said at least one termination causation event of the set of one or more stored termination causation events based at least in part on the stored gaming session data and at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) gaming session termination data associated with at least one prior gaming session of the player, (b) gaming session termination data associated with at least one gaming session of at least one other player, and (c) demographic and identification information of the player.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the demographic and identification information of the player includes at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) an age of the player, (b) a gender of the player, (c) an income of the player, and (d) a marital status of the player.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the gaming session termination data represents at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a length of the gaming session, (b) a total quantity of credits lost during the gaming session, (c) a total quantity of credits won during the gaming session, and (d) a maximum award amount won during the gaming session.

11. The method of claim 7, which includes causing the at least one processor to determine the incentive based on at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) gaming session termination data associated with at least one prior gaming session of the player, (b) gaming session termination data associated with at least one gaming session of at least one other player, and (c) demographic and identification information of the player.

12. The method of claim 7, which includes causing the at least one processor to determine whether the provided incentive is effective at causing the player to delay termination of the subsequent gaming session and, if it is determined that the provided incentive is not effective at causing the player to delay termination of the subsequent gaming session, modify the provided incentive for a second subsequent gaming session.

13. The method of claim 7, which is provided through a data network.

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

15. A gaming system comprising:

a housing;

at least one processor;

at least one display device supported by the housing;

a plurality of input devices supported by the housing, the plurality of input devices including an acceptor and a validator; and

at least one memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one display device and the plurality of input devices to;

(a) for a first gaming session of a player;

(i) if a first physical item associated with a first monetary value is received via the acceptor, identify the received first physical item via the validator and establish a first credit balance for the player based at least in part on the first monetary value associated with the received and identified first physical item;

(ii) display one or more plays of a first game upon receipt of one or more actuations of a wager button;

(iii) if a first termination causation event occurs, the first termination causation event predicted to cause the player to terminate the first gaming session, provide a first incentive to the player and display the provided first incentive;

(iv) receive a first actuation of a cashout button and terminate the first gaming session; and

(v) send first gaming session data associated with said one or more plays of the game to a controller, the first gaming session data including first gaming session termination data associated with the termination of the first gaming session; and

(b) for a second subsequent gaming session of the player;

(i) if a second physical item associated with a second monetary value is received via the acceptor, identify the received second physical item via the validator and establish a second credit balance for the player based at least in part on the second monetary value associated with the received and identified second physical item;

(ii) display one or more plays of a second game upon receipt of one or more actuations of the wager button;

(iii) if a second termination causation event occurs, the second termination causation event being a modified version of the first termination causation event and predicted to cause the player to terminate the second gaming session, provide a second incentive to the player and display the provided second incentive;

(iv) receive a second actuation of the cashout button terminate the second gaming session; and

(v) send second gaming session data associated with said one or more plays of the second game to the controller, the second gaming session data including second gaming session termination data associated with the termination of the second gaming session.

16. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein the first game and the second game are the same.

17. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein the first incentive and the second incentive are different.

18. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein the first gaming session termination data represents at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a length of the first gaming session, (b) a total quantity of credits lost during the first gaming session, (c) a total quantity of credits won during the first gaming session, and (d) a maximum award amount won during the first gaming session.

19. The gaming system of claim 15, wherein the second gaming session termination data represents at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a length of the second gaming session, (b) a total quantity of credits lost during the second gaming session, (c) a total quantity of credits won during the second gaming session, and (d) a maximum award amount won during the second gaming session.

20. The gaming session of claim 15, which includes a ticket printer, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

(a) for the first gaming session, when the first actuation of the cashout button is received and the first credit balance of the player is greater than zero, terminate the first gaming session and cause the ticket printer to print and output a first redeemable ticket associated with the first credit balance of the player; and

(b) for the second gaming session, when the second actuation of the cashout button is received and the second credit balance of the player is greater than zero, terminate the second gaming session and cause the ticket printer to print and output a second redeemable ticket associated with the second credit balance of the player.