Dynamic management of wagering game availability
View Patent ↗A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include initiating, at a wagering game server, a secondary game for presentation on a wagering game machine. The secondary game may be associated with a primary wagering game being presented on the wagering game machine. The operations can also include detecting that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play while the secondary game is being presented on the wagering game machine, and determining identification information associated with a player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game. The operations can further include generating results for the secondary game associated with the player after the secondary game is available for play, and providing an award, depending on the secondary game results, to the player using the identification information.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
initiating, at a wagering game server of a wagering game system, a secondary game for presentation on a wagering game machine of the wagering game system, wherein the secondary game is associated with a primary wagering game being presented on the wagering game machine, and wherein results for the secondary game are generated on the wagering game server;
detecting, at the wagering game server, that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play after a bet associated with the secondary game is in progress while the secondary game is being presented on the wagering game machine;
determining, at the wagering game server, identification information associated with a player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game;
determining, at the wagering game server, results for the secondary game associated with the player after the secondary game is available for play after service has been performed in response to the secondary game becoming unavailable for play; and
providing an award, depending on the results for the secondary game, to the player using the identification information.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said detecting that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play comprises one of detecting a hardware failure, a software failure, a network failure, and unavailability of game content associated with the secondary game.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining identification information associated with the player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game comprises determining an account number of an account associated with the player of the secondary game, and wherein said providing the award comprises depositing monetary value into the account associated with the player depending on the results for the secondary game.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein, if an account number is not found for the player of the secondary game, said determining identification information associated with the player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game further comprises causing the wagering game machine to prompt the player for a name and address, and receiving a player input including the name and address from the wagering game machine, and wherein said providing the award comprises processing a monetary award, depending on the results for the secondary game, for the player to cause a check to be sent to the name and address that was provided by the player.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the account associated with the player of the secondary game comprises one of a casino player account, a savings account, a checking account, and a hotel account.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the secondary game to be serviced in response to detecting that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending at least one of a text message and an email to notify the player that the results associated with the secondary game have been determined, and the award has been provided to the player, depending on the results for the secondary game.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to detecting that the secondary game is unavailable for play, initiating a different secondary game for presentation on the wagering game machine.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to detecting that the secondary game is unavailable for play:
causing the wagering game machine to display a visual indication of one or more secondary games that are available for play;
receiving a player input selecting one of the one or more secondary games; and
initiating the selected one of the one or more secondary games for presentation on the wagering game machine.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, at the wagering game server, results for the secondary game includes determining the results after the player has left the wagering game machine.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the award includes providing the award after the player has left the wagering game machine.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
saving, at the wagering game server, the state of the secondary game; and
restoring, at the wagering game server, the state of the secondary game using the saved state after the second game is available for play.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the saved state of the secondary game includes the output of a random number generator, and wherein determining the results of the secondary game includes using the output of the random number generator is used to determine the results.
14. A wagering game server of a wagering game system, the wagering game server comprising:
a secondary game controller configured to initiate a secondary game for presentation on a wagering game machine of the wagering game system, wherein the secondary game is associated with a primary wagering game being presented on the wagering game machine;
a game availability unit configured to detect that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play after a bet associated with the secondary game is in progress while the secondary game is being presented on the wagering game machine;
an award processing unit configured to determine identification information associated with a player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game;
wherein the secondary game controller is further configured to determine results for the secondary game associated with the player after the secondary game is available for play after service has been performed in response to the secondary game becoming unavailable for play; and
wherein the award processing unit is further configured to provide an award, depending on the results for the secondary game, to the player using the identification information.
15. The wagering game server of claim 14 , wherein the award processing unit is configured to determining an account number of an account associated with the player of the secondary game, and configured to deposit monetary value into the account associated with the player, depending on the results for the secondary game.
16. The wagering game server of claim 15 , wherein, if an account number is not found for the player of the secondary game, the award processing unit is configured to:
cause the wagering game machine to prompt the player for a name and address;
receive a player input including the name and address from the wagering game machine; and
process a monetary award, depending on the results for the secondary game, for the player of the secondary game to cause a check to be sent to the name and address that was provided by the player.
17. The wagering game server of claim 14 , wherein the game availability unit is further configured to cause the secondary game to be serviced in response to detecting that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play.
18. The wagering game server of claim 14 , wherein the award processing unit is further configured to send at least one of a text message and an email to notify the player that the results associated with the secondary game have been determined, and the award has been provided to the player, depending on the results for the secondary game.
19. The wagering game server of claim 14 , wherein, in response to the game availability unit detecting that the secondary game is unavailable for play, the secondary game controller is configured to:
cause the wagering game machine to display a visual indication of one or more secondary games that are available for play; and
initiate one of the one or more secondary games for presentation on the wagering game machine based on a player input received from the wagering game machine.
20. One or more tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage media, having instructions stored therein, which, when executed by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform operations that comprise:
initiating a secondary game for presentation on a wagering game machine of a wagering game system, wherein the secondary game is associated with a primary wagering game being presented on the wagering game machine;
detecting that the secondary game becomes unavailable for play after a bet associated with the secondary game is in progress while the secondary game is being presented on the wagering game machine;
determining an account number of an account associated with a player of the primary wagering game and the secondary game;
determining results for the secondary game associated with the player after the secondary game is available for play after service has been performed in response to the secondary game becoming unavailable for play; and
depositing monetary value into the account associated with the player depending on the results for the secondary game.
21. The tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 20 , wherein, if an account number is not found for the player of the secondary game, the operations further comprise causing the wagering game machine to prompt the player for a name and address, receiving a player input including the name and address from the wagering game machine, and processing a monetary award, depending on the results for the secondary game, for the player of the secondary game to cause a check to be sent to the name and address that was provided by the player.