Prize awarding mechanism for a gaming machine or system of linked gaming machines

Abstract

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.

1 . A method 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 method 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. 
     
     
         2 . A method 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 method including:
 displaying on the display or on another display of the gaming machine a plurality of prize schedules, wherein:   a) each prize schedule defines a plurality of awards that are awarded on the occurrence of an associated winning outcome in the game,   b) each prize schedule differs in at least one award from each of the other prize schedules, and   c) at least one of the prize schedules includes a special prize;   receiving a selection of one of the prize schedules;   determining at least one outcome of the game and displaying representations of the outcome on the display; and   when a winning outcome occurs in the determined outcomes, award the award in the selected prize schedule associated with that winning outcome;   wherein the process of determining at least one outcome of the game includes making a random selection from a plurality of outcomes that include each winning outcome in the selected prize schedule, wherein the probability of selecting the outcome associated with the special prize varies dependent on the size of the wager staked by the player so as to maintain a substantially equal expected return to player regardless of which prize schedule is selected and the size of the wager staked.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the process of determining an outcome of the game and displaying representations of the outcome on the display is constrained to select an outcome that is associated with a prize in the selected prize schedule. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the game is a feature game of a base game, wherein in each game play of the base game the player stakes a wager on the occurrence of a winning outcome of the base game, and if a trigger event occurs during play of the base game, the feature game commences, wherein in the feature game the wager that influences the probability of selecting the outcome associated with the special prize is a wager placed in the game play of the base game during which the trigger event occurred. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the probability of winning the special prize is increased proportionally to the size of the wager. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein all prizes in the prize schedules other than the special prize maintains a fixed value. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the probability of winning the special prize is not proportional to the size of the wager, and the overall expected return to player resulting from play of the game with the selected prize schedule is changed proportional to the size of the wager by varying the probability of winning at least one other prize in the prize schedule and/or by varying the value of at least one other prize in the prize schedule. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least two of the prize schedules each define a different special prize. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein all of the prize schedules define a special prize, with no two prize schedules defining the same special prize. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein in the process of determining at least one outcome of the game and displaying representations of the outcome on the display, the same representations is used to indicate the winning of special prizes from different prize schedules. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each prize schedule includes a single special prize. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the method is applied to a gaming machine that is linked with at least one other gaming machine, and the method includes providing the game on each of the linked gaming machines so that each linked gaming machine is eligible to win the special prize. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the base game differs between different gaming machines. 
     
     
         14 . A gaming machine comprising a user interface and a game controller in communication with the user interface, the game controller providing a game in response to the staking of a wager by a player, by randomly determining an outcome of the game, displaying on a display of the user interface representations of the outcome, and causing the gaming machine to award an award if a winning outcome occurs, at least one award comprising a special prize, wherein the size of the wager staked by the player is variable and controllable by the player by operating the user interface, and wherein the game controller varies the probability of selecting an outcome associated with a special prize dependent on the size of the wager staked by the player and/or varies the probability of selecting one or more outcomes associated with one or more other prizes that can be awarded as alternatives to the special prize. 
     
     
         15 . The gaming machine of  claim 14  wherein the game controller determines outcomes of the game by receiving random numbers from a random number generator and comparing the received numbers with numbers associated with the outcomes, wherein the game controller varies the probability of selecting an outcome associated with a special prize by varying the range of numbers associated with the special prize. 
     
     
         16 . A gaming machine including a user interface in communication with a game controller that, in response to the staking of a wager by a player, is arranged to randomly determine an outcome of a game, cause a display of the user interface to 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 by operating a user interface of the gaming machine, wherein:
 the gaming machine displays on a display of the user interface a plurality of prize schedules, wherein:   a) each prize schedule defines a plurality of awards that are awarded on the occurrence of an associated winning outcome in the game,   b) each prize schedule differs in at least one award from each of the other prize schedules, and   c) at least one of the prize schedules includes a special prize;   in response to operation of the user interface, the game controller determines one of the prize schedules as operating for the current game play;   the game controller varies one or more game parameters so as to vary the probability of selecting the outcome associated with the special prize dependent on the size of the wager staked by the player, so as to maintain a substantially equal expected return to player regardless of which prize schedule is selected and regardless of the size of the wager staked by the player, and then determines at least one outcome of a game by making a random selection from a plurality of outcomes that include each winning outcome in the selected prize schedule.   
     
     
         17 . The gaming machine of  claim 16  wherein the gaming machine is one of a plurality of linked gaming machines and each of the plurality of linked gaming machines is eligible to win the special prize. 
     
     
         18 . Instructions stored in a storage medium readable by a game controller and executable by the game controller to implement the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . The instructions of  claim 18  wherein the game controller is a programmable logic device programmed to implement the method, or an application specific integrated circuit configured to implement the method. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the process of determining an outcome of the game and displaying representations of the outcome on the display is constrained to select an outcome that is associated with a prize in the selected prize schedule. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the game is a feature game of a base game, wherein in each game play of the base game the player stakes a wager on the occurrence of a winning outcome of the base game, and if a trigger event occurs during play of the base game, the feature game commences, wherein in the feature game the wager that influences the probability of selecting the outcome associated with the special prize is a wager placed in the game play of the base game during which the trigger event occurred. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the probability of winning the special prize is increased proportionally to the size of the wager. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein all prizes in the prize schedules other than the special prize maintains a fixed value. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the probability of winning the special prize is not proportional to the size of the wager, and the overall expected return to player resulting from play of the game with the selected prize schedule is changed proportional to the size of the wager by varying the probability of winning at least one other prize in the prize schedule and/or by varying the value of at least one other prize in the prize schedule. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 2  wherein at least two of the prize schedules each define a different special prize. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25  wherein all of the prize schedules define a special prize, with no two prize schedules defining the same special prize. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25  wherein in the process of determining at least one outcome of the game and displaying representations of the outcome on the display, the same representations is used to indicate the winning of special prizes from different prize schedules. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 2  wherein each prize schedule includes a single special prize. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the method is applied to a gaming machine that is linked with at least one other gaming machine, and the method includes providing the game on each of the linked gaming machines so that each linked gaming machine is eligible to win the special prize. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the base game differs between different gaming machines. 
     
     
         31 . Instructions stored in a storage medium readable by a game controller and executable by the game controller to implement the method of  claim 2 . 
     
     
         32 . The instructions of  claim 31  wherein the game controller is a programmable logic device programmed to implement the method, or an application specific integrated circuit configured to implement the method