USOO7771271B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.2 US 7,771,271 B2 Walker et al. (45) Date of Patent: Aug. 10, 2010 (54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DERIVING 3,642,287 A 2/ 1972 Lally et a1. INFORMATION FROM A GAMING DEVICE 3,735,987 A 5/1973 Ohki (75) Inventors: Jay S. Walker, Ridge?eld, CT (US); 4326351 A 4/1982 HeyVFMOd et al' James A. Jorasch, Stamford, CT (US); 4’410’178 A 10/1983 partndge Geoffrey M. Gelman, Stamford, CT 4,448,419 A 5/ 1984 Teln?es (US); Russell P. Sammon, San 4,467,424 A 8/1984 Hedges et a1. .............. .. 463/26 1391101500, CA (Us); Magdalena M- 4,531,187 A 7/1985 Uhland 364/412 chham’ Norwalk’ CT (Us) 4,636,951 A 1/1987 Harlick ...................... .. 463/25 ('73) Assignee: IGT’ Reno, NV (Us) 4,755,941 A 7/1988 Bacchi ..................... .. 364/412 ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 7 days. (Continued) (21) APPL NO. 10/681375 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (22) FiladZ Oct. 8, 2003 AU 199716432 9/1997 (65) Prior Publication Data US 2004/0106449 A1 Jun. 3, 2004 (Continued) Related U.S. Application Data OTHER PUBLICATIONS (60) £1,303i8302na1 application NO' 60/417’687’ ?led on OCt' Brochure, “Flying Bet Roulette” DEQ Casinos Ltd., undated. (Continued) (51) Int. Cl. A63F 9/24 (2006.01) Primary Examinerilohn M Hotaling, ll A63F 13/00 (2006.01) Assistant ExamineriAdetokunbo Torimiro G06F 17/00 (2006.01) (74) Attorney, Agent, or FirmiK&L Gates LLP G06F 19/00 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. ........................... .. 463/25; 463/16; 463/30; (57) ABSTRACT 463/31; 463/35; 463/37; 463/40; 463/42; 463/ 43 (58) Field of Classi?cation Search ................. .. 463/ 42, In accordance With one or more embodiments, an information 463/16, 25, 30, 31, 35, 37, 40, 43 deriving device is associated With at least one gaming device. See application ?le for complete search history. The information deriving device is operable to derive infor (56) References Cited mation about occurrences (e.g., payouts obtained, wagers placed, reactions of player, balance of credit meter, etc.) at the U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS gaming device, Without cooperation of the gaming device. 1,978,395 A 10/ 1934 Groetchen 3,420,525 A 1/1969 Waders 24 Claims, 20 Drawing Sheets GAMING DEVICE $ERVER INDFDEOERRVIMIVAICTNEIG O N / PDLEVAIVCEER INFORMATION DERIVING DEVICE SERVER @ US 7,771,271 B2 Page 2 US. 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Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 1 0120 US 7,771,271 B2 100 115 GAMING GAMING 3 DEVICE 1 DEV'CE SERVER HQ @ I A l | 130 f145 If I l y \ 155 INFORMATION DERWWG FL 5g;ng DEVICE E E max “OR INFORMATION DERIVING DEVICE ' SERVER g5 FIG. 1 US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 2 0f 20 US 7,771,271 B2 200 x INPUT COMMUNICATION OUTPUT DEVICE PORT DEVICE E PROCESSOR SENSOR _20_5 E L V PROGRAM m I @II IMAGE FILE DATABASE I m0 AUDIO FILE DATABASE I m0 PAYOUT DATABASE I 20 PLAYER SESSION DATABASE p) FIG. 2 US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 3 0f 20 US 7,771,271 B2 300 x INPUT COMMUNICATION OUTPUT DEVICE PORT DEVICE 31_5 RANDOM NUMBER PAYMENT GENERATOR340 PROCESSOR SYSTEM — E BENEFIT PLAYER OUTPUT TRACKING CARD DEVICE £5 READER E <3 PROGRAM 310 _ \ PROBABILITY DATABASE g PAYOUT DATABASE @ \‘_—d_‘_/ FIG. 3A US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 4 0120 US 7,771,271 B2 3t 370 OW / :1 9 r 1 PAYS LEFT 3 1 2 3 \(PAYs 1mm 3 TORIGHT> com coms coms TO LEFT 7 7 7 100 200 600 7 7 7 0 O 0 1° 4° 6° Q Q é ‘ 8" 8’ a” 20 w 60 Q Q Q L386 Q Q i 18 36 54 g é Q Q Q E 14 23 42 E Q Q 0 (j W 10 20 30 T25 (j 6 ANY PAIR @@ 5 10 1s ANY PAIR @0 16" ANY ANY A 2 4 6 W” ANY ANJY k J 384?\ P 378 CREDITS 2 AVAILABLE @ CARD HERE % 390—{ [ BETU[ BETZ || BET3J BILLS/COINS 376 398 RETURN 3961éiY 388 :J l FIG. 3B US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 5 0120 US 7,771,271 B2 400 COMMUNICATION j PORT PROCESSOR @ K 415 C 3 PROGRAM 4—29 OO GAMiNG DEVICE DATABASE ? ( PLAYER DATABASE g FIG. 4 US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 6 0120 US 7,771,271 B2 500 \ COMMUNICATION PORT PROCESSOR _5_Q§ f 515 f D PROGRAM @ INFORMATION DERIVING DEVICE DATABASE 52—5 MESSAGE DETERMINATION DATABASE E MESSAGE DETAILS DATABASE E MESSAGE TRACKING DATABASE & \ FIG. 5 US. Patent Aug. 10, 2010 Sheet 7 0120 US 7,771,271 B2 600 x DISPLAY COMMUN|CAT10N INPUT DEVICE PORT DEVICE E 6-29 E PROCESSOR 59g 61 0 PRO RAM G 61_5 FIG. 6
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