• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
  • 引用文献
  • 法律状态
  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    The present invention relates to a method of awarding to a player of a wagering game a jackpot value in proportion to the value of a jackpot wager selected by the player. The player may make a wager for the wagering game and also make a jackpot wager to participate in a jackpot component that is an additional feature added to the wagering game. The player may select from a plurality of different jackpot wager values to participate in the jackpot component, however, the jackpot component prize awarded to the player will be proportionate to the jackpot wager value selected by the player.
    公开号:CA2360018A1
    申请号:C2360018
    申请日:2001-10-25
    公开日:2002-04-26
    发明作者:Daniel A. Jones
    申请人:Daniel A. Jones；
    IPC主号:G07F17-32
    专利说明:
    METHOD OF AWARDING A JACKPOT VALUE IN PROPORTION TO THE AMOUNT WAGERED Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to the field of gaming, and especially gambling games. Backeround of the Invention It is commonly known that gamblers often choose to put different amounts of money at risk.For example, many gamblers who play casino games prefer to play the nickel slot machines, while others prefer the dollar slot machines; certain players prefer to play at a ten dollar minimum table game, while others prefer to play the higher minimum table games. In addition, especially among table game players, a player may choose to change the value of the player's wager, not only due to game strategy, but also due to factors such as whether the player's bankroll is full, whether the player's bankroll is almost exhausted, whether the player has been on a lucky streak, or whether the player just feels lucky.Table games have traditionally permitted a player to vary a player's initial wager freely within casino mandated minimum and maximum values, although the wagers are still usually in multiples of one dollar or five dollar denominations (e.g., the player would not be permitted to wager one dollar and twelve cents).Video games and slot machines have usually not offered the same degree of flexibility in selecting the value of a player's initial eager as have table games. Nevertheless, it is known that certain slot machines and video games permit the player to wager either one, two, or three quarters, for example, and if the player achieves a certain winning condition with one quarter, the player will receive a certain monetary amount, whereas if the player wagered two quarters and achieved the same winning condition, the player would receive double the monetary amount, and if the player wagered three quarters and achieved the same winning condition, the player would receive three times the monetary amount. Such slot machines also offer the player an opportunity to place fourth and fifth quarters, which sometimes automatically entitles the player to participate in a jackpot associated with the game.It is also known that a jackpot component may be added as a feature to games, such as wagering games, whereby a player places a j ackpot wager separate and apart from the wagers for the wagering game and which entitles the player to participate in the j ackpot component and to win a prize upon achieving a certain winning condition during the play of the wagering game. For example, the inventor's own U.S. Patent No. 4,861,041 discloses such a jackpot component, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, in all such jackpot components currently known, the house or casino prescribes a certain value of the jackpot wager that the player must make in order to participate in the jackpot component. The player is given no choice about how much to put at risk in connection with the wager for the jackpot component. As a result, some players choose not to place wagers for the jackpot component, believing that the prescribed wager is too high, whereas other players are deprived of the opportunity and excitement of making a higher wager and thereby placing even more money at risk in the jackpot component. In essence, the player is given only a single risk/reward option.U.S. Patent No. 5,851,147 to Stupak, et al. recognizes the desirability of permitting the players of games, especially wagering games, to select different risk/reward scenarios. The '147 patent suggests several systems by which the player may select a variety of different payout schedules (each of which has substantially the same house "take"), with some of the schedules offering relatively high payouts for the rarest winning conditions and relatively small amounts for the less rare winning combinations. However, the systems employed in the ' 147 patent each require the player to place a predesignated,wager value at risk, while allowing the player to select one of a variety of payout schedules. Thus, the player has no option to place a different amount at risk, especially for a "side" bet j ackpot component. The invention disclosed in the ' 147 patent also suffers from the disadvantage that, although the house knows that each of the jackpot payout schedules provides for approximately the same house "take", the player may be confused and suspicious as to whether each of the payout schedules affords the player essentially the same overall odds, and therefore may be reluctant to exercise a selection process. Summary of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of awarding to a player of a wagering game a jackpot value in proportion to the value of a jackpot wager selected by the player. The player may make a wager for the wagering game and also make a jackpot wager to participate in a jackpot component that is a feature added to the wagering game. The player may select from a plurality of different jackpot wager values to participate in the jackpot component, however, the jackpot component prize awarded to the player will be proportionate to the jackpot wager value selected by the player.Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment In wagering games, a player is afforded an opportunity to make a wager to participate in the wagering game. Such wagering games may include, for example, Caribbean Stud~ poker, Twenty-One a/k/a Blackjack, Let It Ride poker, and Pai Gow poker, each of which are card games. The instant invention may also be advantageously employed with slot machines and other types of wagering games.Many currently known jackpot components are additional features that are included in the wagering game whereby a player is given an opportunity to make a separate, jackpot wager to participate in the jackpot component, with no portion of the jackpot wager contributing to the play or winnings of the wagering game.Whereas in known jackpot components, the house or casino prescribes the amount that a player must wager to participate in the jackpot component, the instant invention permits the player to select among a plurality of different jackpot wager values. For example, in a Let It Ride poker game, the jackpot component may post an award of $25,000 if the player achieves a royal flush, $10,000 if the player achieves a straight flush, and lesser fixed amounts for four of a kind, a full house, etc. In the present invention , the player may be offered an option of placing a jackpot wager of either twenty-five cents, fifty cents, or one dollar. If the player makes a one dollar wager, then the player will receive one hundred percent of the posted jackpot prize, however, if the player makes a fifty cent jackpot wager, then the player will be entitled only to fifty percent of the posted jackpot prize, and if the player makes a twenty-five cents wager, then the player will be entitled to receive only twenty-five percent of the posted jackpot prize. Thus, in the foregoing example, if the player achieves a royal flush in the Let It Ride poker game and made a separate jackpot wager, the player would be awarded $25,000 if the jackpot wager was $1.00, $12,00 if the jackpot wager was fifty cents, and $6,20 if the jackpot wager was twenty-five cents.It is also possible that the house or casino may allow the player to place a jackpot wager exceeding one dollar, such as five dollars, which would entitle the player to receive five times the posted jackpot amount (based on a one dollar wager), which would be acceptable where the jackpot component awards fixed prizes.It is believed from a practical standpoint that the plurality of jackpot wager values offered for selection by a player will be relatively small in connection with table games in order to permit the house or casino to effectively manage the number of different chips that must be employed, to foster surveillance and security in monitoring the chip denominations, and to simplify payout calculations (especially so that there are even dollar values awarded in a pay-out).Likewise, a video machine may be programmed to permit only a relatively few number of different jackpot wager values. The player of the video game may select one among several prescribed values to be wagered by manipulating one of a corresponding number of different player control buttons, touch screen fields, or other control devices. As an alternative in a video game, the player may be allowed to press a single button that causes to appear on the video screen an odometer type meter that spins with continuously increasing values (perhaps starting at a prescribed minimum value and ending at a prescribed maximum value) such that the player's release of the button causes a jackpot wagering value appearing in the odometer to be selected. The odometer could increase, for example, one cent at a time, or in even increments, such as ten cents at one time, or could increment unevenly, for example, starting at five cents, and then jumping to ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, seventy-five cents, and one dollar.In the context of a progressive jackpot, the casino might award one hundred percent of the progressive jackpot amount if the player has wagered one dollar, fifty percent of the jackpot amount is the player has wagered fifty cents, and twenty-five percent of the jackpot amount if the player has wagered twenty-five cents.It is possible that one, two, or more of the prizes in the jackpot component are progressive jackpots that increment until the winning condition associated with the progressive jackpot is achieved. Also the jackpot component could offer a mixture of progressive, fixed fee, or other types of jackpots.The present invention has a special applicability to jackpot components employing progressive jackpot awards. In a simple example, a player may win the progressive jackpot amount if the player achieves a royal flush in a five card stud poker hand, which is achieved on an average of one in every 649,740 hands. If the royal flush is the only jackpot component prize and the progressive jackpot is at a value of less than $649,740, then a player who places a one dollar wager is making a "sucker" bet, since the amount of the award (something less than $649,740) multiplied by the amount of the odds of achieving the award (one divided by 649,740) is less than one dollar.As the progressive jackpot increments, it is possible that the jackpot might exceed $649,740. If the amount of the jackpot is in excess of $649,740, then the bet becomes a "smart" bet since the value of the j ackpot award multiplied by the amount of the odds of obtaining that award is greater than one dollar. One can envision a scenario where a player might place a twenty-five cent or fifty cent wager when a progressive jackpot is relatively low and constitutes a "sucker" bet, but the same player might place the maximum amount, such as one dollar, as a jackpot wager when the progressive jackpot amount has incremented enough to be a "smart" bet.It should be understood that the jackpot prizes may be either a progressive jackpot, a fixed fee jackpot, a randomly determined jackpot, or some combination of the foregoing. The jackpot component may also award one or more prizes for corresponding, different winning conditions. The game in which the jackpot component constitutes an additional feature may be a wagering game or non-wagering game and may be either a player banked game or house banked game. The game may be a table game or a video game and may also be played as a video game on the Internet.Preferably, the value of the jackpotprize is at least $10,000, more preferably at least $100,000, more preferably at least $1,000,000, and even more preferably at least $10,000,000.Although particular embodiments of the particular invention are described and illustrations herein, it should be recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art and that such modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention. Consequently, our invention as claimed below may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described above.
    权利要求:
    Claims (37)
    [1] 1. A method of including a jackpot component as an additional feature in a wagering game, comprising the steps of: (a) affording a player an opportunity to make a first wager to participate only in said wagering game; (b) affording the player an opportunity to make a second wager to participate in said jackpot component, wherein no portion of said second wager contributes to the play or winnings of said wagering game; (c) affording the player an option of selecting the value of said second wager from at least two second wager option values; (d) presenting to the player a jackpot payout schedule including at least two jackpot component prizes each having an associated, different value and each associated with a corresponding different wagering game condition that may be achieved by the player, and (e) after steps (a)-(d),determining whether a player who has made said second wager has achieved one of said wagering game conditions, and if so, awarding to said player a portion of said corresponding jackpot component prize substantially in proportion to the ratio of said second wager option value selected by the player relative to a second wager option value not selected by the player.
    [2] 2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said jackpot payout schedule includes at least five jackpot component prizes.
    [3] 3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said at least one jackpot component prize comprises a progressive jackpot value.
    [4] 4. The method according to claim 2 wherein at least one of said five jackpot component prizes comprises a progressive jackpot value.
    [5] 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations.
    [6] 6. The method according to claim 2 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations.
    [7] 7. The method according to claim 3 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations.
    [8] 8. The method according to claim 4 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations.
    [9] 9. The method according to claim 1 wherein said wagering game consists essentially of a house banked game in which the player plays against the house.
    [10] 10. The method according to claim 9 wherein said wagering game consists essentially of a card game.
    [11] 11. The method according to claim 9 wherein said wagering game consists essentially of a video game.
    [12] 12. The method according to claim 1 wherein said at least one jackpot component prize possesses a value of at least one thousand (U.S.) dollars.
    [13] 13. The method according to claim 12 wherein said at least one jackpot component prize possesses a value of at least one million (U.S.) dollars.
    [14] 14. The method according to claim 1 wherein said second wager option values include twenty-five cents, fifty cents, and one dollar in U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations and wherein the portions of the corresponding jackpot prize are twenty-five percent, fifty percent, and one hundred percent.
    [15] 15. A method of including a jackpot component as an addition feature in a wagering game, comprising the steps of: (a) affording a player an opportunity to make a first wager to participate only in said wagering game; (b) affording the player an opportunity to make a second wager to participate in said jackpot component, wherein no portion of said second wager contributes to the play or winnings of said wagering game; (c) affording the player an option of selecting one of a plurality of second wager values; (d) presenting to the player a jackpot component prize having an associated value and a corresponding wagering game condition; (e) after steps (a)-(d) determining whether a player who has made said second wager has later achieved said wagering game condition, and if so, awarding to the player a portion of the jackpot component prize substantially in proportion to the ratio of the value of the second wager value selected by the player to the value of the highest second wager value.
    [16] 16. A method of awarding to a player of a wagering game a jackpot value in proportion to the value of a wager selected by the player comprising the steps of: (a) affording a player an opportunity to make a first wager to participate only in said wagering game; (b) affording the player an opportunity to make a jackpot wager having a value selected by the player from a plurality of values, wherein no portion of said jackpot wager contributes to the play or winnings of said wagering game; (c) making a jackpot wager having one of said plurality of values; (d) awarding a jackpot value in proportion to the value of said placed jackpot wager relative to the other jackpot wager values not made.
    [17] 17. A method of including a jackpot component as an additional feature in a wagering game, comprising the steps of: (a) affording a player an opportunity to make a first wager to participate only in said wagering game; (b) affording the player an opportunity to make a second wager to participate in said jackpot component, wherein no portion of said second wager contributes to the play or winnings of said wagering game; (c) presenting to the player a jackpot payout schedule including a set of non-progressive jackpot component prizes each having an associated, different monetary value in a designated national currency and each said prize associated with a corresponding different wagering game condition;(d) affording the player an option of selecting the value of said second wager from a plurality of second wager option values, at least one of said second wager values being less than the basic monetary unit of said national currency;and (e) after steps (a) - (d), determining whether a player who has made said second wager has achieved one of said wagering game conditions, and if so, awarding to said player a portion of said corresponding non-progressive jackpot component prize substantially in proportion to the ratio of said second wager option value selected by the player relative to a second wager option value not selected by the player, and wherein each of said awarded portions is an integer number of the basic unit of said national currency, regardless of said second wager option value selected by said player and regardless of said wagering game condition achieved by said player.
    [18] 18. The method according to claim 17 wherein said jackpot payout schedule includes a set of at least five non-progressive jackpot component prizes.
    [19] 19. The method according to claim 17 wherein said wagering game comprises a live casino table game.
    [20] 20. The method according to claim 18 wherein said set includes at least five fixed value jackpot component prizes.
    [21] 21. The method according to claim 17 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [22] 22. The method according to claim 18 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty gents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [23] 23. The method according to claim 19 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [24] 24. The method according to claim 20 wherein at least two of said second wager option values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [25] 25. The method according to claim 19 wherein said wagering game consists essentially of a card game.
    [26] 26. The method according to claim 17 wherein at least one of said non-progressive jackpot component prizes possesses a value of at least one thousand (U.S.) dollars.
    [27] 27. The method according to claim 26 wherein at least one of said non-progressive jackpot component prizes possesses a value of at least one million (U.S.) dollars.
    [28] 28. The method according to claim 17 wherein said second wager option values include twenty-five cents, fifty cents, and one dollar in U.S. or Canadian monetary denominations and wherein the portions of the corresponding jackpot prize are twenty-five percent, fifty percent, and one hundred percent.
    [29] 29. A method of including a jackpot component as an additional feature in a wagering game, comprising the steps of:(a) affording a player an opportunity to make a first wager to participate only in said wagering game;(b) affording the player an opportunity to make a second wager to participate in said jackpot component, wherein no portion of said second wager contributes to the play or winnings of said wagering game;(c) affording the player an option of selecting one of a plurality of second wager values;(d) presenting to the player at least one progressive jackpot component prize, each prize having an associated value and a corresponding wagering game condition;(e) after steps (a) - (d), determining whether a player who has made said second wager has achieved one of said at least one wagering game conditions, and if so, awarding to the player a portion of the associated value of said progressive jackpot component prize substantially in proportion to the ratio of the value of the second wager value selected by the player to the value of the highest second wager value, and wherein said player is awarded one hundred percent of said progressive jackpot component prize if said player selected the highest second wager value and achieved said wagering game condition.
    [30] 30. The method according to claim 29 wherein the player is presented with at least two progressive jackpot component prizes.
    [31] 31. The method according to claim 29 wherein said wagering game comprises a live casino table game.
    [32] 32. The method according to claim 29 wherein at least two of said plurality of second wager values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [33] 33. The method according to claim 30 wherein at least two of said plurality of second wager values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [34] 34. The method according to claim 31 wherein at least two of said plurality of second wager values are selected from the group consisting of: five cents, ten cents, twenty-five cents, fifty cents, one dollar, and five dollars, in either U.S. or Canadian currency.
    [35] 35. The method according to claim 31 wherein said wagering game consists essentially of a card game.
    [36] 36. The method according to claim 29 wherein said at least one progressive jackpot component prize possesses a value of at least one thousand (U.S.) dollars.
    [37] 37. The method according to claim 36 wherein said at least one progressive jackpot component prize possesses a value of at least one million (U.S.) dollars.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    法律状态:
    2001-12-13| EEER| Examination request|
    2004-10-25| FZDE| Dead|
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    US69753000A| true| 2000-10-26|2000-10-26||
    US09/697,530||2000-10-26||
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