Patent Application
20120098197
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wagering game utilizing real or virtual standard playing cards. More particularly, the embodiments relate to a card game involving a comparison of hand totals, each player against a dealer.
2. Background
Legalized gaming is a major industry in the United States and worldwide. Accordingly, casinos are in constant need of new games of chance to retain and attract patrons. The existing games of chance, such as blackjack, Caribbean Stud™ Poker, Four Card Poker™ games, Three-Card Poker™ games, Baccarat, Roulette Casino War, Pai Gow and Craps remain popular but players need new games of chance to maintain their interest. Moreover, the existing games of chance suffer from drawbacks.
For example, Baccarat includes complicated rules and a commission on winning wagers, Casino War is a non-exciting game having a large house edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,236 (Haber) attempts to meets these needs with a baccarat variant of a method of conducting a wagering game comprising by: providing one or more decks of cards; accepting wagers from each participating player on only one of two hands, a designated player's hand or a banker's/dealer's hand; dealing only two hands by providing two or more cards to the designated player and the banker/dealer such that the designated player and the banker/dealer receive the same number of cards; comparing a value of the designated player's hand to a value of the banker's/dealer's hand wherein said value of the designated player's hand and the banker's/dealer's hand is in a range of zero to nine points based on a pre-established scoring system wherein aces count as one point, tens and face cards count as zero points and all other cards count as their face value and wherein a two-digit hand total is deemed to have a value corresponding to the one's digit of the two-digit total; resolving the wagers based on whether the designated player's hand or the banker's/dealer's hand is nearest to a value of nine; and responsive to a tie between the designated player's hand and the banker's/dealer's hand, requiring all players to pay a commission based on wager amounts on the designated player's hand or the banker's/dealer's hand.
Thus, there continues to a need for a new game of chance that is easy to learn and play, involves an acceptable house edge and does not incorporate commissions on winning wagers.
Accordingly, a first embodiment of the present invention is a method of conducting a wagering game comprising: accepting wagers on a designated player's hand against a dealer hand in an initial blackjack format; providing an initial two cards to the designated player and the dealer such that the designated player and the dealer receive the same number of cards; receiving a maximum of one more playing card per hand (according to player election and dealer's requirements); comparing a value of the designated player's hand to a value of the dealer's hand; wherein said value of the designated player's hand and the dealer's hand is in a range of zero to nine points based on a pre-established scoring system wherein aces count as one point, tens and face cards count as zero points and all other cards count as their face value; and wherein a two-digit hand total is deemed to have a value corresponding to the one's digit of the two-digit total; resolving the wagers based on whether the designated player's hand or the dealer's hand is nearest to a value of zero (0).
In one optional embodiment, players may place wagers on a player's hand and a tie outcome, akin to a Baccarat game (preferably on only the first two cards, but not the final hands). After the initial wager, the player and the dealer are each dealt two cards. The winning hand is the two-card hand having a total value nearest to zero (initially if no player or dealer takes the maximum of one additional card, or at the conclusion of all players and the dealer exercising or declining their option of receiving the at most one additional card. Should the player's hand and dealer's hand result in a tie, any tie wagers are paid and wagers on the player's hand and the dealer's hand are a push, with the wager remaining in the player's control.
Other variations, embodiments and features of the present invention will become evident from the following detailed description, drawings and claims.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed.
The general concepts disclosed herein, within in there are many variations and alternatives available in the play of the game, shall be discussed under the generic name of Pacific Rim Blackjack.
Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are referred to by like numerals throughout.
A flow chart 200 shown in
In these rankings of Pacific Rim Blackjack game, a player or dealer who gets an initial Natural 0 has the highest possible hand and can be tied only by another Natural 0. A regular final hand count of 0 beats all final hand counts of 1-9; a final hand count of 1, beats All final hand counts of 2-9, etc.
In a banker or card club embodiment, a player is designated as a banker/dealer such that the game is played in the herein described manner similar to blackjack. Designating a player as a banker may be accomplished using a high wager, high card, dice, rotation through players or other suitable means. In an alternative game embodiment each player plays against the banker/dealer. In such an embodiment, each player and the banker/dealer receive two cards and the comparison of hand values is conducted individually for each player's hand against the banker's/dealer's hand. Only when a player or a dealer takes the maximum one additional playing card will there be more than two cards in any hand, while continuing to maintain hand values between 0 and 9. This is possible given the scoring system wherein only the one's digit is considered in the hand's final point value.
It is also an option in the play of the present technology to have a player automatically lose the first wager if the first initial total count is 9 or if the player's initial total count is 8 or 9 or the player's initial total count is 7-9 (as house option). This automatic loss will occur irrespective of the dealer/banker initial total count.
The operation of electronic gaming devices (e.g., slot machines and video poker machines) is controlled by microprocessors which communicate with internal memory devices and the external features of the device, such as a display panel, player input controls and the like. The microprocessors also incorporate, or communicate with, a random number generator which ensures the randomness of the device's outcomes. In the embodiments of the present invention, one or more processors, along with memory and related devices, control the new applications disclosed herein. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention, along with the corresponding odds, may be programmed into the processor or associated software. Since the technology for operating and controlling electronic gaming devices is well known to those skilled in the art, the common details are not described herein.
With the electronic gaming device 400, a player places a wager on the player's hand and inputs elections, wager sizes and the like. Payouts for winning wagers and losing wagers are handled by the electronic gaming device processor. A global computer network (e.g., the Internet) may also facilitate play of the embodiments of the present invention.
The practice of the present technology may include a process of performing a wagering game in which:
In these methods, exactly two cards are provided to the designated player and the banker/dealer and wherein the player may split any two playing cards by making a second wager on a second split hand, the second wager being exactly equal to the first wager, the player splitting a hand then getting a card to complete a first initial hand, and then playing that first initial hand to conclusion, and then the player splitting a hand receiving a card to complete a second initial hand and then playing that second initial hand to conclusion.
Winning first wagers on the designated player's hand against a dealer/banker hand are resolved at 1 to 1 odds, unless the player has a winning natural 0 count, wherein the player first wager is preferably paid off at a rate between 1.5/1 to 2.0/1. A player having any two cards except for a natural 0 may split the two cards, placing a separate second wager, and the player splitting the two cards playing two hands to conclusion, with a maximum of one additional hit allowed for each of the two player hands after each of the player's two hands has received two initial cards.
In splitting hands, a player may be allowed to split a maximum of three hands, to form a maximum of four hands, the player playing each of the four hands to conclusion, with a maximum of one additional hit allowed for each of the two player hands after each of the player's two hands has received two initial cards.
The method may be facilitated by an electronic gaming device or computer network comprising a processor, memory, stored game rules, accounting functions and having individual player screens for each player and input functions for each player.
Another way of describing some of the methods of this technology of conducting a wagering game is as steps:
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims. For example, additional side bets may be made, wagers may be made on specific final hand counts (specific counts or ranges of counts) for the player and/or the dealer/banker, wagers may be made on the spread between player's hands and dealer's hands and the like.
Power Match is a side bet in which the player and dealer must have a match between the dealer's up card and the last digit of the player's first 2 card total. (Example Win: dealer's card 7, the player's cards k-7 or 3-4.) VALUE OF CARDS: 10, J, Q, K have a value of zero, Ace has a value of 1, and all other cards are of face value. A higher payout may be paid if the player wins and all 3 cards match by suit, value or rank.
Example of value: 10-J-K, J-K-K, Q-10-K,
Example of rank: 10-10-10, J-J-J, Q-Q-Q, K-K-K
Game may also be played in the standard game of Blackjack.
Double War is a side bet that uses the player's first 2 cards and the dealer's up card.
If player's lowest ranked card of his 2 cards is higher than the dealer's up card, the player wins a payout of 1 to 1. If the player's lowest ranked card of his 2 cards is lower than the dealer's up card, the player loses. If the player's lowest ranked card of his 2 cards is of the same rank as the dealer's up card the game is a push. If the dealer's up card is a 2 (option 2 and 3) the game is a push. If the dealer's up card rank is an Ace and the player's high card is an Ace, the game is a push. The Player may receive a bonus payout if he beats the dealer's up card, and the player and dealer's card form a straight or straight flush. Game may also be played in the standard game of Blackjack.
Pocket Poker is a side bet that uses the dealer's up card and player's 2nd dealt card. If the player's final 2 card poker hand is a straight or higher, the player wins from a pay table.
PAYING HANDS: Straight pays 2 to 1, Pair pays 3 tol, Straight Flush pays 7 to 1 and Royal Straight Flush pays 10 to 1
House Option The player's 1st card may also be played with the dealer's card for a separate wager. Game may also be played in the standard game of Blackjack.
Method of play: If Game is played with multiple rounds of play from 1 or more decks dealer will bury 2 or more cards after each round of play to avoid card counting. This method may also be used in the standard game of Blackjack or any other game that card counting is possible.
In the play of the game with physical playing cards, a non-randomized set of cards (which includes a set of one or more decks of cards that has already been used in a game and cards have been at least partially exposed to players) is randomized by manual shuffling or the use of a mechanical shuffler to form a randomized set of playing cards. This transforms a non-usable set of cards (a set of cards in which players might have some actual knowledge of the order of cards which would give them a strategic advantage in the game) into a usable, randomized set of cards This transformed set of playing cards is further transformed from a complete randomized set of cards into subsets of random hands of cards to at least players and usually to players and a dealer. It is only this double transformation of the set of cards that enables the method of the present invention.
Where the term “dealer” is used, that term includes the use of virtual cards by a processor (as the dealer) in playing the game.
