Electronic bingo game with secondary wheel game

Abstract

A gaming machine for allowing a player to play a game is described herein. The gaming machine includes a display device for displaying a primary game and a secondary game and a controller coupled to the display device. The controller is configured to display the primary game on the display device including a bingo-type game. The controller detects a triggering condition occurring in the bingo-type game and responsively displays the secondary game on the display device. The secondary game includes a roulette-type game being displayed with a set of secondary symbols. The controller randomly selects at least one of the secondary symbols from the set of secondary symbols and provides an award to the player as a function of the outcome of the bingo-type game and the selected secondary symbol.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gaming machine for allowing a player to play a game, including:
 a first display for displaying a primary game;   a second display for displaying a secondary game, the second display include a physical wheel device having a set of secondary symbols being displayed on an outer surface of the wheel device; and   a controller coupled to the first and the second displays, the controller configured to:   receive a wager from the player associated with the primary game and responsively display the primary game on the display device, the primary game including a bingo-type game having at least one bingo card including a plurality of bingo symbols being selected from a predefined set of game symbols;   randomly select a plurality of drawn symbols from the predefined set of game symbols;   determine if each one of the plurality of drawn symbols matches a corresponding one of the plurality of bingo symbols and determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the matched bingo symbols;   detect a triggering condition occurring in the bingo-type game and responsively initiate the secondary game on the display device;   randomly select at least one of the secondary symbols from the set of secondary symbols and spin and stop the wheel device to display the selected secondary symbols; and   provide an award to the player as a function of the outcome of the bingo-type game and the selected secondary symbol.   
     
     
         2 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 1 , the controller configured to determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the randomly selected secondary symbol. 
     
     
         3 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 2 , the controller configured to determine if the selected secondary symbol matches a corresponding one of the plurality of bingo symbols and determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the matched secondary symbol. 
     
     
         4 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 1 , the set of secondary symbols including at least one wild symbol, the wild symbol being a matched symbol for each of the bingo symbols being displayed on the at least one bingo card in the outcome of the bingo-type game. 
     
     
         5 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 1 , the controller configured to:
 detect the triggering condition upon receiving a second wager from the player, the second wager being associated with the secondary game; and   responsively initiate the secondary game upon receiving the second wager from the player.   
     
     
         6 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 1 , the triggering condition being defined as a predefine number of drawn symbols, the controller responsively displaying the secondary game upon selecting a number of drawn symbols that is equal to the predefined number of drawn symbols. 
     
     
         7 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 1 , the controller configured to:
 determine a combination being formed with the matched bingo symbols; and   displaying the secondary game if the formed combination matches a predefined winning combination.   
     
     
         8 . A gaming machine for allowing a player to play a game, including:
 a display device for displaying a primary game and a secondary game; and   a controller coupled to the display device, the controller configured to:   receive a wager from the player associated with the primary game and responsively display the primary game on the display device, the primary game including a bingo-type game having at least one bingo card including a plurality of bingo symbols being selected from a predefined set of game symbols;   randomly select a plurality of drawn symbols from the predefined set of game symbols;   determine if each one of the plurality of drawn symbols matches a corresponding one of the plurality of bingo symbols and determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the matched bingo symbols;   detect a triggering condition occurring in the bingo-type game and responsively display the secondary game on the display device, the secondary game including a roulette-type game being displayed with a set of secondary symbols;   randomly select at least one of the secondary symbols from the set of secondary symbols; and   provide an award to the player as a function of the outcome of the bingo-type game and the selected secondary symbol.   
     
     
         9 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 8 , the controller configured to determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the randomly selected secondary symbol. 
     
     
         10 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 9 , the controller configured to determine if the selected secondary symbol matches a corresponding one of the plurality of bingo symbols and determine an outcome of the bingo-type game as a function of the matched secondary symbol. 
     
     
         11 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 8 , the set of secondary symbols including at least one wild symbol, the wild symbol being a matched symbol for each of the bingo symbols being displayed on the at least one bingo card in the outcome of the bingo-type game. 
     
     
         12 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 8 , the controller configured to:
 detect the triggering condition upon receiving a second wager from the player, the second wager being associated with the secondary game; and   responsively initiate the secondary game upon receiving the second wager from the player.   
     
     
         13 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 8 , the triggering condition being defined as a predefine number of drawn symbols, the controller responsively displaying the secondary game upon selecting a number of drawn symbols that is equal to the predefined number of drawn symbols. 
     
     
         14 . A gaming machine in accordance with  claim 8 , the controller configured to:
 determine a combination being formed with the matched bingo symbols; and   displaying the secondary game if the formed combination matches a predefined winning combination.   
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine being configured to receive a wager from the player associated with a primary game and responsively display the primary game to the player, the primary game including a bingo-type game having at least one bingo card including a plurality of bingo symbols being selected from a predefined set of game symbols;   a central display device for displaying a secondary game; and   a system controller coupled to the central display and each of the plurality of gaming machines, the system controller configured to:   detect a triggering condition occurring in one of the bingo-type games being played at each corresponding gaming machines and responsively display the secondary game on the central display device, the secondary game including a roulette-type game being displayed with a set of secondary symbols;   randomly select at least one of the secondary symbols from the set of secondary symbols; and   provide an award to the player as a function of the outcome of the corresponding bingo-type game and the selected secondary symbol.   
     
     
         16 . A system in accordance with  claim 15 , the system controller configured to determine an outcome of the corresponding bingo-type game as a function of the randomly selected secondary symbol. 
     
     
         17 . A system in accordance with  claim 16 , the controller configured to determine if the selected secondary symbol matches a corresponding one of the plurality of bingo symbols being displayed with the corresponding bingo-type game and determine an outcome of the corresponding bingo-type game as a function of the matched secondary symbol. 
     
     
         18 . A system in accordance with  claim 15 , the set of secondary symbols including at least one wild symbol, the wild symbol being a matched symbol for each of the bingo symbols being displayed on the at least one bingo card in the outcome of the corresponding bingo-type game. 
     
     
         19 . A system in accordance with  claim 15 , the controller configured to:
 detect the triggering condition upon receiving a second wager from the player, the second wager being associated with the secondary game; and   responsively initiate the secondary game upon receiving the second wager from the player.   
     
     
         20 . A system in accordance with  claim 15 , the triggering condition being defined as a predefine number of drawn symbols, the controller responsively displaying the secondary game upon detecting a number of drawn symbols that is equal to the predefined number of drawn symbols in the corresponding bingo-type game.