US20110034232A1 - Gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances, and gaming apparatus for implementing the gaming method - Google Patents

Gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances, and gaming apparatus for implementing the gaming method Download PDF

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Publication number
US20110034232A1
US20110034232A1 US12/616,007 US61600709A US2011034232A1 US 20110034232 A1 US20110034232 A1 US 20110034232A1 US 61600709 A US61600709 A US 61600709A US 2011034232 A1 US2011034232 A1 US 2011034232A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
game symbol
symbol combination
game
player
gaming
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.)
Abandoned
Application number
US12/616,007
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English (en)
Inventor
Arden Yang
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Astro Corp Taiwan
Original Assignee
Astro Corp Taiwan
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Astro Corp Taiwan filed Critical Astro Corp Taiwan
Assigned to ASTRO CORP. reassignment ASTRO CORP. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: YANG, ARDEN
Publication of US20110034232A1 publication Critical patent/US20110034232A1/en
Abandoned 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
    • G07F17/326—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 relates to a gaming method for playing a slot game, more particularly to a gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances.
  • a conventional slot machine generates a game symbol combination at the end of one round of a slot game, and the game symbol combination is unchangeable once it has been generated.
  • the conventional slot machine will grant an award to the player.
  • the game symbol combination fails to conform with the predetermined winning condition, the player has no chance to change the game symbol combination.
  • the game symbol combination generated at the end of one round of the slot game almost conforms with the winning condition. Therefore, players may be interested in a slot game that provides an option to change the game symbol combination after the latter is generated.
  • an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances.
  • a gaming method for playing a slot game of the present invention is adapted to be implemented using a gaming apparatus and comprises the steps of:
  • step b) when the game symbol combination generated in step a) fails to conform with the predetermined winning condition, configuring the gaming apparatus to perform a symbol-changing procedure, the symbol-changing procedure including the sub-steps of
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide a gaming apparatus configured to implement a gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances.
  • a gaming apparatus of the present invention comprises an input unit, a display unit, and a control unit.
  • the input unit includes a confirm button.
  • the control unit includes a storage medium storing program instructions for playing a slot game, and a processor coupled to the input unit, the display unit and the storage medium.
  • the processor is operable to execute the program instructions so as to randomly generate a game symbol combination at the end of one round of the slot game, control the display unit to display the game symbol combination generated by the processor, determine whether the game symbol combination generated by the processor conforms with a predetermined winning condition, and perform a symbol-changing procedure when the game symbol combination fails to conform with the predetermined winning condition.
  • step iii) determining whether a revised game symbol combination that includes the game symbol changed in step ii) conforms with the predetermined winning condition
  • step iv) granting an award to the player and controlling the display unit to notify the player of the grant of the award when the determination made in step iii) is affirmative.
  • FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of a gaming apparatus of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the preferred embodiment
  • FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a gaming method for playing a slot game implemented by the gaming apparatus of the preferred embodiment
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a symbol-changing procedure of the gaming method.
  • FIGS. 5 to 8 are schematic diagrams illustrating gaming images displayed by a display unit of the gaming apparatus of the preferred embodiment.
  • the preferred embodiment of a gaming apparatus 1 of the present invention includes a machine body 10 , a control unit 2 disposed in the machine body 10 , an input unit 3 , and a display unit 4 .
  • the machine body 10 is provided with a payment mechanism, e.g., a coin slot 11 in this embodiment.
  • the control unit 2 includes a processor 21 coupled to the input unit 3 and the display unit 4 , a storage medium 22 coupled to the processor 21 , and an accessible memory device 23 coupled to the processor 21 .
  • the input unit 3 includes a confirm button 31 , a plurality of bet buttons 32 respectively representing different bet amounts, a select button 33 , and a payment sensor 34 disposed adjacent to the coin slot 11 .
  • the payment sensor 34 is operable to generate a payment signal for the processor 21 when a player makes a payment through the coin slot 11 .
  • the display unit 4 is exemplified as a display screen mounted on a top portion of a front side of the machine body 10 .
  • the gaming apparatus 1 can further include a speaker for outputting audible sound, and additional buttons with other functions if desired. Since the feature of the present invention does not reside in these, further details thereof will be omitted herein for the sake of brevity.
  • the storage medium 22 of the control unit 2 is a read-only memory (ROM) that stores program instructions for playing a slot game.
  • the accessible memory device 23 is a random-access memory (RAM) adapted for storing data and information generated during the slot game.
  • the processor 21 is operable to perform consecutive steps of a gaming method for playing the slot game. Details of the gaming method will be described in the following.
  • the processor 21 executes the program instructions and the slot game begins.
  • step (S 11 ) the processor 21 is operable to allow the player to determine a winning condition through the select button 33 and to place abet through the bet buttons 32 .
  • the winning condition is that game symbols in an upper payout line, a middle payout line or a lower payout line are the same symbol.
  • the bet and the winning condition are stored in the accessible memory device 23 , and the processor 21 controls the display unit 4 to display a gaming image as shown in FIG. 5 .
  • step (S 12 ) the processor 21 is operable to allow the player to input a command for generating a game symbol combination through the confirm button 31 , and controls the display unit 4 to display an animation image of rotating reels. Then, in step (S 13 ), the processor 21 randomly generates a game symbol combination at the end of one round of the slot game, and controls the display unit 4 to display the game symbol combination as shown in FIG. 6 .
  • the game symbol combination is, but not limited to, a 3 ⁇ 5 matrix with fifteen game symbols.
  • step (S 14 ) the processor 21 is operable to determine whether the game symbol combination thus generated conforms with the winning condition determined in step (S 11 ). When the game symbol combination conforms with the winning condition, the processor 21 is operable to grant the player an award according to the bet placed by the player in step (S 11 ), and controls the display unit 4 to notify the player of the grant of the award in step (S 16 ). Then, the current round of the slot game is completed.
  • the processor 21 is operable to determine whether the game symbol combination conforms with a predetermined symbol-changing condition in step (S 15 ). The processor 21 is operable to perform a symbol-changing procedure when the game symbol combination conforms with the symbol-changing condition. Otherwise, the current round of the slot game is completed.
  • the symbol-changing condition is that the game symbol combination generated in step (S 13 ) has only one game symbol that differs from other ones in one of the upper, middle and lower payout lines of the game symbol combination, and this one game symbol can be selected as a to-be-changed game symbol that may be changed in the symbol-changing procedure.
  • the game symbol combination shown in FIG. 6 as an example, the game symbol combination has only one game symbol “E” that differs from other game symbols “A” in the middle payout line.
  • the game symbol combination shown in FIG. 6 conforms with the symbol-changing condition, and the game symbol “E” can be selected as the to-be-changed game symbol.
  • the above information about the to-be-changed game symbol is stored in the accessible memory device 23 . The following description is provided to describe the symbol-changing procedure in detail.
  • the processor 21 controls the display unit 4 to display a gaming image as shown in FIG. 7 to notify the player that he/she can make an additional payment for changing the game symbol “E” in step (S 21 ).
  • step (S 22 ) the processor 21 is operable to determine whether the player made the additional payment for changing the game symbol “E”. If the processor 21 does not receive the payment signal from the payment sensor 34 after a predetermined time period, i.e., the player did not make the additional payment, the current round of the slot game is completed.
  • the processor 21 When the processor 21 receives the payment signal from the payment sensor 34 , the processor 21 is operable to allow the player to input a select command to select the to-be-changed game symbol in the game symbol combination through the select button 33 in step (S 23 ). Further, the processor 21 is operable to store a changing-chance value that indicates how many chances for changing the to-be-changed game symbol the player has in the accessible memory device 23 , and controls the display unit 4 to show the changing-chance value at a corner thereof.
  • the player will have a predetermined number of chances for changing the to-be-changed game symbol after making the additional payment, and the number of chances is stored in the accessible memory device 23 . In practice, it is possible to make more payment to have more chances for changing the to-be-changed game symbol.
  • the game symbol combination as shown in FIG. 6 only has one game symbol that can be selected as the to-be-changed game symbol. It should be noted that, in practice, the game symbol combination may have more than one symbol that can be selected as the to-be-changed game symbol.
  • the player can select the to-be-changed game symbol by himself/herself through the select button 33 .
  • the processor 21 can be configured to automatically select the to-be-changed game symbol in other embodiments.
  • the processor 21 After receipt of the select command, the processor 21 is operable to allow the player to input a confirm command for changing a to-be-changed game symbol in the game symbol combination through the confirm button 31 in step (S 24 ). Moreover, the processor 21 is operable to subtract one from the changing-chance value stored in the accessible memory device 23 in response to the confirm command. Then, in step (S 25 ), the processor 21 controls the display unit 4 to display an animation image of changing the to-be-changed game symbol, and is operable to randomly change the to-be-changed game symbol in response to the confirm command.
  • probability that a revised game symbol combination including the game symbol changed in step (S 25 ) conforms with the winning condition is relatively greater. That is to say, since the to-be-changed game symbol in the game symbol combination shown in FIG. 6 needs changing to “A” for conforming with the winning condition, the probability of getting a revised game symbol “A” is relatively greater when the to-be-changed game symbol is changed. In practice, the probability of getting an appropriate game symbol for conforming with the winning condition is not limited to the design in this embodiment.
  • step (S 26 ) the processor 21 is operable to determine whether the revised game symbol combination that includes the game symbol changed in step (S 25 ) conforms with the winning condition.
  • step (S 27 ) the processor 21 is operable to grant the player an award according to the bet placed by the player in step (S 11 ), and controls the display unit 4 to display a gaming image as shown in FIG. 8 to notify the player of the grant of the award when the revised game symbol combination conforms with the winning condition. Then, the flow goes to step (S 28 ). When the revised game symbol combination fails to conform with the winning condition, the flow also goes to step (S 28 ).
  • step (S 28 ) the processor 21 is operable to check whether the changing-chance value stored in the accessible memory device 23 is equal to 0. The current round of the slot game is completed when the changing-chance value is equal to 0. Otherwise, the flow goes to step (S 29 ) to display a gaming image on the display unit 4 for notifying the player to select the to-be-changed game symbol in the game symbol combination. Then, the flow goes back to step (S 23 ). It should be noted that, although there is only one game symbol “E” in the game symbol combination shown in FIG.
  • the player is allowed to select other game symbols in the game symbol combination as the to-be-changed game symbol in practice, if the revised game symbol combination conforms with the winning condition and the changing-chance value is not equal to 0.
  • the present invention provides the gaming apparatus 1 implementing the gaming method for playing the slot game that allows the player to make the additional payment for changing the to-be-changed game symbol, such that the player has an additional opportunity to getting the award. Therefore, interest of the player in the slot game is further enhanced.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Slot Machines And Peripheral Devices (AREA)
US12/616,007 2009-08-05 2009-11-10 Gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances, and gaming apparatus for implementing the gaming method Abandoned US20110034232A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
TW098126354 2009-08-05
TW098126354A TWI403346B (zh) 2009-08-05 2009-08-05 Variable plate of the wheel game control method, computer program products and game devices

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US20110034232A1 true US20110034232A1 (en) 2011-02-10

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US12/616,007 Abandoned US20110034232A1 (en) 2009-08-05 2009-11-10 Gaming method for playing a slot game with enhancement of player winning chances, and gaming apparatus for implementing the gaming method

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JP6783428B2 (ja) * 2017-05-16 2020-11-11 株式会社コナミアミューズメント ゲーム装置およびプログラム

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060068881A1 (en) * 2004-09-10 2006-03-30 Wms Gaming Inc. Slot machine with persistent change in symbol function

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* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6921335B2 (en) * 2001-09-28 2005-07-26 Igt Gaming device having symbols with transformation probabilities
US7749063B2 (en) * 2004-09-29 2010-07-06 Igt Gaming device having free spin mode with symbol elimination

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060068881A1 (en) * 2004-09-10 2006-03-30 Wms Gaming Inc. Slot machine with persistent change in symbol function

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TWI403346B (zh) 2013-08-01

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Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: ASTRO CORP., TAIWAN

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:YANG, ARDEN;REEL/FRAME:023499/0240

Effective date: 20091019

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION