Gaming system and method of gaming having player-selectable win lines

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9367999-B2
Application number	US-201213523274-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2012
Priority date	Jun 3, 2008
Publication date	Jun 14, 2016
Grant date	Jun 14, 2016

Abstract

A gaming system comprising a display area and a player symbol selector for selecting the player symbols from a plurality of player symbols. The player symbol selector comprises a plurality of reels and each reel has a plurality of player symbols. The player symbol selector is arranged so that selected player symbols are displayed at an array of display positions when the reels are stationary. A display position selector enables a player to select, prior to stopping of the reels, groups of display positions. An award allocator allocates an award associated with a winning combination of the player symbols when a winning combination of the player symbols is displayed along a win line. The player symbol selector is arranged so that each one of different player symbols of each reel has the same probability to be displayed at any one of the display positions associated with that reel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A gaming system comprising:
a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity;
a display device having a plurality of groups of display positions;
a plurality of rotatable reels, each rotatable reel comprising a plurality of player symbols, each of the plurality of rotatable reels corresponding to a said group, and arranged so that a plurality of the player symbols are displayed in said groups of display positions when the rotatable reels stop rotating;
a player symbol selector configured to select at least one of the player symbols to be displayed, in accord with having established the credit balance via the credit input mechanism receiving the physical item;
a rotation controller configured to control rotation and stopping of the rotatable reels;
a display position selector configured to receive from a player a selection of one or more of said groups, and in response to one or more of said groups being unselected, separately from the selection of the one or more of said groups, a selection of a display position of each of the unselected one or more of said groups, and to form at least one win line, prior to stopping of the rotatable reels, the win line comprising a) all display positions of the one or more of said groups selected by the player, and b) the selected display position of each of the unselected groups selected by the player; and
an award allocator configured to allocate an award when a winning combination of the player symbols is displayed along said at least one win line;
wherein each of the player symbols of each reel has the same probability to be displayed at any one of the display positions associated with the selected one or more groups.

2. The gaming system of claim 1 wherein each reel has a plurality of stops and wherein each stop is associated with a weighted stopping probability.

3. The gaming system of claim 2 wherein each reel has a plurality of stops and wherein each stop is associated with a range of numbers defining the weighted stopping probability, the player symbol selector comprising a random number generator configured to randomly select one of the ranges of numbers and thereby select player symbol for display in the respective groups of display positions.

4. The gaming system of claim 3 , wherein a total number of weights is N, and X number of said ranges are consecutive ranges of numbers associated with stops of at least one of the reels, wherein X is the number of stops of the reel and wherein the ranges of the numbers are extended so as to account for a number of duplicate player symbols associated with the reel.

5. The gaming system of claim 1 wherein the at least one win line is one of a number of win lines, and wherein the number of win lines is m multiplied by n* where m is the number of rows of the array and n* is the number of selected groups of display positions.

6. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one win line comprises a respective sequence of adjacent display positions including one display position of a column and display positions of a row of adjacent rows.

7. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one win line comprises a respective sequence of adjacent display positions including one display position of a column and display positions of a centre row.

8. The gaming system of claim 1 wherein the groups of display positions are columns of display positions.

9. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more of said groups of display positions selectable by a player is selected by placing one or more bets.

10. The gaming system of claim 9 , wherein the number of bets is proportional to the number of selected one or more groups of display positions.

11. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the awards associated with winning combinations are larger for a larger number of selected one or more groups of display positions than for a smaller number of selected one or more groups of display positions.

12. The gaming system of claim 1 , wherein the award is a function of the quantity of the selected one or more groups of display positions such that a return-to-player percentage (RTP) is above a predetermined return-to-player percentage.

13. A gaming device comprising:
a credit input mechanism configured to receive a physical item associated with a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the credit balance being increasable and decreasable based at least on wagering activity;
a display device having a plurality of columns and rows;
a plurality of electro-mechanical reels each having a periphery displaying gaming symbols and a stop S associated with each of said symbols, at least one of said electro-mechanical reels being selectable and, in response to one of said electro-mechanical reels being unselected, at least one of said rows of the unselected electro-mechanical reels being selectable by a player;
a player symbol selector configured to, in accord with having established the credit balance via the credit input mechanism receiving the physical item, receive from a player a selection of one or more of said groups, and in response to one or more of said groups being unselected, separately from the selection of the one or more of said groups, a selection of a display position of each of the unselected one or more of said groups, and to form a pay line, prior to stopping of the rotatable reels, the pay line comprising a) all display positions of the one or more of said groups selected by the player, and b) the selected display position of each of the unselected groups selected by the player;
a rotation controller for starting and stopping rotation of each reel, said reels when stopped defining a) a display matrix of n columns and m rows on said display and b) one or more outcomes;
a processor to control the device to stop each reel at a stop S determined by, for each reel having TW number of stop S's, said TW of stops being divided into X number of ranges, assigning to each stop S one of said X number of ranges such that the probability of any symbol appearing in any row m is the same; and
a random number generator configured to randomly select a number below TW for each reel, said number falling in an assigned range for a selected stop S, said processor configured to control the device to rotate and stop said reel at the selected stop and determine at least any winning outcomes based on the formed pay line; and
a prize allocator configured to, in response to a winning combination of the player symbols being displayed, make any award corresponding to the winning combination of the player symbols.

14. The device of claim 13 comprising a wagering apparatus for the player to wager on at least one symbol arrangement of the outcome, the number possible symbol arrangements being m multiplied by n.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the wagering apparatus provides for the player to wager on predetermined symbol arrangements.

16. The device of claim 15 wherein the predetermined symbol arrangements include one reel defining a column n and the centre row of remaining columns.

17. The device of claim 13 wherein the processor is configured to determine winning symbol combinations in any wagered arrangement and to issue an award therefore.

18. The device of claim 17 wherein the processor is also be configured to issue an award to the player for any winning arrangement base

Assignees

• Stewart Scott Monroe
• Aristocrat Technologies Au

Inventors

• Stewart Scott Monroe

Classifications

• G07F17/3232

  wherein the operator is informed · CPC title

• G07F17/34 Primary

  depending on the stopping of moving members {in a mechanical slot machine}, e.g. "fruit" machines · CPC title

• G07F17/3244

  Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes · CPC title

• G07F17/3213 Primary

  Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members · CPC title