Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CUSTOMIZED GAMING LIMITS
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part that claims priority and
benefit under 35 U.S.C.
120 to commonly owned, co-pending U.S. Patent Application Serial No.
10/174,432 entitled
"METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLANNING AND CUSTOMIZING A GAMING EXPERIENCE"
filed June 17, 2002, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application Serial No.
60/298,482 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PLANNING AND CUSTOMIZING A
GAMING EXPERIENCE" filed on June 15, 2001, each of which is hereby
incorporated by reference
herein.
BACKGROUND
[0002] There are currently over five hundred thousand (500,000) slot machines
in operation that
generate more than fifteen billion dollars ($15 billion) in annual revenue for
United States casinos.
Most casinos generate more than half of their gaming revenues from slot
machines and some
individual casinos offer two or three thousand (2,000 or 3,000) slot machines
at a single location. In
fact, two (2) different casinos in Connecticut each provide over six thousand
(6,000) gaming devices
for players.
[0003] For players, finding a machine that they like can be very difficult.
For example, a player
looking for a "Full Pay Jacks or Better" video poker machine might spend half
an hour or more
looking for one, only to find that the casino does not have one. Such a
frustrated player might then
be tempted to just leave to try another casino. Even upon finding a preferred
game, the player may
discover that there are elements of the game that he does not like (e.g., the
type font is too small, or
the cards are dealt too fast).
[0004] Casinos often contain hundreds of security cameras. Most footage
gathered through the
cameras is of a routine nature. The footage is simply stored on tape and
eventually erased without
ever being used. The expense associated with maintaining and operating so many
cameras is
significant.
[0005] Many people center entire vacations around casino visits. Many
vacationers must travel
significant distances to reach a casino and thus, casinos frequently offer
hotel accommodations,
resort facilities, restaurants, and shopping, in addition to gaming. Visitors
to Las Vegas spend an
average of four and three tenths (4.3) days in Las Vegas and make, on average,
only one and nine
tenths (1.9) trips there per year. Thus, vacationers have limited time to
enjoy gaming.
[0006] People may spend weeks planning a vacation, often beginning far in
advance of the
vacation. Planning for a vacation builds excitement and anticipation. Planning
also allows people to
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forego logistical and other mundane considerations during the limited time
when they would rather
be enjoying themselves. In addition, vacationers frequently go through the
trouble of carrying
photography and video equipment to capture images to remember their vacation.
[0007] It is believed that many people lack self-control over their gambling
behavior. To curtail
problem or compulsive gambling, some states, through legislation and/or
regulation, now require
casino operators to manage or consult "self-exclusion" lists of players who
voluntarily wish to be
banned from casino premises. However, an ongoing need exists for additional
tools that enable
players and others to limit and/or manage gaming behavior.
[0008] Systems and methods to correct and/or remedy these and other
deficiencies associated
with gaming facilities and the use thereof are therefore provided herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0009] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an example system according to
some embodiments.
[0010] FIG. 1 B is a block diagram illustrating an alternative example system
according to some
embodiments.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a central
controller according to some
embodiments.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a casino server
according to some
embodiments.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a user terminal
according to some
embodiments.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a gaming device
according to some
embodiments.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a marketer device
according to some
embodiments.
[0016] FIG. 7A is a drawing illustrating an example of a preference
preparation menu screen for
use with some embodiments.
[0017] FIG. 7B is a drawing illustrating an example of a gaming rule
preparation menu screen for
use with some embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 8 is a drawing illustrating an example of a preference preparation
sub-menu screen for
use with some embodiments.
[0019] FIG. 9 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an example
user database for use
in some embodiments.
[0020] FIG. 10 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an example
trip documentation
database for use in some embodiments.
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[0021] FIG. 11 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an example
gaming circle
database for use in some embodiments.
[0022] FIG. 12 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an example
preparation
database for use in some embodiments.
[0023] FIG. 13 is a table illustrating an example data structure of an example
product database for
use in some embodiments.
[0024] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to some
embodiments.
[0025] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to some
embodiments.
[0026] FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to some
embodiments.
[0027] FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to some
embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
1. Introduction
[0028] Some embodiments described herein overcome various drawbacks of the
prior art by
allowing a user and/or third party to remotely plan and/or define various
aspects of a gaming and/or
gambling experience. In some embodiments, a user may customize the look and
feel of a gaming
device prior to visiting the casino. He may also choose a preferred game, a
preferred pay table,
preferred odds, win percentages, and so on. According to some embodiments,
players, users,
and/or third parties may also or alternatively set, select, and/or define
gaming limits (e.g., to prevent,
manage, and/or combat problem gambling).
[0029] In some embodiments for example, a user and/or a third party may
remotely select a
betting system that prevents or limits, in one or more ways, the user's
ability to wager at a casino
and/or pursuant to a lottery game. For example, in some embodiments, a user
may remotely record
a preference that limits the total number of wagers that the user may make at
a casino within a given
period of time.
[0030] In some embodiments, the user and/or a third party may remotely select
a betting system
that allocates winnings to predetermined accounts, that increases and
decreases the rate of handle
pulls based on gambling results, and so on. Remotely selecting a betting
system may, for example,
allow a user to follow a predetermined gaming strategy, avoiding tempting
deviations while at the
slot machine.
[0031] In some embodiments, a user may involve friends, relatives, and/or
other acquaintances in
his gambling vacation. In some embodiments, a user may identify a group of
people who are to
share in his winnings. The user may then embark on his vacation with the good
wishes of all those
who will benefit from his results. In some embodiments, a user may remotely
submit e-mail
addresses of friends so that the e-mail addresses are readily available for
him at his destination
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casino. The user may then e-mail his friends as he wins. In some embodiments,
a user may also
remotely set up an account on a casino server or a particular slot machine,
receive an e-mail
address for his account, and then let friends and relatives know where they
may contact him.
[0032] In some embodiments, a user and/or a third party may remotely set up
(e.g., arrange for,
specify limits associated with) credit lines so that he need not carry large
amounts of cash to a
casino or have to process a credit application while on vacation. In some
embodiments a user may
be presented with, and accept, a marketing offer (and thus agree to fulfill
any associated obligations)
in exchange for casino resort discounts, coupons, complimentary ("comp")
program points, free
gambling credits, and/or insurance against gambling losses. In some
embodiments a user may
arrange to receive marketing offers at a casino. The user may then choose
whether or not to accept
the marketing offers depending on how much he has won or lost at the casino.
[0033] In some embodiments, a user may remotely configure a user interface to
a gaming device.
When the user then appears at a gaming device, he may benefit from the use of
areas on the touch
screen that allow him to make his favorite bet, order his favorite drink,
accept an offer from a
marketer, and so on. Moreover, where a user and/or third party has limited the
player's ability to
gamble in one or more ways, certain options (e.g., game options, game
features, wager amounts,
paylines, contract play options, payment processing options) may be disabled
or modified. For
example, certain options may be removed from the user interface or display, or
otherwise disabled
(e.g., obfuscated, "grayed out", etc.).
[0034] In some embodiments, a user may remotely designate prizes or comps he
desires. A user
may remotely submit his intended travel plans, including how long he is to
stay at a destination, how
much he is to gamble, where he is to eat, and so on. The user may then receive
marketing offers
based on his intentions.
[0035] In some embodiments, a user may remotely select a method of
documentation for a trip to
a casino. He may ask a casino to use its security cameras to take pictures of
him when he has won
large prizes. He may ask that the casino save the results of particular spins
on the slot machine, for
later reenactment. The user may then be motivated to spend most of his time at
that casino if the
user wants his vacation documented in a consistent manner.
[0036] In some embodiments, a central controller communicates with multiple
user devices,
multiple casino servers, and multiple marketer devices. In some embodiments, a
central controller
may be operated by an entity other than a casino, such as a governmental
entity (e.g., a regulatory
agency; a judicial officer or agent), a commercial service or a noncommercial
service (e.g., a
nonprofit organization, such as the National Council on Problem Gambling). The
casino servers, in
turn, are generally in communication with multiple casino devices, including
gaming devices.
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[0037] In some embodiments, prior to visiting a casino, a user and/or third
party may log onto a
Web site hosted by the central controller. On the Web site, the user and/or a
third party may prepare
for the user's visit to the casino by inputting a gaming device configuration,
choosing a betting
system, selecting a group of friends with which to share winnings, limiting
gaming activities, and/or
by performing or using other aspects as described herein. The central
controller may then associate
all the data defining the user's preparations with a preparation code or a
user identifier, such as the
user's name, a player tracking card number, and/or player's biometric data,
and store the user's
preparation data in, for example, a preparation database and the user
identifier in a user database.
When the user subsequently visits a casino (and/or other gaming
establishment), the user may
submit his user identifier and/or preparation code to any gaming and/or casino
device. The device
may then contact the central controller via the casino server and receive the
user's preparation data.
The casino device may then modify its operations in accordance with the
preparation data. For
example, the casino device may execute software for a particular game the user
has chosen, or may
spin the reels at a speed the user has chosen. Further, the casino device may
prevent or limit some
or all gaming activity by the user at one or more gaming devices.
[0038] Also, once a user has submitted his user identifier to a first casino
device, other casino
devices may act in accordance with the user's preparation data. For example,
if a user has asked
that pictures of him be taken when he wins any prize of one thousand dollars
($1,000) or more, a
security camera may focus on the user when he wins any such prize. Further, if
a user has
previously instructed the central controller that he does not wish to spend
more than one hundred
dollars ($100) during a given week, then a casino server and/or one or more
other gaming devices
may track the user's wagers and prevent gaming at one or more gaming devices
once the user has
wagered and lost one hundred dollars ($100).
[0039] In some embodiments, the central controller and the casino server
comprise the same
device. In such a case, the combined central controller/server may be in
communication with casino
devices at multiple casinos, or, in some embodiments, may be in communication
with casino
devices at only a single casino. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to
configure the central
controller/server to communicate with casino devices at multiple casinos so
that a user may be
limited or prevented from gambling (e.g., at the casino devices) according to
rules previously
registered by the user and/or a third party. For example, a user may register,
through a Web site
hosted by the central controller/server, his preference to limit his gambling
activity in a given month.
As the user visits one or more casinos within the month, the central
controller/server may track the
user's gambling activity at various gaming devices, and may instruct a casino
server and/or gaming
device to limit the user's ability to gamble, as initially requested. Thus, a
user with an actual or
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perceived propensity to gamble compulsively may be limited in his ability to
gamble at participating
casinos (e.g., casinos within a given state jurisdiction).
[0040] According to some embodiments, a gaming device may be customized by a
player and/or a
third party over the Internet. By logging on to a central controller, the
player and/or third party may
be provided with a menu of game types and a series of potential customization
options, such as
gaming limits. After providing customization data, the player may provide or
be given a
customization code that can be entered into any slot machine to reconfigure it
with the stored
customizations. For example, a user may log on to the Internet via a personal
computer and access
a casino Web site for customizing slot machines. The user may select from
among several game
types (e.g., deuces-wild, jacks or better, video reel, three reel, five reel,
video poker, blackjack, etc.)
and proceed to configure the game to his liking. For example, the user may set
a default game
denomination, a game starting point, rules for making automatic play
decisions, game rules, a color
scheme, a level of help, a bonus frequency, a bonus duration, a speed of reel
spin, a font size
and/or style, a currency type, a sound type, a sound level, a language, a
currency, a payout
structure, a payout amount, a payout option, a team option, a comp format, a
jackpot probability, a
total dollar limit for wagering within a given period, a total time limit for
wagering within a given
period, a total number of allowable "visits" to a gaming establishment within
a time period (e.g., a
player residing locally to a casino may only place wagers at the casino three
(3) out of every seven
(7) calendar days), etc. After completing the customization, the user may be
provided with a
customization code or he may provide a customization code (e.g., a player
tracking card identifier
and/or a biometric identifier). When the user arrives at a casino and sits
down at a slot machine, he
enters his customization code (e.g., inserts a player tracking card and/or
scans a fingerprint) and the
game and/or device reconfigures itself to the user's previously provided
customizations.
[0041] In some embodiments, information about a user may be used to provide
targeted
advertising and/or targeted marketing offers to the user. For example, a user
may log on to a central
controller (i.e., the customization Web site) and answer a series of questions
about himself. For
example, he might identify his age, gender, whether or not he owns a home, the
types of magazines
he buys, whether he has any children, whether he has any stock investments,
his blood pressure
and cholesterol levels, his education level, the identity of his long distance
phone carrier, etc. The
answers to these questions may be stored along with an associated
customization code and
transmitted to the casino server. When the player arrives at a casino and sits
down at a gaming
device to play, he enters his customization code, which is then transmitted to
the casino server.
During the gambling session, if it is determined that a marketing offer should
be provided to the
player, then the marketing answers are retrieved and used to better target the
marketing offer. An
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offer to switch long distance service from AT&T to MCI , for example, might
be skipped in favor of
another offer if the player is already an MCI customer.
[0042] In some embodiments, the casino may store customization information
about the player.
For example, if the player is a frequent gambler, the casino might activate a
comp payout
percentage of two percent (2%) instead of the more typical one percent (1%).
In some
embodiments, instead of logging on to the central controller, the player may
log directly into a casino
server or a slot machine. The connection might be through the Internet or via
a direct dial/WAN
connection. Customization data may be provided as described herein. In this
embodiment, the
player might be able to retrieve information from the casino about his play.
The player may provide
his player tracking identifier (and possibly a PIN code for security) to gain
access to his account. The
player may also check to see how much he has won for IRS tax reporting
purposes, for example.
[0043] With these and other advantages and features of the invention that will
become hereinafter
apparent, the nature of some embodiments may be more clearly understood by
reference to the
following detailed description, the appended claims, and to the several
figures included and
described herein.
[0044] In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying
figures that form a part
hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments
that may be practiced.
These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled
in the art to practice
such embodiments, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be
utilized and that
structural, logical, software, and/or electrical changes may be made without
departing from the
scope of these embodiments. The following description is, therefore, not to be
taken in a limited
sense.
[0045] Applicants have generally recognized that a need exists for systems and
methods that
allow users to quickly and easily locate suitable gaming devices without
having to hunt through
thousands of other gaming devices. One particular benefit to users of
embodiments described
herein is that users are able to cause a gaming device to instantly conform to
their individual player
preferences upon presentation of a customization or preparation code. The
players do not need to
waste time wading through an elaborate maze of gaming devices on the casino
floor instead of
actually using time to play the games. A second benefit to the user is that
marketing offers
presented via a gaming device may be much more targeted and controlled which
results in less time
wasted by the user having to reject offers that are not appropriate or
interesting. Further, using the
embodiments described herein, a user can greatly extend the excitement of a
gambling vacation.
The user has the opportunity to build anticipation prior to the vacation by
planning numerous
aspects before hand. He can test various gaming device configurations to find
the one that's just
right. He can get his friends involved by signing them up to win if he wins.
He can arrange for tokens
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of good luck or sentimental value (e.g., pictures of pets) to be with him at
the gaming device. The
user can also extend the excitement of the vacation on the other end by
reviewing a scrapbook and
other mementos of his trip when it is documented by the casino. The user has
the opportunity to
optimize his playing conditions and other aspects of his vacation, without
wasting precious time
during the vacation. For example, a user can determine a good configuration
for a gaming device in
advance, and/or determine where in Las Vegas to find a gaming device capable
of that
configuration.
[0046] Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for
systems and methods that
allow users and other third parties to flexibly customize rules which prevent
or limit some or all the
gaming activity of one or more players at one or more gaming devices in one or
more casinos.
Current self-exclusion list regimes take an "all or nothing" approach by
banning outright voluntarily
included individuals from all the casinos in the given jurisdiction. That is,
the self-exclusion list
approach assumes that compulsive or problem gambling is not one of degree.
Such overbroad
restriction on gaming serves to prevent entirely the gaming of players who may
be able to safely or
without compulsion gamble at certain games, in certain limits, at certain
times, etc., and such
overbroad restriction thus unduly limits casino revenue potential. Such self-
exclusion mechanisms
also do not appear to be applicable to other gaming environments such as
arcades and/or online
gaming of any sort. Accordingly, embodiments described herein provide players
with flexibility in
limiting or preventing their play at one or more games, devices, and/or
casinos.
[0047] Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for
systems and methods that
allow players who have real and/or perceived (e.g., suspected by a third
party) gambling problems
to receive reminders and guidance concerning wagering activity at a time
substantially
contemporaneously to the play of a gaming device. Accordingly, disclosed
herein are systems and
methods that allow players who have real and/or perceived gambling problems to
receive reminders
and guidance concerning wagering activity at a time substantially
contemporaneously to the play of
a gaming device.
[0048] Applicants have also generally recognized that a need exists for
systems and methods that
allow players who have real and/or perceived gambling problems to communicate
with third parties
(such as family, friends, counselors, lenders, creditors, etc.) concerning
wagering activity at a time
substantially contemporaneously to the play of a gaming device. Accordingly,
disclosed herein are
systems and methods that allow players who have real and/or perceived gambling
problems to
communicate with third parties (such as family, friends, counselors, etc.)
concerning wagering
activity at a time substantially contemporaneously to the play of a gaming
device. Communication
between players who have real and/or perceived gambling problems and third
parties may serve to
mitigate problematic wagering activity (e.g., a problem gambler receives
advice to "slow down").
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[0049] Some embodiments may provide many benefits to various entities. Some
benefits to
casinos and/or other gaming entities may, for example, include: (i) players no
longer leave the
casino if they do not find their preferred machines; (ii) players play longer
when the machine is
configured for their needs; (iii) players accept more marketing offers when
they are better targeted;
(iv) a casino that allows a user to plan and optimize his experience at that
casino is very likely to
obtain a large share of the user's business; (v) when a casino documents a
user's vacation, the user
is more likely to remain at that casino so as to have his vacation documented
in a consistent
manner; (vi) when marketers fund portions of a user's gambling activities, the
user tends to gamble
more, providing greater profits for the casino; (vii) a user who documents a
vacation may show the
documentation to friends, creating new customers for the casino, and/or (viii)
a casino may benefit
from the ability to allow players with real and/or perceived gambling problems
(and/or third parties
associated therewith) to flexibly customize rules for wagering activity (e.g.,
as opposed to banning
such players outright).
[0050] Some benefits to gaming device manufacturers and/or other entities may,
for example,
include: (i) acquiring player customization information is valuable and useful
in developing new
gaming devices and (ii) manufactures will sell more customization software for
gaming devices. A
benefit some embodiments for a marketer is that when a user submits
information about himself, his
intentions, his desires, and his worries, a marketer can better target offers
to the user. For example
if the user says he is a Mercedes owner, a marketer can attempt to sell
upscale items to the user.
If the user is worried about losing more than forty dollars ($40), the
marketer can offer to offset user
losses in excess of forty dollars ($40) in return for the user's business.
Some embodiments allow a
player to select the specific types of offers he is willing to consider from
marketers, making the
marketer's job much easier.
II. Terms and Definitions
[0051] Throughout the description that follows and unless otherwise specified,
the following terms
may include the meanings provided in this section. These terms and
illustrative meanings are
provided to clarify the language selected to describe embodiments both in the
specification and in
the appended claims.
[0052] The terms "products," "goods," "merchandise," and "services" shall be
synonymous and
may refer to anything licensed, leased, sold, available for sale, available
for lease, available for
licensing, and/or offered or presented for sale, lease, or licensing including
packages of products,
subscriptions to products, contracts, information, services, and intangibles.
[0053] The term "merchant" may refer to an entity who may offer to sell,
lease, and/or license one
or more products to a consumer (for the consumer or on behalf of another) or
to other merchants.
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For example, merchants may include sales channels, individuals, companies,
manufacturers,
distributors, direct sellers, re-sellers, and/or retailers. Merchants may
transact out of buildings
including stores, outlets, malls and warehouses, and/or they may transact via
any number of
additional methods including mail order catalogs, vending machines, online Web
sites, and/or via
telephone marketing. Note that a producer or manufacturer may choose not to
sell to customers
directly and in such a case, a retailer may serve as the manufacture's or
producer's sales channel.
[0054] The terms "player" and "user" shall generally be synonymous and may
refer to any person
or entity that operates a user device, a gaming device (e.g., a gambling
device such as a slot
machine), and/or a user terminal.
[0055] The term "gaming device" or "gaming machine" may refer to any
electrical, mechanical,
electro-mechanical and/or other device that is associated with providing,
facilitating, rendering,
executing, and/or displaying a game. Such devices may, in gambling contexts
for example, facilitate
the acceptance of a wager, may follow a process to generate an outcome, and/or
may pay winnings
based on the outcome. The outcome may be randomly generated, as with a slot
machine; may be
generated through a combination of randomness and user skill, as with video
poker; or may be
generated entirely through user skill. A gaming device may include any gaming
machine and/or
system, including slot machines, video poker machines, video bingo machines,
video roulette
machines, video keno machines, video blackjack machines, arcade games, video
games, video
lottery terminals, online gaming systems, sports betting machines, game
consoles, personal
computers logged into online gaming sites, etc. Gaming devices and gaming
machines may also
include "smart" table technology, or electronic devices to designed aid
casinos in the administration
of table games such as blackjack and poker.' Gaming devices may or may not be
owned and/or
maintained by a casino and/or may or may not exist within a casino location.
[0056] The term "casino device" may refer to any electrical, mechanical,
electro-mechanical and/or
other device operable to be used in and/or interact with people at a casino.
These may include for
example, user devices, I/0 devices, gaming devices, and/or personal computers
located at hotel
registration desks, chip cashing desks, casino pits, and so on. Casino devices
may also include
1 Typically, such "smart table" devices are designed to ensure secure and
fraud-free table game operations by
providing accurate wager, accounting and card tracking data for the dealer.
For example, Shuffle MasterTM
produces the Intelligent Shoe series of card shoes and sorters for deterring
fraud by tracking cards-dealt data.
Also, the Tablelink system from Progressive GamingTM uses wireless Radio
Frequency IDentification (RFID)
technology to track chip information at table games, primarily for accurate
game accounting. These systems are
capable of summarizing information specific to individual players, including
the total amount wagered within a
given period of time, player betting decisions, and dealer decisions during
the player's sessions. In addition to
facilitating fraud-free gaming, such systems are also used by casinos to
administer comp (reward) programs.
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such things as security cameras, elevators, music systems, guest room
televisions, telephones,
beds, mini-bars, door locks, chairs, point-of-sale terminals, etc.
[0057] The term "casino" may refer to the owner and/or operator of gaming
devices, owners'
and/or operator's agents, and/or any entity who may profit from players' use
of the gaming devices.
Casinos may include, for example, casino properties, resort casinos, casino
hotels, arcades, and/or
other gaming establishments and/or entities.
[0058] The term "casino location" may refer to the physical geographic site,
complex, or building
where gaming devices owned and/or operated by a casino are located. In the
case of an online
casino, casino location may refer to the address (e.g., the Uniform Resource
Locator (URL)) of the
online casino's Web site or facility.
[0059] The term "handle pull" may refer to a single play at a gaming device.
In some
embodiments, a handle pull may refer to a single complete game (or hand) or in
other embodiments,
the term may refer to a play related to a single wager. For example, in video
blackjack, a user might
play a single game in which he splits a pair of sevens, requiring an
additional wager. This single
game may be considered to include either one or two handle pulls. A plurality
of handle pulls may
generally define a gaming "session", although a "session" may also or
alternatively refer to a single
wager, hand, handle pull, and/or play.
[0060] The terms "central controller" and "controller" shall be synonymous and
may refer to any
device that may communicate with one or more casino servers, one or more
casino devices, one or
more gaming devices, one or more third-party service provider servers, one or
more remote
controllers, one or more player devices, and/or other network nodes, and may
be capable of relaying
communications to and from each.
[0061] The term "user terminal" and "remote controller" may generally be
synonymous and may
refer to any device that may communicate with one or more central controllers,
one or more casino
servers, one or more casino devices, one or more gaming devices, one or more
third-party service
provider servers, one or more player devices, and/or other network nodes. User
terminals may, for
example, include pagers, personal digital assistants, personal computers,
laptop computers,
handheld computers, telephones (e.g., cellular telephones), kiosks, automated
teller machines,
gaming devices, game consoles, and/or vending machines. They may be used to
access
configuration selection programs, to execute such programs (in whole or part),
and/or to configure
gaming devices. They may include facilities to support secure communications
using encryption or
the like.
[0062] The terms "player device" and "user device" shall be synonymous and may
refer to any
device owned or used by a user or consumer capable of accessing and/or
displaying online and/or
offline content. Player devices may communicate with one or more central
controllers, one or more
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casino servers, one or more casino devices, one or more gaming devices, one or
more third-party
service provider servers, one or more user terminals, and/or other network
nodes. In some
embodiments, player devices may, for example, include gaming devices, personal
computers,
pagers, personal digital assistants, point-of-sale terminals, point of display
terminals, kiosks,
telephones, cellular phones, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), pagers, and
combinations of such
devices. They may be used to access configuration or preference selection
programs, to execute
such programs (in whole or part), and/or to configure gaming devices.
[0063] The term "input device" may refer to a device that is used to receive
an input. An input
device may communicate with or be part of another device (e.g., a point of
sale terminal, a point of
display terminal, a user terminal, a server, a player device, a gaming device,
a controller, etc.).
Some examples of input devices include: a bar-code scanner, a magnetic stripe
reader, a computer
keyboard, a point-of-sale terminal keypad, a touch-screen, a microphone, an
infrared sensor, a
sonic ranger, a computer port, a video camera, a motion detector, a digital
camera, a network card,
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, a GPS receiver, an RFID receiver, an RF
receiver, a
thermometer, a pressure sensor, a biometric device (e.g., a fingerprint
reader, an iris reader, a
topical facial pattern recognizer/reader), and/or a weight scale or mass
balance.
[0064] In one embodiment, a suitable fingerprint reader for use herein
includes the Fujitsu 0
MBF200 Scanner, which is manufactured by Tacoma Technology, Inc.T " of Taipai,
Taiwan and
Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc.T " of Tokyo, Japan. The Fujitsu0 MBF200
offers a resolution
of five hundred dots per inch (500 dpi), an image capture area of 12.8 x 15 mm
(0.5" x 0.6"), and a
unit size of 60 x 40 x 15 mm (2.4" x 1.6" x 0.6"). The Fujitsu0 MBF200 may
communicate with a
gaming machine processor through a USB interface. The Fujitsu0 MBF200 may be
desirable in an
embodiment where the gaming machine processor is instructed through a Linux-
based operating
system. In embodiments featuring the Fujitsu0 MBF200, fingerprint-matching
software may be
employed. Exemplary fingerprint matching software includes VeriFingerTM 4.2
from
Neurotechnologija, Ltd.TM of Vilnius, Lithuania.
[0065] In another embodiment, a suitable fingerprint reader includes the AF-S2
FingerLocTM from
AuthenTec, Inc.T " of Melbourne, Florida. The AF-S2 FingerLocTM offers a
resolution of two hundred
and fifty dots per inch (250 dpi), an image capture area of 13 x 13 mm (0.51"
x 0.51"), and a unit
size of 24 x 24 x 3.5 mm (0.94" x 0.94" x 0.14"). The AF-S2 FingerLocTM may
communicate with a
gaming machine processor through a USB interface. The AF-S2 FingerLocTM may be
desirable in an
embodiment where the gaming machine processor is instructed through a
Microsoft0 Windows0-
based operating system. In embodiments featuring the AF-S2 FingerLocTM,
fingerprint-matching
software may be employed. Exemplary fingerprint matching software includes
VeriFingerTM 4.2 from
Neurotechnologija, Ltd.TM of Vilnius, Lithuania.
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[0066] The term "output device" may refer to a device that is used to output
information. An output
device may communicate with or be part of another device (e.g., a gaming
device, a point of sale
terminal, a point of display terminal, a player device, a merchant device, a
controller, etc.). Possible
output devices include: a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor, Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD) screen,
Light Emitting Diode (LED) screen, a printer, an audio speaker, an Infrared
Radiation (IR)
transmitter, and/or an RF transmitter. The term 1/0 device" may refer to any
combination of input
and/or output devices.
[0067] The term "frequent shopper card" may refer to a device that may be
capable of storing
information about a consumer who is a shopper. This information may include
identifying
information. This information may also include shopping history information.
The frequent shopper
card may be machine readable, for example, by a Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal.
According to some
embodiments, a frequent shopper card may store gaming device customized
configuration
information.
[0068] The term "player tracking card" may refer to a device that may be
capable of storing
information about a consumer who is a casino and/or gaming player. Typically,
player tracking cards
may be accessed by gaming devices and magnetic card readers operated by casino
staff. The
information stored on the player tracking card may include identifying
information, as well as
financial information, such as a number of gambling credits remaining. The
card may be machine
readable, for example, by a gaming device. According to some embodiments, a
player tracking card
may store gaming device customized configuration information.
[0069] The term "ATM card" may refer to a device that may be capable of
storing information
about a consumer who is a bank customer. This information may include
identifying information and
bank account information. The ATM card may be machine readable, for example,
by an ATM.
According to some embodiments, an ATM card may store gaming device customized
configuration
information.
[0070] The term "configuration" may refer to one or more feature values,
preferences, limits,
authorizations, accessibility rules, and/or selections for the operation of a
gaming or other device.
[0071] The term "customized configuration" may refer to a configuration
designed or chosen by
and/or for a specific player by the player and/or by a third party such as a
relative, friend, counselor,
judicial officer, insurer, creditor, employer, regulator, etc.
[0072] The term "configuration data" may refer to a customized configuration
and/or information
that a device may use to configure itself or another device. In some
embodiments, configuration
data may refer to information about a player that may be useful to casinos or
third parties who may
attempt to configure a gaming device to some degree for the player. For
example, a marketing
company may use the information about a player to create a targeted
advertisement that may be
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configured to be presented to the player via the gaming device. In another
example, a regulatory
agency and/or casino may use the information about a player to limit the
player's ability to wager
more than a certain amount of money in a given period of time (e.g., the
player may be prevented
from gambling more than five dollars ($5) per day).
[0073] The term "preparation data" may refer to any data received from, or
related to, a user that is
descriptive of characteristics of the user's desires, aspirations, intentions,
expectations, concerns,
habits, compulsions, problems, addictions, anxieties, diagnoses, preferences,
and/or plans related
to his gambling and/or gaming experience or gambling vacation. In some
embodiments, preparation
data may include information (and/or documentation) useful in (and/or required
for) addressing the
user's concerns and/or fulfilling the user's desires, aspirations, intentions,
expectations, and/or
plans. For example, preparation data may include work product, such as a
completed survey form,
that the user has produced in exchange for a coupon from a marketing research
firm, wherein the
coupon is for a free meal at the casino restaurant at which the user was
planning to eat. In another
example, preparation data may include answers to questions that a user has
provided through an
online user interface, such as a Web page, pertaining to the user's
preferences and/or gambling
limits (e.g., a user may specify, through a Web page, that he wants gaming
machines to stop him
from spending more than two hundred dollars per month ($200/month) on gambling
activities). In
some embodiments, preparation data may also include configuration data.
[0074] Preparation data may generally comprise at least two types of data,
such as "preference
preparation data" and/or "gaming rule preparation data". Preference
preparation data may generally,
for example, comprise preparation data directed to and/or associated with a
customization of
preference-related features of a gaming device (e.g., screen size, colors,
game type, etc.). Gaming
rule (and/or gaming limit) preparation data may generally comprise preparation
data that is
associated with placing limits on and/or restricting gaming behavior and/or
capabilities of a player.
[0075] The terms "customization code" and "preparation code" shall be
synonymous and may refer
to a code used to identify a set of stored or otherwise identifiable
preparation data (which may
include user preferences, gaming rules or limits, and other configuration
data). In some
embodiments, a customization code may be the player's player tracking card
number or other
unique or substantially unique identifier (e.g., an identification number;
biometric data such as iris
data, fingerprint data, topical facial data, etc.). In some embodiments, a
customization code may
include actual preparation data and/or an address of (or a pointer to)
preparation data. A pointer to
preparation data may be used, for example, to indicate where, within a casino
device's read-only
memory, predefined preparation data for that casino device may be found. In
another example, a
pointer to preparation data may be used to indicate where, within a casino
server's memory,
configuration data corresponding to a particular user may be found.
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[0076] The term "feature" may refer to an individual aspect of the operation
of a gaming (or other)
device, or a user's experience with the gaming (or other) device. Individual
features might include
the reel speed, the payout percentage, or the contrast of the video screen on
a slot machine.
Further, individual features may include limits or rules governing, for one or
more specific users, (i)
the types of wagers that may be allowed (e.g., which paylines may be activated
on a slot machine;
the maximum wager amount per handle pull), (ii) the maximum net wager amount
per period of time,
(iii) the maximum net loss amount per period of time, (iv) the maximum net win
amount per period of
time, (v) the maximum rate at which handle pulls may be permitted, (vi) the
maximum period of time
for which one or more gaming machine(s) will be operable (e.g., starting from
a triggering handle
pull), (vii) the maximum number of handle pulls permitted per period of time,
(viii) the days and/or
hours that one or more gaming machine(s) may be operable, (ix) the sources of
funds that may be
used to place wagers (e.g., certain players may only play with stored value or
debit cards; certain
players may only play with "won" money after a threshold amount of cash is
wagered), (x) the types
of games which may be permitted (e.g., slots only; all games except video
poker), (xi) the identities
or types of gaming machines which may or may not be permitted (e.g., only on
machine number
"1234651"; only on twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination slot machines),
and/or (xii) any other
gambling attribute. Other features are contemplated, as discussed herein. A
set of features taken
together represents a configuration for a gaming device.
[0077] The terms "gambling insurance policy," "gambling insurance," and
"gambling insurance
contract" shall be generally synonymous and may refer to an agreement between
a user and a
casino, and/or between a user and an insurer, with some or all of the
following provisions: (i) the
user pays the insurer a fixed amount up front; (ii) the user must make a
predetermined number of
handle pulls, no more and no less; (iii) the user need not pay any additional
money after purchasing
the gambling insurance contract; (iv) the user keeps any net winnings after
all handle pulls have
been completed; (v) if the user has a net loss after the handle pulls have
been completed, then the
loss amount is paid to the casino by the insurer and the player is refunded
the loss amount. There
are many possible variants of these provisions and additional provisions are
possible. A gambling
insurance contract may insure a user against excessive losses, and may give
the user more handle
pulls than would otherwise be possible for the price of the gambling insurance
contract. Also, since
there may be no additional user decisions required after the user has
purchased the gambling
insurance contract, the user need not be present for the execution of the
contract.
[0078] The term "contract" may include a gambling insurance contract and/or a
gaming contract in
which a fixed number or "block" of handle pulls and/or amount or "block" of
time is purchased for a
single price. In some embodiments, these "blocks" of handle pulls may be
referred to as a "gaming
session".
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[0079] The terms "gambling circle" and "gaming circle" shall generally be
synonymous and may
refer to a group of people, at least one of whom gambles or plays games, and
whose members
receive benefits based on the results of the gambler/player. For example, a
user may go to Las
Vegas, while several friends remain in the user's hometown. The user may sign
up the friends to be
part of the user's gambling circle. In some embodiments, the friends may then
receive a percentage
of any jackpot the user wins.
III. SYSTEMS
[0080] An example embodiment of a system 100A is depicted in FIG. 1A. The
system 100A
according to some embodiments may include a central controller 102 (an example
of which is
depicted in FIG. 2) in one or two-way communication with one or more casino
servers 112, 114 (an
example of which is depicted in FIG. 3); one or more user terminals 106, 108,
110 (an example of
which is depicted in FIG. 4); and/or one or more marketer devices 128, 130 (an
example of which is
depicted in FIG. 6) via a network, for example, the Internet 104 or via
another communications link.
Casino servers 112, 114, in turn, are each in communication with one or more
gaming devices 120,
122, 124, 126 (an example of which is depicted in FIG. 5). Although not
pictured, other casino
devices besides gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 may be connected to the
casino servers 112,
114 and in communication with (and/or controllable by) the central controller
102. The devices
depicted as being connected directly together in FIG. 1A may also or
alternatively be connected via
a network, for example, a local area network, the Internet 104, and/or via
another communications
link.
[0081] In operation, the central controller 102 may function under the control
of a casino, a
merchant, or other entity (e.g., a nonprofit organization, a counselor, a
judicial officer, an insurer, a
creditor, a regulator) that may also control, in whole or part, use of the
gaming devices 120, 122,
124, 126. For example, the central controller 102 may be a server in a
merchant's network. In some
embodiments, the central controller 102 and the casino servers 112, 114 may
comprise the same
device.
[0082] Referring to FIG. 1B, an alternate system 100B according to some
embodiments further
includes one or more third-party service provider servers 118. A third-party
service provider server
118 may also be in one or two-way communication with the central controller
102. However, as
shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 B, the third-party service provider
server 118 may be
disposed between the central controller 102 and the user terminals 106, 108,
110. Alternatively, the
third-party service provider server 118 may be disposed between the central
controller 102 and the
casino servers 112, 114.
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[0083] The primary difference between the two alternative embodiments depicted
in FIG. 1A and
FIG. 1B is that the system 100B includes the third-party service provider
server 118 which may be
operable by an entity distinct and/or physically remote from the entity
operating the central controller
102. In operation, the third-party service provider server 118 may perform
methods described herein
by sending signals to the central controller 102 to be relayed to the user
terminals 106, 108, 110.
For example, a marketing company may operate a third-party service provider
server 118 that
communicates with a slot machine manufacturing company server (functioning as
a central
controller 102) to provide players with marketing offers based on player
information gathered via
user terminals 106, 108, 110, marketer devices 128, 130, and/or gaming devices
120, 122, 124,
126. In another example, an entity interested in facilitating the limitation
or prevention of the gaming
of one or more players (e.g., a government agency) may operate the third-party
service provider
server 118 to receive preparation data (e.g., gaming rule preparation data)
from user terminals 106,
108, 110 and/or from another device. In the system 100A, the functions of the
third-party service
provider server 118 may be consolidated into the central controller 102 and/or
another device.
[0084] An additional difference between these two embodiments relates to the
physical topology of
the systems 100A and 100B. In both of the depicted embodiments, each node may
securely
communicate with every other node in the system 100A, 100B via, for example, a
Virtual Private
Network (VPN). Thus, all nodes may be logically connected. However, the system
100B may allow
the third-party service provider server 118 to optionally serve as a single
gateway between the
nodes that will typically be under the control of one or more casinos (and
players within the casinos'
location) and the other nodes in the system 100B, i.e., nodes that may be
operated by players
outside of the casinos' location. In some embodiments, the centralization,
security, and control that
naturally results from this topology may be useful in monitoring players' use
of the system 100A,
100B to make such determinations as, for example, which preparations are the
most popular or how
many users are currently actively planning or preparing for a visit to a
casino. Further, in some
embodiments, marketer devices 128, 130 may be connected to the system 100B via
the Internet
104 instead of directly to the central controller 102. This would physically
locate them on the "public"
side of the third-party service provider server 118 gateway and allow, for
example, a much more
secure network on the "private" side of the third-party service provider
server 118 gateway.
[0085] In some embodiments, the casino servers 112, 114 may each be controlled
by different
casinos (and/or other gaming entities). The central controller 102 may be
operated by an entity that
uses system 100A, 100B to, for example, instruct casinos to limit or prevent
the gaming activity of
one or more players according to the instructions of one or more players
and/or other parties, such
as family members, friends, regulators, judicial officers, insurers,
creditors, and counselors. The
central controller 102 may also or alternatively be operated by an entity that
uses the system 100A,
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100B to, for example, deliver players to the different casinos. If there is a
third-party service provider
server 118, it may be operated by an unrelated entity that merely permits the
operators of the central
controller 102 to have access to players who are operating the user terminals
106, 108, 110 or the
gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126. Thus, in such an example embodiment, the
system 100A, 100B
may involve multiple casinos (operating casino servers 112, 114, 116), a
merchant such as a
customer acquisition service agent (operating the central controller 102),
merchant clients of the
customer acquisition service agent (operating the marketer devices 128, 130),
third-party network
operators (operating third-party service provider servers 118), and users
(operating user terminals
106, 108, 110 and gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126). In alternative
embodiments, a casino may
operate a combined central controller/casino server 102, 112, 114 directly and
the system 100A,
100B may only involve a casino and users.
[0086] In both embodiments pictured in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, communication
between the central
controller 102, the casino servers 112, 114, the user terminals 106, 108, 110,
the gaming devices
120, 122, 124, 126, marketer devices 128, 130, and/or the third-party service
provider server 118,
may be direct and/or via a network such as the Internet 104.
[0087] Referring to both FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, each of the central controller
102, (the third-party
service provider server 118 of FIG. 1 B), the casino servers 112, 114, gaming
devices 120, 122, 124,
126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may
comprise, for
example, computers, such as those based on the Intel Pentium processor, that
are adapted to
communicate with each other. Any number of third-party service provider
servers 118, casino
servers 112, 114, 116, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices
128, 130, and/or
user terminals 106, 108, 110 may be in communication with the central
controller 102. In addition,
the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may be in direct or indirect, one or two-way
communication with the
casino servers 112, 114, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or the gaming
devices 120, 122, 124,
126. The central controller 102, the third-party service provider server 118,
the casino servers 112,
114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or
the user terminals
106, 108, 110 may each be physically proximate to each other or geographically
remote from each
other. The central controller 102, the third-party service provider server
118, the casino servers 112,
114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130, and/or
the user terminals
106, 108, 110 may each include input devices 202, 302, 402, 412, 502, 510,
512, 602, 610, 700,
800 and output devices 202, 302, 402, 408, 502, 508, 602, 608, 700, 800, as
described herein.
[0088] As indicated, communication between the central controller 102, the
third-party service
provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122,
124, 126, the marketer
devices 128, 130, and/or the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may be direct or
indirect, such as over an
Internet Protocol (IP) network such as the Internet 104, an intranet, or an
extranet through a Web
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site maintained by the central controller 102 (and/or the third-party service
provider server 118) on a
remote server or over an online data network including commercial on-line
service providers, bulletin
board systems, routers, gateways, and the like. In some embodiments, the nodes
may communicate
with each other over local area networks including Ethernet, Token Ring, and
the like, RF
communications, IR communications, microwave communications, cable television
systems, satellite
links, a WAN, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks, a Public Switched
Telephone
Network (PSTN), other wireless networks, and the like.
[0089] Devices in communication with each other need not be continually
transmitting to each
other. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit to each other as
necessary, and may
actually refrain from exchanging data most of the time. For example, a device
in communication with
another device via the Internet 104 may not transmit data to the other device
for weeks at a time.
[0090] The central controller 102 (and/or the third-party service provider
server 118) may function
as a"Web server" that presents and/or generates Web pages that are documents
stored on
Internet-connected computers accessible via the World Wide Web using protocols
such as, e.g., the
Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Such documents typically include one or
more Hyper-Text
Markup Language (HTML) files, associated graphics, and script files. A Web
server allows
communication with the central controller 102 in a manner known in the art.
The gaming devices
120, 122, 124, 126 and the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may use a Web browser,
such as
NAVIGATOR published by NETSCAPE for accessing HTML forms generated or
maintained by or
on behalf of the central controller 102 and/or the third-party service
provider server 118.
[0091] As indicated, any or all of the central controller 102, the third-party
service provider server
118, the casino servers 112, 114, the gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the
marketer devices 128,
130, and/or the user terminals 106, 108, 110 may include or be part of, e.g.,
processor based cash
registers, telephones, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems such as the
ML400-IVR designed
by Missing Link Interactive Voice Response SystemsTM, cellular/wireless
phones, vending machines,
pagers, gaming devices including slot machines, personal computers, portable
types of computers,
such as a laptop computer, a wearable computer, a palm-top computer, a hand-
held computer, a
smart card, and/or a PDA. Further details of the central controller 102, the
third-party service
provider server 118, the casino servers 112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122,
124, 126, the marketer
devices 128, 130, and the user terminals 106, 108, 110 are provided herein.
[0092] As indicated above, in some embodiments, the central controller 102
(and/or the third-party
service provider server 118) may include casino servers 112, 114, and/or user
terminals 106, 108,
110. Further, the central controller 102 may communicate with gaming devices
120, 122, 124, 126
and players via gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 directly instead of through
the casino servers
112, 114. In addition, the central controller 102 may communicate with users
directly instead of
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through the user terminals 106, 108, 110 or gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126.
Although not
pictured, the central controller 102, the third-party service provider server
118, the casino servers
112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, the marketer devices 128, 130,
and/or the user
terminals 106, 108, 110 may also be in communication with one or more consumer
and/or merchant
credit institutions to effect transactions and may do so directly or via a
secure financial network such
as the Fedwire network maintained by the United States Federal Reserve System,
the Automated
Clearing House (ACH) Network, the Clearing House Interbank Payments System
(CHIPS), or the
like.
[0093] In operation, the casino servers 112, 114 and/or the user terminals
106, 108, 110 may
exchange information about the player and the player's preparation data via
the central controller
102. In embodiments with a third-party service provider server 118, the casino
servers 112, 114,
and/or the user terminals 106, 108, 110 and/or the gaming devices 120, 122,
124, 126 may
exchange information about the player via the third-party service provider
server 118. The casino
servers 112, 114 may, for example, provide information related to casino
features or other
information to the central controller 102 (and/or the third-party service
provider server 118). The user
terminals 106, 108, 110 may provide user preparation data to the central
controller 102 (and/or the
third-party service provider server 118). The central controller 102 (and/or
the third-party service
provider server 118) may provide information about players and their
preparation data to the casino
servers 112, 114 and also preparation codes to the user terminals 106, 108,
110 for later use by
players at the gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126 in the casino location. In
some embodiments,
upon receiving a preparation code from a gaming device 120 or other casino
device, a casino server
112 may communicate instructions to the gaming device 120 to configure itself
according to a stored
configuration associated with the preparation code.
IV. Devices
[0094] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating details of an example of a
central controller 200 (e.g.,
the central controller 102 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B; and/or an example of a
third-party service
provider server 118 of FIG. 1 B). The central controller 200 may generally be
operative to manage
systems (such as the system 100A, 100B of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) and/or
execute the methods
and processes as described herein. The central controller 200 may, for
example, be implemented as
one or more system controllers, one or more dedicated hardware circuits, one
or more appropriately
programmed general purpose computers, or any other similar electronic,
mechanical, electro-
mechanical, and/or human operated device. For example, in FIG. 1 B, the
central controller 102, 200
is depicted as coupled to a third-party service provider server 118. In the
embodiment of FIG. 1 B,
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these two servers may provide the same functions as the central controller
102, 200 alone in the
embodiment of FIG. 1A.
[0095] The central controller 200 (and/or the third-party service provider
server 118) may include a
processor 201, such as one or more Intel Pentium processors. The processor
201 may include
and/or be coupled to one or more clocks or timers (not pictured) and one or
more communication
ports 202 through which the processor 201 communicates with other devices
(such as the casino
servers 112, 114, the user terminals 106, 108, 110, the gaming devices 120,
122, 124, 126,
marketer devices 128, 130, and/or the third-party service provider server 118
of FIG. 1A and/or FIG.
1 B). The processor 201 may also or alternatively be in communication with a
data storage device
204. The data storage device 204 may include any appropriate combination of
magnetic, optical
and/or semiconductor memory, and may include, for example, additional
processors, communication
ports, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Compact Disc (CD)
and/or a
hard disk. The processor 201 and the storage device 204 may each be, for
example: (i) located
entirely within a single computer or other computing device; or (ii) connected
to each other by a
remote communication medium, such as a serial port cable, a LAN, a telephone
line, radio
frequency transceiver, a fiber optic connection or the like. In some
embodiments for example, the
central controller 200 may comprise one or more computers (or processors 201)
that are connected
to a remote server computer operative to maintain databases, where the data
storage device 204 is
comprised of the combination of the remote server computer and the associated
databases.
[0096] The data storage device 204 generally stores a program 206 for
controlling the processor
201. The processor 201 performs instructions of the program 206, for example,
and thereby
operates in accordance with embodiments described herein. Some embodiments may
be embodied
as a computer program developed using an object oriented language that allows
the modeling of
complex systems with modular objects to create abstractions that are
representative of real world,
physical objects and their interrelationships. However, it should be
understood that the embodiments
as described herein can be implemented in many different ways using a wide
range of programming
techniques as well as general purpose hardware systems or dedicated
controllers. The program 206
may be stored in a compressed, un-compiled and/or encrypted format. The
program 206
furthermore may include program elements that may be generally useful, such as
an operating
system, a database management system and device drivers for allowing the
processor 201 to
interface with computer peripheral devices. Appropriate general purpose
program elements are
known to those skilled in the art, and need not be described in detail herein.
[0097] Further, the program 206 is generally operative to execute a number of
specific modules or
subroutines which may include (but are not limited to) one or more routines to
(i) identify a user at a
user terminal 106, 108, 110 as a potential user of a custom configured gaming
device 120, 122, 124,
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126; (ii) one or more routines to receive information about a user; (iii) one
or more routines to
provide casino feature information to a user at a user terminal 106, 108, 110;
(iv) one or more
routines to generate a preparation code and associate it with a player's
preparation data; (v) one or
more routines to store a player's preparation data; (vi) one or more routines
to securely
communicate stored preparation codes and the associated preparation data to
the casino servers
112, 114; (vii) one or more routines to facilitate and control communications
between casino servers
112, 114, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126, marketer devices 128, 130, user
terminals 106, 108,
110, the central controller 102, and/or a third-party service provider server
118; and/or (viii) one or
more routines to control databases or software objects that track information
regarding users,
casinos, merchants, other third-parties, user terminals 106, 108, 110,
gambling results, preparation
data, preparation codes, casino features, gaming devices 120, 122, 124, 126,
and fulfillment of user
requests. Examples of these routines and their operation are described in
detail herein, such as in
conjunction with the flowcharts of the methods 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700 depicted
in and described
with respect to FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 16, and/or FIG. 17.
[0098] According to some embodiments, the instructions of the program 206 may
be read into a
main memory of the processor 201 from another computer-readable medium, such
from a ROM to a
RAM. Execution of sequences of the instructions in the program 206 causes
processor 201 to
perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-
wired circuitry or
integrated circuits may be used in place of, or in combination with, software
instructions for
implementation of the processes described herein. Thus, embodiments are not
limited to any
specific combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software.
[0099] In addition to the program 206, the storage device 204 is generally
also operative to store
(i) a user database 208, (ii) a trip documentation database 210, (iii) a
gambling circle database 212,
and (iv) a preparation database 214. The databases 208, 210, 212, 214 are
described in detail
herein and example structures are depicted with sample entries in the
accompanying figures. As will
be understood by those skilled in the art, the schematic illustrations and
accompanying descriptions
of the sample databases presented herein are exemplary arrangements for stored
representations
of information. Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those
suggested by
the tables shown. For example, even though four (4) separate databases are
illustrated,
embodiments may be practiced effectively using one (1), two (2), three (3),
five (5), or more
functionally equivalent databases. Similarly, the illustrated entries of the
databases represent
exemplary information only; those skilled in the art will understand that the
number and content of
the entries can be different from those illustrated herein. Further, despite
the depiction of the
databases as tables, an object-based model could be used to store and
manipulate the data types
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of the present invention and likewise, object methods or behaviors can be used
to implement the
processes described herein.
[0100] Turning to FIG. 3, a block diagram depicting an example a casino server
300 (such as the
casino server 112, 114 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) includes a processor 301
coupled to a
communications port 302, a data storage device 304 that stores a casino server
program 306, a
local copy of relevant entries of the user database 308, and a local copy of
relevant entries of the
preparation database 314. In embodiments in which, for example, the central
controller 102, 200
serves/controls multiple casinos operated by different entities, a casino may
wish to have a local
copy of the portions of the central controller's databases 208, 210, 212, 214
that include entries
related to that casino and exclude other casinos' access to that casino's
information. Thus, the
example embodiment of a casino server 300 depicts local copies of some of the
databases 208,
210, 212, 214 of FIG. 2 to illustrate this point. This redundant configuration
may provide enhanced
system performance by reducing network communications. A casino server program
306 may
include one or more routines to respond to requests from gaming devices 120,
122, 124, 126 for
preparation data for, in some embodiments, particular players or, in other
embodiments, specified
preparation codes. In other words, the local copy of the user database 308 may
provide the casino
server program 306 with access to information about specific players while the
local copy of the
preparation code database 314 may provide access to the preparation data. In
some embodiments,
local copies of the databases are not stored on the casino server 300 and
instead, the casino server
program 306 accesses the user database 208 and the preparation database 214
stored and
maintained on the central controller 102, 200. Likewise, in some embodiments,
the database may
only exist on the casino server 300 and the central controller 102, 200
accesses the casino server
300 for the data. This distributed configuration may provide enhanced system
security by allowing
different casinos to store and maintain their own databases.
[0101] Turning to FIG. 4, a block diagram of an example user terminal 400
(e.g., the user terminal
106, 108, 110 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) is depicted. The user terminal 400
according to some
embodiments may include a processor 401 coupled to a communications port 402,
a data storage
device 404 that stores a user terminal program 406, an output device 408, and
an input device 412.
A user terminal program 406 may include one or more routines to facilitate and
control
communications and interaction with the central controller 102, 200 as well as
a user interface to
facilitate communications and interaction with a player. Example display
screen images of such a
user interface are provided in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and FIG. 8, herein. An
optional security device (not
pictured) connected to the processor 401 may provide a facility to support
secure communications
via encryption, for example.
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[0102] In addition, a user terminal 400 may include additional devices to
support other functions.
For example, a user terminal 400 embodied in a personal computer may
additionally include a
printing device for generating a coupon or a barcode representative of a
preparation code. In some
embodiments, users may be issued cashless gaming receipts that they can print
(along with the
preparation code) as an incentive to follow through and come to a sponsoring
casino location. In
some embodiments, user devices such as PDA devices or cell phones may be used
in place of or in
addition to user terminals 400. Many different types of input and output
devices may be used in
conjunction with a user terminal 400. Uses of various different user terminal
400 components are
described herein.
[0103] Turning to FIG. 5, a block diagram of an example gaming device 500
(e.g., the gaming
device 120, 122, 126 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) is depicted. In addition to
apparatus to support
gaming functions, a gaming device 500 according to some embodiments may
include a processor
501 coupled to a communications port 502, a data storage device 504 that
stores a gaming device
program 506, a display screen 508, a tracking card reader 510, a user input
device 512, and, in
some embodiments, a player device (not pictured). A gaming device program 506
may include one
or more routines to facilitate and control communications and interaction with
the casino server 112,
114, 300 and/or in some embodiments, an interface to facilitate communications
and interaction with
the central controller 102, 200, the third-party service provider server 118,
and/or a user terminal
106, 108, 110, 400.
[0104] A gaming device 500 according to some embodiments may be implemented in
any number
of devices such as, for example, a slot machine, a processor based cash
register, a telephone, an
IVR system, a cellular/wireless phone, a vending machine, a pager, a personal
computer, a portable
computer such as a laptop, a wearable computer, a palm-top computer, a hand-
held computer,
and/or a PDA. In some embodiments, a user device such as a PDA or cell phone
may be used in
place of, or in addition to, some or all of the gaming device 500 components
depicted in FIG. 5.
[0105] In operation, the tracking card reader 510 may be used to identify a
player to the system
100A, 100B of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1 B. In some embodiments, the gaming device
program 506 may
use the identity of a player determined via the tracking card reader 210 as an
index into a copy of
the preparation code database 314 residing on the casino server 112, 114, 300.
Thus, in some
embodiments the gaming device 500 is operable to retrieve a preparation data
associated with a
player using the player's tracking card information. In some embodiments, the
gaming device
program 506 may be further operative to configure the gaming device 500 based
on the retrieved
preparation data.
[0106] Turning to FIG. 6, a block diagram of an example marketer device 600
(e.g., the marketer
device 128, 130 of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) is depicted. A marketer device 600
according to some
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embodiments may include a processor 601 coupled to a communications port 602,
a data storage
device 604 that stores a marketer device program 606 and a product database
608, an input device
610, and an output device 612. A marketer device program 606 may include one
or more routines to
facilitate and control communications and interaction with the central
controller 102, 200 as well as a
user interface to facilitate communications and interaction with a merchant.
In some embodiments, a
product database 608 may be used by a marketer in determining what products to
offer a user
based upon the preparation data provided by the user.
[0107] Turning to FIG. 7A, an example embodiment of a "preference" preparation
menu screen
700A (such as it may be displayed on the output device 408 of a user terminal
106, 108, 110, 400) is
depicted. The example preference preparation menu screen 700A generally may
include several
choices that each lead the user to sub-menus for developing preference
preparation data. The
choices may include (as shown) "Game Type," "Look and Feel," "Financial
Returns," "Contracts,"
"Marketing Offers," "Gambling Circle," "Travel Arrangements," "Intentions,"
"Comps," "Environmental
Conditions," "Fantasy Prizes," "Superstition," "Credit Lines," "Gambling
Rules," and "Scrap Book."
Each of these menu choices are discussed in detail herein with respect to the
various methods
associated with some embodiments. In some embodiments, a preference
preparation menu screen
700A may be presented to users outside a casino while they are operating a
user terminal 106, 108,
110, 400 and/or to users inside a casino while they are operating a gaming
device 120, 122, 124,
126, 500 (or any appropriate casino device). In some embodiments, a preference
preparation menu
screen 700A may be implemented as a Web page stored remotely but viewed
locally via a Web
browser. In some embodiments, a preference preparation menu screen 700A may be
implemented
as a program that executes locally on a user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400
and/or on a gaming device
120, 122, 124, 126, 500 (or any appropriate casino device).
[0108] Although not depicted on the exemplary preference preparation menu
screen 700A of FIG.
7A, additional options may be provided to users and/or third parties. For
example, in one or more
embodiments, a user may be provided with a menu option that allows restriction
of gaming and/or
gambling activity. Examples of such "gaming rule" and/or "gaming limit"
options are depicted in FIG.
7B.
[0109] FIG. 7B is a drawing illustrating an example of a gaming limit
preparation menu screen
700B for use with some embodiments. The gaming rule preparation menu screen
700B may
comprise, for example, a game type rule area 702, a denomination rule area
704, an allowed
gaming times area 706, a restricted gaming times area 708, a maximum wager
area 710, and/or a
maximum loss area 712. As shown, for example, a player and/or third party may
restrict a player's
gaming activities by (i) only allowing the player to play slots (at 702); (ii)
restricting the player to
twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination machines (at 704); (iii) only allowing
the player to play on
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weekends (at 706); (iv) limiting the player's playing to evening hours (at
708; e.g., to not interfere
with a job); (v) not allowing the player to wager more than five dollars ($5;
at 710); and/or (vi) not
allowing the player to lose more than fifty dollars ($50; at 712). As
described herein, such gaming
rules and/or limits may be established by the player and/or by a third party
such as a relative of the
player, an employer, the casino, an insurer, and/or a government agency or not-
for-profit
organization. While examples of certain types and/or configurations of gaming
rules and/or limits are
illustrated in FIG. 7B, it should be apparent that other gaming and/or
gambling features and/or
parameters may similarly be managed and/or restricted.
[0110] Turning to FIG. 8, an example embodiment of a preference preparation
sub-menu screen
800 is depicted. The particular sub-menu depicted in FIG. 8 is an example of a
screen image that
may be presented, for example, in response to a user selecting the "Look and
Feel" choice from the
preference preparation menu screen 700A of FIG. 7A. The preference preparation
sub-menu screen
800 presents five (5) example feature selection controls for indicating (i) a
sound level selection
(loud, medium, soft), (ii) a font size selection (small, medium, large), (iii)
a symbol selection (fruit,
jewelry, cars), (iv) a contrast selection (large, medium, small), and (v) a
language selection (English,
Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese) for a gaming device 120, 122, 124, 126,
500. In operation, a
user terminal 106, 108, 110, 400 (or casino device) executing a browser
program may be used to
access a central controller 102, 200 to retrieve a Web page (as depicted in
FIG. 8) that presents the
depicted feature selection controls specific to a particular gaming device
120, 122, 124, 126, 500
available at a casino location the player intends to visit. The user may click
on one button in each of
the five (5) feature selection controls to indicate his choice. The user
terminal 106, 108, 110, 400
may be further operative to communicate the player's selections and responses
to other sub-menu
questions (together representing preparation data) back to the central
controller 102, 200 for storage
in the preparation database 208. In some embodiments, the preparation data is
stored indexed by a
preparation code that is provided to the user via the user terminal 106, 108,
110, 200.
[0111] In one or more embodiments where a user and/or third party may be
provided with a menu
option that permits the limitation of a player's future gambling activity, sub-
menu options may be
provided (upon selection of the menu option, e.g., from the gaming rule
preparation menu 700B of
FIG. 7B) for defining the nature and/or scope of such limitations. For
example, such sub-menu
options may include, but are not limited to, options which permit the setting
of limits or rules
governing, for one or more specific users, (i) the types of wagers that may be
allowed (e.g., which
paylines may be activated on a slot machine; the maximum wager amount per
handle pull), (ii) the
maximum net wager amount per period of time, (iii) the maximum net loss amount
per period of
time, (iv) the maximum net win amount per period of time, (v) the maximum rate
at which handle
pulls may be permitted, (vi) the maximum period of time for which one or more
gaming machine(s)
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will be operable (e.g., starting from a triggering handle pull), (vii) the
maximum number of handle
pulls permitted per period of time, (viii) the days and/or hours that one or
more gaming machine(s)
may be operable, (ix) the sources of funds that may be used to place wagers
(e.g., certain players
may only play with stored value or debit cards; certain players may only play
with "won" money after
a threshold amount of cash is wagered), (x) the types of games which may be
permitted (e.g., slots
only; all games except video poker), (xi) the identities or types of gaming
machines which may or
may not be permitted (e.g., only on machine number "1234651 "; only on twenty-
five cent ($0.25)
denomination slot machines), and/or (xii) any other gambling attribute. Other
such features are
contemplated, as described herein.
V. Databases
[0112] As indicated above, it should be noted that although the example
embodiments generally
depict five (5) particular databases stored in storage devices 204, 304, 604,
other database
arrangements may be used which would still be in keeping with the spirit and
scope of the present
disclosure. In other words, some embodiments may be implemented using any
number of different
database files or data structures, as opposed to the five (5) databases
depicted generally herein.
Further, the individual database files may be stored on different servers
(e.g., located on different
storage devices in different geographic locations, such as on a third-party
service provider server
118). Likewise, the programs 206, 306, 606 may also or alternatively be
located remotely from the
storage devices 204, 304, 604 and/or on another server. As indicated, the
programs 206, 306, 606
generally include instructions for retrieving, manipulating, and storing data
in the databases 208,
210, 212, 214, 308, 310, 608 as necessary to perform the methods described
herein.
A. User Database
[0113] Turning to FIG. 9, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a user
database 900 (e.g.,
the user database 208 of FIG. 2) according to some embodiments is illustrated.
This particular
tabular representation of a user database 900 includes sample records or
entries which each
include information regarding a particular user. In some embodiments, the user
database 900 is
used to track such things as player identity, player financial account
information, player demographic
information, and player gambling performance information, as well as to
associate players with
preparation codes. Those skilled in the art will understand that such a user
database 900 may
include any number of entries or additional fields. For example, although not
depicted in FIG. 9,
such a user database 900 may include entries or fields pertaining to gambling
limits or rules set by
the user and/or a third party. Thus, particular restrictions may be denoted in
such a user database
900, and usage or gambling history of a particular user may also be stored
therein so that a
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computer (e.g., a gaming device 122, a casino server 112, a central controller
102 and/or a third-
party service provider server 118, all of FIG. 1A and/or FIG. 1B) may
determine, based on the usage
or gambling history, whether one or more gambling limits or rules have been
exceeded or satisfied,
in which case instructions or commands may be output by such a computer (e.g.,
to a slot machine)
to limit or restrict a player's ability to gamble at a casino in accordance
with the limit or rule.
[0114] The particular tabular representation of a user database 900 depicted
in FIG. 9 includes
seven (7) fields for each of the entries or records. The fields may include:
(i) a user identifier field
901 that stores a representation uniquely identifying the user; (ii) a name
field 902 that stores a
representation of the user's name; (iii) a financial account identifier field
904 that stores a
representation of a bank account number, a credit card number, or other
financial account
information needed to charge an account; (iv) a demographic field 906 that
stores a representation
of a description of demographic information about the user; (v) a machine
identifier field 908 that
stores a representation uniquely identifying a gaming device upon which the
user played; (vi) a
lifetime theoretical win field 910 that stores a representation of the user's
lifetime theoretical win; and
(vii) a preparation code field 912 that stores a representation of a
preparation code associated with
the user (e.g., that serves as a pointer into the preparation database 214).
[0115] The example user database 900 depicted in FIG. 9 provides example data
to illustrate the
meaning of the information stored in this database embodiment. A player
identifier 901 (e.g.,
"P111123", "P22234") may be used to identify and index the players listed in a
player database
(e.g., the player database 610). Two examples of player information are
provided: "Sam Brown" with
credit card number "1111 1111 1111 1111" is a "male, age 23" who played on
gaming device
"M234" and has a lifetime theoretical win of "$2,345.00" and "Linda Jones"
with bank account
number "2222-2222-2222-2222" is a "female, age 47" who played on gaming device
"M532" and has
a lifetime theoretical win of "$765.00." "Sam Brown" has provided the casino
with preparation data
that may be retrieved from the preparation database using the associated
preparation code "C8331"
and for "Linda Jones", "C5006."
B. Trip Documentation Database
[0116] Turning to FIG. 10, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a trip
documentation
database 1000 (e.g., the trip documentation database 210 of FIG. 2) according
to some
embodiments is illustrated. This particular tabular representation of a trip
documentation database
1000 includes sample records or entries which each include information
regarding a particular user's
preparation data that describe how that user desires his trip to be
documented. In some
embodiments, a trip documentation database 1000 is used to track such things
as user identity, trip
identity, photographs of the user, recording criteria, and deliverables. Those
skilled in the art will
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understand that such a trip documentation database 1000 may include any number
of entries or
additional fields.
[0117] The particular tabular representation of a trip documentation database
1000 depicted in
FIG. 10 includes six (6) fields for each of the entries or records. The fields
may include: (i) a user
identifier field 1001 that stores a representation uniquely identifying the
user; (ii) a trip identifier field
1002 that stores a representation uniquely identifying the user's trip to the
casino; (iii) a photo
identifier field 1004 that stores representations uniquely identifying each of
the photos that have
been taken of the user during his trip; (iv) an outcome identifier field 1006
that stores
representations uniquely identifying each of the user's outcomes that have
been recorded during his
trip; (v) a recording criteria field 1008 that stores a representation of a
description of what the player
has requested to document during the trip; and (vi) a deliverable field 1010
that stores a
representation of the form of presentation of the trip documentation the
player has requested.
[0118] The example trip documentation database 1000 depicted in FIG. 10
provides example data
to illustrate the meaning of the information stored in this database
embodiment. A user identifier
1001 (e.g., "P111666"; "P222777"; "P333888"; "P444999") may be used to relate
users to their
particular trip documentation preparation data. A trip identifier 1002 (e.g.,
"T222222"; "T333333";
"T444444"; "T555555") may be used to specify a user's particular trip when,
for example, a user
visits a casino more than once.
[0119] A photo identifier 1004 (e.g., "Ph100000"; "Ph100001"; "Ph100999";
"Ph200002";
"Ph200010"; "Ph300333"; "N/A") may be used to reference all the photographs a
casino has taken of
a user based on the recording criteria 1008 (e.g., "Take a picture when I win
more than $10"; "Take
a picture every hour"; "Take a picture when I win $100 or more, and overlay a
shot of the slot
screen"). The deliverable 1010 for a photo recording criteria 1008 may be, for
example, a photo
"album with 100 pictures"; an "embossed album with 300 pictures"; a photo
"album with 100
pictures"; or "5 T-shirts with pictures."
[0120] An outcome identifier 1006 (e.g., OC123456"; 0C500001"; 0C500002";
0C500003")
may be used to reference all the user's outcomes that a casino has recorded
based on the recording
criteria 1008 (e.g., "Take a picture when I win $100 or more, and overlay a
shot of the slot screen";
"Record all my outcomes"). The deliverable 1010 for an outcome recording
criteria 1008 may be, for
example, a "software program that reenacts all outcomes."
C. Gaming Circle Database
[0121] Turning to FIG. 11, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a
gaming circle database
1100 (e.g., the gambling circle database 212 of FIG. 2) according to some
embodiments is
illustrated. This particular tabular representation of a gaming circle
database 1100 includes sample
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records or entries which each include information regarding a member of a
particular user's gaming
and/or gambling circle. In some embodiments, the gaming circle database 1100
may be used to
track such things as gaming circle members' identity, contact information, and
benefits, as well as to
associate players with their gaming circle members. Note that a gaming and/or
gambling circle may
include any number of members. Those skilled in the art will understand that
such a gaming circle
database 1100 may include any number of entries or additional fields.
[0122] The particular tabular representation of a gaming circle database 1100
depicted in FIG. 11
includes six (6) fields for each of the entries or records. The fields may
include: (i) a user identifier
field 1101 that stores a representation uniquely identifying the user; (ii) a
beneficiary identifier field
1102 that stores a representation uniquely identifying a member of the user's
gaming circle as a
beneficiary of the user's gaming and/or gambling; (iii) a name field 1104 that
stores a representation
of the beneficiary's name; (iv) an email field 1106 and (v) an address field
1108 that store a
representation of the beneficiary's contact information; and (vi) a benefit
field 1110 that stores a
representation of the benefit that the beneficiary will receive if any.
[0123] The example gaming circle database 1100 depicted in FIG. 11 provides
example data to
illustrate the meaning of the information stored in this database embodiment.
Referring to the first
record, as part of his preparation data, user "P555555" has specified
"B111111," who is more
commonly known as "Adam Finsky," as a member of the user's gambling circle and
a beneficiary of
"5% of any jackpot above $1000" that the user wins. "Adam Finsky" has the e-
mail address
"adam@aol.com" and lives in "Anyplace, USA."
[0124] Referring to the second record, as part of his preparation data, user
"P666666" has
specified "B222222," who is more commonly known as "Laura Tanner," as a member
of the user's
gambling circle and a beneficiary of "5% of net winnings" that the user wins.
"Laura Tanner" has the
e-mail address "Itanner@ibm.com" and lives in "Someplace, USA."
[0125] Referring to the third record, as part of his preparation data, user
"P777777" has specified
"B333333," who is more commonly known as "Jack Tinsel," as a member of the
user's gambling
circle and a beneficiary of "buffet for every $200 gross winnings" that the
user wins. "Jack Tinsel"
has the email address "tinsel@home.com" and lives in "Somewhere; USA."
D. Preparation Database
[0126] Turning to FIG. 12, a tabular representation of an embodiment of
preparation database
1200 (e.g., the preparation database 214 of FIG. 2) according to some
embodiments is illustrated.
This particular tabular representation of a preparation database 1200 includes
three (3) sample
records or entries which each include information regarding a particular
user's preparation data
(e.g., preference preparation data and/or gaming rule and/or limit preparation
data). In some
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embodiments, the preparation database 1200 may be used to track information
descriptive of user
specified preferences, intentions, plans related to the user's gambling
vacation, and/or limits or rules
associated with the user's gaming and/or gambling activities. In the specific
example depicted in
FIG. 12, the preparation database 1200 is structured to store and track user
specified preferences
related to gaming device configurations such as the game type, default
denomination of play,
language, currency, noise level, and font size. The preparation database 1200
is also, in the
depicted example, structured to store gaming limits and/or rules associated
with the user. It should
be understood that other data structures, such as the gambling circle database
212 and the trip
documentation database 210, each of FIG. 2, may be used to track other forms
and types of
preparation data, such as data pertaining to gambling limits or rules
associated with a specific player
which have been registered by the player and/or a third party. Those skilled
in the art will understand
that the preparation database 1200 may include any number of entries and/or
additional or
alternative fields.
[0127] The particular tabular representation of the preparation database 1200
depicted in FIG. 12
includes thirteen (13) fields for each of the entries or records. The fields
may include: (i) a user
identifier field 1201, (ii) a preparation code field 1202 that stores a
representation uniquely
identifying a particular customized configuration; (iii) a game type field
1203 that stores a
representation of the selected game type; (iv) a denomination field 1204 that
stores a representation
of the selected default denomination that the gaming device will accept; (v) a
language field 1206
that stores a representation of the selected language to be used by the gaming
device; (vi) a
currency field 1208 that stores a representation of the selected currency to
be used by the gaming
device; (vii) a noise level field 1210 that stores a representation of a
description of a sound effects
volume of the gaming device; (viii) a font size field 1212 that stores a
representation of the size that
characters will be displayed on the gaming device; (ix) a picture field 1214
that stores the name of a
picture and the picture itself that the player would like to be displayed when
he hits a jackpot (and/or
any winning outcome); (x) a music field 1216 that stores a representation of
the name of music and
the music itself that the player would like to be played when he hits a
jackpot (and/or any winning
outcome); (xi) an allowed game types field 1218; (xii) a maximum allowed net
loss per month field
1220; and/or (xiv) a maximum allowed amount of gaming per month field 1222.
[0128] The example preparation database 1200 of FIG. 12 provides example data
to illustrate the
meaning of the information stored in this database embodiment. The preparation
code 1202 (i.e.,
"C5006"; "C9224"; "C8331 ") may be used to identify and/or index preparation
data received from
users. Examples of game types that may be indicated by the game type field
1203 may include reel
slots, video poker, and blackjack. Example denominations that may be indicated
by the
denomination field 1204 may include one dollar ($1.00), twenty-five cents
($0.25), and five dollars
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($5.00). Example languages that may be indicated by the language field 1206
may include English
and Japanese, and example currencies that may be indicated by the currency
field 1208 may
include the U.S. dollar and the yen. Example noise levels that may be
indicated by the noise level
field 1210 may include high, medium, and low and example font sizes that may
be indicated by the
font size field 1212 may include medium, small and large. Example pictures
that may be indicated
by the picture field 1214 may include an image of a user's poodle, an image of
another user's
grandson, and an image of yet another user's hamster. Example music that may
be indicated by the
music field 1216 may include "Macarena," "My Way," and "Beethoven's 9t""
[0129] In one or more embodiments, the preparation database may be configured
to store, for one
or more specific users, information pertaining to gambling limits and/or rules
associated with a
specific player which have been registered by the player and/or a third party,
such as (i) the types of
wagers that may be allowed (e.g., which paylines may be activated on a slot
machine; the maximum
wager amount per handle pull); (ii) the maximum net wager amount per period of
time, (iii) the
maximum net loss amount per period of time; (iv) the maximum net win amount
per period of time;
(v) the maximum rate at which handle pulls may be permitted; (vi) the maximum
period of time for
which one or more gaming machine(s) will be operable (e.g., starting from a
triggering handle pull);
(vii) the maximum number of handle pulls permitted per period of time; (viii)
the days and/or hours
that one or more gaming machine(s) may be operable; (ix) the sources of funds
that may be used to
place wagers (e.g., certain players may only play with stored value or debit
cards; certain players
may only play with "won" money after a threshold amount of cash is wagered);
(x) the types of
games which may be permitted (e.g., slots only; all games except video poker);
(xi) the identities
and/or types of gaming machines which may or may not be permitted (e.g., only
on machine number
"1234651"; only on twenty-five cent ($0.25) denomination slot machines); (xii)
any other gambling
attribute; and/or (xiii) any combination thereof.
[0130] As shown in the exemplary preparation database 1200 of FIG. 12, for
example, a user
identifier (e.g., "136845; "918566"; "PT-17364") may be stored in the user
identifier field 1201 to
indicate a player and/or user (e.g., uniquely) that is associated with a
particular preparation code.
Although only one preparation code is depicted in FIG. 12 as being associated
with one player or
user, it should be understood that the relationship may be of any practicable
sort, including one-to-
many and many-to-one. In some embodiments, the player identifier may comprise
any type of user
identifier that is or becomes known or practicable. The player identifier may
comprise a simple
randomly-generated alphanumeric code or string, a biometric identifier (e.g.,
a fingerprint, a retina
image, and/or a facial scan). The preparation database 1200 may further
comprise gaming rule
and/or limit preparation data. In the allowed game types field 1218, for
example, the first user (e.g.,
identified by the user identifier of "136845") may be limited to playing video
poker and slot games,
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while the third user (e.g., identified by the user identifier "PT-17364") may
be limited to arcade
games (e.g., non-wagering games). Other limits and/or rules may also or
alternatively be stored. As
shown in the maximum allowed net loss per month field 1220, for example, the
third user may be
limited to accruing losses of just fifty dollars ($50) per month (and/or per
any other time period).
Similarly, as shown in the maximum allowed amount of gaming per month field
1222, the first player
may be limited to five (5) hours of playing time per month. It should be
apparent that other and/or
additional times frames and/or limits or rules may also or alternatively be
stored and/or indicated by
the preparation database 1200.
E. Product Database
[0131] Turning now to FIG. 13, a tabular representation of an embodiment of a
product database
1300 (e.g., the product database 608 of FIG. 6) according to some embodiments
is illustrated. This
particular tabular representation of the product database 1300 includes sample
records or entries
which each include information regarding a particular product that may be used
in a marketing
promotion. In some embodiments, a product database 1300 is used by a marketer
in determining
what product to offer a user in different marketing offers. Those skilled in
the art will understand that
such a product database 1300 may include any number of entries or additional
fields.
[0132] The particular tabular representation of a product database 1300
depicted in FIG. 13
includes five (5) fields for each of the entries or records. The fields may
include: (i) a product
identifier field 1301 that stores a representation uniquely identifying the
product; (ii) a description
field 1302 that stores a representation that is descriptive of the product;
(iii) a manufacturer field
1304 that stores a representation of the name of the manufacturer or supplier
of the product; (iv) a
retail price field 1306 that stores a representation of a retail price of the
product; and (v) an excess
inventory field 1308 that stores a representation of the number of units of
the product available for
use with marketing offers.
[0133] The example product database 1300 depicted in FIG. 13 provides example
data to illustrate
the meaning of the information stored in this database embodiment. A product
identifier 1301 (e.g.,
"PR888"; "PR999"; "PR222"; "PR333") may be used to identify and index the
products listed in the
product database 608. Four (4) example entries of product information are
provided: (i) "45" "eight-
speed blender[s]" with an "$80" retail price and manufactured by "Anycorp
Inc." are available for use
with marketing offers; (ii) "0" "washing machine[s]" with an "$800" retail
price and manufactured by
"Somecorp" Inc. are available for use with marketing offers; (iii) "90" "color
TV[s]" with a"$200" retail
price and manufactured by "Bigcorp" Inc. are available for use with marketing
offers; and (iv) an
"unlimited" number of "6 month cable service" subscriptions with an "$180"
retail price and provided
by "XYZ Broadcasting" Inc. are available for use with marketing offers.
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F. Casino Database
[0134] Although not illustrated, some embodiments of the may include a casino
database that may
reside on a casino server 112 and/or a central controller 102, both of FIG. 1A
and/or FIG. 1B. A
casino database may be used to store the unique configurable features of a
particular casino where
there are multiple different types of options such as, for example, multiple
different types of gaming
devices 120, 122, 124, 126. For example, such a database might list the
different configurable
features for each type of game at a particular casino possibly indexed by
machine identifier and then
each of the possible values for each feature. A casino database may be used as
a data source to
assemble, for example, a Web page that looks like the screen image 800 of FIG.
8. Alternatively, the
same screen image could be generated without a casino database. However, where
there are many
different options available, using a casino database may reduce and simplify
the resources required
to generate screen images similar to that shown in FIG. 8.
VI. Processes
[0135] The systems and devices described herein, including the hardware
components and the
databases, are useful to perform various methods pursuant to some embodiments.
However, it
should be understood that not all of the above described components and
databases are necessary
to perform any particular method. In fact, in some embodiments, none of the
above-described
systems and/or devices may be required to practice one or more of the methods
described herein.
The systems and/or devices described herein are examples that may possibly be
useful in practicing
some or all of the embodiments described herein. For example, the user
database 210 described
herein may be useful for tracking users and information about them, but it may
not be absolutely
necessary to have such a database in order to perform the methods described
herein. In other
words, the methods described herein may be practiced using a conventional
player tracking list in
conjunction with a casino's conventional accounting system.
[0136] Referring to FIG. 14, a flow diagram illustrating a method 1400
according to some
embodiments is shown. In some embodiments, the method 1400 may be performed by
and/or
otherwise associated with a gaming device or machine, a central controller, an
external third-party,
and/or an integrated third-party entity/device such as a third-party service
provider server. It should
be understood that the particular arrangement of elements in the method 1400
of FIG. 14, as well as
the order of example steps of various methods discussed herein, is not meant
to imply a fixed order,
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sequence, and/or timing to the steps; embodiments may generally be practiced
in any order,
sequence, and/or timing that is or becomes practicable.
[0137] In general terms, and referring to FIG. 14, the method 1400 may begin
at 1402, where a
device such as a central controller receives configuration and/or preparation
data, for example, from
a player or a third party, during and/or after the player's or third party's
use of a user terminal. A
player and/or third party may utilize an interface such as the exemplary
displays 700A, 700B, 800
shown in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and/or FIG. 8, to remotely indicate configuration
and/or preparation data
(such as may comprise and/or define one or more gaming rules or limits). At
1404, the method 1400
may continue where a preparation code associated with the configuration data
is determined. In
some embodiments, this preparation code may simply comprise a stored
indication of preparation
data such as a stored indication of a gaming rule or limit. According to some
embodiments, the
method 1400 may continue at 1406 where the configuration data and the
associated preparation
code are transmitted (e.g., from the central controller) to a casino server
and/or other device or
computer, such as a gaming machine or device. The method 1400 may continue at
1408 where the
central controller and/or another device (e.g., a gaming machine or a user
computer) provides
feedback to the user.
[0138] In some embodiments, the feedback may include the casino server
configuring and/or
operating a gaming or other casino device. In some embodiments, the casino
server may configure
and/or operate a gaming or other casino device in response to receiving a
preparation code (e.g., a
player tracking card identifier; a biometric identifier) from a user via the
gaming or other casino
device. In such an embodiment, the gaming or other casino device is configured
according to the
configuration data associated with the received preparation code.
[0139] In the subsections that follow, each of these processes will now be
discussed in detail.
Note that not all of these steps are required to perform the method 1400 and
that additional and/or
alternative steps are contemplated. Also note that the above general processes
represent features
of only some of the embodiments and that they may be combined and/or
subdivided in any number
of different ways so that the method 1400 includes more or fewer actual
processes and/or elements.
For example, in some embodiments many additional processes and/or elements may
be added to
update and maintain the databases described herein, but as indicated, it is
not necessary to use the
described databases in all embodiments. In other words, the method 1400 may
contain any number
of processes and/or elements that are or become practicable to implement the
embodiments
described herein.
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A. Receiving Configuration Data - 1402
[0140] In some embodiments, the user and/or third party may initially submit
preparation data (or
configuration data) to the system (e.g., the system 100A, 100B of FIG. 1A
and/or FIG. 1B). In some
embodiments, the user and/or third party may log onto a central controller
with a user terminal, for
example, using a personal computer. As indicated, other suitable user
terminals may include PDA
devices, telephones (including cellular telephones), kiosks, ATMs, slot
machines, and/or vending
machines including such devices as gasoline pumps and point-of-sale terminals.
[0141] The user and/or third party may interact with a Web site hosted by the
central controller. To
log on, the user and/or third party may input a name, password, code, and/or
other identifier. The
user may then input preparation data in various ways. In some embodiments, the
user selects
preparation data from a number of menus, each menu covering a different
subject (examples of
which are illustrated in FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, and/or FIG. 8 and described in the
corresponding text). For
example, within the "Look and Feel" category, a first menu may allow a user to
select a gaming
device's game, font size, reel speed, language, volume, and other attributes
pertaining to the look
and feel of the device. A second menu might allow a user to provide
information about himself so as
to receive tailored marketing offers at the gaming device. Menus might take
the form of pull-down
menus, check boxes, and so on. Menus might list headings for preparation data
and allow a user to
enter the data. For example, a heading may be "Font Size" and in response the
user may type in
"12" for "12 point." Many other menu systems are possible, including menu
systems that relate to the
limiting or preventing of gambling activity of one or more specific players.
In some embodiments, a
user may enter preparation in text form. The text may then be interpreted by a
human operator
and/or by a computer program.
[0142] In some embodiments, a user may create or alter graphics as a means of
inputting
preference preparation data. For example, the controller's Web site may
present a graphical
depiction of a screen on a gaming device. Using his mouse, the user may
delineate a portion of the
screen in which to receive marketing offers, and another portion of the screen
in which to play the
game. The user may use his mouse to delineate areas of the screen that are to
serve as new input
buttons to the gaming device. For example, the user might designate a small,
square area on the
slot screen to be an "I accept" button, for use in accepting marketing offers.
[0143] The following sub-sections describe several different categories of
preparation data the
user may designate. The list is not intended to be an exhaustive enumeration
of every possible
category of preparation data, but rather an illustrative set of examples of
types of preparation data.
Further, while some preparation data is presented as "preference" preparation
data and some data
is presented as "gaming rule" or "gaming limit" preparation data, it should be
understood that some
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data may properly fit in either or both categories, depending upon usage
and/or implementation, and
that other examples of data comprising both categories, while not explicitly
presented, is
contemplated herein.
1. Information About The User And The Marketing Offers The User Desires
[0144] Many companies are constantly trying to acquire new customers to
facilitate growth. One
effective means of acquiring a customer is for a company to pay a user for his
business. For
example, a phone company might pay a user twenty-five dollars ($25.00) if the
user agrees to make
the phone company his long distance provider. Such a deal may be beneficial to
the phone
company, since the lifetime value of the customer to the company may far
exceed the twenty-five
dollars ($25.00) acquisition cost.
[0145] A casino is a fertile environment for customer acquisition. Gaming
devices are capable of
immediately dispensing money to consumers. Therefore, a user who is at a
gaming device may
agree to do business with a company and then may immediately receive his
payment, rather than
waiting a week or more for a check to arrive in the mail. Furthermore, casino
patrons are often
especially motivated to make deals for money. A user may be feeling frustrated
from having
sustained a loss, for example, and may wish to recover the loss by accepting a
marketing offer. The
casino itself may be content to facilitate such transactions between users and
marketers because
the transactions put more available potential wager funds in the hands of
users. This also pleases
users.
[0146] Thus, a portion of a user's preparation data may pertain to a user's
interaction with
marketers. Users may submit information that a marketer might use to tailor
offers to a user.
Examples of such information include the user's age, place of residence,
income, job type,
education level, marital status, number of children, and other demographic
information. User
purchasing history may be valuable to a marketer. For example, a marketer
selling cars would want
to know whether the user buys a new car every three years. Other such
questions may include
"Does the user like to remodel rooms in his house?" or "What type of food does
the user like?" User
possessions may be relevant to marketers. For example, does the user currently
own a car?, a
washing machine?, or a wide screen TV? A user's budget is meaningful. For
example, marketers
would want to know how much money a user has to spend on new items. Whether
the user is
accompanied on his vacation may be relevant. For example, if a user's spouse
is with him on the
vacation, a marketer may pitch goods as gifts for the user's spouse.
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[0147] Other preparation data may include the circumstances under which a user
would like to
receive marketing offers. Possible circumstances include: the user has just
won a payout in excess
of a certain threshold; the user has accumulated winnings in excess of a
certain threshold; the user
has sustained losses in excess of a certain threshold; the user has just
inserted a bill, such as a one
hundred dollar ($100) bill, into a gaming device; a particular time of day
occurs, for example, the
clock has struck noon and the user would like lunch offers from local
restaurants; it is a particular
date; particular weather conditions have transpired; and the user just pressed
a button or otherwise
indicated that he desires a marketing offer. In this last case, preparation
data may include a
specification of how a user will indicate his desire for a marketing offer.
For example, the user may
be instructed to pull the handle of the gaming device twice in rapid
succession. The user might also
request a special area on a gaming device's touch screen to appear as a
"marketing button" that the
user might touch in order to receive marketing pitches or offers. An
additional relevant circumstance
might be when an event or occurrence has not just happened. For example, a
user may be
comfortable receiving offers at any time except when he has just won on the
last three handle pulls
or hit a jackpot.
[0148] Still other preparation data might include the types of offers a user
would like to receive.
Types of offers may include: offers for certain categories of products, for
example, the user would
like to receive offers for new refrigerators, new blenders, or used lawn
mowers; offers within a
certain price range, for example, the user would like marketers to offer to
sell the user items with
prices between one hundred dollars ($100) and two hundred dollars ($200);
offers for products
versus services, for example, the user may prefer only offers to sell
products, or only offers to sell
services; and offers providing a certain benefit. The user may prefer offers
that provide him with
benefits of at least twenty dollars ($20). For example, the user may be
offered a benefit of thirty
dollars ($30) for switching long distance phone services to AT&T .
[0149] The user may commit in advance to accept marketing offers provided
certain conditions are
met. For example, the user will switch phone services to receive thirty
dollars ($30) in credits if he
loses thirty dollars ($30) at a session of a gaming device, or at the
conclusion of the trip. Otherwise,
the user need not switch phone services. In some embodiments, the user may
also complete
paperwork associated with a marketing offer prior to arrival at the casino, so
that no time is wasted
at the casino. Likewise, during his trip, a user may initiate acceptance of an
offer in his hotel room or
at a restaurant for example, while the user has free time available. For
example, the user may read
about a cross-subsidy offer in which he will receive twenty dollars ($20)
added to the credit meter of
a gaming device from the XYZ Insurance Company if he (1) agrees to provide
information for and/or
evaluate a competitive car insurance quote and (2) agrees to accept a phone
call from a car
insurance representative. The offer may require that the user provide
information such as his type of
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vehicle, the number of drivers, the number of miles driven per week, etc. The
user may provide this
information online without providing final signatory authorization of
acceptance. Such an
embodiment facilitates easy final acceptance of the offer during a gambling
session if the user
decides, at that time, to accept the offer. Casino personnel may be alerted to
come by the user's
gaming device with paperwork for a final signature to consummate the
agreement. Alternatively, in
some embodiments, a final acceptance of the agreement may be performed with an
electronic
signature or acknowledgement via a casino or other device.
[0150] The user may specify where benefits from offers should be placed. The
benefits might be
put directly onto a user's credit balance at a gaming device. Benefits might
also be deposited
directly to a user's financial account. Benefits might be sent directly to a
user's home or work
address in the form of cash, check, or non-monetary prize. Benefits may be
placed directly into a
user's account at a casino or at the central controller.
[0151] Preparation data may further include how the user will indicate, at a
gaming device, his
desire to receive marketing offers. A special area of a touch screen on a
gaming device may be
designated for marketing offers. When the user touches that area, he receives
a marketing offer.
Alternatively, an existing button on a gaming device that the user does not
use may have its function
reassigned to that of a marketing button. For example, the "bet maximum
credits" button may
become the marketing button for a particular user.
[0152] A marketer may transmit offers to a user in a number of ways. The
marketer may leave
offers with the central controller, to be later transmitted to users with
qualifying characteristics. The
marketer may then compensate the central controller for every offer made, for
every offer accepted,
etc. In some embodiments, the marketer may communicate with a user in real
time via the central
controller. The marketer may have real-time access data about users currently
at gaming devices or
at user terminals, and may then make its own determinations as to when to make
offers. In offering
products to a user, the marketer may refer to a product database. The marketer
may select from the
database products that are priced appropriately for a user, that meet other
user criteria, and/or that
have excess inventory.
2. Information Of A Psvchological Or Superstitious Nature
[0153] There is much superstition associated with gaming devices. For example,
gaming devices
may be known as "hot" when they have recently paid out more than they have
taken in. Similarly,
gaming devices that have not paid out recently may be called "cold." Users may
wish to know which
gaming devices are hot so that they can play on the hot devices. The user may
also wish to know
what types of people have good luck on particular gaming devices, so that the
user may find a
gaming device that best suits him. For example, if a user is a fifty-six (56)
year-old female born in
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February, then she may wish to find a gaming device that has previously paid a
jackpot to a fifty-six
(56) year-old female born in February. Further, users might wish to know about
prior winners at a
gaming device. For example, they might want to know a prior winner's name;
age; date of birth; time
of birth; place of birth; astrological sign (e.g., Scorpio, Aries); place of
residence; nationality; gender;
race; number of kids; date and time on which they won; etc.
[0154] A user might have particular statistics in mind when looking for a
gaming device. For
example, if a gaming device has paid well for at least five Scorpios in the
last week, then perhaps
the gaming device is likely to be profitable for another Scorpio. The user may
then enter what
statistics he finds desirable into the Web site of the central controller. To
enter statistics, the user
may fill in a form on the central controller's Web page. A line on the form
might read, "Find me a
machine that paid out a jackpot on this date." The user may then fill in the
desired date.
[0155] The central controller may search a database of gaming device
statistics to find any that
meet user criteria. If there are any such gaming devices, the central
controller may display
information about them to the user. For example, the central controller may
display the gaming
devices' location, appearance, and any reference number. The central
controller may also display
one or more maps so as to guide the user to the gaming devices. A map might
show, for example,
the layout of a casino floor, with relevant gaming devices highlighted. A user
might elect to be shown
a map of all machines that had not had a jackpot of one thousand dollars
($1000) or more in the last
twenty-four (24) hours. Another map might show the location of the casino in a
city. Of course, the
central controller may be configured to display only machines located in a
city where a user intends
to visit, even if other machines satisfy user criteria.
[0156] At times, there may be a large number of gaming devices meeting the
user's criteria. The
central controller may encourage the user to enter additional criteria or to
narrow existing criteria to
narrow down the number of machines. At other times, the user's criteria may
not be met, and the
central controller may encourage the user to broaden his criteria. The central
controller may also
display to the user gaming devices that it considers close to meeting the
user's criteria. Perhaps the
gaming devices meet nine (9) out of ten (10) user criteria.
[0157] In displaying gaming devices to users, the central controller may give
priority to devices at
casinos that have paid the central controller more money. For example, if a
first casino has paid the
controller two cents ($0.02) per listing, and a second casino has paid the
controller nothing, then a
user may see gaming devices from the first casino listed before machines from
the second casino.
[0158] Rather than entering criteria for gaming devices the user would like to
play, the user might
enter pertinent information about himself and allow the central controller to
find potentially suitable
gaming devices. For example, the user might enter his own name, birth date,
wedding date, college
graduation date, gender, astrological sign, child's birth date, license plate
number, and so on. The
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central controller might then search for devices that have paid well for
people with similar
characteristics to the user. For example, the central controller might search
for devices that have
paid more than one thousand dollars ($1000) on a single handle pull to a
person with the same
wedding date, within the past week. The central controller might also search
for devices with similar
characteristics to the user. For example, the central controller might look
for devices whose date of
manufacture or whose serial number is the same as the user's birthday.
[0159] In some embodiments, a central controller receives user information,
but does not provide
the user with information about a suitable gaming device until significantly
later. For example, if the
user is planning a trip to Atlantic City three (3) months in advance, it might
not be relevant to the
user what gaming devices are paying well at the moment. Therefore, just before
the user is to leave
for Atlantic City or immediately upon his arrival, the central controller may
tell the user what gaming
devices pay well, so that the user can leave with current information.
[0160] If the user aims to win money to buy particular merchandise, then the
central controller may
allow the user to play directly for the merchandise he desires. For example,
when the user plays at a
gaming device, one of the payouts may be made in the form of the user's
desired merchandise,
rather than in the form of credits. Alternatively, the user may be told he can
have his desired
merchandise by accumulating a certain number of credits while playing at a
gaming device. The
number of credits a user needs may be far less then the retail price of the
desired merchandise. The
user may also be able to obtain his desired merchandise using complimentary
points, even if the
casino at which the user plays does not typically give out the user's desired
merchandise.
3. Music And Pictures Of Subiects Of Sentimental Value To The User
[0161] A user may remotely input pictures or music. For example, the user may
scan a picture of
himself, his grandson, and/or of his pet poodle. The user might use a scanner
attached to the user
terminal. Then, when the user is at a gaming device, the user may select
previously scanned
pictures to display on the gaming device. For example, the user may select the
picture of his poodle
to display above the spinning slot reels. The user may even have his poodle
incorporated as one of
the symbols on the slot reels. To facilitate the selection of pictures by the
user, the gaming device
might display small "thumbnail" versions of each picture the user has scanned.
The user need then
only touch the picture to have it enlarged and more clearly made visible.
Alternatively, the user might
provide names for the pictures he scans, such as "Poodle.gif". The user might
then select this name
from a list of names displayed on the gaming device, or he might simply type
in the name using a
keypad or other input device.
[0162] Other means are possible for transmitting user-selected images to the
central controller.
Many film developers post copies of pictures to Web sites. A user might obtain
a copy of a picture
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he has taken from a film developer's Web site, and send it to the central
controller. In some cases,
the central controller may act as a film developer. A user might then be
motivated to develop all of
his pictures with the central controller, as the user would then be able to
view the pictures on the
screen of a gaming device while playing.
[0163] In some embodiments, a user submits printed photographs to the central
controller via
postal mail. The central controller may then scan the pictures and make them
available for display
on the user's gaming device. A user may also bring photographs or negatives of
photographs to a
casino. The casino can then scan or develop the pictures and have them
digitized and ready for
display on a gaming device. While at a gaming device, a user may desire to
view pictures other than
those he has taken. He may therefore scan pictures from books or magazines, or
obtain pictures
from the Web. He may then transmit these to the central controller.
[0164] To input music remotely, a user has a number of options. The user may
obtain a sound file,
such as an MP3 from a Web site, such as "MP3.com". The user may then transmit
the sound file to
the central controller. The controller can then store the sound file in the
preparation database. The
user may also record his own music using a microphone attached to his user
terminal. He may then
transmit the digitized music to the central controller.
[0165] The central controller, a casino server, a casino, or a gaming device
may filter out pictures
or sound files deemed inappropriate. Computer programs may examine pictures or
sound files and
compare them to pre-established criteria in deciding whether to permit their
use at a gaming device.
Alternatively, humans may act as censors. Certain pictures or sound files may
be permissible only
under certain conditions. For example, a sound file may only be permissible if
the user employs
earphones, or if there is no one else in the vicinity.
4. Money Held in Reserve to Offset User Losses
[0166] A common fear among users is losing too much money at a casino. When
the user runs
out of money with which to gamble, the user may become bored. The user may
also feel regret,
embarrassment, or may even experience financial difficulties. Therefore, in
some embodiments of
this invention, the user may take steps to reduce the possibility of suffering
excessive losses at a
casino.
[0167] In some embodiments, the user performs work prior to visiting the
casino. As compensation
for his work, the user may receive insurance against losses. For example, in
exchange for doing 5
hours worth of work, the user may be told, "If you lose $100, we'll refund
your $100 to bring back to
even again." The insurance might be capped at a certain amount. The insurance
might cover a
percentage of losses. The insurance might also cover losses incurred only
during certain time
periods, or only at certain games. Other benefits for work may include: cash;
credits; gambling
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tokens; reward points ; increased odds of winning; increased prize tables; the
ability to play dollar
machines for a quarter; the free use of an extra slot in a multi-slot machine;
the ability to play for
free; the enablement of extra prize-winning symbols on a slot machine; the
enablement of extra pay
lines on the slot machine; and auxiliary benefits, such as free or subsidized
meals or hotel rooms.
[0168] The user may perform work via the Internet. For example, the user may
monitor the output
of a security camera and send an email alert when he views any suspicious
activity. The user
thereby acts as a remote security guard. The user may answer survey questions
of importance to
marketers. The user may participate in focus groups online. The user may make
visual comparisons
of products and provide input on which has the better packaging. The user may
perform his work
using a Web site hosted by the central controller. The central controller may
thereby monitor the
user's work, and provide the user with benefits accordingly. In some
embodiments, the user does
work on a separate Web site. The Web site may be hosted by a merchant
associated with the
central controller. After performing work, the user may receive a code from
the Web site and submit
the code to the central controller in order to receive credit for his work.
Alternatively, the merchant
may contact the central controller directly, and inform the central controller
of the user's work.
[0169] The user may also perform work off-line. For example, the user may work
to assist
consumers at a department store. The user may then receive a code from the
department store,
submit the code to the central controller, and thus receive credit for the
work he accomplished.
[0170] Instead of doing work, the user may receive insurance against losses,
or other benefits, by
agreeing to deals with merchants. For example, the user may agree to switch
long distance phone
services, or may agree to purchase a new car insurance policy. In exchange,
the user may receive
money that can be used to offset losses at a casino. In some embodiments, a
user receives
automatic benefits at a casino simply by doing business with a merchant. For
example, for every
dollar the user spends at Wal-martl~, the user may receive three cents worth
of insurance against
losses.
[0171] In many cases, a user may have earned money in an account that can be
used only to
reimburse a user for his losses. The user may, however, visit the casino and
win. It is then possible
that the user might put the money in the account to other uses. For example,
the user might be able
to collect a percentage of the money in the account. The user might be able to
apply money in the
account towards the purchase of merchandise, food, a hotel room, gambling
credits or other goods.
5. User Credit Lines
[0172] Often, a user comes to a casino without sufficient cash to pay for the
chips he wants. One
option is for the user to go to an ATM or a cash advance machine. However, for
some users, credit
limits or daily withdrawal limits don't allow them to withdraw as much money
as they would like.
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Therefore, a user may establish a credit line at the casino and draw a marker
against the credit line.
To take out a marker, a user may call up a casino in advance and request a
credit line with the
casino. The user will typically have to submit some information about himself,
including a player
tracking card number and checking account information. When the user arrives
at the casino he may
then present a voided check and several forms of identification. Once the
casino grants the user a
line of credit, the user can request a marker. A marker is a legally binding
document, signed by the
user, that the user will repay the casino for any chips given the user to play
with. If the user does not
repay, then the casino can cash the marker at a bank as if it were a check.
[0173] In some embodiments of this invention, the user may set up credit lines
remotely using the
Web site of the central controller. The user may input information of
relevance to a casino in
granting a credit line. Such information may include a name, home address,
telephone number,
email address, bank name, checking account number, amount of money in the
checking account,
citizenship, desired amount of credit, and so on. In some embodiments, the
player also inputs the
amount owed to other casinos.
[0174] This information may then be sent to a casino credit executive who may
begin to decide
whether to grant the credit line or not. Alternatively, user information may
be examined by an
automated program. The program may then help to decide whether or not the
credit line should be
granted. In some embodiments, the casino credit executive or the controller
may check with Central
Credit to determine the user's credit history with other casinos. If the user
is listed by Central
Credit as a poor credit risk, then the user may not be granted a credit line.
[0175] In some embodiments, the central controller may act as the entity that
provides credit. The
central controller may grant a credit line to a user. The user may then draw a
marker at a casino.
The casino may then be compensated immediately by the central controller in
the amount of the
marker. Then, when a user repays the amount of the marker, the casino can
repay the central
controller. The casino may pay a fee to the central controller for taking the
risk.
[0176] Another way for a user to ensure sufficient funds for play at a casino
is to wire money in
advance to the casino. The user may wire money using the Web site of the
central controller by
providing the central controller with financial account information
destination information, and an
amount of money to be transferred.
[0177] In some embodiments, a user may be permitted to gamble only with money
that was
designated, reserved, deposited, or "earmarked" prior to the user's visit to
the casino. For example,
the user may be required to fund an account online, such that once at the
casino, the player may
only gamble with funds in the account (or within a certain "pool" within the
account, such as a pool
set aside for a particular day). Such an embodiment may be particularly useful
for problem or
compulsive gamblers who have trouble adhering to self-imposed budgets once on
the casino floor.
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6. Look and Feel of the Gaming Device
[0178] Prior to visiting a casino, the user may enter data describing a
desirable machine interface.
Aspects of the machine's interface may include font size, reel speed,
language, screen resolution,
length of the bonus rounds, amount of time between an initiation of a handle
pull and the resolution
of the outcome, types of symbols, and so on. Each aspect of the machine's
interface may be
selectable from a menu, or may be inputted by the user in a box on the central
controller's Web site.
Numerous gaming devices are general purpose in that the game played and the
interface to the
game played on the gaming device are coded in software. Thus, many gaming
devices have the
flexibility to provide a user with his desired interface. This may generally
be described as one type of
preference preparation data, as it generally related to aspects of game play
and/or interface
appearance and/or functionality that are preferred by the player.
7. Which Gaming Devices the User Would Like to Play
[0179] Using the Web site of the central controller, the user may have the
opportunity to test
different gaming device configurations, and different gaming devices
themselves. In some
embodiments, the user selects a gaming device configuration, and then the
central controller
displays a graphical representation of the gaming device in the selected
configuration. For example,
if the user has selected a gaming device configuration with five reels and
three pay lines, then the
user may view on the user terminal a graphical representation of a five reel
gaming device with three
pay lines. The user may simulate spins on his user terminal, with a simulated
credit meter
incrementing and decrementing based on simulated outcomes. By testing various
gaming device
configurations in advance, the user has the opportunity to see which
configurations are pleasing to
the senses. The user also can determine which configurations are lucky for
him. Once the user has
found a desired configuration, the central controller may indicate to the user
where he might find
actual gaming devices capable of supporting the desired configuration. For
instance the central
controller might show the user a map of a country, state, city, or casino
floor, with relevant gaming
devices or locations highlighted. The central controller may also provide the
user with written
directions to a gaming device.
[0180] On the controller's Web site, the user may also take the opportunity to
test new games he
otherwise would never have played. For example, a traditional mechanical reel
player may test a
video slot machine. Or a reel player may test a video poker or blackjack
machine. In fact, the central
controller may encourage and reward the user for trying games he does not
usually play. For
example, the central controller may offer the user a voucher for a free meal
at a particular restaurant
if the user plays a new word-bonus game for an hour on the central
controller's Web site.
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Familiarizing a user with new games is advantageous for a casino, because the
user is then
comfortable playing a number of games at the casino, and is less likely to
leave if one of the games
no longer suits him. Therefore, casinos may compensate the central controller
for any benefits given
a user for testing new games.
[0181] After testing gaming device configurations, or new gaming devices on
the controller's Web
site, the user may reserve a gaming device to use at a casino. By making a
reservation, the user
may assure that he may approach a particular gaming device at an appointed
time and find it not in
use by other users. Thus, a reserved gaming device may freeze (remain
unplayable) and unlock
only for a user who inserts a player tracking card that has a user identifier
matching the user
identifier of the user making the reservation. However, if the user does not
unlock the gaming device
within a certain time period, then the device may become available to other
users. The user may
commit money so as to reserve a gaming device. The money may be an outright
payment, or it may
become part of a user's credit balance when the user appears at the gaming
device. The user may
forfeit part of the money if he does not appear at the reserved time. A
reservation may also be linked
to a hotel reservation. For example, part of a user's reservation package at a
casino resort may be a
room for three nights and a particular gaming device for three days from 3:00
P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
[0182] A user may also test new games that have not yet been placed on casino
floors. The user
may provide feedback on these games. The user's feedback may allow a gaming
device
manufacturer to make a decision on whether to move forward with the production
of a game.
Feedback may also help a casino to decide whether or not to purchase certain
gaming devices. The
user may be compensated for his feedback on new games. For example, the user
may earn the
privilege of being the first to play a new gaming device when it is introduced
onto a casino floor.
8. Financial Returns of the Gaming Device
[0183] Prior to visiting a casino, the user may enter preparation data
describing the way money is
paid out from a gaming device. The user may specify such parameters as a
frequency with which
the device pays, the hold percentage, the size of the jackpot, the size of
lesser payouts, the
frequency with which particular payouts occur, and so on. The user may not
necessarily get
everything he asks for, however. For example, the user may not be allowed to
have a gaming device
configured to pay back more than one hundred percent (100%). The central
controller may adjust
certain parameters based on other parameters the user chooses. For example, if
the user desires a
high payout frequency, then the central controller may lower the odds of
hitting a jackpot and
increase the odds of hitting a low payout. Thus, the hold percentage of the
machine may be held
constant. If the user attempts to enter parameters that would force the
machine to pay back more
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then one hundred percent (100%) of coin-in, then the user may be prevented
from doing so. For
example, selection boxes on the central controller's Web site may be grayed
out or disabled.
[0184] In some embodiments, the user may submit preparation data to configure
a gaming device
to pay back more than one hundred percent (100%) of coin-in. In such cases,
the user may have to
pay or may have to accept a marketing offer. The user may also be time-limited
in his use of the
gaming device under the specified configuration.
[0185] The user may also remotely indicate the types of bets he would like to
make at a gaming
device. The types of bets may not be ones that are currently enabled by a
gaming device. For
example, a user might wish to bet on the occurrence of an outcome that does
not pay (i.e., a losing
outcome). Then, if a normally losing outcome occurs, the user may receive a
small pay out. The
user may wish to bet on five cherries occurring within three consecutive
spins, on obtaining a
winning outcome for threes spins in a row, on obtaining a bar on the middle
reel, etc. There are, in
fact, an infinite number of statistics describing the outcomes of a gaming
device, for which no bets
exist.
[0186] When the user creates a non-standard bet, the central controller may
calculate the odds of
the user winning his bet, and may then determine an appropriate pay out for
winning the bet. For
example, a gaming device may determine that the odds of five (5) cherries
occurring within three (3)
particular consecutive spins are twenty-one (21) to one (1) against. To
provide the casino with an
advantage, the controller may determine that a twenty (20) to one (1) pay out
is appropriate for a bet
on the occurrence of five (5) cherries in three (3) particular consecutive
spins.
9. The User Interface
[0187] A typical gaming device may have only a few limited mechanisms for user
input. A device
might have physical buttons, with labels such as "bet 1 credit", "bet maximum
credits", "cash out",
"hold", and "spin". The physical buttons may be replicated on a touch screen,
so that a user might
touch either a physical button or the touch screen of a gaming device in order
to accomplish a
particular function. However, to practice some embodiments of the present
invention, or for other
reasons, a user may require a richer interface to the gaming device. For
example, the user may
prefer to bet seven credits on every handle pull of a gaming device. Rather
than pressing the "bet 1
credit" button seven times, the user might desire a special button reading
"bet 7 credits". Therefore,
using the Web site of the central controller, the user may create a desired
user interface for a
gaming device. The following is a partial list of other buttons a user may
create for use in interacting
with the gaming device.
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[0188] Marketing buttons, such as "Give me an offer" or "Accept offer." These
allow a user to
receive and accept marketing offers so as to receive more gambling funds,
insurance against
losses, good deals, etc.
[0189] Buttons to make a particular type of bet, or a bet for a particular
number of credits. For
example, a button might place a bet on a particular character in the bonus
round of a MonopolyTM
game landing on a particular property. A button might place a bet on a losing
outcome occurring.
[0190] A button to cash out only a particular number or a particular
percentage of credits. For
instance, a user may wish to cash out only enough credits to tip a waitress.
[0191] A button to undo whatever the last action was. Perhaps the user hit the
"bet maximum
credits" button by mistake, but has not yet made a handle pull. The user may
wish to undo his last
action and only bet two (2) credits.
[0192] A button to redo a previous bet, game, or action. Perhaps the user's
last bet covered five
(5) pay lines with two (2) coins per line. The bet turned out a winner for the
user. Therefore, the user
may press the "redo" button to repeat the bet. The user may be at a video
poker machine, and wish
to draw once again to a royal flush (the draw having been unsuccessful on the
previous hand).
Pressing the "redo" button, the user may get the chance to draw once again to
the royal flush.
However, the second time around, the user may have to make a larger wager. A
user may wish to
redo a bet in a particular way. Perhaps the exact time at which the bet was
made was fortuitous. For
example, three and a half seconds past the minute mark. Perhaps it was the
exact way in which he
pulled the handle. The gaming device may automatically replicate the way the
user pulled the
handle on a first bet in making the second bet.
[0193] A button to bet fractional numbers of credits. For example, the user
may bet one third of a
credit on a handle pull by pressing a special button.
[0194] The new buttons created by the user may be displayed as areas on the
touch screen of a
gaming device. Alternatively, instead of creating a new button, a gaming
device may understand
inputs from an old button as having a new meaning. For example, a button that
is labeled "bet
maximum credits" on a gaming device may be understood as "give me an offer"
when pressed by a
particular user. Thus, the central controller may tell the user, "When you
want to get a marketing
offer, just press the `bet maximum credits' button and ignore the meaning of
what is written on the
button." In some embodiments, gaming devices are manufactured with physical
buttons labeled
"marketing button" or "get me an offer" or with some similar label. These
buttons may be dedicated
solely to the purpose of allowing players to request marketing offers.
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10. The Form of Complimentaries the User is to Receive
[0195] The complimentary ("comp") system is an important promotional feature
at most casinos.
The complimentary system allows users to receive benefits based on the user's
amount of play. For
example, a user might be eligible for a free meal at a casino restaurant for
every three thousand
dollars ($3,000) gambled at the casino. One aspect of the disclosed invention
is allowing a user to
choose what types of complimentary benefits he would like to receive. The user
may choose, for
example, to receive free meals, reduced hotel rates, free show tickets, line
passes, cash, credits, or
merchandise. Where the user chooses merchandise that a casino does not
typically give out, the
casino or central controller may order the merchandise for the user. In fact,
a significant advantage
of the user's remotely choosing merchandise as a complimentary item is that
the casino or the
central controller has time to obtain the merchandise before the user visits
the casino. The user may
also disclose his intention to gamble for a certain amount so that the casino
or controller can have a
better assurance that the user will actually earn enough complimentary points
to receive the
merchandise the user has designated.
[0196] In addition to specifying the form of complimentary items, the user may
also specify the
amount and the type of play necessary to earn the complimentary items. For
example, the user
might say that he wants to earn something for playing the quarter ($0.25) slot
machines for six (6)
hours. What follows is a partial list of activities the user may specify as
activities that earn
complimentary items:
1. The user plays for a certain amount of time;
2. The user makes a certain number of handle pulls;
3. The user wins a certain net or gross amount;
4. The user loses a certain net or gross amount;
5. The user inserts a certain total amount of money; and/or
6. The user makes wagers totaling a certain amount.
[0197] In addition to specifying complimentaries for himself, a user may
specify them for friends,
relatives, third parties, and/or others.
11. Gambling Rules
[0198] As stated, in one or more embodiments, a user and/or a third party may
set limits or rules
governing, for one or more specific users, (i) the types of wagers that may be
allowed (e.g., which
paylines may be activated on a slot machine; the maximum wager amount per
handle pull); (ii) the
maximum net wager amount per period of time; (iii) the maximum net loss amount
per period of
time; (iv) the maximum net win amount per period of time; (v) the maximum rate
at which handle
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pulls may be permitted; (vi) the maximum period of time for which one or more
gaming machine(s)
will be operable (e.g., starting from a triggering handle pull); (vii) the
maximum number of handle
pulls permitted per period of time; (viii) the days and/or hours that one or
more gaming machine(s)
may be operable; (ix) the sources of funds that may be used to place wagers
(e.g., certain players
may only play with stored value or debit cards; certain players may only play
with "won" money after
a threshold amount of cash is wagered); (x) the types of games which may be
permitted (e.g., slots
only; all games except video poker); (xi) the identities or types of gaming
machines which may or
may not be permitted (e.g., only on machine number "1234651"; only on twenty-
five cent ($0.25)
denomination slot machines); and/or (xii) any other gambling attribute.
[0199] With respect to limiting the types of wagers that may be allowed, a
user and/or third party
may specify, for example:
1. The types of outcomes which a user may wager upon, including but not
limited to:
(i) Which / how many paylines on a slot machine may be activated; and/or
(ii) The odds of winning a certain type of outcome (e.g., a player may be
prevented from placing certain "long shot" bets);
2. The maximum or minimum economic (e.g., dollar) value of one or more wagers;
and/or
3. The times when certain wagers may be permitted (e.g., between 7-10 PM only;
on
Saturdays and Sundays only).
[0200] With respect to limiting the maximum period of time for which one or
more gaming
machine(s) will be operable for specific player, a user and or third party may
specify, for example:
1. How the time period will be defined or determined, such as by:
(i) Determining the conditions which are to denote the beginning of the time
period (e.g., a particular player's first handle pull of a particular day may
denote
the beginning of a period during that day);
(ii) Determining the conditions which are to denote the ending of the time
period; and/or
(iii) Determining conditions which will trigger a "tolling" or "pausing" of
the
time period and/or the duration of any tolling period or pause (e.g., if the
player
presents his player tracking at a casino-owned restaurant, the player's
accruing
time may be extended by one half (1/2) hour to allow him to dine).
[0201] With respect to limiting the sources of funds that may be used by a
specific player to place
wagers, a user and/or third party may specify, for example:
1. The type of payment or currency that may be used (e.g., cash only, quarters
only,
no credit cards, only stored value cards, only debit cards; and/or
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2. The nature of the funds used to place wagers (e.g., players may only play
with
"won" money after a threshold amount of cash is wagered).
[0202] Applicants have also recognized that users and/or third parties (e.g.,
spouses, creditors,
taxing authorities such as the Internal Revenue Service) may wish to
designate, prior to a user's
gambling experience, how specifically any resulting gambling winnings will be
paid (to whom, in
what amount, when). Often, a user has preconceived ideas about what to do with
his winnings at a
casino, or what to do when he wins, or loses. Too often, a user leaves a
casino wishing he had quit
when he was up one hundred dollars ($100), or wishing he hadn't gone to the
ATM a second time,
etc. Therefore, a user may input rules that will govern his actions at the
casino. Remote from the
emotions and pressures of the casino floor, the user will better be able to
decide how to handle his
money.
[0203] One set of rules a user and/or third party might input describes how
the user will allocate
winnings among various causes. For example, the user and/or third party may
wish to allocate two
percent (2%) of winnings to pay for his hotel bill, three percent (3%) to pay
for a credit card bill, ten
percent (10%) to go into a gift fund for his wife, and three percent (3%) to
go toward his child's
college tuition. With these rules in place, the controller may set up multiple
accounts for the user,
and have the casino server automatically divert portions of the user's
winnings to the designated
accounts. For example, after a user wins one hundred dollars ($100) on a
handle pull, the casino
server may communicate this information to a central controller. The central
controller may then
increment a user's hotel bill account by two dollars ($2), credit card payment
account by three
dollars ($3), wife gift account by ten dollars ($10), and child tuition
account by three dollars ($3). At
predetermined time intervals, the user may be asked (e.g., by the central
controller, casino server,
or gaming device) whether the money in the designated accounts should actually
be applied to the
designated purpose, for example, to pay off line items on the user's hotel
bill. Upon the user's
approval, money in his hotel bill account may be eliminated, and his hotel
bill reduced by the
corresponding amount. Similarly, money in his wife gift account may actually
be used to purchase a
gift (the user may have also designated the gift as part of his rules).
According to some
embodiments, some or all of the distributions pursuant to the player's
allocation may be tax exempt
and/or tax deferred. In the case that the child tuition account is a tax
deferred and/or tax exempt
account, for example, the IRS may allow pre-designated
[0204] The following are exemplary rules or fragments of rules that may govern
the user's
allocation of winnings:
1. A fixed percentage of each payout the user wins goes into one or more
accounts.
Thus, if a user wins two dollars ($2) on a handle pull, two cents ($0.02) may
be allocated to
a particular account;
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2. A variable percentage of each payout the user wins goes into one or more
accounts. The percentage may depend on the size of the payout, the time of
day, the
user's net winnings thus far, the amount already put into one or more
accounts, etc.;
3. A portion of a payout goes into an account only upon the realization of
some
random event. For example, a rule might govern that for every credit a user
wins, a random
number between one (1) and one hundred (100) is to be generated. If the number
is five (5)
or less, then the credit goes into a first account. If the number if between
six (6) and ten
(10), the credit goes into a second account, and so on; and/or
4. One or more credits is taken out of a user's winnings at fixed intervals.
For
example, after the user wins ninety-nine (99) credits, regardless of how long
it takes, the
one hundredth (100t") credit is taken out and placed in a particular account
for the user. In
another embodiment, one or more credits may be taken from a user device at
fixed time
intervals and placed into a particular account, provided the user has credits
on his gaming
device.
[0205] More generally, a user and/or a third party may set rules for
determining and/or triggering
an action that may be performed by a central controller, a casino server, a
gaming device, a user
terminal, a third party service provider server, or any other device or
computer. For example, a user
and/or third party may set any one or more of the following rules for
determining and/or triggering an
action:
1. The user is encouraged to quit after some condition has been met;
(i) The condition might be that the user has lost a certain amount; the user
has lost on a certain number of consecutive handle pulls; the user has won a
certain amount; the user has played for a certain amount of time; etc.;
(ii) Upon the triggering of the condition, the gaming device may strictly
enforce the user-defined rule by, for example, forcibly cashing out the user
and
ceasing to operate so long as the user's player tracking card is inserted.
Alternatively or additionally, the player may be restricted from playing at
one or
more gaming machines for a predetermined period of time, such as one hour or
one day;
(iii) In some embodiments, upon the triggering of the condition, the gaming
device may simply encourage the user to quit. For example, a device may remind
the player that he had intended to after wagering a certain amount, etc. The
gaming device might also suggest some alternative activities for the user. For
example, the user might visit the casino's restaurant, bar, or show. An
exemplary
input of the user into the Web site of the central controller is, "Cash me out
if I win
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$100 or if I'm down $100." In another example, a user may specify "If I lose
more
than $100.00 within one hour, freeze access to my casino stored funds for
twenty-
four hours"; and/or
(iv) In some embodiments, upon the triggering of the condition, the gaming
device may prompt a player with an output (e.g., a message or a question) that
may require a particular input (e.g., an acknowledgement or answer) in order
for
the player to continue wagering. For example, a gaming device may prompt a
player with a message illuminating the dangers of problem gambling, to which
the
user must input an acknowledgement (e.g., "I acknowledge these dangers") in
order to proceed. In another example, a user must successfully answer a trivia
question related to problem gambling in order to proceed. Such actions may
increase awareness and education with respect to problem gambling;
2. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to
trigger a notification message to a third party after a condition has been
met. For example,
if a player wagers and loses more than a certain dollar amount within a
certain period of
time, the casino server may email a problem gambling counselor and/or the
player's
spouse. Or, if the player wagers more than a certain dollar amount within a
certain period
of time, the casino server may trigger an automated outbound interactive voice
response
unit to place a phone call to the player's spouse, whose cellular telephone
number may be
registered in a database. Further, if the player wagers more than a certain
dollar amount
within a certain period of time, a casino representative may be notified
through the systems
so that the player may be addressed in a hands-on manner;
3. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to
open a communication link between the player and a third party after a
condition has been
met. For example, in one embodiment, if a player wagers and loses more than a
certain
dollar amount within a certain period of time, the casino server may instruct
the gaming
device at which the player is sitting to open an instant messaging program so
that a
problem gambling counselor may be brought online and made available to the
player.
Alternatively, a telephone call to a telephone associated with the player may
be initiated so
that the player may be connected to a problem gambling counselor;
4. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to,
upon the occurrence of the triggering condition, slow down the rate at which
play may be
permitted at one or more gaming devices, lower the amount that may be wagered
at one or
more gaming devices, or the like;
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5. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to,
upon the occurrence of the triggering condition, permit the player to:
(i) only play for "free" (i.e., where no wagers can be placed and no money
can be won); and/or
(ii) only play with very small "micro-bets" (e.g., one percent (1%) of a
machine's denomination);
6. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to,
upon the occurrence of the triggering condition, require the player to:
(i) sacrifice any "comp" points earned to-date; and/or
(ii) obtain the consent of a third party before resuming (e.g., a problem
gambling counselor or spouse might have to enter a code into a website which
reactivates the player's gaming permissions);
7. A gaming device might be configured to, upon the occurrence of the
triggering
condition, output an audio or video clip to the player. The recording may
provide a reminder
to the player that he should stop gaming. This audio or video clip may be a
recording of a
friend or family member of the player, the player's gaming counselor, a
celebrity, the player
himself, or some other person with whom the player feels an affinity. For
example, a
player's gaming counselor may use a video camera to record clips of the
player's friends
and family members encouraging the player to stop gaming. These video clips
may then be
provided to a casino so that they can be output to the player an appropriate
time;
8. A gaming device, a casino server, or another computer might be configured
to,
upon the occurrence of the triggering condition, rescind a benefit that has
been or would
have been provided to the player. For example, the player may be prevented
from earning
any "comp" points during the remainder of his gaming session, the player may
lose access
to one or more features on the game machine (e.g., auto-play mode, free play
mode, free
movies and phone calls while gaming), or a player may be prevented from
receive free
drinks while gaming; and/or
9. The gaming device, casino server, or the central controller manages the
user's
wagers so that the user does not lose all of his money prior to a certain
time. For example,
the user might say, "I don't want to lose all of my $100 buy-in within a three
hour period."
Then, the gaming device might steadily decrease the user's wager size as he
loses money,
to make sure he does not run out within a three (3) hour period. If the user
begins to win
money, the gaming device may increase the size of the user's wager.
[0206] In some embodiments, gambling rules and/or limits for a specific user
may not be changed
or eliminated for a period of time following the registration of such rules or
limits. Thus, a user who
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voluntarily registers limits on his gambling ability may not be permitted to,
for example, eliminate or
otherwise modify such limits immediately before visiting a casino so long as
his planned visit is
within the period. Although the effective periods of various limitations and
rules may be fixed or
predetermined (e.g., a number of days or hours following registration), such
periods may
alternatively be of variable-length, for example, based on one or more factors
such as (1) a player's
winnings or losses during the period, (2) a player's savings or payment
patterns during the period,
(3) input from third parties during the period (e.g., a problem gambling
counselor may modify the
effective period of a rule), etc. For example, if a player loses more than two
hundred dollars ($200)
during the period, the period may be extended by ten (10) days. Or, if a
player has demonstrated to
the computer system that he's saved fifty dollars ($50) into a savings account
during the period, the
period may be shortened by five (5) days. Further, if a player has
demonstrated that he's paid
various financial obligations during the period (e.g., a mortgage, taxes,
child support, etc.), the
period may be shortened. Further still, if a problem gambling counselor feels
that a player has (or
has not) made progress towards controlling an addiction, the counselor may
shorten (or lengthen) a
period.
12. Information About Contracts for Which the User Wants to Sign Up
[0207] Gaming contracts are a way for a user to purchase (and for a casino to
sell) large blocks of
handle pulls at once. Over the course of a large number of handle pulls,
certain statistics become
more pronounced. For example, whereas after a small number of handle pulls, a
user may or may
not come out ahead, the user is almost guaranteed to come out behind after a
large number of
handle pulls. This is because the house maintains a small edge on every handle
pull. Therefore, in
selling large blocks of handle pulls to a user, the casino can afford to
provide discounts or other
benefits. One attractive benefit is insuring a user against losses. Thus, a
user may pay to make
twenty thousand (20,000) handle pulls with the provision that he keeps any
winnings but is not liable
for any losses. Aside from being able to offer attractive incentives for
contract purchases, the casino
also benefits from locking the user into a large number of pulls.
[0208] The user also benefits from contract play. As mentioned, the user may
insure himself
against losses. The user may also ensure that he can afford a large number of
pulls by purchasing
them all at once. Then, he needn't worry about running out of money before his
planned stay at the
casino ends. Another benefit is that, having purchased a large number of
handle pulls at once, the
user need not necessarily be present when they are executed. Thus, the user
may go off to have
lunch or may even leave the state while handle pulls are made on his behalf.
The user then enjoys
an experience akin to that of remote gambling.
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[0209] In some embodiments of this invention, the user may structure and or
purchase contracts
at the Web site of the central controller. In structuring a contract, the user
may designate any of the
following:
1. The number of handle pulls in the contract;
2. The wager amount for each of the handle pulls;
3. The game to be played (e.g., IG7's Triple Diamond , or Double Bonus Pokeo);
and/or
4. The price of the contract.
[0210] The user may also or alternatively provide gambling instructions such
that a gaming device
might generate outcomes for the user automatically. Such instructions may
relate to the outcomes of
a contract, or to outcomes unrelated to a contract. Exemplary instructions may
include:
1. The frequency with which outcomes are to be generated (e.g., make ten (10)
handle pulls per minute);
2. The total number of outcomes to be generated (e.g., make one thousand
(1,000)
handle pulls); and/or
3. The way new outcomes are to be generated or new wagers are to be made in
dependence on old outcomes (e.g., "double up my bets every time I lose", and
"go back to
25 cents per pull when I win". Or "double the rate of handle pulls when I have
lost more
than five times in a row", but "halve the rate of handle pulls when I have won
a payout of
more than $10". Or "stop after I have won or lost $100").
[0211] Once the user has submitted preparation data describing a contract
and/or gambling
instructions, the user may name or otherwise identify the contract. For
example, the user may call a
contract "Superluck system." Then, when the user appears in person at a gaming
device, he need
only select the Superluck system to begin contract play.
13. Travel Arrangement Information
[0212] Using the Web site of the central controller, the user may make travel
and accommodation
arrangements. The user may select, for example, the hotel at which he would
like to stay, the days
he would like to stay, the grade of room, the transportation he would like to
take from the airport, the
airline he would like to fly, etc. In some embodiments, the user may provide
travel dates and allow
the central controller to find a suitable hotel for the user. For example, the
central controller might
find a hotel with rooms available, a hotel with the cheapest room rates, or a
hotel that gives benefits
for staying there (e.g. free meals).
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[0213] The user may receive various gaming related benefits for making travel
arrangements
using the central controller. For example, he may receive five dollars ($5) in
free gaming chips for
every one hundred dollars ($100) worth of travel arrangements he makes using
the central
controller.
14. Friends' E-mail Addresses
[0214] At the central controller's Web site, the user may enter the email
addresses of friends,
relatives or other people the user may wish to contact during a gambling
session. The user may
wish to contact people, for example, if he has just had a string of good luck
and wishes to share his
excitement with others. The user may also wish to contact others to solicit
encouragement if he has
not been doing so well. The user may also simply want to chat while playing
the slots. By entering
email addresses remotely, a user has access to an address book, for example,
and need not
memorize all his friends' addresses. The remotely entered addresses then
become available to the
user at a gaming device. For example, the name of a user's friend may be
listed on a touch screen
of the user's gaming device. The user need then only touch the friend's name,
compose a message,
and touch a "send" button on the touch screen in order to send an email
message to his friend. In
addition to friends' or relatives' email addresses, the user may enter AOL
Instant Messengeo
handles, phone numbers, or other contact information for friends.
[0215] In some embodiments, the user gives the central controller or one or
more casino servers
permission to contact one or more of his friends. The central controller may
then market to the
user's friends by, for example, urging the user's friends to visit a casino
associated with the central
controller. The user may receive a benefit for allowing his friends to be
contacted. In some
embodiments, friends are contacted on behalf of the user. For example, the
user says, send an
email to my friend "Joe Smith" every time I win more than forty dollars ($40)
on a handle pull. The
user may even compose the message beforehand. The message might read, "I've
just won $x, don't
you wish you had come with me?"
15. The User's Gaming Circle
[0216] A user may register one or more other people to benefit from his gaming
and/or gambling.
These registered beneficiaries are termed the user's "gaming circle" and/or
"gambling circle", as
applicable. For example, the user registers several friends, each to receive
ten percent (10%) of
any jackpot the user receives. Alternatively, a user may specify one or more
friends of a gaming
circle, where the friends are registered to receive various gaming benefits
associated with the user's
play, such as points, credits, demos, cheat codes, and/or the unlocking of
gaming levels. Creating a
gambling circle has several advantages. A user can leave for a trip to a
casino with the
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psychological backing of friends, relatives, or coworkers. When he wins, he
not only feels good
about receiving money, but also about having won money for his gambling
circle. Furthermore,
when the user returns from his trip, his gambling circle will be more
interested in how the trip went
and in any good stories the user has to tell. Describing his trip to his
gambling circle adds to the fun
of the user's experience.
[0217] A user may register members of his gambling circle by entering their
names, e-mail
addresses, and/or home addresses when logged into the Web site of the central
controller. These
may be stored, for example, in the gaming circle database 1100 of FIG. 11.
When a user registers
members of his gaming and/or gambling circle, he may specify what benefits
they are to receive.
The following is a partial list of possible benefits:
1. A percentage of any jackpot the user wins;
2. A percentage of the user's gross winnings;
3. A percentage of the user's net winnings (dollars, credits, points, etc.);
4. A percentage of the user's jackpots, net, or gross winnings during a
certain time
frame (e.g., from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM every day);
5. A percentage of the user's jackpots, net, or gross winnings, capped at a
certain
amount. (e.g., five percent (5%) of net winnings up to a maximum of fifty
dollars ($50));
6. A non-monetary prize which is dependent on the user's winnings (e.g., a
fifty
dollar ($50) gift certificate at Amazon.com if the user wins any jackpot over
one thousand
dollars ($1,000)); and/or
7. One or more game play benefits such as points, experience levels, free
demos,
bonus levels, characters, and/or capabilities, and/or the unlocking of game
features such
as levels.
[0218] Benefits given the members of a user's gaming and/or gambling circle
may or may not
detract from a user's own winnings. For example, if the user wins a one
thousand dollar ($1,000)
jackpot, and has signed up a member to receive five percent (5%) of any such
jackpot, then the user
may receive only nine hundred and fifty dollars ($950) of the jackpot.
Alternatively, the user may
receive the full one thousand dollars ($1,000), and the casino or other party
(such as a marketer)
may provide the extra fifty dollars ($50) due the member of the gambling
circle. If it is the casino that
will provide the extra money to compensate a member of a gambling circle, then
the casino may
require some action of the user or the member of the gambling circle before
providing the money.
For example, the casino may require the member of the gambling circle to pick
up the fifty dollars
($50) at the casino. The casino would then benefit from having a potential
customer visit the casino.
A marketer providing the extra fifty dollars ($50) might require the member of
the gambling circle to
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test one of the marketer's products. For example, a car dealer might require
the member of the
gambling circle to test drive the dealer's car before receiving the fifty
dollars ($50).
[0219] In some embodiments, the benefits given the members of a user's
gambling circle bear
little relationship to the user's winnings. For example, members of a gambling
circle may receive
benefits only when a user loses in excess of a certain amount. As another
example, a member
benefits when the user gets an outcome of "lemon-cherry-bar," which may
ordinarily be a non-
winning outcome.
[0220] A member of a gambling circle may receive any benefits due him in a
number of ways. The
casino may send cash, a check, a money order, a voucher for casino chips, or a
prize in the mail.
The casino may wire money, send digital cash, or deposit money directly to a
financial account of
the gambling circle member. The casino may simply notify a member of a user's
gambling circle of
what the user has won, with the presumption that the member would then collect
from the user.
Many other ways are possible for a casino or marketer to provide a benefit.
16. Intentionality Information
[0221] Knowing a user's intended activities can be valuable for a casino or
other marketer.
Intended activities may include such things as when a user intends to visit
Las Vegas; how long a
user intends to stay in Las Vegas; how much a user intends to gamble; where a
user intends to
gamble; where a user intends to eat and how much he intends to spend; where a
user intends to
stay; what his shopping budget is; and so on. Knowing a user's intentions, a
marketer can try to
pitch products or services that suit the user's intentions. For example, if a
user plans to stay in Las
Vegas for four days, a hotel might offer the user a special rate based on a
four-night stay. Also,
when the user is in Las Vegas on his last day, a casino may be willing to sell
a product to the user.
The casino would not ordinarily wish to divert a user's money from gambling.
However, knowing that
the user is there for his last day, the casino might deduce that a larger
profit would come from selling
a product to the user than would come from allowing the user to gamble for his
small remaining
amount of time.
[0222] A user may submit his intentions to the central controller via the
central controller's Web
site. The user may respond to specific questions, such as "How many people are
you traveling with,"
by keying in a number or by selecting from multiple answer choices, such as
"1", "2", "3", or "more
than 3". The user may also provide more free-form answers, either by typing
them in or by speaking
into a microphone. Free form answers may be responses to questions such as
"What do you plan
to do during your vacation?" The free form answers may then be interpreted by
a human or a
computer program.
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[0223] The user may be compensated for submitting his intentions. For example,
the user may
receive compensation for each question he answers. The compensation might
depend on the value
of the user's answers to a casino or marketer. For example, a user may receive
more compensation
for answering, "What is your gambling budget?" than for answering "Where do
you intend to eat
lunch on Sunday?"
[0224] As the user answers questions, new questions may be posed to the user
based on his
answers to old ones. For example, if the user says his trip to Las Vegas is to
last four (4) days, he
may then be asked where he plans to stay. However, a user who indicates his
trip is only a day trip
may not be asked where he intends to stay.
[0225] A casino or a marketer may try to influence a user to alter his
expressed intentions,
perhaps with the offer of a special deal. For example, if the user intends to
gamble at a first casino,
then a second casino may offer the user twenty dollars ($20) in free casino or
gambling chips if the
user goes there instead. If the user only plans to stay three (3) nights, then
a hotel may offer him a
discount on room rates for a fourth (4t") and fifth (5t") night.
[0226] A casino or marketer may also or alternatively encourage a user to
commit to his intentions.
For example, the user may say he intends to spend about one hundred dollars
($100) shopping at a
particular casino. The casino, knowing the user could always change his mind,
might ask the user to
commit to the one hundred dollars ($100) worth of shopping. For committing,
the user might receive
a benefit, such as a twenty-dollar ($20) gift certificate at one of the
casino's stores. There may be
various ways of enforcing the user's commitment. For example, the user may
have to deposit a
certain amount of money with the central controller. The user may lose the
money if he does not
honor his commitment.
[0227] A user may submit information about his friends' intentions. Perhaps
the user knows how
long his friends are staying, where they are staying, where they like to
gamble, where they like to
eat, and so on. The user might provide friends' contact information along with
their intentionality
data, so that a casino or marketer may contact the user's friends.
[0228] Along with information about his intentions, a user may submit
information about his
obligations. Obligations may be thought of as a stronger form of intentions,
where there is some
psychological pressure on a user to perform an action. For example, the user
is obligated to leave
after four (4) days because he has to go to work on the fifth (5t") day. A
user may similarly receive
compensation for submitting obligations. A marketer may not try as hard to get
a user to commit to
his obligations, nor to convince a user not to fulfill obligations.
[0229] The central controller may infer user intentions or obligations. If the
user has already made
a reservation with a casino's hotel, for example, then the central controller
may receive such
reservation information from the casino hotel. The central controller then
knows how long a user
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intends to spend on a vacation. The central controller may also refer to
existing data about the user.
For example, if the central controller has a record of the user's prior hotel
stays in Las Vegas, and
the user has stayed in Las Vegas for an average of five (5) days during each
of the last six (6)
years, then the central controller may infer that the user intends to stay in
Las Vegas for five (5)
days during an upcoming vacation.
[0230] Knowing a user's intentions and obligations, the central controller may
employ principles of
revenue management in providing offers to the user. For example, if the
central controller knows a
user has a one hundred and fifty dollar ($150) food budget, then the central
controller might offer the
user a meal at a restaurant for twenty dollars ($20). "Sam", who has a five
hundred dollar ($500)
food budget, might get the same meal offered for thirty dollars ($30). The
central controller might
also offer the user food or products of a perishable nature, perhaps at a
reduced price.
17. Entertainment And Convenience Information
[0231] Gaming devices may have the capability of providing a number of
entertainment or
convenience features beyond the mere play of the game. For example, gaming
devices may allow
the user to view television or movies, to access the Internet, to place phone
calls, to do word
processing, to listen to music, and so on. Therefore, a user may submit
preparation data detailing
the entertainment and convenience features he would like. What follows are
some examples of user
requests:
1. The user requests continuous access to ESPN whenever playing the slots;
2. The user requests to place twenty (20) minutes worth of phone calls to any
place
in the U.S. for each three hours gambled;
3. The user requests to watch first run movies while playing the slots;
4. The user requests access to the Internet and to word processing software
while at
the slots;
5. The user requests access to instant messaging while at the slots;
6. The user requests free access to two pay Web sites while playing the slots;
and/or
7. The user request to hear the top fifty (50) songs on the country music
charts while
playing the slots.
[0232] The user may also or alternatively request particular entertainment
features, including
movies and TV shows, for his hotel room.
18. Information About the User's Preferred Environmental Conditions
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[0233] A user may submit preparation data on what environmental conditions
most suit him. The
user might provide preparation data pertaining to ambient temperature, ambient
lighting, proximity of
machines to each other, the crowdedness of the casino floor, the noise level
of the casino, and the
smokiness and ventilation of the casino. In addition, preparation data may
pertain to the number of
casino personnel available to serve a user. For example, the user may desire a
casino employee to
help with baggage. The user may desire a particular frequency of waiters
bringing drinks. Users may
specify preparation data that pertains to the user's preferred drink or
drinks. Knowing these, a
waitress would be able to bring the user drinks without asking what he would
like. The user may also
submit preparation data about when he would like to be served drinks. Then, a
waitress could bring
drinks to a user without his ever asking. Users may specify preparation data
that pertains to casino
devices in a particular configuration. For example, the user might prefer
machines that are at the
end of a row, that are isolated, or that are in an arc configuration.
19. Scrapbook Information
[0234] A trip centered on gambling may constitute a major vacation for a user.
The average visitor
to Las Vegas spends more than four (4) days there. A visitor often comes in by
airplane.
Furthermore, visitors to Las Vegas seek out numerous forms of entertainment in
addition to
gambling.
[0235] As with any vacation, the user wishes to enjoy himself and to retain
memories of his best
experiences. A casino may assist a user in retaining memories by documenting
the user's
experiences in various ways. The casino may use the security cameras to take
pictures of the user.
The casino may save pictures of the user from various special moments, e.g.
just after the user has
won a sizable payout. The user's gaming device may communicate with the casino
server or central
controller, alerting them that a payout has been won. The casino server may
then send a signal to a
casino security camera overlooking the user. The camera may be instructed to
capture and/or save
one or more still images from the time period during which the player won.
Security cameras may
also record images from a user at times of low morale, to serve as a points of
comparison with
pictures of the user's later triumphs.
[0236] A gaming device may also record and store particular outcomes achieved
by the user. The
gaming device may provide the user with a printed record of his outcomes. The
gaming device may
also communicate the record of outcomes to the central controller. The central
controller may then
send the record of the outcomes to the user's terminal. Using software that
graphically represents a
gaming device, the user may be able to relive his gaming experience on his
user terminal.
[0237] Pictures of the user's facial expressions may even be overlaid on top
of the graphical
representation of the gaming device as it achieved outcomes causing the user's
expressions. For
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example, a user is shown with an elated expression on top of a picture of
three bars lining up on a
slot machine. Such pictures may be provided digitally to the user, in printed
form, or may be put on
T-shirts or other merchandise for the user.
[0238] When a user achieves certain outcomes, casino employees may gather
around the user for
a group picture. Perhaps they hold the user on their shoulders directly in
front of a security camera.
[0239] The casino may record sounds from the user as well as images. For
example, microphones
on the gaming device may record the user's exclamations of sorrow or joy as
his fortunes change.
[0240] Since documentation of a vacation may be so important to the user, the
user may submit
preparation data describing how his vacation will be recorded. The user may
describe when the
casino should take or record pictures of the user. For example, the user might
request saving a
picture of the user whenever the user wins a payout exceeding one hundred
dollars ($100). The
user might request saving the top five outcomes won by the user, so that the
user may later have
the outcomes reenacted at his computer.
[0241] The user may wish for special merchandise to be made reflecting the
user's vacation. For
example, the user may ask for a mug displaying the dollar figure of the user's
best outcome above a
picture of the user.
[0242] Part of the user's preparation data may also be payment instructions
for the documentation
of his vacation. For example, the user may pay ten dollars ($10) and be
entitled to receive prints of
one hundred (100) pictures of the user's choice. The user may pay twenty
dollars ($20) to receive
two T-shirts with the user's picture on them. The user's payment may or may
not be made in
advance. The user may or may not commit to paying for any elements of
documentation.
[0243] In some embodiments, a user's gaming device is configured to display a
"photograph this"
button or a "save this" button. When the user presses the button (as by
touching an area of the
touch screen), a camera in the casino may photograph the user, or the gaming
device may save the
current outcome for future reenactments.
[0244] It may be worthwhile for a casino to provide a user with free
documentation of his vacation.
After taking multiple pictures of a user, for example, a casino would be able
to present the pictures
to the user in a logical, organized, or attractive format, such as a
scrapbook. However, if a user were
to go to multiple different casinos during a vacation, and were he to receive
documentation from the
multiple casinos, the documentation from the different casinos would not
necessarily fit together
conveniently. Thus, a casino can retain users more effectively by providing
documentation, since a
user would wish to stay at that casino and have his whole vacation documented
in a unified format.
[0245] In some embodiments, multiple casinos, restaurants, and/or other
merchants may
coordinate with each other in the documentation of a user's trip. For example,
two different casinos
may each photograph a user, and send the photographs to a central database
maintained by the
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central controller. The central controller may then assemble all of the
photographs into an album and
present them to the user in a unified format.
[0246] Photographs, outcomes, and other data documenting a user's trip may,
according to some
embodiments, be stored in a trip documentation database.
20. What the User Wishes to Buy
[0247] Many visitors to casinos enjoy shopping in casinos' extensive shopping
malls. However,
the malls do not necessarily have everything a user wishes to purchase.
Therefore, the user's
preparation data may include a list and description of items the user wishes
to purchase. The user
may desire customized items, such as T-shirts with his name on them. When the
user indicates
what items he wants in advance, stores have the opportunity to obtain or to
make what the user
wants. The user may pay in advance or may simply commit to a purchase. The
items the user
requests may be held at particular stores, may be sent directly to the user at
his home address, or
may be brought to the user while he is at a gaming device or in his hotel
room. In some
embodiments, a store obtains goods requested by the user and gives them to the
user at the store
for free or for a steep discount. The expectation is that the user will
purchase more items at the
store. The user may be required to purchase more items in order to get the
requested product for
free or at a discount.
[0248] Items a user requests to purchase may also be offered to the user as
prizes. For example,
if the user wins a two hundred dollar ($200) prize at a slot machine, the slot
machine may offer to
give the user the dress she requested instead of her prize.
[0249] Clearly a tremendous amount and variety of preparation data is
possible, and a user may
not necessarily provide certain preparation data that it is possible to
provide. For example, a user
may not necessarily provide any data of use to marketers, nor even indicate
whether or not he
would like to receive marketing offers. Thus, the controller may associate
default preparation data
with each user. In the above example, where the user has not indicated whether
or not he would like
to receive marketing offers, the default may be that the user does receive
marketing offers. Default
data may not be the same for every user. Rather, default preparation data may
depend on
information about the user, or it may depend on the business environment of
the central controller,
casino servers, or marketers. For example, marketing offers may be presented
to a user if a
marketer is experiencing particular pressure to dispose of inventory, but may
not be presented
otherwise.
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B. Determining an Associated Preparation Code - 1404
[0250] In some embodiments, the central controller may assign a preparation
code to each user's
preparation data. The code may be any sequence of letters, numerals,
punctuation, and other
symbols. Sample codes are, "123456," "C123456," "ABCDEF," and "*$%#@Q%." Codes
may be
any length. In some embodiments, codes are limited in length and symbol usage
so that they may
be easily memorized by a human. Also, the symbols in codes may be restricted
to those easily
entered into a gaming device. For example, a player tracking card reader on a
slot machine may
contain a keypad with only numerals. Therefore, codes may consist strictly of
numerals.
[0251] In some embodiments, a unique code is assigned to each unique set of
preparation data.
Since there may be more possible sets of preparation data than codes of a
given length, certain
codes may expire after a time so that they may be reused for new sets of
preparation data. That is,
code "123456" may correspond to a first set of preparation data only for three
weeks, after which it
may be assigned to a new set of preparation data. A code may correspond to
different sets of
preparation data depending on different circumstances. The time of day, the
geographic location,
and the type of gaming device receiving the code may all determine the
corresponding set of
preparation data. Advantageously, this may allow fewer codes to represent more
unique sets of
preparation data, since each code can now represent multiple sets of
preparation data. For
example, "123456" may represent a five reel (5-reel), one dollar ($1) per bet
gaming device
configuration in Atlantic City, but may represent a three reel (3-reel),
quarter ($0.25) per bet
configuration in Las Vegas.
[0252] When codes are assigned to sets of preparation data, the codes may
simply be assigned in
sequence according to the order in which sets of preparation data are defined
by users. For
example, set of preparation data may be assigned the code "000129," while a
set of preparation
data received immediately afterwards may be assigned the code "000130."
[0253] When a code is assigned to a set of preparation data, a record may be
created for the code
and preparation data in a database such as the preparation data database 1200
of FIG. 12. When a
gaming device, casino server, or the central controller later receives a code,
it may simply examine
the record in the database to determine the corresponding preparation data.
[0254] In an alternative embodiment, a code actually contains preparation
data. For example,
each digit of a code may correspond to a different feature of a gaming device
configuration. The first
digit may indicate the game type, the second the font size, the third the
wager size, and so on. Then,
when a gaming device receives a code, it need only interpret each segment of
the code using a
predefined table in order to configure itself properly. Such a table may be
stored in the gaming
device, the casino server, or the central controller.
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[0255] In some embodiments, a first code is created such that it contains
preparation data.
However, the code may be very long, especially if there are many features that
can be customized.
Therefore, a second code is created by compressing the first code in some
fashion. Numerous
compression algorithms for a sequence of bits or numerals are known in the
art. When the gaming
device later receives the second code, it may reverse the compression
algorithm to recover the first
code and to deduce the preparation data from the first code. Of course, the
casino server or central
controller may also reverse the compression.
[0256] Preparation data may be associated with a particular user. Thus,
information about the
user may be sufficient for a gaming device to obtain preparation data. For
example, a user's name
may be stored in a database corresponding to a set of preparation data. When
the user later enters
his name into a gaming device (perhaps via his tracking card), the gaming
device may find the
user's name in the database and thereby obtain the corresponding preparation
data. A user's player
tracking card number may serve a similar function, and may thus serve as a
preparation code. Other
user characteristics may be associated in a database with configurations. A
user's biometric data,
such as voice data, retinal scan data, or finger print data may be associated
with a particular
configuration.
[0257] A preparation code may take the form of bar code, or any other machine-
readable code.
The user may then print out the bar code from his user terminal. When the user
subsequently inserts
the bar code into a gaming device, the gaming device may obtain the user's
preparation data.
[0258] A user may specify his own code to be associated with a particular
configuration. Perhaps
he labels a configuration, "203-461-9999," or "Big Jackpot," or "xyz."
[0259] A preparation code may only describe particular features that a user
has selected. Other
features may then take on default values. For example, if a user has only
selected the number of
reels, a code might read "NR5," where "NR" stands for "number of reels," and
"5" indicates the
desired number. The code does not describe other features, and so these may
take on default
values.
C. Transmitting the Preparation Data and Code to a Casino Server (or Other
Device or
Computer) - 1406
[0260] Once a code has been associated with a particular set of preparation
data, the code and
the preparation data may be transmitted to a casino server, and/or a gaming
device. Transmission
may occur via the Internet, e-mail, phone, fax, or any other mode of
communication.
[0261] In some embodiments, the code and preparation data are transmitted
immediately after
they have been generated. In other embodiments, a gaming device may only
receive preparation
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data after a user has entered a code, and the gaming device has sent the code
to the casino server
and/or the central controller.
[0262] In embodiments where a preparation code contains information about a
gaming device
configuration, the controller need not necessarily transmit both configuration
data and the
preparation code, since a gaming device or casino server may be able to derive
one from the other
according to predefined rules.
[0263] When a user sits down at a gaming device, he may enter his preparation
code in order to
have the gaming device determine the user's preferred features (such as
preferences and/or gaming
rules or limits). He may enter the code in a number of ways including, but not
limited to:
1. Keying in the code via a keypad or touch screen;
2. Speaking the code into a microphone, whereby it is interpreted using voice
recognition software;
3. Inserting a bar code into the gaming device and/or otherwise scanning or
reading
a barcode or other indicia;
4. Inserting his player tracking card into the device;
5. Inserting into the gaming device any magnetic strip containing the code;
6. Inserting into the gaming device a floppy disc, CD, DVD or other storage
medium
containing the code;
7. Wirelessly transmitting the code to the gaming device using a cell phone,
PDA, or
other communications device; and/or
8. Providing biometric data to an input device of the gaming device (e.g.,
fingerprint,
retina, and/or facial recognition data).
[0264] If the gaming device cannot interpret the code, the gaming device may
transmit the code to
the casino server and/or to the controller. The casino server or controller
may then look up the code
in a database such as the preparation data database 1200 of FIG. 12, and may
retrieve the
corresponding configuration information. The configuration may then be sent
back to the gaming
device so that it can configure itself accordingly.
D. Provide Feedback To The User-1408
[0265] Generally, after the user has entered preparation data into the Web
site of the central
controller, the central controller may respond to the user. The following is a
partial list of possible
information contained in the central controller's response:
1. A thank you to the user for submitting preparation data and/or request
confirmation of the submitted preparation data;
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2. Maps and/or directions to any gaming devices or other points of interest
for the
user;
3. Vouchers or coupons for use at a casino, restaurant, or other business. The
vouchers may, in particular, be for businesses in the vicinity of the user's
intended
destination;
4. Information about one or more individual gaming devices. For example, the
gaming device's date of manufacture, pay out percentage to fifty-three (53)
year-old males,
etc. The user may, for example, print out this information and take it to his
astrologer for a
consultation;
5. Updates on gaming devices for the time since the user entered preparation
data.
The central controller may call the user's attention to new gaming devices if
these have
been performing well lately. Such updates may be made periodically;
6. Configuring a gaming device according to the configuration data associated
with a
preparation code received from a player at the gaming device; and/or
7. Marketing offers for the user. The marketing offers may offer the user
benefits for
doing business or agreeing to do business with any merchant in the vicinity of
the user's
destination or anywhere else. In some embodiments, the central controller will
only honor
the user's preparation data if the user agrees to a marketing offer. For
example, the
controller might say to the user, "We will give you the pay table you
requested but in return
we would like you to fly to Las Vegas using XYZ Airlines." The central
controller might ask
the user to prepay for some product or service in order to solidify the user's
agreement. So
the user might prepay for three nights stay at a hotel after agreeing to spend
his vacation at
the hotel.
[0266] It should be noted that in some embodiments, an additional and/or
alternate one or more
steps may be performed by the one or more computers or devices referenced
herein. Such an
additional step(s) may be performed when a user attempts to use a gaming
device or machine at a
casino premises. Pursuant to such a step or steps, the gaming device or
machine, and/or a
computer associated therewith (a casino server, a central controller, a third
party service provide
server, a user device or terminal), may (a) identify the user, (b) identify
any applicable gambling
rules, restrictions or limitations (such as those described herein), and/or
(c) execute an appropriate
action (e.g. , as described herein).
[0267] In such an additional step or steps, a user may be identified upon his
presentation of a
customization code or preparation code, such as a player tracking card number
or a biometric
identifier. For example, a user may insert his player tracking card into a
player tracking card reader
(e.g., such as player tracking card reader 510 of FIG. 5) of a gaming machine.
In order to identify
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any applicable gambling rules, restrictions or limitations, the gaming machine
and/or a computer
associated therewith may query a local or remote database based on the
customization code or
preparation code. For example, a gaming machine and/or computer associated
therewith may
determine if the presented code exists in a record of a database, such as the
illustrative preparation
data database 1200 of FIG. 12, to determine if corresponding rules have been
registered (e.g., by
himself or by a third party) to limit the user's gambling activity. If rules
have been registered in
association with the user, and if any applicable conditions have been
satisfied (e.g., a threshold
number of wagers have been placed in a given period of time), the gaming
machine and/or
computer associated therewith may execute an appropriate action, such as by:
1. restricting the user's ability to utilize a gaming machine;
2. restricting the user's ability to fund or place a wager;
3. restricting the user's ability to use, access or liquidate winnings;
4. signaling the player, through an output device, with a message encouraging
the
user to stop or limit wagering activity;
5. signaling a third party, through an output device, with a message informing
the
third party about the user's wagering activity;
6. opening a communication session between two or more devices; and/or
7. executing any other action described herein.
[0268] Some embodiments may be directed to operating a gaming device and/or
conducting
gaming sessions in accordance with pre-defined (e.g., third-party pre-defined)
gaming rules and/or
limits. Turning to FIG. 15, for example, a flow diagram illustrating a method
1500 according to some
embodiments is shown. The method 1500 may, according to some embodiments, be
conducted by
any practicable device, system, and/or entity as described herein. In some
embodiments, the
method 1500 may be conducted by a casino server or gaming device.
[0269] The method 1500 may generally initiate at 1502 to receive an indication
of a gaming rule.
The indication may be received from a user and/or third-party device, for
example, and/or may be
determined based on a player's identity. The indication may comprise the rule
or limit itself, and/or
may comprise a pointer to a location where the rule and/or limit is stored.
The method 1500 may
continue at 1504 to receive and indication of a request to execute a gaming
session. As the order of
the processes and elements of methods described herein is not fixed or defined
by the order in
which such processes and/or elements are described and/or presented herein,
the process at 1504
may, according to some embodiments, occur before and/or substantially
contemporaneously with
the process at 1502. In some embodiments, for example, the indication of the
gaming rule may be
determined based upon the indication of the request to execute the gaming
session and/or
information associated therewith (e.g., the player's identity). According to
some embodiments, the
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indication of the request may be received by and/or via a gaming device and/or
may be received by
and/or via a casino (and/or other) server. A player may insert a player
tracking card into a gaming
device, for example, which may constitute a receiving of an indication of a
request to execute a
gaming session. Alternatively, a player's selection and/or depression of a
"spin" and/or other
executable button and/or device (e.g., a softkey) may provide such an
indication.
[0270] At 1506, it may be determined whether the gaming session is compliant
with the gaming
rule. Any gaming rule determined and/or received at 1502, for example, may be
evaluated and/or
compared to session parameters to determine if the requested session is
allowable. If the gaming
session is compliant with and/or satisfies the gaming rule, and/or if no
gaming rule is applicable,
then the method 1500 may proceed to 1508 to execute the session (e.g., as
requested).
[0271] In the case that the gaming session is determined not to be compliant
with the gaming rule,
a notification of non-compliance may be provided at 1510. The player
attempting to execute the
session may be notified that the player is not allowed to execute the session,
for example, and/or a
third party such as a spouse, parent, employer, and/or government agency may
be notified that the
player has attempted to execute a prohibited session (e.g., a gaming session
defined by a
parameter that has been restricted with respect to the player). In some
embodiments, the notification
may also or alternatively comprise instructions, such as instructions
directing the player as to what
types of gaming are allowed, and/or directing the player how the current
session may be adjusted
and/or changed to fall within the acceptable criteria established by the
gaming rule.
[0272] In some embodiments, as alluded to with respect to the method 1500, the
gaming rule
(and/or limits defined thereby) may be determined, such as based on a
particular player and/or a
particular gaming session. Referring to FIG. 16, for example, a flow diagram
illustrating a method
1600 according to some embodiments is shown. The method 1600 may generally
begin at 1602 to
receive an indication of a request to execute a gaming session. In some
embodiments, this may be
similar to the indication of the request received in the method 1500 at 1504.
[0273] According to some embodiments, the method 1600 may generally continue
to determine a
gaming rule, at 1604. While this may be similar to and/or comprise the
receiving of the gaming rule
at 1502 in the method 1500, it may also or alternatively comprise various
other methodologies for
determining the gaming rule. A biometric identifier may be received and/or
identified as part of the
receiving of the request at 1602, for example. In some embodiments, a facial
scan of a player at an
arcade game and/or slot machine may be conducted, for example, to determine an
identity of the
player. Such facial scanning technology and associated methods are described
in WO 03/060846
filed in the name of CIAS, Inc. on December 20, 2002, and published on July
24, 2003, entitled
"COMBINATION CASINO TABLE GAME AND IMAGING SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY
RECOGNIZING THE FACES OF PLAYERS - AS WELL AS TERRORISTS AND OTHER
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UNDESIRABLES - AND FOR RECOGNIZING WAGERED GAMING CHIPS", the facial
recognition
descriptions and concepts of which are hereby incorporated by reference
herein. Based on the
player's identity, the gaming device may access and/or query a database to
lookup any gaming
rules and/or limits that may be associated with the player. The gaming limits
and/or rules may also
or alternatively be determined and/or defined dynamically, such as randomly,
and/or based on
various recorded and/or known player characteristics. Based on an amount that
the player has
gambled and/or spent in the past week, for example, one or more gaming limits
may be
automatically defined and/or imposed. In some embodiments, such limits may be
determined based
on criteria established in an attempt to track, identify, and/or pre-empt
problem gambling behaviors.
[0274] The method 1600 may generally continue at 1606 to determine if the
session is compliant
with any applicable rules. This may be conducted in a manner similar to that
of the compliance
determination at 1506 in the method 1500. For example, any gaming limits, such
as wager amounts,
established by an applicable gaming rules may be compared to one or more
parameters associated
with the requested gaming session, such as amount wagered, to determined
compliance. In the
case that the requested amount wagered is larger than the allowed wager limit,
for example, the
session may be determined to be non-compliant. While compliance is generally
described herein as
being associated with a gaming session, it should also be understood that the
player may be
deemed complaint and/or non-compliant based on the requests for gaming
sessions and/or other
actions conducted by the player. A player requesting a non-compliant gaming
session may be, for
example, a non-compliant player.
[0275] In the case that the session is determined to be compliant, the session
may be executed at
1608. In some embodiments, the session may only be required to be
substantially compliant. In the
case that a wager amount and/or other parameter violates an applicable rule by
a marginal and/or
negligible amount, for example, the session may nonetheless be determined to
be compliant. For
example, if a maximum loss limit is ten dollars ($10) and the requested
session may allow the player
to lose an amount that would cause the player to incur a loss of ten dollars
and five cents ($10.05),
the five cent ($0.05) excess may be determined to be negligible and/or
inconsequential, and the
session may be executed (e.g., at 1608). In some embodiments, such "margins"
may be defined
(e.g., by the player, by a third party, and/or by the gaming device) and/or
may be based on the
underlying limits (e.g., a certain small percentage deviation may be allowed
for each and/or certain
limits).
[0276] In the case that the session is determined to by non-compliant, the
method 1600 may
continue to provide a non-compliance notification at 1610. This may be similar
to the notification
provided at 1510 of the method 1500. The gaming session may also or
alternatively be barred,
cancelled, and/or otherwise prevented from being executed in violation of any
applicable rules.
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According to some embodiments, the gaming session and/or gaming device may be
reconfigured to
proactively and/or reactively ensure gaming rule compliance.
[0277] Turning to FIG. 17, for example, a flow diagram illustrating a method
1700 according to
some embodiments is shown. The method 1700 may generally begin at 1702 to
receive an
indication of a request to execute a gaming session (such as at 1602 of the
method 1600). In some
embodiments, the method 1700 may continue at 1704 to determine a gaming rule
(such as at 1604
of the method 1600). At 1706, it may be determined whether the requested
gaming session is
compliant with the determined rule (such as at 1606 of the method 1600). In
the case that
compliance is determined, the method 1700 may simply continue to execute the
session at 1708
(such as at 1608 of the method 1600).
[0278] In some embodiments, such as in the case that the session is determined
to be
noncompliant (e.g., at 1706), the method 1700 may continue at 1712 to adjust
the session to make it
compliant. Any or all parameters of the session that are determined to violate
gaming limits
established by any applicable gaming rules, for example, may be adjusted in
accordance with such
limitations. In the case that the player has requested the session to be
executed at a current time of
4:58 PM, and the player's parents have set a gaming rule that defines a gaming
limit for gaming
times of between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM, for example, the player may be forced to
wait the extra two
(2) minutes to make the session compliant (e.g., such that the session is
executed during the
acceptable limited time window). According to some embodiments, the player's
waiting may be
supplemented with entertainment and/or advertising materials to help pass the
time and/or to
prevent the player from simply leaving. The wait period may also or
alternatively be concealed from
the player, such that, for example, the player does not realize an
"intentional" wait has been initiated.
During such a concealed wait, the gaming device may allow the player to play
one or more non-
wager games (e.g., where the limit is on wagering games and/or wagering), ask
the player one or
more trivia and/or demographic questions, play one or more entertaining media
files, and/or
otherwise occupy the player to delay play until the acceptable period.
[0279] Other parameters of game play may be similarly adjusted to force and/or
cause
compliance. In some embodiments, such adjustments may be made automatically
(e.g., without
player consent and/or knowledge) or may be presented to the player as options
for allowing the
requested play. Offering the player a choice may be particularly advantageous
in the case that a
parameter may be changed in a plurality of ways to achieve compliance, such
that the player may
be allowed to choose one or more of these ways to implement.
[0280] In any case, once the session has been adjusted for compliance, the
method 1700 may
continue to 1708 to execute the adjusted session. In such a manner, for
example, even non-
compliant sessions may be executed and/or non-compliant players (e.g., problem
gamblers) may be
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forced and/or directed to execute gaming sessions in compliance with pre-
established gaming rules.
Particularly in the case that such rules are established, defined, and/or
managed by third-parties, the
player's gaming habits may become influenced and/or shaped by such rules,
which may in turn
facilitate the reduction and/or prevention of problem gaming behaviors.
VII. Examples
[0281] The following specific examples are provided to illustrate particular
embodiments described
herein, particularly from the perspective of potential users of the system
100A, 100B of FIG. 1A
and/or FIG 1 B, including players and potential controller operators such as
casinos.
A. Example A
[0282] Sarah wanted to keep her brother informed during her upcoming trip to
Las Vegas. She
therefore logged onto the Web site Vegasvacationplanner.com and provided her
player tracking
card number. She then provided instructions that all outcomes she achieved
would be emailed to
her brother once an hour. She provided her brother's email address.
[0283] The day Sarah arrived in Las Vegas, she sat down at a slot machine. She
inserted her
player tracking card. The slot machine communicated the player tracking card
number to the central
controller. The central controller looked up the number in a database, and
found the instructions
Sarah had provided, along with her brother's email address. The central
controller then instructed
the slot machine to transmit its outcomes to the central controller as they
were generated. As Sarah
made her handle pulls, the slot machine transmitted the outcomes to the
central controller. The
central controller stored the outcomes. Every hour, the central controller
sent the newly stored
outcomes in an email to Sarah's brother.
B. Example B
[0284] Sam was planning a week-long trip to Las Vegas. Sam did not get much
time away from
his home in Florida due to work and family obligations. So this would be his
big vacation for the
year. He wanted it to be memorable and he wanted it to go well.
[0285] Sam began his planning by logging onto the Web site, the Web site
identified by the URL
http://www.Vegasvacationplanner.com. He saw that there were many of aspects of
his vacation for
which he could plan. He set up an account with the Web site by typing in his
name, age, email
address, and home address.
[0286] First Sam decided to find a slot machine game he was comfortable with.
He selected from
a list of possible slot games, choosing a game called Crazy Jewels. A new
window appeared on his
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monitor containing a graphical rendition of a mechanical three-reel slot game.
Sam clicked on a
"spin" icon and caused the graphical slot machine to spin and display an
outcome. Sam made a few
more spins before deciding Crazy Jewels was boring, and trying a new game. Sam
tried a few
different games before finding one he enjoyed playing. The game was called
Camel Quarters. He
enjoyed it in part because he seemed to be winning most of the time. Sam put a
check mark next to
Camel Quarters on the Web site.
[0287] One of Sam's fears was quickly losing too much money on his vacation.
He knew he could
try to limit his gambling budget, but if he lost it all quickly, he would be
bored for the rest of the
vacation. Therefore, Sam browsed through some marketing offers on the Web
site. Many merchants
offered to offset gambling losses, or to give Sam money outright for doing
business with them. Sam
agreed to an offer where he would test drive a sport utility vehicle in return
for thirty dollars ($30),
which Sam would get only if he lost at least thirty dollars ($30) gambling at
the casino. Sam agreed
to several other offers too.
[0288] In case the marketing offers Sam accepted did not turn out to be enough
to cover potential
losses, Sam decided he would be open to receiving more marketing offers while
playing the slots.
He entered some information about himself, including the fact that he owned a
house, had two small
children, had a three-year old car, and enjoyed golf. A marketing button would
then appear on the
touch screen of any slot machine Sam played. Anytime Sam wished to receive
more money, he
could press the button and receive another marketing offer. Accepting the
offer would give Sam
more money to gamble with.
[0289] On the Web site, Sam had the opportunity to choose a prize he would
like to play for at a
slot machine. Sam had always wanted a PorscheTM, so he chose his favorite
model to play for. If
Sam then won the maximum jackpot on any machine with a jackpot over thirty
thousand dollars
($30,000), he would get the PorscheTM instead of the money.
[0290] Sam noticed that the Web site allowed him to scan in pictures to be
subsequently displayed
on his slot machine. Sam thought it would be neat to have his dog Woofie
appear on the reels of the
slot machine. Sam could even arrange it so that lining up three Woofie's would
give him a large
payout. Sam scanned in a picture of Woofie using his home scanner and sent the
picture as an
attachment in an e-mail to pics@Vegasvacationplanner.com. The picture was then
stored in a
database for later access by Sam at a slot machine.
[0291] Sam saw that he could actually have pictures taken of him while playing
the slots, and that
the pictures could be made into an album for him and sent to him for only
twenty dollars ($20). Since
this was a big vacation for Sam, he very much wanted the vacation documented.
Therefore, Sam
typed in his credit card number and agreed to pay the twenty dollars ($20). He
asked that pictures
be taken of him whenever he won more than a one hundred dollars ($100) payout.
He also asked
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that his picture be overlaid on top of an image of the slot reels for any pay
out over five hundred
dollars ($500).
[0292] When Sam had finished with his selections at the Web site, he was asked
to enter his
mother's maiden name, and the name of the street on which he grew up. The
answers would later
be used in confirming Sam's identity at a slot machine. Sam did as he was
asked.
[0293] The Web site then gave Sam two links to maps. Sam clicked on one link
and a map of Las
Vegas appeared on his screen. The New Age Casino was highlighted on the map.
The other link
gave Sam a map of the casino floor of the New Age Casino. Two rows of slot
machines were
highlighted. These were the machines that played Camel Quarters. Sam printed
out the two maps
so he could find his way to the Camel Quarter machines.
[0294] When Sam got to Vegas, he took a cab to the New Age Casino. Using his
map of the
casino floor, he easily found the Camel Quarter slots. He sat down at one. The
touch screen
displayed a question, asking whether Sam had made any advance customizations.
Sam touched a
"yes" button and was asked for his name. Sam entered his name using touch
screen keys. He was
then asked for his mother's maiden name and for the name of the street on
which he grew up. He
answered these questions successfully, and was then welcomed. To his delight,
the picture of his
dog Woofie appeared on the touch screen. Woofie subsequently appeared on the
reels of the Camel
Quarters game.
[0295] An hour into play, Sam had lost thirty dollars ($30). A message
appeared on his touch
screen. "Bob's SUV Dealer is pleased to take care of your loss. Here is
another $30." The credit
meter on Sam's machine then incremented by thirty dollars ($30).
Unfortunately, in the next few
hours, Sam exhausted all the money he had on reserve from marketers. So he
pressed a button on
his touch screen marked "Get Your Offer to Increase Your Bankroll!" Sam was
then offered twenty-
five dollars ($25) for trying a free round of golf at the Golden Days Country
Club in his hometown.
Sam agreed, signed an area on the touch screen, and watched as his credit
meter incremented by
twenty-five dollars ($25).
[0296] On his second day, Sam lined up three Woofie's and won two hundred and
fifty dollars
($250). He was told to look up at the ceiling, where a security camera
captured his smile. His face
was overlaid atop an image of three Woofie's, and this picture was the
highlight of the album he later
received.
C. Example C
[0297] Player A has a self-recognized tendency to gamble more than he can
afford at the local
casino, and so he used his personal computer to log onto the casino's Web site
to register various
self-imposed limitations (e.g., defining and/or selecting one or more gaming
rules or limits). Once at
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the Web site, Player A entered his player tracking card number and then
populated various
checkboxes corresponding to the games he did not want to be allowed to play:
video poker and
video blackjack. Player A also entered a budget of one hundred dollars ($100)
per month. Since
Player A does not like to play without earning comp points, he routinely
presents his player tracking
card at every wagering opportunity, and such presentation of his player
tracking card would thereby
allow the casino's computer system to ensure that he does not (a) play video
poker or video
blackjack or (b) gamble more than one hundred dollars ($100) per month. When
Player A
subsequently presented his player tracking card at a video poker machine, the
video poker machine
output a message on its screen reading "Sorry, Player A, but you are not
permitted to play video
poker at this time."
D. Example D
[0298] Mr. and Mrs. Smith like to visit the local casino together, but
sometimes Mr. Smith likes to
visit the casino while Mrs. Smith is at work. Because they agreed that Mr.
Smith may bet a bit more
aggressively on his own, they registered Mr. Smith's player tracking card with
the casino's website
and registered a rule which would allow Mrs. Smith to get a phone call to her
cellular phone (from
the casino's automated outbound IVR unit) in the event that Mr. Smith gambled
more than fifty
dollars ($50) in any one (1) hour on a weekday. After receiving a phone call
that Mr. Smith gambled
seventy-five dollars ($75) in twenty (20) minutes on a Wednesday, Mrs. Smith
called Mr. Smith's cell
phone to discuss the matter.
VIII. Additional and/or Alternate Embodiments
[0299] The following are example alternative variations which illustrate
additional and/or alternate
embodiments. It should be understood that the particular variations described
in this section can be
combined with the different embodiments, or portions thereof, described above
in any manner that is
or becomes practicable. These examples do not constitute a definition or
itemization of all possible
embodiments. Further, although the following examples are briefly described
for clarity, those skilled
in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above-
described apparatus
and methods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.
[0300] The submission of preparation data has been described in the context of
a gambling
experience. However, a user could also submit preparation data to customize a
video game
experience. For example, prior to visiting a video arcade, a user could select
a game, a sound level,
a sensitivity level of characters' motion in relation to the movement of
controls, and so on. A user
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could submit preparation data to customize his experience at an ATM machine.
Then, after entering
his password, the user might immediately receive a designated amount of cash.
Having submitted
preparation data, the user need not select a language, select deposit or
withdrawal, select checking
or savings, key in a number, etc. Preparation data may also apply to a point
of sale terminal. When
a shopper identifies himself using a frequent shopper card, or a credit card,
the POS terminal may
respond to the shopper's stored preparation data. The POS terminal may then
format the shopper's
receipt in a certain way, print certain coupons on the back of the shopper's
receipt, provide
discounts, or present certain marketing offers to the shopper. In some
embodiments, preparation
data includes a description of a subscription to a product or service. The
user may, for example,
indicate he wishes to buy milk once a week for twelve (12) weeks at a discount
of ten cents ($0.10)
per carton. Then, when the user pays for milk at a point of sale terminal, the
user is given the ten
cent ($0.10) discount.
[0301] Many alternate systems are possible. For example, the central
controller may communicate
directly with gaming devices, without the intermediation of slot servers. The
central controller may
additionally function as a slot server. Marketer devices may not be present.
For example, in some
embodiments, the central controller only markets items for sale at the casino
in which the controller
is situated.
[0302] The central controller may inform the user that a benefit, such as free
credits, is waiting for
him at a particular gaming device. The user need then only insert his player
tracking card, or provide
some other identifier, in order to claim the benefit. Advantageously, the user
is encouraged to
appear at a location where he is very likely to gamble. Therefore a casino may
be able to afford
providing the free benefit as an inducement to gamble.
[0303] A user may arrange to have customized coin racks with his name on them
made available
to him at the casino. The user may also request other customized products,
such as T-shirts or
mugs, containing names, phrases, or pictures of his choice.
[0304] The central controller may be in communication with multiple casino
servers. Knowing a
user's intentions to visit Las Vegas, several casinos may wish to attract the
user to their hotels.
Therefore, casinos may compete for the user's business. For example, a first
casino may offer the
user an enticing package involving discounted room rates, free show tickets,
free meals, gambling
credits, etc. A second casino may offer its own enticing package. The user or
the central controller
may then decide which package is best.
[0305] Documentation of a user's gambling experience may be sufficiently
entertaining as to
warrant broadcast on television. On the Web site of the central controller,
the user may consent to
the use of his voice and/or image for public broadcast. The user may later
receive a reward if
excerpts from his trip are ever aired.
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[0306] A user may submit requests for particular meals. The central controller
may inform a
restaurant so that the chef knows how to prepare the user's meal. The
restaurant may also have the
opportunity to obtain special ingredients in advance of the user's coming, or
to insure that certain
ingredients are avoided for users with food allergies.
[0307] Preparation data may include a desired arrangement or lay out for a
hotel room. The user
may want windows facing a certain direction, silk linen, certain types of food
and drink in the room's
mini-bar, a certain type of shampoo, and so on.
[0308] Preparation data may include what movies or television shows a person
wishes to watch at
a slot machine. For example, the user may wish to catch up on all of the
missed episodes from the
last season of his favorite sit-com. The central controller or casino may then
obtain these shows and
broadcast them on the user's slot machine.
[0309] Preparation data may include special medical needs of the user. The
user may need a
wheel chair, walker, oxygen supply, or an assistant while staying at the
casino. The user may
request that medication be made available for the user, should the user need
it. For example, if the
user is a diabetic, the user may request that the casino have extra insulin on
hand just in case the
user needs it. The user may request that he be monitored especially closely by
the casino security
cameras, so that if he requires medical assistance, it will be made quickly
available.
[0310] Preparation data may be associated with a credit card account. When a
user makes a
purchase using a credit card, the user may receive certain benefits described
in the user's
preparation data. For example, the user may ask to receive two cents ($0.02)
towards the purchase
of a new boat for every dollar purchased using the credit card. The user's
money accumulated
towards the new boat may be kept in a special account by the credit card
company, and released to
the user when he has enough to buy the boat. As another example, the user may
receive a special
discount on a purchase if a credit card order totals over fifty dollars ($50).
[0311] On the Web site of the central controller, the user may wish to find
the worst performing slot
machines at a casino or other location, as well as the best performing. Many
users believe that
poorly performing machines are due for an upswing in performance.
[0312] The user may configure his gaming device to allow him to order drinks
or other services or
products. He may then simply press a "bring drink" button on his touch screen
to get a waitress to
bring him a beer, for example.
[0313] A user may arrange for speed dial buttons in his hotel room. For
example, on the Web site
of the central controller, the user arranges for a first button to call a
pizza restaurant, for a second
button to call work, for a third button to call home, and so on.
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[0314] A user may arrange for direct-dial use of his long distance provider.
This might save the
user from having to dial an "800 number", enter a pin code, and enter a credit
card number in order
to user his long distance provider.
[0315] A user may remotely watch games being played. Watching others play
games may allow
the user to feel more comfortable playing the games himself. A user might, for
example, see a video
feed from the security cameras above a blackjack table. He could then watch
other people playing
blackjack. For reasons of privacy, the user might view only the cards and the
dealer, not the faces of
the other players at the table.
[0316] A user might arrange to borrow various items, including rental cars,
digital cameras, cell
phones, suits, and so on.
[0317] A user might reduce or eliminate charges on his hotel bill prior to
embarking on a vacation.
To do so, a user might accept marketing offers. For example, the user may make
a purchase at an
on-line retailer affiliated with the hotel. The retailer might then cover the
cost of the user's first night
stay at the hotel. The user might also enter into forward commitments. For
example, the user may
commit to staying at the hotel in the future, and thereby get billed for a
lower cost room than that in
which he is to stay.
[0318] A user might find out about the machines on which his friends have
played. The player
may discover the identity of the machines, or even the results his friends
achieved on the machines.
The user might then play on gaming devices that have done well for his
friends, or may even try to
outdo friends on certain machines. The user's friends may have already been
registered as part of
the user's gambling circle. Thus, the user does not invade their privacy by
looking up their results.
[0319] A user may arrange for his constantly updating itinerary to be sent to
friends or coworkers.
Then, if the user changes plans during a vacation, his coworkers would still
know how to reach him.
[0320] The present invention may include the additional step of verifying that
the player is legally
permitted to gamble. For example, if the player is unable to prove he is over
the age of twenty-one,
he may not be permitted to access the customization Web site. Thus, the
central controller may, for
example, consult a database of publicly available birth records. Alternatively
the player may be
required to provide a scan or a photograph of an ID, such as a driver's
license or passport belonging
to the player. Further, if the player possesses a certain item, such as a
credit card, that, for example,
is known to only be distributed on a restrictive basis, then the central
controller may infer the player's
eligibility from the player's possession of the item.
[0321] In some embodiments, the remote controller may be equipped to print a
generic or
customized document describing the player's customized configuration and/or
the customization
code to enter into the gaming device. The document may include cashless gaming
receipts or
coupons with bar codes, for example, to provide the player with an incentive
to bring the document
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with him to the casino. The consumer may insert the document, or a copy of it,
into the gaming
device to activate the customization of the gaming device and/or to redeem the
coupons.
[0322] In some embodiments, a player device, such as a wireless PDA, may be
used to activate
the customization of the gaming device and it may alert the gaming device to
the player's proximity
using, for example, a wireless protocol (such as Bluetooth as described at
http://www.bluetooth.com/dev/specifications.asp ). Once identified, a
consumer's customized
configuration information may be automatically transferred to the gaming
device. Alternatively, the
device may be preprogrammed to be able to transfer an ID (e.g., player
tracking information), a
customization code, and/or an entire configuration to a gaming device, kiosk,
or a slot server at the
casino location. For example, a player may load a slot machine customization
program onto his
combination cell phone/PDA (such as the Kyorcera SmartPhone Model No. 6035).
After having
created a configuration for a slot machine, the player may walk around a
casino "beaming" (via
infrared transmissions) his configuration at slot machines. Gaming devices
compatible with the
system of the present invention may respond by lighting up and/or by playing
audio welcoming the
player by name and inviting the player to play "his" personally customized
game. As indicated
above, using a device that supports wireless protocols such as Bluetooth
would eliminate the need
to actively beam a player's configuration. By merely approaching an enabled
gaming device, the
player's device could trigger the gaming device to configure itself to the
player's customized
configuration. The cell phone/PDA may track and record the player's
performance and winnings
information for a given configuration and allow him to adjust the
configuration or entirely new
configurations.
[0323] In some embodiments, the player may log onto the casino server
directly, bypassing the
central controller. Alternatively, the player could log onto the gaming device
directly, bypassing the
casino server.
[0324] Although the systems have been described as one or more gaming devices
networked to a
casino server, embodiments apply to other games and gaming environments. For
example, some
embodiments may be applied to table games, such as table poker and blackjack.
In such
embodiments, players may insert their player tracking cards into card readers
corresponding to
seats around, for example, a poker table. The casino server could access
player preferences data
and casino preferences data for the players, and transmit that data to a data
terminal located at the
dealer. The dealer could then modify the game or award payouts according to
the preferences.
[0325] Some embodiments may also apply to other environments or systems
involving one or
more data terminals networked to a central server to configure the terminals
to identifiable users or
operators. For example, the invention could be readily adapted to apply to
networked video game
systems, systems with point-of-sale terminals, and ATM. This eliminates the
need for users or
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operators to manually enter configuration information during each and every
session to configure the
terminals.
[0326] In some embodiments, the preparation data received by the central
controller may be
forwarded to one or more slot machine manufacturers to be incorporated into
newly manufactured
gaming devices. For example, if the vast majority of players prefer larger
font types, new machines
might be designed with larger font types as a default.
[0327] The central controller's Web site may serve as a testing ground for new
games. Device
manufacturers, or casinos may present games or configurations that they are
considering
introducing, but for which they desire player feedback. Players may test the
configurations, and rate
them. Players may be paid or may receive other special privileges for doing
so.
[0328] Once a player has selected a configuration, the central controller may
provide guidance to
the player as to how to find gaming devices capable of supporting the
configuration. The central
controller may illuminate a path through a casino location and/or display a
map showing visually
where the player might go to find the gaming devices. The map might be large
scale, showing, for
example, the entire world, the U.S., or a particular state. The map might show
smaller regions, such
as the city of Las Vegas, or even the floor plan of a particular casino
location. The map might
contain other information such as how many of the desired gaming devices are
in each region, how
many are currently available, how many are likely to be available, how well
they have paid out, and
so on.
[0329] In alternative embodiments, information regarding a player's gaming
experience at the
customized gaming device may be transmitted up to the casino server, or the
central server and the
player may be given a code that he can use to later access the information
from his user terminal.
For example, if a video recording of a player winning a jackpot is captured by
a camera and recorder
in or near the gaming device, the gaming device can provide the player with a
code that allows him
to access the casino server to view the video at home via his user terminal.
Other types of
information that may be transmitted include gambling performance statistics,
records of outcomes
generated by the gaming device during the player's use of it, account
information, customized
configuration performance data, records of player decisions made during play
(e.g., in video poker
devices), analysis of player gambling performance, comparative data from other
players, and the
like. In some embodiments where targeted marketing information is presented to
a player at the
gaming device, there may be feedback or survey responses from the player that
may be stored on
or communicated back to the gaming device, casino server, central controller,
and/or the third-party
service provider server. This type of information may also be made accessible
via a code provided
to the player, the casino, and/or a third-party.
[0330] The following subsections detail additional and alternative embodiments
of methods.
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A. Receive Configuration Data From A User Terminal
A player logs on to the central controller 102 with the user terminal 106 and
communicates
his configuration data. The user terminal 106 may include a personal computer,
personal digital
assistant, a telephone, a kiosk, an ATM, a slot machine, a vending machine,
etc. The central
controller 102, may include a Web site accessible via the user terminal 106,
wherein the user may
select a number of customization options for a gaming device 102. By
customizing a gaming device
120, a user has the opportunity to select a game he likes. He also has the
opportunity to pre-
configure a gaming device to operate in a manner that is convenient and
pleasing to his senses. For
example, the user may pre-configure the gaming device 120 to print text in his
native language. The
user may set the decibel levels of a gaming device's sound effects so that
they are neither too loud
nor too soft. Some other possible customizations include configurable features
such as: type of
game played (deuces-wild, jacks or better, video reel, etc.), speed at which
the reels spin, number of
coins played as a default (game denomination), game rules, game variations,
music level of the
game, sounds types generated by the game, game colors, game lighting, amount
of help offered by
the game, frequency with which bonus levels are reached, duration of bonus
levels, whether or not
the top jackpot is paid as a lump sum or installment, whether or not team
members receive a bonus
when the player hits a payout, format of the complimentary benefits received
(e.g., cash,
merchandise, frequent flyer miles, etc.), payout structure (e.g., six (6)
coins for a flush and nine (9)
coins for a full house, rather than five (5) coins for a flush and ten (10)
coins for a full house), extra
payout options (e.g., small payment for four card straight flushes), language
or choice of currency,
starting point of game (e.g., always start with two pair or three card royal),
automatic player
decisions (e.g., draw one card to a flush unless there is a pair of jacks or
better, in which case the
jacks are held). In addition to the features that are chosen by the players,
the casino may also set
numerous parameters for the player such as: hold percentage of the machine,
rate at which
complimentaries accumulate (e.g., two percent (2%) of coin-in rather than one
percent (1%)), game
eligibility (e.g., games which lock out play from anyone but high-rollers),
and complimentary award
rules (e.g., one player gets a bottle of wine sent to his room if he ever
loses more than one thousand
dollars ($1,000) in one (1) hour, while another player gets a free spin every
time he misses a one
card draw to a royal flush on any deuces wild machine).
[0331] There are many possible ways in which a player might select
customizations. A Web site
on the central controller 102 may display multiple menus, each menu providing
choices of
embodiments for a particular feature as depicted in FIG. 4. For example, a
language menu may
have the choices of English, Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese. A font size menu
may have the
choices of large, medium, or small. Menus may also have an "other" choice,
allowing a user to
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select from less common choices (e.g., Swahili) or to key in their own
choices, such as a particular
point size for font.
[0332] In some embodiments, rather than making choices on Web site residing on
the central
controller 102, a player may download to the user terminal 106 (or a player
device 512) software
allowing for customization. The software may guide the player through a series
of feature menus
and store and/or upload the player's selections.
[0333] In some embodiments, the player may select features over the phone by,
for example,
listening to a pre-recorded menu of feature choices and then pressing a number
on the phone's
keypad corresponding to the desired choice. For example, the player may press
"5" to select a five-
reel slot game when asked to select a preferred number of reels. The player
may press "0" to select
a million-dollar jackpot when asked to select a preferred jackpot size. The
player may also select
features not on any prerecorded menu by keying in a relevant sequence of
numbers. For example,
the player may key in "175000" to select a maximum jackpot of one hundred and
seventy-five
thousand dollars ($175,000), even when there is no pre-recorded choice for a
one hundred and
seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000) jackpot.
[0334] In some embodiments the player may choose from a number of previously
customized
configurations. For example, one configuration might describe a quarter
denomination, five-reel
video slot machine, with standard symbols, three pay lines, and a four-coin (4-
coin) maximum
wager. The player may choose this configuration in its totality without having
to individually choose
the coin denomination, the number of reels, etc. In fact, anytime a player
customizes a gaming
device 120 configuration, the configuration may be listed on the central
controller's Web site for
another player to select. Of course, once a player selects a configuration, he
may be free to change
individual features.
[0335] Configurations listed on a central controller's Web site, or anywhere
else, may have
associated performance indicators. For example, a player may report that using
"configuration
#329", he won two thousand dollars ($2,000). Seeing the high performance of
"configuration #329",
another player may choose to select it for himself. Performance may be
indicated using dollar
figures, varying numbers of stars, colors, votes, etc. For example, five (5)
stars, gold, and ten
thousand (10,000) votes may all be indications that a particular configuration
has performed well.
Performance may be self-reported by players, or may be reported automatically
by a gaming device
120 once a player has finished a gambling session using a particular
configuration. Players may
also self-report with gaming devices 106 providing occasional verification of
the accuracy of players'
reports. Individual players may gain reputations as experts at configuring
gaming devices 106. Their
advice and their configurations may be sought after. Players therefore may
have their own ratings
indicated by dollar figures, stars, colors, votes, etc.
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[0336] Use of certain configurations may intentionally be restricted. This may
be done to limit the
number of players attempting to play on gaming devices 106 that are of a
limited quantity within the
casino. Additionally, use of certain configurations may be intentionally
restricted because only a
certain number of gaming devices 106 at a given casino location may be capable
of supporting
those configurations. For example, a mechanical slot machine will be unable to
support video
features. If too many players were to select a particular configuration, or
even a particular feature,
some might have difficulty locating an available machine to support their
configuration.
Configurations may be made more widely available by allowing players to select
times, dates, and
geographic regions for their gambling activities. Then, players gambling at
different times or in
different places need not compete for the same machines to support like
configurations.
[0337] Another reason that the use of configurations may be intentionally
restricted is that being
the only one, or one of only a few players to "own" a particular configuration
may be psychologically
pleasing to a player. Therefore, other players may be restricted from viewing
or using his
configuration. It is possible that a first player would pay another player for
access to his
configuration. A player might also pay the central controller for access to a
configuration, or for
information about high performing configurations. Particular casinos, or
particular device
manufacturers may enjoy exclusive rights to certain configurations, even when
other casinos or
manufactures would be technically capable of supporting the configurations. A
player who desired to
use a certain configuration may then have a reason to play at one casino over
another.
[0338] While selecting various features or configurations in some embodiments,
a player may
have the opportunity to test the configurations using the user terminal 106.
For example, when the
player selects a symbol-size, he may view symbols on his user terminal 106 at
the size they would
actually appear on a gaming device. When the player selects a reel-speed, he
may view graphical
reels spinning at the same speed they would on an actual gaming device.
[0339] In some embodiments, the user terminal 106 may display a comprehensive
or complete
graphical representation of a gaming device 120 to aid in the selection of
feature values. As
outcome generation is simulated, the player may change various features using
graphical interface
controls, i.e. by clicking, dragging, or otherwise selecting certain areas of
the graphical
representation of the gaming device. For example, suppose the reels are
spinning on the user
terminal's display screen. The player may take his mouse and drag it downwards
along the surface
of a spinning reel, much as a person might drag his hand along the wheel of a
bicycle to make it
spin. The effect would be to increase the speed of the reel's spinning. The
player may change the
symbol size by clicking on a corner of a lemon symbol, for example, and
dragging the corner away
from the center of the symbol, causing the entire symbol to enlarge. A player
might create an extra
reel by clicking on one reel and dragging it right, creating another reel.
Alternatively, the player might
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click on a reel and use a copy and paste function, much like those found in
many word processing
programs. Of course, there are many other ways for a player to interact with a
graphical
representation of a gaming device in order to customize feature values.
[0340] A graphical representation of a gaming device 120 also allows a player
to engage in mock
gambling sessions using his selected configuration. If one configuration does
not win for the player
in a mock session, the player may choose another configuration. He may keep
choosing different
configurations until he has found one he considers lucky.
[0341] In some embodiments, a player at a gaming device 120 may be an
attractive marketing
target for a number of reasons. First, the player is typically a captive
audience, with eyes fixated on
the game at hand. Secondly, a marketer may have advanced knowledge about the
player from a
player's player tracking card. This allows a marketer to better target
advertisements and offers to a
player. Third, the gaming device gives the marketer an opportunity to provide
immediate benefits to
a player in exchange for his attention or his business. These benefits might
take the form of cash,
gambling tokens, extra bonus symbols, etc. Fourth, the player may be highly
motivated to accept
from the marketers the offered benefits and their associated conditions. The
player may, for
example, have suffered a large gambling loss and wish to recover the loss by
accepting a marketing
offer. Fifth, a player can make a payment at a gaming device 120.
[0342] Since gaming devices are an ideal place for marketers to make pitches
to players, players
may provide advanced guidance to potential marketers. The player may answer
questions about his
age, marital status, financial status, number of children, home ownership, car
ownership, medical
conditions, and so on. He may indicate the types of products in which he is
interested. For example,
he may mention that he is looking to have his roof re-shingled, or that he is
looking for a new life
insurance policy. Player supplied information is a way for a player to
customize the ads and the
offers he will receive, much as he also customizes the operation of the gaming
device. Once the
player has received various promotions and had a chance to respond or ignore
them, the central
controller 102 might update a user profile based on his responses. Analysis of
the player responses
may allow for better targeting of promotions in the future towards that
player.
B. Determine an Associated Preparation Code
[0343] The central controller 102 may generally assign a preparation code to
each gaming device
configuration. The code may be in the form of any sequence of letters,
numerals, punctuation, and
other symbols. Examples of codes according to the present invention include,
"123456," "C123456,"
"ABCDEF," and "*$%#@Q%." Codes may be of any length. In some embodiments,
codes may be
limited in length and symbol usage so that they may be easily memorized by a
player. For example,
the player's telephone or social security number may be used. Also, the
symbols in codes may be
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restricted to those easily entered into a gaming device 120. For example, a
player tracking card
reader on a slot machine may contain a keypad with only numerals. Therefore,
codes for that
machine may be limited to numerals.
[0344] In some embodiments, a unique code may be assigned to each unique
configuration.
Since there may be more possible unique configurations than codes of a given
length, certain codes
may expire after a time so that they may be reused for new configurations.
That is, code "123456"
may correspond to a first configuration only for three weeks, after which it
may be assigned to a new
configuration. A code may correspond to different configurations depending on
different
circumstances. For example, the time of day, the geographic location, and the
type of gaming device
receiving the code may all determine the corresponding gaming device
configuration.
Advantageously, this may allow fewer codes to represent more unique gaming
device
configurations, since each code can now represent several device
configurations. For example,
"123456" may represent a five reel (5-reel), one dollar ($1) per bet
configuration in Atlantic City, but
may represent a three reel (3-reel), quarter ($0.25) per bet configuration in
Las Vegas.
[0345] When codes are assigned to configurations, the codes may simply be
assigned in
sequence according to the order in which configurations are defined by
players. For example, a first
configuration may be assigned the code "000129," while a configuration
received immediately
afterwards may be assigned the code "000130."
[0346] When a code is assigned to a configuration, a record may be created for
the code and the
configuration in a database such as the preparation database 214. When a
gaming device 120,
casino server 112, or the central controller 102 later receives a code, it may
simply examine the
record in the database to determine the corresponding configuration.
[0347] In alternative embodiments, a code may actually contains configuration
information. For
example, each digit of a code may correspond to a different feature of a
configuration. The first digit
may indicate the game type, the second the font size, the third the wager
size, and so on. Then,
when a gaming device 120 receives a code, it need only interpret each segment
of the code using a
predefined table in order to configure itself properly. Such a table may be
stored in the gaming
device 120, the casino server 112, and/or the central controller 103.
[0348] In some embodiments, a first code is created such that it contains
configuration
information. However, the code may be very long, especially if there are many
features that can be
customized. Therefore, a second code may be created by compressing the first
code according to a
compression algorithm. Numerous compression algorithms for a sequence of bits
or numerals are
known in the art. When the gaming device 120 later receives the second code,
it may reverse the
compression algorithm to recover the first code and to deduce the
configuration information from the
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first code. Of course, the casino server 112 or central controller 103 may
perform the function of
reversing the compression.
[0349] A particular configuration may be associated with a particular player.
Thus, information
about the player may be sufficient for a gaming device 120 to obtain
configuration information. For
example, a player's name may be stored in a database corresponding to a
particular configuration.
When the player later enters his name into a gaming device 120 (perhaps via
his player tracking
card), the gaming device 120 may find the player's name in the database and
thereby obtain the
corresponding configuration. Other player characteristics may be associated in
a database with
configurations. A player's biometric data, such as voice data, retinal scan
data, or finger print data
may be associated with a particular configuration. When a player subsequently
provides biometric
data to a gaming device 120, the gaming device 120 may look up the data in the
configuration
database to determine the player's preferred configuration.
[0350] A preparation code may take the form of a bar code, or any other
machine-readable code.
The player may then print out the bar code from his user terminal 106. When
the player
subsequently inserts the bar code into a gaming device 120, the gaming device
may obtain the
player's customized configuration.
[0351] In some embodiments, a player may specify his own code to be associated
with a
particular configuration. For example, a player may label a configuration
using easy to remember
terms such as "samurai," or "Big Jackpot," or "xyz." In some embodiments, a
preparation code may
only describe particular features that a player has selected. Other features
may then take on default
values. For example, if a player has only selected the number of reels, a code
might read "NR5,"
where "NR" stands for "number of reels," and "5" indicates the desired number.
Since the code does
not describe other features, these may take on default values.
C. Transmit The Configuration Data And Preparation Code To A Casino Server
[0352] Once a preparation code has been associated with a particular
configuration, the code and
the configuration data may be transmitted to a casino server 112, and/or a
gaming device 120.
Transmission may occur via the Internet, email, phone, fax, or any other mode
of communication. In
some embodiments, the code and preparation data are transmitted immediately
after they have
been generated. In other embodiments, a gaming device 120 may only receive
configuration data
after a player has entered a code, and the gaming device 120 has sent the code
to the casino server
112 and/or the central controller 102.
[0353] In embodiments where a preparation code contains information about a
gaming device
configuration, the central controller 102 need not necessarily transmit both
configuration data and
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the preparation code, since a gaming device 120 or casino server 112 may be
able to derive one
from the other according to predefined rules.
D. Receive the Preparation Code at the Casino Server From a Gaming Device
[0354] Next, the system waits for a configuration request from a player. When
a player sits down
at a gaming device 120, he may enter his preparation code in order to have the
gaming device
assume the player's preferred features. The player may enter the code in a
number of ways
including: keying in the code via a keypad or touch screen, speaking the code
into a microphone,
whereby it is interpreted using voice recognition software, inserting a bar
code into the gaming
device 120, inserting into the gaming device 120 a magnetic strip containing
the code, inserting into
the gaming device 120 a floppy disc, CD, DVD or other storage medium
containing the code, and/or
wirelessly transmitting the code to the gaming device 120 using player device
512 such as a cell
phone, PDA, two-way pager, or other communications device.
[0355] If the gaming device 120 cannot interpret the code, the gaming device
120 may transmit
the code to the casino server 112 and/or to the central controller 102. The
casino server 112 or
central controller 103 may then look up the code in a preparation code
database 1200 such as that
depicted in FIG. 12, and may retrieve the corresponding configuration
information.
E. Configure the Gaming Device Based on the Configuration Data Corresponding
to the
Preparation Code
[0356] The configuration data retrieved from the casino server 112 and/or the
central controller
102, is transmitted to the gaming device so that it can configure itself
accordingly. In some
embodiments described above, the gaming device 120 already has all the
information it needs to
self-configure upon initially receiving the preparation code from the player.
Thus, in some
embodiments, these final steps are not necessary to complete the methods
described herein.
[0357] Yet additional embodiments generally relevant to addressing problems
associated with
compulsive gambling follow:
[0358] Operating a game machine may be a form of prescribed therapy for a
problem gambler.
For example, a third party such as a gambling counselor for a player may
determine a script of
outcomes that is particularly tempting for a player (e.g., a series of near-
wins) and may register the
script in association with a particular player. This script may then be made
retrievable by or
downloaded to gaming machines so that it may be used to govern the operation
of a game machine
in training mode. As the player operates the game machine in training mode,
the script of outcomes
may tempt the player to make poor decisions (e.g., bet irrationally large
amounts of money on losing
outcomes). By recognizing the circumstances in which he makes poor decisions,
a player may be
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able to avoid gambling problems in the future. Providing this sort of therapy
to a player in a real
casino may prove especially effective because it accurately simulates the
environment and
temptations that a player experiences when gaming. A player who signs up for
this sort of gaming
therapy may be aware that a therapy script is running on the game machine, or
the player may be
unaware which outcomes on the game machine are part of a script (e.g., a
"test" from his gambling
counselor to verify that he is indeed making good decisions) and which are
real outcomes.
[0359] A player may be encouraged to talk to a game machine while gaming and
verbally provide
explanations of his gaming behavior. For example, a player might say, "I'm
going to deposit another
$20 because I think that this game machine is due to pay out." Forcing a
player to verbalize his
gaming decisions may help to make a player more conscious of the decisions
that he is making and
thereby avoid addictive behavior. In addition, a player's verbalizations may
be recorded by the
game machine for later transmission to and review by a third party, such as
gaming counselor,
casino operators, regulators, etc.. It is anticipated that recordings of this
sort from the casino floor
may provide better insights into the psyche of a problem gambler than
interviews with players in
focus groups or in a therapist's office. In one embodiment, a recording of a
player talking about
gaming may be played back to the player himself as a reminder (e.g., "This is
what you said 1 hour
ago...", or "This is what you look like right now.").
[0360] In order to continue gaming, a player may be required to perform
therapeutic activities on
the casino floor. For example, a player may be required to participate in
phone calls to third parties
such as counselors, friends or loved ones, watch self-help videos, or stop
gaming briefly for meals
or bathroom breaks. A player who neglects or refuses to perform these
therapeutic activities may be
barred from further gaming.
IX. Rules of Interpretation
[0361] Numerous embodiments are described in this patent application, and are
presented for
illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments are not, and are not
intended to be, limiting
in any sense. The presently disclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to
numerous embodiments,
as is readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art
will recognize that the
disclosed invention(s) may be practiced with various modifications and
alterations, such as
structural, logical, software, and electrical modifications. Although
particular features of the disclosed
invention(s) may be described with reference to one or more particular
embodiments and/or
drawings, it should be understood that such features are not limited to usage
in the one or more
particular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they are described,
unless expressly
specified otherwise.
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[0362] The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all
embodiments nor a listing of
features of the invention that must be present in all embodiments.
[0363] Neither the Title (set forth at the beginning of the first page of this
patent application) nor
the Abstract (set forth at the end of this patent application) is to be taken
as limiting in any way as
the scope of the disclosed invention(s).
[0364] The term "product" means any machine, manufacture and/or composition of
matter as
contemplated by 35 U.S.C. 101, unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0365] The terms "an embodiment", "embodiment", "embodiments", "the
embodiment", "the
embodiments", "one or more embodiments", "some embodiments", "one embodiment"
and the like
mean "one or more (but not all) disclosed embodiments", unless expressly
specified otherwise.
[0366] A reference to "another embodiment" in describing an embodiment does
not imply that the
referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with another embodiment (e.g., an
embodiment
described before the referenced embodiment), unless expressly specified
otherwise.
[0367] The terms "including", "comprising" and variations thereof mean
"including but not limited
to", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0368] The terms "a", "an" and "the" mean "one or more", unless expressly
specified otherwise.
[0369] The term "plurality" means "two or more", unless expressly specified
otherwise.
[0370] The term "herein" means "in the present application, including anything
which may be
incorporated by reference", unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0371] The phrase "at least one of', when such phrase modifies a plurality of
things (such as an
enumerated list of things) means any combination of one or more of those
things, unless expressly
specified otherwise. For example, the phrase at least one of a widget, a car
and a wheel means
either (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car, (v) a
widget and a wheel, (vi) a car
and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, a car and a wheel.
[0372] The phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on", unless expressly
specified
otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" describes both "based only
on" and "based at least
on.
[0373] The term "whereby" is used herein only to precede a clause or other set
of words that
express only the intended result, objective or consequence of something that
is previously and
explicitly recited. Thus, when the term "whereby" is used in a claim, the
clause or other words that
the term "whereby" modifies do not establish specific further limitations of
the claim or otherwise
restricts the meaning or scope of the claim.
[0374] Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as
well as more than one of
a feature (e.g., a limitation such as "at least one widget" covers one widget
as well as more than one
widget), and where in a second claim that depends on the first claim, the
second claim uses a
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definite article "the" to refer to the limitation (e.g., "the widget"), this
does not imply that the first claim
covers only one of the feature, and this does not imply that the second claim
covers only one of the
feature (e.g., "the widget" can cover both one widget and more than one
widget).
[0375] Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise)
inherently includes one or
more steps, and therefore all references to a"step" or "steps" of a process
have an inherent
antecedent basis in the mere recitation of the term 'process' or a like term.
Accordingly, any
reference in a claim to a'step' or'steps' of a process has sufficient
antecedent basis.
[0376] When an ordinal number (such as "first", "second", "third" and so on)
is used as an
adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unless expressly
specified otherwise) merely to
indicate a particular feature, such as to distinguish that particular feature
from another feature that is
described by the same term or by a similar term. For example, a"first widget"
may be so named
merely to distinguish it from, e.g., a"second widget". Thus, the mere usage of
the ordinal numbers
"first" and "second" before the term "widget" does not indicate any other
relationship between the
two widgets, and likewise does not indicate any other characteristics of
either or both widgets. For
example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first" and "second" before the
term "widget" (1)
does not indicate that either widget comes before or after any other in order
or location; (2) does not
indicate that either widget occurs or acts before or after any other in time;
and (3) does not indicate
that either widget ranks above or below any other, as in importance or
quality. In addition, the mere
usage of ordinal numbers does not define a numerical limit to the features
identified with the ordinal
numbers. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers "first" and
"second" before the term
"widget" does not indicate that there must be no more than two widgets.
[0377] When a single device or article is described herein, more than one
device or article
(whether or not they cooperate) may alternatively be used in place of the
single device or article that
is described. Accordingly, the functionality that is described as being
possessed by a device may
alternatively be possessed by more than one device or article (whether or not
they cooperate).
[0378] Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein
(whether or not they
cooperate), a single device or article may alternatively be used in place of
the more than one device
or article that is described. For example, a plurality of computer-based
devices may be substituted
with a single computer-based device. Accordingly, the various functionality
that is described as
being possessed by more than one device or article may alternatively be
possessed by a single
device or article.
[0379] The functionality and/or the features of a single device that is
described may be
alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are described but are
not explicitly
described as having such functionality and/or features. Thus, other
embodiments need not include
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the described device itself, but rather can include the one or more other
devices which would, in
those other embodiments, have such functionality/features.
[0380] Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in
continuous
communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. On the
contrary, such
devices need only transmit to each other as necessary or desirable, and may
actually refrain from
exchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine in communication with
another machine
via the Internet may not transmit data to the other machine for weeks at a
time. In addition, devices
that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or
indirectly through one or
more intermediaries.
[0381] A description of an embodiment with several components or features does
not imply that all
or even any of such components and/or features are required. On the contrary,
a variety of optional
components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible
embodiments of the present
invention(s). Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no component and/or
feature is essential or
required.
[0382] Further, although process steps, algorithms or the like may be
described in a sequential
order, such processes may be configured to work in different orders. In other
words, any sequence
or order of steps that may be explicitly described does not necessarily
indicate a requirement that
the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein
may be performed in
any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously
despite being described
or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is
described after the other
step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing
does not imply that the
illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications
thereto, does not imply that the
illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to the invention, and
does not imply that the
illustrated process is preferred.
[0383] Although a process may be described as including a plurality of steps,
that does not
indicate that all or even any of the steps are essential or required. Various
other embodiments within
the scope of the described invention(s) include other processes that omit some
or all of the
described steps. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no step is essential
or required.
[0384] Although a product may be described as including a plurality of
components, aspects,
qualities, characteristics and/or features, that does not indicate that all of
the plurality are essential
or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of the described
invention(s) include other
products that omit some or all of the described plurality.
[0385] An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not
imply that any
or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified
otherwise. Likewise, an
enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does not imply
that any or all of the
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items are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specified otherwise.
For example, the
enumerated list "a computer, a laptop, a PDA" does not imply that any or all
of the three items of that
list are mutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three
items of that list are
comprehensive of any category.
[0386] Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title
of this patent
application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the
disclosure in any way.
[0387] "Determining" something can be performed in a variety of manners and
therefore the term
"determining" (and like terms) includes calculating, computing, deriving,
looking up (e.g., in a table,
database or data structure), ascertaining and the like.
[0388] It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithms
described herein may be
implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmed general purpose computers and
computing
devices. Typically a processor (e.g., one or more microprocessors) will
receive instructions from a
memory or like device, and execute those instructions, thereby performing one
or more processes
defined by those instructions. Further, programs that implement such methods
and algorithms may
be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g., computer readable
media) in a number of
manners. In some embodiments, hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be
used in place of,
or in combination with, software instructions for implementation of the
processes of various
embodiments. Thus, embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of
hardware and
software
[0389] A"processor" means any one or more microprocessors, CPU devices,
computing devices,
microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or like devices.
[0390] The term "computer-readable medium" refers to any medium that
participates in providing
data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer, a processor or a
like device. Such a
medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,
volatile media, and
transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or
magnetic disks and other
persistent memory. Volatile media include DRAM, which typically constitutes
the main memory.
Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics,
including the wires that
comprise a system bus coupled to the processor. Transmission media may include
or convey
acoustic waves, light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those
generated during RF and
IR data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for
example, a floppy
disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a
CD-ROM, DVD, any
other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with
patterns of holes, a
RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a
carrier wave
as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
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[0391] Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying
sequences of
instructions to a processor. For example, sequences of instruction (i) may be
delivered from RAM to
a processor, (ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium, and/or
(iii) may be formatted
according to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as BluetoothTM,
TDMA, CDMA, 3G.
[0392] Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinary
skill in the art that
(i) alternative database structures to those described may be readily
employed, and (ii) other
memory structures besides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations
or descriptions of
any sample databases presented herein are illustrative arrangements for stored
representations of
information. Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those
suggested by, e.g.,
tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustrated
entries of the databases
represent exemplary information only; one of ordinary skill in the art will
understand that the number
and content of the entries can be different from those described herein.
Further, despite any
depiction of the databases as tables, other formats (including relational
databases, object-based
models and/or distributed databases) could be used to store and manipulate the
data types
described herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a database can be
used to implement
various processes, such as the described herein. In addition, the databases
may, in a known
manner, be stored locally or remotely from a device that accesses data in such
a database.
[0393] Some embodiments can be configured to work in a network environment
including a
computer that is in communication, via a communications network, with one or
more devices. The
computer may communicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via a wired
or wireless medium
such as the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, or via any appropriate
communications
means or combination of communications means. Each of the devices may comprise
computers,
such as those based on the Intel Pentium or CentrinoTM processor, that are
adapted to
communicate with the computer. Any number and type of machines may be in
communication with
the computer.
[0394] The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art,
an enabling description
of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some of these embodiments and/or
inventions may not
be claimed in the present application, but may nevertheless be claimed in one
or more continuing
applications that claim the benefit of priority of the present application.
Applicants intend to file
additional applications to pursue patents for subject matter that has been
disclosed and enabled but
not claimed in the present disclosure.
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