ES1264744U - LOYALTY GAMING MACHINE (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Gaming machine, of the type that is electronic and incorporates means of computation, processing and storage, having means of execution and multimedia presentation of at least one game of chance, in addition to man-machine interfaces for interaction with users, characterized by an interface (5) to an information system (4), SI, of a casino or gaming room, said interface (5) including: - means and methods to obtain from said SI (4) the electronic identity of the player (2) who is playing on said gaming machine (1), - means and methods for creating and keeping track of a player ID (13) associated with said player (2) and his game history (14) including a data server (8) and his own database (9), - means, such as an electronic module, to interface with the CPU (10) of said game machine (1), so that the information stored in said database (9) can be obtained by said CPU (10) of said game machine game (1); said gaming machine (1) including gaming methods and prizes related to the information obtained from said interface (5) that are applied based on player loyalty and in which said gaming machine (1) alters its behavior to adapt to this loyalty. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

LOYALTY GAMING MACHINE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is a gaming machine that modifies its behavior according to the electronic identity of the player, said identity obtained through an interface that allows queries to an Information System (IS) of the Gambling Hall or Casino, with new specific orders for said Information System; the gaming machine has the means to manage the player's gaming history and present personalized games and prizes to said users.

BACKGROUND

It is already known from different patent documents, for example, the PCT patent WO2007036806, the problem existing in gaming machines to interest players equally between sessions, overcoming the need to organize a special forced prize session in hours normally low participation. This patent raised new awards that demanded high data processing costs that were reduced by said invention.

For casinos and gambling halls, despite the different types of games, the advances in the attractiveness of the machines and the design of the interfaces or of the games themselves and their mechanics that are an incentive for the fan, expensive problems persist to obtain a better user experience and greater satisfaction in this period of entertainment.

One of the main objectives pursued by the present invention is to improve the reward for the time and money invested by a regular user in a machine that the game does not always reward and that currently can cause disgust due to the existence of large accumulated prizes also with their own contributions, but that may fall on other users who, for example, have contributed less to the formation of said accumulated.

Consequently, the present invention has as its main objective to provide a reward that rewards user loyalty in a perceptible and safe way, in order to improve user satisfaction with said type of gaming machines.

Another problem that the present invention faces is that of maintaining the player's session. The problem derived from the perception in users that the prize is about to fall is known. This perception provokes the desire to keep playing on the machine, generating requests to the room administrators that another person be prevented from using them, when said users need to be absent for any reason or personal need, until their return, when they can continue the same session. of game.

One of the solutions has been to block the machine and activate it using an access code. This is the case, for example, of the American patent US2007 / 191090 which by means of a function activates a period of machine lockout that can resume its operation after the introduction of an unlock key. One of the drawbacks of this situation is that the machine remains without use in the interval in which it is blocked, with the losses that this represents for the room.

Another objective of the present invention and that is obtained with it is the possibility of having in a room a specific session of a player who, even when he is absent from the gaming machine, can later resume it without the need to enter any password.

In order to organize sessions for each user and / or prizes that are awarded based on user loyalty, for example, the volume of money spent by the player in a period, the problem of knowing who is playing on each machine arises. , data that is not available on these machines and that prevents the recording and monitoring of your gaming history.

This problem is not easy to solve because users are not inclined to register, by entering their personal data, on a gaming machine. There are also legal provisions that complicate the collection of personal data and its storage. For example, the registration of users by wireless means supported by the mobile phone or wireless identification cards raises problems with the protection of personal data and eventually with the satisfaction of the gambling control regulations.

Nor is it satisfactory, due to the very essence of the method and of the game users, to force the introduction of, for example, a username and password on each machine to be used, due to the hassle that it entails, in addition to the danger of fraud derived from theft. of a key that must be entered on multiple machines.

It is therefore another of the main objectives of the present invention to have player and game information that reflects loyalty data, maintaining the privacy of users, without storing personal data, and that provides adequate security against fraud.

Another problem that the present invention aims to solve in order to organize the system that is characteristic of it is related to the technical problem of obtaining the gaming information, its transfer and storage in the gaming machine.

At present, there are two large families of communication platforms and systems between gaming machines and between them and the management of the room itself. Each of these systems includes specific physical media and uses its own "language" protocols to carry out communications.

In a brief summary of the technology applied to the communication of information of gaming machines, in the mid-70s, of the last century (S.XX), manufacturers implemented a SMIB (Slot Machine Interface Board - Roller Machine Interface Board). ) that included the appropriate electronics to enable measurements of the game of the machines, many of them mechanical or electro-mechanical.

Later, in the mid-80s, with most of the more advanced electronic gaming machines, these SMIBs allowed serial communication, using the first communication protocols between them. IGT (International Game Technology) implemented the SAS (Slot Accounting System) protocol using serial communication (19,200 bits per second) in which a Server interrogates each machine multiple times per second to know the status of the same and receive information in response. The SAS protocol of which new versions have been made, such as SAS 6 adopted by the industry in July 2002, incorporates a list of commands that regulate the transfer of information between machine and accounting, in a broad sense.

There are systems of collection / payment in gaming machines based on TITO (ticket in ticket out - entry ticket exit ticket) that use barcode tickets to transfer funds from the room and user and between machines. Other advanced fund management systems, such as AFT (Advanced Found System) from the IGT company, allow controlling the transfer of funds in a room or casino. These systems are built into SAS.

In the other major alternative, S2S (System to System - System to System), the current state of technology is used in the gaming machines themselves and in the communication interfaces, so that there is no dedicated SMIB to add to the communication that incorporates its protocol, but it is the same machine that has the communication ports to interact with the outside through a standard topology, using a communication language based on orders or commands and their responses to transmit incidents and data of the game.

ALESIS, from Park Street Gaming, implements an S2S system and is the acronym for Logical Administrator of Electronic Equipment and Raffle Systems, establishing a complete communication system for rooms and gaming machines. An evolution of S2S is wS2S defined by WinSystems.

The GAS (Gaming Association Standards - Gaming Standards Association: www.gaming_gas.com) promotes G2S (Gaming to System - game machine to system) for communication between machines and rooms, defining protocols, mainly based on XML and web services , but still without a significant deployment in the sector.

It is therefore known in the art to monitor the gambling hall of the players on machines from different manufacturers, fundamentally using, by means of a device other than the gaming machines, the means of collection / payment that facilitate the credit to play. Rooms thus know their players and can offer them specific discounts, incentives and gifts based on their own criteria. For example, it is widely used in said system to use a Room Card that identifies the player in the Room and contains their gaming credit, also incorporating the eventual gaming credit benefits of the prizes received.

But in all these situations described, the identity of the players is unknown by the gaming machines, also among the gaming machines of the same manufacturer existing in a room, so that the known communication protocols that are currently implemented They do not address any element that allows the traceability of the players' playing history or identify the player, nor do known machines have the means to control the player's playing history.

The present invention, in its different embodiments, is capable of being applied to any of these known systems, incorporating at the physical level and at the control level, devices and commands that manage the management dynamics of a user ID, currently non-existent, said User ID completely obviating personal data of the user but that identifies him.

It is one of the main objectives of the present invention that it can be used in both systems (SAS and S2S), implementing new communication orders, in an extension of the available commands of said protocols, to follow the player in a game room, so that their history and their characteristics or degree of loyalty are usable by the system of the present invention in a transparent way for the player, who does not need to carry out any additional transaction to benefit from it .

The present invention is capable of being applied to the different communication platforms between machines and computerized management of gaming halls, creating, in fact, a new scenario with commands and control orders that extend said protocols to allow the implementation of the novel characteristics of the invention, as will be explained later.

Another objective pursued by the present invention is to establish a set of specific orders or commands that allow the implementation of the functions of the loyalty system described and that allow its use in a newly created communication scenario.

One of the important advantages obtained from the present invention is that, for example, the player's card or known Room Card is transformed in practice, not physically, into a representation of the last gaming session carried out, incorporating the balance player's award and the accumulated amounts of player's custom award winnings that you can get back when you rejoin to play. This is due to the fact that said Room Card is automatically incorporated into the possible advantages within the present invention.

Finally, another of the main objectives that the present invention aims to solve consists of incorporating new means and rules of the game and its presentation that correspond to the aforementioned loyalty.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent throughout the description thereof.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is a gaming machine that modifies its behavior according to the electronic identity of the player, as described in the preamble of the 1st claim; its field is also the establishment of the physical and process conditions necessary to create and present personalized prizes to users, based on the loyalty of the players in one or more gaming machines.

The machine includes computing and storage means housed in an interface device that securely stores a coded identifier corresponding to the electronic identity of each player and data from their game histories in the room received the electronic identity of the player through communication between the gaming machine and the Information System (SI) of the Room or Casino.

This interface incorporates methods of ordering and grouping the identifiers of the players in categories, as well as a database with the history of the players that allow the CPU of the game machine, to have the necessary information on the history of the players to organize games and prizes based on user loyalty on the manufacturer's machines.

The concept of "loyal prize" is that of a retribution or secure prize among the participants, the amount of which is determined, within a matrix of possible prizes for each hierarchy of players, by the game and / or the skill of the player.

The machine of the invention can include different types of game, within the concept of "loyal prize", in different possible embodiments thereof. For example, in one of these embodiments a sector roulette is used in which each sector represents a prize of a determined amount Different roulette operating mechanics can be enabled, with the result of which the player receives the prize corresponding to the one indicated in the "cursor" stop sector, according to each embodiment.

Naturally, other "loyalty games" and other forms of prize distribution are possible, in money or in credit to continue playing, etc., without this implying a substantial difference within the present invention.

The invention obtains the information of the player through the Information Systems (IS) existing in a room or casino and, furthermore, it can be applied to any of the communication systems currently existing in gaming rooms.

Every time the player goes to play on a gaming machine, he introduces his means of payment, his ticket (TITO - entry and exit ticket), his room card or any electronic means of payment and / or credit accepted by the room or casino, and the corresponding device within the SI captures that information about the player, card, etc., as well as later the expenses incurred with that support and the prizes obtained.

The interface of the invention interrogates the SI, by means of its own instructions to obtain a user identification and associated with the user's access hardware to the machine, such as his room card. No personal data of this user is stored, but an alphanumeric record that is linked to a user and a physical medium. There are computing and processing, communication and storage means that, for example, maintain a database with the user's gaming history, confidentially and securely encoded on the gaming machine. The player's ID is checked in the database (BBDD) obtaining the player's game history.

In this way, all the objectives envisaged by the invention have been obtained by providing a system that includes the devices and means to provide "loyal prize" in a gaming room context, even without knowing the identity of the users and without the need for use. of user / password pairs that are a hassle and can represent a security breach when used periodically and on different machines.

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, the present specification is accompanied by two sheets of drawings, provided solely by way of illustration and not limitative of the invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a gaming machine according to the present invention, with a block diagram showing different elements thereof described in the present specification.

Figure 2 is another schematic representation of a logic block diagram, showing the relationships of the gaming machine with the player, the gaming room information system and other machines in said room.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention consists of a gaming machine (1), of the type that is electronic and incorporates computing, processing and storage means, having multimedia execution and presentation means of at least one game of chance, in addition to man-machine interfaces for interaction with users, in which said machine (1) modifies its behavior according to the electronic identity of the player, including game methods and prizes that are applied based on the loyalty of each player.

The gaming machine (1) has an interface (5) to an information system (4), SI, of a casino or gaming room, with means and procedures to obtain from said SI (4) the electronic identity of the player (2) and determining a unique reference player ID (13) of said player (2) using the gaming machine (1); It also has means and methods to keep track of said player ID (13) and his game history (14) that include a data server (8) and its own database (9).

As previously stated, different information systems (4) of gaming halls and casinos (3) are known in the art, such as those based on SaS and S2S, mainly. The present invention by means of the interface (5) is prepared to use at least said two most important systems at the present time, including the necessary electronics, and to satisfy the communication and protocol requirements of the same.

These information systems (4) allow the room or casino (3) to count the gaming operations that occur on the gaming machines (1). This transfer of information between the gaming machines (1) and the information systems (4) allows them to know the available gaming credit but not the identity of the player (2). The invention establishes new orders, within these systems, focused on the mechanics of using the physical supports (11) with which the player (2) accesses the gaming machine (1), linking them with a player ID (13) .

In this description, the generic name of physical support (11) is given to any means used by the player (2) to access the gaming machine (1). For example, they are physical supports (11): a room card, TITO tickets (entry-exit tickets), etc. In relation to any of these supports (11), the invention manages the additions, deletions, issuance of duplicates, modifications, etc. The result is the obtaining of a player ID (13) associated with, for example, a room card or physical support (11).

Although said room card (11) does not have any encoded information about the player (2) or his playing history (14), by allowing the present invention to obtain the electronic identity of the player (2) from the information system (4) and determine a player ID (13), the existing means in the interface (5) that contain the Data Server (8) and at least one DB (9) with said game history (14) of each player (2) , linking that player ID (13) with the data existing in the gaming machine (1), it turns out that in practice, and invisibly for the user, when accessing with his room card (11) a gaming machine game (1) within the invention, the machine (1) knows who the user is, recovers their gaming history (14) and their degree of loyalty (15), and can adapt their behavior, as shown will explain shortly, to offer a unique and tight gaming experience to each player.

The interface (5) has the physical and process means necessary to carry out its functions. Its CPU (6) has means for processing and computing, for storing data and programs, etc ... It has an electronic communications module (7) that interfaces with the CPU (10) of the gaming machine (1 ), with access to its data bus, so that the information stored in said database (9) can be transferred to the CPU (10) of the gaming machine (1); This communications module (7) has external communication ports, such as Ethernet and / or others. Its operational capacity allows it to implement the management methods of a player ID (13), its game history (14), the hierarchy of users (15) and communications with the information system (4) and eventually with other gaming machines (1).

The invention uses a system for determining identities that is transparent for the player and does not represent an additional requirement for information, thus ruling out the use of a user record in the gaming machine (1). It is taken advantage of the fact that the information systems (4) of the room and the casino (3) do have the identity of the user of a gaming machine (1). The interface (5) performs the role of global interface with the information system (4) of Room (3), incorporating the set of SaS orders, for example. The invention has an additional layer of its own orders configured to obtain a player ID (13) linked to the physical support (11) of entry to the machine used by the player (room card, TITO - entry and exit ticket, etc. .) and its mechanics.

The constructive essence of the invention allows and in fact it is contemplated as part of it, the existence of a plurality of gaming machines (1) in the same room (3), said machines (1) being of the type of the present invention , communicating with each other and updating their records and DB (9) to have a game history (14) associated with a User ID (13) updated in each of them.

In the most common configuration, the interface (5) implements the TCP / IP protocol as a communication protocol, although other communication protocols are possible to adapt to the different information systems (2) existing today, both SaS and S2S. , among others.

Access to different similar machines, within the present invention, and their linking through Ethernet ports and TCP / IP protocol can be facilitated when, for example, several gaming machines (1) are grouped together, in one of the possible embodiments of the invention, in a single set or group of machines that, in addition, can have at least some common and shared element.

In general terms, the own commands are related to the management of the ID_Player (13), the ID_Support (12) that unequivocally identify each physical support (11) with a player ID (13), associating them at the same time with the relative information in the database (9) of each player (2), their playing history (14) and their level of loyalty or user hierarchy (15).

The player ID (13) is data encoded by the interface (5) that can be performed by different known means, but which, in its result, starting from identical data, will obtain identical IDs (13), without collisions. This can be done by multiple procedures, within the state of the art, such as obtaining a hash key given a reference of the identity of a player (2) by the information system (4). The database (9) associates different support IDs (12), for example, different room cards, as belonging to the same player (2), if applicable, etc.

The data server (8) incorporates relational databases (9) where the information required by the system is kept. Said databases (9) can be of any known type. For example, it is possible to build databases (9) that include User tables (2) and room cards; in generic terms, ID of Players (13) and physical media (11), relating said ID_Player (13), ID_Soporte (12) and additional information (registration date, withdrawal date, type of account or Indice_Soporte, Status support, etc.), The DB (9) stores and lists the encoding of the player's identity, the identification of the physical supports (11) or cards, the game history, loyalty level, prize fractions in accumulated loyalty course, etc.

In one embodiment, for example, the Player_ID field (13) is an alphanumeric sequence of 20 positions and the Media_ID field (12) is a 200 binary digit field.

In this way, an identifier of the player (13) has been obtained that in its literal meaning does not apparently mean anything readable, protecting and preserving, without containing it, the identity of the player, so that each time that support is used (11), the system generating the same ID_Soporte (12), links him with a player (2) by means of his ID_Player (13) contained in the DB (9) and obtains his game history (14), accumulated fractions, etc., making it possible restoring a game session when interacting with the same or similar machine. Fractions of accumulated loyalty prizes can be transferred from one machine (1) to another, from one game to another.

The result is very convenient, because the problems of storing confidential information of the players susceptible of violating the protection of their identity and personal data are avoided, while, in another consideration, the player is avoided registration procedures in the system that can represent an interaction in addition to the usual when attending a game session.

This process does not represent any additional action by the user, so that the appearance and reality of the operation of the card for the user is that it incorporates the accumulated game data and prize values that the player carries and that, consequently, you can now use on different machines and / or resume your last gaming session.

The invention is also characterized by incorporating additional games to the main one of the gaming machine (1), the purpose of which is to present the prize or Loyalty prizes (17) in the gaming machines (1) for said players (2), according to a hierarchy (15) of said users that elaborates the means of computing said gaming machine (1) that together with the game and / or the skill of the players determines the amount of their prizes. These prizes are offered from a matrix of possible prizes, all of them representing positive prize values and greater than zero.

The invention therefore contemplates a method of realizing a hierarchy (15) of unique User IDs (13), in which said method contemplates information related to the volume of money spent by the player (2) in said gaming room or casino (3), in machines (1) of the invention. This hierarchy (15) establishes, for example, types of players such as: vip, gold, silver and bronze, according to a level from highest to lowest.

The method includes, mainly, to elaborate this hierarchy, data related to: Amount played in the last session

Amount played in the last week

Amount played in a medium term, parameterized by the system

Amount played in a long term, parameterized by the system

History of awards received

The loyal prize (17) is characteristic of the present invention. It is a prize that is awarded safely, in a loyal game (16) whose result is an always positive prize amount greater than zero, within a matrix of possible prizes, previously established according to the established hierarchy (15) for each degree of loyalty. We describe some possible examples of loyal games (16).

Roulette of sectors

A typical example of one of said loyalty games (16) within the present loyalty prizes (17) consists of presenting a sector roulette (18) on the gaming machines (1) in which each sector (19) represents a specific prize . As all sectors incorporate a prize, the player (2), regardless of your luck or skill will win a prize that can be cash or play credit.

The loyal game (17) can include not only the game to select one of the possible prizes, but also some skill of the player, or simply some interaction of the user. Typically the game can be triggered and the prize obtained automatically, or instead it can be activated automatically and offer a few seconds of waiting for a user action. The game incorporates, in each case, the mechanism for activating, interacting and ending the game and its own way of displaying the prize, through images, sounds or even on room screens, within a joint room event that triggers this type of event. loyalty games (16) loyalty prize (17) on all gaming machines (1) at the same time.

Each gaming roulette presents sectors and personalized prizes based on each player hierarchy (15) and each player (2), for example, taking into account the volume at stake that day in the room, the amount played by the player, the moment, the number of active and inactive players in the room, etc.

Large / Smaller

Another possible embodiment of a loyal game (16), according to the present invention, and which illustrates different possibilities of using the advantages provided by it, is the "Big / Minor" game.

In this case, these are two progressive and accumulative prizes that are configured in relation to the loyalty hierarchy (15) of the players (2). There are different possibilities of configuring the prize, linking it to a unique Player_ID (13), to a gaming machine (1) or to a type of said machines, and to a room (3).

These awards have an initial and final value. As the value of the prize, starting from the initial value, approaches the final value, the probability that the prize will come out increases, which in another case is triggered when the final value is reached.

The modification of the current value is carried out by accumulating value to the amount of the game, incorporating a fraction of the amount played, per player, machine or room, depending on the type recorded.

The system has a game presentation or execution mechanism to activate the accumulation of said prize, carry out its raffle and show the accumulated amount. Analogously to other embodiments, the game and the prize are announced on the machine on living room screens or on several machines simultaneously that start said type of game for several users.

One of the attractions of this exemplary embodiment is that while the player is using any game machine (1), a bingo or reel machine or another, this type of prize is nurtured, which can grant an additional prize independent of the loyal game. current. Once a high level of prize probability is reached, it is normally awarded to the player.

My accumulated

This type of prize is an accumulated prize that is nourished with small contributions from the games developed by a player (2). The present invention allows this prize, the accumulated amount thereof, to be shown to the player each time they access both the same gaming machine (1) and other machines within the same room and within the present invention. Once the gaming machine (1) recognizes the player by granting him a unique Player_ID (13), from those existing in the database (9) of the data server (8), his game history (14) and the fractions in the course of said accumulated prize.

The present invention may, as illustrated by the game examples presented, incorporate different modes and procedures of presenting the prize and the game to award it. In all cases, these are procedures used by the gaming machine (1) of the present invention.

The system of the present invention allows, as already mentioned, by unequivocally recognizing a player, granting personalized gaming sessions and prizes. that are specific to that player or to a group of players from the same hierarchy (15) of players. A prominent mention should be made that the present gaming machine (1) and the technical methods and means that configure it, grant unexpected advantages that the known technique solved in a much more cumbersome and deficient way.

This is the case, for example, of the preservation of the players' prize expectations. The existence of accumulated prizes that are nourished by the contributions of the players, including the perception of the player that the prize "is about to fall", have forced numerous situations in which the player wants to preserve the machine for himself to exhaust said expectation The need to take a break for any personal reason, rest, go to the bathroom, obtain credit, etc., temporarily leaving the machine, generates anxiety in the player who demands to the room that "no one touches his machine until come back ”.

Until the present invention, this situation could be solved by paralyzing the game in a machine until the player could return to the game, which is not very satisfactory for the room that sees the activity of the machine diminished in a period in which it is likely to be used by other players.

The present invention also improves on different procedures specifically oriented to this end, such as patent US 2007/191090, the object of which is to preserve the game state of a machine and possible prizes, blocking access to the machine until an activation code is entered.

In the present invention, the loyalty prize (17) is kept, in a functional sense, on the physical support (11) used, for example, a magnetic room card (11), by the player recognized as the holder of said support ( 11), so that said player (2) can resume his game session where he left it, restoring the system to all the previous game conditions. Even when it is the case, it is kept in the gaming room for that player to be used in different machines (3), ignoring the known technique that forces the establishment of locks on the gaming machine to preserve the player's expectations of the prize.

The invention includes a plurality of gaming machines (1) in a room (1), each with an interface (5) and a data server (8); each data server (8) incorporating Databases (9), BBDD, which relate said Player_ID (13) of the player (2) with a game history (14). The invention also includes commands within the communication protocols of said gaming machines (1) that relate said interface (5) with other gaming machines (1) and the ID_Player (13), ID_Soporte (12), operation of registration / removal and replacement of said physical supports (11), game information, prizes, etc. For practical purposes, it is as if the fraction of the prize accumulated by the user was stored on his card.

In the main embodiment described, the gaming machine (1) has on its interface (5) a data server (8) that contains the databases (9) that store the information necessary for the management of the player's identity. and your gaming sessions, history, etc. In another case, the invention can be implemented, when there is more than one gaming machine (1) in the same room or casino (3) using a single data server (8) that has a single database copy (9) of the information relating to the players (2). Although without loss of generality a data server (8) could be used in a physical device independent of said gaming machines (1), the simple solution is to use one of the gaming machines (1) and its interface (5) as said data server (8), other machines communicating with said data server (8) to obtain the information they require.

As has been said, in the preferred embodiment, each gaming machine has its own interface (5), its own data server (8) and databases (9), there being synchronization methods between machines (1) to keep your databases (9) up to date.

In another of the possible embodiments of the present invention, the interface (5) and its components do not exist as independent elements, but are the same means of the gaming machine (1), its own CPU (8), the means of computing, its storage media and memories, its communication interfaces who perform all the functions of the interface (5) without entailing any deviation within the present invention. All the functions described for the interface (5) are performed by the gaming machine (1). This is a common situation in advanced gaming machines (1) that communicate with S2S-type information systems.

In another possible case of embodiment, the invention provides for the connection of the gaming machine (1) with an external network, for example, by means of the Internet or another network, linking with a global management server that allows sharing the history (14 ) of game of the players (2) at a global level and offer the characteristics of the present invention in a plurality of rooms. The invention in this context is also capable of being used with different gaming platforms, such as consoles, gaming terminals, smart mobile phones, tablets, computers, etc. It is a generalization in which the information obtained from the information system (4) of a room or casino (3) is shared through the interface (5) and the gaming machine (1) with the global management server ( SGG).

In a similar way with other examples of realization, a longer Player_ID (13) is required to accommodate without error the plurality of possible players, and a Support_ID field (12) also longer, as there is an eventual larger set of physical supports ( 11) Gambling credit. The communication protocols incorporating the commands of the invention can be built in XML over a TCP / IP network of the Internet, accessing the information of the databases (9), global, through Web services and stored procedures of said databases. The communication can be established, in a preferred way, by means of secure transmission protocols, even by means of encrypted transmissions in order to preserve the data.

The Database (9) or databases, BBDD, store and relate the game history (14) with said Player_ID (13), unique. They can contain different tables, indexes, etc., whose purpose is the efficient management of their information and its recovery when the user accesses the machine (1) and the identity obtained is compared with that existing in said database (9).

The game history (14) contains simplified information of the game sessions of each player (2). In an example of a preferred embodiment, the periods, day, day of the week, time and duration of each game session are stored, the prizes received and the amounts put into play, session data that includes the amounts of the accumulated prizes , etc.

With each incorporation of the player (2) to a gaming session on one of the machines (1) within the system of the invention and with each modification of his gaming history (14), the computing means of said interface (5) calculate and assign the player's category within the aforementioned loyalty hierarchy (15). This hierarchy (15) conditions the amount and presentation of the loyal prize (17).

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the system allows the configuration of certain characteristics of its operation. Specific parameters of the gaming room (1) and other system parameters are involved in this configuration. In this way, the system described in the present invention is adjustable to the incentive policies of the gaming sessions developed by each room (3).

In this way, the days, hours of the day and other parameters of the game sessions of the users that are related to the probability of obtaining the loyal prizes characteristic of the present invention are configurable.

In general, the system incorporates as parameters all the mathematical rules that make up the operation of the different games (16) for granting loyalist prizes (17), such as those previously described, and how the accumulations of said prizes are nurtured with each session game of the players (2). All this within complex procedures but which are part of the state of the art and the legal regulations of prizes and games of chance.

Finally, the gaming machine incorporates a clock (20) that has the mission of triggering the characteristic events of awarding loyalty prizes (17) in several gaming machines (1), simultaneously, when applicable, within the same room (1). In this way, it is possible to synchronize, when the event is in the hall (1), the triggering of a loyalty prize delivery game (17), for example, in the embodiment that uses a sector roulette, for a plurality of gaming machines (1) simultaneously in all of them. The impact of this loyal prize-giving event (17) can be reinforced by any conventional means, large room screens, sound announcements, reproduction of announcements on TV panels, etc., enhancing the event and / or signifying the prizes obtained. Also, according to the configured room parameters, the invention contemplates the announcement of said loyalty award events at a predetermined time and / or day.

It is understood that in the present case, how many details of finish and shape do not modify the essence of the invention can be variable.

Claims (21)

1. - GAMING MACHINE, of the type that is electronic and incorporates means of computation, processing and storage, having means of execution and multimedia presentation of at least one game of chance, in addition to man-machine interfaces for interaction with users, CHARACTERIZED by an interface (5) to an Information System (4), SI, of a Casino or Gaming Room, said interface (5) including: • means and methods to obtain from said SI (4) the electronic identity of the player (2) who is playing on said Gaming Machine (1), • means and methods to create and keep track of a player ID (13) associated with said player (2) and his game history (14) that include a Data Server (8) and its own database (9), • media, such as an electronic module, to interface with the CPU (10) of said game machine (1), so that the information stored in said database (9) can be obtained by said CPU (10) of said game machine (1); said gaming machine (1) including gaming methods and prizes related to the information obtained from said interface (5) that are applied based on player loyalty and in which said gaming machine (1) alters its behavior to adapt to this loyalty. 2. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that said interface (5) has a CPU (6) that includes process and computation means, and data and program storage means, as well as a communication module (7) with access to the data bus of the CPU (10) of said gaming machine (1) and to Ethernet and / or other communication ports. 3. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the previous claim, CHARACTERIZED because said interface (5) can use, at least, the SaS systems (Slot Accounting System - Roller machine accounting system) and S2S (System to System - System to System) of communication with said Information System (4). 4. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said player ID (13) is unique and exclusive to the electronic identity of each player (2). 5. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that an ID_Support (12) of the physical support (11) is determined, such as a room card, with which the player (2) accesses the gaming machine (1) that can be collated in said database (9) to obtain said player ID (13), said ID_Support (12) being unique for each physical support (11). 6. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the previous claim, CHARACTERIZED said database (9), BBDD, has the game history (14) of the player (2) for each player ID (13), as well as the balance o player's gaming credit (2), his gaming sessions, including ongoing fractions of accumulated loyalty prizes. 7. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said means of determining said player ID (13) include the generation of a coded alphanumeric identifier of each player (2), of adequate length, in order to ensure the no duplication of records in relation to the expected number of possible players. 8. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said player ID (13) is an alphanumeric field with 20 positions. 9. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said ID_Support (12) is a binary field of 200 positions. 10. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that said interface (5) and its communication module (7) use the TCP / IP protocol. 11. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said interface (5) allows communication with other gaming machines (1), of the type described by claim 1. 12. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said communication with other gaming machines (1) performs game history update queries (4) to said Data Server (8) and said database (9 ) between said machines (1) for each player ID (13), in order to keep all databases (9) synchronized. 13. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that the data server (8) and the database (9) are unique in a set of gaming machines (1) in the same room (3) and said gaming machines (1) make queries to said data server (8) to obtain player data (2), physical media (11) and game histories (14). 14. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that the data server (8) and the database (9) are only shared on the Internet, said room (3) being the global Internet network, also allowing a plurality of different game devices, consoles, PCs, smartphones, tablets, etc. 15. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the CPU (10) of the gaming machine (1) has the physical, storage, computing and communications media corresponding to the interface (5), as well as the methods , data server (8) and database (9) to perform all the functions of said interface (5). 16. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that said behavior modification of said gaming machine (1) consists in that the games offered are reconfigured taking into account the game history (14) of each player, the volumes historical player bets on any machine (1), and can be increased depending on the historical bet levels registered in the machines (1) in the room (3). 17. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the amount of the loyal prize (17) of a loyal game (16) is related to said hierarchy (15) of the player (2) and a plurality of parameters of said interface (5), always being a positive value and greater than zero. 18. - GAMING MACHINE, according to the preceding claim, CHARACTERIZED in that said loyal prize (17) is presented simultaneously in a plurality of gaming machines (1) of said gaming hall (3), when said event is synchronized by means of a clock ( twenty). 19. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 18, CHARACTERIZED in that the loyal prize (17) is made through the final result obtained in the spin of a sector roulette (18) in which each sector (19) represents a prize, amount , bonuses, game credits, when said spin stops and a cursor points to one of said sectors (18) as a winning sector. 20. - GAMING MACHINE, according to claim 19, CHARACTERIZED because the loyalty prize (17) is made by means of an accumulated prize nourished by contributions of the amounts bet by the players (2) that increase their amount from a Small value to one Large, the probability of obtaining it being an ascending function related to the approximation to said value Large. 21. - GAMING MACHINE, according to any one of the preceding claims, CHARACTERIZED in that the loyal prize (17) is made by means of an accumulated prize nourished with contributions of the amounts wagered by the player himself (2).