Skill game playable on a casino spinning reel display with an awards table having a variable payout line and a method of calculating awards provided without operator hold subtracted from player buy-in

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to the following U.S. Provisional Patent Applications: (1) Provisional Application No. 61/001,989, entitled “Skill Game with Fixed Award Table,” by Richard M. Mathis, with filing date of Nov. 6, 2007, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety; and (2) Provisional Application No. 61/132,166, entitled “A Method of Generating Awards in Skill and Non-Skill Games,” filed Jun. 16, 2008, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/247,092 entitled “Method and Apparatus For Skill Game Play and Awards” filed Oct. 11, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

This application is further related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/127,660, entitled “Skill Game That Can Be Played Upon a Casino Type Display Combining Determinative, Fixed and Random Processes,” filed May 27, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

This application is further related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/212,343, entitled “Skill Game Playable On a Casino Type Display With Game Ending Features Including Spinning Reel Up/Down Capability and a Bonus Game,” filed Sep. 17, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to values provided in an awards table indicating a payout upon winning a spinning reel gaming device or representation thereof that can be used in casino gaming.

2. Related Art

Casino gaming has offered games of chance that can be played upon a machine for many years. Typically the gaming machines employ some method of randomly providing a game result to a player. The random selection can be made by a random number or character generator. In one example of a randomly provided game result, a spinning reel is stopped in a manner not reasonably controlled by an operator. In the U.S.A. a distinction has been by the Federal Government as to whether a gaming apparatus generates game random outcomes or whether player skill can influence game outcome to some degree in a determinative or non-random process. The determinative process is also referred to herein as a skill game.

Games that depend solely upon random selection for generation of game outcomes are classified as Class III, but those in which player skill can influence game outcome may be placed in another class not being subject to regulation. The classification is a regulatory matter, but can have very significant economic ramifications. For example, Class III gaming may be relegated to casinos and Indian Tribes that have suitable compacts with state governments. Class III gaming is highly regulated and requires large economic resources in order to comply with regulations in operation and reporting. Games of skill, however, may be currently permitted on any Indian reservation whether or not an agreement exists with the state in which they are located and reporting and compliance with regulation is considerably simplified.

Skill games may be classified as non-regulated games, but award to a player must depend to some degree upon player skill. A significant risk to an operator exists if game outcome depends entirely upon player skill as a very skillful player can win every game with disastrous economic results for the operator. If game outcome is made to depend upon skill in such manner that skill level is beyond the bounds of normal human competence then the game outcome essentially becomes a process of random selection, the game is classified as Class III, and is not permitted to be legally operated in said venue. The classification assigned is important and has been the subject of many court actions.

Several gaming machines that allow skill games to be played currently exist. Most of said gaming machines that may be used in casinos depend upon a video representation of a spinning reel and require a player to stop certain symbols at a given position in order to accomplish a winning result. Stopping the spinning reel depends upon player skill to influence a game outcome, but in nearly all cases the number of symbols is huge and/or speed at which symbols are presented to a player is much greater than can be expected to be processed within even the boundaries of superhuman capabilities. If game outcome can be influenced by normal human capabilities the operator of said game is in danger of losing money. A system described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,342 describes a spinning reel gaming system as well as other systems with an outcome that can be influenced by normal human capabilities, while still enabling the operator to make a profit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/127,660 discloses an additional system that has an outcome influenced by the player, while still maintaining operator profit. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/212,343 discloses a further system that provides further features that increase player excitement in a skill game such as providing a player to move a spinning reel up or down one position to improve game results and to provide a bonus game under certain conditions. It would be desirable to provide additional game features to increase player entertainment and desire to play a skill game while still maintaining an operator profit.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for implementing a skill game that employs methods to hold a player\'s interest by dynamically changing the awards table as well as providing payout without subtraction from player buy-in to provide an operator hold.

In first embodiments of the invention an awards table includes a variable award line with values changed either before or after start of the skill game to offer the player a variety of possible payouts depending on the game results. In one example, the dynamic award line is provided as the bottom line in the award table that provides the minimum payout. The dynamic award line values that show what a player must achieve to win can be reset before or after the start of each game and displayed to a player. For a spinning reel game, the amount shown on the award line will be awarded based on the game outcome as determined by final reel positions. A final combination of reel symbols that would normally be calculated to be a losing combination for the fixed pay lines can now be available as the bottom dynamic award line to still provide the minimum pay award.

In second embodiments of the invention, a method of calculating awards is provided that does not remove a portion of user buy-in for operator hold, but still maintains operator profit. Typical methods of providing an award that can be paid out after each game involve subtracting an amount from player buy-in for an operator hold fee after which a portion of buy-in is always available for player award for successful completion of a game. To accomplish this, the award hit frequency (HF) is set so that the hit frequency for all possible awards is less than 1. The second embodiment described herein, however, adds at least one award line to the awards table with a hit frequency set so that the total hit frequency of all award lines is 1. The total award amount (AA) that is then paid for all of the lines is then set to maintain a minimum operator hold.

Further embodiments allow a player to choose between sizes of available awards while keeping return to player essentially constant. The aforesaid adds to player enjoyment by allowing a player to exercise preference over size and frequency of available awards. Some players prefer many frequent small awards while others prefer infrequent large awards. This enhances a player\'s entertainment experience while still keeping operator profit over a large number of games played essentially constant.