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| Summary / Description | The prior art document concerns a basic gambling game, with symbols randomly scattered across three reels. The gaming has bonus games which are triggered by a particular combination – this can result in a greater pay-out for the user. |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 6,551,1987 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | WMS Gaming Inc |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | Multiple |
| URL | http://www.freepatentsonline.co... |
| Filing Date | October 4, 2000 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | |
Excerpt The basic overall game with bonus round, which is essentially what is being claimed in the patent application, is quire clearly described in Claim 1 and 2 in the prior art document |
A method of gaming comprising: selecting a set of symbols for display to a player in a set of display positions corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of reels; determining a game round outcome based on the selected symbols; determining that a feature game round should occur; and determining a feature game round outcome by determining an optimal winning combination of symbols from a feature subset of the set of symbols comprising more symbols than the number of reels.
| Relevance | Claim 1 in the prior art document is very similar to the claim in the patent application – basically, the user plays the basic game and then, depending on whether or not the trigger is hit, may progress onwards to the bonus game which can result in a greater payout to the user. There is nothing new added by the patent application here. |
A game controller comprising: a symbol selector for selecting a set of symbols for display to a player on in a set of display positions corresponding to respective ones of a plurality of reels; a game round outcome determiner for determining a game round outcome based on the selected set of symbols; a feature game round controller for determining whether a feature game round should occur; and a feature game round outcome determiner for determining a feature game round outcome based on an optimal winning combination of symbols from a feature subset of the set of symbols for display comprising more symbols than the number of reels.
| Relevance | This is similar to claim 2 in the prior art document, which claims for a machine controller that implements claim 1 of each. |
United States