IP Library Granted Patent US 10,410,472
Granted Patent B2
US 10,410,472 · App. 15/829,140 · Granted Sep 10, 2019

Casino game with next round multipliers

Inventor: Ernest W. Moody (Las Vegas, NV)
Assignee: IGT
G07F17/3267G07F17/32G07F17/3209G07F17/3211G07F17/3225G07F17/3244G07F17/3293G07F17/34
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,410,472
App. No.
15/829,140
Granted
Sep 10, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

A player plays a first round of a casino slot machine game. If the player achieves a winning outcome on the first round of play, the payouts for the next round of play of the casino game will be increased. The amount of the increase is based on the category of the winning outcome on the first round of play. Each subsequent round of play continues to have increased payouts if the player continues to achieve winning outcomes. When the player has a losing outcome, the payouts revert to the base level. An extra wager may be required from the player to activate this feature during the play of the casino game.

Claims (112)

1. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one input device;

at least one display device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt, by the at least one input device, of a wager input;

randomly determine an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of outcome components;

cause the at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determine any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game;

determine whether a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game; and

responsive to determining that the next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game, determine an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with an outcome component of the second play of the game that corresponds to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game and not usable in association with another outcome component of the second play of the game that does not correspond to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game.

2. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to not enable the next play award modifier condition to be satisfied when the wager is not at least a designated wager.

3. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to determine any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome by, for each outcome component of the first play of the game, determining any award associated with that outcome component.

4. The gaming machine of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to, for each outcome component of the first play of the game, determine any award associated with that outcome component based at least in part on any award modifier for that outcome component determined based on an outcome of a previous play of the game.

5. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to determine: (1) a first award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a first outcome component; and (2) a second award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a second outcome component, wherein the first and second award modifiers are different and the first and second outcome components are different.

6. The gaming machine of claim 5 , wherein the first award modifier is larger than the second award modifier and a probability of the first outcome component occurring is less than a probability of the second outcome component occurring.

7. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the game is a card game, and the outcome components of the first play of the game are final hands of cards.

8. The gaming machine of claim 1 , wherein the game is a reel-based game having a payline-based award evaluation, and the outcome components of the first play of the game are sets of symbols displayed along paylines.

9. The gaming machine of claim 1 , which includes an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item;

cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

cause the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiate a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

10. A method of operating a gaming system, the method comprising:

receiving, by at least one input device, a wager input;

placing, by at least one processor, a wager on a first play of a game responsive to the receipt of the wager input;

randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of outcome components;

causing, by the at least one processor, at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determining, by the at least one processor, any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game;

determining, by the at least one processor, whether a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game; and

responsive to determining that the next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game, determining, by the at least one processor, an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with an outcome component of the second play of the game that corresponds to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game and not usable in association with another outcome component of the second play of the game that does not correspond to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game.

11. The method of claim 10 , which includes not enabling the next play award modifier condition to be satisfied when the wager is not at least a designated wager.

12. The method of claim 10 , which includes determining, by the at least one processor, any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome by, for each outcome component of the first play of the game, determining any award associated with that outcome component.

13. The method of claim 12 , which includes, for each outcome component of the first play of the game, determining, by the at least one processor, any award associated with that outcome component based at least in part on any award modifier for that outcome component determined based on an outcome of a previous play of the game.

14. The method of claim 10 , which includes determining, by the at least one processor: (1) a first award modifier if the one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a first outcome component; and (2) a second award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a second outcome component, wherein the first and second award modifiers are different and the first and second outcome components are different.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first award modifier is larger than the second award modifier and a probability of the first outcome component occurring is less than a probability of the second outcome component occurring.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the game is a card game, and the outcome components of the first play of the game are final hands of cards.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the game is a reel-based game having a payline-based award evaluation, and the outcome components of the first play of the game are sets of symbols displayed along paylines.

18. The method of claim 10 , which is at least partially provided through a data network.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the data network is an internet.

20. The method of claim 10 , which includes:

establishing, by the at least one processor, a credit balance responsive to receipt, by an acceptor, of a physical item associated with a monetary value;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiating, by the at least one processor, a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

21. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one input device;

at least one display device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt, by the at least one input device, of a wager input;

randomly determine an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of outcome components;

cause the at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determine any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game; and

responsive to determining that a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game, determine an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with an outcome component corresponding to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game,

wherein the award modifier is a first award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a first outcome component and a second award modifier smaller than the first award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a second outcome component different from the first outcome component,

wherein a probability of the first outcome component of the first play of the game occurring is less than a probability of the second outcome component of the first play of the game occurring.

22. The gaming machine of claim 21 , which includes an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item;

cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

cause the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiate a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

23. A gaming machine comprising:

at least one input device;

at least one display device;

at least one processor; and

at least one memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

place a wager on a first play of a game responsive to receipt, by the at least one input device, of a first wager input;

randomly determine an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of first outcome components;

cause the at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determine any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game;

responsive to determining that a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the first outcome components, determine an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with a second outcome component corresponding to the designated one of the first outcome components;

place a second wager on the second play of the game responsive to receipt, by the at least one input device, of a second wager input;

randomly determine an outcome for the second play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of second outcome components;

cause the at least one display device to display the outcome for the second play of the game; and

determine any primary award for the second play of the game by, for each second outcome component, determining any award associated with that second outcome component based at least in part on any award modifier for that second outcome component determined based on the outcome of the first play of the game.

24. The gaming machine of claim 23 , which includes an acceptor configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

establish a credit balance responsive to receipt, by the acceptor, of the physical item;

cause the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

cause the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiate a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

25. A method of operating a gaming system, the method comprising:

receiving, by at least one input device, a wager input;

placing, by at least one processor, a wager on a first play of a game responsive to the receipt of the wager input;

randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of outcome components;

causing, by the at least one processor, at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determining, by the at least one processor, any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game; and

responsive to determining that a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game, determining, by the at least one processor, an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with an outcome component corresponding to the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game,

wherein the award modifier is a first award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a first outcome component and a second award modifier smaller than the first award modifier if the designated one of the outcome components of the first play of the game is a second outcome component different from the first outcome component,

wherein a probability of the first outcome component of the first play of the game occurring is less than a probability of the second outcome component of the first play of the game occurring.

26. The method of claim 25 , which includes:

establishing, by the at least one processor, a credit balance responsive to receipt, by an acceptor, of a physical item associated with a monetary value;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiating, by the at least one processor, a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

27. A method of operating a gaming system, the method comprising:

receiving, by at least one input device, a first wager input;

placing, by at least one processor, a wager on a first play of a game responsive to the receipt of the first wager input;

randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the first play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of first outcome components;

causing, by the at least one processor, at least one display device to display the outcome for the first play of the game;

determining, by the at least one processor, any primary award for the first play of the game based on the outcome for the first play of the game;

responsive to determining that a next play award modifier condition is satisfied based on a designated one of the first outcome components, determining, by the at least one processor, an award modifier usable in a second subsequent play of the game in association with a second outcome component corresponding to the designated one of the first outcome components;

receiving, by the at least one input device, a second wager input;

placing, by the at least one processor, a second wager on the second play of the game responsive to the receipt of the second wager input;

randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the second play of the game, the outcome including a plurality of second outcome components;

causing, by the at least one processor, the at least one display device to display the outcome for the second play of the game; and

determining, by the at least one processor, any primary award for the second play of the game by, for each second outcome component, determining any award associated with that second outcome component based at least in part on any award modifier for that second outcome component determined based on the outcome of the first play of the game.

28. The method of claim 27 , which includes:

establishing, by the at least one processor, a credit balance responsive to receipt, by an acceptor, of a physical item associated with a monetary value;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to decrease based on the wager;

causing, by the at least one processor, the credit balance to increase based on any primary award; and

initiating, by the at least one processor, a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to receipt of a cashout input.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 3, 2025
From: IGT
To: DEUTSCHE BANK AG NEW YORK BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 071817/0394 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 4, 2017
From: MOODY, ERNEST W.
To: ERNEST MOODY REVOCABLE TRUST
Reel/Frame 044289/0256 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 4, 2017
From: ACTION GAMING, INC.
To: IGT
Reel/Frame 044289/0330 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 4, 2017
From: ERNEST MOODY REVOCABLE TRUST
To: ACTION GAMING, INC.
Reel/Frame 044682/0041 →
Continuity (9)
Continuation 15241748 · Aug 19, 2016
Continuation 14833998 · Aug 24, 2015
Continuation 14182321 · Feb 18, 2014
Continuation 13360699 · Jan 28, 2012
Continuation In Part 12616145 · Nov 11, 2009
Continuation In Part 11958570 · Dec 18, 2007
Provisional Application 60986627 · Nov 9, 2007
Provisional Application 60875812 · Dec 18, 2006
Related Publication 20180082538A1 · Mar 22, 2018
Cited By (15)
US 12,211,349 US 12,277,840 US 12,394,275 US 12,400,513 US 12,412,454 US 12,412,455 US 12,450,983 US 12,530,942 US 12,592,127 US 12,592,130 US 12,640,010 US 12,658,004 US 12,694,757 US 12,718,660 US 12,718,663