System for trade-in bonus

• US 9,767,653 B2
• Filed: 11/11/2016
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acres Technology
• Original Assignee: Patent Investment & Licensing Company
• Inventors: Acres, John F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Milap
• Application Number:
  US15/349,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20170069171A1
• Time in Patent Office: 312 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• 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 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes
• 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 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3265 Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding
• 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 17/3293 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

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming systems that allow customers to wager, or “trade-in” an object of value or winning situation for a chance to win an even more valuable award. The chance for valuable award may be a bonus game or chance to win a bonus game. Bonus awards are “funded” by the savings achieved from the players trading in their wins in the base game, which would otherwise be paid. Players who do not trade-in see no changes from the base game paytable, while those players who participate in the trade-in bonus have a different gaming experience.

Claims

1. A method for playing an electronic poker gaming device that has a paytable having winning outcomes and losing outcomes as a set of predefined cards shown on a display comprising:

receiving value from a player via at least one of a currency acceptor, a ticket acceptor, and a coin acceptor at the gaming device;

applying at least some of the value as a wager on a card game played by the player on the electronic poker gaming device;

dealing a set of n cards to a player of the electronic poker gaming device, the set of n cards defining a first dealt hand;

tracking one or more of the n cards traded in by a player of the electronic poker gaming device after the first dealt hand shown on the display;

determining when at least two cards of the set of n cards are traded in by the player;

determining if the at least two cards comprise one of the winning outcomes in the paytable of the electronic poker gaming device;

adding bonus points to a bonus point total if it is determined that the at least two cards comprise one of the winning outcomes in the paytable of the electronic poker gaming device; and

providing a bonus to the player of the electronic poker gaming device when the bonus point total exceeds a predefined threshold to earn the bonus.

2. The method of claim 1 in which the bonus is a wheel spin in which the player is awarded an amount spun.

3. The method of claim 1 in which the bonus is a bonus card stored in a bonus card accumulator.

4. The method of claim 3 in which, periodically, a matching card is drawn and compared to any bonus cards stored in the bonus card accumulator.

5. The method of claim 4 in which a second bonus is awarded to a player who holds a card in a bonus card accumulator that matches the matching card.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the card game is draw poker.

7. A method for playing an electronic poker gaming device having an payout schedule that has winning outcomes and losing outcomes as a set of predefined dealt cards, comprising:

receiving value from a player via at least one of a bill acceptor, a coin acceptor, and a ticket acceptor on the electronic poker gaming device;

applying at least some of the value as a wager on a poker game played by the player on the electronic poker gaming device;

initiating the poker game played on the electronic poker gaming device responsive to actuation of an actuator by a player of the electronic poker gaming device;

dealing and displaying on an electronic display a first poker hand having n cards representing an interim holding after a first stage;

offering to the player to surrender only a portion of the interim holding after the first stage, wherein the portion includes a quantity of cards less than n;

providing an opportunity for a bonus award in exchange for surrender by the player if the surrendered portion has at least two cards of the n cards comprising one of the winning outcomes in the payout schedule, wherein the bonus award comprises one or more bonus points;

providing awards, if any, after completion of the poker game, according to the payout schedule when the player elects not to surrender any of the interim holding; and

printing a ticket on a ticket printer reflecting an amount cashed out from the electronic poker device.

8. The method of claim 7 in which a cost of the bonus award is at least partially supported by a savings from not paying on the surrendered interim holding.

9. The method of claim 7 in which the bonus award is a number of bonus points.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising initiating a bonus eligibility session after the bonus exceeds a pre-defined number of bonus points.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the poker game is draw poker.

12. A method of playing a game on a gambling device having a paytable including winning outcomes, comprising:

receiving value from a player via at least one of a bill acceptor, a coin acceptor, and a ticket acceptor on the electronic poker gaming device;

applying at least some of the value as a wager on the game played by the player on the electronic gambling device;

initiating the game played on the electronic poker gaming device responsive to actuation of an actuator by a player of the electronic poker gaming device;

automatically dealing a set of n cards to a player under control of a computer processor;

displaying the dealt set of n cards on an electronic display of the gambling device;

accepting only a portion of the set n cards as discards of the dealt set of n cards from the player;

comparing the accepted discards to the winning outcomes of the paytable; and

generating an award for the player when the accepted discards match one of the winning outcomes of the paytable, the award comprising one or more bonus points.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the game is draw poker.

14. The method of claim 12 in which the award is one bonus point that is awarded for accepting discards of any two dissimilar cards of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.

15. The method of claim 12 in which the award is two bonus points that are awarded for accepting discards of any pair of cards having a value less than a pair of Jacks.

16. The method of claim 12 in which the award is three bonus points that are awarded for accepting discards of any pair of Jack, Queen, King, or Ace.