Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PROGRESSIVE JACKPOT GAMING WITH RANDOM PRIZE
GENERATION
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and
apparatus for controlling a progressive jackpot game
which is part of a live casino game. More
particularly, the invention relates to a method and
apparatus for selecting a prize at random for
participants in the progressive jackpot game.
Background Art
A progressive jackpot game is an auxiliary game
to a casino game in which an extra bet is placed at
the time of placing a normal bet for the casino game.
If the casino game player obtains a predetermined
combination of cards or the like, and the player has
decided to participate in the progressive jackpot
game, then the player wins a portion of the
progressive jackpot. The jackpot is progressive
because it increases in value as players contribute
to it by participating with the extra bet from one
round or hand of the main game to the next. The extra
bet is a fixed amount.
An appeal of the progressive jackpot is that an
additional chance to win is presented in which gaming
skill of the player or dealer is not an issue. For
example, in a poker card game, the progressive
jackpot player can win if he or she has any one of a
predetermined number of high scoring hands. Usually,
these high scoring hands would result in a win at~the
poker game. However, whether or not the high scoring
hand will beat all other hands at the table is not
important since it will qualify for a progressive
jackpot win. Moreover, a player can only win in poker
in proportion to his beta The progressive jackpot
game allows a player to bet modestly and yet win a
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substantial prize if his hand turns out to be high
scoring, provided that he continues to place the
small extra bet to participate in the progressive
j ackpot .
US patent 4,861,041 to Jones et al. describes a
progressive jackpot gaming method and apparatus in
which winner selection is based solely on possession
of any one of a few predetermined high scoring card
arrangements by a participant.
Summary of Invention
It has been found that winner selection by
possession of one of a few predetermined high scoring
arrangements of cards lacks a certain appeal to
players who are willing to take a chance on the extra
bet for the progressive jackpot, but who do not
expect to obtain a high scoring hand. A more random
method of winner selection would be more appealing to
players participating in a progressive jackpot
auxiliary game, because when the winner selection is
more random, then anyone can win.
According to the invention, there is provided a
method and apparatus for selecting at random an
element determining a winner in a progressive jackpot
game. The element can be simply a player's position
(seat), or a given card or combination of cards held
by participants in the casino, at a table among all
tables in the casino, or by a given participant. For
example, blackjack players at three different tables
may all participate in a progressive jackpot.
Predetermined prizes (i.e. percentages of the
jackpot) are awarded to all participants who have
high scoring hands, such as blackjack, twenty-one, or
twenty with more than four cards. In addition to
these prizes, a card is selected at random, and any
participant (winner or loser) having this card in his
hand wins a prize of a predetermined or randomly
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decided value. Similarly, the value of the prize can
be increased, and the prize will be awarded to only
participants at a randomly selected one of the three
tables. Additionally, a given participant can be
selected and a single card can be selected as the
winning card for the progressive win. As can be
appreciated, the perceived chance of winning
comprises more luck than skill in the principal
casino game.
The invention provides a progressive jackpot
game in which a prize is determined by one or more of
the following:
i) randomly choosing the winning card or
combination of cards at the end of the principal
game;
ii) randomly selecting at the end of the
principal game from all participants one of the
following: a) directly a winners b) a single
participant who may win if in possession of the card
or combination of cards determined in i); and c) a
table whose participants may win if in possession of
the card or combination of cards determined in i);
and
iii) randomly selecting the amount of the prize
either as a random fixed amount or a random
percentage of the jackpot.
As mentioned above, a high scoring hand usually
implies that a player will win whether he or she has
participated in the progressive jackpot or not. The
invention extends the chance of winning the jackpot
to both winners and losers, which encourages players
to participate in the progressive jackpot with every
hand. In the case that the prize winner or potential
prize winner is selected at random, it is also
possible according to the invention to select a
player among all players at random, whereby the
selected player cannot win unless he or she also
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participated in the progressive jackpot game. This
reminds all players that they may miss their chance
unless they participate in the progressive jackpot
with every hand, especially when they witness a
potential winner "miss out" because he or she did not
participate.
Additionally, a player may be picked at random
and given an opportunity, free of charge, to
participate in the progressive jackpot game.
According to the invention, there is provided an
apparatus for determining a progressive jackpot prize
winner among players of a principal casino game,
comprising input means for inputting a state of the
principal casino game, the state being after a
beginning of the principal casino game, and means
connected to the input means for randomly selecting
at least one of the players and indicating
eligibility of the players selected to win a prize.
The invention also provides an apparatus for
determining a progressive jackpot prize winner among
players of a principal casino card game, comprising
input means for inputting a state of the principal
casino game, the state being after a beginning of the
principal casino card game, and means for randomly
picking and displaying one of a winning card and a
winning combination of cards, whereby eligible
players must possess the winning card or combination
of cards to collect the prize. There is further
provided according to the invention, an apparatus for
determining a progressive jackpot prize winner among
players of the principal casino game, comprising
input means for inputting a state of the principal
casino game, the state being after a beginning of the
principal casino game, and prize selecting means for
randomly determining the prize to be awarded from the
progressive jackpot.
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Brief Description of Drawings
The invention will be better understood by way
of the following detailed description of a preferred
embodiment with reference to the appended drawing, in
which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a progressive
jackpot prize winner determining apparatus according
to the preferred embodiment.
Description of Preferred Embodiments
First, the structure of the apparatus according
to the preferred embodiment will be described, and
thereafter the method of playing the progressive
jackpot game will be described.
As shown in Fig. 1, the invention according to
the preferred embodiment comprises at each casino
card table 15 a plurality 'n' of player positions
each having a token acceptor 14, and a play indicator
LED 22 for indicating whether the player has put a
token into acceptor 14 and is participating in the
progressive jackpot game. An additional chosen LED 24
indicates whether the player has been chosen on a
random basis to be eligible for winning a progressive
jackpot prize. When a player wishes to participate in
the progressive jackpot game, he or she inserts a
token or coin into the acceptor 14. Once the game has
started as indicated by the dealer using the keypad
16. The controller 10 then signals on line 40 to lock
the token acceptors from further accepting tokens
(i.e. a solenoid blocking mechanism is included in
the token acceptor slot).
At each gaming table, there is provided a
controller 10 which is connected by buses 40,42,44,46
to units 14,22,24 at each player of the table. The
controller 10 is connected to a keypad 16 by which
the dealer at the table operates the progressive
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jackpot game for the table, namely he inputs using
the keypad 16 when the card game is at an end, when
the next game is ready to start (i.e. ready to accept
tokens for participating in the progressive jackpot
game) and when the principal card game is under way.
A random player selector 26 includes a random number
generator for selecting at random one of the players
at the table, either assuming there may be a player
at all positions at the table or taking into account
which players are present as entered by the dealer at
keypad 16.
A winning "magic" card or combination of cards
are picked anew for each card game round using a
random number generator 28 picking cards from a
virtual deck of cards. Of course, cards from an
actual deck could also be picked. Picking from an
actual deck of cards can be done at random using a
mechanical card selection device. Computer software
card games which randomly pick cards from a virtual
deck of cards are known in the art. The value of the
prize which may be won by the chosen player having
the picked magic card or combination of cards is
determined by random prize selector 30. Of course,
the prize may be a percentage of the progressive
jackpot or a fixed amount.
A display 18 is also connected to controller 10
for displaying the magic card or the combination of
cards which are eligible to win, as well as the
position of the player who is eligible to win and the
amount which can be won. The display 18 can be a
monitor placed in a location where both the dealer
and the players can see it.
A master controller 12 is provided for
controlling the progressive jackpot game for a group
of tables or even for the whole casino. An input
keyboard 34 is connected to controller 12 for command
input. One or more wall display units 20 are also
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connected to the controller 12 for showing the amount
of the progressive jackpot. Since the controller 12
can also decide on a random basis which tables are
selected to be eligible to win, a random table
selector 32 is provided. Table selection can be
weighted based on participation at each table. A
report printer 36 is also connected to controller 12
for printing up daily performance reports.
As can be appreciated, the table controller 10
and units 16,18,26,28,30 could be integrated into a
personal computer provided with a controller I/0 card
for the buses 40,42,44,46, network communications
link between the computer and the master controller
12, and the appropriate control software. The master
controller 12 can also be controlled remotely via a
modem 35. In this way, it would even be possible to
have a progressive jackpot shared among several
casinos with one computer centrally controlling the
master controllers 12 at various casino locations by
modems 35.
An example of the operation of the preferred
embodiment will now be described. The object of the
progressive jackpot game is to add to the principal
casino game an additional chance of winning which is
distinct from the principal game. This may be done in
one of two ways. First, the chance of winning in the
progressive jackpot game is unrelated to the chance
of winning in the casino game. Second, the chance of
winning a much larger bonus prize from the
progressive jackpot is present when a high scoring
arrangement of cards is obtained even if the amount
bet in the principal game was small. An example of
the first way is a loser in the principal game who
participates in the progressive jackpot and possesses
the winning cards for the progressive jackpot win on
the basis of randomly picked cards. An example of the
second way is the player who participates in the
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progressive jackpot and obtains the highest scoring
card combination, such as a Royal Flush in poker or a
given combination totaling twenty-one in blackjack.
In the first way, the progressive jackpot win is
achieved by chance unrelated to the principal game.
In the second way, the jackpot win is a bonus to what
should be a winning hand in the principal game. In
the example, both ways of winning are combined.
Ultimately, the player who participates in the
progressive jackpot game loses none of the excitement
and rewards of the principal game while gaining an
additional incentive to continue playing.
In the present invention, there is an additional
random element associated with winning a progressive
jackpot prize. The system can choose at random any
player or participant, or table of players to be
eligible to win the random bonus prize. All players
who pay to participate in the progressive jackpot
game will win if in possession of the predetermined
high scoring card combinations. In the case of poker,
these combinations are: royal flush, straight flush,
four of a kind, full house and flush. The prize
awarded for these combinations are a percentage of
the total progressive jackpot, the percentage being
different for each combination as an inverse
proportion to the chances of obtaining the
combination. The jackpot is incremented in value each
time a player participates by an amount which is less
than the amount of the token accepted for
participation.
The random bonus prize can be a small fixed
amount and can be won by all participants having a
picked card termed the magic card. In poker, a player
has five cards and the odds of having one of 52 cards
is about 1:10. For poker players, the prize may be
small, such as 4 tokens. This prize could be paid, or
simply be given as a credit to the player's position
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for future participation. In twenty-one, most players
will take only a few cards, so the odds of having the
magic card without busting are smaller. For twenty-
one players, the prize could be 12 tokens. Again the
prize could be paid or taken in credits.
The invention also allows for more interesting
versions of the random bonus prize determination. For
instance, the master controller can select a table at
random in the casino to be a grand prize winner. The
selected table could announce to participants after
accepting tokens for the game that the magic card
bonus prize value is significantly larger, namely ten
times greater. Alternatively, the master controller
could simply instruct the table controller 10 of the
selected table to pick at random one of its
participants for the purposes of awarding a bonus
prize without any requirement of possession of a
given card.
The random card picker 28 at each table can also
be used to pick out two cards at random from the
virtual deck as being the magic cards. Possession of
two cards involves much lower odds, and the play back
for the two card combination can be significant, e.g.
20 tokens in the case of poker. The random card
combination can also be one of a set of card
combinations having a medium scoring value, e.g. a
red or black pair of any rank, a pair of rank ten or
greater, and three of a kind. The value of the prize
awarded can take into consideration the odds of
having the particular combination of cards selected.
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