Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a chance application
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-22
2001-04-24
Sager, Mark (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a chance application
C463S012000, C463S013000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220961
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to games of chance and, more particularly, to lottery-type games which provide for greater player participation. The invention encompasses a gaming method, an apparatus through which the game may be played, and a program product for implementing the game.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Lottery-type games are popular sources of revenue for governmental agencies and charitable organizations. As used in this disclosure, a “lottery-type game” comprises a game having a predetermined number of payouts or prizes and a determined chance of winning. For example, a lottery-type game may comprise a scratch-off or pull tab game having a number of pre-printed tickets. Each ticket has some type of printed outcome indicator which indicates if the particular ticket is a winning ticket and, if the ticket is a winning ticket, indicates the prize or payout. The outcome indicator is commonly covered with some opaque cover material which may be scratched off or otherwise removed to reveal the outcome indicator. Thus, the ticket purchaser cannot see if the ticket is a winning ticket until purchasing the ticket and removing the opaque cover material.
Prior lottery-type games suffer from the fact that the games require no player involvement other than simply uncovering the outcome indicator to find the predetermined prize or payout. Thus, prior lottery-type games lack the player excitement generated in casino-type games of chance such as draw poker and black jack, for example, which require active player participation and some level of player skill.
In recognition of this disadvantage of lottery-type games, some of these games are made to resemble casino-type games. For example, each outcome indicator on a scratch-off game may comprise a representation of a draw poker hand. Winning tickets in this type of scratch-off game may include an outcome indicator which represents a traditional winning poker hand such as a straight, flush, or full house, for example. These lottery-type games use illustrations related to casino-type games in an effort to create a sense of excitement in the lottery-type game similar to the excitement associated with the depicted casino-type game. However, in spite of these illustrations in lottery-type games, the games remain essentially passive, with little player involvement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a gaming method which provides for greater player involvement while maintaining the predetermined chances of winning and readily verifiable, predetermined payouts which are characteristic of lottery-type games.
A gaming method according to the invention utilizes a first level game and at least one second level or daughter game. Each game at a particular level comprises a separate lottery type game having a number or plurality of game records. Each game record includes a predetermined outcome. Thus, for example, the first level game includes a plurality of first level game records and each first level game record includes a first level game outcome.
Some forms of the invention include additional level games in addition to the first and second level games. Also, some forms of the invention may include several different second level games or several different games at a particular additional level. Regardless of the number of game levels and the number of different games at each particular level, each game at a particular level comprises a separate lottery-type game.
Each game record according to the invention may be embodied in a ticket such as a scratch-off ticket, or may be embodied in a data structure, such as a data structure maintained on a computer readable medium. Each game outcome represents the outcome associated with the particular game record. For example, the game outcome associated with a particular game record may comprise a winning outcome which is associated with a prize or payout, or may comprise a losing outcome not associated with any prize or payout. The game records for each game level according to the invention may be developed by any suitable means including prior art means for generating or manufacturing lottery-type games.
According to the invention, the first level game has at least one first level game record which includes an outcome representing a first level negotiable outcome. A second level game is related to the first level negotiable outcome in that participation in that particular second level game is possible only if a player receives the first level negotiable outcome in the first level game. As used in this disclosure and the accompanying claims the phrase “negotiable outcome” means that the associated game record entitles the receiving player to participate in a next level game. Also, a negotiable outcome may, in some forms of the invention, entitle the receiving player to participate in any one of several different next level games.
In the course of play, a player is enabled to view a first level game representation associated with a particular first level game record. For example, the first level game representation may comprise some printed indicia on a scratch-off ticket and the player is enabled to view the first level game representation by receiving the game record, that is, the scratch-off ticket, and by removing an opaque cover from the scratch-off ticket. Alternatively, the first level game representation may be some graphic representation displayed on a player terminal in response to a first level play request which the player has entered through the terminal. In this latter case, the player receives the associated game record through the terminal and is enabled to view the first level game representation when the terminal displays the game representation. In any event, the first level game representation may include some representation related to a traditional casino-type game. The first level game representation may, for example, comprise a graphical representation of a draw poker hand or a blackjack hand.
When a player is enabled to view a first level game representation associated with the first level negotiable outcome, the player may participate in the second level game related to the first level negotiable outcome. In some cases the received first level game record may be associated with a predetermined prize or payout. In these cases the player has a choice of “cashing in” for the currently indicated payout or participating in a second level game. However, in some implementations of the invention, each first level game record is associated with an expected value and not necessarily a current value or payout. The expected value is related to the potential payouts in a second level game.
To participate in the second level game, the player makes a second level play request which enables the player to view a second level game representation associated with a particular second level game record. The second level play request may comprise the act of scratching off an opaque covering where the game records are embodied in scratch-off tickets, or may comprise providing some terminal input where the game representations are displayed through a player terminal. Regardless of how the player is enabled to view the second level game representation, the game representation is associated with a particular second level game outcome and second level game record. The outcome may comprise a second level winning outcome having some associated payout, or may comprise a second level losing outcome having no associated prize or payout. According to the invention, the second level game representation includes a representation portion in common with the first level game representation.
Where the received second level game record is associated with a second level negotiable outcome, the player may participate in an additional level game. The player participates in the additional level game by making an additional play request by suitable means depending upon the particular implementation of the invention.
These interrelated game levels according to the in
Graves Gordon Thomas
Keane Martin
Lind Clifton E.
Culbertson Russell D.
Hotaling John M
Multimedia Games, Inc.
Sager Mark
Shaffer & Culbertson LLP
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