Granted Patent B2

US 8,444,493 · App. 13/548,269 · Granted May 21, 2013

Abstract

Claims (75)

1. A method comprising:

installing a plugin that configures a browser application to present a toolbar;

receiving first content associated with one or more wagering games, wherein the first content originates from a device within a wagering game network;

receiving second content that originates from a device outside the wagering game network, wherein the first content includes wagering game functionality that is not a part of the second content;

presenting, via one or more processors, the second content in one or more navigable display areas of the browser application; and

presenting, via at least one of the one or more processors, the first content in the toolbar of the browser application concurrently with the presenting the second content in the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application, wherein the one or more navigable displays are separate from the toolbar, and wherein the toolbar is configured to maintain an appearance of the first content presented within the toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plugin is configured to one or more of load, cache, and unload one or more wagering game objects of the first content in the toolbar independent of one or more web pages presented via the second content in the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

logging in a player account in response to first user input associated with the toolbar;

detecting a wager for the one or more wagering games presented via the first content, wherein detection of the wager is in response to second user input associated with the toolbar;

determining one or more winning outcomes for the one or more wagering games;

determining an award value for the one or more winning outcomes;

presenting an indication of the award value via the toolbar; and

associating the award value with the player account in response to determination of the award value for the one or more winning outcomes.

4. A system comprising:

a wagering game content server configured to transmit a first content, wherein the first content is for use in one or more wagering games; and

a client device configured to

receive the first content from the wagering game content server,

receive second content that originates from a device other than the wagering game content server, wherein the second content is not related to wagering games, and wherein the first content includes wagering game functionality that is not a part of the second content;

present the second content in one or more navigable display areas of a browser application;

present a toolbar within the browser application, via a plugin, wherein the toolbar is separate from the one or more navigable display areas; and

present the first content in the toolbar concurrently with presentation of the second content in the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application, wherein the toolbar is configured to maintain an appearance of the first content presented within the toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein one or more objects in the toolbar maintain a separate state from one or more objects in the one or more navigable display areas when the one or more navigable display areas change.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the wagering game content server is further configured to provide the plugin.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the plugin is configured to one or more of load, cache, and unload the one or more objects in the toolbar.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein the client device is one or more of a wagering game machine and a wagering game network computer.

9. A network comprising:

a first server configured to provide first content associated with one or more wagering games;

a second server configured to provide second content, wherein the first content includes wagering game functionality that is not a part of the second content, and wherein the second server does not provide wagering game content; and

at least one client device comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to

present a browser application via a display associated with the at least one client device, wherein the browser application is configured to present one or more navigable display areas,

present a toolbar, via a plug-in of the browser application, wherein the toolbar is separate from the one or more navigable display areas,

present the second content in at least one of the one or more navigable display areas, and

present the first content in the toolbar concurrently with presentation of the first content in the at least one of the one or more navigable display areas, wherein the toolbar is configured to maintain an appearance of the first content presented within the toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the at least one of the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

10. The network of claim 9 , wherein the at least one client device is further configured to:

detect activation of one or more wagering game objects within the first content;

receive a third content from the first server in response to the activation of the one or more wagering game objects; and

present the third content within the toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the at least one of the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

11. The network of claim 9 , wherein the at least one client device is further configured to:

detect a winning outcome for a wagering game presented via the first content,

detect an award value for the winning outcome; and

present an indication of the award value in the toolbar.

12. The network of claim 9 , wherein the at least one client device is further configured to:

login a player account via user input associated with the toolbar, and

associate the award value with the player account in response to detection of the award value for the winning outcome.

13. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one memory device configured to store instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to

receive first content and second content, wherein the first content originates from a first device that provides wagering game content, wherein the second content originates from a second device that does not provide wagering game content, and wherein the first content includes wagering game functionality that is not a part of the second content,

present the second content in one or more navigable display areas of a browser application, and

present the first content in a plug-in toolbar of the browser application concurrently with presentation of the second content in the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application, wherein the one or more navigable display areas are separate from the plug-in toolbar, wherein the plug-in toolbar is configured to maintain an appearance of the first content presented within the plug-in toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the plug-in toolbar is installed into the browser application from a plugin, wherein one or more objects in the plug-in toolbar maintain a separate state from one or more objects in the one or more navigable display areas when the one or more navigable display areas change.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the first content originates from a first server, and wherein the second content originates from a second server different from the first server.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the instructions which, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to:

login a player account in response to first user input associated with the plug-in toolbar;

detect a wager for a wagering game presented via the first content, wherein detection of the wager is in response to second user input associated with the plug-in toolbar;

determine a winning outcome for the wagering game;

determine an award value associated with the winning outcome;

present an indication of the award value via the plug-in toolbar; and

associate the award value with the player account in response to determination of the award value for the winning outcome.

17. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more processors causes the set of one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving first content associated with one or more wagering games, wherein the first content originates from a first device within a wagering game network;

receiving second content that originates from a second device outside of the wagering game network, wherein the first content includes wagering game functionality that is not a part of the second content;

presenting the second content in one or more navigable display areas of a browser application; and

presenting the first content in a toolbar of the browser application concurrently with the presenting the second content in the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application, wherein the toolbar is installed into the browser application via a plugin, wherein the one or more navigable display areas are separate from the toolbar, and wherein the toolbar is configured to maintain an appearance of the first content presented within the toolbar independent of changes that occur to the second content presented within the one or more navigable display areas of the browser application.

18. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 17 , said operations further comprising:

logging in a player account in response to first user input associated with the toolbar;

detecting a wager for the one or more wagering games presented via the first content, wherein detection of the wager is in response to second user input associated with the toolbar;

determining one or more winning outcomes for the one or more wagering games;

determining an award value for the one or more winning outcomes;

presenting an indication of the award value via the toolbar; and

associating the award value with the player account in response to determination of the award value for the one or more winning outcomes.

19. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the toolbar is separate from the one or more navigable display areas such that one or more objects in the toolbar maintain a separate state from one or more objects in the one or more navigable display areas when the one or more navigable display areas change.

20. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the indication of the award value is one or more of money and points for entertainment activities.

21. The one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media of claim 17 , said operations further comprising presenting third content originating from one or more wagering game player accounts that provide audience participation in, or related to, wagering game activity presented on the toolbar.

Assignments (9)