Patent Application
20220207968
This invention relates to the field of entertainment and more particularly to a system to administer an alternative version of video poker and other video card games and games of chance.
Video poker originated from mechanical poker. In 1898 a poker machine was introduced that would pay up to 20 coins for a royal flush. Three years later, the first 5-card draw poker machine was introduced that enabled a player to hold one or more of the cards in their hand and then spin the machine again to try and improve it. Seventy years later, poker machines transitioned from a mechanical device into an electronic device employing video displays.
In 1970 the world's first video poker machine was introduced. By 1981, Video Poker was among the most popular gaming machines in casinos. In the late 1990's, “Triple Play Poker” allowed a player to play multiple hands of 5-card draw video poker simultaneously.
Video poker is a single-player game that is played at a VGT (Video Gaming Terminal) or online through a browser or mobile device. Players do not compete against other players. In video poker, players are awarded a payout according to a pre-published payout table for achieving certain five-card poker hands. For example, a player wagering $1.00 who achieves a full house will win $10.00 according to a specific payout table. In video poker, a single wager is placed before the hand is dealt and no table wagering is employed.
Some versions of 5-card draw video poker incorporate a deck that includes some variant of a “wild” (i.e., a 54-card deck that includes two “Jokers” that serve as a wild cards or special cards). Some versions turn an existing card such as a deuce into a wild card whereby that card is used as any other card in the deck, which enables certain hand combinations to be achieved. For example, one popular version is Deuces Wild where all 2's are considered wild cards. In this game format, in a hand that includes two Aces, a six, a nine and a two (deuce), the deuce is counted as an Ace and the hand is credited as having three Aces, resulting in a bigger payout.
Globally, the most popular form of poker is Texas Hold'em. In Texas Hold'em, subsequent cards are not drawn, but rather each player is dealt a fixed number of cards unique to them (“hole cards”) which are then combined with a pre-set number of community cards (cards available to every player). Winning hands are typically determined by taking the best five-card poker hand derived from each player's hole cards combined with the community cards. For example, if a player has an Ace and a King as their hole cards and the five community cards consist of two Aces, a four, a nine and a seven, the player would have three Aces.
Texas Hold'em is typically a multi-player game, typically played at a table by two to ten players. In Texas Hold'em, there are five community cards dealt face down and each player is dealt two hole cards face up. The community cards are then revealed to the players in three sequential stages. In the first stage, commonly referred to as “the flop”, the first three community cards are revealed to the players. In the next stage, an additional single community card, commonly referred to as “the turn” is revealed, and then in the third stage, the final community card, commonly referred to as “the river” is revealed. Rounds of sequential table wagering take place before and after stage. During each round of betting, players make wagering decisions sequentially and have the option to check, call, raise, or fold. Betting order typically flows clockwise around the table of play for at least one rotation. However, several full rotations might occur before a given round is concluded. Normally, players have a limited time to make their betting decisions (i.e., 30 seconds or less to submit a decision or a forced fold is imposed). A single round of wagering might last a single rotation and end in a matter of seconds, or multiple rotations might occur, which can take several minutes to conclude. At the conclusion of all stages and rounds of betting, all remaining players, that is players who have not folded their hands, reveal their cards and the player with the best five-card hand combination from their hole cards and the five community cards wins the pot.
Texas Hold'em and other variations of poker were traditionally played in card rooms. However, in the mid-1990's with the arrival of the Internet, poker games were taken online. The first real money hand in online poker was believed to be held on Jan. 1, 1998. However, the explosive growth, at least in the U.S., was curtailed with the passage of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), which made online gambling illegal in the U.S. Despite the new regulation, many operators continued to permit U.S. player on their sites. However, on Apr. 15, 2011, commonly referred to as “Black Friday”, the U.S. Department of Justice secured indictments against three of the industry's biggest operators. This effectively curtailed the industry and culminated in the virtual elimination of U.S. players participating in online poker. Nevertheless, online poker continued to thrive outside the U.S.
Despite the fact that online poker is still largely illegal in the U.S., poker still remains extremely popular with most of the U.S. play occurring offline in physical poker rooms. Poker is also quite popular in the rest of the world where it is physically played in numerous poker rooms and through a variety of online poker providers in both regulated and unregulated markets. Additionally, many online poker operators and casino operators have also incorporated various versions of video draw poker into their sites. However, ironically, there is no version of single-player video or online poker that exists in the marketplace today.
In a similar way, slot machines are very popular in casinos and in online gaming. In general, slot machines have several “reels” (or virtual reels) of symbols and paying according to which symbols wind up visible to the player based upon a payout table. Such games have existed for many years and are typically a single “pull” operation—you “pull” the arm (or press a button), the reels spin and stop showing a certain set of symbols, and a payout is made based upon the symbols. There is no provision in today's slot machines for exposing a subset of the reels, taking other actions such as surrendering the reels that you are shown or continuing to spin and score based upon the remaining reels.
What is needed are new versions of video poker or slots that enable such games to be played in a single-player format and provide the player with some measure of control or influence in game play while being fun, fast, easy-to-learn and play. All of this while providing a game structure and format that ensures game integrity, eliminates fraud by either the game operator or players, and provides an independently verifiable mathematical edge to a game operator.
Computer-based games such as slots, blackjack, and Texas holdem are disclose including a one-step progression or a two-step progression with options to redraw or surrender the player's hand. In the one-step progression, the player makes a bet and then receives a first set of cards or symbols automatically selected from the full set of cards (deck) or symbols (e.g., slot symbols, dice). In the two-step progression, after making the bet, the player is allowed to select a first number of cards or symbols from a set of cards or symbols pre-selected from the full set of cards (deck) or symbols (e.g., slot symbols, dice). In this way, the player is imparted with the feeling that they have some control as to what cards or symbols they will play with. In some embodiments, after the player sees the first set of cards/symbols, the player will be offered some redraw value (e.g., points, money) to get a new first set of cards/symbols, that value being either positive (added to the player's credit) or negative (e.g., subtracted from the player's credit). In some embodiments, after the player sees the first set of cards/symbols, the player will be offered some surrender value (e.g., points, money) based upon the value of the cards/symbols to surrender their hand, that value being positive (added to the player's credit) as even the worst first set of cards has some chance of winning. If the player accepts the surrender value, the surrender value is added to the player's credit and the hand is over, allowing the player to stop playing (cash-out) or play a completely new hand. Note that the amounts shown as credits include the player's bet, which is returned as the surrender ends the hand.
In one embodiment, a gaming system is disclosed including a game server having an account for recording winnings and losses, a software representation of a set of symbols and a payout table accessible by the game server that includes a payout amount for achieving each of certain combinations of symbols from the set of symbols. The game server displays a user interface that requests a wager and after the wager is entered in the user interface, the game server subtracts the wager from the account then randomly selects a first number of symbols from the set of symbols into a first subset of symbols and displays the first subset of symbols. The game server analyzes the first subset of symbols in real time to determine a combination of the first subset of symbols that yield a highest payout amount from the payout table then the game server calculates a present value of the first subset of symbols, in real time, by: setting the present value to the highest payout amount and then for each possible combinations of a second subset of symbols taken from symbols in the set of symbols, adding to the present value a product of a probability of achieving the second subset of symbols and a payout amount for achieving the first subset of symbols combined with the second subset of symbols from the payout table. The game server sets a redraw offer to the present value minus the wager and displays the redraw offer along with an accept directive and a reject directive. Upon activation of the accept directive, the game server credits the account with the redraw offer, the game server randomly selects the first number of symbols from the set of symbols into the first subset of symbols, the game server displays the first subset of symbols, the game server randomly selects the second subset of symbols from the set of symbols, the game server analyzes the first subset of symbols combined with the second subset of symbols to determine the combination of the first subset of symbols with the second subset of symbols that yields the highest payout amount from the payout table, then the game server credits the account with the highest payout amount; and the game server displays the second subset of symbols, the combination of the first subset of symbols with the second subset of symbols that yield the highest payout amount and the highest payout amount. Upon activation of the reject directive, the game server randomly selects the second subset of symbols from the symbols remaining in the set of symbols and the game server analyzes the first subset of symbols combined with the second subset of symbols to determine the combination of the first subset of symbols with the second subset of symbols that yields the highest payout amount from the payout table, then the game server credits the account with the highest payout amount; and the game server displays the second subset of symbols, the combination of the first subset of symbols with the second subset of symbols that yield the highest payout amount and the highest payout amount.
In another embodiment, a gaming system is disclosed including a game server having an account for recording winnings and losses, a software representation of a set of cards and a payout table accessible by the game server that includes a payout amount for a player hand beating a dealer hand based upon game rules. The game server displays a user interface that requests a wager and after the wager is entered in the user interface, the game server subtracts the wager from the account then the game server randomly selects and moves a first number of cards from the set of cards into the player hand, moves the first number of cards from the set of cards into the dealer hand and moves a second number of cards from the set of cards into a set of community cards and displays a sub-set of the player hand, a sub-set of the dealer hand and a sub-set of the set of community cards. Now, the game server calculates a present value of the player hand, in real time, by: determining a percentage odds that the player hand will beat the dealer hand based on the sub-set of the player hand, the sub-set of the dealer hand and the sub-set of the set of community cards multiplied by a payout for the player hand beating the dealer hand from the payout table and sets a redraw offer to the present value minus the wager. The game server displays the redraw offer along with an accept directive and a reject directive. Upon activation of the accept directive, the game server adds the redraw offer to the account, the game server again randomly selects and moves the first number of cards from the set of cards into the player hand, then the game server displays the player hand, the dealer hand and the set of community cards, then game server resumes game play, which continues until either the player hand or the dealer hand wins which ends the game, then when the player hand beats the dealer hand, the game server credits the account by the amount for the player hand beating the dealer hand plus the wager. Upon activation of the reject directive, the game server displays the player hand, the dealer hand and the set of community cards, then game server resumes game play, which continues until either the player hand or the dealer hand wins, which ends the game, then when the player hand beats the dealer hand, the game server adds the amount for beating the dealer plus the wager to the account.
In another embodiment, a gaming system is disclosed including a game server having an account for recording winnings and losses, a software representation of a set of cards and a payout table accessible by the game server that includes a payout amount for a player hand beating a dealer hand based upon game rules. The game server displays a user interface that requests a wager and after the wager is entered in the user interface, the game server subtracts the wager from the account then the game server randomly selects and moves a first number of cards from the set of cards into the player hand and moves the first number of cards from the set of cards into the dealer hand and displays a sub-set of the player hand and a sub-set of the dealer hand. The game server then calculates a present value of the player hand, in real time, by: determining a percentage odds that the player hand will beat the dealer hand based on the sub-set of the player hand and the sub-set of the dealer hand multiplied by the payout for the player hand beating the dealer hand, sets a redraw offer to the present value minus the wager and displays the redraw offer along with an accept directive and a reject directive. When the accept directive is activated, the game server adds the redraw offer to the account, the game server randomly selects and moves the first number of cards from the set of cards into the player hand. The game server displays the player hand and the dealer hand and resumes normal game play, which continues until either the player hand wins or the dealer hand wins and the game ends. When the player hand wins, the game server adds the amount of the payout for beating the dealer plus the amount of the wager to the account.
The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures.
Throughout this description, an example is made using a gaming system that is similar to the well-known game of poker. It is fully anticipated to implement the same or similar gaming system using solitaire, trivia, board games, etc., having multiple rounds of betting in which each player has an initial asset (e.g. hand) and has a choice to make during the current round, before executing the next round (e.g. the player has the option to surrender their hand for a certain reward before progressing to the next round in which their hand has the possibility of improving and achieving an even higher reward than the surrender offer).
Throughout this description the term player refers to a person who is enjoying the operation of the described system and the operator is a person or entity that provides the described system for the purpose of earning income, either directly from the player in terms of percentages of money bets made by the player or through advertisements that are presented while the player uses the system, or other marketing opportunities.
Referring to
Game details and settings are stored in a game storage area 42 that is accessible by the game server 40, such as, a software representation of the deck of cards 45 (herein to be known as the deck of cards), community cards, each player's hands, number of hands, total amount wagered, etc. The user data 44 includes player data that is accessible by the game server 40 including data such as login credentials, preferences, available funds (user account), name, picture, etc. The deck of cards 45 is a data representation for the cards used by the game being played by the disclosed system. For example, the deck of cards 45 is an array of values from 1-52, each value representing one card (e.g., the value of 0X01 represents the deuce of clubs). It is anticipated that the deck be shuffled before play begins, for example, randomly moving the card values in this array to a different position in the array, or any other shuffling mechanism.
Referring to
In general, the persistent storage 88 is used to store programs, executable code and player data such as player financial data in a persistent manner. The removable storage 90 is used to load/store programs, executable code, images and data onto the persistent storage 88.
These peripherals are examples of persistent storage 88 and other examples of persistent storage devices 88 include core memory, flash memory, etc. Other examples of removable media storage 90 include CDRW, DVD, DVD writeable, Blu-ray, SD cards, other removable flash media, floppy disk, etc. In some embodiments, other devices are connected to the system through the system bus 82 or with other input-output connections/arrangements as known in the industry. Examples of these devices include printers; graphics tablets; joysticks; and communications adapters such as modems and Ethernet adapters.
The network interface 80 connects the computer-based system to the network 10 through a link 78 which is, preferably, a high-speed link such as a cable broadband connection, a Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL) broadband connection, fiber optics, etc.
The game server 40 maintains a representation of a deck of cards 45 (e.g., a set of cards from a standard poker deck, represented electronically) and during a game. In one game, the software running on the game server 40 randomly selects the community cards 120 from the deck of cards 45 (see
A payout table 100 for achieving certain combinations of cards, in this example, for achieving certain combinations of cards in a 5-card poker hands is displayed. The player selects the number of hands to play using a number-of-hand selector 102 and the player selects an amount to wager per hand by a wager selector 104 (e.g., an amount of credits wagered per hand). Once the number of hands and the wager have been selected by the player, the deal button 106 is depressed to initiate game play.
Note that the payout table 100 shown in
The user-interface also includes a win notification box 108 and a credits box 110.
For each hand being played, there is a hand 124 in a display area that includes the hole cards 122 of the player.
In this example, the player, who started with 100.00 credits, has elected to play five hands, each with a wager of 1 credit. The player operates the deal button 106 and the game is initiated. The credits box 110 then displays 95.00 to reflect the 5.00 credits wagered (one for each hand).
In this example, it is shown that the player operates the cash out offer button 126 for the first two hands. Responsive to this, the win notification box 108 shows 1.51 as the sum of the cash out offers is 1.51. In addition, the credits box 110 is updated 96.51 to reflect the current credits plus the win of 1.51 from the cash out offers. The player then operates the reveal button 107 to reveal the remaining cards for each hand. Not that since the player previously accepted the cash out offer for the first two hands, those hands will not be awarded further credit, even if a better hand of the payout table is achieved as those hands have been surrendered.
Referring to
Referring now to
In the example shown in
In some embodiments, or game formats, the five community cards of the hand 210 are displayed face up and the player the selects the number of cards allowed knowing what cards are available. For example, if the set of five community cards of the hand 210 that displayed face up include A-Spades, A-Diamonds, 9-Hearts, 10-Hearts, Jack-Hearts and the number of cards to select is three, the player has to decide if it is better to keep the pair of aces and one of the other cards or the three cards of the same suit in a row.
In some embodiments of playing, after seeing the base community cards 212, the player selects the deal button 206, play proceeds to that of
In some embodiments, the redraw offer (e.g., amount collected for the “pick again” option 242) is a fixed amount that is less than the wager such as 0.50 as shown in
In another embodiment, instead of a fixed amount for the redraw offer, the redraw offer is calculated as a cash out or surrender value of the present cards. In this embodiment, the surrender value is calculated by adding the highest payout value of the first set of cards to the sum of the probabilities of winning each payout in the second payout table 200 in view of the selected base community cards 212, then subtracting the wager. For example, a 10-Spades and J-Spades will provide a greater redraw offer than a 4-Hearts and 9-Diamonds. In such, it is anticipated that for some game combinations, the redraw offer (e.g. surrender value) will be greater than the wager or bet, as for example, if the base community cards 212 are a pair of aces, this guarantees a payout of at least 1.00 for each hand, so in such, a surrender value will be a positive amount that is higher than the wager while a 9-3 off suit may only have a surrender value of 0.70 and therefore the redraw offer will be the wager-surrender value or, negative 0.30. For the pair of aces, if the redraw offer (e.g., surrender value) is 1.75 and the wager is 1.00, the player will be credited with the difference (e.g. 0.75). In some embodiments, the redraw offer (e.g., surrender value) is neutral, providing no advantage to the operator of this game. In some embodiments, the redraw offer (e.g., surrender value) is biased, preferably to the advantage of the operator of the game. For example, the redraw offer (e.g., surrender value) is calculated as above, then multiplied by a discount value, where a discount value of 1.0 retains the neutral redraw offer (e.g. surrender value). In games that include the calculated redraw offer (e.g. surrender value) instead of a fixed redraw offer (e.g. −0.35), after surrendering the hand, play resumes to either that of
In another embodiment, the game is blackjack. The player receives two cards from the deck of cards 45 and the dealer also receives two cards from the deck of cards 45, one of which is exposed for the player to see. After seeing the player's two cards and one card of the dealer, the player is presented a redraw option (e.g., “pick again”) for a certain cost (e.g., the redraw offer) and if the player is not happy with their two cards in view of the dealer's exposed card, the player accepts the redraw option and the redraw offer is deducted from the players account. In this scenario, the dealer's cards are not changed, but the player receives two new cards from the deck of cards 45. In some embodiments, the above is repeated one or more times. In some embodiments, the player's two cards are replaced into the deck of cards 45 before the player receives the two new cards, meaning that it is possible for the player to receive back one or both cards that were discarded.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In all embodiments having a surrender value (or cash out value), the surrender value of the player's initial hand is either a fixed amount, a fixed amount plus the highest payout amount of the player's initial cards from the payout table, or is calculated as the sum of the probabilities of all possible winning hands times the payout for that hand plus the highest payout amount of the player's initial cards from the payout table. As an example, that illustrates this process, consider a simplified hand of five cards in which four cards are exposed and there is one more card left hidden from the player. For simplicity, also consider the payout table 100 of
In this example, the exposed cards are A-Spade, K-Spades, Q-Spades, J-Spades. Note that the highest payout amount of the player's initial cards from the payout table in this example is zero as there are no pairs or any other combination noted in the payout table. As the exposed cards are A-Spade, K-Spades, Q-Spades, J-Spades, then the following fifth cards will provide a winning hand according to the payout table 100: 10-Spades (royal flush) 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9-Spades (flush), 10-Clubs (straight), 10-Diamonds (straight), 10-Hearts (straight), and the following cards will produce a hand of jacks or better: A-Clubs, A-Diamonds, A-Hearts, K-Clubs, K-Diamonds, K-Hearts, Q-Clubs, Q-Diamonds, Q-Hearts, J-Clubs, J-Diamonds, and J-Hearts. As an example, given the player has A-Spade, K-Spades, Q-Spades, J-Spades; the probability of the next card being the 10-Spades is 1 out of 52-4 or 1 out of 48, which is 0.0208. The payout for a royal flush is 500, so the probability of receiving the 10-Spades as the fifth card contributes 0.0208*500 to the sum, or approximately 10.41. The contribution to the sum by any of the other three tens would be 3*0.0208, resulting in a straight. The payout for a straight is 8, so these fifth cards contribute 3*0.0208*8, or 0.50. The contribution to the sum by any of the other spades would be 8*0.0208, resulting in a flush. The payout for a flush is 10, so these fifth cards contribute 8*0.0208*10, or 1.67. There are twelve cards that will result in a pair. The contribution to the sum by any of these cards would be 12*0.0208, resulting in a pair. The payout for a pair is 1, so these fifth cards contribute 1*0.0208*1, or 0.25. Therefore, given the player has A-Spade, K-Spades, Q-Spades, J-Spades, the sum of the above calculated surrender values is 10.41 (straight flush)+0.50 (straight)+1.67 (flush) and 0.25 (pair), plus a highest payout amount of 0.0, totaling 12.83. Therefore, in a game of 4 cards+1 card, if the player has A-Spade, K-Spades, Q-Spades, J-Spades; a neutral surrender value is 12.83 credits for a 1.00 credit bet.
For some hands, the surrender value is the same as the highest payout amount because there is no chance of improving the hand. For example, if the player has A-Spade, A-Hearts, A-Diamonds, A-Clubs, then the fifth card cannot improve the player's hand and the surrender value is the same as the highest payout amount, which is 50 per the payout table 100. In a similar way, even though the fifth card can improve some hands, the improved hand will not achieve a payout. Take for example 2-Clubs, 3-Clubs, 4-Diamonds, 9-Hearts. The only possible improvement is to obtain a pair of 2s, 3s, 4s, or 9s, which do not impart a payment according to the payout table 100 and, therefore, the surrender value is zero as there is no payment unless the player achieves at least Jacks or better.
The surrender value is calculated either by brute force or by using root combinations. Brute force requires evaluation of the hand with each possible other card to determine the payout for each, then the payout for each is multiplied by the probability of getting that card, which is 1 out of 52-4 in the example above, or 0.0208. This method requires high amounts of computational power as given each of the remaining 48 hands, the best hand out of the cards must be calculated, then that best hand used to determine the payout according to the payout table 100.
Instead, it is possible to use root combinations to pare down the total space and utilize tables that are generated based upon the payout table. For example, if the player has A-K-Q-J and these are not of the same suit, there is no chance of getting a flush, only 3 chances of getting a straight and 12 chances of getting a pair. Therefore, first determining if there is a secured payout (e.g., if the player has A-A-J-J, there is a secured payout of 2 for two pair according to the payout table 100. In as much as it makes no difference which two pairs are found, a table can be constructed that is indexed by each unique combination of initial hands that can result in a secured payout and or a payout based upon the fifth card. Therefore, by evaluating the initial hand into categories (e.g. assigning four of a kind to category-9, three of a kind to category-8, a pair to category-7, four cards in sequence to category-6, four cards in sequence except for an inside card to category-5, four cards of the same suit to category-4, three cards that are higher than a 10 to category-3, two cards that are higher than a 10 to category-2, one card that is higher than a 10 to category-1, etc., a smaller table is constructed that is indexed by the hand category. The hand is evaluated one time (e.g., A-A-A-J is evaluated to category 8 or 2-2-2-J is also evaluated to category 8), then the entry in the table for category 8 would be the secured payout for that hand which is 6.00 for three of a kind per the payout table 100 plus the payout for a full house times the probability of a full house (0.0208*3*16 or 1.00) plus the payout for four of a kind times the probability of four of a kind (0.0208*1*50 or 1.04). Therefore, by performing a quick evaluation of the hand comprising the first four cards to determine a category and looking up that category in a table, it is quickly determined that the surrender value of that hand (e.g., A-A-A-J) is 6.00+1.00+1.04, or 8.04, assuming that the operator of the game remains neutral on whether the hand is surrendered or not. If the operator of the game desires extra income from those who surrender, then the surrender value is discounted by the added margin desired. For example, if the operator desires an extra 1% advantage when a player surrenders their hand, the calculated or looked-up surrender value is discounted by that advantage, so if the surrender value for A-A-A-J is 8.04, if the game operator desires an additional 1% advantage, the surrender value provided to the player for this hand will be 8.04*(1−0.01) or 7.96.
Note that the above examples have been explained in view of one of the simplest poker games of five cards, four initial cards and one final card that is revealed after either surrendering or continuing play without surrendering. The math of probabilities as well as number of permutations and table sizes increases greatly with the number of cards and with the number of unknown cards at the time of deciding on surrendering. For example, given a five-card game in which the player sees three cards and must decide whether to surrender before seeing the next two cards, there are many more combinations of possible outcomes based upon three cards then one card as above. Likewise, the number of permutations increases greatly as the total number of cards increases such as in the game described in
It is fully anticipated that the game operator provides the surrender value without an additional advantage being that the game operator is already benefiting by the advantage provided by the payout table. For example, if one sums the probabilities of obtaining each hand in the payout table by the payout for that hand, the total comes to less than one, usually somewhere between 0.93 and 0.96 meaning that, on average, for each hand played, the game operator pays back 0.93 to 0.96 for each 1.00 bet.
The above-described games are shown utilizing an electronic representation of a single deck of playing cards. Electronic representation of decks of playing cards are known in the industry, including the standard 52 card, four suit deck as often used to play poker, a 52 card deck plus one or two jokers, a 24 card deck as used in Euchre, a deck of cards as used in Uno®, a deck representing tarot cards, or any deck of cards in which different hands (subsets of the cards) result, all of which are anticipated and included herein. Further, the above games are described having a single deck of n card, though it is fully anticipated that multiple decks be employed, for example, one deck for each hand.
Additionally, the above-described games are based upon poker hands, though there is no limitation to only poker or to standard payout tables. For example, it is anticipated to apply the above disclosed technology to any type of game. One example is “Scrabble® where the player is provided some number of letter tiles (electronically selected randomly and displayed) and the player will receive another number of letter tiles after a surrender offer is made and the player makes a decision as to whether to surrender or not, the payouts and surrender value made based upon the best scoring word that can be made from the full set of letter tiles.
Referring now to
If the player does not accept the surrender 310, the next set of y cards are randomly selected 320 from the deck and the hand consisting of the first set of n cards and the second set of y cards is evaluated 322 for the best possible winning combinations and the payment 324 based upon the best possible winning combination is paid by adding the payment 324 to the player's account. Next, the player decides to play again 330, restarting the above, or, if not, quitting.
The above noted cash out and/or redraw functions are equally applicable to other games such as other card games like Pai Gow, three-card poker, Black Jack, etc., in which the player opposes the house (has to beat a hand or hands that the dealer has). In such, the player receives a number of cards, as does the dealer, and the player makes decisions with those cards and/or receives subsequent cards. In any case, it is anticipated that after receiving the initial set of cards and, in some embodiments such as Black Jack, seeing part of the dealer's hand, the player will be presented with either a cash-out offer or a re-draw offer. For example, in Pai Gow, after the player receives seven cards, the player must arrange the cards into a two-card hand and a 5-card hand before the dealer shows any cards. After receiving the seven cards, the game is able to calculate the probability of beating both the dealer's two-card hand and the dealer's five-card hand and the probability of a tie (only beating one of the dealer's hands) and, use that probability to offer a cash-out offer (e.g., 0.88 for a 1.00 bet if the player's hand is very good or 0.05 if the player's hand is not very good). In a similar way, the player is offered a re-draw for a fee, say $0.50. If the player accepts the re-draw fee, the player gets seven new cards. In Black Jack, the player and dealer each get two cards then the player decides whether to stay, split, take a hit, double down, etc. In some embodiments, when the player receives the initial two cards, the player is presented with a re-draw offer and if accepted, the player pays the requested amount and gets two new cards (the dealer's cards remain the same). In another embodiment, at each stage in which the player has a possible decision, the game is able to calculate the probability of beating the dealer's two-card hand (e.g. the card that is showing and any other random card remaining in the deck) and, use that probability to offer a cash-out offer (e.g., 0.88 for a 1.00 bet if the player's two cards are good and the dealer's exposed card is bad or 0.05 if the player's two cards are not very good and/or the dealer's exposed card is strong). In such, if the player does not accept the cash-out offer (for example, the player has two aces and the dealer has an 8), the player has the option to take additional cards, to double down, to split into two hands (additional ante may apply), etc. After the player takes any of these actions, it is anticipated (optionally) that another cash-out offer be made, etc., until the player either busts (hand totals over 21) or the player stands, at which the dealer's second card is exposed and it is determined whether the dealer wins, player wins, or a draw.
Although described with respect to card games, the redraw offer and/or cash-out offer is anticipated for any other type of game played either individually or against the dealer. For example, games including tiles or dice such as Yahtzee®, Bingo, Keno, Scrabble®, etc. As an example, in Keno®, the player decides a number of picks he/she will make from one through 20, then picks that many numbers from the range of numbers in the game. For example, in a game having a range of numbers from 1-75 and the player picks five numbers: 7, 11, 15, 22, and 30. The game system then randomly selects, typically, twenty numbers in the range of numbers and if the game selects the numbers selected by the player (or in some games, a subset of the numbers selected by the player), the player wins a prize based upon the number of correct numbers. In a cash-out version of Keno, it is anticipated that after a certain quantity of numbers have been selected by the game (e.g., after 10 numbers are selected), the probabilities of each payout to the player is calculated and the player is offered a cash-out amount proportional to the predicted payout and, if accepted, receives the cash-out amount and if not selected, the next ten numbers are selected to see if the player wins based upon the standard win calculations. Likewise, in craps, the player makes a bet and rolls the dice. If the player doesn't roll a certain combination of the dice (craps or natural), the player has a point to meet in successive rolls of the dice. In such, the game calculates the probability of the player winning based upon the point and presents a cash-out offer.
In the following descriptions, a one-step progression includes the player making a bet, then receiving a first set of cards or symbols automatically selected from the full set of cards (deck) or symbols (e.g., slot symbols, dice). A two-step progression includes the player making a bet, then selecting a first number of cards or symbols from a set of cards or symbols pre-selected from the full set of cards (deck) or symbols (e.g., slot symbols, dice). In this way, the player is imparted with the feeling that they have some control as to what cards or symbols they will play with. For example, believing that if they select the second symbol, it will be a 777.
In the following descriptions, the term redraw indicates that, after the player sees the first set of cards/symbols, the player will be offered some redraw value (e.g., points, money) to get a new first set of cards/symbols, that value being either positive (added to the player's credit 110) or negative (e.g., subtracted from the player's credit 110). Note that in all games, it is anticipated that after the player accepts the redraw offer, either the player must play the subsequent cards/symbols or another redraw offer is made and so fourth. The term surrender indicates that, after the player sees the first set of cards/symbols, the player will be offered some surrender value (e.g., points, money) to surrender their hand, that value being positive (added to the player's credit 110) as even the worst first set of cards has some chance of winning. If the player accepts the surrender value, the surrender value is added to the player's credit 110 and the hand is over, allowing the player to stop playing (cash-out) or play a completely new hand. Note that the amounts shown as credits include the player's bet, which is returned as the surrender ends the hand.
In the following descriptions, example user interfaces for a slot game, blackjack game, and Texas holdem game are shown. These user interfaces are shown as examples and, as such, it is fully anticipated that the same or similar functionality be provided in similar or different user interfaces without veering from the present application.
Note that although not shown on all of the following user interfaces, it is anticipated that each game includes multiple hands or sets of slot reels, allowing the player to play multiple hands/reels concurrently.
Referring to
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the two icons 712 is calculated based upon the probability of each other possible icon being present in the remaining set of slot symbol boxes 710 (in this case three). For example, one possible combination is three “7” icons, the payoff for which is 250 and another possible combination is four “7” icons, the payoff for which is 1250. The present value is calculated based upon the probability of achieving any entry in the payout table 700 times that corresponding payout amount. Again, as an example, if the probability of a “7” icon, or p(7) is 0.02, then the contribution to the payoff amount based upon the payout table 700 would be p(7)*p(7)*250 (three “7” icons)+p(7)*p(7)*p(7)*1250 (four “7” icons) since one “7” icon is already present. This payoff value is 0.11. Additionally, three or four “triple-bar” possibilities need be considered as well as three “bells,” three “oranges,” three “bananas,” three “cherries,” and three “lemons,” as the three remaining spaces are capable of having any of these symbols. In
Note that in any of the two-step games, it is fully anticipated that after accepting the redraw offer, the player is presented with the ability to select their icons (as in
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the two icons 712 is calculated based upon the probability of each other possible icon being present in the remaining set of slot symbol boxes 710 (in this case three). For example, one possible combination is three “7” icons, the payoff for which is 250 and another possible combination is four “7” icons, the payoff for which is 1250. The present value is calculated based upon the probability of achieving any entry in the payout table 700 times that corresponding payout amount. Again, as an example, if the probability of a “7” icon, or p(7) is 0.02, then the contribution to the payoff amount based upon the payout table 700 would be p(7)*p(7)*250+p(7)*p(7)*p(7)*1250 since one “7” icon is already present. This payoff value is 0.11. Additionally, three or four “triple-bar” possibilities need be considered as well as three “bells,” three “oranges,” three “bananas,” three “cherries,” and three “lemons,” as the three remaining spaces are capable of having any of these symbols. The player is then presented with a redraw offer 742, in this example, +3.21, and if the redraw offer is accepted, 3.21 is added to the player's credit as shown in
The game now continues as shown in
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the three icons 712 is calculated based upon the probability of each other possible icon being present in the remaining set of slot symbol boxes 710 (in this case two). For example, one possible combination is three “7” icons, the payoff for which is 250 and another possible combination is three “triple-bar” icons, the payoff for which is 1000. The present value is calculated based upon the probability of achieving any entry in the payout table 700 times that corresponding payout amount. Again, as an example, if the probability of a “7” icon, or p(7) is 0.02, then the contribution to the payoff amount based upon the payout table 700 would be p(7)*p(7)*250 since one “7” icon is already present. This payoff value is 0.1. Additionally, three “triple-bar” possibilities and three “bell” possibilities need be considered as the two remaining spaces are capable of having any of these symbols. In
As in
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the three icons 712 is calculated based upon the probability of each other possible icon being present in the remaining set of slot symbol boxes 710 (in this case three). For example, one possible combination is three “7” icons, the payoff for which is 250. The present value is calculated based upon the probability of achieving any entry in the payout table 700 times that corresponding payout amount. Again, as an example, if the probability of a “7” icon, or p(7) is 0.02, then the contribution to the payoff amount based upon the payout table 700 would be p(7)*p(7)*250 since one “7” icon is already present. This payoff value is 0.11. Additionally, three “triple-bar” possibilities and three “bell” possibilities need be considered as the two remaining spaces are capable of having any of these symbols. The player is then presented with a surrender offer 744, in this example, +4.81, and the surrender offer 744 is accepted, 4.81 is added to the player's credit as shown in
A new game now starts as shown in
Note that although a traditional “slot” format is disclose in which the player must achieve a set of symbols that appear in the payout table 700, it is equally anticipated that the format be slightly different in which there is a dealer who is provided two symbols that are hidden from the player until redraw/surrender is complete and the goal is not to achieve a set of symbols that achieve a payout from the payout table, but to rank the player's symbols against the dealer's symbols based upon the payout table, the winner being having the highest rank and, in some embodiments, the bonus provided for certain combinations for symbols.
Referring to
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the player's hand 812 is calculated based upon the probability of the player's hand 812 beating the dealer's hand 818 as per the rule box 800. For example, the player has 15 which requires the dealer bust, so all card sequences are analyzed to determine the probability of the player winning given the player's hand 812 of 15. This payoff value is calculated as −0.55 and is a redraw offer 842 for the player to redraw or get new cards as shown in
The player is still in the same game, and a new redraw offer 842 of +0.58 is available in
In
Now, a present value of the player's hand 814 is calculated based upon the probability of player's hand 814 winning against all combinations of the dealer's hand 818 which is not revealed yet, in this example, −0.55, and if the redraw offer 842 (new cards) is accepted, 0.55 is subtracted from the player's credit as shown in
The game now continues as shown in
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
In
After selecting the deal button 206, the user interface of
Now, a present value of the player's hand 812 is calculated based upon the probability of player's hand 812 beating all possible dealer's hands 818 based upon the card of the dealer's hand 818 that is revealed. The player is then presented with a surrender offer 744 (cash out), in this example, +0.41, and if the surrender offer 744 is accepted, 0.41 is added to the player's credit as shown in
Referring to
In
In
In
In
In
Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result.
It is believed that the system and method as described and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/939,929 filed on Jul. 27, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/886,453 filed on Aug. 14, 2019, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62886453 | Aug 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16939929 | Jul 2020 | US |
| Child | 17699964 | US |
