Variable Wager Probability Mechanism for Gaming Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Gaming machines face challenges in maintaining a required return to player while offering variable wager options and progressive prizes, as existing methods struggle to adjust the probability of winning special prizes based on the size of the wager, leading to difficulties in achieving a consistent return to player across different wagering scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for gaming machines that allow players to stake variable-sized wagers, displaying multiple prize schedules with unique awards, and randomly determining outcomes, where the probability of winning a special prize varies with the wager size to maintain an equal expected return to player, regardless of the selected prize schedule or wager amount.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the gaming machine offers variable wager options and progressive prizes, then player choice and engagement are improved, but maintaining a consistent return to player becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic probability adjustment where the probability of winning a progressive prize changes based on the wager size. Specifically, larger wagers increase the probability of winning the progressive prize, while smaller wagers decrease it. This dynamic mechanism ensures that the expected return remains consistent across different wager levels, resolving the contradiction between player choice and return consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the probability parameter of winning based on the wager size parameter. By adjusting the probability of progressive prize wins in proportion to wager size, the system maintains a constant expected value (return to player) regardless of the wager amount chosen by the player, thus preserving reliability while allowing versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the gaming machine offers multiple prize schedules with different awards, then player engagement is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gaming machine is designed with a universal prize awarding system that can handle multiple prize schedules and types (fixed prizes, progressive prizes, alternative prizes) through a single integrated mechanism. The system uses a unified probability adjustment approach that works across all prize types and schedules, reducing the need for separate complex subsystems for each prize category.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically selects and adjusts probabilities for different prize schedules based on wager size, rather than requiring static configuration for each prize type. This dynamic approach allows the same core mechanism to handle multiple prize schedules, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining prize variety.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for use with a gaming machine that, in response to the staking of a wager by a player, is arranged to randomly determine an outcome of a game, display on a display representations of the outcome, and award an award if a winning outcome occurs, wherein the player can stake a variable sized wager on the occurrence of a winning outcome, the systems and methods including varying the probability of selecting the outcome associated with a special prize dependent on the size of the wager staked by the player and/or varying the probability of one or more other prizes that are alternatives to the special prize.