Amusement devices: games – Including means for processing electronic data – In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
Reexamination Certificate
1997-01-31
2001-04-17
Harrison, Jessica J. (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Including means for processing electronic data
In a game requiring strategy or problem solving by a...
C273S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217447
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to systems and methods for generating displays in relation to the play of Baccarat including historical records of the outcomes for hands of play.
BACKGROUND
Baccarat is one of the many popular live table games played in casinos or gaming establishments. Baccarat uses a standard deck of fifty-two cards and is usually dealt from a shoe having multiple decks (commonly eight) that have been shuffled together and loaded into shoe for dealing prior to the beginning of play of a round of hands.
The object of the game of Baccarat is for the bettor to successfully wager on whether the Banker's hand or the Player's hand will win the hand of play. Bettors have no discretion concerning the play of the hands, since cards are dealt according to pre-established rules. Their options prior to the dealing of a hand of Baccarat are to not bet, bet with either the Banker hand or the Player hand and/or to wager that the hands will tie. In some establishments an additional wager is allowed, which is to wager that either the Banker hand or the Player hand will be a Natural, i.e. a two card total, modulo
10
, of 8 or 9.
Bettors playing Baccarat like to track the hands of play for a shoe starting with the first hand decision out of a shoe. Unlike the game of Craps or Roulette where historical decisions are not divided by an event like shuffling cards and loading a shoe, Baccarat does have starting and ending points, i.e. first hand and last hand dealt from the shoe, respectively. This may be significant to the bettor, as the recordation of the historical outcomes of each hand may indicate the future outcomes for the remaining hands to be dealt from the shoe.
It is known for bettors to notate on paper a running record of the outcomes of hands. Typically bettors note whether the hand was won by the Banker or Player hand, whether the win was by a Natural, and whether the hand was a Tie. By keeping a running record, the bettor may perceive tendencies to help them decide how to wager on the next hand. For example, if the Banker hand has won five consecutive hands, the bettor may decide to wager on the Player hand on the next deal perceiving that the Player hand is due to win. Conversely the bettor may determine that it is best to go with the winning streak and wager on the Banker hand. Thus, many players attribute great significance to the historical outcomes of a shoe in Baccarat and based thereon develop strategies in deciding how and when to make a wager. Typically bettors notate when a new shoe is started for the reason stated above.
In manually tracking outcomes, bettors may simply notate the outcomes in chronological sequence or may notate trends in a column format. Trend notation, as it is to be hereinafter understood, is where a bettor notes, for example descending in a first column, “BBB” (indicating three consecutive wins for the Banker). If the Bank wins the next hand, another “B” would be notated, in descending order below the “BBB”, in the same column. However, if the Player wins the next hand, the notating bettor would move over to the next column and notate a “P”. Thus, notation in the column continues in descending (or ascending) order until the trend stops, i.e. the other of the Banker or Player wins. When the trend ends by the other of the hands winning, the bettor moves over to the next column to begin notation.
A drawback of bettors notating outcomes is that a new bettor to the game has no developed history to refer to in making a wager. Bettors are typically very engrossed in diagnosing their recorded information and consider it distracting to share their historical record with a new player. Furthermore the new bettor may not use the type of notation of the other bettors. This makes new bettors reluctant to join a game in progress or at least until a new shoe starts. Still further, for bettors having a system for wagering on Baccarat, they may watch or sit out numerous hands until the outcome history favors the bettor's system. These factors may cause bettors not to play which, in turn, represents lost revenue opportunities for the casino.
Some establishment do provide a pillar display which indicates the last 20-30 hand decisions, in descending sequence, the Banker and Player wins, Ties and Naturals. For those tables having the pillar display, the dealer inputs the outcome. A drawback of this technique is that the accuracy of the historical record of outcomes depends entirely upon the accuracy of the input. If the dealer makes a mistake or fails to input an outcome, the entire history displayed on the pillar is subject to question. If bettors perceive that the history is inaccurate, they may have to manually notate outcomes or may opt to leave the game. This places a burden on the bettors to check the accuracy of the historical record of the pillar display with their own record, thus eliminating the purpose for providing the pillar display. The pillar display also places a burden upon the dealer to correctly and promptly input outcomes. A further drawback is the pillar display does not display in a trend notation. For these bettors using trend notation, they must keep their own record. An additional drawback is the pillar display is that it is limited by the number of decisions it displays and thus often is unable to communicate the entire historical record of the shoe. This is important for the bettors that use the first half of a shoe to determine betting opportunities in the second half of the same shoe.
A further drawback related to the play of Baccarat is the rules by which the third cards are dealt to the Banker and/or Player hands. These rules are unfamiliar to novice bettors and follow no basis of common logic. Related to this drawback is the way the total of the hand is determined. Aces count one; Kings, Queens, Jacks and Tens count zero and all other cards count their respective face value. The calculation of hand totals, modulo ten, and understanding of game rules would not be apparent to new bettors, thus creating a resistance to playing the game. While brochures and textual materials are available, new bettors without some additional assistance, may find the game to intimidating. These drawbacks effect the fun and excitement associated with playing Baccarat as well as the ability to draw new and novice players to the game.
There is a need in the gaming industry to increase the amount of revenues being generated by Baccarat tables over a given period of time without simply requiring bettors to increase the amount of their wagers. This can be obtained by encouraging additional play from experienced bettors, making the game easier to play and understand, and thus creating new play from new and/or novice bettors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a Baccarat tracking system and method which overcomes the drawbacks of player recordation of outcomes and pillar displays, which frees the players to concentrate on their strategy concerning the game, which makes the game easier to play and more understandable and which is capable of providing a wide variety of historical outcome information in various formats which can be referred to by bettors in making their wagering decisions.
According to the present invention a system is set forth for generating a display which includes means for identifying the cards dealt to the Player and Banker hands. Where the system is incorporated into a live action table game the system has a card reader which generates data signals corresponding to the denomination of each card dealt to each of the Banker and Player hands during a hand of Baccarat. A processor receives the data signals, processes the signals to determine whether the Banker or Player has won the hand, stores the outcome in a data register and drives a display to display, in various selected formats, the outcomes.
In a further embodiment for live action table games, the reader is adapted to read the suit and denomination of the cards to provide, if desired, a display representing the cards of each
Lofink Kurt
Lofink Richard
DP Stud, Inc.
Harrison Jessica J.
Quirk & Tratos
LandOfFree
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