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| Summary / Description | This prior art patent describes a very similar method of gaming that has the same two-stage structure as described by the patent application. The optional second stage could be triggered by events occurred in the first stage and the result of second stage can be used to modify the award earned in the first stage. |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 10/935021 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - Patent Appl. Publ. within the ... - A1 |
| Patentee Name | Steven Ibbertson, Simon Burgess, Ed Cebulko, Richard Lassiter |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | |
| URL | http://www.freepatentsonline.co... |
| Filing Date | September 7, 2004 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | |
Excerpt A game method for providing a mid-game wager for a base game includes designating at least one intermediate game point and at least one qualifying intermediate holding corresponding to at least one qualifying final result. Players optionally place a base game wager and initiate the base game. The base game is played until an intermediate game point is reached. A player holding a qualifying intermediate holding at the intermediate game point may place an optional mid-game wager. The base game is played to completion. Players with a final holding that is a qualifying final result are rewarded based on the mid-game wager. |
A gaming machine adapted to provide a main wagering game in response to a wager placed by a user, the main wagering game involving the selection and presentation of a plurality of symbols on a display and if a winning combination occurs, the gaming machine determines an award associated with the winning combination, the gaming machine further adapted to provide the user with the choice of gambling the determined award on a gamble game, wherein the expected return of the gamble game to the user is greater than 100%.
| Relevance | The whole game play and two-stage is very similar to the method describe in the prior art. |
A gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein in the gamble game the gaming machine prompts the user to guess the value of a characteristic of a hidden symbol and if the guess is correct the user is awarded the award multiplied by a winning multiplier and if the guess is incorrect the user is awarded the award multiplied by a losing multiplier, wherein the winning multiplier is greater than one and the losing multiplier is greater than zero.
| Relevance | Although the actual game played in the second stage is different, but any person skilled in the art of game design can easily adapt the two-stage idea to any kind of wagering game. |
A gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic has two possible values, the winning multiplier is three, and the losing multiplier is 0.5.
| Relevance | Although the number and the values of the multiplier is different, these are just specific implementation details. |
A gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic has 4 possible values, the winning multiplier is five, and the losing multiplier is two thirds (0.6 recurring).
| Relevance | Although the number and the values of the multiplier is different, these are just specific implementation details. |
A gaming machine according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the gamble game is only provided to the user if a trigger event triggering the gamble game occurs during play of the main wagering game.
| Relevance | Similarly, the prior art also has the second stage game triggered by events generated in the first stage. |
A method for operating a gaming machine, the method including:
providing a main wagering game in response to a wager placed by a user, the main wagering game involving the selection and presentation of a plurality of symbols on a display and if a winning combination occurs, the gaming machine determines an award associated with the winning combination;
providing the user with the choice of gambling the determined award on a gamble game in which the user can gamble the award, wherein the expected return of the gamble game to the user is greater than 100%.
| Relevance | Although the actual game played is different, but any person skilled in the art of game design can easily adapt the two-stage idea described in prior art to any kind of wagering game. |
A method according to claim 8, wherein in the gamble game the gaming machine prompts the user to guess the value of a characteristic of a hidden symbol and if the guess is correct the gaming machine awards the user the award multiplied by a winning multiplier, and if the guess is incorrect the gaming machine awards the user the award multiplied by a losing multiplier, wherein the winning multiplier is greater than one and the losing multiplier is greater than zero.
| Relevance | Although the number and the values of the multiplier is different, these are just specific implementation details. |
A method according to claim 9, wherein the characteristic has two possible values, the winning multiplier is three, and the losing multiplier is 0.5.
| Relevance | vAlthough the number and the values of the multiplier is different, these are just specific implementation details. |
A method according to claim 9, wherein the characteristic has 4 possible values, the winning multiplier is five, and the losing multiplier is two thirds (0.6 recurring).
| Relevance | Although the number and the values of the multiplier is different, these are just specific implementation details. |
United States