EP0688002B1 - Méthode pour sélecter des positions d'arrêt des roues d'une machine à sous - Google Patents

Méthode pour sélecter des positions d'arrêt des roues d'une machine à sous Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0688002B1
EP0688002B1 EP95303808A EP95303808A EP0688002B1 EP 0688002 B1 EP0688002 B1 EP 0688002B1 EP 95303808 A EP95303808 A EP 95303808A EP 95303808 A EP95303808 A EP 95303808A EP 0688002 B1 EP0688002 B1 EP 0688002B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
reel
tier
node
symbols
symbol
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP95303808A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0688002A1 (fr
Inventor
Neil D. Nicastro
Timothy J. Durham
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WMS Gaming Inc
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WMS Gaming Inc
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US08/259,786 external-priority patent/US5423541A/en
Application filed by WMS Gaming Inc filed Critical WMS Gaming Inc
Publication of EP0688002A1 publication Critical patent/EP0688002A1/fr
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Publication of EP0688002B1 publication Critical patent/EP0688002B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3244—Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/326—Game play aspects of gaming systems
    • G07F17/3262—Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
    • G07F17/3265—Influencing the position of stopped moving members to achieve a winning arrangement, e.g. nudging, shuffling, holding

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to gaming apparatus and, more particularly, to electronic reel-type slot machines having a plurality of reels rotatable about a common axis.
  • a payoff is made to a player when a winning set of symbols is displayed on the pay line(s) of the machine.
  • a button is pushed or a handle is pulled to initiate rotation of the reels.
  • the angular positions of the reels, after they have been stopped, is detected and the appropriate payoff amount, if any, is calculated and paid to the player.
  • Another approach in modern machines uses a random number generator to select the symbols to be displayed on the pay line(s). The payoff is then determined based on a pay table which contains payoff amounts for the various winning symbol combinations. Payoff amounts provided by either approach are limited because there is a fixed limit on the probability of obtaining the maximum payoff, which is the reciprocal of the number of reel stop positions per reel raised to the power of the number of reels.
  • One method of increasing payoff values in a prior art electronic slot machine design is to employ a "virtual reel". According to this method, a plurality of numbers are assigned to most of the physical reel stop positions and at least one number is assigned to every physical reel stop position. In this way, the chances of winning the larger payoffs can be decreased by assigning these stop combinations to fewer numbers.
  • EP-A-0391667 describes a slot machine in which decisions on winning hits are also taken by a random number generator.
  • the output of a first random number generator is fed to a first judgement section which decides if a winning combination is possible, and if so, the results of a second random number generator are used to determine the type of winning selection.
  • the present invention provides an alternative method for increasing payoff levels in electronic reel-type slot machines by the provision of a method of selecting symbol combinations to be displayed on the payline or lines of a multi-reel slot machine.
  • the method comprises the steps of providing a symbol look-up table in a memory device either for each reel or for a combination of reels, the or each look-up table being arranged in a tree branch structure containing tiers, each tier comprising nodes, each node comprising either a terminal node or a descending node which leads to a lower tier, and at least one tier reached via a descending node from a higher tier, said at least one tier also including a descending node leading to a lower tier, storing the symbol or symbols to be displayed in the corresponding look-up table at terminal node locations within the tree branch structure and randomly selecting a single node in each tier which is reached, and controlling the reels to display the symbol or symbols stored in any selected terminal node, wherein the symbols are stored at terminal node locations corresponding to desired pay-off probabilities determined by the positions of storage locations within the or each tree branch structure.
  • the odds of obtaining a particular winning symbol set can be "dialed in” by assigning each possible reel stop combination to a unique terminal node (position) in a random number fractional branching tree.
  • the tree comprises a main tier, a plurality of lower tiers and a plurality of terminal nodes.
  • Each of the tiers has a number of entries which lead either to a lower tier or to a terminal node.
  • one of the entries on the main tier is randomly selected by the game microprocessor. If the randomly selected entry leads to a lower tier, then one of the entries on that tier is randomly selected. This selection process continues for each successive tier until a terminal node is selected. One reel stop combination is assigned to each terminal node. The combination assigned to the selected terminal node is then displayed on the pay line(s) of the slot machine. A payoff is made to the player if the combination displayed corresponds to a winning symbol combination in a posted pay table.
  • one fractional branching tree is utilized for each reel strip, each tree having a main tier, a plurality of lower tiers and a plurality of terminal nodes. All of the symbols for each reel are assigned to unique terminal nodes in the fractional branching tree corresponding thereto.
  • the selection process described above is used to randomly select a terminal node and the symbol assigned thereto for each of the reels. The selected combination is displayed and a payoff is made if it corresponds to a winning symbol combination in a posted pay table.
  • Figure 1 shows a typical electronic reel-type slot machine which may incorporate the present invention.
  • Figure 2 illustrates one example of three reel "strips" containing symbols positioned at the stop positions.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system for the present invention.
  • Figure 4 is a table showing the payoffs and desired odds of obtaining a winning symbol set for the reel strips of Figure 2.
  • Figure 5 illustrates a first embodiment of a fractional branching tier system of the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a computer flow diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 7 illustrates a second example of three reel "strips" containing symbols positioned at the stop positions.
  • Figure 8 is a table showing payoffs and desired odds of obtaining a winning symbol set for the reel strips of Figure 7.
  • Figure 9 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a fractional branching tier system of the present invention.
  • Figure 10 illustrates one example of three reel "strips" containing symbols positioned at the stop positions for an alternate embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 11 is a table showing the payoffs and the odds of obtaining a winning symbol set for the reel strips of Figure 10.
  • Figure 12 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a fractional branching tier system of the present invention.
  • Figure 13 is a computer flow diagram illustrating the alternate embodiment of the invention presented in Figures 10-12.
  • Slot machine 10 includes a handle 12, a coin slot 14, payout trough 22 and reels, each having a plurality of stop positions thereon.
  • Each reel includes a system of symbols which are used to display an outcome of a game which is played on slot machine 10.
  • slot machine 10 includes three slot reels 16, 18 and 20, each of which has eighteen stop positions each of which corresponds to a symbol. The symbols form combinations which correspond to a pay table displayed to the player.
  • slot machine 10 can incorporate any number of reels and that the reels can include any reasonable number of stop positions. Any system of symbols can be utilized a long as there is one symbol, which may include a "blank" symbol, corresponding to each stop position on each reel.
  • the game start button and/or handle is enabled. By pushing the start button or pulling the handle, the player causes the microprocessor control system to spin the reels in an attempt to win money if a winning set of symbols is chosen and displayed on the pay line 24.
  • Figure 2 illustrates an example of three reel "strips" which can be attached to reels 16-20.
  • Each of the reel strips contain a system of symbols as discussed above and, in this example, has eighteen discrete physical stop positions at which one of the symbols is displayed. It should be noted that duplicate symbols can be employed on each reel.
  • reel one displays two "7s,” two triple bars, four double bars, three single bars and seven blanks;
  • reel two displays three "7s,” two triple bars, two double bars, four single bars and seven blanks;
  • reel three displays two "7s,” three triple bars two double bars, four single bars and seven blanks.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system suitable for practicing the present invention.
  • Coin detector 24 sends a signal to microprocessor 26 when a coin is inserted into coin slot 14. The microprocessor then randomly selects the symbol set to be displayed on the pay line. If a player wins, then microprocessor 26 signals the conventional coin mechanism 28 to dispense a payoff to the player via coin payout trough 22.
  • Reel motor and step controller 30 rotates the reels 16-20 in response to a signal from microprocessor 26.
  • the signal is generated after a coin input and player operation of the handle 12 or the start button.
  • Controller 30 stops the reels at positions determined by the microprocessor such that the reels display three symbols on the pay line 22.
  • microprocessor 26 randomly selects one of the reel stop combinations for display on the pay line. To ensure that the selected reel stop combination is displayed, detector 32 provides feedback signals to microprocessor 26 which are representative of the rotational position of each reel relative to pay line 22. Feedback of this type is utilized in accordance with well known techniques in this art.
  • Figure 4 shows a symbol table which lists the winning sets of symbols A-F and the losing sets of symbols G that can be displayed on pay line 22 for the reel strips of Figure 2. Also listed in Figure 4 are the number of physical reel stop combinations and the desired win percentages which correspond to the symbol sets A-G.
  • the odds of obtaining a particular symbol set can be controlled by assigning each possible reel stop combination to a unique terminal node in a random number branching tree. The location in the tree affects the likelihood of the symbol combination being selected.
  • the desired odds listed in Figure 4 are implemented by the fractional branching tree 38 of Figure 5.
  • Branching tree 38 includes a plurality of tiers 40-54 having level values of 0.10 to 0.00001 and a plurality of entries which lead either to lower tiers or to terminal nodes.
  • the tree is a conceptual device which is used to explain the method of the invention.
  • each reel stop combination is stored in a ROM memory look-up table corresponding to its terminal node location in tree 38.
  • Each one of the possible reel stop combinations is assigned only once in the tree structure and thus to only one memory location in ROM 34.
  • the odds for each of the symbol sets A-G may be calculated from the tree as follows. For each tier in tree 38, the number of terminal nodes associated with a particular symbol set is multiplied by that tier's level value. These numbers are then summed to compute the odds.
  • the desired odds of obtaining three triple bars, symbol set B is .00180.
  • one "B” is placed at tier 46 and eight “B” are placed at tiers 50 and 52.
  • the third term in the calculation requires explanation. It relates to the sub-tier 51 dropping from tier 50. Note that Figure 4 requires 12 unique ways to display three triple bars. To include all of these combinations and still obtain the desired odds, it is necessary to lower one of the B combinations to a sub-tier in which all of the nodes are set B. The remaining number of nodes in the sub-tier is equal to the number of combinations not used in setting the odds. Thus, sub-tier 51 has four nodes set to B.
  • the probability of obtaining a B combination is 1.0, the only question being which B combination.
  • Microprocessor 26 randomly selects one of the nodes of the sub-tier to determine which reel stop combination is displayed on the pay line. A similar exercise is employed to implement the probabilities for each of the other symbol groups A and C-G.
  • the desired odds could be implemented without the use of sub-tiers. In that case, however, not all of the possible combinations of the symbol sets would be displayed. As it is desirable to be able to display each possible combination for a symbol set, the use of sub-tiers is preferred.
  • FIG. 6 a computer flow diagram is shown which illustrates the steps executed by microprocessor 26 to select a reel stop combination to be displayed on the pay line.
  • the steps illustrated in Figure 6 are stored as a computer program in read only memory 34 which is executed by microprocessor 26 when the game is played.
  • Current game data is stored in a random access memory (RAM) 36.
  • Figure 6 is a flow diagram which illustrates the essential program steps of the invention permitting it to be implemented on any type of computer system desired.
  • the program begins at start step 38.
  • the random number generator function of microprocessor 26 is used to randomly select one of the entries on the main tier 40 of the branching tree (steps 58-64). With reference to the branching tree of Figure 5, microprocessor 26 randomly selects an integer from 1 to 10 (or 0 to 9) which is used to select one of the ten entries on the main tier 40. If the selected entry is not a terminal node, step 66, then the program drops to the next lower tier (step 68) and repeats steps 58-64 until a terminal node is selected.
  • the unique reel stop combination assigned thereto is displayed on the pay line and the appropriate payoff, if any, is determined, step 70.
  • the payoff amounts are stored in a look-up table in ROM 34 for each of the winning symbols sets A-F ( Figure 4).
  • the reels which spin while the selection process is implemented (or spin after selection, as desired) are stopped to display the selected reel stop combination and the appropriate award is paid (steps 72-76).
  • Figure 7 illustrates a second example of three reel "strips" which can be attached to reels 16-20.
  • the winning sets of symbols A-F and the losing sets of symbols G that can be displayed on pay line 22, the corresponding payoffs and the desired win odds are listed in the table shown in Figure 8.
  • Figure 9 illustrates a second embodiment of a fractional branching tree which implements the desired odds for the example of Figures 7 and 8.
  • the number of entries on each tier leading to terminal nodes or to lower tiers is labeled in the form 1/X (1 out of X) where X is the number of entries for the tier.
  • the number of reel stop combinations for a given symbol set located on a tier is labeled directly below the tier in parenthesis, if numerous.
  • the tiers have different values of X as necessary to implement each possible reel stop combination for a given symbol set at the desired odds.
  • variable length tiers particularly for the lower tiers, allows the odds to be precisely dialed in with a minimum number of iterations of steps 60-66 ( Figure 6).
  • the desired odds of obtaining a particular set of symbols requires only a minimum number of drops to successive tiers from the main tier.
  • the desired odds of obtaining three triple bars (Group B in Figure 8) can be implemented by repeating steps 60-66 three times.
  • the desired odds (.001818) is implemented by dropping from tier 78 to sub-tier 88 via tier 80.
  • Sub-tier 88 has 22 terminal nodes of which four represent the four possible reel stop combinations for displaying three triple bars. Thus, the designation B(4) is shown at sub-tier 88.
  • the desired odds for obtaining three double bars, group C is implemented by dropping to sub-tier 100 via tiers 78, 80 and 98.
  • the desired odds of .0018 are obtained by assigning one of the eight possible reel stop combinations to tier 98 and the remaining seven combinations to sub-tier 100.
  • FIG 10 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention and three exemplary reel "strips" which can be attached to reel 16-20 shown in Figure 1.
  • Each of the reel strips contains a system of symbols and, in this example, there are five discrete physical stop positions at which one of the symbols is displayed.
  • the symbols for each reel are assigned to unique terminal nodes in a fractional branching tree corresponding to each reel.
  • each reel displays one triple bar, one double bar, one single bar and two blank symbols.
  • Figure 11 is a table which lists the winning symbol sets that can be displayed on the payline 22 (Figure 1) for the reel strips of Figure 10. Also listed in Figure 11 are the number of physical reel stop combinations and the win percentages which correspond to the winning symbol sets. The odds of obtaining a particular symbol set are determined by assigning each symbol to a terminal node in a random number branching tree for each of the reels. The location in the tree determines the probability of the symbol being selected.
  • the probability of selecting a combination of three symbols is calculated by multiplying the odds for each reel.
  • the odds listed in Figure 11 are implemented by three iterations through the fractional branching tree 150 shown in Figure 12. It will be appreciated, however, that only one tree is necessary for the reels in the illustrated embodiment because each reel contains the same system of symbols. If multiple systems of symbols are used, then a separate fractional branching tree would be utilized for each of the different system of symbols.
  • fractional branching tree 150 includes a plurality of tiers 152, 154, 156 and 158 each having entries which lead either to lower tiers or to a terminal node.
  • each of the possible symbols is assigned only once in the tree structure and, therefore, to only one memory location in ROM 34 ( Figure 3).
  • the probability for selecting each of the winning symbol sets may be calculated from three iterations through the tree 150 (or through three separate trees if separate symbol sets are used) as follows. For each tier in tree 150, the number of terminal nodes associated with a particular symbol is divided by the number of terminal nodes in that tier. If the tree contains the same symbol at different levels, then this computation is repeated for each symbol, the results being summed to arrive at the odds of selecting that symbol for a particular reel. This process is repeated three times until a symbol is selected for each of the three reel strips shown in Figure 10. Finally, the numbers obtained from each iteration through the random number tree 150 are multiplied to compute the probability of obtaining a particular combination of symbols.
  • the odds of obtaining three triple bars is 0.000244.
  • Figure 13 is a computer flow diagram illustrating the operation of the alternate embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 10-12.
  • the random number generator function of microprocessor 26 is used to randomly select entries on the main tier of the branching tree corresponding to the first reel until a terminal node is reached (steps 160-174).
  • the unique symbol assigned thereto is stored for display, step 176.
  • Steps 160-174 are repeated for each of the reels of the slot machine, step 178, using the same or a different branching tree depending on the similarity of the reel strips. After symbols have been selected for all reels, the reels are spun and stopped to display that combination on the pay line and the appropriate payoff, if any, is determined and made, steps 180-186.

Claims (13)

  1. Procédé de réglage de la probabilité de sélection de combinaisons de symboles devant être affichés sur la ligne de paiement ou les lignes d'une machine à sous (10) à roues multiples, dans laquelle chaque roue porte un ensemble spécifique de symboles, caractérisé par :
    (a) l'instauration d'un tableau de verrouillage de symboles dans un dispositif de mémorisation, soit pour chaque roue, soit pour une combinaison de roues, le ou chaque tableau de verrouillage étant agencé dans une structure d'arborescence (38, 150) renfermant des rangées, chaque rangée comprenant des points nodaux, chaque point nodal comprenant soit un point nodal terminal, soit un point nodal décroissant qui gagne une rangée inférieure et au moins une rangée (44, 154) atteinte par l'intermédiaire d'un point nodal décroissant, à partir d'une rangée supérieure (40, 152), ladite rangée minimale (44, 154) englobant également un point nodal décroissant menant à une rangée inférieure (48, 156) ;
    (b) le stockage, dans le tableau de verrouillage correspondant, du symbole ou des symboles à afficher, en des emplacements de points nodaux à l'intérieur de la structure d'arborescence (38, 150) ; et
    (c) la sélection aléatoire d'un unique point nodal dans chaque rangée atteinte, et la commande des roues pour afficher le symbole ou les symboles stocké(s) à un quelconque point nodal terminal sélectionné, les symboles étant stockés en des emplacements de points nodaux terminaux correspondant à des probabilités de décaissement souhaitées, déterminées par les positions des emplacements de stockage à l'intérieur de la ou de chaque structure d'arborescence.
  2. Procédé selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre les étapes consistant à :
    (d) sélectionner aléatoirement un point nodal dans la première rangée (40, 152) de ladite structure d'arborescence (38, 150) ;
    (e) déterminer si le point nodal sélectionné est un point nodal terminal ou un point nodal décroissant ;
    (f) en cas de détermination d'un point nodal décroissant, redescendre à la rangée inférieure de référence (44, 154), dans ladite arborescence, et répéter les étapes (d) et (e) pour une telle rangée inférieure ; et
    (g) en cas de détermination d'un point nodal terminal, afficher le symbole ou les symboles stocké(s) au point nodal terminal pour chaque roue ou combinaison de roues.
  3. Procédé selon la revendication 2, dans lequel l'étape (d) comprend une détermination du nombre N de points nodaux dans la rangée, et la sélection aléatoire d'un nombre compris entre 1 et N en vue de sélectionner un point nodal.
  4. Procédé selon la revendication 1 ou 2, dans lequel chaque rangée de la structure d'arborescence (38, 150) correspond à un ordre de grandeur inférieur à la rangée susjacente, autorisant ainsi un positionnement précis de combinaisons de symboles, à l'intérieur de ladite structure d'arborescence, pour obtenir les probabilités de décaissement souhaitées.
  5. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3, dans lequel au moins une rangée de ladite structure d'arborescence (38) comporte 10 points nodaux.
  6. Procédé selon la revendication 5, dans lequel la rangée initiale de ladite structure d'arborescence (38) comporte 10 points nodaux.
  7. Procédé selon une quelconque revendication précédente, dans lequel au moins quelques-unes des rangées, dans ladite structure d'arborescence (38), comportent des nombres de points nodaux différents.
  8. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, dans lequel chacune desdites probabilités de décaissement souhaitées correspond à une combinaison spécifique de symboles sur des roues multiples, devant être affichée sur ladite ligne de paiement.
  9. Procédé selon la revendication 8, dans lequel lesdites combinaisons de roues multiples sont rassemblées en des groupes de combinaisons de roues multiples, chaque combinaison de roues multiples, dans un groupe particulier, présentant une récompense identique qui lui est associée, et une probabilité souhaitée d'obtenir cette récompense ;
       dans lequel ladite étape de stockage desdites combinaisons de roues multiples, en des emplacements terminaux de ladite structure d'arborescence (38), consiste à établir la probabilité d'atteindre lesdits emplacements et à assigner, à des emplacements terminaux, les combinaisons de roues multiples dans un groupe particulier, de telle sorte que la somme des probabilités d'atteindre les emplacements, associés à un groupe particulier de combinaisons de roues multiples, soit égale à la probabilité souhaitée d'obtenir la récompense associée audit groupe.
  10. Procédé selon la revendication 9, dans lequel au moins l'une desdites rangées de ladite structure d'arborescence présente une sous-rangée (51), rattachée par l'intermédiaire d'un point nodal décroissant, qui n'est pas un ordre de grandeur inférieur à la rangée associée, ladite sous-rangée (51) servant à permettre l'affichage de combinaisons additionnelles de roues multiples, dans un groupe de symboles, sans altération des probabilités de résultat souhaitées.
  11. Procédé selon la revendication 9 ou 10, dans lequel la probabilité souhaitée d'obtenir la récompense associée audit groupe est le nombre de combinaisons de roues multiples, dans le groupe, divisé par le nombre total de combinaisons possibles de roues multiples.
  12. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 7, comprenant une ou plusieurs arborescence(s) supplémentaire(s) (150), chacune desdites arborescences correspondant à une roue sur ladite machine à sous à roues multiples, chacun desdits emplacements de points nodaux terminaux correspondant à l'un desdits symboles sur la roue associée.
  13. Procédé selon la revendication 12, dans lequel chaque roue contient un ensemble de symboles différents, et un tableau de verrouillage distinct pour chaque roue est stocké dans ledit dispositif de mémorisation.
EP95303808A 1994-06-14 1995-06-05 Méthode pour sélecter des positions d'arrêt des roues d'une machine à sous Expired - Lifetime EP0688002B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US259786 1994-06-14
US08/259,786 US5423541A (en) 1994-06-14 1994-06-14 Fractional branching reel-type slot machine
US08/447,988 US5569084A (en) 1994-06-14 1995-05-23 Fractional branching reel-type slot machine
US447988 1995-05-23

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0688002A1 EP0688002A1 (fr) 1995-12-20
EP0688002B1 true EP0688002B1 (fr) 2000-11-02

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EP (1) EP0688002B1 (fr)
JP (2) JPH08164238A (fr)
AU (1) AU698647B2 (fr)
DE (1) DE69519257T2 (fr)
ES (1) ES2151026T3 (fr)
GR (1) GR3034756T3 (fr)

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US7785188B2 (en) 2005-04-27 2010-08-31 Igt Gaming device including a plurality of selectable positions and an outcome modifier
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Also Published As

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JP2003175157A (ja) 2003-06-24
AU2047395A (en) 1996-12-05
AU698647B2 (en) 1998-11-05
ES2151026T3 (es) 2000-12-16
JPH08164238A (ja) 1996-06-25
DE69519257D1 (de) 2000-12-07
DE69519257T2 (de) 2001-05-23
EP0688002A1 (fr) 1995-12-20
GR3034756T3 (en) 2001-02-28

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