# US 2014/0194176 A1 · Computing wagering game luck > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0194176 A1 - Document ID: US20140194176A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/791,083 - Filed: 2013-03-08 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-04 - Assignees: WMS Gaming Inc. - Applicants: Wms Gaming, Inc. - Inventors: Richard B. Robbins; Jeff D. Fleyshman; Andrew C. Guinn; Jamie W. Vann - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140194176A1 ## CPC - G07F 17/326: {Game play aspects of gaming systems} - G07F 17/32: for games, toys, sports, or amusements - G07F 17/323: {wherein the player is informed, e.g. advertisements, odds, instructions} - G07F 17/3255: {Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements} - G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00}) ## Abstract A wagering game system and its operations are described herein. In some embodiments, the operations can include causing at least one event to occur during play of a wagering game. In some embodiments, the operations can further include determining a difference between occurrence of the at least one event and a theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event. In some embodiments, the operations can further include computing a luck factor based on the difference. The luck factor represents luck for occurrence of the at least one event. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method comprising: causing, by one or more processors, at least one event to occur during play of a wagering game; determining, by at least one of the one or more processors, a difference between occurrence of the at least one event and a theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event; and computing, by at least one of the one or more processors, a luck factor based on the difference, wherein the luck factor represents luck for occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing the luck factor based on the difference comprises one or more of increasing a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is greater than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event, and decreasing a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is less than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the theoretical expectation of occurrence comprises one or more of a probability of occurrence, a frequency of occurrence, a sequence of occurrence, a level of occurrence, a timing of occurrence, an order of occurrence, an occurrence of a type, a money value, an intensity of presentation, and a duration of presentation of the at least one event. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determining the difference between the occurrence of the at least one event and the theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event comprises: analyzing a history of wagering game play for a player account associated with the wagering game; computing the theoretical expectation of occurrence for the at least one event based on the history of wagering game play; and evaluating the occurrence of the at least one event against the theoretical expectation of occurrence. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the difference between the occurrence of the at least one event and the theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event comprises accessing a first set of rules separate from a second set of rules for the wagering game. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising using the luck factor to provide content. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the using the luck factor to provide the content comprises one or more of displaying a value of the luck factor as the content on a display device, selecting the content based on the luck factor, comparing the luck factor to an additional luck factor, ranking a player based on the luck factor, providing a prize based on the luck factor, computing a side-bet regarding a predicted change to a value for the luck factor, and using the luck factor as an outcome of an additional wagering game. ### Claim 8 One or more machine-readable storage devices having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a set of one or more processors causes the set of one or more processors to perform operations comprising: detecting occurrence of at least one event of a wagering game; determining that occurrence of the at least one event is different from a theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event; and computing a luck factor based on the determining that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from the theoretical expectation of occurrence, wherein the luck factor represents luck for a player account associated with the wagering game. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, wherein the operation of computing the luck factor based on the determining that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from the theoretical expectation of occurrence includes operations comprises one or more of increasing a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is greater than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event, and decreasing a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is less than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, wherein the theoretical expectation of occurrence comprises one or more of a probability of occurrence, a frequency of occurrence, a sequence of occurrence, a level of occurrence, a timing of occurrence, an order of occurrence, an occurrence of a type, a money value, an intensity of presentation, and a duration of presentation of the at least one event. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, said operations further comprising presenting the luck factor as a quantifiable value via one or more output devices associated with a wagering game machine, wherein the quantifiable value is different from a value of a credit meter for the wagering game and different from a value of a metric generated based on game rules for the wagering game. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, said operations further comprising one or more of ranking and awarding player accounts based on the luck factor. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, said operations further comprising one or more of comparing the luck factor to an additional luck factor for an additional player account and recommending a playing strategy against one or more of the player account and an additional player account based on the luck factor. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The one or more machine readable storage devices of claim 8, wherein the operation of determining that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from the theoretical expectation of occurrence comprises an operation for accessing a first set of rules separate from a second set of rules for the wagering game. ### Claim 15 A system comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory unit configured to store instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processors, cause the system to cause at least one event to occur for a first wagering game content, wherein the first wagering game content is associated with a wagering game; determine a difference between occurrence of the at least one event and a theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event; compute a luck factor based on the difference, wherein the luck factor represents luck for a player account associated with the wagering game; and use the luck factor for a second wagering game content. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the instruction to determine the difference between occurrence of the at least one event and the theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event comprises an instruction to determine that the at least one event occurred despite being less likely to occur because a non-optimal playing strategy was played for the wagering game prior to occurrence of the event. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the instruction to use the luck factor for the second wagering game content includes instructions to one or more of select the second wagering game content based on the luck factor, present a value of the luck factor as the second wagering game content on an output device of a wagering game machine, compare the luck factor to an additional luck factor of an additional player account, rank the player account based on the luck factor, provide a prize based on the luck factor, compute a side-bet regarding a predicted change to a value for the luck factor, and use the luck factor as an outcome of an additional wagering game. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the instruction to compute the luck factor includes instructions to one or more of increase a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is greater than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event, and decrease a value of the luck factor when a value for the occurrence of the at least one event is less than a value for the theoretical expectation of occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15, wherein the theoretical expectation of occurrence comprises one or more of a probability of occurrence, a frequency of occurrence, a sequence of occurrence, a level of occurrence, a timing of occurrence, an order of occurrence, an occurrence of a type, a money value, an intensity of presentation, and a duration of presentation of the at least one event. ### Claim 20 An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and a memory unit configured to store instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to detect occurrence of at least one event of a wagering game, determine, based on a first set of rules, that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from a theoretical expectation of occurrence associated with the at least one event, wherein the first set of rules is separate from a second set of rules for the wagering game, and compute a luck factor based on the difference, wherein the luck factor represents luck for the occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instruction to determine, based on the first set of rules, that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from the theoretical expectation of occurrence includes instructions to determine, based on data from the wagering game, a first value that represents the at least one event, detect, from the first set of rules, a second value that represents the theoretical expectation of occurrence for the at least one event, evaluate the first value against the second value, and determine that the first value is different from the second value. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the instruction to determine, based on the first set of rules, that the occurrence of the at least one event is different from the theoretical expectation of occurrence includes instructions to detect a characteristic of the at least one event, and detect that the characteristic is indicated in the first set of rules as a criteria that qualifies the at least one event for computation of the luck factor. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instruction to compute the luck factor includes instructions to detect a luck parameter in the first set of rules, wherein the luck parameter is associated with the characteristic indicated in the first set of rules, and use the luck parameter to generate a score value that represents the luck for the player account. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the instruction to use the luck parameter includes instructions to one or more of increase the score value when the luck parameter indicates a positive numerical value and decrease the score value when the luck parameter indicates a negative numerical value. ### Claim 25 An apparatus comprising: means for detecting at least one event of a wagering game, wherein the at least one event occurs via a random-number generation; means for determining a theoretical expectation of occurrence for the at least one event based on a history of game play prior to occurrence of the at least one event; means for determining that the occurrence of the at least one event differs from the theoretical expectation of occurrence; and means for computing a luck factor in response to the means for determining that occurrence of the at least one event differs from the theoretical expectation of occurrence for the at least one event, wherein the luck factor is a quantifiable indication of luck regarding the occurrence of the at least one event. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the means for computing the luck factor comprises: in response to the means for determining that occurrence of the at least one event differs from the theoretical expectation of occurrence for the at least one event, means for selecting a luck parameter associated with at least one rule from a set of luck rules, wherein the luck rules are different from rules for the wagering game; and means for computing the luck factor based on the luck parameter. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The apparatus of claim 25 further comprising: means for determining a degree to which the occurrence of the at least one event differs from the theoretical expectation of occurrence; and means for computing a value for the luck factor according to the degree. ### Claim 28 (depends on 25) The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the means for determining that the occurrence of the at least one event differs from the theoretical expectation of occurrence comprises determining a variance from one or more of an expected probability of occurrence, an expected frequency of occurrence, an expected sequence of occurrence, an expected level of occurrence, an expected timing of occurrence, an expected order of occurrence, an expected occurrence of a type, an expected money value, an expected intensity of presentation, and an expected duration of presentation of the at least one event. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising means for one or more of displaying the luck factor as content, selecting content based on the luck factor, comparing the luck factor to an additional luck factor, generating a ranking based on the luck factor, providing a prize based on the luck factor, computing a side-bet regarding a predicted change to a value for the luck factor, and using the luck factor as an outcome of an additional wagering game.