Controlling roulette highlight features

1 . A method comprising:

detecting, by a processor associated with a gaming machine, a position at which a token is placed upon a betting layout for a roulette game;

accepting, by the processor, the token as a bet for the roulette game;

determining, by the processor based on the position, a bet type for the bet from a plurality of distinct bet types, wherein the plurality of distinct bet types includes at least a single-value bet type and a multi-value bet type;

selecting, by the processor prior to an outcome of the roulette game and based on the determined bet type, a specific highlight effect from a plurality of different visual highlight effects, wherein each of the plurality of different visual highlight effects has a different shape predefined to visually distinguish a respective one of the plurality of distinct bet types; and

animating, by the processor, the highlight effect on one or more portions of a roulette wheel associated with one or more bet-upon values for the bet type.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the roulette wheel comprise at least a portion of one or more pockets associated with each of the one or more bet-upon values.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the single-value bet type comprises a straight-up bet on an individual value associated with the roulette wheel and wherein the multi-value bet type comprises a bet on a group of values associated with the roulette wheel.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the multi-value bet type comprises at least one of an outside bet, an inside bet other than a straight-up bet, a call bet, a Final Bet, a Complete Bet, or an Imprisonment Bet.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animating the highlight effect comprises animating the highlight effect as the roulette wheel is spinning.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the position at which the token is placed comprises detecting a release of a drag-and-drop user input associated with a virtual object that represents the token.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

randomly selecting a set of values from the betting layout; and

animating, by the processor, a multiplier highlight effect on one or more additional portions of the roulette wheel associated with the set of values.

8 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

determining that one of the set of values coincides with one of the one or more bet-upon values; and

animating a combination effect that combines the highlight effect with the multiplier highlight effect.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

detecting, by the processor, a betting tier selected via user input; and

animating the multiplier highlight effect based on the betting tier.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animating the highlight effect is in response to detecting, by the processor, user input of a switch associated with a user interface.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising deemphasizing, by the processor, portions of the roulette wheel for non-bet-upon values.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising animating, by the processor, the highlight effect on a portion of the betting layout associated with the one or more bet-upon values.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising animating, by the processor, the highlight effect on a graphical indication of statistics for the roulette game.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising animating the highlight effect on the graphical indication of the statistics based on user input received via a player interface associated with the betting layout, wherein the user input indicates a range of past roulette games played.

15 . A gaming system comprising:

a display configured to present an image of a roulette wheel for a roulette game; and

a processor configured to execute instructions, which when executed perform operations that cause the gaming system to

detect a position at which a token is placed upon a betting layout for the roulette game;

accept the token as a bet for the roulette game;

determine, based on the position, a bet type for the bet from a plurality of distinct bet types, wherein the plurality of distinct bet types includes at least a single-value bet type and a multi-value bet type;

select, prior to an outcome of the roulette game and based on the determined bet type, a specific highlight effect from a plurality of different visual highlight effects, wherein each of the plurality of different visual highlight effects has a different shape predefined to visually distinguish a respective one of the plurality of distinct bet types; and

animate the highlight effect, via the display, at one or more portions of the roulette wheel associated with one or more bet-upon values for the bet type.

16 . The gaming system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more portions of the roulette wheel comprise at least a portion of one or more pockets associated with each of the one or more bet-upon values.

17 . The gaming system of claim 15 , wherein the single-value bet type comprises a straight-up bet on an individual value associated with the roulette wheel, and wherein the multi-value bet type comprises a bet on a group of values associated with the roulette wheel.

18 . The gaming system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions, which when executed perform operations that cause the gaming system to:

determine that the bet type is the multi-value bet type;

select a border-type highlight that is associated with the multi-value bet type; and

animate the border-type highlight around sections on the roulette wheel that correspond to a plurality of bet-upon values for the multi-value bet type.

19 . The gaming system of claim 18 , wherein the sections comprise at least two non-contiguous groups of pockets, and wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructions, which when executed perform operations that cause the gaming system to animate at least two non-contiguous border-type highlights to the at least two non-contiguous groups of pockets, wherein the at least two non-contiguous border-type highlights have a same color.

20 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium (MRM) storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

detecting a position at which a token is placed upon a betting layout for a roulette game;

accepting the token as a bet for the roulette game;

determining, based on the position, a bet type for the bet from a predefined plurality of distinct bet types, wherein the predefined plurality of distinct bet types includes at least a single-value bet type and a multi-value bet type;

selecting, prior to an outcome of the roulette game and based on the determined bet type, a specific highlight effect from a predefined plurality of different visual highlight effects, wherein each of the plurality of different visual highlight effects has a different shape predefined to visually distinguish a respective one of the predefined plurality of distinct bet types;

deemphasizing portions of a roulette wheel for non-bet-upon values by dimming a lighting effect on the portions of the roulette wheel for the non-bet-upon values; and

animating, concurrently with the deemphasizing, the selected specific highlight effect on one or more portions of the roulette wheel associated with one or more bet-upon values for the determined bet type.

21 . The non-transitory MRM of claim 20 , wherein the different shape includes at least an arrow-type highlight effect and a border-type highlight effect.