BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Gaming establishments continually try new methods to keep patrons in its establishment in order to increase profits. With more and more patrons using PEDs, mobile gaming is one way to increase profits. However, games of chance may not be played on unknown and untrusted PEDs.

It is often the case that people go with friends to gaming establishments for the purpose of being social and enjoying playing games of chance in one another's company. However, more than likely, at least one person in the group will disagree in which activities to engage in. In gaming establishments, one person may want to play video poker while another would want to play a game of craps. Several other people in the group may even want to play different slot machines. This can be particularly troublesome when the purpose of the excursion is to be social, yet the people separate in order to engage in their respective preferred activities.

There may be times when at least one person in the group is disappointed with the activity in which the group is engaged in, and it is likely that significant compromises must be made in order to accommodate all members of a group. This can lead to people spending less money in a gaming establishment by reducing the desire to engage in the current activity for at least one person in the group and/or by quickly taxing the overall patience of the group which would otherwise be willing to engage in gaming activities for longer periods of time. It may be preferable to allow at least one or more of the group members to play their preferred game of chance on a mobile or portable gaming device in order to prevent such issues.

OVERVIEW

The present invention relates generally to gaming systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to use of a portable electronic device (PED) in a gaming system.

Some embodiments pertain to a network-based gaming system that may support interaction between intermediary gaming trusted devices and PEDs and/or gaming machines so that games of chance are able to be securely presented to the user(s). The intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support a secure and controlled interaction between a gaming apparatus and an associated unknown, untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, becomes a trusted PED and can execute gaming software.

In one embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted electronic device for use with an associated untrusted PED may include a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the untrusted PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with a gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data associated with the received gaming data, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is able to support interaction between the gaming apparatus and the associated untrusted PED so that the associated untrusted PED, when coupled to the intermediary gaming trusted device, can execute a gaming software.

In another embodiment, an intermediary gaming trusted device for use with an associated untrusted portable electronic device (PED), the device including a position sensor configured to acquire position information of the PED, a memory configured to store at least game session data, a wireless transceiver, and a processor configured to at least: (i) securely communicate with the gaming apparatus via the wireless transceiver; (ii) securely communicate with the associated untrusted PED; (iii) determine whether a gaming session is permitted based on the position information; (iv) receive gaming data from the gaming apparatus if it is determined that the gaming session is permitted; and (v) transmit presentation data to the associated untrusted PED for presentation on a display of the associated PED, the presentation data being associated with the received gaming data, wherein the associated untrusted PED can be trusted to display presentation data so long as the intermediary gaming trusted device is coupled thereto.

In one embodiment, a system for playing a wagering game includes a portable electronic device (PED) having a display to display presentation data associated with gaming data, an intermediary gaming trusted device configured to securely communicate with the PED via a physical or wireless means, and a gaming apparatus configured to securely communicate with the intermediary gaming trusted device to transmit the gaming data to the intermediary gaming trusted device, wherein the intermediary gaming trusted device is configured to transmit the presentation data to the PED to allow a user of the PED to execute gaming software.

The present invention also relates to docking stations, such as docking stations configured for use in gaming establishments. The docking stations can be configured to create trusted mobile electronic devices which can be used to play games of chance in gaming establishments.

In one embodiment, a docking station configured to authorize a mobile electronic device to play games of chance may have a receiver configured to receive the mobile electronic device, and a processor configured to: (i) detect whether the mobile electronic device has been received by the receiver; (ii) receive device information from the mobile electronic device if it is detected that the mobile electronic device is received by the receiver; (iii) determine whether the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device based on the received device information; (iv) authorize the mobile electronic device to play the games of chance; and (v) transmit gaming data to the mobile electronic device if it is determined that the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device and if the mobile electronic device is authorized.

In one embodiment, a method for authorizing a mobile electronic device to play games of chance using a docking station may include detecting that the mobile electronic device is coupled to the portable docking station, receiving device information from the mobile electronic device after it is detected that the mobile electronic device has been coupled to the portable docking station, determining whether the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device based on the received device information, authorizing the mobile electronic device for playing the games of chance, and transmitting gaming data to the mobile electronic device if it is determined that the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device and if the mobile electronic device is authorized.

In another embodiment, a method for converting a mobile electronic device to a trusted mobile electronic device using a portable docking station may include detecting that the mobile electronic device is coupled to the portable docking station, receiving device information from the mobile electronic device after it is detected that the mobile electronic device has been coupled to the portable docking station, determining whether games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device based on the received device information, authorizing a user to play the games of chance on the mobile electronic device, converting the mobile electronic device to the trusted mobile electronic device if the user is authorized to play the games of chance on the mobile electronic device, and transmitting gaming data to the trusted mobile electronic device if the mobile electronic device is converted to a trusted mobile electronic device.

In one embodiment, a system to authorize a mobile electronic device to play games of chance may include a gaming system manager and a portable docking station configured to communicate with the gaming system manager and the mobile electronic device, the portable docking station further configured to: (i) detect whether the mobile electronic device is connected to a receiver of the portable docking station; (ii) receive device information from the mobile electronic device if it is detected that the mobile electronic device is connected to the receiver; (iii) determine whether the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device based on the received device information; (iv) authorize the mobile electronic device to play the games of chance; and (v) transmit gaming data to the mobile electronic device if it is determined that the games of chance can be played on the mobile electronic device and if the mobile electronic device is authorized, wherein once the mobile electronic device is authorized to play the games of chance, the mobile electronic device is deemed a trusted gaming device for use within the gaming system manager of a gaming establishment.

The present invention provides other hardware configured to perform the methods of the invention, as well as software stored in a machine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to control devices to perform these methods. These and other features will be presented in more detail in the following detailed description of the invention and the associated figures.

