Patent Application
20060151951
1. Field of the Invention
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following prior art is representative of the state of the art in the field of playing cards:
There is a child's game called “ROOK” that has a fifty six card deck, using four sets of cards that are four different colors. These sets are not conventional poker cards and do not have the conventional suits with two through ten face cards and jack through ace. Further, the four color pattern is distasteful to the eye and the mind. Green, gold, blue and red are extremely contrasting and may be helpful to a small child learning a new game, but to a seasoned poker player, such color combinations are both visually and psychologically unacceptable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,880 to Daniel F. Addabbo describes an invention that includes specialized card decks and methods of play that revolve around three groups or groups of cards-numerical cards of 3 suits, 3 types face cards, and high cards. In one embodiment of the invention, the card deck consists of 52 specialized cards, which are divided into groups with the following general hierarchy: (1) 4 high cards that trump all other cards and (2) 12 face cards (3 of each type) that trump all 36 numerical suit cards (12 cards of each suit with a numerical value of 1-3). Within each group, the rank of each cards is: (1) all high cards are equal; (2) face card X beats card Y, face card Y beats face card Z, and face card Z beats face card X; (3) higher numbers beat lower number of any suit; and (4) suit P beats suit R, suit R beats suit S, and suit S beats suit P. In addition, each card may have a “draw value,” i.e. a number of cards that must be drawn by a player as a consequence for playing a particular card.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,873 to Jon Freeman describes a deck of cards, tiles, or similar playing pieces, real or simulated on a computer or other device, chiefly characterized by a trilateral organization comprising three independent aspects: suit, value, and color or color group. The plurality of cards representing each element of each aspect comprise approximately equal pluralities of each element of each of the other aspects. Except for auxiliary cards, each card in a single deck represents a unique combination of a single suit, a single color group, and a single value or rank. The preferred form of the invention is a series of related triadic decks of playing cards, comprising three suits and three color groups, nonsexist or gender-neutral picture cards, an improved layout, and indicative cards backs. The layout improvement typically involves additional set designation markers in the two commonly vacant corners of a card face. Backs are uniform for all cards in a deck but different from deck to deck; the use of the elements of the back is sufficient to remind a player of the general configuration of the deck being used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,875 to Gilbert Capy et al. describes a die containing eight planar hexagonal surfaces and six convex portions capable of producing random results when thrown. The convex faces are dimensioned so as to constitute areas of unstable equilibrium to favor positioning of the die on one of the hexagonal surfaces when so thrown. The die can be marked with card values, and suits associated with a deck of playing cards whereby a set containing the marked dice can be utilized to play poker card games. Moreover, the card values and suits can be positioned on the dice so that marking of the dice can be performed in a two pass printing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,906 to Jeffrey S. Gruber describes a card game that has a creator's card and 120 additional cards. The 120 cards are divided into 12 groups each having 10 cards numbered zero to 9. The cards are divided into 4 groups each having 30 cards of the same pattern of one of a bar, an arc, a point and a semicircle. The cards are divided into three groups each having 40 cards of the same color of one of three colors.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,632,941 to Harry S. Abell describes a game having a plurality of component playing units, the units being divided into three cross groups, each group being designated by a determining factor, the component units of one cross group having determining factors identifying them as being in a definite relation to each of the other cross groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,441 to Rawley De Witt Haas describes a set of playing cards consisting of four suits of sixteen cards each, one pair of suits having one color and the other pair having another color, one suit of each color having the same figure designation and the other suit of each color having the same figure designation different from the figure of the first two pairs, each of said suits being divided into two series of eight cards each, one series including numeral cards of progressively increasing numbers and the other series having letter cards each with a different letter.
U.S. Pat. No. 198,217 to Cyrus W. Saladee describes in playing cards, an enlarged representation of the spot, pip, or other suit-symbol, located in the center, combined with a numbered spot, or spot and number, in one or more of the corners, indicating both the class or suit and the value of the card.
U.S. Pat. No. 171,976 to John H. Black describes a playing card containing in each of its four corners a numeral, word, or letter indicating its value, together with a miniature emblem or emblems indicative alike of its value, character, and suit, such emblems being also made to correspond in number with the spots on the face of the card, substantially as described and shown.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.
The present invention relates a unique deck of playing cards that is both acceptable to the typical serious poker player and reduces the chance of suit error during play. The present invention deck includes fifty two cards divided into four suits, each of the four suits having thirteen of the fifty two cards, the four suits being hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs, the thirteen cards of each of the suits being sequential face cards two through ten, and a jack, a queen, a king and an ace, the cards having the following color arrangement:
(a.) a first suit with at least a majority of its color being a red predominant color spectrum wavelength;
(b.) a second suit with at least a majority of its color with a predominant color spectrum wavelength red, pink, red-orange and maroon, the second suit predominant color spectrum wavelength being different from the first suit predominant color spectrum wavelength;
(c.) a third suit having at least a majority of its color being black; and,
(d.) a fourth suit having at least a majority of its color with a predominant color spectrum wavelength selected from the group consisting of blue, brown and gray.
The deck of playing cards first suit is preferably selected from one of the group consisting of hearts and diamonds, and the second suit is selected from the other of hearts and diamonds.
The deck of playing cards third suit is preferably selected from one the group consisting of clubs and spades, and the fourth suit is selected from the other of clubs and spades.
Most preferably, the deck of playing cards first suit is hearts and the second suit is diamonds, but this could be reversed wherein the first suit is diamonds and the second suit is hearts.
Also most preferably, the third suit is spades and the fourth suit is clubs, but this could also be reversed wherein the third suit is clubs and the fourth suit is spades.
The most preferred present invention deck of playing cards is wherein the first suit is hearts, the second suit is diamonds, the third suit is spades and the fourth suit is clubs.
In some embodiments, the deck of playing cards fourth suit is dark blue, it is dark brown, it is gray or a black lighter than total pitch black.
It is also preferred that the face cards wherein of each suit, namely, two through ten, are all a single color for each suit. The picture cards jack, queen and king may be multicolored, but the majority of the colors are from the stated color tones described above.
In some embodiments, the deck of playing cards first suit and second suit are both red and the second suit is a darker red than the first suit.
In some preferred embodiments, the deck of playing cards second suit has a predominant color spectrum wavelength of about 400 to about 500 nanometers.
In some preferred embodiments, the deck of playing cards fourth suit has a predominant color spectrum wavelength of about 600 to about 700 nanometers.
In yet other embodiments, the deck of playing cards second suit has a predominant color spectrum wavelength of about 400 to about 500 nanometers and the fourth suit has a predominant color spectrum wavelength of about 600 to about 700 nanometers.
The present invention should be more fully understood when the specification herein is taken in conjunction with the drawings appended hereto wherein:
The use of playing cards has been around for hundreds of years, and the concept of four suits, with colors being two red and two black, has likewise been conventional for hundreds of years. The use of suits with two through ten sequentially numbered face cards, with three picture cards jack, queen and king, and with an ace, is and has been standard for poker, black jack and tens of other card games. (The term “color” as used herein for cards is used exclusive of the white or near white background, in all occurrences throughout this application. Hence, when a “majority” of color is referred to, it means a majority of the color excluding the background color.)
Professional and amateur card players playing with conventional decks sometimes experience accidents that change a game or an outcome unfairly because of the two color scheme. It is an occasional but sometimes costly occurrence that a diamond will be mistaken for a heart, or vice versa, or a club or a spade will be mistaken for the other. These errors can and do happen in friendly local games, as well as in professional arenas, such as casinos and competitions. Watch a blackjack table or a poker table long enough at any casino and you will see a payoff where the fast moving dealer mistook a suit and paid when he should not have paid.
The errors occur for two reasons. First, the common shapes used for the suits; second, the common colors used for the suits. As to the shapes, unfortunately, the bottom half of a spade symbol is the same as the bottom half of a clubs symbol, and, likewise, the bottom half of a hearts symbol is the same as the bottom half of a diamonds symbol. This is compounded by the fact that both hearts and diamonds are red and both spades and clubs are black.
Attempts to eliminate the aforesaid problem have involved slowing down the game, a bore for players and a huge economic loss for the casinos as it slows down the rate of income and hence the amount of income for any given time period. Other attempts have been to change the suit symbols to something more modern, such as square and circular shapes, but conventional players and conventional institutions stay with the standard suit symbols because they new ones are too difficult to learn and take away a lot of the edge that experienced players bring to their game. Other attempts have involved the use of four distinct and contrasting colors.
Serious card players are die-hard conventional people when it comes to card plating, and have little tolerance for change in cards, or the rules. Four color sets of cards, such as red, green, blue and yellow, have been rejected outright as too distracting, unappealing, childless, and so on. After hundreds of years of trying to change the four suit, two color scheme to improve game accuracy, the industry has repeatedly retreated tot the status quo and attempts to find acceptable, yet favorable changes have been abandoned.
The present invention is directed to a playing card deck that reduces the chance of suit confusion errors, yet satisfies the need for conventional-like mature playing cards. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the use of color tone changes and avoidance of contrasting colors.
The present invention is directed to playing cards that have a red suit, either hearts or spades, and a second reddish suit that is close to but different from the first suit color. This second suit would be the other of hearts and diamonds, and would be a different shade of red, pink, red-orange, or dark red (maroon). Combinations such as light red and medium red, or light red and dark red, or pink and cranberry, or red and cranberry, or orange-red and red, or orange-red and maroon, or the like, would be included. Preferred would be where one of the two mentioned suits would be conventional playing card medium red, and the other a different reddish tone-based color.
The present invention deck of playing cards also has a third suit that is black, and a fourth suit that is dark and has no red, green, yellow, gold or silver. The fourth suit is brown, blue or gray. By “gray” is meant any black that is lighter than the conventional pitch black color, into the half black tones. Preferred are the dark blues, the dark browns and the dark grays.
The present invention deck just described helps to prevent errors involving misidentification of suits. Hearts and diamonds are less often confused because of the differences in their reddish tones, and clubs and spades are less often confused of the differences in their dark tones. Despite their color differences with standard two color decks, because the colors are close to one another and close to standard two deck colors, these present invention decks are not only more efficient and reduce error, they are very acceptable and pleasing to the eye and mind of most players.
Ten players are presented with three sets of playing cards, one is a conventional poker card deck; a second has a four color scheme set, one suit is red, one is green, one is blue and one is yellow-gold; a third is a present invention set with one suit red (diamonds), one darker red (hearts), one suit black (clubs), and one suit blue (spades). They were asked to rank and comment on these three choices. The results are as follows:
Comments:
“I would not want to play with the four color set.”
“I would refuse to use that four color set, but I'd love to get a deck like the invention.”
“Where can I buy the invention set with the red and dark red cards?”
“The new invention with the two different red suits and the two different dark suits will avoid suit errors, and they're beautiful to look at!”
Ten players are given a choice of playing cards with conventional colors or playing with present invention suit-based tone color cards. A majority of the players chose the present invention tone color cards.
A frequent internet poker player was given the choice of using conventional color cards or four separate colors. He refused to use the four color cards because they were too distracting. He did indicate that if he had a choice to use the present invention suit-based color tone cards, he would prefer these over both the conventional and the four color cards.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
