Methods and systems for intelligent dispute resolution within next generation casino games

Abstract

A dispute resolution model for next generation action / skill casino games comprising a variety of friendly onscreen methods to demonstrate the fairness of a disputed game or simply to allow the player to eliminate confusion created by fast action wagering. Such methods may include running on-demand instant replays of segments of wagered games to allow both players and operators to verify those games' fairness and providing the player with historical information regarding the operation of the casino game and / or the gaming machine. The historical information includes historical win information to demonstrate the distribution of previous wins; Skill vs. luck historical information to demonstrate the exact role both luck and skill played in a player's game outcome; and peer comparison historical information to enable the player to compare the recent payback history of a given game to identical games on the casino floor, and to show the player which machines have been the luckiest over a given period of time.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12 / 497,806, filed Jul. 6, 2009, which application is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and from which application priority is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120.[0002]Embodiments of the present inventions relate generally to the field of regulated electronic games of chance.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONSummary of the Invention[0003]The embodiments of the methods and systems for intelligent dispute resolution within next generation casino games disclosed herein facilitate the evolution of casino gaming by: 1) improving both the speed and quality of dispute resolution for common legacy game patron disputes; 2) anticipating new varieties of patron disputes that will arise when fully interactive, skill-based games grow prevalent on the casino floor; and 3) devising a multi-tiered method to resolve the anticipated disputes efficiently.[0004]As casino games begin to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003]The embodiments of the methods and systems for intelligent dispute resolution within next generation casino games disclosed herein facilitate the evolution of casino gaming by: 1) improving both the speed and quality of dispute resolution for common legacy game patron disputes; 2) anticipating new varieties of patron disputes that will arise when fully interactive, skill-based games grow prevalent on the casino floor; and 3) devising a multi-tiered method to resolve the anticipated disputes efficiently.

[0011]As gaming models become increasingly complicated and disputes become more common, the language used in dispute resolution reports will need to become clearer to the player or casino operators will run the risk of eroding the confidence of their player base. The embodiments of the PDRM disclosed herein will accomplish this aim by allowing operators to provide players with one or more of the following onscreen reports quickly and efficiently: 1) instant replays which may be captured for all games—not just the last ten—to demonstrate visually that past games involved no abnormal events, that the game responded to player input in a timely manner, that'winning symbols were or were not achieved, etc.; 2) Historical Win reports to demonstrate that a gaming machine is and has been awarding wins to players; 3) Skill vs. Luck reports to demonstrate to players how much of their result in a given game was dictated by luck and how much was dictated by their relative skill level; and 4) Peer Comparison reports to demonstrate how a gaming machine's payouts compare to the payouts of similar games on the casino floor. Because these reports may be generated by the patron with either no or minimal operator intervention, the new features offered within this PDRM will not come at the expense of adding to the operator's workload in a significant manner.

Problems solved by technology

Existing dispute resolution models (which involve referring a majority of dispute claims to local gaming control boards and handling a minority of dispute claims by generating slow in-house reports and investigations) will not likely be able to handle the complexity or volume of this new class of future dispute in a satisfactory manner.

In practice, these reports and graphical recalls are not regularly used to resolve patron disputes because they do not contain much data and because it is not particularly convenient for busy slot managers or technicians to run them.

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