Multi-round game having a progressive jackpot

Abstract

A gaming system and method for operating a multi-round game having a progressive jackpot that is incremented by those of the credits that were earned either individually or collectively by the players without being cashed in before the end of the game. The system comprises a terminal for players to enter their game-related decisions away from the eyes of competing players by operating a keyboard having a random layout. A game controller selects a game outcome and an outcome analyzer determines whether credits were earned individually or collectively. An earned credit controller updates credits earned individually, and a pool credit controller, credits earned collectively. A player can cash in earned credits by retiring, but earned credits that are not cashed in before the end of the game are incremented to a jackpot by a progressive jackpot controller.

1 . A gaming system for operating a progressive jackpot of a multi-round game, the system comprising:
 a terminal for accepting a player's compulsory bet before the beginning of a sequence of rounds, and for accepting the player's retirement at the end of any of the rounds;   an outcome selector for selecting one of a plurality of potential outcomes for each of the rounds;   an outcome analyzer for determining whether the selected outcome earns the player a reward, earns the player the jackpot, or ends the sequence in accordance with rules of the game;   an earned credits controller for incrementing the player's earned credits by the earned reward, for incrementing the player's earned credits by the earned jackpot provided by a progressive jackpot controller, for providing the player's earned credits to an account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the player's earned credits after providing the earned credits to the account controller, for providing the player's earned credits to a progressive jackpot controller upon the end of the sequence, and for resetting the player's earned credits after providing the earned credits to the progressive jackpot controller;   the account controller for incrementing the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller; and   the progressive jackpot controller for incrementing the jackpot by at least some of the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller and for resetting the jackpot after providing the earned jackpot to the earned credits controller.   
     
     
         2 . The gaming system of  claim 1  wherein the progressive jackpot controller deducts a rake from the player's earned credits provided by the credits controller and increments the jackpot by the remaining number of credits. 
     
     
         3 . The gaming system of  claim 1  wherein the outcome selector comprises a card selector for selecting an available one of a predetermined set of cards for each of the rounds and labeling the selected card as unavailable for subsequent ones of the rounds of the sequence. 
     
     
         4 . The gaming system of  claim 1  further comprising a pool credit controller for incrementing the pool by an earned pool reward, for providing the pool to the account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the account controller, for providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller upon the end of the sequence, and for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller, and wherein the outcome analyzer determines whether the selected outcome earns the player the pool reward in accordance with the rules of the game, the credit controller increments the player's credit balance by the pool provided by the pool credit controller, and the progressive jackpot controller increments the jackpot by the pool provided by the pool credit controller. 
     
     
         5 - 11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . A gaming system for operating a progressive jackpot of a multi-round game, the system comprising:
 a terminal for accepting a player's compulsory bet before the beginning of a sequence of rounds, and for accepting the player's retirement at the end of any of the rounds;   an outcome selector for selecting one of a plurality of potential outcomes for each of the rounds;   an outcome analyzer for determining whether the selected outcome ends the sequence, earns the player a reward, or earns the player the jackpot in accordance with rules of the game;   an earned credits controller for incrementing the player's earned credits by the earned reward, for providing the player's earned credits to an account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the player's earned credits after providing the earned credits to the account controller, for providing the player's earned credits to a progressive jackpot controller upon the end of the sequence, and for resetting the player's earned credits after providing the earned credits to the progressive jackpot controller;   the account controller for incrementing the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller and for incrementing the player's credit balance by the earned jackpot provided by the progressive jackpot controller; and   the progressive jackpot controller for incrementing the jackpot by at least some of the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller and for resetting the jackpot after providing the earned jackpot to the earned credits controller.   
     
     
         13 . The gaming system of  claim 12  wherein the progressive jackpot controller deducts a rake from the player's earned credits provided by the credits controller and increments the jackpot by the remaining number of credits. 
     
     
         14 . The gaming system of  claim 12  wherein the outcome selector comprises a card selector for selecting an available one of a predetermined set of cards for each of the rounds and labeling the selected card as unavailable for subsequent ones of the rounds of the sequence. 
     
     
         15 . The gaming system of  claim 12  further comprising a pool credit controller for incrementing the pool by an earned pool reward, for providing the pool to the account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the account controller, for providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller upon the end of the sequence, and for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller, and wherein the outcome analyzer determines whether the selected outcome earns the player the pool reward in accordance with the rules of the game, the credit controller increments the player's credit balance by the pool provided by the pool credit controller, and the progressive jackpot controller increments the jackpot by the pool provided by the pool credit controller. 
     
     
         16 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A player-activated terminal for the entry of game-related decisions, the terminal comprising:
 a keyboard of at least one key;   a game controller for enabling a keyboard display controller upon determining that a game-related decision is required from a player in accordance with rules of the game;   the keyboard display controller for randomly selecting one of at least two distinct keyboard layouts, each of the layouts assigning a label defining a distinct game-related option to each of the at least one key, the label assigned by the layouts to at least one of the at least one key does not define a same one of the game-related options;   a display screen for displaying the selected layout;   a sensor for detecting an activation of a labeled one of the at least one key; and   an interpreter for identifying the game-related option defined by the label of the activated key and for providing the identified option to the game controller for processing in accordance with the rules of the game.   
     
     
         24 . The terminal of  claim 23  wherein each of the layouts assigns a position to each of the at least one key within the keyboard, the sensor detects touch points on the display screen, and the interpreter identifies the activated key upon which the touch points are superimposed in accordance with the positions assigned by the selected layout. 
     
     
         25 . The terminal of  claim 24  wherein the keyboard display controller comprises a pattern analyzer for determining whether the detected touch points define a predetermined pattern, and a randomizer for randomly selecting one of the layouts when the detected touch points define the pattern. 
     
     
         26 . The terminal of  claim 25  wherein the predetermined pattern corresponds to an arc defined by the placement of a cupped hand on the display screen. 
     
     
         27 . The terminal of  claim 26  wherein the pattern analyzer determines coordinates of the defined arc, the keyboard display controller further comprises a keyboard positioner for determining keyboard display coordinates as a function of the arc coordinates to exclude the displayed keyboard from the line of sight of competing players. 
     
     
         28 . The terminal of  claim 23  wherein the keyboard comprises less than two keys. 
     
     
         29 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . A gaming system for operating a progressive jackpot of a multi-round game, the system comprising:
 a terminal for accepting a player's compulsory bet before the beginning of a sequence of rounds, and for accepting the player's retirement at the end of any of the rounds;   an outcome selector for selecting one of a plurality of potential outcomes for each of the rounds;   an outcome analyzer for determining whether the selected outcome earns the player a reward, earns the player the jackpot, or ends the sequence in accordance with rules of the game;   an earned credits controller for incrementing the player's earned credits by the earned reward, for incrementing the player's earned credits by the earned jackpot provided by a progressive jackpot controller, for providing the player's earned credits to an account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the retired player's earned credits after providing the earned credits to the account controller, and for resetting the player's earned credits upon the end of the sequence;   the account controller for incrementing the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller; and   the progressive jackpot controller for incrementing the jackpot by at least some of the player's earned credits provided by the earned credits controller, for incrementing the jackpot by the reward if the player is retired, and for resetting the jackpot after providing the earned jackpot to the earned credits controller.   
     
     
         38 . The gaming system of  claim 37  wherein the progressive jackpot controller deducts a rake from the player's earned credits provided by the credits controller and increments the jackpot by the remaining number of credits. 
     
     
         39 . The gaming system of  claim 37  wherein the outcome selector comprises a card selector for selecting an available one of a predetermined set of cards for each of the rounds and labeling the selected card as unavailable for subsequent ones of the rounds of the sequence. 
     
     
         40 . The gaming system of  claim 37  further comprising a pool credit controller for incrementing the pool by an earned pool reward, for providing the pool to the account controller upon the retirement of the player, for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the account controller, for providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller upon the end of the sequence, and for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the progressive jackpot controller, and wherein the outcome analyzer determines whether the selected outcome earns the player the pool reward in accordance with the rules of the game, the credit controller increments the player's credit balance by the pool provided by the pool credit controller, and the progressive jackpot controller increments the jackpot by the pool provided by the pool credit controller. 
     
     
         41 - 47 . (canceled) 
     
     
         48 . A gaming system for operating a pool of a multi-round, multi-player game, the system comprising:
 terminals for accepting players' compulsory bets before the beginning of a sequence of rounds, and for accepting the players' retirement at the end of any of the rounds;   an outcome selector for selecting one of a plurality of potential outcomes for each of the rounds;   an outcome analyzer for determining whether the selected outcome earns the players a reward or ends the sequence in accordance with rules of the game;   an earned credits controller for incrementing each of the players' earned credits by the earned reward, for providing each of the retired players' earned credits to an account controller upon the retirement, for resetting each of the retired players' earned credits after providing the earned credits to the account controller, and for resetting the unretired players' earned credits upon the end of the sequence;   a pool credit controller for incrementing a pool by the reward for each of the retired players, for providing at least some of the pool to the account controller upon the retirement, for resetting the pool after providing the pool to the account controller; and   the account controller for incrementing the players' earned credits provided by the earned credits controller and for incrementing the credit balance of each of the players upon the retirement by an equal share of the pool provided by the pool credit controller.   
     
     
         49 . The gaming system of  claim 48  wherein the pool credit controller deducts a rake from the pool before providing the pool to the account controller. 
     
     
         50 . The gaming system of  claim 48  wherein the outcome selector comprises a card selector for selecting an available one of a predetermined set of cards for each of the rounds and labeling the selected card as unavailable for subsequent ones of the rounds of the sequence. 
     
     
         51 - 55 . (canceled)