WO2007069259A2

WO2007069259A2 - Multi-player slot machine

Info

Publication number: WO2007069259A2
Application number: PCT/IL2006/001448
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tal Giladi; Jacob Shashoua; Yuval Dagan; Roy Livay
Original assignee: Tal Giladi; Jacob Shashoua; Yuval Dagan; Roy Livay
Priority date: 2005-12-16
Filing date: 2006-12-14
Publication date: 2007-06-21
Also published as: WO2007069259A3

Abstract

The present embodiments comprise an apparatus and a method for a multi-player slot machine. The slot machine allows for any number of players to play against each other and does not require a house or bank. The slot machine configures itself according to the number of players, say N, by providing N+1 wheels and N indicators or symbols.

Description

MULTI-PLAYER SLOT MACHINE

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a multi-player slot machine and, more particularly, but not exclusively to a physical slot machine, to a virtual slot machine and to a virtual slot-machine type game for playing over a network such as the Internet.

Today slot machines are well known at places of entertainment, and slot machine games can be played over the Internet. In physical slot machines a player places a bet by putting some money in the slot and operates the machine. Operating the machine sets a series of wheels in motion which have images, the images being indicators or symbols, on the circumference. If the wheels stop with certain predetermined alignments of images then the player wins, depending on the value of the particular alignment - not all alignments are equally probable. If the player wins then the machine pays out. Otherwise the machine does not pay anything. In either case a single player plays against the machine and prizes are paid from an overall pot that belongs to the machine owner, 'the house'.

Slot machines are also played in the virtual environment, including remotely over the Internet. In such a case there is no physical machine but the wheels may be simulated to provide a virtual slot machine. Apart from that, operation is the same, and the individual player is paid winnings from the machine owner, the house, as before.

In the case of a real machine, someone has to buy the machine, own the premises and in most jurisdictions obtain a gaming license. Thus there is always a natural entity to provide the 'house'. The same is not true regarding the Internet.

Nevertheless there is the need for a house to serve as a bank in order to pay out winnings.

Furthermore the slot machine is intrinsically a "one-player against the house" type game. The Internet however is a flexible medium in which it is easy to arrange groups of people to work together or against each other and the virtual slot machine is easy to configure so the question is whether it is possible to find alternative games based on the slot machine configuration that are suitable for the virtual environment. International Patent Application No. PCT WO2005/094347 teaches a slot machine that supports team play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a slot machine having a plurality of rotating wheels and indicators circumferentially arranged on said rotating wheels, each wheel being independently rotatable to reach a stopping position in which one of the indicators is selected, thereby to award prizes in accordance with a combination of selected indicators, the improvement being that a number of different indicators is provided, said number being the same as a number of current players, such that each different indicator is assignable to a different player, thereby allowing a plurality of players to play against each other. This is irrespective of there being additional non-assigned indicators or blank spaces. In an embodiment the players can be assigned different numbers of indicators according to the stake placed, or the same indicators may appear a certain number of times on the wheels according to the stake placed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of playing a slot machine game for a plurality of players, comprising: providing a number of slot machine wheels equal to a number of current players plus one; providing a number of different indicators distributed about a periphery of said slot machine wheels such that different indicators can be assigned to current players, randomly rotating said wheels such that the wheels come to rest in positions selective of one of said indicators per wheel; and selecting a winner whose assigned indicator is selected most often.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of configuring a slot machine for a predetermined number of players comprising: providing a first number of wheels at least equal to said predetermined number of players plus one; providing a second number of different indicators for disposal circumferentially about said wheels, such that said second number is at least equal to said predetermined number. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The materials, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. Implementation of the method and system of the present invention involves performing or completing certain selected tasks or steps manually, automatically, or a combination thereof. Moreover, according to actual instrumentation and equipment of preferred embodiments of the method and system of the present invention, several selected steps could be implemented by hardware or by software on any operating system of any firmware or a combination thereof. For example, as hardware, selected steps of the invention could be implemented as a chip or a circuit. As software, selected steps of the invention could be implemented as a plurality of software instructions being executed by a computer using any suitable operating system. In any case, selected steps of the method and system of the invention could be described as being performed by a data processor, such as a computing platform for executing a plurality of instructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in order to provide what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of a slot machine according to the present invention configured for two players;

Fig. 2 shows possible results of a slot machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention configured for two players; Fig. 3 shows an alternative result according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention configured for three players;

Fig. 4 shows a possible result with a slot machine according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention configured for four players; Fig. 5 is a simplified diagram showing how respinning one of the wheels in fig.

4 can resolve a tie situation between two players;

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating game flow according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flow chart showing game flow for tie resolution according to the embodiment of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing alternative game flow for tie resolution according to the embodiment of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a simplified diagram showing a server - client configuration of the present embodiments for use over a network such as the Internet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present embodiments comprise an apparatus and a method for a multi- player slot machine. The slot machine allows for any number of players to play against each other and does not require a house or bank. The slot machine configures itself according to the number of players, say N, by providing N+l wheels and N indicators or symbols.

The principles and operation of an apparatus and method according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and accompanying description. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

Reference is now made to Fig. 1, which is a simplified diagram illustrating a typic Slot machine 10 has a plurality of rotating wheels 12, 14 and 16, which sit inside the machine and whose circumferential faces appear at the front of the machine. In the instance shown there are three wheels although as will be explained below this number may change depending on the number of players and the stage in the gameplay. Indicators 18 are circumferentially arranged on the wheels 12, 14 and 16. The indicators may be numbers or symbols. There are a certain number of different indicators each repeated more than once. Preferably each different indicator, meaning each number or symbol, appears at least once on each wheel and may appear more than once on the same wheel. The wheels are set to spin together but in fact proceed with independent rotations. At the end of a spin each wheel reaches a stopping position at which one of its indicators is centrally aligned at the face of the machine along alignment 20. It will be appreciated that the wheels may additionally have blank positions or unassigned symbols. The slot machine awards prizes depending on the combination of indicators that arrive in the alignment position. The skilled person will appreciate that diagonals or other lines may also be used to determine winning positions.

In the traditional slot machine game a single player plays against the house. The cost of each spin of the wheels is fixed and a prize is paid out depending on the rarity of the alignment achieved.

In the present embodiments a number of players participate and indicators are associated with individual players. The slot machine is configured explicitly for the number of players. Thus one wheel is provided per player plus one additional wheel, and one symbol or indicator is provided per participant. The indicators are placed on the wheels so that each wheel aligns one indicator after being spun. The winner is the player whose indicator (or indicators) appears most often along alignment 20.

In the simplest case there are two players competing against each other. There are thus provided two different symbols, say 1 and 2. There are also provided three wheels, that is the number of players plus one. Each symbol appears at least once on each wheel and in order to make the game fair should appear an equal number of times overall, evenly distributed between the wheels.

In one variation the number of times a given player's symbol appears on the wheels may be related to the size of the stake he places. Thus the game favors the larger stake but allows different players to choose their own preferred level of stake. The wheels are spun and a final alignment is reached which involves the threes wheels each showing one of the two indicators. Figure 2 shows a possible result in which player 1 is the winner.

Table 1 below shows the different result combinations for two players. It will be seen that for two players there is always a winner. As will be discussed below the same is not necessarily true for higher numbers of players.

Table 1 Result Combinations for Two Players - always a clear winner

We now move to the case where there are three players. In such a case there are provided three different indicators, say 1, 2 and 3, and four wheels. In such a case there may be an outright winner but there may also be a tie between two players, thus the combinations 1122, 1212, 2121, 2211, 2112, 1221, indicate a tie between players 1 and 2. In all possible cases of a tie in a game of three players one of the three players is eliminated and the other two tie. Thus an additional round of the game can be provided in order to resolve the tie. In the additional round one wheel and one indicator are removed as per the eliminated player and the game is repeated with three wheels and two symbols. The three wheels and two symbols version guarantees a winner as explained above and the game is thus won. For three players, four wheels and three symbols are provided as illustrated in

Fig. 3 which shows a result in which player 2 wins.

For four players, five wheels and four symbols are provided, and an example is shown in Fig. 4. For five players, six wheels and five symbols are provided and so on. In the event of a tie one or more further rounds are played with fewer wheels and fewer symbols until a clear winner emerges.

Referring again to Fig. 1, and numeral 22 indicates a field on the slot machine in which specific indicators are assigned to particular players. The indicators may be assigned automatically to the players, or the players may select their preferred indicators from a menu. In one embodiment the slot machine may be configured to accept particular image file types to allow users to provide their own custom indicators.

Considering the result shown in Fig. 4, there is a tie between players 1 and 2, who appear twice each. Player 3 appears once and clearly loses, and player 4 does not appear at all. One way of solving the tie is to use the method described above, eliminate both players 3 and 4 and reduce the game to the two tied players and three wheels. However another method is to retain all five wheels but simply respin any wheel showing an eliminated symbol until a winner emerges. Thus the first wheel in Fig. 4, currently showing a three, is respun. A possible result is that shown in Fig. 5 from which player 2 clearly emerges as a winner.

It will be appreciated that for a typical mechanical slot machine it is not easy to change numbers of wheels and indicators in the middle of a game and thus for the mechanical machine a variation is preferred in which all wheels continue to be used for all rounds. A symbol belonging to an eliminated player is simply regarded as a blank position. Thus if player number three is eliminated in a first round, leaving players 2 and 1, and then in the following round, a result 3331 is achieved, then all of the 3's are regarded as blanks and player 1 is declared the winner.

If the wheels and the indicators are virtual, then the machine is simply reconfigured for each round.

In one preferred embodiment the entire slot machine is a virtual slot machine. In a variation of such an embodiment the slot machine is provided at a network server which manages the wheel spin. The results of the wheel spin are transmitted to client programs at computing devices connecting over a network so that remote users can participate in the game. As will be explained below, such a system may be provided over the Internet.

Reference is now made to Fig. 6, which is a simplified flow chart illustrating gameflow according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 6 the number of players is firstly finalized. Then there is a stage of configuring the slot machine which involves providing a number of slot machine wheels equal to the number of current players plus one, and providing a number of symbols equal to the current number of players as explained above. Thus for N players there are N symbols and N+l wheels. The N symbols are assigned to the different players. This may be carried out automatically or the available symbols may be chosen by the various players, say from a menu. The wheels are then set in rotation and come to rest with one symbol or indicator selected per wheel. The winner is then the player whose indicator appears most often. A prize is awarded as appropriate and the game ends.

In the event of a tie the gameplay proceeds to either Fig. 7 or Fig. 8. In Fig. 7 a new number N' of tied players is calculated. A wheel and a symbol are removed for each losing player to leave the slot machine with N' symbols and N'+l wheels. The wheels are spun and again a prize is awarded to the winning player if there is one. If there is no winner then the tied players compete again. It will be appreciated that once the number of players has been reduced to two, a winner will necessarily emerge.

As an alternative to the gameflow of Fig. 7, reference is now made to Fig. 8. In the gameflow of Fig. 8 a tie has occurred between some of the players, with other players being clearly eliminated. A wheel or wheels are identified that carry the symbols of the eliminated players and these wheels are respun until they show the symbols of one of the tied players. The procedure of Fig. 8 is feasible as long as one symbol of an eliminated player is showing so that there is a wheel to respin, otherwise the procedure of Fig. 7 is followed. Reference is now made to Fig. 9 which shows a server 30 which runs a virtual slot machine according to the present embodiments. The virtual slot machine may typically be a feature provided as part of a website. A network 32 allows userL.user N to connect. User 1 connects via an installed user client 34 which he has actively downloaded from the server and which supports a front end for the virtual slot machine. The client typically displays the image of the slot machine on the user's screen, provides an animation for rotation of the wheel, enters user interaction and displays the results as numbers or symbols in alignment positions. User 2 has not explicitly downloaded a user client but receives the same functionality from a web page downloaded via his browser 36. Generally, the installed client provides smoother results as far as the user is concerned but some users are reluctant to download clients over the Internet or may be playing from behind firewalls which do not allow them to download active content. It is expected that during the life of this patent many relevant devices and systems will be developed and the scope of the terms herein is intended to include all such new technologies a priori.

It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference, hi addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.

Claims

W10 CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A slot machine having a plurality of rotating wheels and indicators circumferentially arranged on said rotating wheels, each wheel being independently rotatable to reach a stopping position in which one of said indicators is selected, thereby to award prizes in accordance with a combination of selected indicators, the improvement being that a number of different indicators is provided, , such that each different indicator is assignable to a different player, thereby allowing a plurality of players to play against each other.

2. A slot machine according to claim 1, wherein the number of different indicators is the same as or greater than a number of players.

3. The slot machine of claim 1, wherein said plurality of rotating wheels comprises a number of rotating wheels, said number being at least one greater than a number of current players.

4. The slot machine of claim 3, wherein said number of rotating wheels is one more than said number of current players.

5. The slot machine of claim 3, wherein there is at least one of each different indicator on each wheel.

6. The slot machine of claim 5, wherein one of said wheels is removable together with one of said symbols to provide an extended game in which players are eliminated.

7. The slot machine of claim 5, wherein a symbol is designated as neutral upon elimination of a corresponding player.

8. The slot machine of claim 6, wherein said plurality of wheels and said different indicators are software configurable.

9. A method of playing a slot machine game for a plurality of players, comprising: providing a number of slot machine wheels equal to a number of current players plus one; providing a number of different indicators distributed about peripheries of said slot machine wheels such that different indicators can be assigned to current players, randomly rotating said wheels such that at least one of the wheels comes to rest in a position selective of one of said indicators per wheel; and selecting a winner whose assigned indicator is selected most often.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising additional indicators not assigned to players or blank spaces, said additional indicators or blank spaces being distributed about said peripheries.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein, when there is a tie between players, removing a wheel and at least one symbol for each losing players and repeating said step of randomly rotating said wheels until a winner is indicated.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising undesignating a symbol associated with a losing player when there is a tie between players.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein when there is a tie between players rerotating a wheel indicating a losing player until a winner is indicated.

14. A method of configuring a slot machine for a predetermined number of players comprising: providing a first number of wheels which number is greater than said predetermined number of players; providing a second number of different indicators for disposal circumferentially about said wheels, such that said second number is at least equal to said predetermined number.