Amusement devices: games – Card or tile games – cards or tiles therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-03
2001-06-05
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Card or tile games, cards or tiles therefor
C273S303000, C273S274000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241250
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to casino games and gaming formats and, more particularly, to betting options and modified versions of existing games where a result is determined according to ranked values.
Baccarat is played internationally with different rules and different names, such as Punto Banco and Chemin-de-Fer. In the U.S., Baccarat is typically played in a dedicated VIP high-stakes gaming area. In an effort to increase the popularity of the game, smaller versions of Baccarat such as Mini-Baccarat have been introduced in the regular gaming area.
There are several drawbacks associated with conventional Baccarat. In particular, in certain situations, the house takes a commission on wagers. Although the house needs an advantage, the use of commission can deter many players. Moreover, from a casino perspective, calculating commissions slows down the game. To correct this, the game may be operated where the commission is collected not after each hand, but at the end of each shoe (a shoe holds multiple decks of cards from which hands are dealt by the dealer), prior to reshuffling the decks. While this speeds up the game, collection of commission may be impacted by the player running out of funds or not wishing to meet the obligation.
Moreover, for novice players, the rules of play seem obscure, and the procedure is prone to error. In Baccarat, there is a player hand and a banker hand, but the casino player may bet either hand. Each hand receives two cards with 10's and face cards counting as zero. The superior hand is the higher hand, with 9 being the highest total and with each hand being allowed to draw a third card in certain circumstances. The card draw option to the player hand is determined by the player two-card total, and the card draw option to the banker hand is determined by the banker two-card total and the exact third card drawn by the player. With these rules, although the game is simple in its concepts, the game has a complicated appearance.
Still further, with conventional Baccarat, there is an inherent hand-value deterioration bias. That is, a two-card total of 5 improves with a 1, 2, 3 or 4 value card, but deteriorates with a 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 value card, which creates the inherent bias.
Additionally, as a tie is a push with respect to wagers, there is no casino advantage working on the player and banker wagers when a tie occurs. If the tie outcome could be incorporated into the outcome of the basic wager, the house advantage could be manipulated as desired.
In one modified version of Baccarat, so called Bahama Baccarat or No Commission Baccarat, the commission aspect has been successfully removed. The house advantage is incorporated in a bar rule so a specific result is determined differently than with conventional Baccarat. In this context, however, the game retains a complicated draw process, does not offer higher payoffs, the tie is a non-result, and the bar rule gives an impression of a lack of balance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is thus a need for a Baccarat variant that not only removes the commission aspect of the game, but also eliminates card drawing complications, incorporates a house advantage in the tie result, and removes the inherent deterioration bias in conventional Baccarat. With such a Baccarat variant, the game would be simple to operate and attractive to new players.
According to the present invention, a Baccarat variant is a simplified version of the conventional game, incorporating player hand win or banker hand win bet options as well as a tie bet option. The methodology according to the invention can be applied to other ranked value games such as Blackjack, War, Dice or an original ranked value game.
According to a particular aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of playing a game where a result is determined according to ranked values. The method includes the steps of (a) receiving at least one wager that at least one of a plurality of events will occur, the plurality of events including (1) a first side having a higher ranking value than a second side, (2) the second side having a higher ranking value than the first side, and (3) the first side having a ranking value equal to the second side; (b) adjusting a house advantage by determining rules for resolving ties; (c) playing the game such that the first side and the second side each obtains results of a ranked value; and (d) resolving the at least one wager according to the ranking value results and the rules for resolving ties.
Step (c) may be practiced by dealing one or more playing cards to each of the first side and the second side. In one embodiment, playing cards having an indicia of a King, a Queen or a Jack are assigned a value of zero. In this context, in an alternative embodiment, the method may include, prior to step (a), the step of preparing a deck of the playing cards by removing cards having an indicia of a King, a Queen or a Jack. Step (c) is preferably practiced by dealing two playing cards to each of the first side and the second side and determining a numerical total of each of the two playing cards according to predetermined rules of the game. The one of the first side and the second side having a higher numerical total is declared to be the winner. Step (d) may thus be practiced by paying 1 to 1 for wagers on events (1) and (2) and paying an amount higher than 1 to 1 for wagers on event (3). For example, step (d) may be practiced by paying 8 to 1 for wagers on event (3) when the numerical total is an EVEN number and paying 9 to 1 for wagers on event (3) when the numerical total is an ODD number.
If the first side numerical total is equal to the second side numerical total, step (d) may be practiced by paying a payout for wagers on events (1) and (2) according to whether the equal numerical total falls into a first group of numerical totals or a second group of numerical totals. In this context, step (d) is practiced by paying a payout, such as 1 to 1, for wagers on events (1) and (2) when the equal first and second side numerical total falls into the second group of numerical totals and taking wagers on events (1) and (2) when the equal first and second side numerical total falls into the first group of numerical totals. Preferably, the first group of numerical totals is EVEN numbers, the second group of numerical totals is ODD numbers, and zero is considered an EVEN number.
In still another alternative, values of ten are counted as zero, and the one of the first side and the second side having a higher numerical total that is closer to nine is declared to be the winner. Step (c) may be practiced according to rules of Baccarat, Blackjack, or War or using one or more dice for each of the first side and the second side.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus configured for playing a game including a display, a player interface for receiving player input, and a processor configured to effect game play, the processor enabling the method according to the invention.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus configured for playing a game including a display, a player interface, and a controller receiving input from the player interface and including circuitry for effecting game play. The apparatus includes a betting unit forming part of the player interface that receives at least one wager that at least one of a plurality of events will occur. The plurality of events include (1) a first side having a higher ranking value than a second side, (2) the second side having a higher ranking value than the first side, and (3) the first side having a ranking value equal to the second side. The apparatus also includes a processing circuit that adjusts a house advantage by determining rules for resolving ties and effects play of the game such that the first side and the second side each obtains results of a ranked value. The processing circuit resolves the at least one wager according to the ranking value results and the rules for resolving
Layno Benjamin H.
Merderatta V K
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Prime Table Games LLC
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