Online gaming tournament system having prizes for players in winning categories and method therefor

• US 9,123,205 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2014
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Weingardt Development, LLC
• Original Assignee: Gaming Grids, LLC
• Inventors: Weingardt, Gary, Howle, Travis N., Garvey, Dana, Connolly, Robert E. III
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US14/290,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20140357350A1
• Time in Patent Office: 460 Days
• Field of Search: 463/27, 463/28, 463/42
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a video gaming system having a server and including a processor for executing computer program instructions and having a memory coupled to the processor for storing the computer program instructions, the programming instructions comprising: establishing at least one online video gaming tournament; accepting participants entry into the online video gaming tournament; establishing a tournament pool, which includes a system of rewards and wherein a percentage of rewards is distributed as winnings; distribution of winnings upon completion of the video gaming tournament the distribution being based upon the player'"'"'s statistical game performance.

Claims

1. A video gaming system having plurality of video gaming servers for hosting online video gaming tournaments, the system comprising:

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server coupled to the plurality of video gaming servers having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

establishing at least one online video gaming tournament;

accepting by the statistical server entry of a plurality of participants into the online video gaming tournament;

accepting of an entry fee by each of the plurality of participants in the online video gaming tournament;

establishing by the application programming interface a dynamic participant ranking grid, the dynamic participant ranking grid updating based on performance of each participant of the plurality of participants in-game, wherein a position of individual participants of the plurality of participants on the dynamic participant ranking grid moves during and after the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool, which includes a reward system and wherein a percentage of the rewards are distributed as winnings;

establishing a consolation prize system to pay non-winning participants a percentage of monies from the entry fee collected;

establishing at least one progressive jackpot; and

distributing by the application programming interface the winnings upon the completion of the video gaming tournament.

2. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the dynamic participant ranking grid is a multi-level, multi-tier dynamic participant ranking grid.

3. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein performance of the participant in-game and skill ranking differential between at least two participants determine movement on the dynamic participant ranking grid.

4. The video gaming system of claim 3, wherein the dynamic participant ranking grid defines a 3 dimensional cube.

5. The video gaming system of claim 3, wherein a percentage of a losing participant skill ranking is given to a winning participant or an in-game performance score multiplier.

6. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing virtual participant bank accounts, payment of winnings distributed by the application programming interface and contained within the virtual participant bank account of the winning participants.

7. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the at least one progressive jackpot is awarded based on skill based on one of:

achievements in the online video gaming tournament or combinations of skill sets or sequential skills or skill sets performed in the online video gaming tournament.

8. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of progressive jackpots, wherein the plurality of progressive jackpots comprises a plurality of visible progressive jackpots and a plurality of hidden progressive jackpots.

9. The video gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of visible progressive jackpots comprises at least a secondary pool and a primary pool.

10. The video gaming system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of hidden progressive jackpots comprises:

a first hidden pool allocated to replace the primary pool; and

a second hidden pool allocated to replace the first hidden pool.

11. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein establishing at least one online video gaming tournament further comprises:

establishing at least one global online video gaming tournament; and

establishing at least one regional online video gaming tournament.

12. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the participants do not pay a fee for joining the tournament, but rather pay a subscription service for free tournaments.

13. The video gaming system of claim 1, wherein the participants join a non-fee tournament.

14. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions further comprises automatically joining the at least one online video gaming tournament based on predefined criteria.

15. An online video gaming tournament system comprising:

a plurality of video gaming servers for hosting a plurality of online video gaming tournaments, wherein the plurality of online video gaming tournaments comprises;

at least one global online video gaming tournament; and

at least one regional online video gaming tournament;

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server coupled to the plurality of video gaming servers having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

accepting by the statistical server entry of a plurality of participants into the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool, which includes a reward system and wherein a percentage of the rewards are distributed as winnings;

establishing by the application programming interface a dynamic participant ranking grid, the dynamic participant ranking grid updating based on performance of each participant of the plurality of participants in-game, wherein a position of individual participants of the plurality of participants on the dynamic participant ranking grid moves during and after the online video gaming tournaments, wherein performance of the participant in-game and skill ranking differential between two participants determine movement on the dynamic participant ranking grid;

establishing at least one progressive jackpot; and

distributing by the application programming interface the winnings upon the completion of the video gaming tournament.

16. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 15, wherein the dynamic participant ranking grid is a multi-level, multi-tier dynamic participant ranking grid.

17. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 15, wherein a percentage of a losing participant skill ranking is given to a winning participant or an in-game performance score multiplier.

18. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 15, wherein the program instructions further comprise establishing virtual participant bank accounts, payment of winnings distributed by the application programming interface and contained within the virtual participant bank account of the winning participants.

19. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 15, wherein the at least one progressive jackpot is awarded based on skill based achievements.

20. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 19, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of progressive jackpots, wherein the plurality of progressive jackpots comprises a plurality of visible progressive jackpots and a plurality of hidden progressive jackpots.

21. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of visible progressive jackpots comprises at least a secondary pool and a primary pool.

22. The video gaming system of claim 15, wherein the participants each pay a fee for joining the tournament, thereby defining a fee tournament.

23. An online video gaming tournament system comprising:

a plurality of video gaming servers for hosting a plurality of online video gaming tournaments, wherein the plurality of online video gaming tournaments comprises;

at least one global online video gaming tournament; and

at least one regional online video gaming tournament;

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server coupled to the plurality of video gaming servers having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

accepting by the statistical server entry of a plurality of participants into the online video gaming tournament;

accepting of a fee paid by each of the plurality of participants in the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool, wherein a percentage of monies from the fee collected is distributed as winnings and a percentage of monies from the fee collected is distributed to predetermined non-winning participants;

establishing by the application programming interface a dynamic participant multi-level, multi-tier ranking grid, the dynamic participant ranking grid updating based on performance of each participant of the plurality of participants in-game, wherein a position of individual participants of the plurality of participants on the dynamic participant ranking grid moves during and after the online video gaming tournaments, wherein performance of the participant in-game and skill ranking differential between at least two participants determine movement on the dynamic participant ranking grid;

establishing virtual participant bank accounts, payment of winnings distributed by the application programming interface and contained within the virtual participant bank account of the winning participants; and

payment of winnings after the video gaming tournaments have expired, payment of winnings based on participant'"'"'s statistical game performance.

24. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 23, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of progressive jackpots, wherein at least one of the plurality of progressive jackpots is awarded based on skill based on one of:

achievements in the online video gaming tournament or combinations of skill sets or sequential skills or skill sets performed in the online video gaming tournament.

25. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 24, wherein the plurality of progressive jackpots comprises:

a plurality of visible progressive jackpots, wherein the plurality of visible progressive jackpots comprises;

at least a secondary pool; and

a primary pool; and

a plurality of hidden progressive jackpots, wherein the plurality of hidden progressive jackpots comprises;

a first hidden pool allocated to replace the primary pool; and

a second hidden pool allocated to replace the first hidden pool.

26. The online video gaming tournament system of claim 23, wherein the program instructions further comprises automatically joining one of the plurality of online video gaming tournaments based on predefined criteria.

27. A video gaming system comprising:

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

establishing at least one online video gaming tournament;

accepting by the statistical server of entry fees by participants in the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool, wherein a percentage of monies from the entry fees collected is distributed by the application programming interface as winnings; and

establishing at least one progressive jackpot, the at least one progressive jackpot is awarded based on skill based achievements, the at least one progressive jackpot is awarded based on skill based on one of;

achievements in the online video gaming tournament or combinations of skill sets or sequential skills or skill sets performed in the online video gaming tournament.

28. The video gaming system of claim 27, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of progressive jackpots, wherein the plurality of progressive jackpots comprises a plurality of visible progressive jackpots and a plurality of hidden progressive jackpots.

29. The video gaming system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of visible progressive jackpots comprises at least a secondary pool and a primary pool.

30. The video gaming system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of hidden progressive jackpots comprises:

a first hidden pool allocated to replace the primary pool; and

a second hidden pool allocated to replace the first hidden pool.

31. A video gaming system comprising:

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

establishing at least one online video gaming tournament;

accepting by the statistical server of entry fees by participants in the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool, wherein a percentage of monies from the entry fees collected is distributed by the application programming interface as winnings; and

establishing a consolation prize system to pay non-winning participants a percentage of monies from the entry fees collected, wherein each consolation prize group is populated by a predetermined percentage of participants and awarded a predetermined percentage of the tournament pool.

32. The video gaming system of claim 31, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of consolation prize groups for the consolation prize system.

33. The video gaming system of claim 31, wherein the program instructions further comprises establishing a plurality of consolation prize groups for the consolation prize system, wherein each consolation prize group is populated by a predetermined percentage of participants.

34. A video gaming system comprising:

a statistical server having an application programming interface, the application programming interface configured to automatically calculate performance statistics relating to a game being played on the video gaming servers;

the statistical server having a processor for executing program instructions and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program instructions, the programming instructions comprising;

establishing at least one online video gaming tournament;

accepting by the statistical server entry of a plurality of players in the online video gaming tournament;

establishing a tournament pool which distributes rewards, wherein a percentage of rewards are distributed by the application programming interface as winnings;

creating a 3-dimensional cube based on player skill based achievements, the cube storing and ranking players based on the achievements; and

comparing the differential ranking and skill level between at least two players competing in a match and determining the actual cube movement during and after a match and determining player post-match ranking.

35. The video gaming system of claim 34, wherein the program instructions specific to the cube include tracking player in-game performance and skill ranking throughout the game and updating player rank and skill level based on in-game performance.

36. The video gaming system of claim 34, wherein the cube includes a post-match performance algorithm, which based upon program instructions selectively does one or more of the following:

assigns a percentage of the losing player'"'"'s skill ranking to the winning player, declares an in-game performance score multiplier, transfers skill rating from a losing player to a winning player, and rewards a winning player with additional skill rating level based on an outcome with a higher-ranked player.

37. The video gaming system of claim 34, wherein the cube includes a plurality of stacked grids, each grid having a plurality of layers and each level having a plurality of tiers.

38. The video gaming system of claim 34, wherein the program instructions specific to the cube include comparing the differential ranking results for the game being played and instructing the cube to rank each game.