Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
METHOD OF PLAYING GAME AND
GAMING DEVICE WITH AN ADDITIONAL PAYOUT INDICATOR
The present invention is directed to novel gaming
devices and, more particularly, to gaming devices comprising
at least one bonus indicator capable of indicating at least
one of a plurality of bonuses.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Games of chance have been enjoyed by people for
thousands of years and have enjoyed widespread popularity in
recent times . Many people enj oy playing a wide variety of
games that they have not played before. Playing new games
adds to the excitement of this recreational activity
particularly when some form of "gaming" is involved. As used
herein, the term "gaming" and "gaming devices" are used to
indicate that some form of wagering is involved, and that
players must make wagers of value, whether actual currency or
some equivalent of value, e.g., token or credit.
One popular game of chance that has long been
enjoyed by many players is the slot machine. Conventionally,
a slot machine is configured for a player to input something
of value, e.g., a standard denomination of currency or house
token or other representation of currency or credit, and then
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to permit the player to activate the device which causes a
plurality of reels to spin and ultimately stop to display a
random combination of some form of indicia, for example,
numbers or symbols. If this display contains one of a
preselected plurality of winning combinations, the machine
releases money into a payout chute or onto a credit meter for
the player. For example, if a player initially wagered two
coins of a national currency and that player won a high
payout, that player may receive fifty coins of the same
denomination in return.
Since it is desirable to offer players games which
they have not played before, it would be desirable to provide
a player with new games and additional opportunities to
receive winning payouts.
Those familiar with games involving winning payouts,
such as the popular television game show entitled "WHEEL OF
FORTUNE" will realize that as players and observers watch a
large wheel spin and gradually come to rest, the players
experience a heightened feeling of anticipation and excitement
as the wheel is slowing down to indicate a possible prize.
It would therefore also be desirable to provide a
payout indicator which is discernible by a player and/or other
observers.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Various embodiments of the present invention
comprise gaming devices having a first gaming unit, e.g.,
rotatable reels and at least one discernible indicia of a
mechanical bonus payout indicator. According to the most
preferred embodiments, the bonus payout indicator is clearly
visible to a player and is operable when primary reels of a
slot machine stop on certain predetermined indicia. According
to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a bonus
indicator is in the form of a rotatable bonus wheel which can
be caused to spin automatically or in response to some action
by a player, e.g., the player pushing a button, when the
primary reels indicate one of a predetermined plurality of
indicia. When the wheel stops, a pointer indicates the bonus
payout to be awarded to the player.
Another preferred embodiment of the present
invention further comprises a discernible multiplier which
provides the ability to change either the payout from the
primary gaming unit or the bonus indicator, or both. As
described in more detail below, it is within the scope of the
present invention to provide a payout from the primary gaming
unit, a payout indicated by the bonus indicator only, a payout
f rom the primary gaming unit or the bonus indicator as changed
by the multiplier, or a separate, plurality of payouts from
the primary gaming unit and the bonus indicator either with or
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without modification by a multiplier.
According to one preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the mechanical bonus payout indicator is electro-
mechanically operated and is linked to a random number
generator which determines where the bonus indicator actually
stops.
According to another preferred embodiment of the
present invention, when the primary reels stop on one of a
predetermined plurality of winning indicia sets, a bonus
actuator is placed in an active state. According to this
embodiment, a person, such as the player, must actuate the
actuator in order to operate the bonus indicator.
According to another embodiment of the present
invention, the bonus actuator requires operator intervention
so that a player must involve a casino attendant who can
activate the bonus indicator.
According to another preferred embodiment of the
present invention, the bonus indicator is connected to a drive
mechanism which gradually reduces the rate of spin of the
bonus wheel before the bonus wheel stops.
Still other embodiments of the present invention
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comprise gaming devices having electronic means for displaying
indicia of rotatable reels such as a video screen and/or means
for displaying indicia of a bonus payout indicator, such as a
video screen. The present invention also comprises methods
for playing a game of chance. One preferred method comprises
the steps of a first, standard gaming unit for displaying a
randomly selected combination of indicia, said displayed
indicia selected from the group consisting of slot reels,
indicia of reels, indicia of playing cards, and combinations
thereof ; said first , standard gaming unit comprising means for
generating at least one signal corresponding to at least one
select display of indicia; means for providing at least one
discernible indicia of a mechanical bonus indicator, said
bonus indicator indicia providing means indicating at least
one of a plurality of possible bonuses, wherein said bonus
indicator indicia providing means is operatively connected to
said first, standard gaming unit and actuatable in response to
said signal.
Further embodiments of the present invention
comprises a method of conducting a game of chance comprising
the steps of providing a player with an opportunity to place
a wager; displaying a randomly selected combination of
indicia, said displayed indicia selected from the group
consisting of reels, indicia of reels, indicia of playing
cards, and combination thereof; generating at least one signal
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corresponding to at least one select display of said indicia;
providing at least one discernible indicia of a mechanical
bonus indicator, said bonus indicator indicia indicating at
least one of a plurality of possible bonuses, wherein said
bonus indicator indicia is in the form of a wheel or reel and
is actuatable in response to said signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view one of a gaming device
of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is another embodiment of a gaming device of
the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The various embodiments of the present invention are
designed to provide added excitement to a gaming device in
order to increase the enjoyment to players and to serve as an
added attraction to potential players. One preferred
embodiment of the present invention, illustrated in FIG. 1,
comprises a primary gaming unit which comprises three
rotatable reels 10, each of which comprise a plurality of
indicia on the periphery thereof. The illustrated gaming
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device comprises a mechanical lever 12, coin slot 14, currency
validator 16 and a credit card validator 18. In a manner
which will be recognized by those skilled in the art, each
reel 10 is designed to rotate and then stop in order to
visually display at least one, and preferably a number of
indicia. If the collection of indicia displayed by the three
reels is one of a predetermined plurality of winning indicia
sets, then the player can typically be provided with a winning
payout either through coin chute 20 which deposits winnings
into a coin trough 30 or by increasing the player's credits in
a credit window 40.
According to one aspect of the present invention,
when the reels 10 display a particular indicia set then the
player is provided with an opportunity for a bonus. According
to this illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a
bonus actuator button 50 is placed in an operative state when
reels 10 display a bonus indicia set. A player must then
depress bonus actuator SO in order to start bonus indicator 70
spinning. In the illustrated embodiment, bonus indicator 70
is in the form of a rotatable wheel. The wheel may be a
carnival-type wheel comprising pegs and a clapper or could
take one or more other forms, such as a fanciful wheel
typically used in a roulette game as shown in the embodiment
of FIG. 2. The facing surface of bonus indicator 70 of FIG.
1 comprises four distinct areas bearing indicia of the bonus
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payout to the player. In the illustrated embodiment, the
bonus indicator has areas indicating bonuses of $25.00,
$50.00, $100.00, and $2,000.00. When bonus indicator 70
stops, an indicator (not shown) will indicate the area on the
bonus wheel corresponding to the amounts of the bonus to be
provided to the player.
In a manner which will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art, bonus indicator 70 can be operatively
linked to a "payout" mechanism which provides a bonus payout
to a player through currency chute 20 or by increasing the
amount of winnings shown in credit window 40. As stated
above, the payout of the bonus indicator can be in addition to
a standard payout by the primary gaming unit or can be in
place of the payout normally associated with the primary
gaming unit.
Those familiar with gaming and game shows, will
appreciate that players and observers typically experience a
heightened level of anticipation and excitement as they
observe one or more moving objects approaching a winning
position. It is therefore most preferred for the bonus
indicator of the present invention to be readily discernible,
e.g., clearly visible and/or audible to the player.
According to another preferred embodiment of the
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present invention, a bonus indicator is connected to a
electro-mechanical control unit, for example a motor, which
gradually decreases the rate of movement of the bonus
indicator before the bonus indicator stops. According to this
S embodiment of the present invention, players can be provided
with a realistic sense of a totally mechanical indicator.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such a control
unit can also readily be connected to a random generator which
will randomly select the winning payout according to a
predetermined frequency of occurrence for each individual
bonus payout, and then cause the bonus indicator to stop at
the desired area.
According to another embodiment of the present
invention, when reels 10 display an indicia set which will
provide a bonus, the bonus indicator becomes activatable but
requires intervention by a house attendant, such as a casino
attendant, in order to actuate the bonus indicator. According
to this embodiment of the present invention, the casino is
provided with greater control over the actuation of the bonus
indicator and, if desired, can accompany the actuation of the
bonus indicator with great fanfare. It will be appreciated
that the amounts of the bonus indicated in the figures are
merely for purposes of illustration and, if desired, one of
the amounts on the bonus indicator can have a significantly
greater value. For example, one of the areas on the bonus
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indicator may correspond to a new automobile, a luxury
vacation or a very large sum of money.
While the illustrated embodiment of the present
invention in FIG. 1 is generally in the form of a rotatable
wheel, other visible, mechanical indicia can be provided,
whether controlled totally mechanically, electro-mechanically,
or electronically without departing from the scope of the
present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, in order to provide additional
levels of excitement, indicia of the possible bonuses are
preferably visibly displayed within the slot machine. For
example, in the illustrated embodiment, a shelf is preferably
displayed comprising piles of currency equal to the amounts on
the bonus indicator. While actual cash is preferred, the slot
machine may also be provided with fake currency or simply
indicia of actual currency or the other bonus prizes.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is
illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein a gaming device 100 comprises a
primary gaming unit in the form a standard three-reel slot
machine which displays reels 110. Suitable controls and
currency mechanisms including a coin slot 114, bill validator
118, payout shoot 120 are provided. Furthermore, suitable
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player controls including CHANGE button 132, CASH/CREDIT
button 134, BET ONE button 136, SPIN button 138 and BET MAX
button 130 are also provided.
In addition to these standard controls the control
panel of this preferred illustrated embodiment of the present
invention comprises a SPIN THE WHEEL button 140 which becomes
actuatable when the primary gaming unit, as indicated by reels
110, has randomly selected one of a plurality of predetermined
indicia sets. While the primary gaming unit shown in the
lower portion of the cabinet of gaming device 100 will
typically have the ability to provide a plurality of winning
payouts, the SPIN THE WHEEL button 140 can become actuatable
when the stopped reels 110 indicate some subset of the primary
unit's winning indicia, when any one of the winning reel
indicia are displayed, or further in response to one or more
other predetermined indicia, or a combination thereof.
When the SPIN THE WHEEL button 140 is actuated by a
player, bonus wheel 150 is caused to rotate and randomly
select and display one of a plurality of different areas.
According to the preferred illustrated embodiment, all of the
bonus areas indicate an increased winning value for the
player. However, it is within the scope of the present
invention to provide non-monetary prizes or losing spaces
wherein no additional prize is provided and/or wherein the
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prize normally associated with the indicia shown on the
primary gaming unit reels 110 is reduced. In the illustrated
embodiment, a pointer 160 advantageously indicates the result
of the bonus indicator 150.
In addition to the bonus wheel 150, this preferred
illustrated embodiment of the present invention also comprises
a bonus multiplier 170. The multiplier 170 preferably
randomly selects a value by which the bonus indicated by bonus
wheel 150 is multiplied. For example, the bonus indicator 170
can have an LED screen which cycles through multipliers of
"times one" , "times two" and "times three" which will indicate
that the bonus is as indicated, doubled, or tripled,
respectively. The multiplier 170 can be programmed to select
a multiplier either totally randomly or according to some
other predetermined frequency of occurrence wherein certain
multipliers will occur more frequently than other multipliers.
While this illustrated embodiment comprises whole number
multipliers, it is also within the scope of the present
invention to utilize values other than whole numbers or to
include multipliers which will result in a decrease in the
value shown by the bonus indicator 150. For example, a
multiplier sequence could include a "times zero" value. When
bonus wheel indicator 150 is not in use, the multiplier LED
window can be set to an attract mode wherein a message is
displayed to players or potential players. For example, the
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LED display could show a message, either in complete form or
can be set to sequentially display either words or individual
letters, such as "S P I N - T H E - W H E E L" .
FIG. 3 illustrates a less preferred embodiment of
S the present invention wherein a gaming device 200 comprising
similar controls as the controls illustrated in the embodiment
of FIG. 3. In this illustrated embodiment, and wherein a
bonus indicator 250 is in the form of an electronically
generated image, such as a video screen or an LED display and
provides discernible indicia, e.g., a visual video display, of
a bonus wheel. For example, the video display can show a
wheel of the type used in a roulette game such as the wheel
150 illustrated in FIG. 2.
The slot machine shown in FIG. 3 comprises a video
display 210, such as a video screen, which displays three
reels 110, each of which comprise a plurality of indicia. In
addition, this slot machine comprises a video display 250,
such as a second video screen, for displaying a bonus payout
indicator. While separate screens are preferred, both the
reels and the bonus payout indicator could be displayed on the
same video screen. According to this embodiment of the
present invention, the bonus payout indicator displays indicia
of a wheel or a reel.
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In a manner known in the art, the gaming device
comprises a coin slot 214, a currency validator 218, and a
coin chute 220. After placing a wager, a player determines
the amount of his wager by either pressing the BET ONE button
236 or the BET MAX button 230. After the player has selected
the amount of his wager, he depresses the SPIN button 238
which "spins" the reels shown in video display window 210.
Each indicia of a displayed reel 210 is designed to
indicate rotation and then stop in order to visually display
at least one, and preferably a number of indicia. When reels
210 display a particular indicia set or one of a predetermined
plurality of indicia sets, then the additional payout mode is
activated and video display 250 displaying payout indicator is
placed in an operable state. In this illustrated embodiment,
the displayed payout indicator 250 displays an indicia of a
rotating wheel comprising a plurality of distinct areas
bearing indicia of payouts to the player. Payout indicator
250, is caused to selectively indicate one of the plurality of
indicia, either automatically, upon intervention of a casino
or house attendant, or upon a player depressing SPIN THE WHEEL
button 240 in order to start indicator 250 spinning. It will
be appreciated that the amounts of the payout indicated in
FIG. 2 are merely for purposes of illustration and, if
desired, one of the amounts on the bonus indicator can have a
greater value, e.g., a new automobile, a luxury vacation or
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large sum of money which may be collected subsequently, or
lesser values, e.g., no payout.
The displayed reels 210 and displayed bonus
indicator 250 can be operably controlled by suitable controls
to slow down as they come to a complete stop, displaying a
selected reel indicia and a bonus indicia, respectively.
The embodiment of the present invention illustrated
in FIG. 2 is considered most preferable since it is believed
that players prefer to see actual slot reels and an actual
bonus wheel spinning in a gaming device. Other, less
preferred embodiments are also possible while providing some
of the advantages of the present invention. Specifically, it
is feasible to replace the spinning reels with other forms of
standard gaming units, for example, a visible indicia of reels
or indicia of playing cards, shown for example on a video
screen. It is also possible to replace the wheel with some
other discernible indicia of a mechanical bonus indicator
which is operatively connected to the first standard gaming
unit and which either automatically commences or is actuatable
in response to the result provided by the standard gaming
unit. According to the present invention, both of the
standard gaming unit and bonus indicator are controlled to
provide random results.
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From the foregoing description, it will be
appreciated that embodiments of the present invention, which
are specifically directed to gaming and gaming devices,
comprise three different indicators. The most preferred
embodiments comprise a primary (standard) gaming unit, an
additional payout indicator, preferably in the form of a
wheel, and a payout multiplier. While the illustrated payout
multiplier of the illustrated embodiments is in the form of an
electronically selected value, it is also within the scope of
the present invention to have a multiplier which involves some
skill on the part of a player. For example, according to an
additional preferred embodiment of the present invention, a
player will shoot actual projectiles, such as coins, at one or
more targets in an effort to increase the value of the
multiplier. In any of the embodiments of the present
invention utilizing a multiplier, the multiplier can affect
the value of a payout from the standard gaming unit, the
additional payout indicator, or both the standard gaming unit
and the payout indicator.
As stated above, the present invention also includes
methods of conducting a wagering game of chance comprising the
steps of providing a player with an opportunity to place a
wager; displaying a randomly selected combination of indicia,
said displayed indicia selected from the group consisting of
reels, indicia of reels, indicia of playing cards, and
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combination thereof; generating at least one signal
corresponding to at least one select display of said indicia;
providing at least one discernible indicia of a mechanical
bonus indicator, said bonus indicator indicia indicating at
least one of a plurality of possible bonuses, wherein said
bonus indicator indicia is in the form of a wheel or reel and
is actuatable in response to said signal. A further preferred
method comprises the step of displaying at least one value by
which a payout may be multiplied.
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