Amusement devices: games – Board games – pieces – or boards therefor – Betting or wagering board
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-28
2003-12-09
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Board games, pieces, or boards therefor
Betting or wagering board
C463S020000, C463S025000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659461
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to novel gaming devices, novel gaming processes and novel games and game apparatus associated with card table games. In some casino games, predetermined events at the table (such as achieving a blackjack) trigger bonus segments. A microprocessor driven system is used to support the bonus feature.
2. Background of the Art
Games of chance have been enjoyed by people for thousands of years and have enjoyed increased and widespread popularity in recent times. As with most forms of entertainment, players enjoy playing a wide variety of casino games and enjoy learning to play new games. Playing new games adds to the excitement of “gaming.” As is well known in the art and as used herein, the term “gaming” and “gaming devices” are used to indicate that some form of wagering is involved, and that players must make wagers of value, whether actual currency or some equivalent of value, e.g., token or credit. Table games are those gaming systems where players at a physical table engage in the play of a wagering game, usually with a dealer (directly involved in the play of a wagering game) or a house representative (not involved in actual play, but directing the play of a wagering game). Cards, either a standard playing card deck, multiple standard decks, modified decks, or specialty decks are generally used in the play of casino table games such as casino table card games.
A particularly popular casino table game is twenty-one. As outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,492 (LeVasseur), conventional twenty-one is played in most casinos and involves a game of chance between a dealer and one or more players using a standard deck or multiple decks of playing cards. The object is for the player to achieve a count of his hand closer to 21 than the count of the hand of the dealer. If the count of the player's hand goes over 21 then the player loses regardless of the final count of the dealer's hand.
At least one standard deck of playing cards is used to play the game. The game is most commonly dealt as a multiple deck game. Each card counts as its face value, except aces, which have a value of one or eleven as is most beneficial to the count of the hand. Each player initially receives two cards. The dealer also receives two cards. One of the dealer's cards usually is dealt face down and the other of the dealer's cards is dealt face up.
A player may draw additional cards (take “hits”) in order to try and beat the ultimate count of the dealer's hand or to remain in play when a dealer exceeds a count of twenty-one (known as “busting” or “breaking”). If the player's count exceeds 21, the player “busts.” Similarly, if the dealer's count exceeds 21, the dealer busts. The player may “stand” on any count of 21 or less. When a player busts, he loses his wager regardless of whether or not the dealer busts. After all of the players have taken hits or stood on their hand, the dealer “stands” or “hits” based on pre-established rules for the game. Typically, if the dealer has less than 17, the dealer must take a hit. If the dealer has 17 or more, the dealer stands.
After the dealer's final hand has been established, the numerical count of the dealer's hand is compared to the numerical count of the player's hand. If the dealer busts, the player wins regardless of the numerical count of his hand. If neither the player nor the dealer have busted, the closest hand to numerical count of 21, without going over, wins; tie hands are a “push.”
As used in the preceding description and in this disclosure, the terms “conventional twenty-one” and “the conventional manner of play of twenty-one” mean the game of twenty-one as described herein and also including any of the known variations of the game of twenty-one. There are many such variations, such as removal of specific value cards, addition of wild cards, bonuses for consecutive blackjacks, bonuses for suited blackjacks, automatic wins with at least six cards in a players hand, wins for ‘five-card straights’ in a player's cards, and the like.
Twenty-one has remained remarkably popular and unchanged over the years. Because of its popularity, the rapidity of play, and the need to reduce or eliminate card counting by players, twenty-one is usually played with multiple decks of cards that are frequently shuffled.
Other casino table card games include Let It Ride® stud poker (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081, a playing card wagering game method which involves each player placing a three part bet. Cards are dealt by the dealer, two face down to the dealer and three face down to each player. Players inspect or “sweat” their cards and the dealer gives each player the choice of withdrawing or leaving at risk a first part of the bet. Each player decides and the dealer then turns over one of the cards and again gives each player the choice of withdrawing or leaving the second part of the bet. The players decide, their cards are shown, and all remaining bets, which were not withdrawn, are resolved.); Caribbean Stud® poker (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,86,553, a card game in which a player and a dealer are each dealt five cards. If the dealer has a poker hand having a value less than Ace-King combination or better, the player automatically wins. If the dealer has a poker hand having a value of an Ace-King combination or better, then the higher of the player's or the dealer's hand wins. If the player wins, he receives a bonus payment depending on the poker rank of his hand.); and Pai Gow poker (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,411 in association with a unique card shuffling and dealing system). Although both Let It Ride® stud poker and Caribbean Stud® poker have the potential for the award of bonuses, these bonuses are directly dependent upon the occurrence of hands of very high rank to a player.
One popular game of chance is the slot machine. Conventionally, a slot machine is configured for a player to wager something of value, e.g., currency, house token, established credit or other representation of currency or credit. After the wager has been made, the player activates the slot machine to cause a random event to occur. The player wagers that particular random events will occur that will return value to the player. A standard device causes a plurality of reels to spin and ultimately stop, displaying a random combination of some form of indicia, for example, numbers or symbols. If this display contains one of a preselected plurality of winning combinations, the machine releases money into a payout chute or increments a credit meter by the amount won by the player. For example, if a player initially wagered two coins of a specific denomination and that player achieved a payout, that player may receive the same number or multiples of the wager amount in coins of the same denomination as wagered.
There are many different formats for generating the random display of events that can occur to determine payouts in wagering devices. The standard or original format was the use of three reels with symbols distributed over the face of the wheel. When the three reels were spun, they would eventually each stop in turn, displaying a combination of three three symbols (e.g., with three wheels and the use of a single payout line as a row in the middle of the area where the symbols are displayed. By appropriately distributing and varying the symbols on each of the reels, the random occurrence of predetermined winning combinations can be provided in mathematically predetermined probabilities. By clearly providing for specific probabilities for each of the preselected winning outcomes, precise odds that would control the amount of the payout for any particular combination and the percentage return on wagers for the house could be readily controlled.
Other formats of gaming apparatus that have developed in a progression from the pure slot machine with three reels have dramatically increased with the development of video gaming apparatus. Rather
Crowley Walter J.
Dunn Russell B.
Lychock, Jr. Ferdinand Paul
Wasinger Timothy S.
Yoseloff Mark L.
Collins Dolores R
Layno Benjamin H.
Mark A. Litman & Assoc. P.A.
Shuffle Master, Inc.
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