Amusement devices: games – Chance devices – Chance selection
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-05
2001-05-01
Layno, Benjamin H. (Department: 3711)
Amusement devices: games
Chance devices
Chance selection
C283S901000, C283S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224055
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ticket for an instant lottery game and a method for playing the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Instant lottery games are well known and widely practiced. Indeed, they represent a $15 billion industry in the United States. A typical instant lottery game is implemented using a ticket, which includes a background section and a play section. The background section usually includes the name of the game, instructions for playing the game, information describing winning combinations, and associated payouts that may be won by a player. It may also include other miscellaneous information such as the price of the ticket and the name of the entity sponsoring the game.
The play section of the ticket usually includes one or more play areas, each of which contains outcome indicia. The outcome indicia are typically compared to the winning combinations to determine whether the ticket is a winner, as is described in more detail below. The outcome indicia are generally obscured from the view of players and vendors selling the tickets by an alterable opaque covering surface, such as latex.
The background and play sections of the ticket often are designed in accordance with a theme of the instant lottery game. Attributing the theme to the game is intended to make the game appear more interesting and exciting to the players. To this end, the background section generally is designed to reflect the theme and is made to be colorful and fanciful. The outcome indicia and the alterable opaque covering surface of the play section also are usually designed in accordance with the theme.
For example, a theme for an instant lottery game may be slot machines. In this case, the background of the ticket may include a name such as “LUCKY SEVENS” printed in a fanciful font. It may also include a picture or symbol of a slot machine. The set of possible outcome indicia might include symbols that are customarily used by slot machines, such as cherries, lemons, oranges, and bars. Other popular themes include blackjack, bingo, monopoly, or general money themes like “break the bank,” or “road to riches.”
Regardless of the game theme and the particular design of the ticket, instant lottery games are generally played in the same manner. More specifically, to play a typical game, a player removes the alterable opaque covering surface from a play area of the ticket to reveal the outcome indicia. This may be done, for example, using a coin or other suitable means to scratch off a covering surface such as latex. The outcome indicia themselves often indicate the payout. Typically, six outcome indicia are revealed, with the player winning a payout if three of the outcome indicia match each other. If three matching outcome indicia are not present, the ticket is a loser and there is no payout to the player.
Instant lottery games can be classified into one of two categories—that is, standard games and probability games. The standard games category include non-probability games in which a ticket, at the time it is sold to a player, is predetermined as a winner or a loser. Thus, with standard, non-probability instant lottery games, every ticket is not a potential winner.
The second category of instant lottery games are probability games in which every ticket is a potential winner. One such probability game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,205, issued to Behm et al. As disclosed in that patent, a ticket for such a probability game includes multiple play areas. Each play area contains outcome indicia indicative of a dollar amount. The outcome indicia are covered by a removable latex material.
To play this probability game, a player removes the latex material from a predetermined number of play areas, which is less than the total number of play areas. If the revealed outcome indicia match a predetermined combination, then the ticket is a winner and the player can redeem it for a payout. In this case, the payout is the dollar amount indicated by the outcome indicia. However, if the revealed outcome indicia do not match a predetermined combination, then the player loses the game and the ticket has no redeemable value. The ticket is voided if the player removes the latex from more than the predetermined number of play areas.
The popularity of probability-type instant lottery games with players can be attributed to the fact that, for such probability games, every ticket is a possible winner. The player thus feels as though he has an element of control since he is free to choose those play areas that will be played. If a player has lost the game, he can remove the remaining latex to confirm that at least one winning combination is present on the ticket, which leaves the player with a feeling that the game is fair.
The standard instant lottery games described above suffer from a number of problems. First, the games typically only require that a player remove some of the opaque covering surfaces of a ticket. The player need not make any decisions during the game, even the most basic one concerning which of the play areas will be played. This results in a perception that the games are based on pure luck. Further, these games tend to be simplistic and boring to the players. While the probability games offer an opportunity for the player to make this basic decision, these games still are based on pure luck and do not allow a player to use strategy to improve his chance of achieving a favorable outcome for the game.
Another problem with known instant lottery games is that the amount of time it takes to play such game is usually quite short. In most cases, the player simply purchases a ticket and alters the opaque covering surface. There is no opportunity to ponder game strategies and make decisions based thereon that may affect the outcome and extend the life of the game.
Unlike prior art instant lottery games, video poker is a game that gives a player control to exercise skill by considering game strategies and making decisions based thereon that will affect the outcome of the game. Video poker games, which are generally played in gaming establishments, have become extremely popular and are quite exciting. In fact, they are one of the fastest growing segments of casino revenue.
The basic game of video poker is played on a computerized video poker machine. A player is dealt an initial hand of five cards from a standard deck of fifty-two cards. The five cards are randomly chosen by a computer and displayed to the player on a video screen. With a goal of maximizing the value of his hand, the player decides which cards, if any, to hold. Given the initial hand, the player may decide to hold all five of his cards—i.e., stand. To do this, he presses a button labeled HOLD under each displayed card.
Alternatively, the player may decide to hold only certain of the five cards dealt to him in his initial hand. In this case, the player presses the HOLD button under each card he decides to hold. After the player has decided which cards to hold, he press a button labeled DEAL. This causes the computer to discard the cards that the player has decided not to hold, and replace them with additional cards that are randomly selected from the remaining forty-seven cards of the deck.
After the DEAL button has been pressed, the final hand of the player is evaluated by the computer. If the player's final hand matches a predetermined combination—e.g., a Full House or Three of a Kind, then the player is awarded a payout in the form of either play credits or coins in accordance with a payout table. The payout table is stored in the memory of the computer and is also displayed on the video screen for the player to view. The payout for a particular final hand increases with the value of the hand. Thus, hands with higher poker values are awarded more play credits or coins. For example, very rare poker hands such as a Royal Flush are awarded payouts of 800-to-1 in some game variations.
The payouts for video poker games are typically selected to generate a profit for the game operator. The payouts are multip
Jorasch James A.
Tulley Stephen C.
Walker Jay S.
Layno Benjamin H.
Levin Nathaniel
Santisi Steven M.
Walker Digital, LLC
LandOfFree
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