Gaming community management and personalization
The present invention involves methods and devices for controlling many aspects of a player's gaming experience, including game themes presented, game denomination, pay models, content and promotions. Some implementations of the invention provide a casino operator the necessary tools to create subsets of customers, often referred to herein as “communities,” and to control the gaming experiences of players in these communities. In some such implementations, communities may be created and/or modified according to various criteria, some of which may be weighted more heavily than others. Specific marketing messages, promotions, etc., may be provided to attract and retain players having similar characteristics and preferences.
1. A gaming system comprising:
a server configured to operate with a gaming device to:
(i) identify a player of the gaming device;
(ii) determine whether the identified player has previously been assigned to one of a plurality of different gaming communities, each of the different gaming communities being associated with different displayable content and different sets of one or more wagering games;
(iii) if the identified player has previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(A) enable the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games associated with said gaming community in association with a first window of at least one display device of the gaming device according to a set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by an acceptor of the gaming device of a physical item associated with a monetary value, and (2) establishment of a credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities, and
(B) cause the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with a second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device; and
(iv) if the identified player has not previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(A) select one of the gaming communities based on a comparison of historical gaming characteristics of the identified player with a plurality of different sets of wagering game characteristics, each of the gaming communities being associated with a different one of the sets of wagering characteristics;
(B) assign the identified player to the selected gaming community;
(C) enable the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games in association with the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device according to the set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by the acceptor of the gaming device of the physical item associated with the monetary value, and (2) establishment of the credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities; and
(D) cause the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with the second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device.
2. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the displayable content includes non-gaming content.
3. The gaming system of claim 2 , wherein the non-gaming content includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: a promotion, an offer, and a graphical user interface for player services.
4. The gaming system of claim 1 , which includes a location detection device configured to determine a location of the gaming device.
5. The gaming system of claim 4 , wherein the displayable content is determined based, at least in part, on the location of the gaming device.
6. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device comprises at least a predetermined portion of the at least one display device.
7. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising:
(a) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in at least one memory device to identify a player of a gaming device;
(b) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine whether the identified player has previously been assigned to one of a plurality of different gaming communities, each of the different gaming communities being associated with different displayable content and different sets of one or more wagering games;
(c) if the identified player has previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(i) enabling the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games in association with a first window of at least one display device of the gaming device according to a set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by an acceptor of the gaming device of a physical item associated with a monetary value, and (2) establishment of a credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities, and
(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with a second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device; and
(d) if the identified player has not previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(i) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to select one of the gaming communities based on a comparison of historical gaming characteristics of the identified player with a plurality of different sets of wagering game characteristics, each of the gaming communities being associated with a different one of the sets of wagering characteristics;
(ii) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to assign the identified player to the selected gaming community;
(iii) enabling the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games in association with the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device according to the set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by the acceptor of the gaming device of the physical item associated with the monetary value, and (2) establishment of the credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities; and
(iv) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with the second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the displayable content includes non-gaming content.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the non-gaming content includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: a promotion, an offer, and a graphical user interface for player services.
10. The method of claim 7 , which includes determining a location of the gaming device.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the displayable content is determined based, at least in part, on the location of the gaming device.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device comprises at least a predetermined portion of the at least one display device.
13. The method of claim 7 , which is provided through a data network.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the data network is an internet.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
(a) identify a player of a gaming device;
(b) determine whether the identified player has previously been assigned to one of a plurality of different gaming communities, each of the different gaming communities being associated with different displayable content;
(c) if the identified player has previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(i) enable the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games in association with a first window of at least one display device of the gaming device according to a set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by an acceptor of the gaming device of a physical item associated with a monetary value, and (2) establishment of a credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities, and
(ii) cause the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with a second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device; and
(d) if the identified player has not previously been assigned to one of the gaming communities:
(i) select one of the gaming communities based on a comparison of historical gaming characteristics of the identified player with a plurality of different sets of wagering game characteristics, each of the gaming communities being associated with a different one of the sets of wagering characteristics;
(ii) assign the identified player to the selected gaming community;
(iii) enable the identified player to play at least one wagering game of the set of one or more wagering games in association with the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device according to the set of wagering game characteristics associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned after (1) receipt by the acceptor of the gaming device of the physical item associated with the monetary value, and (2) establishment of the credit balance for the identified player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the physical item and without enabling the identified player to play one of the wagering games of one of the other sets of one or more wagering games associated with one of the other gaming communities; and
(iv) cause the at least one display device of the gaming device to display the content associated with the gaming community to which the identified player is assigned in association with the second window of the at least one display device of the gaming device.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the displayable content includes non-gaming content.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the non-gaming content includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: a promotion, an offer, and a graphical user interface for player services.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with a location detection device to determine a location of the gaming device.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the displayable content is determined based, at least in part, on the location of the gaming device.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the first window of the at least one display device of the gaming device comprises at least a predetermined portion of the at least one display device.