System for trade-in bonus
AssigneePatent Investment & Licensing Company
InventorJohn F. Acres
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to gaming systems that allow customers to wager, or “trade-in” an object of value or winning situation for a chance to win an even more valuable award. The chance for valuable award may be a bonus game or chance to win a bonus game. Bonus awards are “funded” by the savings achieved from the players trading in their wins in the base game, which would otherwise be paid. Players who do not trade-in see no changes from the base game paytable, while those players who participate in the trade-in bonus have a different gaming experience.
Claims43
A gaming device comprising:
- a standard paytable structured to generate winning outcomes and non-winning outcomes from a random event;
- a facility for accepting return of a holding by a player when the holding to be returned is one of a subset of winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes of the paytable;
- a bonus generator structured to award the player a bonus outcome in exchange for the player returning the retuned holding.
A bonus controller coupled to a gaming device that has a paytable having winning outcomes and losing outcomes, the bonus controller comprising:
- an input coupled to the gaming device and structured to receive information related to gameplay on the gaming device;
- a bonus point incrementor structured to add bonus points to a bonus point total when a player surrenders a holding that, according to the paytable, is a winning outcome;
- and
- a bonus awarder structured to grant a bonus to the player of the gaming device when the bonus point total exceeds a threshold.
A gaming device having an original payout schedule, comprising:
- at least two stages, in which the player has an interim holding after the first stage;
- an offer to the player to surrender at least a portion of the interim holding after the first stage;
- a bonus facility structured to provide a bonus award in exchange for surrender by the player;
- and
- wherein, when the player elects to not surrender any of the interim holding, a payout of the game is made according to its original payout schedule.
A method of playing a game on a gambling device having a paytable including winning outcomes, comprising:
- dealing cards to a player;
- accepting discards of the dealt cards from the player;
- comparing the accepted discards to the winning outcomes of the paytable;
- and
- generating an award for the player when the accepted discards match one of the winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes of the paytable.
A method of playing a gaming device, comprising:
- receiving an indication of a holding awarded to a player from the gaming device;
- returning the holding to the gaming device when the holding is one of a subset of winning outcomes or potential winning outcomes for the device;
- and
- receiving delayed compensation in exchange for returning the winning outcome.
A method of playing a game on a gaming device, comprising:
- providing a player with an interim holding;
- offering the player an incentive to return at least a portion of the interim holding while simultaneously offering the player no incentive to hold all of the interim holding;
- and
- providing an award to the player when the at least a portion of the interim holding is returned.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.