Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BINGO-LIKE AND TRIVIA TELEVISON GAME SHOW
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to game shows particularly suited for
television and,
more particularly, to a television game show for playing a bingo-like game in
conjunction with a
trivia game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Game shows have been and remain a staple of television broadcasting virtually
from its
inception as a broadcast medium. At the height of its popularity, a good game
show can deliver
some of the highest ratings on TV. Game shows present entertainment in the
form of conflict. The
conflict lies in the competition between the players for the prizes.
In the prior art, there are a number of bingo style games and trivia games,
but none teach or
suggest the combination of these games as taught by the present invention.
That is, the applicant is
not aware of any prior art which combines aspects of trivia games with aspects
of the game of
bingo. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a game
combining elements
of the game of bingo with a trivia game in a television game show format.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and
apparatus to play the
TV format bingo/trivia game where at least two players or contestants can
compete against each
other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the prior art, the present invention provides a new unique game
show system
which enables in-studio players or contestants to play a unique game which
combines elements of
the game of bingo with a trivia game.
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In one aspect, the unique game show system is preferably embodied as a one-
half hour
television program in a studio setting where the studio set design reflects
the colorful look, feel and
excitement of a casino setting with a capacity to accommodate a large live
audience. It is
contemplated that the shows would be produced in casino showrooms such as
Atlantic City or Las
Vegas. Each show would preferably include several one-to-one contestant rounds
and a bonus
round for the winner of the contestant rounds.
According to another aspect, a game board is preferably displayed in a
television studio
setting using a bank of video monitors or one large video monitor. The studio
setting would also
include a spin lever or pull arm for each contestant podium to allow each
contestant to take
alternate turns at playing the inventive game. It is also contemplated that in
lieu of a spin lever or
pull arm, each player's turn would be initiated automatically without any
action required on the part
of the contestants.
According to the present invention, each game is preferably played between two
in-studio
contestants. The game is based upon a combination of elements of the game of
bingo with elements
of a trivia game to challenge the contestants to earn their points playing the
bingo portion of the
game. The contestants keep their points if they answer trivia questions
correctly and lose all or a
portion of their points if they answer trivia questions incorrectly.
A main objective of the game during one-to-one contestant rounds is for each
contestant to
cover-up rows, columns or diagonals of the game board. By doing as such, the
contestants earn
points. The game board includes five rows and five columns, thereby providing
a total of 25
squares or cells. Each of the 25 squares is capable of displaying a number (a
symbol of a first set)
or a graphic indicating that there is no number displayed or that a number
previously displayed has
been covered-up. In the preferred embodiment of the game, prior to any spins
being made by any
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of the contestants, 12 of the 25 squares are covered-up and the remaining 13
squares display a
number. Each square or cell corresponds to one of the video monitors, in the
case where a bank of
video monitors is used to display the game board.
The game board further includes a row of five player reels or cells; each
player reel
corresponds to one of the five columns. During a contestant's turn during a
one-to-one contestant
round, the contestant pulls a spin lever or pull arm to display an icon in
each of the five player
reels. If a number (a symbol of the first set) is displayed by a player reel
which matches a number
displayed by a square of the corresponding column, the square of the
corresponding column is
covered-up.
If the icon displayed by a player reel is a graphic icon (a symbol of a second
set), a
predetermined action is performed in accordance with the graphic icon
displayed. The action could
be the automatic awarding of a predetermined number of points to the
contestant who pulled the
spin lever, providing the contestant who pulled the spin lever with the option
of deciding which
square to cover-up, providing the contestant who pulled the spin lever with a
free spin or turn, and
asking the contestant who pulled the spin lever a trivia question. Based on
whether the contestant
answers correctly or not, another action is performed, such as the contestant
keeping/losing a
predetermined number of points, including the contestant losing all of his
points (if the question is
answered incorrectly). If the contestant answers incorrectly, the other
contestant is giving an
opportunity to answer correctly. By answering trivia questions correctly, a
contestant earns clues in
helping him solve a puzzle during the bonus round, if the contestant reaches
the bonus round.
The winner of the one-to-one contestant rounds is the contestant who has the
most points
(which have a monetary value) at the end of the contestant rounds. This
contestant then plays the
bonus round, with a chance to win additional money and/or other prizes by
solving the puzzle.
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It is contemplated that the game of the present invention can be implemented
as a set of
programmable instructions and game resources (graphics, audio, video,
alphanumeric text, etc
capable of being executed by a general purpose processor or a hard-wired
special-purpose
processor for playing the game. The set of programmable instructions and game
resources can be
stored on a computer-readable medium, including optical, magnetic and opto-
magnetic media.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing features of the present invention will become more readily
apparent and may
be understood by referring to the following detailed description of an
illustrative embodiment of
the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,
where:
FIG. 1 a illustrates a television studio setting for playing the inventive
television game show
in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 1b illustrates a game board for playing the inventive television game
show in
accordance with the present invention; and
FIGS. 2a-2zzz illustrate views of the television studio setting showing an
exemplary play of
the inventive television game show being played in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying figures, and detailed
hereinafter,
describes a bingo-like and trivia television game show. It is contemplated
that the game underlying
the bingo-like and trivia television game show described herein can be played
as a computer/video
game, board game or in any other format, including providing for play of the
game by one, two or
multiple players over a network, such as the Internet. As such, the game can
be provided as a set of
programmable instructions and game resources (graphics, audio, video,
alphanumeric text, etc
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capable of being executed by a general purpose processor or a hard-wired
special-purpose
processor for playing the game. The set of programmable instructions and game
resources can be
stored on a computer-readable medium, including optical, magnetic and opto-
magnetic media.
In the television game show format of the game of the present invention, two
contestants
compete with each other before a live studio audience in order to win money
and prizes. FIG. 1 a
illustrates a television studio setting 100 for playing the game. In this
embodiment, the studio
setting 100 includes a game board 10, two contestant podiums 12, 14 where each
podium includes
a spin lever or pull arm 17, 18 corresponding to each contestant (e.g., Jim
17' and Sharon 18' as
shown in the FIGS.). Each podium also includes the contestant's name and score
as shown by FIG.
1 a. A game show host 19 moderates the progression of the game. During a one-
to-one contestant
round following the first one-to-one contestant round, each podium also
displays the contestant's
cumulative score.
The game board 10 is displayed using a bank of video monitors or one large
video monitor.
Prior to the start of the game, each monitor of the game board 10 or the large
video monitor display
a game start graphic, such as the name of the television game show.
The game in accordance with the present invention is based upon a combination
of elements
of the game of bingo with elements of a trivia game to challenge the
contestants 17', 18' to earn
their points playing the bingo portion of the game. The contestants 17', 18'
keep their points if they
answer trivia questions correctly and lose all or a portion of their points if
they answer trivia
questions incorrectly. The trivia questions are asked to the contestant by the
game show host 19
when the contestant pulls the spin lever 17, 18 and obtains a particular icon
(e.g., a devil) on reels
of the game board 10 as further described below.
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A main objective of the game during one-to-one contestant rounds is for each
contestant to
cover-up rows, columns or diagonals of the game board 10. By doing as such,
the contestants 17',
18' earn points. The game board 10 includes a matrix of cells 24 arranged in a
column and row
configuration. The game board 10 includes five rows 20 and five columns 22,
thereby providing a
total of 25 squares or cells 24. Each of the 25 squares or cells 24 is capable
of displaying a number
26 (a symbol of a first set) or a graphic 28 (FIG. 1b) indicating that there
is no number displayed or
that a number previously displayed by the respective square 24 has been
covered-up. The first
column is capable of displaying numbers in the range of 1 to 15, the second
column in the range of
16 to 30, the third column in the range of 26 to 45, the fourth column in the
range of 46 to 60 and
the fifth column in the range of 61 to 75. The numbers 1 to 75 are symbols of
the first set. In an
alternate embodiment, the squares 24 display other types of symbols besides
numbers, such as
letters, punctuation marks, hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds, etc.
In the preferred embodiment of the game, prior to any spins being made by any
of the
contestants 17', 18' and as shown by FIG. 1b, 12 of the 25 squares 24 are
covered-up and the
remaining 13 squares 24 display a number. Each square or cell 24 corresponds
to one of the video
monitors, in the case where a bank of video monitors is used to display the
game board 10.
The game board 10 further includes a row of five player reels or cells 30;
each player reel
30 corresponds to one of the five columns 22. During a contestant's turn
during a one-to-one
contestant round, as will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2a-2u,
the contestant pulls the
spin lever or pull arm 17, 18 to display an icon or a number in each of the
five player reels 30. As
further described below with reference to FIGs. 2a-2u, if the number (a symbol
of the first set) is
displayed by a player reel 30 which matches a number displayed by a square 24
of the
corresponding column 22, the square 24 of the corresponding column 22 is
covered-up.
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If the icon displayed by a player reel 30 is a graphic icon (a symbol of a
second set), a
predetermined action is performed in accordance with the graphic icon
displayed. The action could
be the automatic awarding of a predetermined number of points to the
contestant 17', 18' who
pulled the spin lever 17, 18, providing the contestant 17', 18' who pulled the
spin lever 17, 18 with
the option of deciding which square 24 to cover-up, providing the contestant
17', 18' who pulled
the spin lever 17, 18 with a free spin or turn, and asking the contestant 17',
18' who pulled the spin
lever 17, 18 a trivia question. Based on whether the contestant 17', 18'
answers correctly or not,
another action is performed, such as the contestant 17', 18' keeping/losing a
predetermined number
of points, including the contestant 17', 18' losing all of his points (if the
question is answered
incorrectly). If the contestant 17', 18' answers incorrectly, the other
contestant 17', 18' is giving an
opportunity to answer correctly. By answering trivia questions correctly, a
contestant 17', 18' earns
clues in helping him solve a puzzle during the bonus round, if the contestant
17', 18' reaches the
bonus round.
The winner of the one-to-one contestant rounds is the contestant 17', 18' who
has the most
points (which have a monetary value) at the end of the contestant rounds.
Preferably, there are two
one-to-one contestant rounds. Preferably, each of the one-to-one contestant
rounds terminates when
all the numbers displayed by the game board 10 during that round have been
matched; after there is
only a predetermined amount of numbers left to be matched and the subsequent
pull of the spin
lever 17, 18 does not match any number; a time clock has clocked a
predetermined amount of time,
a predetermined number of spins has been reached, etc. The winning contestant
at the end of the
one-to-one contestant rounds then plays the bonus round, with a chance to win
additional money
and/or other prizes by solving the puzzle. The bonus round is described below
with reference to
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FIGs. 2v-2zzz in conjunction with a description of an exemplary play of a
preferred embodiment of
the inventive game.
FIGs. 2a-2zzz illustrate views of the television studio setting 100 showing an
exemplary
play of the inventive television game show being played in accordance with the
preferred
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2a, the game begins by the host
19 announcing that
12 squares 24 of the game board 10 are covered up and by reminding the
contestants 17', 18' that
the object of the game is to cover five numbers on the game board 10 either
horizontally, vertically
or diagonally. The various steps in the implementation and execution of the
game, such as
generating and displaying the numbers on the game board 10, determining if
there are any matches,
etc., are performed by at least one processor.
After the 12 squares 24 are covered up, contestant number one or Sharon goes
first by
pulling on her spin lever 18. After pulling on her spin lever 18, numbers and
a graphic icon are
displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2b, the five player
reels 30 display from
left to right the number 5, a joker, and the numbers 33, 50 and 71. The host
19 then announces that
Sharon matched the number 5 in the first column of the game board 10. The host
19 then asks
Sharon which number she would like to match in the second column with the
joker displayed by
the second player reel 30. Sharon selects to match the number 25 in the second
column. In an
alternate embodiment, the game processor arbitrarily and randomly selects
which number in the
column to match and cover up upon the display of a joker in that column's
corresponding player
reel 30. Each of the two matches earns Sharon 200 points, thereby earning her
a total of 400 points
after her first spin.
Contestant number two or Jim then pulls his spin lever 17. After pulling on
his spin lever
17, numbers and graphic icons are displayed by the five player reels 30. As
shown by FIG. 2c, the
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five player reels 30 display from left to right a joker, the number 18,
another joker, and the
numbers 52 and 66. The joker in the first player reel 30 causes all five
squares 24 of the first
column to be covered up. The host 19 then announces that the joker match
caused all of the squares
24 of the first column to be covered up. This is referred herein as the
occurrence of a bingo-like
condition or as making a "Slingo." The host 19 thus announces that Jim has
made a Slingo. The
host 19 also announces that the second joker provides an opportunity for a
number match and asks
Jim which number he would like to match. Jim tells the host 19 that he wants
to match the number
40 displayed in the third column of the game board 10 and corresponding to the
third player reel 30
displaying the joker. The host 19 then announces that every number match is
worth 200 points and
a Slingo is worth 1,000 points, thus earning Jim 1,400 points after his first
spin.
Sharon then pulls her spin lever 18. After pulling on her spin lever 18,
numbers and a
graphic icon are displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2d,
the five player reels 30
display from left to right the number 8, a devil, and the numbers 44, 47 and
75. The host 19 then
announces that the display of the devil in the second player reel requires
Sharon to answer a
question or lose all of her points. The host 19 then asks Sharon a multiple
choice question. The host
19 asks what is the fear of heights called and provides four choices:
agoraphobia, acrophobia,
claustrophobia and thanatophobia. The question and four choices are preferably
displayed as one
image by the bank of video monitors, as shown by FIG. 2dd or by a large
monitor. Sharon answers
by saying agoraphobia. The host 19 then states that the answer is incorrect,
thereby losing all of her
points and putting her back to zero as shown by FIG. 2e.
The host 19 then tells Jim that if he answers the question correctly, he has a
chance to turn
the devil into a cherub. The host 19 also tells Jim that if he answers
correctly he can earn an extra
or uncovered clue to use during the bonus round, if he is the winner after the
one-to-one contestant
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rounds and gets to play in the bonus round. Jim then answers the question by
saying acrophobia.
The host 19 states that the answer is correct which gives Jim one extra or
uncovered clue if he gets
the opportunity to play the bonus round.
The host 19 then tells Jim that it is his turn to pull his spin lever 17. Jim
then pulls his spin
lever 17. After pulling on his spin lever 17, numbers and graphic icons are
displayed by the five
player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2f, the five player reels 30 display from
left to right the number
14, a joker, the number 38, another joker, and the number 68. None of the
displayed numbers by
the player reels 30 matches a number in the game board 10. However, the two
jokers enable Jim to
select a number to match in the second and the fourth columns. Jim tells the
host 19 that he wants
to make a Slingo by matching the 17 and 51 in the second and the fourth
columns, respectively.
The host 19 then announces that the two matches and the Slingo bring Jim to
2,800 points.
The host 19 then tells Sharon that it is her turn. Sharon then pulls her spin
lever 18. After
pulling on her spin lever 18, numbers and graphic icons are displayed by the
five player reels 30.
As shown by FIG. 2g, the five player reels 30 display from left to right a
joker, a gold coin, and the
numbers 32, 50 and 64. The joker in the first player reel 30 does not give
Sharon the opportunity to
match any numbers, since there are no more numbers to match in the
corresponding first column.
In an alternate embodiment, when there are no more numbers to match in a
particular column, the
corresponding player reel 30 does not display any numeric and graphic icons
after a spin. The rest
of the player reels 30 do not provide any number matches, however, the gold
coin in the second
player reel 30 earns Sharon 1,000 points which is announced by the host 19.
The host 19 then
announces the total points for each player by saying that Sharon has 1,000
points and Jim has 2,800
poW ts.
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Jim then pulls his spin lever 17. After pulling on his spin lever 17, numbers
and graphic
icons are displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2h, the five
player reels 30
display from left to right the number 1, a free spin, a joker, and the numbers
47 and 72. The host 19
then announces that Jim got a joker and a free spin, and asks Jim which number
in the third column
he would like to match. Jim decides to match the number 39. The number 39 is
then covered up in
the third column of the game board 10. The host 19 then tells Jim that he has
a free spin and asks
him if he wants to use his free spin. The host 19 also tells Jim that by using
the free spin and
pulling the spin lever, one of the player reels 30 may display a devil which
will cause Jim to lose
all of his points. Jim decides not to take the free spin. The host 19 then
states that the number match
brings Jim's total number of points to 3,000.
Contestant number one or Sharon then pulls her spin lever 18. After pulling on
her spin
lever I 8, numbers and graphic icons are displayed by the five player reels
30. As shown by FIG. 2i,
the five player reels 30 display from left to right the number 6, a joker, the
number 40, a devil and
the number 69. The devil requires Sharon to answer a question to save her
points and not to go
back to zero points. The host 19 asks Sharon which of these teams has been in
the NHL the longest:
Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and Edmonton
Oilers. The question
is displayed by the bank of video monitors as shown by FIG. 2ii. Sharon
answers by the
Philadelphia Flyers. The host 19 then tells Sharon that she is correct and by
answering correctly she
turned the devil into a cherub (as shown by FIG. 2j) and accordingly earned
one extra or uncovered
clue to use in the bonus round, if she makes it to the bonus round.
Sharon then tells the host 19 she wants to match the number 21 in the second
column of the
game board 10 with the joker displayed by the second player reel 30. After the
number match,
Sharon makes a Slingo as shown by FIG. 2j. The host then announces that by
matching the number
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21 in the second column of the game board 10 and by making a Slingo, Sharon
earned 1,200 points
for the spin.
It is then Jim's turn to pull his spin lever 17. After pulling on his spin
lever 17, numbers and
graphic icons are displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2k,
the five player reels
30 display from left to right the numbers 5 and 26, a joker, the number 57 and
another joker. Jim
then tells that host 19 that he wants to use the joker displayed by the third
player reel 30 to match
the number 45. The host 19 then announces that by matching the number 45, Jim
has made a
diagonal Slingo (top left to bottom right of the game board 10) and a vertical
Slingo (third column
of the game board 10) earning Jim 1,000 points for each Slingo. Jim then tells
the host 19 that he
wants to use the joker displayed by the fifth player reel 30 to match the
number 63. The host 19
then announces that by matching the number 63, Jim has made a vertical Slingo
(fifth column of
the game board 10) and a horizontal Slingo (fourth row of the game board 10).
The host 19 then
states that Jim's turn earned Jim 4,400 points to bring his score to 7,400
points.
It is now Sharon's turn to pull the spin lever. Before pulling on her spin
lever 18, the host
19 announces that if she matches the number 59 in the fourth column of the
game board 10, she
will make two Slingos. After pulling on her spin lever 18, numbers are
displayed by the five player
reels 30. As shown by FIG. 21, the five player reels 30 display from left to
right the numbers 3, 22,
39, 59 and 61. The host 19 then announces that Sharon successfully matched the
number 59 in the
fourth column of the game board 10 and made two Slingos earning her 2,000
points to bring her
total number of points to 4,400.
After Sharon's turn since there is only one number remaining to be matched on
the game
board 10, the host announces that the next spin would be the last spin of the
first one-to-one
contestant round. The host 19 also tells Jim that if he matches the number 48
in the fourth column
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of the game board 10, he would have two more Slingos and would have cleared
the game board 10,
thereby being awarded 5,000 points.
After pulling on his spin lever 17, numbers and a graphic icon are displayed
by the five
player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2m, the five player reels 30 display from
left to right the number
14, a devil and the numbers 46, 58 and 68. The host 19 announces that the
devil in the second
square 30 means that Jim must answer a trivia question to keep his points. The
host 19 asks Jim
what part of your body is a "hallux" and provides the following choices: inner
ear, big toe, eye lid
and belly button, as shown by FIG. 2mm. Jim answers by stating the eyelid. The
host 19 then states
that Jim is incorrect and accordingly loses all of his points.
The host 19 then tells Sharon that if she answers correctly she will earn
another uncovered
clue or extra clue if she makes it to the bonus round. Sharon answers by
stating the inner ear. The
host 19 states that the answer is incorrect and that the right answer is the
big toe. The host 19 then
states that Sharon is the leader with 4,400 points and that each player has
earned an uncovered clue
to use if they make it to the bonus round. The host 19 then states that the
game has reached the end
of the first one-to-one contestant round and the second one-to-one contestant
round will start where
the point values are doubled.
In FIG. 2n, the second one-to-one contestant round begins by the host 19
announcing that
12 squares 24 of the game board 10 are covered up and by reminding the
contestants 17', 18' that
the points are now doubled.
After the 12 squares 24 are covered up, contestant number one or Sharon goes
first by
pulling on her spin lever 18. After pulling on her spin lever 18, numbers and
graphic icons are
displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 20, the five player
reels 30 display from
left to right the numbers l, 16, 42 and two jokers. The host 19 then announces
that Sharon matched
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the 42 displayed by the third column of the game board 10. The host 19 then
asks Sharon which
numbers she will like to match with the two jokers. Sharon selects to match
the numbers 48 and 75
to make a Slingo (fourth row). The host 19 then announces that the three
number matches and the
Slingo earn Sharon 3,200 points after her first spin of the second one-to-one
contestant round.
Contestant number two or Jim then pulls his spin lever 17. After pulling on
his spin lever
17, numbers and graphic icons are displayed by the five player reels 30. As
shown by FIG. 2p, the
five player reels 30 display from left to right a joker, the numbers 20, 38
and 56 and a gold coin.
The host 19 then announces that the gold coin earns Jim 2,000 points and asks
Jim what number he
would like to match with the joker. Jim decides to match the number 14. The
host 19 announces
that the gold coin and the two matches earned Jim a total of 2,800 points.
Contestant number one or Sharon then pulls her spin lever 18. After pulling on
her spin
lever 18, numbers and a graphic icon are displayed by the five player reels
30. As shown by FIG.
2q, the five player reels 30 display from left to right the numbers 8 and 20,
a super joker and the
numbers 54 and 63. The host 19 then announces that Sharon made two number
matches (the
number 8 in the first column and the number 63 in the fifth column). The host
19 also announces
that Sharon has a super joker which she can use to cover up any number on the
game board 10.
Sharon decides to cover up the number 22 in the second column of the game
board 10. The host 19
then announces that Sharon's spin earned her 7,200 points because she made
three Slingos (first
column, first row and fifth column) and had three number matches. After her
spin, Sharon has
10,400 points.
The host 19 then tells Jim that it is his turn to pull his spin lever 17. Jim
then pulls his spin
lever 17. After pulling on his spin lever 17, numbers and graphic icons are
displayed by the five
player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2r, the five player reels 30 display from
left to right the number
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8, a joker, the number 38 and 50 and a devil. The host 19 announces that the
display of the devil
means that Jim must answer a trivia question to keep his points and to pull
the spin lever again. The
host 19 asks Jim the country once known as "Burma" is now called and provides
the following
choices: Myanmar, Eritrea, Tuvalu and Qatar, as shown by FIG. 2rr. Jim answers
by stating
Myanmar. The host 19 states that that is the correct answer turning the devil
into a cherub as shown
by FIG. 2s. The host 19 also states that Jim earned another uncovered clue to
use if he makes it to
the bonus round. The host 19 then announces that Jim now has two uncovered
clues.
The spin is then finished out as shown by FIG. 2s by the number 50 displayed
by the fourth
player reel 30 being matched with the number 50 displayed by the fourth column
of the game board
10. The match makes a Slingo earning Jim 2,000 points and 400 points for the
match. The host 19
then asks Jim which number he wants to match with the joker. Jim decides to
match the number 28
to make another Slingo. The host 19 then announces that by this spin Jim made
two Slingos earning
him 4,000 points and two matches earning him 800 points. This gives Jim a
total of 7,600 points.
Sharon then pulls her spin lever 18. After pulling on her spin lever 18,
numbers and graphic
icons are displayed by the five player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2t, the five
player reels 30
display from left to right the number 11, a joker, the number 41, a joker and
the number 60. The
host 19 then announces that the first joker and the number 41 give Sharon two
Slingos (the second
column and the second row). The second joker does not give Sharon the
opportunity to match any
numbers in the fourth column of the game board 10, because the fourth column
does not have any
numbers left to be matched. The host 19 then states that Sharon earned 4,800
points by her spin.
This brings Sharon's total number of points to 15,200 for the second one-to-
one contestant round
and a total number of points to 19,600 for the entire game.
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The host 19 announces that Sharon is ahead and that since there is only one
number left to
be matched on the game board 10, the next spin (Jim's spin) would be the last
spin for the second
one-to-one contestant round. The host 19 also reminds Jim that Sharon is ahead
and that Jim would
need to match the number 39 to beat Sharon. The host 19 states that by
matching the number 39,
Jim would earn a bonus of 10,000 points for clearing the game board 10, 400
points for matching
the number, and another 8,000 points for making four Slingos. Accordingly, Jim
would have a total
number of points of 26,000 points for the entire game (18,400 points for the
spin plus the 7,600
points already earned in the current round).
After pulling on his spin lever 17, numbers and graphic icons are displayed by
the five
player reels 30. As shown by FIG. 2u, the five player reels 30 display from
left to right a joker, the
number 28, another joker and the numbers 46 and 70. The host 19 quickly
announces that the
second joker makes Jim the winner of the one-to-one contestant rounds, since
this joker enabled
Jim to match the number 39 to clear the game board 10, make one number match
and four Slingos.
This gives Jim a total number of points of 26,000 for the entire game versus
Sharon's total number
1 S of points of 19,600 for the entire game. The host 19 then announces that
Jim would be playing the
bonus round with two uncovered or extra clues to use, since he has more points
than Sharon by
combining the total number of points from both rounds. The host 19 then tells
Sharon she was a
great contestant and thanks her for playing the game.
At the beginning of the bonus round, as shown by FIG. 2v, a bonus round game
board 50 is
provided and a spin lever 52 for pulling by the contestant to display either a
joker or a blank in one
of the five bonus reels or bonus cells 54 below the columns of the game board
50. The game board
50 is similar to the game board 10 with five rows 51 of five squares each and
five columns 53 of
five squares each. The game board 50 is preferably configured using a bank of
video monitors.
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The host 19 announces that random numbers will be generated in each of the
squares or
game cells 56 of the game board 50, other than the bonus reels 54. The host 19
then announces that
12 of the 25 squares 56 would be covered up as shown by FIG. 2v.
The host 19 informs Jim that his goal during the bonus round or Ultimate
Slingo is to get
clues which would help him solve the puzzle. Clues are obtained by making
Slingos diagonally,
horizontally and vertically after pulling the spin lever 52 once or twice and
matching the numbers
displayed on the game board 50. However, unlike the one-to-one contestant
rounds, the numbers of
the game board 50 are matched by only displaying jokers in the corresponding
bonus reels 54. If a
blank is displayed by the bonus reels 54, no matches can be made with the
numbers displayed by
the game board S0.
The host 19 tells Jim that if he solves the puzzle after the first pull, he
would win two
prizes. The host 19 also tells Jim that if he answers incorrectly after the
first pull, the game would
end and he would not win any prizes but would have $26,000 (the dollar value
of his total number
of points from the one-to-one contestant rounds). The host 19 further tells
Jim that if he solves the
puzzle after the second pull, he would win one prize. The host 19 then informs
Jim that he has two
uncovered clues to use in solving the puzzle and that the category is sports
figure. The host 19 then
states that the two uncovered clues in helping Jim solve the puzzle are
Military Brat and College
Dropout. These clues as well as the category are displayed on a display 58
adjacent to the game
board 50 as shown by FIG. 2w.
Jim then pulls the spin lever 52 to reveal one or more jokers (matching icons)
and blanks ("
"") (non-matching icons) in the bonus reels 54. The bonus reels 54 display a
joker, a blank and
three jokers as shown by FIG. 2x. Jim then tells the host 19 that he wants to
make a horizontal
Slingo by matching the number 2 with the first joker and the number 73 with
the fourth joker. Jim
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also tells the host 19 that he wants to make a diagonal Slingo by matching the
number 44 with the
second joker and the number 55 with the third joker.
The host 19 then informs Jim that he earned two clues for helping him solve
the puzzle (one
for each Slingo). The host 19 then announces that the two earned clues
relating to the category
sports figure are Blonde Girlfriend and Green Blazer. These clues are
displayed by display 58 as
shown by FIG. 2y. The host 19 then asks Jim if he wants to take one last spin
or if he wants to
guess the puzzle. Jim decides to take the second spin for possibly getting one
or more additional
clues, even though he can now only win one prize.
Jim then pulls the spin lever 52 to reveal one or more jokers and blanks in
the bonus reels
54. The bonus reels 54 display a joker, a blank, two jokers and a blank as
shown by FIG. 2z. The
host 19 tells Jim that the first joker enables him to match the number 11 to
make a Slingo and get
another Clue. The host then asks Jim which numbers he would like to cover with
the other two
jokers. Jim then tells the host 19 that he wants to match the number 34 with
the second joker and
the number 47 with the third joker, even though he cannot make a Slingo by
matching these
numbers.
The host 19 then informs Jim that he earned one additional clue for helping
him solve the
puzzle. The host 19 tells Jim that the additional clue is Nike~ Spokesman
which is displayed by
the display 58. The host 19 then tells Jim that he has ten seconds to solve
the puzzle. Jim then states
that the puzzle solution is Tiger Woods. The host 19 states that that is the
answer and congratulates
Jim for winning $26,000 (the dollar value of the total number of points earned
during the two one-
to-one contestant rounds).
The host 19 then tells Jim to pull the spin lever 52 one more time to reveal
prize numbers
for each reel 54. Jim then pulls the spin lever 52 and prize numbers are
displayed for each reel 54.
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The host 19 then asks Jim which prize number he would like. Jim picks prize
number four
displayed by the fourth reel 54 which is then highlighted as shown by FIG.
2zz. The prize won or
the boat is then displayed by the bank of video monitors of the game board 50
as shown by FIG.
2zzz. The host 19 also announces that Jim won the boat.
It will be understood that various modifications may be made to the
embodiments disclosed
herein and that the above description should not be construed as limiting, but
merely as
exemplifications of preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will
envision other
modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended thereto.
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