Gaming system with tournament communication protocols and methods

Abstract

Various methods for managing a tournament game in a gaming system are disclosed herein. According to one method, a player is identified at a gaming device. After the player is identified, the player interface unit receives player-related and tournament-related data from the tournament server, in which the player interface unit and the tournament server communicate via a web service protocol. The player unit interface increments a tournament counter in response to play of the base game, and play of the tournament game is initiated when the tournament counter reaches a predetermined value.

1 . A method for managing a tournament game in a gaming system having a tournament server in direct communication with a player interface unit associated with one of a plurality of gaming devices, a gaming device presenting a base game, each player interface unit having a display and an embedded processor, the method comprising:
 identifying a player at the gaming device;   receiving player-related and tournament-related data at the player interface unit from the tournament server, wherein the player interface unit and the tournament server are in communication via a web service protocol;   incrementing a tournament counter in response to play of the base game; and   initiating play of the tournament game when the tournament counter reaches a predetermined value.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating a unique session identification at the player interface unit in response to identifying the player, wherein the unique session identifier includes data specific to the player and the gaming machine; and   sending the session identifier to the tournament server.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the player is identified via a player tracking card. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising terminating the tournament counter in response to removal of the player tracking card from the gaming device. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the player-related data is player rank, player identification, player account data, or a combination thereof. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the player account data includes session account data, the session account including all currencies and credits associated with the player identification. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the tournament-related data is a pay table, tournament scores, tournament leader board, threshold counter for tournament game start, tournament rules, available tournament games, game settings, game objects, or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the web service protocol is hypertext transfer protocol or hypertext transfer protocol over secure socket layer.