Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-18
2001-02-20
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
C463S020000, C273S14300R, C273S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06190254
ABSTRACT:
INTRODUCTION
The present invention relates to gaming machines of the type arranged to play a game of poker and in particular the invention provides an improvement to a game played on such a machine.
Players who regularly play gaming machines quickly tire of particular games and therefore it is necessary for manufacturers of these machines to come up with innovative game features that add interest to the games provided on such machines in order to keep the players amused and therefore willing to continue playing the game.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Gaming or poker machines have been well known in the state of New South Wales for many years and have more recently gained considerable popularity throughout Australia, with quite substantial amounts of money wagered on these machines. There is a growing tendency for State Governments to legalise the use of gaming machines by licensing operators, with resulting revenue gains through licence fees and taxation of monies invested. The licensed operation of gaming machines is the subject of State legislation and regulation. This regulation most always dictates a maximum percentage payout for a gaming machine. For example, a maximum of 85% of monies invested must be returned as winnings, and manufacturers of gaming machines therefore must design their machines around these regulatory controls.
With the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply the various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines, the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games which are popular with players, as a mechanism for improving sales.
Many various strategies have been tried in the past to make games more enticing to players, including the commonly known double-up feature, whereby, if a player wins a particular game, they can then risk the winnings of that game in a double-or-nothing mode in which they gamble on a subsequent, and often different, game such as whether a red or black card will be the next card drawn.
Other techniques adopted in the past have been to provide complexity in the numbering and combinations of indicia which would result in a win, thereby hoping to convince the player that there is a greater chance of winning and to keep their interest in a particular game.
The present invention provides an arrangement in which the values of special symbols such as wildcard and “scatter” symbols are dynamically allocated during each game.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention consists in a gaming machine having display means, and game control means arranged to control images displayed on the display means, the game control means being arranged to play a game wherein a plurality of symbols are randomly selected and displayed on the display means and, if a winning combination results, the machine pays a prize, the game being characterised in that the gaming machine is provided with special symbol display means arranged to display a value of a special symbol to be used in the game, and the control means being arranged to select and display the special symbol on the special symbol display means during each game and to use the special symbol when determining if the plurality of symbols include a winning combination.
The present invention is applicable to gaming machines of the traditional poker machine style (also known as poker machine or fruit machines) in which the display means comprises a set of rotatable reels, each carrying a plurality of symbols, or a video simulation thereof. The invention is equally applicable to video draw poker machines in which a poker hand is displayed on the screen, the cards of the hand being selected from a standard 52 or 53 card deck.
In one embodiment, the special symbol is used as a wildcard symbol which can substitute for any other symbol to form a winning combination.
In another embodiment, the special symbol is used as a scatter symbol such that a scattered combination of the special symbols with one such symbol in each column, but not all located in any one of the predetermined paying arrangements, will pay a special “scattered” prize. The special symbol can also be used as a bonus symbol or a jackpot symbol, such that if the special symbol is included in a winning combination respectively a bonus function or a jackpot function will be invoked.
In embodiments of the invention which employ rotating reels as the display device, an auxiliary display is required to display the special symbol. This may take the form of a liquid crystal display built into the score card artwork. In the case of a video machine, the special symbol is preferably displayed on the video screen when the winning symbol or combination is displayed.
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Aristarat Leisure Industries, Pty Ltd
Layno Benjamin H.
Rosenman & Colin, LL
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