Patent Application
20170330422
The present disclosure relates generally to a game of chance. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a game and method of gameplay for a racing game of chance.
Games of chance are well-known activities whose outcomes are strongly influenced by randomizing devices and upon which contestants may wager money as they forecast outcomes. Games of chance have been played throughout all of human history, and are considered popular pastimes by many. Players of games of chance are attracted to new and exciting methods of game play. Therefore, there remains a need for new and interesting method and system for playing games of chance that maintain player interest and attract new players.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a racing game includes a race course including a plurality of lanes arranged generally concentrically and divided into a plurality of segments, with each of the lanes having the same number of segments. A finish line may be associated with one of a last one of the segments. A gamepiece may be disposed upon and movable about each of the lanes in a race from an initial position on a first one of the segments until one of the gamepieces first crosses the finish line and is thereby designated as a winning one of the gamepieces. A first randomizer may determine a selected one of the gamepieces to be moved, and a second randomizer independent of the first randomizer can determine a number of segments the selected one of the gamepieces is to move. A wagering area corresponding to each of said gamepieces may be provided for placement of a base wager, which may result in a payout calculated by multiplying a payout multiplier by each of the base wagers placed on the wagering area corresponding to the winning one of the gamepieces.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method for playing a racing game of chance is also disclosed. The method may include the steps of providing a race course including a plurality of lanes each divided into an equal plurality of segments and a gamepiece associated with each of said lanes; placing a base wager by a player upon one of the gamepieces; placing the gamepieces in an initial segment of the race course and with each of the gamepieces in an associated lane; and conducting a plurality of rolls until one of the gamepieces is determined to be the winner. Each roll may include the substeps of: selecting using a first randomizer a gamepiece to move, selecting using a second randomizer a number of segments the gamepiece is to move, and moving the gamepiece selected by the first randomizer by a number of segments as indicated by the second randomizer. The method may proceed with the steps of determining after a roll is complete whether the selected gamepiece is a winner having moved beyond a finish line on the race course; determining the payout for each of the base wagers associated with the winner as the base wager times a payout multiplier; collecting the base wagers associated with the gamepieces not identified as the winner; and distributing the payout corresponding to each of the base wagers associated with the winner.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, a table game is disclosed. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a racing game 20 including a race course 22 that determines an outcome of a game of chance.
According to an aspect as best shown in
The playing surface 24 may include a background 37 that includes graphics or indicia to guide gameplay or as a decorative theme, such as the horse racing graphic shown in
According to an aspect, and as shown in
According to an aspect, the playing surface 24 may also include an infield area 62 in the central area of the race course 22 with a plurality of betting positons 64 equal in number to the lanes 44 and each having one of the first indicia 46 matching a corresponding one of the lanes 44. A plurality of wagering areas 66 may be provided around each of the betting positons 64 equal in number to the player positions 30 for placement of a base wager and an optional side wager by the player in the associated player position 30. Each of the wagering areas 66 may be marked, such as with the second indicia 32, to correlate with a corresponding one of the player positions 30.
According to an aspect, and as best shown in
According to an aspect, each of the two decks of cards may have six cards. The two decks of cards may each have a different colored backing or be otherwise visibly distinguishable from one another. According to another aspect, a single deck of cards may be used that includes both the “horse cards” and the “advancement cards.” Additional decks of cards may be pre-shuffled and ready to use when the cards of the first deck or the cards of the second deck have all been dealt. In other words, the race may continue without the need for a delay to reshuffle either of the decks of cards.
It should be appreciated that any other means of randomly selecting one of the gamepieces 60 and one of the numbers of positions to move, and/or any combination thereof may be used in place of the two decks of cards. Examples include, but are not limited to the use of blower units each seplurality of balls, dice, computerized random number generator (RNG) device or devices, or any other means of randomized selection. Such randomized selection devices may be restricted or dictated by applicable jurisdictional gaming laws.
According to an aspect, the subject racing game 20 may also be configured in a semi-automated format. In such a semi-automated format, card draws may be electronically selected and displayed. According to an aspect, in a semi-automated format the gamepiece 60 may be moved electronically. According to another aspect, the subject racing game 20 may be entirely electronic and may include a video display 88 and a user input device 90 for allowing a player to interact with said racing game 20 and to select one or more of said gamepieces 60 to wager upon. The user input device 90 may include, for example, one or more pushbuttons, a touchscreen, a keyboard, mouse, trackpad, or a combination of one or more such devices.
According to another aspect, and as best shown in
According to an aspect, there may be only one winning gamepiece 60. According to another aspect, there may be more than one winning gamepiece 60, which may include a second place, third place, etc. In other words, there may be prizes or a portion of the winnings allocated to the player who picks gamepieces 60 that finish the race first, second, third, or a combination thereof. According to an aspect, the race game may be completed after a single lap around the race course 22 from the first one 52 of the segments 50 to the finish line 56. Alternatively, the race game may require more than one lap around the race course 22 before a winner is determined. According to a further aspect, the beginning and the finish line 56 may be combined into a single start/finish line 56.
According to an aspect shown in
According to an aspect, the dealer may singulate a card from the first deck to select a gamepiece 60 to move. The dealer may also singulate a card from the second deck to select the number of positions or segments 50 for the selected gamepiece 60 to move. The dealer may then cause the selected gamepiece 60 to advance around the race course 22 in its designated lane 44 by the selected number of segments 50. The advancement of the gamepiece 60 may be done in a counterclockwise direction to mimic the action of a horse racing derby. If, after causing the gamepiece 60 to advance, no gamepiece 60 has reached the last one 54 of the segments 50, the dealer may repeat the steps of singulating from each of the card decks and causing the gamepiece 60 to advance around the race course 22.
According to an alternative aspect, and as shown in
According to an aspect, if a given gamepiece 60 is the first to reach the last one 54 of the segments 50, that gamepiece 60 is designated as the winner and each player who had wagered upon the winner may share a given portion of the wagers placed on gamepieces 60 that were not the first to reach the last one 54 of the segments 50. According to an aspect, when a winner has been decided, the race is deemed to be ended and the dealer will then collect the wagers placed upon the non-winner gamepieces 60 and disburse the proceeds to the players who placed wagers on the winner gamepiece 60. Once the proceeds are disbursed, the dealer may return all gamepieces 60 to the first one 52 of the segments 50, or the starting line. The dealer may indicate that wagering is now open and may switch the indicating device to signal the same.
According to an aspect, if a gamepiece 60 is the first to reach the last one 54 of the segments 50 and there were no wagers associated with that gamepiece 60, the dealer may move that gamepiece 60 to the winner's position 58 and continue gameplay with the remaining gamepieces 60 until a gamepiece 60 that has been wagered upon is the first to reach the last one 54 of the segments 50, and that gamepiece 60 is designated as the winner for purposes of disbursing the proceeds as a prize to the player or players who wagered upon the winner. According to an alternative aspect, if a card is singulated that corresponds to a gamepiece 60 that does not have any wagers therewith, the dealer may continue singulating cards from the first deck to select another gamepiece 60 to move until a card is singulated that corresponds with a gamepiece 60 that has been wagered upon. In this way, only gamepieces 60 that have been wagered upon may advance around the race course 22.
According to an aspect, the racing game 20 may be played as a “minimal limit game.” In other words, a predetermined minimum bet is all that is required to be wagered. The playing surface 24 may include one or more wagering areas 66 corresponding to each of the gamepieces 60 for placement of a base wager. Each player who placed a base wager upon the winning one of the gamepieces 60, also called the winner, may receive a prize that is proportionate to the amount the base wager that player placed upon the winner. According to an aspect, the racing game 20 may provide a payout as a payout multiplier times each of the base wagers placed on the wagering area 66 corresponding to the winner. According to an aspect, the house may charge a collection fee from each player to cover its costs. According to an aspect, each player may bet on as many gamepieces 60 as they wish. According to an alternate aspect, each player may not bet on more than half of the gamepieces 60 in any given race.
According to an aspect, the racing game 20 may include a second place one of the gamepieces 60 as one of the gamepieces 60 other than the winner and which is closest to the finish line 56 at the time that the winner crosses the finish line 56, and with the winner having a lead as the number of segments 50 that the second place one of the gamepieces 60 is to the finish line 56. The racing game 20 may provide a payout multiplier that varies between two or more different values depending on the lead. In other words, a base wager upon a given gamepiece 60 may provide a first payout if that given gamepiece 60 wins by a lead less than a predetermined number of segments 50, and that same base wager upon the same given gamepiece 60 may provide a second payout different from the first payout if that given gamepiece 60 wins by a lead greater than or equal to the predetermined number of segments 50. The second payout may be higher than or less than the first payout. For example, the racing game 20 may provide a first payout based on a payout multiplier of 4:1 if the winner wins by a lead of less than 7 segments, and may provide a second payout based on a payout multiplier of 8:1 if the winner wins by a lead of 8 or more segments.
According to a further aspect, a player may place a second wager, which may be designated as a side wager, against one or more other players. The side wagers may be acted upon by the dealer at the end 42 of each race and before calculating the proceeds to be disbursed to the players based upon their base wagers. A base wager that is equal to or greater than the designated predetermined minimum bet amount may be required to be placed upon each gamepiece 60 upon which a player also places a side wager. In other words, a player must place a base wager upon a given gamepiece 60 to be eligible to place a side wager upon that same given gamepiece 60. Side wagers may also be placed having different values. Each of the side wagers at each given value may be pooled separately and paid to one of the players who placed a wide wager at that same given value. A side wager may require two or more players to wager the same value. If a player posts a side wager at any given dollar amount and no other players place side wagers for the same dollar amount, that side wager may be returned to the player.
According to an aspect, the dealer may only disburse winnings in predetermined increments, such as whole dollars. In disbursing the proceeds, there may be a remainder amount that cannot be disbursed evenly between winners using the predetermined increments. In this case, the remainder amount may carry-over and be added to the winning pool for the next race. A remainder amount that cannot be disbursed evenly between winners using the predetermined increments may also be retained by the house.
According to an aspect, the rules that govern the method of gameplay may be different depending on the number of players. In other words, one set of rules may be used on a short field with, for example, three or fewer players; another set of rules may be used with four or more players.
According to an aspect, the racing game 20 may provide for a long-race wager, which may be separate and independent from any other wager, and which may provide a long-race payout having a multiplier value that varies depending on the number of rolls or play turns before a gamepiece 60 is declared the winner, and which may also be called the “Race Length”. A player may be required to place a base wager upon one or more gamepieces 60 to be eligible to place a short-race wager. The long-race wager may, for example, provide a long-race payout as a multiple of the long-race wager according to the paytable shown in Table 1, below. A version of Table 1 may be displayed on the playing surface 24.
According to an aspect, the racing game 20 may provide for a short-race wager, which may be separate and independent from any other wager, and which may provide a short-race payout having a multiplier value that varies depending on the number of rolls or play turns before a gamepiece 60 is declared the winner, and which may also be called the “Race Length”. A player may be required to place a base wager upon one or more gamepieces 60 to be eligible to place short-race wager. The short-race wager may, for example, provide a short-race payout as a multiple of the short-race wager according to the paytable shown in Table 2, below. A version of Table 2 may be displayed on the playing surface 24.
A method 100 for playing a racing game 20 of chance is also disclosed and described in the flow chart of
The step of 110 conducting by the dealer a roll may include the substeps of 112 selecting using a first randomizer 72 a gamepiece 60 to move. The first randomizer 72 may be a card drawn from a first shuffler; and 114 selecting using a second randomizer 74, a number of segments 50 the selected gamepiece 60 is to move. The second randomizer 74 may be a card drawn card from a second shuffler. The step of 110 conducting a roll may continue with the substeps of 116 moving the gamepiece 60 associated with the first randomizer 72 by a number of segments 50 as indicated by the second randomizer 74.
The method 100 may proceed with the step of 118 determining after a roll is complete whether the selected gamepiece 60 is a winner as having moved beyond a finish line 56 on the race course 22. The method 100 may include 120 repeating by the dealer the step of 110 conducting a roll until one of the gamepieces 60 is determined to be the winner. If a gamepiece 60 is determined to be the winner, the method 100 may proceed with the steps of 122 collecting by the dealer the base wagers associated with the gamepieces 60 not being the winner; 124 determining by the dealer the payout for each of the base wagers associated with the winner as the base wager times a payout multiplier; and 126 paying by the dealer the payout corresponding to each of the base wagers associated with the winner. According to an aspect, the dealer may move the winning gamepiece 60 to a specific location. As shown in
According to an aspect, the method 100 may include the steps of 128 determining by the dealer the lead of the winning gamepiece 60 as the number of segments 50 behind the finish line 56 a second-place gamepiece 60 is located when the winning gamepiece 60 is determined to be the winner; and 130 determining by the dealer the payout multiplier from a first multiplier, which may be, for example 4:1 if the lead of the winning gamepiece 60 is less than a predetermined number of segments 50, which may be, for example 7 segments 50 or a second multiplier, which may be, for example 8:1 if the lead of the winning gamepiece 60 is greater than or equal to the predetermined number of segments 50.
As shown in the flowchart of
As shown in the flowchart of
As shown in the flowchart of
Variations of the racing game 20 may be played without a dealer, such as, for example an electronic form or as dealer-assisted electronic table game, in which at least some of the methods steps which are performed by a dealer in a table game version are performed by a digital processor 80 and/or other equipment which may include a user input device 90 and a display screen and/or a projector.
Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the following claims. In addition, the reference numerals in the claims are merely for convenience and are not to be read in any way as limiting.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/335,220 filed May 12, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62335220 | May 2016 | US |
