U.S. patent application number 12/389369 was filed with the patent office on 2009-09-03 for apparatus and method of using an apparatus to conduct a wagering game.
Invention is credited to Shenli Ko.
Application Number | 20090218767 12/389369 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41012579 |
Filed Date | 2009-09-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090218767 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ko; Shenli |
September 3, 2009 |
Apparatus and Method of Using an Apparatus to Conduct a Wagering
Game
Abstract
An apparatus for conducting a wagering game includes standard
cards having a value and a suit supplemented with at least one
special card. The special card may take the form of a substitute
card that substitutes for a subset of values among the values of
the standard cards. The special card may alternatively take the
form of an intermediate card that is assigned a value between
consecutive values among the standard cards.
Inventors: |
Ko; Shenli; (Las Vegas,
NV) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROBERT RYAN MORISHITA;MORISHITA LAW FIRM, LLC
8960 WEST TROPICANA AVENUE, SUITE 300
LAS VEGAS
NV
89147
US
|
Family ID: |
41012579 |
Appl. No.: |
12/389369 |
Filed: |
February 19, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61066204 |
Feb 19, 2008 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
273/292 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 1/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
273/292 |
International
Class: |
A63F 1/00 20060101
A63F001/00 |
Claims
1. A deck of cards for conducting a game comprising: a plurality of
standard cards, each of said standard cards having a face
identifying the fixed value and suit of said standard card; and at
least one substitute card, said substitute card adapted to
substitute for at least one of the value and suit of a defined
subset of said standard cards, said subset comprising fewer than
all said values.
2. The deck of claim 1 wherein said substitute card is adapted to
substitute for a defined subset of said standard cards in any
suit.
3. The deck of claim 1 wherein said values include jacks, queens,
and kings, and said substitute card is adapted to substitute for a
subset comprising only said jacks, queens, and kings of any
suit.
4. A deck of cards for conducting a game comprising: a plurality of
standard cards, each of said standard cards having a face
identifying the fixed value and suit of said standard card; and at
least one intermediate card, said intermediate card adapted to have
a value between two consecutive values of said standard cards.
5. The deck of claim 4 wherein said intermediate card includes a
suit identifier adapted to identify a suit for said intermediate
card.
6. The deck of claim 4 wherein said intermediate card is adapted to
substitute for any suit.
7. The deck of claim 4 wherein said values include kings and aces
and said intermediate card is adapted to have a value between said
king-value standard cards and said ace value standard cards.
8. A deck of cards for conducting a game comprising: a plurality of
standard cards, each of said standard cards having a face
identifying the fixed value and suit of said standard card; at
least one substitute card, said substitute card adapted to
substitute for at least one of the value and suit of a defined
subset of said standard cards, said subset comprising fewer than
all said values; and at least one intermediate card, said
intermediate card adapted to have a value between two consecutive
values of said standard cards.
Description
RELATED APPLICATION DATA
[0001] The present application claims the priority of U.S.
Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/066,204, entitled "New Decks of
Playing Cards," filed Feb. 19, 2008 by Applicant herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of
using the apparatus for conducting a wagering game. More
particularly, the present invention relates to decks of playing
cards comprising standard cards supplemented by new,
special-purpose cards, and methods for using the decks of playing
cards.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Playing cards have been used to conduct a variety of card
games including wagering games such as poker. A poker deck of
standard playing cards includes four suits of thirteen cards for a
total of fifty-two cards. The thirteen cards in each suit have
values, in ascending order, of deuce, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, and ace. The four suits
are spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs.
[0004] Poker is typically conducted using a poker deck of standard
cards. Occasionally, the poker deck may be supplemented with a
non-standard card, such as one or more jokers. A conventional
five-card poker game utilizes a well known ranking system
illustrated in Table 1 below:
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Hand Example Royal Flush 10 J Q K A Straight
Flush 5 6 7 8 9 Four of a Kind 8.diamond. 8 8 8 J Full House 7 7
7.diamond. J J.diamond. Flush 3.diamond. 5.diamond. 6.diamond.
9.diamond. K.diamond. Straight 8 9 10.diamond. J Q Three of a Kind
5 5 5.diamond. 8 A.diamond. Two Pair 4 4 6 6 K One Pair 3 3 7 8
K.diamond.
[0005] The five-card poker hand rankings are used not only in
five-card poker games, such as five-card stud poker, five-card draw
poker (including video draw poker), and the like, but also in games
using seven cards, such as seven-card stud poker and Texas Hold'Em
poker. In these games, a player's hand is typically ranked based on
the highest ranking five-card hand that can be formed from the
seven cards dealt.
[0006] For card games conducted with a standard deck of cards plus
one or more jokers, the joker usually is a wild card that can
substitute for any card. For example, a hand containing 10 Q K A
plus a joker is a royal flush in the suit of clubs since the joker
can substitute for a J. A royal flush containing a joker is
typically referred to as a "wild" royal flush just so it can be
distinguished from a natural royal flush that contains no joker.
Some video poker games include one or more jokers acting as wild
cards in this manner. In such games, the inclusion of a joker in
the deck necessitates a change to the standard five card poker
ranking since it is possible to have other hands. One example of
such hands is the five of a kind, e.g. a hand of 8.diamond. 8 8 8
Joker, where the joker is treated as an 8.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present invention includes an apparatus and a method for
using the apparatus in conducting a wagering game. An apparatus,
namely a deck of cards for conducting a game, includes a plurality
of standard cards, each having a face identifying the fixed value
and suit of the standard card. Additionally, the deck of cards
includes at least one special card.
[0008] In one optional embodiment, the deck of cards includes at
least one substitute card adapted to substitute for at least one of
the value and suit of a defined subset of the standard cards.
Optionally, the subset comprises fewer than all the values. For
example, in one optional embodiment in which the values include
jacks, queens, and kings, the substitute card substitutes for the
subset of standard cards containing only the jacks, queens, and
kings of any suit. Similarly, the substitute card may substitute
for a limited subset of the suits or may substitute for any
suit.
[0009] In another optional embodiment, the special card may include
at least one intermediate card adapted to have a value between two
consecutive values of the standard cards. For example, in an
optional embodiment, the values of the standard cards include kings
and aces and the intermediate card has a value between the
king-value standard cards and the ace-value standard cards. An
intermediate card may include a suit identifier to identify a suit
for the intermediate card or the intermediate card may substitute
for any suit.
[0010] As may be appreciated, in an optional embodiment the deck of
cards may include at least one intermediate card and at least one
substitute card with the standard cards.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a front view of standard cards according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a front view of a special card according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a front view of a special card according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a front view of a special card according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION
[0016] Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are
referred to by like numerals throughout. Referring to FIGS. 1-4,
the present invention includes playing cards for conducting a
wagering game or, more specifically, a deck of playing cards
including standard playing cards, examples of which are illustrated
in FIG. 1, combined with special playing cards, examples of which
are illustrated in FIGS. 2-4. It is contemplated that the standard
playing cards may be constituted as a standard poker deck, as shown
in FIG. 1, in which four suits, i.e. clubs, spades, hears, and
diamonds, each include thirteen cards, i.e. cards numbered deuce
through ten, jack, queen, king, and ace. As shown in FIG. 1, each
standard card 100 includes a face with an identifier of the suit
102 and value 104 of the standard card 100. Alternate optional
embodiments may include standard cards collected into truncated
decks of cards, such as a Spanish deck that includes twelve cards
in each of four suits, and supplemented decks of cards which may
include additional suits, duplicate cards, or additional cards
(such as one or more jokers).
[0017] In one optional embodiment of the invention, a special card
comprises a substitute card that can substitute for at least one of
the value or suit of a subset of standard cards. That is, the
substitute card could substitute for certain standard cards, or
certain values or certain suits of one or more standard cards, in a
defined subset of the standard cards. In an optional embodiment,
the subset includes fewer than all the values in the deck of cards.
For example, in an optional embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, a
"Noble" substitute card 200 may substitute for a jack, queen, or
king-value card. Thus, if a player held a hand of 8 9 10 N
Q.diamond., the Noble substitute card 200 (denoted by the "N")
could substitute for a jack-value card to provide the player with a
straight. Similarly, if a player held a hand of 3 3 3 K N, the
Noble substitute card 200 could substitute for a king-value card to
provide the player with a full house.
[0018] In one optional embodiment, the substitute card may be
assigned a suit so that the substitute card substitutes for a
subset of values within a specific suit. For example, in one such
optional embodiment, one or more of four different Noble substitute
cards may be provided from among a Noble of spades, Noble of clubs,
Noble of hearts, and Noble of diamonds. For example, in one such
optional embodiment, a player obtaining a hand of 7 8 9 10
N.diamond. would hold a straight, but not a straight flush, since
the Noble substitute card is of a diamond suit rather than a club
suit.
[0019] In another optional embodiment, the substitute card may be
suitless and may substitute for the subset of values within any
suit. For example, in one such optional embodiment, a player
obtaining a hand of 10.diamond. J.diamond. Q.diamond. N A.diamond.
would hold a royal flush, since the suitless Noble substitute card
200 could substitute for a king card within the diamond suit (or
any other suit, for that matter). As may be appreciated, the
chances of dealing a royal flush hand from a standard fifty-two
card deck supplemented with a single suitless Noble substitute card
is 1/179,355. This is distinctly greater than the chance of dealing
a royal flush from a standard fifty-two card deck without a Noble
substitute card which is 1/649,740.
[0020] Since the substitute card substitutes for a subset of fewer
than all the values among the standard cards, the impact of the
card on the payouts for many game is less severe than a wild card,
such as a joker, that can substitute for any value or suit. That
is, since jokers can substitute for any card regardless of value or
suit, the joker unduly increases the probability of all types of
winning hands, which results in an unattractive depression of
payouts for premium hands.
[0021] In one example, the present invention may be applied to a
poker game such as five-card draw poker commonly conducted using
electronic video poker machines. As known in the art, a standard
game of video poker is a house-banked game of draw poker in which
the player attempts to form one of the "winning" hands listed on a
pay table. Specifically, in a typical video poker game, a player
places a wager and is dealt an initial hand of cards. From the
initial hand, the player designates zero or more cards to retain.
Any cards not retained are discarded and replaced by cards selected
from the same deck of cards.
[0022] The resulting player hand is evaluated against a predefined
pay table and, if the hand is at least of a designated poker rank,
the player is paid the award specified in the pay table. The hands
for which awards are received, and the awards themselves,
particularly when expressed as a multiple of the initial wager,
provide most of the variability among different video poker
machines. For example, some video poker machines include wild
cards, such as jokers or deuces, while others do not. Similarly,
different video poker machines include pay tables that issue
special awards for certain hands, such as four aces, while others
treat four aces as any other four of a kind.
[0023] According to one optional embodiment of the present
invention, a video poker game is conducted using a deck of cards
including fifty-two standard cards (as shown in FIG. 1) plus one
suitless Noble substitute card 200. In one such optional
embodiment, a pay table of winning hands and payouts may be
defined. Table 2 illustrates an example of such a pay table.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Final Hand Payout (to 1) Natural Royal Flush
920 5 of a Kind 300 Royal Flush with a Noble Card 250 Straight
Flush 60 4 of a Kind 20 Full House 8 Flush 5 Straight 4 3 of a Kind
3 A Pair of Queens or Better 1
[0024] It is contemplated that the winning hands and/or payouts may
vary from that shown in Table 2 in alternate optional embodiments.
For example, Table 3 illustrates an alternate example pay table for
a video poker game in which one Noble substitute card 200 is
included with fifty-two standard cards.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Final Hand Payout (to 1) Natural Royal Flush
940 5 of a Kind 400 Royal Flush with a Noble Card 250 Straight
Flush 60 4 of a Kind 20 Full House 8 Flush 5 Straight 4 3 of a Kind
3 Two Pair 1 A Pair of Queens or Better 1
[0025] It is contemplated that a substitute card could substitute
for any defined subset of values among the standard cards. For
example, in an alternate optional embodiment, a "Mini" substitute
card (not illustrated) could substitute for a deuce or three. As
above, such Mini substitute cards could be suitless, i.e.
substitute for a deuce or three of any suit, or may be suited so
that they can only substitute for a deuce or three in a specific
suit.
[0026] In another optional embodiment, the special cards may serve
to fit between the values of standard cards. That is, a special
card could take the form of an intermediate card that has a value
between two consecutive values of the standard cards. For example,
as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a card named Zing (denoted as a "Z" in
the examples below) can be a card with a new value added to the
standard cards in a fifty-two card deck. Such a Zing intermediate
card could have any value. For example, in an optional embodiment a
Zing intermediate card may be valued between king-value cards and
ace-value cards. Thus, in such an example, a hand of 10 J Q K Z (or
a Zing-high straight) would outrank a hand of 9 10 J Q K (or a
King-high straight) because a Zing intermediate card outranks a
king-value card. However, a Zing-high straight would not outrank an
Ace-high straight (J Q K Z A) since an ace-value card outranks a
Zing intermediate card. It is contemplated that a hand of 10 J Q K
A may be treated as a straight, i.e. the lack of a Zing
intermediate card may not disrupt a straight, or 10 J Q K A may not
be considered a straight, i.e. the lack of a Zing intermediate card
may break the straight, depending on the embodiment.
[0027] In one optional embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 3, a
suitless Zing intermediate card 300 may be treated as any suit.
That is, a suitless Zing intermediate card 300 may have a fixed
value, but may substitute for any suit. Thus, a hand of 3 5 9 Q Z
in which the Zing intermediate card is suitless would be treated as
a flush.
[0028] In an alternate optional embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 4,
suited Zing intermediate cards 402, 404, 406, 408 are accorded a
suit based on a suit identifier appearing on the face of the Zing
intermediate card 402, 404, 406, 408.
[0029] It is contemplated that an intermediate card could be valued
between any two consecutive values of standard cards. For example,
an intermediate card could have a value between a ten-value card
and a jack-value card or between an ace-value card and a
deuce-value card.
[0030] In an optional embodiment, standard cards may be
supplemented with both at least one intermediate card and at least
one substitute card. In such an optional embodiment, the substitute
card and intermediate card would function substantially as
described above.
[0031] According to a general method of the present invention, an
example of which is illustrated in FIG. 5, a deck is formed 500
from standard cards supplemented with at least one special card. A
ranking system for hands including the special card is defined 502.
For example, where the special card is a substitute card, the
subset of values and/or suits for which the substitute card can
substitute is defined. Similarly, where the special card is an
intermediate card, the value of the intermediate card, i.e. the
standard card values between which the intermediate card falls, is
defined. At least one wager is received 504 from the player and a
hand is dealt 506 to the player. The hand is evaluated 508 based on
the ranking system including any special cards dealt to the hand.
It is contemplated that the hand may be evaluated by comparing the
hand to another player's hand, a dealer's hand, a standard hand, a
community hand, a pay table of winning hands, or any other
standard. Based on the evaluation of the hand, the player's wager
is resolved 510. The resolution of the wager may be carried out by
collecting or retaining the player's wager if the player loses
based on the evaluation of the hand, returning the player's wager
if the player pushes or ties based on the evaluation of the hand,
or issuing a reward based on the player's wager if the player wins
based on the evaluation of the hand. If a reward is issued, the
reward may take the form of a payout based on the player's wager,
an award based on a pay table, a pot or portion thereof, or any
other form of reward.
[0032] While certain embodiments of the present invention have been
shown and described it is to be understood that the present
invention is subject to many modifications and changes without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention presented
herein.
* * * * *