US 7,677,968 B2Granted

Wagering game with symbol combinations providing virtual mapping to table with game outcomes

AssigneeWMS Gaming Inc.

InventorsBrad Schultz, Alfred Thomas

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Abstract

A gaming machine for conducting a wagering game includes a display for displaying three or more reels, one having at least one triggering symbol representing a guaranteed award when it lands along an active payline selected by the player. When the triggering symbol lands along the selected payline, resulting in a triggering outcome, a corresponding outcome is retrieved from a table containing mappings of each triggering outcome with a corresponding outcome. The table is predetermined such that at the time the triggering outcome is presented to the player, the outcome is preordained. The outcome can further include another triggering symbol, in which case that winning outcome is further mapped to a retriggered winning outcome. In addition to mapping to each triggering outcome with a outcome, each outcome can be mapped to a game enhancement parameter.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method of conducting a wagering game on a gaming machine, comprising:

associating, using a controller, a plurality of mapped outcomes with a plurality of triggering outcomes, each of said plurality of triggering outcomes being indicated by at least a triggering symbol;
initiating, using said controller, a plurality of plays of said wagering game on said gaming machine upon detecting a respective wager for each of said plays, said initiating including randomly selecting, for each of said plays, a respective game outcome from a plurality of game outcomes that include said plurality of triggering outcomes;
after said associating, and in response to any of said randomly selected game outcomes being one of said plurality of triggering outcomes, storing in a memory an indication of a corresponding first one of said mapped outcomes associated with said one of said plurality of triggering outcomes;
and
incrementing, using said controller, a counter in response to any of said randomly selected game outcomes corresponding to any of said plurality of triggering outcomes;
in response to an option exercised by a player of said wagering game at any time chosen by the player during or after any of said plays of said wagering game, and after said storing, displaying, on a video display of said gaming machine, said corresponding first one of said mapped outcomes based on said associating so as to be redeemed by the player.

3 more elements

A gaming machine for playing a wagering game, comprising:

a wager-input device for receiving a wager associated with a wagering game;
a memory storing a plurality of mapped outcomes that are associated with a plurality of triggering outcomes;
a display for displaying symbols indicating a randomly selected outcome of said wagering game selected from a plurality of outcomes, said plurality of outcomes including at least two triggering outcomes that award additional game play at a time selectable by a player of said wagering game, said additional game play providing a redeemable outcome corresponding to one of the mapped outcomes;
and
a special-event input device for initiating said additional game play in response to activating said special-event input device, wherein said redeemable outcome is predetermined before said initiation and is correlated to at least one of said symbols used for indicating said triggering outcomes;
and
a controller programmed to
increment a counter in response to said randomly selected outcome corresponding to any of said triggering outcomes and store in said memory an indication of said mapped outcome that corresponds to said randomly selected outcome, and
cause said redeemable outcome to be displayed on said display after said symbols indicating said randomly selected outcome are displayed.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.