IP Library › Granted Patent US 12705951

Granted Patent B1

US 12705951 · App. 19/391,451 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Gaming bounty aggregation and management device

Inventor: Patrick Highley (Edmonds, WA)

Assignee: Salty Crew Poker LLC

G07F17/323 G07F17/3241 G07F17/3276 G07F17/3293

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12705951
App. No.: 19/391,451
Granted: Aug 11, 2026
Kind: B1

External Links

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Abstract

This disclosure describes techniques for managing bounty information across players for use in a tournament that makes use of bounties. In the disclosed system, bounty amounts are transferred and aggregated as players are eliminated. A first bounty amount maintained in relation to a first bounty tracking device for an eliminated player is aggregated with a second bounty amount maintained in relation to a second bounty tracking device for an eliminating player to generate a current bounty amount. The current bounty amount is stored in a local memory of the second bounty tracking device. The second bounty tracking device is configured to present an indication of that current bounty amount to an outside observer.

Claims (41)

1 . A proxy device comprising:

a wireless transceiver;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer readable media storing computer executable instructions which, when executed using the one or more processors, cause the proxy device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via a first short-range wireless communication initiated responsive to a first bounty tracking device being presented to the proxy device, an indication of the first bounty tracking device and a first bounty amount stored in a first local memory of the first bounty tracking device;

receiving, via a second short-range wireless communication initiated responsive to a second bounty tracking device being presented to the proxy device, an indication of the second bounty tracking device and a second bounty amount stored in a second local memory of the second bounty tracking device, wherein the first bounty tracking device and the second bounty tracking are associated with an elimination event;

causing a current bounty amount to be generated based on the first bounty amount and the second bounty amount; and

providing instructions to the second bounty tracking device to cause it to store the current bounty amount in the second local memory, wherein the second bounty tracking device is configured to present an indication of the current bounty amount via one or more output component.

2 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise providing instructions to the first bounty tracking device to cause it to zero out the first bounty amount in the first local memory.

3 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the current bounty amount is generated by a bounty management system in communication with the proxy device.

4 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the current bounty amount is generated by the second bounty tracking device.

5 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the proxy device comprises a gateway device that manages access to a wireless network on which the first bounty tracking device and the second bounty tracking device are operating.

6 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the first short-range wireless communication and the second short-range wireless communication are received via a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) reader or a Bluetooth communication device in communication with the proxy device.

7 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise performing an authentication of at least one of the first bounty tracking device or the second bounty tracking device.

8 . The proxy device of claim 7 , wherein performing an authentication of the first bounty tracking device comprises:

receiving a first verification value from the first bounty tracking device; and

comparing the first verification value against an independently generated second verification value, wherein the first bounty tracking device is authenticated if the first verification value matches the second verification value.

9 . The proxy device of claim 8 , wherein performing an authentication of the first bounty tracking device further comprises providing a challenge value to the first bounty tracking device, wherein the first verification value is generated based at least in part on the challenge value.

10 . The proxy device of claim 1 , wherein the elimination event relates to one of a tournament or gaming event.

11 . A method comprising:

receiving, via a first short-range wireless communication initiated responsive to a first bounty tracking device being presented to a proxy device, an indication of the first bounty tracking device and a first bounty amount stored in a first local memory of the first bounty tracking device;

causing a current bounty amount to be generated based on the first bounty amount and the second bounty; and

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more output component comprises a display screen of the second bounty tracking device, and the second bounty tracking device is configured to present a numeric value on the display screen.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more output component comprises a lighting element, and the second bounty tracking device is configured to emit light in a color associated with the current bounty amount.

14 . A bounty tracking system comprising:

a first bounty tracking device configured to:

provide, via a first short-range wireless communication initiated responsive to the first bounty tracking device being presented to a proxy device, first bounty information including a first bounty amount stored in a first local memory of the first bounty tracking device to the proxy device;

a second bounty tracking device configured to:

provide, via a second short-range wireless communication initiated responsive to the second bounty tracking device being presented to the proxy device, second bounty information including a second bounty amount stored in a second local memory of the second bounty tracking device to the proxy device, wherein the first bounty tracking device and the second bounty tracking device are associated with an elimination event;

receive, from the proxy device, instructions to store a current bounty amount in the second local memory, wherein the current bounty amount is based on the first bounty amount and the second bounty amount; and

present, using one or more output component, an indication of the current bounty amount; and

the proxy device configured to:

receive the first bounty information from the first bounty tracking device via the first short-range wireless communication and receive the second bounty information from the second bounty tracking device via the second short-range wireless communication;

cause the current bounty amount to be generated based on the first bounty amount and the second bounty amount; and provide the instructions to the second bounty tracking device.

15 . The bounty tracking system of claim 14 , wherein the first bounty tracking device is further configured to zero out the first bounty amount stored locally in the first local memory.

16 . The bounty tracking system of claim 14 , wherein the current bounty amount is generated by the second bounty tracking device.

17 . The bounty tracking system of claim 14 , further comprising a bounty management system in communication with the proxy device, wherein the current bounty amount is generated by the bounty management system.

18 . The bounty tracking system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more output component comprises a lighting element and presenting the indication of the current bounty amount comprises causing the lighting element to emit a color of light representative of the current bounty amount.

19 . The bounty tracking system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more output component comprises a speaker and the second bounty tracking device is further configured to play an audio clip.