Did You Know...
...that Charles Goodyear performed some of his experiments on rubber while in debtor's prison? He was there so often he referred to it as his "hotel". Chronically in debt because of poor business sense and ill health, Goodyear depended on the generosity of friends and family. Even after he unlocked the secret to vulcanizing rubber, he was unable to improve his financial situation. When he died, his estate was $200,000 in debt.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8185890 | Method and device for implementing a downloadable software delivery system A method and device implementing a downloadable operatively connected to a plurality of gaming machines either by a direct communications link or through the use of one or more site controllers or PCs. Each gaming machine and site controller or PC contains two execu... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8184824 | Differentiated audio The present invention provides novel methods and devices for providing audio to players of a gaming machine and to nearby players. According to preferred implementations, sounds intended for a person currently using a gaming machine are distinguished from second sou... | 05/22/2012 |
| 8179338 | Method and system for displaying information A display and a method of displaying information are disclosed. The display includes a first display screen including a first plurality of pixels controllable to display a visual indicator. A second display screen includes a second plurality of pixels, wherein the f... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177645 | Methods and apparatus for providing communications services at a gaming machine In a first aspect, a method is provided that includes the steps of (1) providing an auxiliary unit adapted to allow a gaming machine to be retrofitted to provide communications services; and (2) retrofitting a non-communications-enabled gaming machine with the auxil... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177637 | Button panel control for a gaming machine Disclosed are gaming machines, including related methods, apparatus, and systems, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for providing a game of chance. Peripheral devices, such as a bill acceptor and ticket printer, are consolidated ... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177633 | Gaming system and method providing an award for designated losing conditions The gaming system and method disclosed herein provides an award to one or more players for a non-occurrence of a designated event. The gaming system monitors a plurality of games played at a plurality of gaming devices. If the designated event occurs, the gaming sys... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177627 | Gaming device and method having purchasable enhanced paytables An apparatus and method for a game having a paytable selection feature which may be implemented with a primary or base game, a secondary or bonus game, or both. In one embodiment, the gaming device employs an initial paytable and enables a player pay a fee to purcha... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177624 | Gaming machine printing a ticket for promoting play of a bonus event Disclosed are gaming machines, including related methods, apparatus, and systems, including computer program products, for promoting play of a bonus event in a wagering environment with one or more gaming machines providing games of chance. The gaming machines are c... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177620 | Gaming device having a modifier activator A gaming machine symbol-bearing reels which are used to play a main game involving, the selection and display of a symbol combination. Bonus events or modifiers are also selected and displayed. This may be an automatic machine function, or the player may have the op... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177619 | Draw vs. stud 3-card casino poker game A method of playing a wagering card game for a single player or a number of players using standard playing cards having a standard rank and involving standard poker hand rankings or modified rankings for Three Card Poker® games. The players play a draw poker game a... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177616 | Gaming system and method for providing multiple hand three-card poker game A gaming system having a multiple hand Three-card Poker game is provided. The Three-card Poker game includes seven cards dealt to the player and the dealer. First the gaming system sets the seven dealer cards to form a high three-card dealer hand, a low three-card d... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8177234 | Rotor-based gaming device having a system for changing the quantity of potential game outcomes for subsequent plays A gaming device including a game operable upon one or more wagers. The game is operable for a first play and a second play. Each one of the plays involves a spin of a rotor. The rotor has a plurality of symbols and a plurality of ball landings adjacent to the symbol... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8172682 | Computer network and method for changing the pay schedules of gaming devices Electronic gaming devices are connected by a network to a host computer. The gaming devices award winners based on a first pay schedule. The pay schedule at a selected one or more of the machines is changed by sending information over the network. This change is acc... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8172660 | Gaming system with blackjack primary game and poker secondary game A gaming device having a primary game and a secondary game is provided. The gaming device includes a primary game, such as blackjack or 21 operable on a wager by a player, and an optional secondary game that is operable on a secondary game wager by a player. After p... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8167711 | Gaming device having odds of winning which increase as a player's wager increases A gaming device having a game which requires the same average investment from a player to win an award, including a jackpot award, regardless of the amount that the player bets at any one time. The award can be unchanging, e.g., $10,000, each time a player plays the... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8167709 | Methods and apparatus for auctioning an item via a gaming device Methods and apparatus for auctioning an item via a gaming device are disclosed. The methods and apparatus enable a gaming device player (e.g., a slot machine player) to select one or more auction items the player is interested in bidding on. As the player plays the ... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8167708 | Method and apparatus for providing credits for game play Systems and methods are provided for offering a voucher which is redeemable for credits at a casino. The voucher may be redeemed for a first value of credits. One is charged a second value for the voucher, in which the second value is less than the first value. If t... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8167705 | Gaming token having a variable value A system installed in a casino allows gambling chips in the casino to have variable values. Each chip has an electronic circuit installed in it to store a chip identifier and data indicative of a value currently associated with the chip. Slot machines and other devi... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8162755 | Open architecture communications in a gaming network Open architecture communication systems and methods are provided that allow flexible data transmission between gaming machines and other devices and nodes within a gaming machine network. The gaming machine and other devices employ a communication interface that sen... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162746 | Gaming system and method configured to change the odds of a player obtaining a winning game outcome or a designated game outcome for a play of a game without changing the paytable of the game A gaming system and method that enables the odds of obtaining a winning outcome or a designated outcome for a play of a game to change without modifying the paytable of the game. The gaming system makes a first determination using a first processor based on a paytab... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162743 | Elimination games for gaming machines A disclosed gaming machine presents an elimination game to a player playing the gaming machine. The elimination game may be played on a stand-alone gaming machine or may be played on a group of gaming machines linked together. The elimination game is played by plura... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162742 | Adjusting payback data based on skill A gaming device including an interface unit configured to accept game play data from a player and a controller coupled to the interface unit. The controller includes a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores payback data. The processor is configured to rec... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162741 | Gaming system, gaming device, and gaming method for transferring symbols between linked reels in multiple reel sets A gaming device including at least a first reel in a first reel set linked to at least a first reel in a second reel set and at least a second reel in the first reel set not linked to any reel in any second reel set. In a play of the game, symbols are independently ... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162739 | Gaming device having multiple pay slots The gaming device provides a number of selections. When the player chooses a selection, the gaming device randomly generates a value and randomly places the value into one of a number of adjacent slots. When the bottom of each slot is covered with values, the game r... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162737 | Contactless player card with improved security A gaming system that is compatible with photonic-powered card devices is described. The gaming system may comprise a number of host devices each coupled to one or more gaming machines. The gaming machines may be operable to provide wagering on an outcome of a game o... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8162735 | Method and apparatus for outputting outcomes of a gaming device In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method for outputting an outcome for a game of a gaming device is presented, wherein the method comprises first outputting an apparent outcome for the game and then outputting an actual outcome for the game. In one or mo... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8157652 | Interactive gaming table Interactive gaming tables and systems adapted to facilitate the automated administration of gaming table events are provided. Tables can have a playing surface, an outer circumference with active player positions, a slave controller for each active player position a... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157647 | Tournament manager for use in casino gaming system Various techniques are disclosed for operating a gaming device of a casino gaming network. In at least one embodiment, the gaming device includes a tournament manager and a first meter. In at least one embodiment, the first meter is operable to perform one or more o... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157646 | Gaming system and method for providing a progressive award multiple times before resetting the displayed value of the provided progressive award In various embodiments, the gaming system and method disclosed herein maintains a progressive award that is associated with a plurality of different progressive award trigger values or progressive award hit values. In such embodiments, the displayed value of the pro... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157644 | Apparatus and methods for implementing bonuses in gaming machine networks using weighted pay tables Disclosed is a gaming system for awarding a bonus to a player of a wager-based game of chance. The gaming system includes one or more gaming devices configured to play games of chance and one or more host devices in communication with the gaming devices over a netwo... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157642 | Methods and apparatus for providing for disposition of promotional offers in a wagering environment Disclosed are data processing apparatus, systems, and methods, implemented over a gaming network for providing for disposition of promotional offers in a wager-based gaming environment. A monitoring engine is coupled to receive an identification of a promotional off... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157633 | Gaming device having a multi-trigger bonus A gaming device having one or more primary games. The primary games may be played simultaneously. Each primary game has a triggering event which corresponds to an award or bonus game. If multiple triggering events occur in the same play, the player receives a multi-... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8157631 | Gaming system with blackjack primary game and poker secondary game A gaming device having a primary game and a secondary game is provided. The gaming device includes a primary game, such as blackjack or 21 operable on a wager by a player, and an optional secondary game that is operable on a secondary game wager by a player. After p... | 04/17/2012 |
| 8152645 | Remote gaming environment A gambler's gaming experience is extended outside the traditional gaming environment by providing a remote gaming environment that duplicates the sights, sounds, smells, and experience of a traditional casino floor. The remote gaming environment may be networked int... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152630 | Gaming system and method having bonus event and bonus event award in accordance with a current wager and one or more accumulated bonus event points In one embodiment, the gaming system and method disclosed herein maintains a plurality of different bonus event average expected payouts which are ranked. In one embodiment, if a bonus event triggering condition occurs, the gaming system determines one of the plural... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152629 | Gaming system and method for providing enhanced wagering opportunities A gaming system including a central server linked to a plurality of gaming machines. In one embodiment, the gaming system provides players with one or more enhanced wagering opportunities. One enhanced wagering opportunity enables a player to continue playing one or... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152628 | Methods and devices for authentication and licensing in a gaming network Methods and devices are provided for managing licenses in gaming networks. Some aspects of the invention are provided as a license manager module that operates as part of a server-based system for provisioning and configuring gaming machines. Security and authentica... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152624 | Gaming device and method providing a plurality of plays of a background game resulting in a single award for the player A gaming device, system and method which enables a player to apply a large wager amount to a plurality of plays of a background game in increments or portions. The gaming device apportions or applies the large wager amount to a plurality of plays of a background gam... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8152615 | Gaming system with blackjack primary game and poker secondary game A gaming device having a primary game and a secondary game is provided. The gaming device includes a primary game, such as blackjack or 21 operable on a wager by a player, and an optional secondary game that is operable on a secondary game wager by a player. After p... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8150036 | Encrypted data installation A base encryption method may be applied to plain data to form base encrypted data. An installation encryption method may be applied to the base encryption data to provide encrypted installation data. During installation, the encrypted installation data are encrypted... | 04/03/2012 |
