Patent Application
20060281536
This invention is in the general field of casino gaming and, more particularly, is a variation of the game of commonly known as blackjack. Furthermore, this invention relates to a card game such as would be played at a casino and to a table, special deck of cards, player positions and wager card and bet placement areas.
Blackjack is a game played at a semicircular table with seven player stations equally spaced on the table's top near an arcuate edge thereof. There is an imprint of a circle at each player station. A player places cheques or chips representative of a wager within the circle. A player/dealer is positioned near a straight edge of the table. The player/dealer faces the player. Blackjack is played with one or more standard decks of cards. An ace dealt to a player has a point value of either “1” or “11” at the election of the player; a face card (jack, queen or king) has a point value of “10” and each of the remaining cards (“2” through “10”) have a point value equal to what is alternatively referred to as a “pip” value or a number value of the card. Point values of cards held by the player are added together to obtain a player total point value. A player/dealer total point value is obtained in a similar manner.
After the bets are placed within the imprinted circle, the cards are shuffled and the player and the player/dealer are each dealt a hand comprised of two cards. The cards of the player's hand are dealt face-up. A first card of the player/dealer's hand is dealt face-down. A second one of the player/dealer's hand is dealt face-up.
Whenever the player/dealer face-up card is either an ace or has a point value of “10”, the player/dealer ascertains the point value of the face-down card without revealing it to the player unless the player/dealer total point value is “21”. When the two cards of the player/dealer hand cause the player/dealer total point value to be “21”, the player/dealer is said to have blackjack whereupon the player/dealer turns the face-down card face up. Similarly, when the two cards of the player hand causes the player total point value to be “21”, the player is said to have blackjack.
When the player/dealer has blackjack, the player/dealer wins the wager with two exceptions. A first exception occurs when the player/dealer's face up card is an ace and the player posts cheques or chips representative of what is known as an insurance bet which is typically equal to one half of the wager. When the player/dealer does not have blackjack, the player loses the insurance bet. When the player/dealer has blackjack, the cheques or chips representative of the wager and the insurance bet are returned to the player.
The second exception occurs when the player has blackjack whereupon the cheques or chips representative of the wager are returned to the player. The second exception is an example of when the player hand and the player/dealer hand have the same total point value and is referred to as a push.
When the player has blackjack and the player/dealer does not, the player wins the wager. When neither the player/dealer nor the player has a blackjack, the player has four options.
A first option is to have the player hand augmented by an additional card (referred to as a “hit”). The player may have successive hits until the player total point value exceeds “21”. When the total point value of a hand exceeds “21” it is said to bust. The player loses the wager when the player hand busts. Therefore, busting is a sudden, catastrophic termination of play for the player.
A second option is not to have the player hand augmented by the additional card (referred to as a “stand”). The player may stand at any time that the player hand has not busted.
A third option, referred to as doubling down, permits the player to double the wager and receive one additional card.
A fourth option is available when the player hand is comprised of two cards that are a pair, such as a pair of queens, for example. The player may split the pair into first and second player hands. An additional card is dealt to the first player hand and to the second player hand, each of which are played as described hereinbefore.
The decision to hit or stand is made with an objective of causing the player total point value to be closer to “21” than the player/dealer total point value without busting. It should be understood that central factors in making the decision are the player/dealer's face-up card and the player total point value.
After the player stands, the player/dealer's face-down card is turned face-up, whereby both cards of the player/dealer hand are faced-up. When the player/dealer total point value is less than “17”, then the player/dealer must hit until the player/dealer total point value is at least “17”. When a hit causes the player/dealer hand to bust and the player hand has not busted, the player wins the wager.
It should be understood that when an exemplary hand includes an ace and a six, for example, it is referred to as a soft “17” because the ace causes the exemplary hand to have alternative point values of “7” and “17”. Usually, the player/dealer hand cannot be hit when it is the soft “17”, although some casinos have must hit “soft” rules.
When neither the player hand nor the player/dealer hand busts and the player/dealer total point value exceeds the player total point value, the player/dealer wins and vice versa. When there is a push, there is no winner; the cheques or chips representative of the wager are returned to the player.
A desirable aspect of blackjack is its simplicity. However, is blackjack can be made more interesting by providing play that requires an inclusion of bonus cards in the decks of cards and by providing play instead of the bust when the player point value exceeds “21”. The inclusion of the bonus cards and providing play when the player point value exceeds “21” need not be a compromise of simplicity.
According to the present invention, TEXAS 21.5 BLACKJACK is a game that utilizes a fifty-two card deck with aces through nines (the standard spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds) and 16 bonus cards (four “W's”, four “X's”, four “Y's”, and four “Z's”. The bonus cards are worth 10 unless dealt with an Ace on the initial deal. The bonus card is worth 10.5 points when dealt with an Ace on the initial deal. A player and a player/dealer are each dealt a hand of two cards. One of the player/dealer's cards is dealt face-up; the other is dealt face down. The bonus card and Ace combination is considered a Bonus Blackjack 21.5 and pay one and one half if dealt to a Player or if dealt to the payer/dealer wins all hands unless another player also has a Bonus Blackjack 21.5 in which case, the player and the player/dealer push.
A bonus is a hand that consists of a bonus card and an ace that are initially dealt to a player or player/dealer. The bonus outranks all other hands. A hand has a total point value of “21.5” when it includes the initial combination of a bonus card and an ace. The player may hit, double-down, split a pair or surrender to acquire a final player hand when the player/dealer's face-up card is not a bonus hand. When a player/dealer hand has a total point value that is a soft “17” or less, a player/dealer must take a hit to acquire a final player/dealer hand. When the final player hand and the final player/dealer hand have total point values that are greater than “21.5” A) If the payer's and the payer/dealer's cards match exactly, the hand is a push or tie. Examples of this are: If the player's hand is 9, 8, 6 (23 total) and the player/dealer's hand contains a 9, 8, and 6 or if the player's hand is Bonus Card, 6, 9 and the player/dealer's hand contains a Bonus Card, 6 and 9. When the total point values are each greater than “21.5”, with the dealer point value being closer to “21.5” than the player point value, the player loses.
These advantages may be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and by reference to the drawings in which:
The top of the table 24 is fitted with a playing surface or “felt” 26 which is usually a green felt pad with various indicia printed thereon for various player positions or player stations designated 18. The player stations 18 have a rectangle shaped card placement area 28.
The table 10 is also equipped with a player/dealers area 14 that is positioned in the back of the table and facing the player stations 18. The player/dealer area 14 has a four card receiving area 16 used for placement of the players/dealers cards.
The particular table 10 illustrated in the drawings is designed to allow eight players represented by the numbers “1” to “8” therein to play there around. Thus, on the felt 26 there are illustrated eight player stations designated 18. As represented in
Object of the Game
The object of Texas 21.5 Blackjack is for the players and the Player/Dealer to add the numerical value of their cards and:
TEXAS 21.5 BLACKJACK is a game use a fifty-two card deck with aces through nines (the standard spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds) and 16 bonus cards (four “W” bonus cards, four “X” bonus cards, four “Y” bonus cards, and four “Z” bonus cards). The games can be played with a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of eight (8) decks.
Ranking Chart
*Bonus card is worth 10, except when dealt with an Ace on the first two cards of the initial deal, whereupon, it will be worth 10.5 and the hand a Texas 21.5 Blackjack when the player/dealer has a Texas 21.5 blackjack, there will be no draw and all hands will be compared to the player/dealer final total.
Now referring to
Round of Play
Chart 1A Player Options
Chart 1B Player/Dealer Options
Game Rules
The following options are available for individual casinos to cater to the needs of their customers:
10's Version—The four “W” Bonus Cards are removed from the deck and replaced by four 10's. An Ace and a Ten (10) dealt to a Player on the first two cards would be worth 21 not 21.5.
Jacks and 10's Version—The four “W” Bonus Cards and the four “X” Bonus Cards are removed from the deck and replaced by four 10's and four Jacks. Like the 10's Version, an Ace and either a Jack or Ten (10) on the first two cards would be worth 21 not 21.5. A Bonus Card and either a Jack or 10 may be split.
It is anticipated by the Applicant that the Texas 21.5 Blackjack present invention can be played as digital Texas 21.5 Blackjack video type card game played on a video machine, such as a slot machine. It is also anticipated by the Applicant that the Texas 21.5 Blackjack present invention can be played as a video type “live” Texas 21.5 Blackjack card game played over the internet using an appropriate server that allows many players to participate in playing the live Texas 21.5 Blackjack type card game.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.
