US20090264171A1 - Generating a score related to play on gaming devices - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to generating and displaying a score related to the results of wagering by a player on an electronic gaming machine. In one embodiment, a method for generating a score related to play on at least one electronic gaming device includes tracking the amount wagered on the gaming device, tracking the amount awarded by the gaming device, and generating a score related to the tracked amounts.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• This disclosure relates generally to generating a score related to play on electronic gaming machines, and more particularly to generating and displaying a score related to the results of wagering by a player on an electronic gaming machine.
BACKGROUND
• Some prior art video arcade games incorporate systems that automatically store the highest scores on that game. Such games typically list the scores in order from the highest to the lowest, e.g., the top 5 scores. If at the conclusion of a game, the current game score is determined to be greater than one of the stored scores, the current score is inserted into the stored scores at the appropriate location and the lowest score drops off. In some cases, the player who makes it onto the top score list is given the opportunity to use the game controls to insert his or her initials next to their score. This generates excitement for the player who breaks into the ranks of top scorers and promotes friendly competition among players, all of which promotes game play.
• With conventional gaming machines, a player typically only has a credit meter and a player tracking account that keeps track of his or her play on the gaming device. More specifically, the gaming device adjusts a credit meter to reflect the number of credits input by a player and adjusts that number relative to the number of credits wagered and/or won during game play of the gaming device. A player may also insert additional money during play of the gaming device, which raises the value displayed on the credit meter. Given these above scenarios, it becomes evident that the values displayed on the credit meters are not necessarily accurate indicators of the player's accomplishment on the gaming device. In addition, when the player has exhausted the credits on the credit meter or cashes out to retrieve the remaining credits on the credit meter, the credit meter remains at zero until that player or another player insert credits into the gaming machine. Hence, there is no indication as to how the previous player's gaming session went. In other words, the player may have won considerably more credits than he or she inputted into the gaming machine. However, there is no displayable record or other indication on the gaming machine of this gaming session.
• Similarly, when a player inserts a player tracking card into a gaming device, the results of the gaming session may be stored on a player tracking server and player points accumulated during the gaming session may be displayed on the gaming machine or a peripheral device connected to the gaming machine. However, these displayed player points often only relate to the amount of credits wagered by the player (i.e., coin-in) and bear no relationship to the results achieved by a player during the course of the gaming session. In addition, once the player removes the player tracking card, no displayable record or other indication on the gaming machine exists for the gaming session.
• Thus, in conventional gaming systems and devices, there is no means by which a player can display a particularly good gaming session to other players, nor a means by which other players can tell how previous players have done on a particular gaming machine.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1A is a functional block diagram that illustrates a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
• FIG. 1B is an isometric view of the gaming device illustrated inFIG. 1A.
• FIGS. 2A,2B, and2C are detail diagrams of exemplary types of gaming devices according to embodiments of the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of networked gaming devices according to embodiments of the invention.
• FIG. 4 is a detail diagram of a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
• FIGS. 5A and 5B are detail diagrams of exemplary scoring displays on a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
• FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow diagrams of methods for generating a score related to game play on a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Embodiments of the present invention are directed to generating and displaying a score related to the results of wagering by a player on a gaming device. In one embodiment, a method for generating a score related to play on at least one electronic gaming device includes tracking the amount wagered on the gaming device, tracking the amount awarded by the gaming device, and generating a score related to the tracked amounts.
• Additional embodiments of the present invention may include methods in normalizing the generated scores, displaying the generated scores, and providing awards to a player based on the generated scores. These and other embodiments may form the basis for scoring systems that track, record, and/or display scores for a particular player, for a particular electronic gaming machine, or for a particular player on a particular gaming machine.
• FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate example gaming devices according to embodiments of the invention.
• Referring toFIGS. 1A and 1B, agaming device10 is an electronic gaming machine. Although an electronic gaming machine or “slot” machine is illustrated, various other types of devices may be used to wager monetarily based credits on a game of chance in accordance with principles of the invention. The term “electronic gaming device” is meant to include various devices such as electro-mechanical spinning-reel type slot machines, video slot machines, and video poker machines, for instance. Other gaming devices may include computer-based gaming machines, wireless gaming devices, multi-player gaming stations, modified personal electronic gaming devices (such as cell phones), personal computers, server-based gaming terminals, and other similar devices. Although embodiments of the invention will work with all of the gaming types mentioned, for ease of illustration the present embodiments will be described in reference to theelectronic gaming machine10 shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B.
• Thegaming device10 includes acabinet15 housing components to operate thegaming device10. Thecabinet15 may include agaming display20, abase portion13, atop box18, and aplayer interface panel30. Thegaming display20 may include mechanical spinning reels (FIG. 2A), a video display (FIGS. 2B and 2C), or a combination of both spinning reels and a video display (not shown). Thegaming cabinet15 may also include acredit meter27 and a coin-in orbet meter28. Thecredit meter27 may indicate the total number of credits remaining on thegaming device10 that are eligible to be wagered. In some embodiments, thecredit meter27 may reflect a monetary unit, such as dollars. However, it is often preferable to have thecredit meter27 reflect a number of ‘credits,’ rather than a monetary unit. Thebet meter28 may indicate the amount of credits to be wagered on a particular game. Thus, for each game, the player transfers the amount that he or she wants to wager from thecredit meter27 to thebet meter28. In some embodiments, various other meters may be present, such as meters reflecting amounts won, amounts paid, or the like. In embodiments where thegaming display20 is a video monitor, the information indicated on the credit meters may be shown on the gaming display itself20 (FIG. 2B).
• Thebase portion13 may include alighted panel14, a coin return (not shown), and agaming handle12 operable on a partially rotatingpivot joint11. Thegame handle12 is traditionally included on mechanical spinning-reel games, where the handle may be pulled toward a player to initiate the spinning ofreels22 after placement of a wager. Thetop box18 may include alighted panel17, a video display (such as an LCD monitor), a mechanical bonus device (not shown), and acandle light indicator19. Theplayer interface panel30 may include various devices so that a player can interact with thegaming device10.
• Theplayer interface panel30 may include one ormore game buttons32 that can be actuated by the player to cause thegaming device10 to perform a specific action. For example, some of thegame buttons32 may cause thegaming device10 to bet a credit to be wagered during the next game, change the number of lines being played on a multi-line game, cash out the credits remaining on the gaming device (as indicated on the credit meter27), or request assistance from casino personnel, such as by lighting thecandle19. In addition, theplayer interface panel30 may include one or moregame actuating buttons33. Thegame actuating buttons33 may initiate a game with a pre-specified amount of credits. On some gaming devices10 a “Max Bet”game actuating button33 may be included that places the maximum credit wager on a game and initiates the game. Theplayer interface panel30 may further include abill acceptor37 and aticket printer38. Thebill acceptor37 may accept and validate paper money or previously printed tickets with a credit balance. Theticket printer38 may print out tickets reflecting the balance of the credits that remain on thegaming device10 when a player cashes out by pressing one of thegame buttons32 programmed to cause a ‘cashout.’ These tickets may be inserted into other gaming machines or redeemed at a cashier station or kiosk for cash.
• Thegaming device10 may also include one ormore speakers26 to transmit auditory information or sounds to the player. The auditory information may include specific sounds associated with particular events that occur during game play on thegaming device10. For example, a particularly festive sound may be played during a large win or when a bonus is triggered. Thespeakers26 may also transmit “attract” sounds to entice nearby players when the game is not currently being played.
• Thegaming device10 may further include asecondary display25. Thissecondary display25 may be a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma screen, or the like. Thesecondary display25 may show any combination of primary game information and ancillary information to the player. For example, thesecondary display25 may show player tracking information, secondary bonus information, advertisements, or player selectable game options.
• Thegaming device10 may include a separate information window (not shown) dedicated to supplying any combination of information related to primary game play, secondary bonus information, player tracking information, secondary bonus information, advertisements or player selectable game options. This window may be fixed in size and location or may have its size and location vary temporally as communication needs change. One example of such a resizable window is International Game Technology's “service window”. Another example is Las Vegas Gaming Incorporated's retrofit technology which allows information to be placed over areas of the game or secondary display screen at various times and in various situations.
• Thegaming device10 includes amicroprocessor40 that controls operation of thegaming device10. If thegaming device10 is a standalone gaming device, themicroprocessor40 may control virtually all of the operations of the gaming devices and attached equipment, such as operating game logic stored in memory (not shown) as firmware, controlling thedisplay20 to represent the outcome of a game, communicate with the other peripheral devices (such as the bill acceptor37), and orchestrating the lighting and sound emanating from thegaming device10. In other embodiments where thegaming device10 is coupled to anetwork50, as described below, themicroprocessor40 may have different tasks depending on the setup and function of the gaming device. For example, themicroprocessor40 may be responsible for running the base game of the gaming device and executing instructions received over thenetwork50 from a bonus server or player tracking server. In a server-based gaming setup, themicroprocessor40 may act as a terminal to execute instructions from a remote server that is running game play on the gaming device.
• Themicroprocessor40 may be coupled to a machine communication interface (MCI)42 that connects thegaming device10 to agaming network50. TheMCI42 may be coupled to themicroprocessor40 through a serial connection, a parallel connection, an optical connection, or in some cases a wireless connection. Thegaming device10 may include memory41 (MEM), such as a random access memory (RAM), coupled to themicroprocessor40 and which can be used to store gaming information, such as storing total coin-in statistics about a present or past gaming session, which can be communicated to a remote server or database through theMCI42. TheMCI42 may also facilitate communication between thenetwork50 and thesecondary display25 or aplayer tracking unit45 housed in thegaming cabinet15.
• Theplayer tracking unit45 may include anidentification device46 and one ormore buttons47 associated with theplayer tracking unit45. Theidentification device46 serves to identify a player, by, for example, reading a player-tracking device, such as a player tracking card that is issued by the casino to individual players who choose to have such a card. Theidentification device46 may instead, or additionally, identify players through other methods. Player tracking systems using player tracking cards andcard readers46 are known in the art. Briefly summarizing such a system, a player registers with the casino prior to commencing gaming. The casino issues a unique player-tracking card to the player and opens a corresponding player account that is stored on a server or host computer, described below with reference toFIG. 3. The player account may include the player's name and mailing address and other information of interest to the casino in connection with marketing efforts. Prior to playing one of the gaming devices in the casino, the player inserts the player tracking card into theidentification device46 thus permitting the casino to track player activity, such as amounts wagered, credits won, and rate of play.
• To induce the player to use the card and be an identified player, the casino may award each player points proportional to the money or credits wagered by the player. Players typically accrue points at a rate related to the amount wagered, although other factors may cause the casino to award the player various amounts. The points may be displayed on thesecondary display25 or using other methods. In conventional player tracking systems, the player may take his or her card to a special desk in the casino where a casino employee scans the card to determine how many accrued points are in the player's account. The player may redeem points for selected merchandise, meals in casino restaurants, or the like, which each have assigned point values. In some player tracking systems, the player may use thesecondary display25 to access their player tracking account, such as to check a total number of points, redeem points for various services, make changes to their account, or download promotional credits to thegaming device10. In other embodiments, theidentification device46 may read other identifying cards (such as driver licenses, credit cards, etc.) to identify a player and match them to a corresponding player tracking account. AlthoughFIG. 1A shows theplayer tracking unit45 with a card reader as theidentification device46, other embodiments may include aplayer tracking unit45 with a biometric scanner, PIN code acceptor, or other methods of identifying a player to pair the player with their player tracking account.
• During typical play on agaming device10, a player plays a game by placing a wager and then initiating a gaming session. The player may initially insert monetary bills or previously printed tickets with a credit value into thebill acceptor37. The player may also put coins into a coin acceptor (not shown) or a credit, debit or casino account card into a card reader/authorizer (not shown). One of skill in the art will readily see that this invention is useful with all gambling devices, regardless of the manner in which wager value-input is accomplished.
• Thecredit meter27 displays the numeric credit value of the money inserted dependent on the denomination of thegaming device10. That is, if thegaming device10 is a nickel slot machine and a $20 bill inserted into thebill acceptor37, the credit meter will reflect 400 credits or one credit for each nickel of the inserted twenty dollars. Forgaming devices10 that support multiple denominations, thecredit meter27 will reflect the amount of credits relative to the denomination selected. Thus, in the above example, if a penny denomination is selected after the $20 is inserted the credit meter will change from 400 credits to 2000 credits.
• A wager may be placed by pushing one or more of thegame buttons32, which may be reflected on thebet meter28. That is, the player can generally depress a “bet one” button (one of the buttons on theplayer interface panel30, such as32), which transfers one credit from thecredit meter27 to thebet meter28. Each time thebutton32 is depressed an additional single credit transfers to thebet meter28 up to a maximum bet that can be placed on a single play of theelectronic gaming device10. The gaming session may be initiated by pulling the gaming handle12 or depressing thespin button33. On somegaming devices10, a “max bet” button (another one of thebuttons32 on the player interface panel30) may be depressed to wager the maximum number of credits supported by thegaming device10 and initiate a gaming session.
• If the gaming session does not result in any winning combination, the process of placing a wager may be repeated by the player. Alternatively, the player may cash out any remaining credits on thecredit meter27 by depressing the “cash-out” button (anotherbutton32 on the player interface panel30), which causes the credits on thecredit meter27 to be paid out in the form of a ticket through theticket printer38, or may be paid out in the form of returning coins from a coin hopper (not shown) to a coin return tray.
• If instead a winning combination (win) appears on thedisplay20, the award corresponding to the winning combination is immediately applied to thecredit meter27. For example, if thegaming device10 is a slot machine, a winning combination ofsymbols23 may land on a played payline onreels22. If any bonus games are initiated, thegaming device10 may enter into a bonus mode or simply award the player with a bonus amount of credits that are applied to thecredit meter27.
• FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate exemplary types of gaming devices according to embodiments of the invention.FIG. 2A illustrates an example spinning-reel gaming machine10A,FIG. 2B illustrates an examplevideo slot machine10B, andFIG. 2C illustrates an examplevideo poker machine10C.
• Referring toFIG. 2A, a spinning-reel gaming machine10A includes agaming display20A having a plurality ofmechanical spinning reels22A. Typically, spinning-reel gaming machines10A have three to fivespinning reels22A. Each of the spinningreels22A hasmultiple symbols23A that may be separated by blank areas on the spinningreels22A, although the presence of blank areas typically depends on the number ofreels22A present in thegaming device10A and the number ofdifferent symbols23A that may appear on the spinningreels22A. Each of thesymbols22A or blank areas makes up a “stop” on thespinning reel22A where thereel22A comes to rest after a spin. Although the spinningreels22A ofvarious games10A may have various numbers of stops, many conventional spinning-reel gaming devices10A havereels22A with twenty two stops.
• During game play, the spinningreels22A may be controlled by stepper motors (not shown) under the direction of the microprocessor40 (FIG. 1A). Thus, although the spinning-reel gaming device10A has mechanical based spinningreels22A, the movement of the reels themselves is electronically controlled to spin and stop. This electronic control is advantageous because it allows a virtual reel strip to be stored in thememory41 of thegaming device10A, where various “virtual stops” are mapped to each physical stop on thephysical reel22A. This mapping allows thegaming device10A to establish greater awards and bonuses available to the player because of the increased number of possible combinations afforded by the virtual reel strips.
• A gaming session on a spinningreel slot machine10A typically includes the player pressing the “bet-one” button (one of thegame buttons32A) to wager a desired number of credits followed by pulling the gaming handle12 (FIGS. 1A,1B) or pressing thespin button33A to spin thereels22A. Alternatively, the player may simply press the “max-bet” button (another one of thegame buttons32A) to both wager the maximum number of credits permitted and initiate the spinning of thereels22A. The spinningreels22A may all stop at the same time or may individually stop one after another (typically from left to right) to build player anticipation. Because thedisplay20A usually cannot be physically modified, some spinningreel slot machines10A include an electronic display screen in the top box18 (FIG. 1B), a mechanical bonus mechanism in thetop box18, or a secondary display25 (FIG. 1A) to execute a bonus.
• Referring toFIG. 2B, avideo gaming machine10B may include avideo display20B to displayvirtual spinning reels22B and variousother gaming information21B. Thevideo display20B may be a CRT, LCD, plasma screen, or the like. It is usually preferable that thevideo display20B be a touchscreen to accept player input. A number ofsymbols23A appear on each of thevirtual spinning reels22B. AlthoughFIG. 2B shows fivevirtual spinning reels22B, the flexibility of thevideo display20B allows forvarious reel22B and game configurations. For example, somevideo slot games10B spin reels for each individual symbol position (or stop) that appears on thevideo display20B. That is, each symbol position on the screen is independent of every other position during the gaming sessions. In these types of games, very large numbers of pay lines or multiple super scatter pays can be utilized since similar symbols could appear at every symbol position on thevideo display20B. On the other hand, othervideo slot games10B more closely resemble the mechanical spinning reel games where symbols that are vertically adjacent to each other are part of the same continuousvirtual spinning reel22B.
• Because thevirtual spinning reels22B, by virtue of being computer implemented, can have almost any number of stops on a reel strip, it is much easier to have a greater variety of displayed outcomes as compared to spinning-reel slot machines10A (FIG. 2A) that have a fixed number of physical stops on each spinningreel22A.
• With the possible increases inreel22B numbers and configurations over themechanical gaming device10A,video gaming devices10B often havemultiple paylines24 that may be played. By havingmore paylines24 available to play, the player may be more likely to have a winning combination when thereels22B stop and the gaming session ends. However, since the player typically must wager at least a minimum number of credits to enable eachpayline24 to be eligible for winning, the overall odds of winning are not much different, if at all, than if the player is wagering only on a single payline. For example, in a five line game, the player may bet one credit perpayline24 and be eligible for winning symbol combinations that appear on any of the five playedpaylines24. This gives a total of five credits wagered and five possible winningpaylines24. If, on the other hand, the player only wagers one credit on onepayline24, but plays five gaming sessions, the odds of winning would be identical as above: five credits wagered and five possible winningpaylines24.
• Because thevideo display20B can easily modify the image output by thevideo display20B, bonuses, such as second screen bonuses are relatively easy to award on thevideo slot game10B. That is, if a bonus is triggered during game play, thevideo display20B may simply store the resulting screen shot in memory and display a bonus sequence on thevideo display20B. After the bonus sequence is completed, thevideo display20B may then retrieve the previous screen shot and information from memory, and re-display that image.
• Also, as mentioned above, thevideo display20B may allow variousother game information21B to be displayed. For example, as shown inFIG. 2B, banner information may be displayed above the spinningreels22B to inform the player, perhaps, which symbol combination is needed to trigger a bonus. Also, instead of providing a separate credit meter27 (FIG. 1A) andbet meter28, the same information can instead be displayed on thevideo display20B. In addition, “soft buttons”29B such as a “spin” button or “help/see pays” button may be built using the touchscreen video display20B. Such customization and ease of changing the image shown on thedisplay20B adds to the flexibility of thegame10B.
• Even with the improved flexibility afforded by thevideo display20B, severalphysical buttons32B and33B are usually provided onvideo slot machines10B. These buttons may includegame buttons32B that allow a player to choose the number ofpaylines24 he or she would like to play and the number of credits wagered on eachpayline24. In addition, a max bet button (one of thegame buttons32B) allows a player to place a maximum credit wager on the maximum number ofavailable paylines24 and initiate a gaming session. A repeat bet orspin button33B may also be used to initiate each gaming session when the max bet button is not used.
• Referring toFIG. 2C, a videopoker gaming device10C may include avideo display20C that is physically similar to thevideo display20B shown inFIG. 2B. Thevideo display20C may show a poker hand of fivecards23C and variousother player information21C including a paytable for various winning hands, as well as a plurality of player selectablesoft buttons29C. Thevideo display20C may present a poker hand of fivecards23C and variousother player information21C including a number of player selectable soft (touch-screen)buttons29C and a paytable for various winning hands. Although the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 3C shows only one hand of poker on thevideo display20C, various othervideo poker machines10C may show several poker hands (multi-hand poker). Typically,video poker machines10C play “draw” poker in which a player is dealt a hand of five cards, has the opportunity to hold any combination of those five cards, and then draws new cards to replace the discarded ones. All pays are usually given for winning combinations resulting from the final hand, although somevideo poker games10C may give bonus credits for certain combinations received on the first hand before the draw. In the example shown inFIG. 2C a player has been dealt two aces, a three, a six, and a nine. Thevideo poker game10C may provide a bonus or payout for the player having been dealt the pair of aces, even before the player decides what to discard in the draw. Since pairs, three of a kind, etc. are typically needed for wins, a player would likely hold the two aces that have been dealt and draw three cards to replace the three, six, and nine in the hope of receiving additional aces or other cards leading to a winning combination with a higher award amount. After the draw and revealing of the final hand, thevideo poker game10C typically awards any credits won to the credit meter.
• The player selectablesoft buttons29C appearing on the screen respectively correspond to each card on thevideo display20C. Thesesoft buttons29C allow players to select specific cards on thevideo display20C such that the card corresponding to the selected soft button is “held” before the draw. Typically,video poker machines10C also includephysical game buttons32C that correspond to the cards in the hand and may be selected to hold a corresponding card. A deal/draw button33C may also be included to initiate a gaming session after credits have been wagered (with abet button32C, for example) and to draw any cards not held after the first hand is displayed.
• Although examples of a spinningreel slot machine10A, avideo slot machine10B, and avideo poker machine10C have been illustrated inFIGS. 2A-2C, gaming machines various other types of gaming devices known in the art are contemplated and are within the scope of the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating networked gaming devices according to embodiments of the invention. Referring toFIG. 3, multiple electronic gaming devices (EGMs)70,71,72,73,74, and75 may be coupled to one another and coupled to aremote server80 through anetwork50. For ease of understanding, gaming devices orEGMs70,71,72,73,74, and75 are generically referred to as EGMs70-75. The term EGMs70-75, however, may refer to any combination of one or more ofEGMs70,71,72,73,74, and75. Additionally, thegaming server80 may be coupled to one ormore gaming databases90. Thesegaming network50 connections may allow multiple gaming devices70-75 to remain in communication with one another during particular gaming modes such as tournament play or remote head-to-head play. Although some of the gaming devices70-75 coupled on thegaming network50 may resemble thegaming devices10,10A,10B, and10C shown inFIGS. 1A-1B and2A-2C, other coupled gaming devices70-75 may include differently configured gaming devices. For example, the gaming devices70-75 may includetraditional slot machines75 directly coupled to thenetwork50, banks ofgaming devices70 coupled to thenetwork50, banks ofgaming devices70 coupled to the network through abank controller60, wirelesshandheld gaming machines72 andcell phones73 coupled to thegaming network50 through one or more wireless routers orantennas61,personal computers74 coupled to thenetwork50 through theinternet62, and banks ofgaming devices71 coupled to the network through one or more optical connection lines64. Additionally, some of thetraditional gaming devices70,71, and75 may include electronic gaming tables, multi-station gaming devices, or electronic components operating in conjunction with non-gaming components, such as automatic card readers, chip readers, and chip counters, for example.
• Gaming devices71 coupled over anoptical line64 may be remote gaming devices in a different location or casino. Theoptical line64 may be coupled to thegaming network50 through an electronic tooptical signal converter63 and may be coupled to thegaming devices71 through an optical toelectronic signal converter65. The banks ofgaming devices70 coupled to thenetwork50 may be coupled through abank controller60 for compatibility purposes, for local organization and control, or for signal buffering purposes. Thenetwork50 may include serial or parallel signal transmission lines and carry data in accordance with data transfer protocols such as Ethernet transmission lines, Rs-232 lines, firewire lines, USB lines, or other communication protocols. Although not shown inFIG. 3, substantially theentire network50 may be made of fiber optic lines or may be a wireless network utilizing a wireless protocol such as IEEE 802.11a, b, g, or n, Zigbee, RF protocols, optical transmission, near-field transmission, or the like.
• As mentioned above, each gaming device70-75 may have an individual processor40 (FIG. 1A) andmemory41 to run and control game play on the gaming device70-75, or some of the gaming devices70-75 may be terminals that are run by aremote server80 in a server based gaming environment. Server based gaming environments may be advantageous to casinos by allowing fast downloading of particular game types or themes based on casino preference or player selection. Additionally, tournament based games, linked games, and certain game types, such as BINGO or keno may benefit from at least someserver80 based control.
• Thus, in some embodiments, thenetwork50,server80, anddatabase90 may be dedicated to communications regarding specific game or tournament play. In other embodiments, however, thenetwork50,server80, anddatabase90 may be part of a player tracking network. For player tracking capabilities, when a player inserts a player tracking card in the card reader46 (FIG. 1A), theplayer tracking unit45 sends player identification information obtained on thecard reader46 through theMCI42 over thenetwork50 to theplayer tracking server80, where the player identification information is compared to player information records on in theplayer database90 to provide the player with information regarding their player accounts or other features at thegaming device10 where the player is wagering. Additionally,multiple databases90 and/orservers80 may be present and coupled to one ormore networks50 to provide a variety of gaming services, such as both game/tournament data and player tracking data.
• The various systems described with reference toFIGS. 1-3 can be used in a number of ways. For instance, the systems can be used to track data about various players. The tracked data can be used by the casino to provide additional benefits to players, such as extra bonuses or extra benefits such as bonus games and other benefits as described above. These added benefits further entice the players to play at the casino that provides the benefits.
• FIG. 4 is a detail diagram of a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
• As discussed above, embodiments of the invention are directed to generating and displaying a score related to the results of wagering by a player on a gaming device. Referring toFIG. 4, agaming device100 includes adisplay120 and a player interface panel havinggame buttons132 and agame actuating button133. Thedisplay120 may include agame portion122 that displays virtual spinning reels (e.g., for a video slot machine), card (e.g., for a video poker machine), or other indicia related to wagering on thegaming device100. Thedisplay120 may also include aplayer score portion150 for displaying information relating to score information accumulated by a player at thegaming device100. Theplayer score portion150 of the display may include a current player score or a runningscore information160 relating to a score earned by a player during a scoring session. Theplayer score portion150 may also include a playertop score170. Thedisplay120 may further include adevice score portion190 for displaying information relating to previous scores received on thegaming device100. Although thegaming device100 illustrated inFIG. 4 includes aplayer score portion150 displaying acurrent player score160 and a playertop score170, as well as adevice score portion190, various embodiments of the invention may only display some of this scoring information, or may display portions of this scoring information at different times. For example, thedevice score portion190 may be shown when a player is not playing the gaming device100 (e.g., on an attract screen), while thecurrent player score160 may be shown during game play so that a player can see their score increase with game play outcomes.
• Theplayer score portion150 may include acurrent player score160, a playertop score170, and ascore reset button180. Thecurrent player score160 may reflect a player's current score accumulated during a scoring session (discussed in further detail below). The playertop score170 may reflect a player's top gaming session score during current game play on a particular gaming device, a player's top score on aparticular gaming device100, a player's top score on a type of gaming device (this may be a broad categorization, such as video poker, or this may be a relatively specific categorization, such as on Wheel of Fortune® games), or a player's top recorded score at a gaming establishment or family of gaming establishments. The score may be limited to a single playing session or span multiple playing sessions over a defined period of time. The playertop score170 may be associated with a player tracking account stored on a database90 (FIG. 3). That is, a playertop score170 may be displayed on thegaming device100 when the player identifies himself or herself to thegaming device100, such as by inserting a player tracking card into a player tracking unit45 (FIG. 1A).
• Thescore reset button180 may be a soft button (as shown inFIG. 4) or may be aphysical game button132. Thescore reset button180 may allow a player to reset thecurrent player score160 during a scoring session to initiate another scoring session. This may be preferably done by a player when, for example, the player has a streak of losing game outcomes at the beginning of a scoring session and wants subsequent game outcomes, which may be wins, to count in a subsequent scoring session. In other embodiments, thescore reset button180 may be omitted so that players cannot reset thecurrent player score160 during a scoring session. By omitting thescore reset button180, each scoring session may be more fairly compared to other scoring sessions since a player would not be able to continually reset thecurrent player score160 until they began a scoring session with a streak of winning game outcomes.
• Thedevice score portion190 may include a list of top scores earned on a particular gaming device, on a type of gaming device, or at a gaming establishment or family of gaming establishments. For example, the top scores may consist of all play on a particular machine or all play on a category of machines. For example, if a casino has 10 machines of identical nature, each game may show the top scores achieved in a given period on any of the gaming machines. If a player onmachine number 1 achieved a top score of 521, and a player onmachine 2 achieved a top score of 488, and no one on the other 8 machines had a score exceeding either, the top score on all 10 machines could be shown as 521 and the second highest as 488.
• Although the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 4 shows agaming device100 havingscore information160,170, and/or190 shown on adisplay120, other embodiments may show score information in different manners. For example, score information may be displayed on a secondary display25 (FIG. 1A), on atop box18 display (FIG. 1B), on a meter similar tometers27,28 (FIG. 1A), on a scrolling banner (not shown), or on another similar display device associated with thegaming device100. These alternate display examples may be preferable for mechanical spinning reel games that do include a main video display or on gaming devices where gaming information on a display is not preferably altered during gaming sessions, such as on video poker machines.
• Further, although the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 4 shows thescore information160,170, and/or190 shown on thedisplay120 at the same time as displaying thegame portion122 that shows wagering outcomes, other embodiments may show this information in different manners or at different times. For example, thegame portion122 may be displayed across a majority of thedisplay120 as shown inFIG. 2B, for example, without displaying the scoring information. Thegaming device100 may periodically show at least some score information (especially the current player score160) after one or more gaming sessions have been completed. This embodiment allows players to receive periodic updates of theircurrent score160 automatically. Alternatively, the player may view scoring information after any gaming session has been completed by pressing asoft button129 on thegame display120 or pressing aphysical game button132 on the player interface. This embodiment, allows players to choose when they would like to review scoring information without slowing game play.
• In either of these types of embodiments, scoring information may be shown in a second screen manner similar to a ‘See Pays’ or ‘Help’ screen. The scoring information may also be shown be reducing the size of agame portion122 and displaying thescore portions150,190, such as by reducing thegame portion122 from a size similar to that shown on FIG.2B to that shown inFIG. 4. This display method may allow a player to quickly hit thegame initiation button133 to hide thescore portions150,190, resize thegame portion122, and initiate a gaming session.
• FIGS. 5A and 5B are detail diagrams of exemplary scoring displays on a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention. More specifically,FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate embodiments of gaming devices displaying a recent score history. This display of recent scores may allow current players or other prospective players to see the relative results of previous scoring sessions, which may influence their decision on whether or not to continue play on a gaming device or start game play on the gaming device. For example, if a prospective player notices that the last few scores on a gaming device are particularly low, that player may feel that the gaming device is “due” for a “hot streak.” In this example, other prospective players may interpret the recent low scores as an indication that the device is in a “cold streak” and avoid playing the device. The opposite reactions may also take place when the last few scores on a gaming device are particularly high.
• FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate exemplary ways of displaying recent scoring information to players in order to communicate how “hot” the gaming device has been recently according to embodiments of the invention. The “hotness” of a gaming device may be determined in various ways. In some embodiments, it may be a measure of how the player's actual payback percentage compares to an expected theoretical payback percentage of the gaming device. In other embodiments, it may be measured as the number of credits remaining after a scoring session versus the number of credits present at the start of a scoring session. Various other manners of determining this quality of the gaming device may be present in other embodiments, such as number of bonus sessions triggered, the number of free spins won, number of consecutive wins of a certain size, amount of player points accumulated, number of near misses, number of specific jackpot occurrences, number of winning gaming sessions received, etc. It is also possible to provide a score based upon the number of losses occurring within a session or the number of sequential losses, in order to provide a “bad beat” score in which a player with a particularly unlucky streak could still accomplish a distinctive score.
• Referring toFIG. 5A, agaming display210 on a gaming device may include agame portion220 and arecent score portion230. Although thegame portion220 and therecent score portion230 are shown simultaneously on thegaming display210 in the embodiment shown inFIG. 5A, therecent score portion230 may be shown on an attract screen separate from thegame portion220. In some embodiments therecent score portion230 may only be displayed when players are not wagering on the gaming device (such as when the credit meter is at zero or a nominal amount for a predetermined amount of time) to provide prospective players with an indication of the recent scores achieved on the gaming device. In other embodiments, however, therecent score portion230 may be displayed intermittently during game play or at the request of a player so that the player may keep track of his or her recent scoring sessions.
• Therecent score portion230 may include a list ofrecent scores240 that indicate how previous players fared during their gaming sessions. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 5A, therecent scores240 include a player identifying mark (player initials in this example) and the percentage payback earned by that player. For example, player JSM was the last player to play the gaming device and earned a 108.62% payback. Since gaming devices typically provide a payback percentage of less than 100%, a prospective player may conclude that JSM did relatively well during his or her scoring session. In contrast, the prospective player may conclude that PTR, who had a payback percentage of 25.66%, did not have much luck during his or her scoring session. Although the embodiment shown inFIG. 5A shows different player identifying mark for eachrecent score240, some players may play multiple scoring sessions on a gaming device and thus have their identifying mark and score listed several times in a row. For example, the top two recent score entries may both be for player JSM.
• In other embodiments, therecent score portion230 may only display a total or average score earned by each player during a total gaming session. That is, if a player plays the gaming device through two or more scoring sessions, only onerecent score entry240 on thescore history portion230 would be shown with a combined player score. In this embodiment, the payback percentage shown on therecent score entry240 would be the player's combined or average payback percentage over both scoring sessions. Thus, if a player earned a 105% payback for a first scoring session and a 95% payback for a second scoring session, onerecent score entry240 may be generated to show the player identifying mark associated with a 100% payback score.
• The embodiment shown inFIG. 5B may be similar in some ways to the embodiment shown inFIG. 5A except for the format of therecent score entries260 in therecent score portion250. Referring toFIG. 5B,recent score entries260 may include a player identifying mark and a score value. The score value may be related to the payback percentage achieved by a player, but may also include other bonus score points not directly related to the payback percentage. For example, a player may score additional points by triggering a bonus, receiving five losing game outcomes in a row, achieving a certain coin-in amount during the scoring session, or other gaming events.
• Since the score values themselves may not readily reveal how well a player did during a scoring session, relatively high scoringrecent score entries260 may be highlighted to distinguish them from other lower score entries. This highlighting may include bolding the higher scores, flashing the higher scores, putting the higher scores in a different color or font, etc. In some embodiments, scores that reflect a scoring session with a payback percentage over the theoretical payback percentage may be highlighted. In other embodiments, a gaming establishment may set a score amount over which arecent score entry260 may be considered a relatively high score and be highlighted. When multiple games of a type are combined for determination of high score, a player that achieves a new high score could have that score, and optionally their identifier, appear on the displays of other like games informing other players that a new high score was just accomplished. In one embodiment, the high score display becomes an interactive leader board showing lead changes as they occur.
• Turning back to the scoring system itself, embodiments of the present development implement a scoring system for player of gaming devices. Scores in this scoring system may be based on the total win for each player or may be based on who achieves the most of a particular award type.FIGS. 6A and 6B are flow diagrams of methods for generating a score related to game play on a gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.
• Referring toFIG. 6A, a method for generating a score includes tracking an amount wagered300, tracking an amount awarded305, and generating a score related to these tracked amounts310. The amounts wagered300 and awarded305 may be tracked over a predetermined number of games, over a predetermined amount of time, or over another similar predetermined measuring standard. This predetermined standard may make up a scoring session, over which the tracked amounts wagered300 and tracked amounts awarded305 are used in generating a final score. The final score may reflect the score achieved by the player over the scoring session. Since the scores are compared to other player scores, it is generally preferable to maintain consistent criteria in defining a scoring session within a gaming establishment. Further, since players play at different rates, and can be interrupted by friends, servers, or casino courtesy staff members, some embodiments use a particular number of games wagered on as a measuring guide for a scoring session. For example, a scoring session may be defined as a session that includes the wagers and results from 25 games played. That is, a final score may be generated and recorded for each 25 games played by a player. Shorter gaming durations may simply record a score based on the number of games played or may use an interpolation algorithm to generate a score predicted by the partial completion of the scoring session. Scoring sessions may also be reset when zero credits or a nominal amount of credits appear on the credit meter for a predetermined amount of time. A running score may also be calculated during the scoring session and displayed to the player in acurrent player score160 on a player score portion150 (FIG. 4).
• To ensure fairness when comparing scores, generating a score related to the tracked amounts310 may include normalizing the scores. One way to normalize the scoring would be to track winnings over a designated amount, e.g., $20. In this embodiment, a score may be expressed as a ratio in the form of:
• 
  (amount wagered−amount awarded)/(amount wagered).
• This creates a percentage that could be compared to the house advantage, i.e., the hold for the machine in question. For example, if the machine hold is 9%, the above ratio should converge to 9% over time. If the above ratio for $20 wagered is less than 9%, the player is deemed to have beaten the house and will receive an appropriate score.
• In other embodiments, the scores could be normalized based on credits wagered instead of designated monetary amount. This may further normalize scores on gaming devices that allow multiple denominations to be wagered. In these embodiments, the score may be recorded over a predetermined number of credits wagered. For example, the score may be based on the payback percentage for one thousand credits wagered. In this example the score could be expressed as a ratio in the form of:
• 
  (credits won)/(credits wagered)
• In other embodiments, the normalization may be independent of the scoring session criteria. For example, the scoring session may be defined by a number of games (e.g., 25 games), but the final score may be normalized by the amount of credits wagered. A scoring example is provided below to illustrate how one of these embodiments may be implemented.
SCORING EXAMPLE #1
• In this example, three players (player A, player B, and player C) play a multi-line (20 line) video slot. A scoring session is defined in this example to be 500 games wagered on. Since this is a 20 line game, a player playing all 20 lines would be playing 20 games at once (one “game” for each line played). Also in this example, 5 points are awarded for each credit awarded and 100 bonus points (times the amount wagered per line (game)) are awarded for each bonus trigger. The scores are normalized by dividing the non-normalized score by the credits wagered and then multiplying that value times 1000 and rounding up if necessary. Using this example scoring system, players A, B, and C may have respective scoring sessions as set out inTable #1. Note that player A is playing a single credit per line and only betting on one line, player B is playing all 20 lines andwagering 20 credits per line, and player C is playing all 20 lines and wagering one credit on each line.

• 	TABLE #1
  	Player A	Player B	Player C

  Games Wagered On (Scoring	500	500	500
  Session)
  Gaming Sessions	500	25	25
  Total Credits Wagered	500	10,000	500
  Total Credits Awarded	550	10,100	400
  # of Bonus Triggers	0	1	2
  Player Score (Not Normalized)	2750	52,500	2200
  Player Score Normalized	5,500	5,250	4,400
  Credits Actually Won/Loss	+50	+100	−100

  
  AsTable #1 shows, although player B takes home the most credits during the scoring session, player A actually receives a slightly higher score because of the normalization of the scores. A running score for each player may also be kept by dividing the current points won by the current credits wagered and multiplying by 1000. To keep a running score that does not fluctuate (i.e., usually increases), a running score may be calculated by dividing the current points won by the expected credits wagered (that is, the number of credits expected to be wagered at the end of the scoring session based on the credits per line/game currently being wagered).
• In yet other embodiments, scores could be based only a particular portion of a game. For example, in video poker, scores may be based on the number of hands that result in a flush or better per a designated number of hands. In slot machines, scores may be based on the number of wild symbols that appear on the screen, the number of paylines that have a winning combination, or number of games with a winning combination. In addition, the scores may be related to a particular result of a bonus game associated with the gaming device. For example, in a secondary bonus game, high scores with associated player information may be displayed for high returns in the bonus game. Each of these examples may additionally be normalized.
• Scores may also be given during rolling time frames or rolling wager frames. That is, a time frame or wager frame may be set where a score is reflected as the best segment in that predetermined frame. For example, a scoring session may be defined as the best score resulting from 10 minutes of wagering within an hour time frame window. Thus, in this example, a player may have a veryhigh scoring 10 minutes from the 12^thminute of gaming to the 22^ndminute of gaming during an hour time frame. At the end of the hour time frame, the score from the 12^thto 22^ndminute may be reflected as the player's score.
• Similarly, in another example, a score may be determined by the best scoring results achieved for $20.00 wagered in a $100.00 wager frame. Thus, in this example, if a player scores particularly well from the 70^thdollar wagered to the 90 dollar wagered during a $100.00 wager frame, that score may be reflected as the player score for the $100.00 time frame. In other embodiments, time and wagers may be intermixed in determining scoring sessions and predefined rolling frames, as illustrated below inExample #2.
SCORING EXAMPLE #2
• In this example, player scores are determined by outcome based events that occur during a scoring session on a spinning reel quarter slot machine having a single center payline. In this example, a score is awarded for the best $20.00 consecutively wagered during a 30 minute time period. That is, if the player wagers a total of $50.00 during a thirty minute time interval, the gaming device calculates the bet scoring stretch during that time interval in which $20.00 was wagered. Additionally, in this example, the score is based on symbols appearing on the payline.Table #2 below sets out the scoring for each symbol occurring on the payline for the three reel slot machine.

• TABLE #2
  Symbol onPayline	Score		3 Symbols on Payline	Score

  Blank	0	Blank Blank Blank	5
  Cherry	2	Cherry Cherry Cherry	50
  Bar	5	Bar Bar Bar	100
  Double Bar	10	DBar DBar DBar	200
  Triple Bar	15	TBar TBar TBar	500
  7	20	7 7 7	2000
  Jackpot	25	Jackpot Jackpot Jackpot	10,000

• Thus, this example uses a rolling time frame in which a scoring session may exist. In addition, the scoring system utilized in this example may not directly reflect a players overall payback on the gaming device. That is, a player may receive numerous “Jackpot” or “7” symbols on the payline, which may generate a significant score without the player actually winning any credits back for gaming outcomes.
• In other embodiments, scoring systems may be devised such that an initial goal value is given and players aim to get as close as possible to the target value. For example, 1000 credits may be defined as a target value for a scoring session based on time, amount wagered, or type of awards won. During the scoring session, a player may wager more or fewer credits to get as close as possible to finishing with 1000 credits. A bonus award may be given to players coming within a certain number of credits of the target value. Additionally, if a player earned far more credits than the target value, the disappointment with a low scoring game may be offset by the high return of money. On the other hand, a sub-par credit return that resulted in a high score a possibly a bonus award may result in a positive gaming experience for the player even though a large amount of credits were not awarded during the scoring session.
• All players may enter their respective scores in a manner that permits others to view all of the entered scores, e.g., on a video screen or on a screen associated with one of the games. Alternatively, the players would be permitted to enter the information only if they were among the top achievers. Such information could include initials, names, photos, or other identification. Awards based on scoring could be offered at intervals, such as daily, weekly, and/or monthly. A side bet may be required to compete, thus providing a source of funds, such as a progressive pool, to pay awards based on scoring.
• Light and sound could be used to inform the player and others in the casino how well a particular player or machine was performing. For example, lights could form a vertical tower that grows in proportion to the player's score.
• Similarly, a particular machine could be lit depending upon its score. For example, if a video screen game is paying above house average, over 91% in the above example, its screen or other indicator turns red. The brighter the red color, the better the machine is playing. If the machine is playing below house average, it could be indicated using shades of blue. This serves as a signal to players who like to seek out games based on their past performance. Some like to choose a game that recently pays awards above the house average in the belief that the machine is “hot” and will continue to so pay. Others like to seek out machines that are paying below house average in the belief that such machines will soon change to paying more or higher jackpots.
• Referring toFIG. 6B, another method of generating a score on a gaming device related to game play may include associating a player identification mark with aplayer320. As discussed above, a player may be associated with anidentification mark320 when they input a player tracking card or when they input credits on to the gaming device. When using a player tracking card, a preferred player identification mark that may have been chosen by the player at an earlier time, is associated with the player. These identification marks may include names, pseudonyms, initials, pictures, avatars, etc. For unidentified players inserting credits on a gaming device, the gaming device may prompt a player to enter an identifying name or mark, and may ask the player if they would like to open a player tracking account.
• A scoring session may then begin330 on the gaming device, in which all amounts wagered and awarded are tracked. As discussed above, a scoring session may include various predetermined measurement criteria. During the scoring session, wagers are received from the player on agaming session340, where the amount wagered350 and any amount awarded360 are tracked. In some embodiments, a running score may be generated362 to reflect the player's current score and this running score may also be displayed364. It is then determined whether the scoring session has ended370. If the scoring session has not ended, the player is allowed to wager again on anothergaming session340. On the other hand, if the scoring session has ended, a final score may be generated380 and displayed390.
• In other embodiments, players may be divided into groups or categories and compete or view the scores only of others within the group or within a set of groups. In one example, a group of players with a common affiliation, wish to compete against one another. By identifying each as a member of a particular group in their player tracking server record, or by other means, a player within that group would only see scores of others from the same group. The group could make side bets wherein the winner takes a pooled prize, or the winner could be paid a progressive jackpot that is unique to that group.
• It is also possible to combine players into teams. In this way a team of one affiliation could compete against a team of another affiliation to see which group has the aggregate high score. Scores could be normalized and aggregated across all machines within one or more casinos, or only on specific machines or specific areas within one or more casinos.
• Scoring could be done based upon time of day, day of week or other temporal dividing technique. It is often common for players of a specific demographic to visit the casino at specific times or days. For example, retired people most often visit casinos during weekday afternoons when casinos are less crowded. A high score could be calculated for any player, or group of players to only count their play that occurs Monday through Friday between noon and 4 PM. In this way, high scores could simultaneously serve different constituencies.
• The casino may also choose to provide a bonus to the player or team of players with the highest score within a specific time period, within a specific group, or any combination thereof.
• Some embodiments of the invention have been described above, and in addition, some specific details are shown for purposes of illustrating the inventive principles. However, numerous other arrangements may be devised in accordance with the inventive principles of this patent disclosure. Further, well known processes have not been described in detail in order not to obscure the invention. Thus, while the invention is described in conjunction with the specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings, it is not limited to these embodiments or drawings. Rather, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents that come within the scope and spirit of the inventive principles set out in the appended claims.

Claims (51)

1. A method for generating a score related to play on at least one electronic gaming device comprising:

tracking an amount wagered on the at least one gaming device;

tracking an amount awarded by the at least one gaming device; and

generating a score related to the tracked amounts.

2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the tracked amounts are related to a single gaming device.

3. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the tracked amounts are related to a single player of the gaming device.

4. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the tracked amounts are related to multiple players of the gaming device.

5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the tracked amounts are related to a single player of multiple gaming devices.

6. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the generated score comprises the actual machine hold for an identified wager segment.

7. The method ofclaim 6 further comprising comparing the actual machine hold to a theoretical machine hold.

8. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising generating scores for multiple players and displaying at least some of the scores.

9. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising generating a visible display related to the score.

10. A method for generating a score related to play on an electronic gaming device comprising:

tracking a predefined amount wagered on the gaming device;

tracking an amount awarded by the gaming device in response to wagering the predefined amount of money; and

generating a score that is a function of the tracked amounts.

11. The method ofclaim 10 further comprising:

tracking a predefined amount wagered on a second gaming device;

tracking an amount awarded by the second gaming device in response to wagering the predefined amount of money on the second gaming device;

generating a score that is a function of the tracked amounts on the second gaming device; and

comparing the scores generated on the first and second gaming devices.

12. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the predefined amount wagered comprises a predefined amount for which tracking starts in response to a command input to the gaming device by a player of the gaming device.

13. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the predefined amount wagered comprises a predefined wager-segment amount that is repeatedly determined during the course of gaming device play.

14. A method for generating a score on a gaming device associated with a player, the method comprising:

associating a player identifying mark with the player;

tracking credits wagered by the player over a plurality of gaming events;

tracking credits awarded to the player over the plurality of gaming events;

calculating a player score based on the tracked credits wagered and tracked credits awarded during the plurality of gaming events; and

displaying the player score with the player identifying mark.

15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein calculating the player score includes normalizing the credits wagered and credits awarded based on a predetermined number of gaming events.

16. The method ofclaim 14, wherein calculating the player score includes normalizing the credits wagered and credits awarded based on a predetermined monetary value.

17. The method ofclaim 14, wherein calculating the player score includes normalizing the credits wagered and credits awarded based on a predetermined time period.

18. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the player score is calculated by the following formula: (credits awarded)/(credits wagered).

19. The method ofclaim 18, further comprising indicating on the gaming device whether the player score was greater than an expected payback percentage of the gaming device.

20. The method ofclaim 19, wherein multiple indications of player scores versus the expected payback percentage are displayed on the gaming device.

21. The method ofclaim 14, wherein associating a player identifying mark with the player includes identifying the player by use of player tracking device and retrieving the player identifying mark from a player tracking account associated with the identified player.

22. The method ofclaim 14, wherein associating a player identifying mark with the player includes requesting the player to input one or more symbols to create the player identifying mark.

23. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the player may reset the tracked amounts to respective initial values after completion of a gaming event.

24. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the tracked amounts are reset after a predetermined number of credits are wagered.

25. A gaming device comprising:

means for wagering credits during a gaming session on the gaming device;

means for displaying the outcome of the gaming session;

means for tracking an amount of credits wagered on the gaming device;

means for tracking an amount of credits awarded on the gaming device; and

means for calculating a player score based on the tracked amounts.

26. The gaming device ofclaim 25, further comprising means for displaying the calculated player score.

27. The gaming device ofclaim 25, further comprising means for comparing the calculated player score with an expected payback percentage of the gaming device.

28. The gaming device ofclaim 27, further comprising means for displaying the result of the comparison of the calculated player score with the expected payback percentage of the gaming device.

29. A method for generating a score on a gaming device associated with a player, the method comprising:

associating a player identifying mark with the player;

initiating a score tracking session;

tracking credits wagered by the player over a plurality of gaming sessions during the score tracking session;

tracking credits awarded to the player over the plurality of gaming sessions during the score tracking session;

ending the score tracking session;

calculating a final player score based on the tracked credits wagered and tracked credits awarded during the score tracking session; and

displaying the player score with the player identifying mark.

30. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the score tracking session is ended after a predetermined number of gaming sessions have been completed.

31. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the score tracking session is ended after a predetermined amount of credits has been wagered.

32. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the score tracking session is ended after a predetermined amount of time has passed.

33. A gaming system comprising:

a gaming device including:

a player identification device to identify a player playing the gaming device,

a processor to track an amount of credits wagered on the gaming device, track an amount of credits awarded on the gaming device, and generate a score based on the tracked amounts, and

a score display to display the score generated by the processor; and

a server coupled to the gaming device over a network, the server including a player database to store player information, wherein the player information stored in the database includes scores generated for respective identified players.

34. The gaming system ofclaim 33, wherein the scores generated for identified players stored in the database includes a ranked list of scores associated with a player.

35. The gaming system ofclaim 34, wherein the gaming device further includes a player top score display to show a predetermined number of top scores from the ranked list of scores associated with an identified player.

36. The gaming system ofclaim 34, wherein the ranked list of scores associated with a player includes a ranked list of scores associated with a particular gaming device.

37. The gaming system ofclaim 34, wherein the ranked list of scores associated with a player includes a ranked list of scores associated with a particular type of gaming device.

38. The gaming system ofclaim 34, wherein the ranked list of scores associated with a player includes a ranked list of scores associated with a gaming location or plurality of related gaming locations.

39. The gaming system ofclaim 33, wherein the gaming device further includes a device score portion to display a ranked list of top scores associated with the gaming device.

40. The gaming system ofclaim 39, wherein the gaming device further includes a device score portion to display a ranked list of top scores associated with a particular type of gaming device.

41. The gaming system ofclaim 39, wherein the gaming device further includes a device score portion to display a ranked list of top scores associated with gaming location or plurality of related gaming locations.

42. The gaming system ofclaim 33, wherein the scores generated for identified players stored in the database includes a ranked list of scores associated with a first group of players.

43. The gaming system ofclaim 42, wherein the server is configured to award a bonus prize to a highest ranked player from the ranked list of scores associated with the first group of players.

44. The gaming system ofclaim 42, wherein scores generated for indentified players stored in the database further includes a ranked list of scores associated with a second group of players.

45. The gaming system ofclaim 44, wherein the server is configured to award a bonus prize to the first or second group of players based on the respective ranked lists of scores associated with the first and second group of players.

46. A gaming device comprising:

a player identification device to identify a player playing the gaming device;

a processor to track gaming outcomes on the gaming device associated with wagers placed by the player, the processor configured to generate a score associated with the tracked gaming outcomes; and

a score display to display the score generated by the processor.

47. The gaming device ofclaim 46, wherein the tracked gaming outcomes used in generating the score include non-winning gaming outcomes.

48. A method of generating a score on a gaming device, the method comprising:

initiating a first scoring session;

tracking gaming outcomes based on monetary wagering made on the gaming device by a player during the first scoring session;

initiating a second scoring session;

tracking gaming outcomes based on monetary wagering made on the gaming device by a player during the second scoring session;

ending the first scoring session;

ending the second scoring session;

generating a first score associated with the tracked gaming outcomes from the first gaming session;

generating a second score associated with the tracked gaming outcomes from the second gaming session;

comparing the first score to the second score; and

displaying the higher of the first score and the second score on the gaming device.

49. The method ofclaim 48, further comprising:

generating a running score at the end of the first scoring session associated with the tracked gaming outcomes from the first scoring session;

displaying the running score on the gaming device;

generating a temporary score at the end of the second scoring session associated with the tracked gaming outcomes from the second scoring session;

modifying a value of the running score with the temporary score if the temporary score is greater than the running score; and

displaying the running score on the gaming device.

50. The method ofclaim 48, wherein the first and second scoring session are included in a time-based predetermined rolling frame.

51. The method ofclaim 48, wherein the first and second scoring session are included in a wager amount-based predetermined rolling frame.

Images