User alterable prize distribution and system for identifying results in games
View Patent ↗A gaming result system is provided with program products, methods, and apparatus to implement an updatable prize result structure. The result structure having several first level result identifiers and an additional second level result. First level results are each associated with an expected number of plays per game. As with each first result level, the additional second result levels are each associated with a respective number of results per given number of plays. In contrast to first level results, the second level results correlate to a game operator assigned value which may be modified during game play to change results provided in subsequent games.
1. A method for operating a gaming system, the method comprising:
(a) storing a data structure on a computer-readable medium, the data structure for use in a gaming system, the data structure including:
(i) a number of first result levels, each first result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a respective result value, an expected number of results per given number of plays in a game, a payout percentage, and a non-zero probability percentage, wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero result value and at least one of the first result levels is associated with a zero result value; and
(ii) a plurality of second level results, each second result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a non-zero expected number of results per given number of results in the game, a payout percentage, a non-zero probability percentage, and a respective operator definable result value field, the operator definable result value field being set to zero, the second result level, unlike the first result levels, being included to provide the ability for changing its corresponding operator definable result value field to a nonzero value after the gaming system has been deployed and operated using the operator definable result value field with the zero value;
(b) in response to a first game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up a result level identifier in the data structure with the result level ID value, and selecting an associated one of the result values or one of the operator definable result value fields for use in a first game result, and causing the first game result to be displayed on an electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of a player's credit value to be updated with the associated one of the result values;
(c) sometime after causing the first game result to be displayed, receiving a first value from an operator at a system operator terminal in response setting the operator definable result value field to the first value received from the operator at a system operator terminal; and
(d) sometime after setting the operator definable result value field to the first value, in response to a second game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up the second result level in the data structure and selecting the operator definable result value field for use in a second game result, providing the second game result having a result value equal to the first value received from the operator, and causing the second game result to be displayed on the electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of the player's credit value to be updated with the first value.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first result levels and the second result levels contained in the media are each associated with a respective set of one or more sweepstakes prizes and the game comprises a sweepstakes game.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first result levels and the second result levels are each associated with a respective set of one or more bingo patterns and the game comprises a bingo game, and further comprising:
(a) before receiving the first value from the operator, providing a bingo game result in which the second result level is accessed and a corresponding zero credit award is provided; and
(b) after setting the operator definable value field, providing a bingo game result in which the second result level is accessed and a corresponding nonzero credit award is provided.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second result levels are associated with an identical value for the respective expected number of results per given number of plays in the bingo game.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the operator definable result value fields is associated with a probability of occurrence that is lower than the probability of occurrence of a lowest nonzero result value associated with the number of first result levels.
6. A method for operating a gaming system, the method comprising:
(a) storing a result level structure on a computer-readable medium, the result level structure including a number of first and a plurality of second result levels, each first result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a respective predetermined result value, a respective expected number of results per expected number of results in a game, a payout percentage, and a non-zero probability percentage, wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero result value and at least one of the first result levels is associated with a zero result value; each second result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a non-zero expected number of results per given number of results in the game, a payout percentage, a non-zero probability percentage, and a preset value in an operator definable result value field, the operator definable result value field being set to zero, the second result levels, unlike the first result levels, being included to provide the ability for changing its corresponding operator definable result value fields to values different from the preset values after the gaming system has been deployed and operated using the operator definable result value fields with the preset values;
(b) in response to a first game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up a result level identifier in the data structure with the result level ID value, and selecting an associated one of the result values or one of the operator definable result value fields for use in a first game result, and causing the first game result to be displayed on an electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of a player's credit value to be updated with the associated one of the result values;
(c) sometime after causing the first game result to be displayed, receiving a first value from an operator at a system operator terminal in response setting the operator definable result value field to the first value received from the operator at a system operator terminal; and
(d) sometime after setting the operator definable result value field to the first value, in response to a second game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up the second result level in the data structure and selecting the operator definable result value field for use in a second game result, providing the second game result having a result value equal to the first value received from the operator, and causing the second game result to be displayed on the electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of the player's credit value to be updated with the first value.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the preset value for two or more of the operator definable result value fields is equal to zero.
8. The method of claim 6 further including:
(a) identifying the operator defined value with a selection input prior to replacing the preset value in the media with the operator defined value; and
(b) displaying a prospective payout percentage for the result level structure in response to identifying the operator defined value, the prospective payout percentage comprising the payout percentage associated with the result level structure as modified by the operator defined value.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the first result levels and the second level results are each associated with a respective set of one or more bingo patterns and the game comprises a bingo game.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the preset values are replaced after results have been displayed in the game according to the result level structure including the preset values for the second result levels.
11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first result levels and the second result levels contained in the media are each associated with a respective set of one or more sweepstakes prizes and the game comprises a sweepstakes game.
12. The method of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero predetermined result value, and wherein at least one of the operator definable result value fields is associated with a probability of occurrence that is lower than the probability of occurrence of a lowest nonzero predetermined result values associated with the number of first result values.
13. A program product stored in one or more non-transient computer-readable devices, and executable for operating a game on a gaming system, the program product comprising:
(a) assignment program code executable for assigning results in a game according to a result level structure, the result level structure including a number of first result levels and a plurality of second result levels, each first result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a respective predetermined result value, an expected number of results per given number of plays in the game, a payout percentage, and a non-zero probability percentage, wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero result value and at least one of the first result levels is associated with a zero result value; and the second result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a non-zero expected number of results per given number of results in the game, a payout percentage, a non-zero probability percentage, and a respective preset operator definable result value field, the operator definable result value field being set to zero, the second result level, unlike the first result levels, being included to provide the ability for changing its corresponding operator definable result value field to a nonzero value after the gaming system has been deployed and operated using the operator definable result value field with the preset value;
(b) management program code executable for, in response to a first game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the result level structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up a result level identifier in the result level structure with the result level ID value, and selecting an associated one of the result values or one of the operator definable result value fields for use in a first game result, and causing the first game result to be displayed on an electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of a player's credit value to be updated with the associated one of the result values;
(c) the management program code further executable for, sometime after causing the first game result to be displayed, replacing preset values in the operator definable result value fields with operator defined values received from an operator at a system operator terminal; and
(d) the management program code further executable for, sometime after setting operator definable result value fields to the operator defined values, in response to a second game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the result level structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up the second result level in the data structure and selecting the operator definable result value field for use in a second game result, providing the second game result having a result value equal to the operator defined value, and causing the second game result to be displayed on the electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of the player's credit value to be updated with the operator defined value.
14. The program product of claim 13 , wherein the assignment of results in the game includes selecting a respective result level identifier and then finding the respective result value, the preset value, or the operator defined result value correlated to the selected result level identifier.
15. The program product of claim 13 wherein the management program code is also executable to cause at least one prize distribution characteristic to be displayed at a display device after a selection input which identifies the operator defined value prior to replacing the preset value.
16. The program product of claim 13 wherein the assignment program code is executable to assign results in the game by assigning game play records from a set of game play records.
17. The program product of claim 13 wherein the assigned results are identified from one or more bingo games.
18. The apparatus claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero result value, and wherein at least one of the operator definable result value fields is associated with a probability of occurrence that is lower than the probability of occurrence of a lowest nonzero result values associated with the number of first result values.
19. The program product of claim 15 , wherein the at least one prize distribution characteristic includes the payout percentage associated with the result level structure as modified by the operator defined value.
20. A gaming system, comprising:
(a) a prize assignment arrangement for assigning results in a game according to a result level structure, the result level structure including a number of first and a plurality of second result levels, each first result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a respective predetermined result value, a respective expected number of results per expected number of results in a game, a payout percentage, and a non-zero probability percentage, wherein at least one of the first result levels is associated with a nonzero result value; each second result level correlating a respective result level identifier, a non-zero expected number of results per given number of results in the game, a payout percentage, a non-zero probability percentage, and a preset value in an operator definable result value field, the operator definable result value field being set to zero, the second result levels, unlike the first result levels, being included to provide the ability for changing its corresponding operator definable result value fields to values different from the preset values after the gaming system has been deployed and operated using the operator definable result value fields with the preset values; and
(b) a management component for, in response to a first game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up a result level identifier in the data structure with the result level ID value, and selecting an associated one of the result values or one of the operator definable result value fields for use in a first game result, and causing the first game result to be displayed on an electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of a player's credit value to be updated with the associated one of the result values;
(c) the management component further adapted to, sometime after causing the first game result to be displayed, receiving a first value from an operator at a system operator terminal in response setting the operator definable result value field to the first value received from the operator at a system operator terminal; and
(d) the management component further adapted to, sometime after setting the operator definable result value field to the first value, in response to a second game outcome including a result level ID value, reading the data structure with game software executed on a gaming machine by looking up the second result level in the data structure and selecting the operator definable result value field for use in a second game result, providing the second game result having a result value equal to the first value received from the operator, and causing the second game result to be displayed on the electronic display on the gaming machine and an electronic indicator of the player's credit value to be updated with the first value.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the prize assignment arrangement includes:
(a) a result level assignment component for selecting a respective one of the result level identifiers for a respective play in the game;
(b) a result level storage device for storing the result level structure; and
(c) a result control component for displaying a result for each respective play in the game, each displayed result having the respective result value correlated with a corresponding result level identifier selected by the result level assignment component for the respective play in the game.
22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the management component includes a display device, and wherein the management component is also for displaying one or more prize distribution characteristics in response to a selection input which identifies the operator defined value prior to replacing the respective result value for the at least one operator definable result level.
23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the result level assignment component and result control component are implemented in a common processing device.
24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the result level assignment component selects a game play record from a predetermined set of game play records to select the respective result level for a respective play in the game.
25. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the result level assignment component applies a result identifying algorithm to select the respective result level for a respective play in the game.
26. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the result level assignment component conducts a bingo game to select the respective result level for a respective play in the game.
27. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the management component obtains the one or more prize distribution characteristics from a characteristic storage device in response to the selection input.
28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the characteristic storage device stores a number of different distribution characteristic sets, each associated with a respective result level structure with a result value for each operator definable result level.