Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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GAMING MACHINE OPERATION S~ CONTROL
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of g~ming m~çhines and more
particularly to the field of g~ming m~rhine speed control.
S Background of the Invention
In g~ming machines such as slot m~rhines, video poker m~çhines
and video lottery terminals, the speed of the m~çhine and hence the rate of
game play is normally set at the factory. In some cases the m~chine is
provided with a control which can be used by the owner of the m~hine to
10 adjust the speed of the machine. Machine speed, for example the rate at
which the cards are dealt in a video poker m~rhine, is an important
consideration in g~3min~ machine design because it can affect the rate of
game play and at the same time it can have an effect on the attractiveness
of the game from a customer standpoint. On the one hand the faster the
15 game operates the greater the rate of game play can be thus resulting in
increased earnings for the machine. On the other hand, very fast g~min~
machine operation can discourage the less experienced customers especially
in a game of skill such as video poker. As a result, the m~hine will not be
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Gaming m~çhine speed therefore generally reflects an estimation by
the m~chine designers as to the op~ um speed which will balance the
speed of m~çhine play against the attractiveness to various types of
customers. To permit a m~rhine owner to O~lhl~i~e the speed for the types
S of customers that patronize his establishment, some g~ming m~chines
provide a control meçh~ni~m that permits the owner to adjust the speed of
the m~çhine. There are also g~ming m~l~hines that are equipped with a
speed control button that permits the customers to adjust the speed of the
m~chine. This approach is not always desirable because this additional
10 machine control can be confusing to customers since it is difficult to provide
clear instructions for its use without cluttering the m~çhine display screen.
However, none of these m~chines has the capability of automatically
adjusting its speed to reflect the skill or preferences of the individual
customer who may be playing that particular m~çhine. This can be a
15 significant disadvantage since most ~min~ establishments inçhl-linP casinos
and video lottery locations serve customers having a variety of skills or
preferences.
Summary of the Invention
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a g~ming
20 machine that includes a mech~ni~m for automatically adjusting the speed of
the machine to reflect the skill of the player playing the m~rhine.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a ~ming
machine that includes a meçh~ni~m that adjusts the speed of the m~hine in
accordance with predetermined play criteria such as the number of games
25 won by the player.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a g~ming m~rhine
that includes a mech:~nism that adjusts the speed of the m~hine as a
function of the rate of play of the m~rhine by the player.
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Another object of the invention is to provide a g~ming m~hinP that
includes a meçh~ni~m for increasing the rate of speed of the m~chine as a
function of the amount won by the player.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a g~ming
S m~çhine that includes a credit meter for storing a credit value where the
m~çhine increases in speed from a preset rate as the frequency of winning
games increases and as the value of winning games increases as reflected in
the amount stored in the credit meter. The game speed is reset to the
preset value when the play operates a collect button to collect the value
10 stored in the credit meter.
Brief Description of the Drawin~s
Fig. 1 is a front view of a video lottery terminal type g~ming
m~chine; Fig. 2 is a block diagrarn of a g~ming m~çhine
incorporating the invention; and
Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the operation of the invention in
the machines of Figs. 1 and 2.
Detailed Description of the Invention
In Fig. 1 is provided a front view of a g~ming m~çhine 10 in this
case a video lottery terminal. Enclosed with a housing 12 is a video display
20 14 upon which a game such as video draw poker can be displayed. In this
case, five cards 16a-16e are presented on the display screen 14 along with a
paytable 18 and a credit meter 20. On a control deck 22 secured to the
housing 12, is a set of control buttons including a bet one button 24, five
hold/cancel buttons 26a-26e, a max bet button 28 and a deal/draw button
25 30. Also included is a collect button 32 that can be used by a player to
collect the credits displayed on the credit meter 20. A coin slot 34 for
receiving coins or tokens paid into the m~çhine 10 is mounted on the deck
22. An additional pay in meçh~nism in the form of a bill acceptor 36 is
mounted in the lower portion of the m~çhine housing 12. Also located in
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the lower portion of the housing is a pay out mech~ni~m 38 which in the
case of the m~hine shown in Fig. 1 is a ticket printer. For casino type
g~ming m~çhines, the pay out mech~ni~m 38 will typically be a coin hopper.
A block diagram of the g~ming m~çhine 10 is provided in Fig. 2. A
5 microprocessor 40 is used to control the m~-hine 10 ~ltili7ing co~ uter
programs stored in a memory 42. Forming part of the memory 42 is a game
speed register 44 that contains a speed factor which is used by the programs
contained in the memory 42 to regulate the speed of the games played on
the m~hine 10. The memory 42 also includes a preset rate register 46 for
10 storing a preset or default game speed and a credit meter register 48 that
stores the amount of credit that a player has in the m~çhine 10. This credit
is usually the amount that the player has paid into the m~thine through the
pay in mech~ni~m 34 or 36 plus the value of the players winnings less his
losses. A base amount register 50 stores a value that represents a credit
15 value that can be used to govern the speed of the m~hine 10. As shown in
Fig. 2 the microprocessor 40 receives input from the control buttons 24-3Q
the collect button 32 and the pay in mech~ni~m 34. The microprocessor 40
also serves to control the display 14 and the payout met~h~ni~m 38. The
machine 10 can optionally include a speed control input 52 that can be
20 implemented by a variety of mech~ni~m~ such as a key pad or a dip switch
thereby permitting the owner of the m~chine 10 to m~n~l~lly adjust the
speed of the m~chine 10. Another m~ml~l input is an automatic speed
control switch 54 that permits the owner of the m~çhine 10 to select an
automatic game speed control program. In the preferred embodiment both
25 the speed control 52 and the automatic speed control switch S4 will be
enclosed within the housing 12 so that they are not ~ccessible to players.
Operation of the preferred embodiment of the invention will be
described in conjunction with the flow chart of Fig. 3. As in most g~ming
m~çhines currently on the market, the g~ming m~hine 10 is controlled by
30 the microprocessor 40 utilizing programs stored in the memory 42. In this
embodiment of the invention, an automatic g~ming m~chine speed control
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routine illustrated by the flow chart in Fig. 3 is initiated by a periodic
interrupt indicated at 56. The routine first determines at 58 whether the
automatic speed control switch 54 is orL If the switch 54 is off, then the
routine exits as shown at 60. However if the switch 54 is on, thus indicating
5 that the m~chine 10 is an automatic speed control mode of operation, the
routine will, as shown at 62, check to determine if the collect button 32 has
been pressed since the last speed control interrupt. In the event that it has,
the routine will as indicated at 64 reset the value in the game speed control
register 44 to the preset rate or base value stored in the register 46 and then
exit the routine at 60. This sequence of logic 62 and 64 is used to in effect
reset the speed of the m~çhine 10 for each new customer. It is based on the
as~u~ ion that when a customer is finished playing the m~hine 10, he will
cash out by pressing the collect button 32. In addition to checking the status
of the collect button 32 the logic indicated at 62 can check the status of the
15 credit meter 48 and if it has remained zero for a predetermined amount of
time, for example five minutes, it can be assumed that the customer has
finished playing. Also, it can be desirable to wait a similar amount of time
after the collect button 32 has been pressed before the logic 62 causes the
speed to be reset at 64 because customers will occasionally cash out for
20 short period of time before resuming play.
~ ccllming that the collect button 32 has not been pressed since the
last interrupt, the routine then checks the value of the amount in the credit
meter 48 against a base credit value stored in the register 50 as indicated at
68. If the value in the credit meter 48 exceeds the base amount, the routine
25 will then compare at 70 the game speed in register 44 to the preset rate in
register 46. Should the value of the game speed in register 44 not be equal
to the preset speed in register 46, the routine ~cs~lmec that the m~hine 10
is operating at an increased speed and exits at 60 otherwise the value in the
speed register 44 is increased at 72. The object of this portion of the
30 routine is to compare the players winnings to a predetermined amount and
if they exceed this amount, the presumption is that the player is a skilled
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player and would therefore desire a faster rate of play. For example, if the
m~çhine 10 is a dollar video poker m~chine and the base amount is $500,
then it can be assumed that the player is a skilled poker player. For casino
type g~ming m~hines, it may be desirable to take into account the amount
5 paid in to the m~çhine 10 via the pay in mech~ni~m 34 bec~ e a large
portion of the value in the credit meter 48 may represent the amount that
player put into the machine 10. In this case, a more accurate gage of the
players winnings could be obtained by subtracting the pay in from the base
amount in the register 50 for each player. Additionally, the amount paid
10 into the m~çhine 10 by the pay mech~nism 34 can be used to increase the
speed of the m~çhine. In this case, if an amount exceeding a base amount
is paid into the m~çhine 10, say $500 into a dollar m~hine, then the logic
of Fig. 3 will transfer to the comparison 70. This is based on the
assumption that an individual paying in a large amount is more likely to be
15 a skilled player.
In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 3, if the amount
in the credit meter 48 is less than the base amount as tested at 68, the
routine will compare at 74 as one measure of a quantity of games with the
actual amount won by the player for a set number of individual games to
20 the average amount won by average players for the same number of games
played on the machine 10. For example, in a video poker m~çhine if the
average win is two or three of a kind and the player is obtaining wins of a
full house or better it can be presumed that the player is of above average
skill. The operation 74 can be implemented by a table m~int~ined in the
25 memory 42 which stores the players win amounts for a certain number of
games and the average win amount for the same number of games. In the
event that the players win amounts are greater than the average win
amounts, the operation 74 will return the routine to the speed increasing
operations 70 and 72. Alternatively, as a measure of the quantity of games
30 won, the logic 74 can compare the average value of the amount won in each
winning game to a predetermined win value per winning game. The
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amounts won by a skilled player in poker for each wirming game will
generally be greater than an unskilled player because the skilled player
knows that the average return will be greater if he elects to try for a hand
that has a higher payoff as opposed to the unskilled player who is more
likely to take a guaranteed win with a lower payoff. For example, the
skilled player will often sacrifice a pair to attempt to obtain a royal flush
due to the fact that the expected return for the royal flush is much greater
than the return for a pair. Other measures of the quantity of games won
which can be implemented by the comparison logic 74 includes the number
of winning games per minute or the percentage of winning games.
Where the win amounts do not exceed the average win amounts, the
routine of Fig. 3 will then compare the player's play rate with an average
play rate at 76. For a video poker m~chine play rate can be measure by the
rate that the player operates the control buttons 24-30 and in a slot m~çhine
the play rate can be measured by the number of handle pulls over a period
of time. These values can be computed by the microprocessor 40 and
compared to average values stored in the memory 42 to implement the
comparison 76. Again a greater play rate suggests a player having above
average skill. If the play rate exceeds the average rate, the operation 76 will
return the routine to the speed increasing operations 70 and 72 other~vise
the routine will exit at 60.
- Although the routine illustrated in Fig. 3 tests the amount won at
68, then the win amounts for a number of games at 74 and then finally the
rate of play at 76, it will be understood that the priority of these tests can be
varied in mzlking a determination as to whether the speed of the m~rhine 10
should be increased. To simplify the description of the invention, the
illustration of the speed increasing operation as shown at 70 and 72 involves
only a single increase in speed of the m~çhine 10. However, it is possible to
increase the speed of the machine 10 in steps in response to the criteria
shown in the operations 68, 74 and 76. This can be achieved for example by
a table in the memory 42 which contains values that can be placed in the
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game speed register 44 in response to the tests performed at 68, 74 and 76.
In this manner it is possible to adjust the speed of the m~clline to a wide
variety of player skills. By the same token the speed of the m~clline 10 can
be reduced in the event that the player should begin to loose. For example,
S if the amount in the credit meter 48 should fall below the base amount in
the register 50 or another predetermined amount, thereby indicating that
the player is beginning to loose, the value in the speed register 44 can be
reduced.
