Amusement devices: games – Card or tile games – cards or tiles therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-15
2003-01-28
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Card or tile games, cards or tiles therefor
C273S274000, C273S309000, C463S013000, C463S012000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06511071
ABSTRACT:
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to card games, more particularly to an improved method of playing the card game known as Super Pan 9 (which is itself a version of a game called Pan 9).
2. Background of the Invention
Super Pan 9 is a card game often enjoyed in legalized gambling establishments. Super Pan 9 is quite similar in play and rules to Baccarat (a variation of which is called Chemin de Fer).
The prior art rules of Super Pan 9 are as follows. Standard poker decks of 52 cards are employed, except that all Sevens, Eights, Nines and Tens are removed. Normally, eight decks are compiled and used together, for a total of 288 cards. The object of the game is to obtain a higher-ranking hand than the player who is also functioning as the banker. The player/banker is also known as the designated player, but hereinafter often simply will be referred to as the “banker.” The highest hand has a score of 9 and the lowest hand a score of 0. The game is played modulo ten: that is, if the total value sum of a hand exceeds ten, then 10 is subtracted from the total. In other words, when the total is 10 or more, only the right-hand digit counts. Normally, the banker must stand on 7 or better and hit on 3 or less. A typical “house way” rule employed in certain situations is that a player must stand on 6 or better and hit on 5 or less.
The game is dealt to 7 or 8 players (positions) on a poker-style table. Normally, a house dealer controls the shuffling and dealing of the cards and the house collections for each hand. One of the players is designated the player/banker for that hand. Typically, each player may bank twice, but also may decline entirely to accept the “banker button” which designates the banker. All players play their hand against the banker's hand only.
A dice cup is shaken to determine which seated player position receives an “action button” denoting which hand is to be first when the play begins. The house dealer deals each player three cards, one at a time, starting at the action button. The banker's cards are placed in front of the dealer and kept face down. The players may stand on their hands or draw one additional card. When the draw is concluded, the dealer turns the banker's cards over. The banker may stand or draw according to the above rules governing the banker's draw. The card values are Face Cards=0; Aces=1; and all other Cards=face value.
In the typical prior art game of Super Pan Nine, settlement proceeds as follows, provided the banker has bet enough to settle all bets: players having a higher score than the banker are paid the amount of their bet by the banker; players having a lower score than the banker pay the banker; and players that tie the banker “push.” A push between a player and the banker means that both sides (banker and that particular player) get back their bets against each other.
As played in the prior art, there is no real advantage to being the banker, because there are no hands favoring the banker. Therefore, many hands are played wherein not all bets are covered by the player/banker. This disappoints players who are dealt a good hand that is not covered by the banker. The game would enjoy higher popularity were bankers, especially professional bankers, to have an incentive to bank therein because they then would almost always cover all bets.
Prior developments in this field may be generally illustrated by reference to the following information disclosure statement:
U.S. Patent Documents
U.S Pat. No.
Patentee
Issue Date
5.503,401
S. Nguyen
Apr. 2, 1996
5,690,335
J. Skratulia
Nov. 25, 1997
5,720,483
H. Trinh
Feb. 24, 1998
5,857,678
R. Coleman
Jan. 12, 1999
5,806,854
R. Coleman
Sep. 15, 1998
5,702,104
M. Malek et al.
Dec. 30, 1997
5,529,309
L. Bartlett
Jun. 25, 1996
5,395,119
D. Jacob et al.
Mar. 7, 1995
5,362,064
R. Lofink et al.
Nov. 8, 1994
5,653,445
H. Quach
Aug. 5, 1997
5,397,128
M. Hesse et al.
Mar. 14, 1995
5,810,360
S. Srichayaporn
Sep. 22, 1998
U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,128 is described as a hybrid of blackjack and baccarat “similar enough” to Pan 9 (at least in learnability; col. 9, lines 47-50) that uses a player/banker and is designed to give a small advantage to the banker (col. 5, lines 20-25). The player/banker is given the small advantage by adjusting the number of nines in the deck and by the selection of a banker's winning hand of predetermined value, namely: if the banker has a natural nine (no hit was made), this beats anything except another natural nine. Surrender, double and jackpot options are taught. Other rule variations, besides including nines, make this game a departure from Super Pan 9.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,064 is art from a baccarat perspective. There is no player/banker. The dealer's (house banker's) mathematical advantage is assured by preselecting one or more hand combinations as “barred,” wherein a normally winning hand becomes a push hand during pay off. The bar hand combinations are preselected according to their statistical likelihood of being dealt. A number of varieties are suggested, including pairs, three of a kind, and three card flushes. Varieties using combinations of player and bank hand totals also are shown. At col. 18, lines 42-50, side bets are taught wherein such preselected hands as triplets or three card flushes determine the winner.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,503,401, 5,690,335 and 5,720,483 teach card games dealing with the banking method of play. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,401, there are no rules favoring the banker. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,483 a method of play which eliminates banking is taught. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,335, a variation of Super Pan 9 or Pan 9 is taught wherein the banker is favored by winning ties.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,806,854, 5,857,678 and 5,701,104 teach modified baccarat card games.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,309 teaches a baccarat type game where the dealer's (house banker's) mathematical advantage is gained by manipulating the card draw rules. No player/banker is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,119 teaches a surrender option in baccarat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,360 teaches the concept of the players playing against each other rather than against a bank.
The rest of the patents are representative of what was found in a search of the art.
It therefore will be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved method of playing Super Pan 9 which addresses the problems of banking, risk allocation and ease of play that are attendant in the prior art. In this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the disadvantages inherent in the known art, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to teach a new and improved method of playing Super Pan 9 which has all of the important advantages of the prior art and few, if any, of the disadvantages.
The present invention comprises rule changes for Super Pan 9 which present a slight, but equitable, edge to the banker, thus encouraging greater participation in the game by those who do not wish to bank and by those who desire to have their bets covered by a fully funded banker.
What all embodiments of the invention have in common is the specific designation of a type or value of “special-rule” Super Pan 9 hand (banker's or player's), the appearance of which causes the banker to win a specified percentage of either all bets (when a banker hand is designated) or of the bet of the player having the hand (when a player hand is designated or matching player/banker hands are designated). The increase in odds favoring the banker is held to a predetermined and acceptably low value by the choice of special-rule hands whose frequency of occurrence can be determined statistically.
FEATURES AND ADVANTAGES
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of playing Super Pan 9 which has all, or nearly all, of the advantages of the prior art, while simultaneously over
Artle Tom
Salerno Frank
Collins Dolores R
Layno Benjamin H.
White Douglas E.
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