Granted Patent B2

US 8,137,178 · App. 12/688,675 · Granted Mar 20, 2012

Assignee: Multimedia Games, Inc.

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A gaming apparatus with player selectable multi-mode game operability, the gaming apparatus including:

a game display, a processor, and user interface;

the user interface configured to receive a player identification input, a game operating mode input, and a wager;

the processor configured to present a game on the game display in a first or second operating mode in accordance with the game operating mode input and configured to initiate the game with the wager;

wherein the first operating mode enables automatic game operation by the gaming system after the game is initiated; and

wherein the second operating mode enables manually-initiated automatic game operation by the gaming system, the manually-initiated automatic game operation occurring in response to an additional required player input for each round of play in the game, wherein the additional required player input:

(i) is an input necessary for a player station to display the results of a round of play in the game; and

(ii) is separate from the game operating mode input and a wager input.

2. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 ,

the processor configured to obtain a previous player-selected game operating mode using the player identification input, the previous player-selected game operating mode applied as a default game operating mode input.

3. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 ,

the processor configured to modify the game operating mode following one or more plays of the game and in accordance with a game operating mode signal received from the user interface.

4. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 ,

during game operation, the game display configured to display multiple indicia and the processor configured to receive the one or more manual player inputs associated with selected of the multiple indicia.

5. The gaming apparatus of claim 1 ,

the game display including a touch screen display, the touch screen display configured to receive the manual player inputs and transfer the associated signals to the processor.

6. A gaming system with player selectable multi-mode game operability, the gaming system including:

a server;

a gaming apparatus connected to the server through a network, the gaming apparatus including a game display, a processor, and user interface;

the user interface configured to receive a player identification input, a game operating mode input, and a wager;

the processor configured to receive player identification data from the server using the player identification input and to present a game on the game display in a first or second operating mode in accordance with the game operating mode input and configured to initiate the game with the wager;

wherein the first operating mode enables automatic game operation by the gaming system after the game is initiated and the second operating mode enables manually-initiated automatic game operation by the gaming system-, the manually-initiated automatic game operation occurring in response to an additional required player input for each round of play in the game, wherein the additional required player input:

(i) is an input necessary for a player station to display the results of a round of play in the game; and

(ii) is separate from the game operating mode input and a wager input.

7. The gaming system of claim 6 ,

the player identification data including a previous player-selected game operating mode;

the processor configured to use the previous player-selected game operating mode as a default game operating mode input.

8. The gaming system of claim 6 ,

the processor configured to modify the game operating mode following one or more plays of the game and in accordance with a game operating mode signal received from the user interface.

9. The gaming system of claim 6 ,

during game operation, the game display configured to display multiple indicia and the processor configured to receive one or more manual player input signals associated with selected of the multiple indicia.

10. The gaming system of claim 9 ,

the game display including a touch screen display, the touch screen display configured to receive the manual player inputs and transfer the associated signals to the processor.

11. A gaming system with player selectable multi-mode game operability, the gaming system including:

a server;

a gaming apparatus connected to the server through a network, the gaming apparatus including a game display, a processor, and user interface;

the user interface configured to receive a player identification input, a game operating mode input, and a wager;

the server configured to: a) receive player identification data and a game request from the gaming apparatus in accordance with the player identification input and the wager, b) initiate operation of the game, and c) transmit game information to the gaming apparatus;

the game display configured to display at least one game presentation of the game in accordance with the game information and in one of two or more selectable game operating modes in accordance with the game operating mode input;

wherein one of the selectable game operating modes enables automatic game operation and game outcome determination, and, a second of the selectable game operating modes enables manually-initiated automatic game operation-, the manually-initiated automatic game operation occurring in response to an additional required player input for each round of play in the game, wherein the additional required player input:

(i) is an input necessary for a player station to display the results of a round of play in the game; and

(ii) is separate from the game operating mode input and a wager input.

12. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

the server configured to: a) determine a previous player-selected game operating mode using the player identification data, and b) transmit the previous player-selected game operating mode as a default game operating mode input to the gaming apparatus.

13. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

the server configured to modify the game operating mode prior to or following one or more plays of the game and in accordance with a request initiated by a player through the game operating mode input.

14. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

the game apparatus configured to modify the game operating mode prior to or following one or more plays of the game and in accordance with a request initiated by a player through the game operating mode input.

15. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

during game operation, the game display configured to display multiple indicia and the processor configured to receive the one or more manual player inputs identifying selected of the multiple indicia.

16. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

during game operation, the game display configured to display multiple indicia and the server configured to receive the one or more manual player inputs associated with selected of the multiple indicia.

17. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

the processor configured to: a) receive the one or more manual player inputs associated with selected of the multiple indicia, b) associate the manual player inputs in a manner consistent with daub inputs, and c) determine a winning pattern based on the daub inputs.

18. The gaming system of claim 11 ,

the game display configured to display multiple game presentations simultaneously;

during game operation, the game display configured to display multiple indicia associated with the multiple game presentations and the processor configured to associate the one or more manual player inputs with one or more of the multiple indicia.

19. The gaming system of claim 18 ,

the game display including a touch screen display, the touch screen display configured to receive the manual player inputs and transfer the associated signals to the processor.

20. A gaming system with player selectable multi-mode game operability, the gaming system including

a server;

a network; and

multiple gaming apparatuses connected to the server through the network;

one or more of the multiple gaming apparatuses configured to present one or more games, serially or simultaneously, on the game display in a first or second operating mode in accordance with a player selectable game operating mode input, each of the one or more gaming apparatuses configured to initiate one or more of the games after receiving a wager;

wherein the first operating mode enables automatic game operation after the game is initiated and the second operating mode enables manually-initiated automatic game operation, the manually-initiated automatic game operation occurring in response to an additional required player input for each round of play in the game, wherein the additional required player input:

(i) is an input necessary for a player station to display the results of a round of play in the game; and

(ii) is separate from the game operating mode input and a wager input.

Assignments (15)

Continuity (5)