12-COLOR ROULETTE WHEEL, 12-COLOR PINWHEEL, AND BETTING TABLE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH

Abstract

A gaming apparatus, configured as a roulette wheel, includes a circular surface rotationally anchored to a base at a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the circular surface; a plurality of indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the circular surface, each indicia being assigned a unique number and one of twelve colors; and a marker configured to select one of the plurality of indicia or house indicia. Another embodiment of a gaming apparatus is configured as a pinwheel including a first circular surface having a plurality of numeral indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery; and a second circular surface concentrically disposed with respect to the first circular surface. The second circular surface is configured to rotate independent of the first circular surface, and has a plurality of color indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the second circular surface, each indicia being assigned one of twelve colors.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to games of chance, and more particularly to roulette wheel or pinwheel and accompanying betting table.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Roulette is a well-known game of chance enjoyed throughout the world. The equipment used for playing roulette generally comprises a roulette wheel and a game surface.

The roulette wheel generally comprises a horizontally disposed wheel mounted in a bowl-shaped housing. The wheel is adapted to rotate about a vertical axis and includes a plurality of pockets disposed around its periphery. Each pocket has a unique number associated with the pocket, as well as a color associated therewith. Each pocket is adapted to receive a small ball which is introduced into the bowl shaped housing by an operator or croupier as the wheel is set in motion. The wheel is typically spun in one direction and the ball projected around the circumference of the housing in an opposite direction. As the ball loses speed, it rolls down the concave housing wall, eventually coming to rest in one of the pockets. The outcome or result of the spin is the number and color associated with the pocket in which the ball comes to rest.

The game surface includes a plurality of wagering areas indicating various numbers, colors, parities (the odd or even quality of a number) and groupings of numbers. One or more players make wagers on a predicted outcome of a spin of the roulette wheel. A player indicates his or her wager by placing one or more wagering devices, such as chips or markers representing an amount of the wager, at a predetermined location on the game surface corresponding to a predicted outcome of a spin of the roulette wheel.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A gaming apparatus of the present invention includes a circular surface rotationally anchored to a base at a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the circular surface; a plurality of indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the circular surface, each indicia being assigned a unique number and one of twelve colors; and a marker configured to select one of the plurality of indicia or house indicia. In this embodiment, each color is used at least once, while in another embodiment, each number is used at least twice, while in a third embodiment, each number is assigned to 3 different indicia. In an embodiment, each of the colors is assigned to the same number of indicia on the roulette wheel.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a gaming apparatus configured as a pinwheel including a first circular surface rotationally anchored to a base at a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the first circular surface; a plurality of indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the first circular surface, each indicia being assigned a unique number; a second circular surface concentrically disposed with respect to the first circular surface. The second circular surface is rotationally anchored to a base at the central axis and configured to rotate independent of the first circular surface. The second circular surface has a plurality of color indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the second circular surface, each indicia being assigned one of twelve colors. Additionally, a marker is configured to select one of the plurality of indicia on the first circular surface and one of the plurality of color indicia on the second circular surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a roulette wheel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a betting table for use with the roulette wheel embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a pinwheel in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a betting table for use with the pinwheel embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE

Referring to FIG. 1, a roulette wheel 102 of an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The roulette wheel is configured with a circular planar surface 106. Upon the planar surface 106 a plurality of receiving slots 108 are evenly spaced along the periphery of the planar surface 106. Each receiving slot 108 aligns and corresponds with one of a plurality of indicia 110 or at least one house number 112, which is identified as a 0 or 00 or some other arbitrary symbol that is different from the indicia. Each one of the indicia 110 has a unique number and one of twelve colors assigned thereto. If the house number is assigned a color, the twelve colors on the indicia are a different color than the house number. The roulette wheel may contain at least one house number, such as 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 house numbers, although in an embodiment, it contains one or two house numbers if it has 36 indicia and 1, 2, 3, or 4 house number if it contains 60 indicia. At least 12 of the indicia are assigned different colors, but each indicia is assigned to only one color. Additionally, the at least one house number 112 is assigned the value of 0 or 00 or some other symbol distinguishing it from the indicia. The receiving slot 108 is configured to receive a ball (not shown), which acts as a marker for indicating a selected indicia 110 or house indicia 112 during play of a roulette game. Further, in an embodiment, some colors may be assigned to a different number of indicia as long as at least twelve of the indicia are different colors. For example, in an embodiment, there may be more than three indicia assigned to any one color. In another embodiment, at least one color is assigned to two different indicia. In another embodiment, each of the colors is assigned an equal number of time to the indicia on the roulette wheel, i.e., each of the colors are used the same number of times on the indicia on the roulette wheel. In an embodiment, in a roulette wheel containing 36 colors, each color is assigned three times to different indicia on the wheel, while in a roulette wheel of 60 different indicia; each color is assigned five different times to the indicia on the wheel. The colors on the indicia are assigned randomly. In an embodiment, two adjacent digits may be the same color. However, the assignment of the colors to the indicia does not preferably form a pattern. Thus, in one embodiment, no three adjacent indicia are of the same color to form a pattern. In other words, in this latter embodiment, the roulette wheel is not divided into three sets of twelve indicia, where three adjacent indicia are the same color, and every fourth indicia is a different color. Also, in this embodiment, the roulette wheel is not divided into a pattern where the first twelve indicia are different colors, and the 1^st, 13^th and 25^th indicia are the same color, and the 2^nd, 14^th and 26^th indicia are the same color, and the 3^rd, 15^th and 27^th indicia are the same color, the 4^th, 16^th and 28^th indicia are the same color, the 5^th, 17^th, and 29^th indicia are the same color, the 6^th, 18^th and 30^th indicia are the same color, the 7^th, 19^th and 31^st indicia are the same color, the 8^th, 20^th and 32^nd indicia are the same color, the 9^th, 21^st and 33^rd indicia are the same color, the 10^th, 22^nd and 34^th indicia are the same color, the 11^th, 23^rd and 35^th indicia are the same color, and the 12^th, 24^th and 36^th indicia are of the same color.

In an embodiment, the roulette wheel has a multiple of 12 indicia, such as 36 or 60 indicia, the 12 colors are used the same number of times around the wheel. Thus, in a roulette wheel having 36 indicia, the same color is assigned to three different indicia, while in a 60 indicia roulette wheel, the same color is assigned to five different indicia.

In an embodiment, the indicia 110 are arranged in the following order: 18, 24, 11, 5, 30, 36, 23, 17, 4, 10, 35, 29, 16, 22, 3, 9, 28, 34, 15, 21, 8, 2, 27, 33, 20, 14, 1, 7, 32, 26, 13, 19, 6, 12, 25 and 31. The house indicium 112 is disposed between the indicia 110 having the values of 18 and 31. In another embodiment, a second house indicium 114, as shown in FIG. 2, is disposed between the indicia 110 having the values of 15 and 34. The second house indicium 114 is assigned the value of 00.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a first color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 18, 16 and 8. A second color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 24, 22 and 2. A third color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 11, 36 and 34. A fourth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 5, 27 and 25. A fifth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 30, 17 and 28. A sixth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 23, 33 and 31. A seventh color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 4, 14 and 6. An eighth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 10, 32 and 12. A ninth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 35, 15 and 13. A tenth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 29, 21 and 19. An eleventh color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 3, 1 and 26. A twelfth color is assigned to indicia 110 having values of 9, 20 and 7.

In FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention is shown with an equal number of each of the twelve colors, such that each color appears at three different locations along the roulette wheel 102. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited by the particular arrangement of colors shown in FIG. 1. Rather, the present invention envisions embodiments in which the twelve colors are unequally distributed, for example, such that certain colors appear more often than other colors. In this case, the individual colors would have different odds of being selected. Additionally, the twelve colors may be arranged in an orderly pattern or randomly distributed amongst the indicia 110.

Further, the roulette wheel 102 in FIG. 1 is shown with 36 indicia 110 plus two house indicia 112 and 114. However, the present invention envisions embodiments in which the number of indicia 110 provided on the roulette wheel 102 may be 48, 60 or any other number divisible by 12. Alternatively, if the twelve colors are not equally distributed, as described above, the number of indicia 110 present on the roulette wheel 102 may be any number considered appropriate for providing a desired gaming experience. Additionally, any number of house indicia may be provided on the roulette wheel 102 as well. Consequently, in all embodiments of the present invention each of the twelve colors must appear at least once on the roulette wheel 102.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a betting table 200 for use with the roulette wheel 102 shown in FIG. 1. The betting table 200 has a plurality of betting spaces 202. The betting spaces are grouped into a subset of numeral betting spaces 204 corresponding to the plurality of indicia 110, a subset of color betting spaces 206 corresponding to the twelve colors assigned to the indicia 110, and one or more house indicia betting spaces 208 corresponding to house indicia 112 and 114. The numeral betting spaces 204 are arranged in a 3 column×12 row matrix. Column betting spaces 210 are provided for betting on individual columns of the numeral betting spaces 204. Numeral group betting spaces 212 are also provided for placing a bet on groups of 4 rows of the numeral betting spaces 204, and half numeral betting spaces 214 for betting on either the first 18 numerals or the second 18 numerals of the plurality of indicia 110. An even betting space 216 and an odd betting space 218 provide a betting opportunity on either an even or an odd numbered indicium of the indicia 110 being selected during game play.

In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the present invention is implemented as double-spin pinwheels 300 in which two independently rotatable wheels are concentrically configured and rotate about a common central axis. As the roulette wheel, the pinwheel contains multiple of 12 numeral indicia, such as 36 (not shown) or 60 numeral indicia, as shown in FIG. 3. The first wheel 302 is marked with 60 numeral indicia 304 at equal intervals around its perimeter. The second wheel 306 is marked with 60 color indicia 308 at equal intervals around its perimeter. Each color indicium 308 and each numeral indicium 304 are configured to align with one another when the first wheel 302 and the second wheel 306 are at rest.

The first wheel 302 and the second wheel 306 are similarly constructed with pins or ridges disposed between each numeral indicium 304 and each color indicium 308. A marker (not shown) is configured to contact the pins or ridges of both the first wheel 302 and the second wheel 306. During game play the marker provides a drag to the rotation of each wheel causing the wheels to gradually come to a stop. When the first wheel 302 and the second wheel 306 are at rest the marker points to the selected (i.e., winning) indicia combination of numeral and color.

On the first wheel 302, the numeral indicia 304 are arranged in the following order: 1, 60, 50, 29, 39, 18, 8, 47, 57, 36, 26, 15, 5, 44, 54, 33, 23, 2, 12, 51, 41, 40, 30, 9, 19, 58, 48, 27, 37, 16, 6, 55, 44, 34, 13, 3, 42, 52, 31, 21, 20, 10, 49, 59, 38, 28, 7, 17, 56, 46, 35, 25, 4, 14, 53, 43, 22, 32 and 11. On the second wheel 306, the color indicia 308 are arranged with each indicium 308 having a color assigned thereto, which is selected from twelve predefined colors. In one embodiment the twelve colors are sequentially arranged to form a repeating pattern around the second wheel 306. In another embodiment, the twelve colors are randomly arranged such that each color appears at five color indicia 308 on the second wheel 306.

FIG. 4 illustrates a representation of a betting table 400 for use with the double-spin wheel 300 shown in FIG. 3. The betting table 400 has betting regions 402 corresponding to each of the numeral indicia 304 on the first wheel 302. The betting region 402 is subdivided into a central area 404 having a numeral corresponding to the numeral indicia 304. Additionally, the betting region 402 has twelve color spaces 406 arranged along the perimeter the central area 404 of each betting region 402. Each of the twelve color spaces 406 corresponds to respective colors of the color indicia 308 on the second wheel 306.

In FIG. 3, an embodiment of the present invention is shown with an equal number of each of the twelve colors, such that each color appears at five different locations along the second wheel 306 of the pinwheel 300. However, the present invention is not intended to be limited by the particular arrangement of colors shown in FIG. 3. Rather, the present invention envisions embodiments in which the twelve colors are unequally distributed, for example, such that certain colors appear more often than other colors. In this case, the individual colors would have different odds of being selected. Additionally, the twelve colors may be arranged in an orderly pattern or randomly distributed on the second wheel 306. In all embodiments of the present invention each of the twelve colors must appear at least once on the pinwheel 300.

Further, the pinwheel 300 in FIG. 3 is shown with 60 indicia 304 disposed on the first wheel 302. However, the present invention envisions embodiments in which the number of indicia 304 provided on the first wheel may be 48, 72 or any other number considered appropriate for providing a desired gaming experience.

In the betting table 400 shown in FIG. 4 the central area 404 is dimensioned as a square with the twelve color spaces 406 arranged along the four sides of the central area 404. Each of the twelve color spaces 406 is dimensioned as a square as well. However, the central area 404 may be dimensioned as a circle and the twelve color spaces 406 may be evenly arranged around the circumference of the central area 404. Alternatively, the central area 404 may be dimensioned as a triangle or any other geometric shape.

A bettor designates a bet by placing a chip, token or money, collectively referred to herein as a betting token, on one or more betting regions 402, thus designating selection of one or more numerals. A betting token placed on the central area 404 designate that the bettor is placing a bet on the corresponding numeral being selected on the first wheel 302 regardless of the color selected on the second wheel 306. A betting token placed on one or more of the twelve color spaces 406 designates that the bettor is placing a bet on the corresponding numeral being selected on the first wheel 302 in combination with the corresponding color selected on the second wheel 306.

In addition to the betting regions 402, the betting table includes twelve color bet regions 408, which allow a bettor to place a bet on the selection of a particular color on the second wheel 406 irrespective of the numeral selected on the first wheel 302.

Although the pinwheel depicted herein contains two independent wheels, in another embodiment, the pinwheel is comprised of only one wheel having the numeral indicia arranged as on the roulette wheel and optionally having house numbers (not shown). In this embodiment, the pinwheel is similar to a vertical roulette wheel with the arrangement of numbers and colors as described hereinabove with respect to the roulette wheel. In this embodiment, the pinwheel is comprised of one rotatable wheel concentrically configured to rotate about a common central axis. As the roulette wheel, the pinwheel contains multiple of 12 numeral indicia, such as 36 (not shown) or 60 numeral indicia. The wheel is constructed with pins or ridges disposed between each numeral indicium. A marker (not shown) is configured to contact the pins or ridges of the wheel. During game play the marker provides a drag to the rotation of the wheel causing the wheel to gradually come to a stop. The colors are arranged on the pinwheel as in the roulette wheel described hereinabove. Again, as in the roulette wheel, the pinwheel has twelve colors, with each numerical indicia assigned to only one color. Each one of the indicia has a unique number and one of twelve colors assigned thereto. The pinwheel may have 0 house numbers thereon or it may have at least one house number thereon, such as 1, 2, 3 or 4 house number. In an embodiment, it has 0 house numbers thereon. If a house number is present and is assigned a color, the twelve colors on the indicia are a different color than the house number. At least 12 of the indicia are assigned different colors, but each indicia is assigned to only one color. Further, in an embodiment, some colors may be assigned to a different number of indicia as long as at least twelve of the indicia are different colors. For example, in an embodiment, there may be more than three indicia assigned to any one color. In another embodiment, at least one color is assigned to two different indicia. In another embodiment, each of the colors is assigned an equal number of times to the indicia on the roulette wheel, i.e., each of the colors are used the same number of times on the indicia on the pinwheel. In an embodiment, in a pinwheel containing 36 colors, each color is assigned three times to different indicia on the wheel, while in a pinwheel of 60 different indicia; each color is assigned five different times to the indicia on the wheel. The colors on the indicia are assigned randomly. In an embodiment, two adjacent digits may be the same color. However, the assignment of the colors to the indicia does not preferably form a pattern. Thus, in one embodiment, no three adjacent indicia are of the same color to form a pattern. In other words, in this latter embodiment, the pinwheel is not divided into three sets of twelve indicia, where three adjacent indicia are the same color, and every fourth indicia is a different color. Also, in this embodiment, the pinwheel is not divided into a pattern.

In an embodiment, the pinwheel has a multiple of 12 indicia, such as 36 or 60 indicia, and the 12 colors are used the same number of times around the wheel. Thus, in a pinwheel having 36 indicia, the same color is assigned to three different indicia, while in a 60 indicia pinwheel, the same color is assigned to five different indicia. When the wheel comes to a stop and is at rest the marker points to the selected (i.e., winning) indicia combination of numeral and color.

The corresponding table corresponding to this pinwheel is identical to the table described with respect to the roulette wheel, although as indicated hereinabove, in an embodiment, there are no house numbers on the table. In addition, in an embodiment, not only are there no house numbers, but also, there is no indication thereon of odd or even or 1^st third of the numbers, or 2^nd third of the numbers or last third of the numbers or any other equivalent. In the pinwheel game with this arrangement, the player can place one or more bets on individual numbers (each number having a fixed color assigned thereto) and/or individual colors. However, in other embodiments, the pinwheel table will have a column for betting odd or evens, as in the roulette table, and in another embodiment, it would allow the player to not only bet on odd or even, but also on the first third of the numbers, or the second third of the numbers or the last third of the numbers.

The described embodiments of the present invention are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive, and are not intended to represent every embodiment of the present invention. Various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims both literally and in equivalents recognized in law.

Claims

1. A gaming apparatus comprising: a circular surface rotationally anchored to a base at a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the circular surface; anda plurality of indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the circular surface, each indicia being assigned a unique number and one of twelve colors, wherein ach of the 12 colors are assigned to at least one indicia.

2. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the plurality of indicia are arranged and labeled in a numerical pattern of: 18, 24, 11, 5, 30, 36, 23, 17, 4, 10, 35, 29, 16, 22, 3, 9, 28, 34, 15, 21, 8, 2, 27, 33, 20, 14, 1, 7, 32, 26, 13, 19, 6, 12, 25 and 31; and a house indicia disposed between 18 and 31.

3. The apparatus as in claim 2, wherein a first color of the twelve colors is assigned to 18, 16 and 8.

4. The apparatus as in claim 3, wherein a second color of the twelve colors is assigned to 24, 22 and 2.

5. The apparatus as in claim 4, wherein a third color of the twelve colors is assigned to 11, 36 and 34.

6. The apparatus as in claim 5, wherein a fourth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 5, 27 and 25.

7. The apparatus as in claim 6, wherein a fifth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 30, 17 and 28.

8. The apparatus as in claim 7, wherein a sixth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 23, 33 and 31.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein a seventh color of the twelve colors is assigned to 4, 14 and 6.

10. The apparatus as in claim 9, wherein an eighth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 10, 32 and 12.

11. The apparatus as in claim 10, wherein a ninth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 35, 15 and 13.

12. The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein a tenth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 29, 21 and 19.

13. The apparatus as in claim 12, wherein an eleventh color of the twelve colors is assigned to 3, 1 and 26.

14. The apparatus as in claim 13, wherein a twelfth color of the twelve colors is assigned to 9, 20 and 7.

15. The apparatus as in claim 3, wherein a second house indicia, labeled as 00 is disposed between indicia 15 and 34 of the plurality of indicia.

16. The apparatus as in claim 15, further comprising a betting table comprising: individual betting spaces labeled with numerals and colors corresponding to the plurality of indicia and the house indicia; andtwelve color betting spaces corresponding to the twelve colors assigned to the plurality of indicia.

17. A gaming apparatus comprising: a first circular surface rotationally anchored to a base at a central axis perpendicular to a plane of the circular surface; anda plurality of indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the first circular surface, each indicia being assigned a unique number; anda second circular surface concentrically disposed with respect to the first circular surface, the second circular surface being rotationally anchored to a base at the central axis and configured to rotate independent of the first circular surface, the second circular surface having a plurality of color indicia uniformly arranged at a periphery of the second circular surface, each indicia being assigned one of twelve color.

18. The apparatus as in claim 17, wherein the plurality of indicia are arranged and labeled in a numerical pattern of: 1, 60, 50, 29, 39, 18, 8, 47, 57, 36, 26, 15, 5, 44, 54, 33, 23, 2, 12, 51, 41, 40, 30, 9, 19, 58, 48, 27, 37, 16, 6, 55, 44, 34, 13, 3, 42, 52, 31, 21, 20, 10, 49, 59, 38, 28, 7, 17, 56, 46, 35, 25, 4, 14, 53, 43, 22, 32 and 11.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the roulette wheel has only 36 indicia and each color is assigned to three different indicia so that only three indicia are of the same color.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the roulette wheel has only 60 indicia and each color is assigned to five different indicia so that only five indicia are of the same color.