Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-12
2003-05-27
Jiang, Chen Wen (Department: 3714)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
C463S020000, C273S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06569013
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention relates to gaming machines generally, and in particular to methods of play and pays for a video gambling machine.
BACKGROUND—DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART
One of the most common gambling devices in use today is the slot machine. Originally, slot machines were mechanical and had 3 or 4 independent reels side-by-side. Each reel had several symbols painted on it. Inserting a coin and pulling a large spring-loaded handle set the reels spinning independently, and when the same symbols landed in a row across the reels, a winner occurred and coins were released from the machine.
Today, many new slot machines are in video form. Video slots are becoming more and more popular with players. The video platform offers more flexibility in game development and results in more complicated and more involving and entertaining games. These new video slots are controlled by an internal computer. They usually don't have a large handle anymore, and some don't even have buttons, using touchscreen panels to make player choices instead.
The video slot machine usually consists of a cabinet built mostly of metal and plastic that houses many different internal components. The basic functions are coin acceptance, game play and coin dispensing, although it is becoming increasingly common for slot machines to accept and pay back in currency or coupons instead of, or in addition to coins.
Coin acceptance is most often done by means of a coin head where coins are inserted into the game. A coin chute directs the coin into an internal coin hopper, if equipped, or into a removable drop bucket beneath the machine when the hopper is full. Winners may be paid back to players from the coin hopper through a small chute where coins land in a special tray where they are available to the player. Again, bill acceptors common today may accept and payout in currency or coupons in addition to or instead of coins.
Internally, game play is managed by a central processor on a printed circuit board similar to that of a standard personal computer. CD-ROMs and proms (programmable read-only memory computer chips) are often used, too. A power supply provides the current, and the game is displayed back to the player on a video monitor. Buttons on the outside of the cabinet provide for player input, although sometimes touchscreen panels are affixed to the monitor and used in addition to, or instead of buttons. Other printed circuit boards perform auxiliary functions, and there are usually mechanical meters counting coins in and out. Too, there is internal lighting to make the game clearly noticeable, and external glass usually shows the rules of the game. Finally, games may be networked to each other to report game and player statistics to the accounting office, or to play special games that are somehow linked to each other in a variety of different configurations.
A traditional non-video slot machine equipped with mechanical reels is largely the same as a video slot, except that the video display is replaced with a mechanical spinning reel assembly. Some games in use today are hybrids and use both mechanical reels and a video display.
Newer video slots usually show 5 reels side-by-side that spin on a common axis instead of the traditional 3 or 4 mechanical reels. These newer video slots usually display 3 symbols on each of the 5 reels, for a total of display of 15 symbols. This creates a video display matrix of 3 rows by 5 columns. Sometimes the number of reels and symbols displayed differ. Some new video slots display 4 symbols on 4 reels, for a total of 16 symbols. Others have independent reels showing just 1 position of each reel.
Displaying more symbols allows more wagering opportunities. Instead of a single paying row across the reels, there are often many different pay lines that can be wagered on. Usually, these pay lines run in different paths through each of 5 reels displayed. Players select which pay lines to wager on, they wager 1 or more credits per pay line and they may win on more than 1 pay line after a single spin of the reels.
Another popular feature of video slot machines is the use of bonus screens. Certain symbols trigger a bonus game that is often called a “second screen” game. The second screen game is usually separate and distinct from the normal video reel display, and a player might select a car in a car race or scratch from a selection of video lottery tickets in an attempt to win credits, free games or anything of value. Some games even offer third screens or more, enhancing player interest and intrigue. After the bonus game, the player is usually returned to the normal video reel display and winnings, if any, are posted to the player's onscreen credit meter for subsequent play or cashout.
Another popular form of video slot machine is the video poker machine. Instead of a video representation of a slot machine, video poker cards are dealt randomly and displayed onscreen. Usually 5 cards are dealt from a video representation of a common playing card deck of 52 cards and the player, using physical buttons, touchscreen or similar device, selects which cards to hold and which cards to discard, if any. A player may discard from 0 to all 5 cards. Then, the player draws from 0 to 5 new cards from the 47 cards remaining in the original deck, replacing any discards in an attempt to better the hand. This hand is compared to a predefined pay table which determines the amount of the win if a win or a loss. This game is commonly known as draw poker.
The pay table was developed as a way to pay players when there are no opponents. These games are sometimes called “house banked” games, since the house (casino or gambling operator) pays players for winning. Alternatively, they are sometimes called “player's hand only” games, since it is usually only the player's hand that is relevant. Winnings do not come directly from other losing players, as in normal card games. The pay table is a fixed, predefined schedule of pays for hands designated as winners.
A typical pay table for video draw poker machines looks like this. (Pays shown are returns for 1 coin wagered):
TABLE 1
Common Video Poker Pay Table
Hand
Pay
Royal Flush
800
Straight Flush
50
Four of a Kind
25
Full House
9
Flush
6
Straight
4
Three of a Kind
3
Two Pairs
2
Pair of Jacks (or Better)
1
Pair of Tens or Less
0
The hand is compared to the pay table to see if a win occurs, and if so, how much it pays. The pay amount is then multiplied times the number of coins or credits wagered, usually from 1 to 5, to determine the amount of the win, if any. If 5 coins are bet, for example, and a royal flush is obtained, then 4000 coins are paid to the player (5×800=4000). Note that one credit is equal to one coin, and that these terms are used interchangeably herein.
The pay table defines the game objectives for the player in terms of a monetary reward or payback. The payback for each hand can be multiplied by its expected frequency of occurrence to derive an overall game payback percentage for the player. Since strategy is an integral part of the game, that is deciding which cards to hold and which to discard, an optimal strategy is usually used to determine an optimal game payback. An optimal strategy employs the best draw decisions for every possible hand dealt. Since perfect play is rare, an expected payback is usually also found that accounts for sub-optimal play due to human error or incorrect decision making.
In the example shown in Table 1, the expected payback would be found by multiplying a winning hand pay by the % frequency to arrive at an expected value. The expected values of each pay are then summed to arrive at an overall expected value, or optimal payback, for the game overall.
TABLE 2
Finding the Optimal and Expected Payback
Expected
Hand
Pay
% Frequency
Value %
Royal Flush
800
0.0028
2.8000
Straight Flush
50
0.0111
0.5550
Four of a Kind
25
0.2355
5.8875
Full House
9
1.1484
10.3356
Flush
6
1.1129
6.6774
Straight
4
1.1306
4.5224
Three of a Kind
3
7.4148
22.2444
Two Pairs
2
12.8898
25.7796
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