Games and gaming machines having wheel features

• US 9,342,954 B1
• Filed: 01/07/2015
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rocket Gaming Systems, Llc
• Original Assignee: Rocket Gaming Systems, Llc
• Inventors: Harris, Ronnie W.
• Primary Examiner(s): TORIMIRO, ADETOKUNBO OLUSEGUN
• Application Number:
  US14/591,814
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 463/13, 463/19, 463/21, 463/25, 463/40, 463/42
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/045 using a rotating wheel and a fixed indicator, e.g. fortune wheels
• 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 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

Gaming machines and games are configured with one or more wheel events or features. The wheel events or features may comprise main games or bonus games, or may comprise entertaining representations of outcomes of other games or events. The wheel events comprise the selection of one or more segments of a wheel having associated awards. Wheel events may have various entertaining configurations, such as morphing wheels, symbols that reveal awards and the like.

Claims

1. A wheel event for a wagering game presented at a gaming machine comprising the machine-implemented steps of:

displaying a wheel having a plurality of segments, at least one of the plurality of segments comprising a blank segment initially not displaying an associated attribute;

initiating a wheel segment selection event wherein the wheel or a selector associated with the wheel begins spinning;

after the wheel segment selection event is initiated, associating an attribute with each blank segment and displaying the attributes on the plurality of segments; and

awarding an award based upon the attribute associated with the selected segment.

2. The wheel event according to claim 1, wherein the attributes are associated with the blank segments and are displayed on the blank segments during the spinning.

3. The wheel event according to claim 1, wherein the attributes are associated with the blank segments and are displayed on the blank segments when the wheel or selector stops spinning.

4. The wheel event according to claim 1, wherein the attributes associated with the blank segments are randomly generated.

5. The wheel event according to claim 1, wherein the attributes associated with the blank segments are determined by at least one player input.

6. The wheel event according to claim 5, wherein the at least one player input comprises a wager, wherein different wager amounts correspond to different sets of attributes to be associated with the blank segments.

7. The wheel event according to claim 5, wherein the at least one player input selects a set of attributes from among a plurality of sets of attributes to be associated with the blank segments.

8. The wheel event according to claim 5, wherein the at least one player input selects the attributes to be associated with the blank segments.

9. The wheel event according to claim 1, further comprising merging one or more blank segments together into a single segment after the wheel segment selection event is initiated.

10. The wheel event according to claim 9, wherein the attributes are associated with the segments after the merging.

11. The wheel event according to claim 9, wherein the attributes are associated with the segments prior to merging, and the single segment comprises at least one combinations of attributes associated with the merged segments.

12. The wheel event according to claim 1, wherein all of the plurality of segments are initially blank segments.