GB2345570A

GB2345570A - Gaming machine with secondary feature for residual credit

Info

Publication number: GB2345570A
Application number: GB9926957A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steve Donald Tyson
Original assignee: JPM International Ltd
Current assignee: JPM International Ltd
Priority date: 1998-11-26
Filing date: 1999-11-16
Publication date: 2000-07-12
Also published as: GB9926957D0; GB9825831D0

Abstract

A gaming machine has a core gambling feature with a set cost, and a secondary gambling feature which is playable when the remaining credit is less than the set cost. The secondary feature may be different in character from the core feature, or may use the core feature but offer different prizes.

Description

Improvements relating to gaming or amusement-with-prizes machines This invention relates to gaming or amusement-withprizes machines.

It is primarily concerned with machines which accept more than one coin denomination but pay out only in coins of a single denomination.

For the UK, at present most machines will accept 5p, lOp, 50p, i1 and E2 but make pay-outs in El coins only (but with the 2 coin now in circulation that may be the norm, or at least an alternative, in due course).

The price of play is fixed internally within the machine and currently may be 20p, 25p or 30p depending on the site where the machine is operated. Thus a player putting El into a machine operating on 30p play will be offered three plays, at the end of which he will have lOp held in credit. As the machine can only pay out 1 coins the player has the choice of leaving the lOp in the machine for the next player (this does not happen very often!) or adding additional coins to"round up"to a value divisible by 30p, and then carrying on playing.

It is the aim of this invention to remove what is often perceived as the sharp practice of either depriving a player of some of his stake money or forcing the player to extend his gaming beyond what he might see as a reasonable limit.

There are also occasions when a player simply does not have the price of a play, or perhaps is unwilling to break into a currency note while being happy enough to dispose of a bit of small change insufficient to enable him to play even once.

According to the present invention there is provided a coin-operated gaming or amusement with prizes machine with a core gambling feature and a secondary gambling feature, the machine being capable of accepting coins of different value and registering the amount of credit accruing from the coins inserted, wherein the core feature is playable when the credit equals or exceeds a set cost, and wherein the secondary feature is playable when the credit is less than said set cost.

In one situation it is possible that at least one of the coins accepted does not correspond to an integral multiple of the set cost. So, when such a coin is inserted on zero credit, the secondary feature is offered as an alternative to further coin insertion once the player has used the credit available for the core feature.

Thus suppose that the price of a play is 30p and the player inserts a f1 coin. After playing the core feature three times he has lOp credit. The player may choose to top this up by further coin insertions and go on playing the core feature, but he may prefer to play the secondary feature using as the stake the lOp credit.

In another situation, when the set cost is greater than at least one of the insertable coins, when a player has inserted coin (s) to a value less than the set cost the secondary feature is offered.

Thus suppose the price of a play is 25p, and the player inserts two lOp coins. He can then either find the extra 5p coin needed to play the core gambling feature, or he can gamble the 20p he has already spent in the secondary gambling feature.

There can be further provisions applied. For example the player may only have 5p, lOp or 15p with which to play.

Some machines could stipulate a minimum stake before the secondary gambling feature is enabled, so that just putting in 5p or lOp, for example, is fruitless or at least merely enables the next player to put in rather less than he would otherwise in order to play. But other machines could enable the secondary gambling feature whatever is put in less than the cost of gambling on the core feature.

However, the rewards will be commensurate, and by gambling the second feature on just 5p, if lucky the player could for example expect either to win half that which would be won with lOp, or only to achieve a win at twice the odds that would exist with a lOp input.

This secondary feature, if the player is successful, may pay out in coin or enable the player to play the core feature one or more times. But while the core feature might be so used, the prizes on offer might differ from those available when playing it normally with the set cost stake.

The secondary gambling feature may however be quite separate from the core feature and be of a different kind.

It is envisaged that the core feature will usually be that of a fruit machine, namely a set of reels which are set spinning to stop in a random or apparently random manner showing a row of symbols through windows in a screen. If this core feature is used in the secondary gamble, the reels could be spun again and stop in the usual manner, but as mentioned above the prizes on offer might be different.

For example, combinations of symbols that do not generate prizes when the core feature is being played could be used to signify a win when the secondary feature is in operation, or a different scale of prizes could be applied to the winning combinations of the core feature.

If the secondary feature is different, it might be a "wheel of fortune", for example, embodied mechanically or simulated electronically.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A coin-operated gaming or amusement with prizes machine with a core gambling feature and a secondary gambling feature, the machine being capable of accepting coins of different value and registering the amount of credit accruing from the coins inserted, wherein the core feature is playable when the credit equals or exceeds a set cost, and wherein the secondary feature is playable when the credit is less than said set cost.
2. A machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein at least one of the coins accepted does not correspond to an integral multiple of said set cost, whereby when such a coin is inserted on zero credit, the secondary feature is offered as an alternative to further coin insertion once the player has used the credit available for the core feature.
3. A machine as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein said set cost is greater than the value of at least one of the insertable coins, and wherein when a player has inserted coin (s) to a value less than said set cost, the secondary feature is offered.
4. A machine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the machine requires a minimum stake less than the set cost before the secondary feature is enabled.
5. A machine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the secondary feature is enabled whatever the value of the inserted coin (s) less than the set cost, but the reward, if the player is successful on the secondary feature, is commensurate with said value.
6. A machine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the secondary feature is enabled whatever the value of the inserted coin (s) less than the set cost, but the odds against the player winning on the secondary feature are related to said value so that the higher that value is, the better the chance of a win.
7. A machine as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein success on the secondary gambling feature is rewarded by one or more plays on the core feature.
8. A machine as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the secondary feature uses the core feature but the prizes offered differ.
9. A machine as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the secondary feature is different in character from the core feature.
10. A machine as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the core feature is that of a fruit machine, with a set of reels or simulations thereof that are set spinning to stop in a random or apparently random manner showing a row of symbols through windows in a screen.