Roulette gaming machine

An electronic roulette gaming apparatus, comprising:

• (a) first display means for displaying a graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on a display;
• (b) determining means for pre-determining a specific path for movement of a graphic image of a ball on the display relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel, prior to the start of the display of the graphic image of the ball wherein the determining means selects a bounce pattern for the graphic image of the ball from a plurality of different bounce patterns, each bounce pattern for moving the graphic image of the ball from an outer track to an inner track of the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• and
• (c) second display means for superimposing the graphic image of the ball on the display and moving the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel to follow the pre-determined path.

A method of playing roulette, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) playing a pre-recorded graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on a display;
• (b) superimposing a graphic image of a ball over the pre-recorded graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• (c) determining a path for movement of the graphic image of the ball relative to the pre-recorded graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• and
• (d) synchronizing movement of the graphic image of the ball along the path with the playing of the pre-recorded graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel.

A method of playing roulette, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) displaying a graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on a display;
• (b) displaying a graphic image of a ball over the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• (c) pre-determining a specific path for movement of the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel prior to the start of the display of the graphic image of the ball including the step of selecting a bounce pattern for the graphic image of the ball from a plurality of different bounce patterns, each bounce pattern for moving the graphic image of the ball from an outer track to an inner track of the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• and
• (d) moving the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel to follow the path.

A program storage device readable by a computer system coupled to a display, the program storage device tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer system to simulate a live action roulette game on the display, the program comprising:

• (a) first display means for displaying a graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on the display;
• (b) pre-determining means for determining a specific path for movement of a graphic image of a ball on the display relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel, prior to the start of the display of the graphic image of the ball wherein the determining means selects a bounce pattern for the graphic image of the ball from a plurality of different bounce patterns, each bounce pattern for moving the graphic image of the ball from an outer track to an inner track of the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• and
• (c) second display means for superimposing the graphic image of the ball on the display and moving the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel to follow the path.

An electronic roulette gaming apparatus, comprising:

• (a) first display means for displaying a graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on a display, wherein said first display means plays a pre-recorded graphic image;
• (b) determining means for determining a path for movement of a graphic image of a ball on the display relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel, wherein the determining means selects a bounce pattern for the graphic image of the ball from a plurality of different bounce patterns, each bounce pattern for moving the graphic image of the ball from an outer tract to an inner track of the spinning roulette wheel, wherein said bounce pattern includes a table of datapoints, each datapoint including x and y coordinates, wherein the determining means modifies the bounce pattern to stop the ball at a bin on the inner track of the graphic image of the roulette wheel corresponding to a winning number;
• and
• (c) second display means for displaying the graphic image of the ball on the display and moving the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel to follow the path, wherein the second display means synchronizes movement of the graphic image of the ball with the playing of the pre-recorded graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel, and wherein the second display means interpolates the position of the graphic image of the ball between datapoints by performing spline computation and recalculates the position of the graphic image of the ball during the retrace periods of the display.

A method of playing roulette, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) displaying a graphic image of a spinning roulette wheel on a display, wherein said displaying step comprises the step of playing a pre-recorded graphic image;
• (b) displaying a graphic image of a ball over the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel;
• (c) determining a path for movement of the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel including the step of selecting a bounce pattern for the graphic image of the ball from the outer track to an inner track of the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel, wherein said bounce pattern includes a table of datapoints, each datapoint including x and y coordinates;
• and
• (d) moving the graphic image of the ball relative to the graphic image of the spinning roulette wheel to follow the path, wherein said moving step includes the step of synchronizing movement of the graphic image of the ball with the playing of the pre-recorded graphic image, wherein said synchronizing step recalculates the position of the graphic image of the ball during retrace periods of the display, and wherein said synchronizing step further includes the step of interpolating the position of the graphic image of the ball between datapoints by performing a spline compilation.