Wager gaming voting leaderboard

• US 8,734,221 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2011
• Issued: 05/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Davis, Dwayne A., Nelson, Dwayne R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Coburn, Corbett B
• Application Number:
  US13/250,832
• Publication Number:
  US 20130084958A1
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 463/16
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• 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 17/3272 Games involving multiple players

Abstract

Techniques and equipment for providing a voting point leaderboard system are provided. Players playing wagering games may be awarded voting points for use in a poll with a plurality of candidates in exchange for game-play related activity. Players voting for the winning candidate in the poll may be given an award. Polls may include candidates which may be involved in a real-world contest. Players may be rewarded for voting for the candidate which wins the real-world contest.

Claims

1. A wager gaming player polling server comprising:

a communications interface;

a memory; and

a logic device, the logic device, the memory, and the communications interface operably connected and configured to;

select a plurality of candidates for participation in a poll;

receive input, via the communications interface, indicating a quantity of one or more voting points to be applied to a candidate in the plurality of candidates by each player in a plurality of players, wherein;

the quantity of voting points for each player is drawn from one or more voting points associated with the player in response to one or more trigger events occurring during wagering game play of the player, and

a finite number of voting points are available for association with the players;

tally, for each candidate, a total number of voting points applied to the candidate by all of the players in the plurality of players;

determine, based on the total number of voting points for each candidate, a first candidate of the plurality of candidates with a highest number of total voting points; and

transmit, to an external device via the communications interface, candidate information and voting information based on voting point input received from one or more of the players in the plurality of players.

2. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 1, wherein the logic device, the memory, and the communications interface are further configured to:

associate the one or more voting points for a first player in the plurality of players with the first player in response to the one or more trigger events occurring during wagering game play of the first player.

3. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 2, wherein the logic device, the memory, and the communications interface are further configured to:

determine, in response to a trigger event occurring during the first player'"'"'s wagering game play, that all voting points available for association with the players are currently associated with players in the plurality of players;

disassociate, in response to determining that all voting points available for association with the players are currently associated with players in the plurality of players, a voting point currently associated with a second player from the second player; and

associate the voting point disassociated from the second player with the first player.

4. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 3, wherein the logic device, the memory, and the communications interface are further configured to:

determine that the voting point disassociated from the second player was, prior to disassociation, applied by the second player to a second candidate in the plurality of candidates; and

reduce the tally of the total number of voting points applied to the second candidate by one.

5. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 1, wherein each player in the plurality of players is associated with only one voting point.

6. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 3, wherein a third player in the plurality of players has immunity from having voting points disassociated.

7. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 6, wherein the immunity is conditional based on past applications of voting points of the third player.

8. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 6, wherein the immunity is conditional based on wagering game play of the third player.

9. The wager gaming player polling server of claim 1, wherein an amount of the one or more voting points associated with each of the players is not required to be the same for each of the players.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores a plurality of instructions for controlling devices in a gaming network, the gaming network including a server, a storage device communicatively connected to the server, and a plurality of input stations, to:

select, by the server, a plurality of candidates for participation in a poll;

receive, from the plurality of player input stations, input indicating a quantity of one or more voting points to be applied by each player in a plurality of players to a candidate in the plurality of candidates, wherein;

the quantity of voting points for each player is drawn from one or more voting points associated with the player in response to one or more trigger events occurring during wagering game play of the player, and

a finite number of voting points are available for association with the players;

tally, by the server and for each candidate, a total number of voting points applied to the candidate by all of the players in the plurality of players;

determine, by the server and based on the total number of voting points for each candidate, a first candidate of the plurality of candidates with a highest number of total voting points; and

transmit, to a display device and via the gaming network, candidate information and voting information based on voting point input received from one or more of the players in the plurality of players.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions are configured to further control the devices in the gaming network to:

associate the one or more voting points for a first player in the plurality of players with the first player in response to the one or more trigger events occurring during wagering game play of the first player.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions are configured to further control the devices in the gaming network to:

determine, in response to a trigger event occurring during the first player'"'"'s wagering game play, that all voting points available for association with the players are currently associated with players in the plurality of players;

disassociate, in response to determining that all voting points available for association with the players have been associated with players in the plurality of players, a voting point currently associated with a second player from the second player; and

associate the voting point disassociated from the second player with the first player.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions are configured to further control the devices in the gaming network to:

determine that the voting point disassociated from the second player was, prior to disassociation, applied by the second player to a second candidate in the plurality of candidates; and

reduce the tally of the total number of voting points applied to the second candidate by one.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions are configured to further control the devices in the gaming network to associate a maximum of one voting point with any particular player in the plurality of players.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions are configured to further control the devices in the gaming network to provide immunity from having voting points disassociated to a third player in the plurality of players.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the immunity is conditional based on past applications of voting points of the third player.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the immunity is conditional based on wagering game play of the third player.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein an amount of the one or more voting points associated with each of the players is not required to be the same for each of the players.