Amusement devices: games – Card or tile games – cards or tiles therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-12-21
2003-11-11
Layne, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Card or tile games, cards or tiles therefor
C273S274000, C273S303000, C273S309000, C463S012000, C463S013000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644666
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present application relates generally to a multiple player game of chance. More particularly, the present invention relates to a card game or tile game that can be played in a multiple person table in a casino or electronically as a computer game in a casino.
Gambling continues to be a growing and very lucrative business within the United States and abroad. Players are drawn to casinos for the excitement and the chance of winning large amounts of money. With the proliferation of casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, and other cities and Indian reservations across the country, it is important that the casinos continue to innovate in order to distinguish themselves from other casinos. While most casinos have multi-player games such as poker, blackjack, pai-gow, craps, baccarat, roulette, in which each bring a different type of excitement and payouts to the players (and the casinos), almost every casino has the same standard games, and it is difficult for each of the casinos to separate themselves from the other casinos.
There is still a growing need for new, dynamic, and exciting games to draw in customers to the casino and to separate the particular casino from the competing casinos. One proposed casino-style game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,473 entitled “Method of Playing A Big Ten Card Game.” The Big Ten card game is a multiple player card game that utilizes a five card hand in which the player attempts to show three cards from his hand which add up to either ten, twenty, or thirty. The remaining two cards are compared against the dealer's two remaining cards to determine the winner. Unfortunately, the Big Ten Game is impractical for playing in a casino. In particular, the Big Ten Game provides only a single opportunity to place a wager, which limits the amount the player and casino may win per round and reduces the level of excitement of the game. Additionally, because the games has a complicated method of breaking ties, the play of the game is further slowed. Since each of the game tables takes up valuable floor space in the casino and because players generally do not have the patience to learn a complicated casino game, it is preferable that the game be simple as possible for the player and dealer to play and to determine the winner.
Therefore, what is needed is an exciting, yet straight forward casino-style game that provides multiple opportunities for the player to place a wager.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a simple, multiple player casino-style game that provides each of the players multiple opportunities to place a wager so that the player and the casino have increased opportunities to win.
The game generally comprise dealing a number of cards, typically five cards, to the dealer and each of the players at the table who have placed a wager. In a first phase of the game, the player must determine if he can make a qualifying hand.
A qualifying hand is defined as a hand that is able to make a target number with a specified subset of the dealt cards. In exemplary embodiments, a player must use any three of the five dealt cards to make a sum of ten, twenty or thirty. For example, if a player is dealt a hand comprising a 3 card, a 7 card, a 9 card, a 10 card, an ace card. The player can use the 3 card, 7 card, and the 10 card so as to make a qualifying hand with a point total of 20. The remaining two cards (e.g., the 9 card and the ace card) are considered to be the point hand that will be compared against the dealer's point hand.
It should be appreciated however, that in other embodiments of the present invention, totals other than 10, 20, or 30 can be used. For example, it may be possible to modify the game to try to get a point total of 11, 21, or 31.
After the player is able to make the qualifying hand, the player moves onto a second phase of the game and attempts to compare his point hand against the dealer's point hand.
If the dealer is also able to make a qualifying hand, the dealer and player compare the values of their point hands. If the player's point hand is superior to the dealer's point hand, the player will win. If the dealer has a superior point hand, the player loses his wager. If the dealer and the player have an equal point hand, the game is considered a “push.”
If the dealer is unable to make a qualifying hand, the player will typically win even money on the wager that he placed.
In an exemplary aspect of the present invention, various betting schemes are provided that can allow the player to place a variety of different wagers on different aspects of the game so as to increase the excitement and to increase the amount of money played per hand. For example, the player may place an ante wager to receive the cards, a second wager after reviewing the cards (e.g., a “play wager”) to inform the house that he intends to stay in the game, a “poker hand” wager, and other optional wagers. Advantageously, the multiple wagers can increase the amount of money wagered on a single hand by each of the players. Moreover, allowing the player to place optional wagers allows both novice players to place only the basic wagers, while expert gamblers will have the ability to place the more complex wagers, if desired.
The wagers bet on different aspects of the game. For example, the first wager or ante, can be placed by the player to receive the cards. After the player has reviewed the cards, if the player has a qualifying hand or if the player chooses to “bluff” (e.g., the player has a non-qualifying but is hoping that the dealer is unable to make a qualifying hand), the player can place the second wager, otherwise known as the play wager, to confirm his desire to stay in the hand. The poker bonus wager can be used to wager on an independent aspect of the game that is completely separate from the players ability to make 10, 20 or 30 with three of their cards. Thus, even if the player is unable to make a qualifying 10, 20, or 30 with the hand, the player can still salvage his hand if he can make a qualifying poker hand with his cards (i.e., a pair, two pairs, three of a kind, a straight, a flush, a full house, four of a kind, a straight flush, or the like).
The games of the present invention can use different mediums, such as tiles, dominoes, one or more standard decks of cards, or for use in an electronic form—either in the casino, other gambling establishments, as computer software, or for play over a network, such as the internet. Thus, as used herein, the term “cards,” unless specified otherwise, shall be meant to encompass a variety of mediums. It should be appreciated that in some methods, the cards can include wild cards, such as jokers, which can be designated to be used to help the player complete a straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, or even to help the player make 10, 20 or 30, if desired. The house will typically be given the option as to how the wild cards are to be used in the game that is played in their casino.
To make the game easier and to increase the amount of players that will come to the table, the game is kept as simple as possible. The value of the cards can be valued as in baccarat: aces are 1 point, 2 through 9 have face value, and tens and face cards are worth 10. Thus, while more “pushes” or ties will result, because the game is easier to understand for the novice gambler, it will likely draw more players to the table. No comparison of face cards or suits of the face cards are needed. However, it will be appreciated that if a higher degree of difficulty is desired for the more advanced players, the present invention can be modified to incorporate such intricacies into the game.
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Furuta Ronald
Tamura Steve
Collins Dolores
Layne Benjamin H.
Tamura Gaming Enterprises, Inc.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
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