Wagering game employing a threshold-based game enhancement

• US 9,384,634 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2013
• Issued: 07/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Aoki, Dion K., Smith, Pamela S., Steere, Noel
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Assistant Examiner(s): LARSEN, CARL VICTOR
• Application Number:
  US13/760,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20140179396A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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

Abstract

A gaming method of conducting a wagering game includes conducting one or more successive plays of the wagering game via one or more display devices in response to a triggering event. For each of the one or more successive plays, the method includes determining one or more award amounts based on the displayed outcomes of the one or more successive plays. The method further includes aggregating, via one or more processors, each of the one or more award amounts determined over the successive plays to calculate an aggregate award amount and determining, via at least one of the one or more processors, whether the aggregate award amount is greater than a threshold amount. The method includes providing an enhancement to the wagering game in response to the aggregate award amount being greater than the threshold amount.

Claims

1. A method of operating a gaming system, the gaming system including a random element generator, one or more controllers, and a gaming machine, the gaming machine primarily dedicated to playing at least one casino wagering game, the gaming machine including a gaming cabinet, an electronic display device, and an electronic input device, the gaming cabinet constructed to house components associated with the casino wagering game, the electronic display device and the electronic input device being coupled to the gaming cabinet, the method comprising:

generating one or more random elements with the random element generator;

receiving, via a physical input to the electronic input device, a wager input to initiate a base play of the casino wagering game;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, whether a triggering event has occurred;

in response to determining that a triggering event has occurred during the base play and without requiring additional wager input, activating, by the one or more controllers, a threshold-based enhancement functionality during which a plurality of successive bonus plays of the casino wagering game are conducted;

displaying respective outcomes of the successive bonus plays on the electronic display device, the outcomes being based, at least in part, on the one or more random elements, the respective outcomes being displayed in the form of a plurality of symbols along one or more paylines in a display area;

for each of initial ones of the successive bonus plays, determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, one or more award amounts based on the outcomes of the initial ones of successive bonus plays;

aggregating, via at least one of the one or more controllers, each of the one or more award amounts determined over the initial ones of the successive bonus plays to calculate an aggregate award amount;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, whether the aggregate award amount is greater than a threshold amount;

providing an enhancement to remaining ones of the successive bonus plays in response to the aggregate award amount being greater than the threshold amount;

determining, by at least one of the one or more controllers, whether a terminating event has occurred, the plurality of successive bonus plays being conducted until it is determined that the terminating event has occurred; and

enhancing, by at least one of the one or more controllers, the aggregate amount based on the enhancement in response to determining that the terminating event has occurred and the aggregate amount is greater than the threshold amount.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering event is a gameplay-related event.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering event is based on a turnover amount over a plurality of base plays of the casino wagering game.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wager input is indicative of a wager amount, the threshold amount being determined based on the wager amount.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by at least one of the one or more controllers, the enhancement from a plurality of potential enhancements based on the triggering event.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold value is determined prior to the triggering event.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold amount comprises a plurality of threshold levels and the enhancement comprises a plurality of enhancement levels, each of the plurality of enhancement levels being associated with a respective one of the plurality of threshold levels, the determining whether the aggregate amount is greater than the threshold amount including comparing the aggregate amount to the plurality of threshold levels, the providing the enhancement including providing at least one of the plurality of enhancement levels based on the comparing of the aggregate amount to the plurality of threshold levels.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the providing the enhancement, conducting one or more further bonus plays of the casino wagering game; and

determining, by at least one of the one or more controllers, one or more second award amounts based on the conducting of the one or more further bonus plays of the casino wagering game and the enhancement.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the enhancement is a wild symbol.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the enhancement is a multiplier.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, on the electronic display device, an indicator indicating the aggregate amount relative to the threshold amount.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the indicator is a graphical indication of the aggregate amount relative to the threshold amount.

11. A method of operating a gaming system, the gaming system including a random element generator, one or more controllers, and a gaming machine, the gaming machine primarily dedicated to playing at least one casino wagering game, the gaming machine including a gaming cabinet, an electronic display device, and an electronic input device, the gaming cabinet constructed to house components associated with the casino wagering game, the electronic display device and the electronic input device being coupled to the gaming cabinet, the method comprising:

generating one or more random elements with the random element generator;

receiving, via a physical input to the electronic input device, a wager input indicative of a wager to initiate the casino wagering game;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, whether a triggering event has occurred;

in response to determining that a triggering event has occurred, activating, by the one or more controllers, a threshold-based enhancement functionality during which a randomly selected outcome is determined, the randomly selected outcome being based, at least in part, on the one or more random elements;

displaying, on the electronic display device, a plurality of symbols along one or more paylines to indicate the randomly selected outcome of the casino wagering game in a display area;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, two or more award amounts for the one or more paylines, each award amount being based on the wager and the symbols of the randomly selected outcome along a respective one of the one or more paylines;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, an aggregate award amount based on the two or more award amounts;

comparing, via at least one of the one or more controllers, the aggregate award amount to a threshold amount; and

applying, via at least one of the one or more controllers, an enhancement to the aggregate award amount based on the comparing of the aggregate award amount and the threshold amount.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, via another physical input to the electronic input device, a second wager input indicative of a second wager;

displaying, on the electronic display device, a second plurality of symbols along at least one of the one or more paylines to indicate a second randomly selected outcome of the casino wagering game in the display area;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, one or more second award amounts for the at least one or more paylines based on the second wager and the symbols of the second randomly selected outcome;

determining, via at least one of the one or more controllers, a second aggregate award amount based on the one or more award amounts and the one or more second award amounts;

comparing, via at least one of the one or more controllers, the second aggregate award amount to the threshold amount; and

initiating the enhancement to the second aggregate award based on the comparing of the second aggregate award amount and the threshold amount.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining, by at least one of the one or more controllers, whether a terminating event has occurred, the randomly selected outcome being determined prior to determining that the terminating event has occurred; and

enhancing, by at least one of the one or more controllers, the aggregate award amount based on the enhancement in response to determining that the terminating event has occurred and the aggregate award amount is greater than the threshold amount.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the enhancement is a multiplier.

17. A gaming system, comprising:

a gaming machine primarily dedicated to playing at least one casino wagering game the gaming machine including a gaming, an electronic display device, and an electronic input device, the cabinet constructed to house components associated with the casino wagering game, the electronic display device and the electronic input device being coupled to the gaming cabinet, the electronic input device configured to receive a physical input from a player to initiate the casino wagering game and transform the input into an electronic data signal;

a random element generator configured to generate one or more random elements; and

one or more controllers configured to;

initiate the casino wagering game in response to the electronic data signal from the electronic input device of the gaming machine;

determine whether a triggering event has occurred;

in response to determining that a triggering event has occurred, activate a threshold-based enhancement functionality during which one or more randomly selected outcomes of the casino wagering game are determined, the one or more randomly selected outcomes being based, at least in part, on the one or more random elements;

display, on the electronic display device, a plurality of symbols along one or more paylines to indicate the one or more randomly selected outcomes of the casino wagering game in a display area;

evaluate each of the one or more randomly selected outcomes to determine two or more award amounts;

aggregate the two or more award amounts to determine an aggregate award amount;

determine whether the aggregate award amount is greater than a threshold amount; and

if the aggregate award amount is determined to be greater than the threshold amount, provide an enhancement to the aggregate award amount.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors further cause the game to display, on the electronic display device, an indicator indicating the aggregate award amount relative to the threshold amount.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the one or more randomly selected outcomes are displayed during a free-spins event.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the threshold amount is a multiple of at least one of the one or more wagers.

21. The gaming system of claim 17, further comprising:

determining, by at least one of the one or more controllers, whether a terminating event has occurred, the one or more randomly selected outcomes being determined prior to determining that the terminating event has occurred; and

enhancing, by at least one of the one or more controllers, the aggregate award amount based on the enhancement in response to determining that the terminating event has occurred and the aggregate award amount is greater than the threshold amount.

22. The gaming system of claim 21, wherein the enhancement is a multiplier.