Method and system for player group sharing and redistributing gaming awards

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12322255-B2
Application number	US-202418423466-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2024
Priority date	Feb 20, 2019
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

An electronic gaming system is capable of forming a multi-player group to play a game; receiving, from a first gaming device, first game play information for a first game played by a first player member of the multi-player group on the first gaming device; determining that the first game play information comprises a first winning outcome corresponding to a first winning outcome; in response, allocating the first winning outcome among the first and second player members; and notifying a second gaming device of the second player member that the second player member has received the second portion of the first winning outcome.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for multi-player winning outcomes in a gaming system, comprising:
forming, by a gaming system using a set of group initiation rules, a multi-player group to play a gaming session comprising multiple games to be played on multiple electronic gaming machines by the multi-player group, the multi-player group comprising multiple player members;
receiving, by the gaming system, first game play information for a first game in the gaming session played by a first player member of the multi-player group;
determining, by the gaming system, that the first game play information comprises a first winning outcome;
in response to determining that the first game play information comprises the first winning outcome, updating a group electronic record associated with the multi-player group to reflect the first winning outcome;
receiving, by the gaming system, second game play information for a second game in the gaming session played by a second player member of the multi-player group;
determining, by the gaming system, that the second game play information comprises a second winning outcome;
in response to determining that the second game play information comprises the second winning outcome, updating the group electronic record associated with the multi-player group to reflect the second winning outcome;
identifying, by the gaming system, an occurrence of a group ending event;
in response to the identified occurrence of the group ending event, terminating, by the gaming system, the multi-player group and gaming session in accordance with a set of group ending rules; and
updating, by the gaming system, the group electronic record and separate electronic records of the first and second player members to reflect an allocation of the first and second winning outcomes between the first and second player members.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaming system comprises an electronic gaming machine, wherein the first game comprises a slot game, wherein the first winning outcome comprises a jackpot, wherein each of the first and second player members in the multi-player group plays the first and second games, respectively, independent of games in the gaming session played by other player members of the multi-player group, and further comprising:
receiving, by the gaming system and from a first electronic gaming machine associated with the first player member, a group formation request to form the multi-player group, the group formation request comprising a number of player members invited to be in the multi-player group, an invitation code to be input by each of the invited player members, and a predetermined award distribution rule set defining a winning outcome allocation among the player members of the multi-player group.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first winning outcome comprises a progressive jackpot, wherein different player members have different allocable shares, and further comprising:
receiving, by the gaming system and from a second electronic gaming machine associated with the second player member, a join request to join the multi-player group, the join request comprising the invitation code and agreement by the second player member to award distribution and group ending rule sets; and
initiating, by the gaming system, updating the group electronic record in response to winning outcomes when a join request is received from the number of player members in the multi-player group; and wherein the terminating comprises terminating, by the gaming system, the multi-player group when a duration of the multi-player group reaches a predetermined time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaming system comprises a gaming machine, wherein one of the player members in the multi-player group plays a game in the gaming session independent of games in the gaming session played by other player members in the multi-player group, wherein the first winning outcome comprises a bonus, and further comprising:
initiating, by the gaming system, the first winning outcome allocating and gaming device notifying after termination of a join time interval determined by the gaming system; and
incrementing, by the gaming system, a value of an electronic record associated with an account of each of the first and second player members of the multi-player group to reflect an allocable share of the first winning outcome, wherein an allocable share of each player member is determined pseudo-randomly on a winning outcome-by-winning outcome basis, wherein updating the first and second player member electronic records occurs after termination of the gaming session, and wherein different player members have different allocable shares.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming comprises:
receiving, by the gaming system and from the first player member, a group formation request to form the multi-player group to play the gaming session, the group formation request comprising a number of potential player members to be invited to be in the multi-player group and a predetermined sequence of characters to be input by each invited potential player member and one of a predetermined rule set defining an allocation of a winning outcome among player members of the multi-player group and a duration of the multi-player group;
sending, via a network interface to the number of potential player members, a join request comprising an invitation to join the multi-player group;
receiving, by the gaming system and from a selected potential player member of the number of potential player members, a join request response to join the multi-player group, the join request response comprising a sequence of characters;
validating, by the gaming system, the join request response of the selected potential player member by confirming: that the sequence of characters in the join request response matches the predetermined sequence of characters and one of that a location of a user device corresponding to the selected potential player member is within a specified location, that the join request response was received within a selected period of time, that the join request response was sent by a selected communication modality, and that the join request response was received substantially synchronously with a group chat comprising the selected potential player member; and
when the join request response of the selected potential player member is validated successfully, designating, by the gaming system, the selected potential player member as a player member of the multi-player group.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the join request response comprises an agreement by the selected potential player member to the predetermined rule set, wherein the group ending event is expiration of a predetermined time, and wherein the multiple games are played substantially simultaneously by the player members of the multi-player group, wherein the gaming system validates successfully each join request response of the number of potential player members, wherein the join request responses are received from a plurality of user devices comprising electronic gaming machines, wherein the multiple games comprise a slot game, wherein the winning outcome comprises a jackpot, and wherein one of the player members in the multi-player group plays a game in the gaming session independent of games in the gaming session played by other player members of the multi-player group.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the group formation request comprises an identity of each of the number of potential player members, and contact information for each of the number of potential player members or user devices of each of the number of potential player members, wherein the predetermined sequence of characters comprises a unique invitation

Assignees

• Igt Reno Nev

Inventors

• Yi Fei
• Gong Wei

Classifications

• G07F17/3225

  Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users · CPC title

• G07F17/3281

  wherein game attributes are transferred between players, e.g. points, weapons, avatars · CPC title

• G07F17/3274

  wherein the players cooperate, e.g. team-play · CPC title

• G07F17/3253 Primary

  involving articles, e.g. paying in bottles, paying out toys · CPC title

• G07F17/3272 Primary

  Games involving multiple players · CPC title