Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – With communication link
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-29
2001-10-23
O'Neill, Michael (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
With communication link
C463S019000, C273S269000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06306038
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic or mechanical device that acts as an automated agent enabling clients to participate in a game of chance even though the clients are not present at the site of the game. In more particular, the invention relates to an electronic or mechanical device located at a site where a game of chance takes place. The device acts as an automated agent by purchasing wagering chances, playing those chances, and reporting the results of those games of chance to clients who are not present at the site where the game takes place.
2. Background
In many jurisdictions, regulations require that all players participating in bingo games and other types of games that involve consideration, chance, and prizes, be present at the site or bingo hall where the game takes place. Oftentimes players are required to announce that they have a winning card or chance in order to win.
It is foreseeable that gaming will be offered prevalently to people at home over the Information Superhighway, through such mediums as the Internet, World Wide Web, America On-Line, and custom gaming related servers, such as American Gaming Network, interactive cable TV, Video on Demand (VOD), telephone or some other yet-to-be discovered mediums. Once gaming is offered through such mediums, it will become even more important commercially to use proxy players that are capable of purchasing and playing games of chance at a gaming site (or within some jurisdiction where it is legal to play) on behalf of people located in jurisdictions where those types of games cannot be legally conducted.
For example, the National Indian Gaming Commission has ruled that proxy play is legal when practiced at an Indian bingo hall. In other words, proxy play can be used for bingo games run on a reservation without violating an important requirement of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act—namely, that in order for a game to be classified as Indian bingo, the entire game must be conducted on Indian land. This rule is important because the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act exempts the conductors of Indian bingo games that are conducted on a reservation from all of the federal gambling laws regarding the use of telephones, computers, the mail, television, etc., across state lines. Further, recent Federal Court cases have ruled that a state cannot prevent people from assisting citizens in that state from participating by proxy in a gaming activity that is legal in another jurisdiction regardless of whether the gaming activity is legal in that state.
Various types of electronic gaming systems are known in the art. Examples of electronic gaming systems include U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,868 to Goldfarb for a “Method of Playing a Game of Chance at Locations Remote from the Game Site” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,970 to Fioretti for “Methods and Apparatus for Playing Bingo Over a Wide Geographic Area”. The Goldfarb and Fioretti patents use a system-based station rather than a proxy player, as used in applicant's “Proxy Player Machine”. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,787 to Itkis for a “Concurrent Game Network”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,802 to Pocock et al for a “Televised Bingo Game System”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,035 to Morris et al for a “Video Gaming System with Fixed Pool of Winning Plays and Global Pool Access”, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,932 to Chen et al for a “System and Method for Dynamically Controlling Remote Processes from a Performance Monitor”. However, none of the previous patents for electronic gaming systems teach a system that allows and assists a remote client in communicating with a proxy player at a gaming site, thereby allowing the remote client to instruct the proxy player regarding decisions relating to play of the game, and allowing the proxy player to play a game for the remote client using the remote client's gaming preferences.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, there is a need for an efficient way to empower a proxy player at a gaming hall so that he or she can economically and practically play a game on behalf of numerous remote clients or home personal computer users located throughout the country. Therefore, a computer user at home need not be playing but instead merely observing the results of the game with the automated and empowered proxy player playing on his or her behalf at the gaming hall. In order to fully comply with the proxy play restraint, and still offer the on-line home computer user or client the full entertainment value of a fast moving, challenging game, the empowered proxy player needs to be able to make relatively sophisticated decisions and perform relatively complicated tasks.
In order to so empower the proxy player, an automated Proxy Player Machine is provided, which, in its preferred embodiment as described herein, uses off-the shell computer equipment, software, and peripherals along with custom applications software.
In the past, people unable to attend a bingo hall have given money to bingo hall attendees to buy bingo cards and play the cards on their behalf. Recently, many manufacturers have developed microcomputer-based electronic player stations (EPS's) that are capable of automatically playing hundreds or thousands of cards on behalf of a single operator. Consequently, an EPS operator can play cards on behalf of many others who are not present. In this case, the EPS operator acts as an agent or a proxy player on behalf of those remote clients who are not present. Applicant's Proxy Player Machine is a proxy player computer/ communications system that sends an electronic signal from the EPS proxy player to the remote client and either prints or displays for the remote client a receipt that contains a replica of the card or cards that are being played by the EPS proxy operator on behalf of the remote client before a game such as bingo begins. The results of a bingo game, in terms of the balls drawn, are also transmitted by the Machine and displayed to the remote client. Thus, the Machine provides the remote client with the necessary information to be assured that he or she is not being cheated by the proxy player (by assuring that the proxy player will not keep all the winning cards for himself).
In addition, the system of which the Machine is a part maintains a record (the debit record) of the amount of money that the remote client has given the proxy player to use to purchase cards on his behalf. The Machine allows and assists the remote client in communicating with the proxy player at the bingo hall in order to instruct the proxy player in playing more sophisticated games or sessions of games. For example, the Machine may prompt the remote client for instructions about such things as the amount that should be spent to purchase cards for a particular game or session, or the amount of money to spend in a variable cost game where the cost of play varies as a function of the number of balls drawn or the total amount wagered. The Machine can also allow the remote client to make these types of decisions either at the hall or remotely for a period of time. The Machine can automatically observe client decisions made during this time, thereby learning the remote client's preferences and strategies. The Machine can then explain to the remote client what it has learned and ask the remote client if it is ready for the system to take over and automatically make these decisions.
The system of which the Machine is a part automatically adjusts the balance in the remote client's debit record as the proxy player accepts the instructions to purchase more cards and automatically notifies the remote client when the money in the debit account must be replenished. A credit card, wire transfer, or other means can be used to replenish the account.
Numbers displayed on the face of the replica of the proxy card receipt can be marked or activated in some manner by the remote client or marked or activated automatically in a way to show which balls have been drawn so that the remote client will know whethe
Graves Gordon T.
Watkins Gary W.
Head Johnson & Kachigian
Multimedia Games, Inc.
O'Neill Michael
LandOfFree
Gaming system for remote players does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Gaming system for remote players, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Gaming system for remote players will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2606706