Granted Patent B2

US 9,345,955 · App. 13/741,871 · Granted May 24, 2016

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A method comprising:

detecting, by a master secondary game unit in a wagering game server, events indicating that secondary wagering games are to be awarded, wherein the events arise from primary wagering games presented on remote wagering game terminals;

in response to the detecting, launching, by a presentation coordinator in the wagering game server, secondary wagering game units for each of the secondary wagering games;

determining, by the secondary wagering game units, results for the secondary wagering games;

determining, by at least one of the secondary wagering game units, an award amount for one of the secondary wagering games based on the results;

notifying, by the at least one secondary wagering unit, an accounting routing service onboard the wagering game server about the award amount; and

transmitting, by the accounting routing service over a network, an indication of the award amount to a remote accounting server for updating a player account balance maintained in the accounting server;

receiving, by the accounting routing service from remote accounting server, an updated session balance associated with the one of the secondary wagering games;

forwarding, by the accounting routing service, the updated session balance to the at least one secondary wagering game unit; and

presenting, by the secondary wagering game unit, the updated session balance on a credit meter on one of the remote wagering game terminals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secondary wagering game unit does not reside in main memory of the wagering game server until the launching.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an updated player account balance from the remote accounting server;

transmitting, to the wagering game terminal, the updated player account balance.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the of the plurality of secondary wagering games are selected based on player input.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the secondary wagering games is of different game type.

6. A method comprising:

determining, in a plurality of primary wagering game units, results for primary wagering games presented on remote wagering game terminals;

receiving, by a presentation coordinator, information indicating events outside the primary wagering games;

awarding, by a master secondary game unit, based on the events outside the primary wagering games, secondary wagering games to players of the primary wagering games;

after the awarding, launching, by the presentation coordinator, secondary wagering game units for each of the secondary wagering games that have been awarded;

determining, by the secondary wagering game units, results for the secondary wagering games and monetary awards for the players;

notifying, by the secondary wagering game units, an accounting routing service onboard the wagering game server about the monetary awards for the players;

notifying, by the accounting routing service, a remote player account server about the monetary awards for the players to facilitate deposit of the monetary awards into player accounts;

receiving, by the accounting routing service, updated player account balances from the remote player account server, and notifying, the secondary wagering game units, about the updated player account balances; and

transmitting, by the secondary wagering game units, the updated player account balances for presentation on credit meters of the remote wagering game terminals.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the secondary wagering game unit does not reside in main memory of the wagering game server until launch.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

removing one or more of the secondary wagering game units from main memory of the wagering game server upon conclusion of one or more of the secondary wagering games.

9. A non-transitory machine readable memory device storing instructions which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations for controlling a wagering game server, the instructions comprising:

instructions to detect, by a master secondary game unit in a wagering game server, events indicating that secondary wagering games are to be awarded, wherein the events arise from primary wagering games presented on remote wagering game terminals;

instructions to, after the detection of the events, launch, by a presentation coordinator in the wagering game server, secondary wagering game units for each of the secondary wagering games;

instructions to determine, by a secondary wagering game unit of the secondary wagering game units, an award amount for a secondary wagering game of the secondary wagering games;

instructions to notify, by the secondary wagering game unit, an accounting routing service onboard the wagering game server about the award amount; and

instructions to transmit, by the accounting routing service, an indication of the award amount to a remote accounting server for updating a player account balance maintained in the accounting server;

instructions to receive, by the accounting routing service from remote accounting server, an updated session balance associated with the one of the secondary wagering games;

instructions to forward, by the accounting routing service, the updated session balance to the secondary wagering game unit; and

instructions to present, by the secondary wagering game unit, the updated session balance on a credit meter on one of the remote wagering game terminals.

10. The non-transitory machine readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein the secondary wagering game unit does not reside in main memory of the wagering game server until the launching.

11. The non-transitory machine readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein the secondary wagering games are selected based on player input.

12. The non-transitory machine readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of secondary wagering games presents a different game.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, by the accounting routing service, that a secondary wagering game unit was funded by a wager associated with a primary wagering game.

Assignments (11)