GB2275204A

GB2275204A - Betting apparatus comprising dodecahedral dice

Info

Publication number: GB2275204A
Application number: GB9403026A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kevin Snowdon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-02-18
Filing date: 1994-02-17
Publication date: 1994-08-24
Also published as: GB9403026D0; GB9303249D0

Abstract

Apparatus to assist a person placing a bet or completing the football pools by selecting a small number of items from a relatively large number of items comprises two or more regular dodecahedra. Each face of each dodecahedral carries a different number. Some of the faces of each dodecahedral may be blank or alternatively may carry instructions or advertising. A set of five dodecahedra bearing different numbers from 1 - 58 on each of 58 of the sixty total faces of the set is considered suitable for selecting numbers to complete the football pools. The apparatus is also suitable for entering competitions and for playing board games. <IMAGE>

Description

Betting Apparatus The present invention is concerned with apparatus to assist a person placing a bet, more particularly, but not exclusively, in deciding upon which matches in a football coupon the bet or bets should be staked.

In some forms of betting, the person placing the bet requires to select a relatively small number of items upon which to bet from a relatively larger number of available items. The requirement is typified by the placing of a bet upon a football pools coupon.

It is reported that over six million people place bets on the football pools on a weekly basis. While it is no doubt true that a good knowledge of the relative competence of the football teams listed on the pools coupon enhances the chance of placing a successful bet, many entrants prefer to select the matches upon which to place their bet by relying wholly upon chance or by regularly betting upon the same numbers on different coupons. Indeed it is the less expected results which tend to give rise to the larger winnings.

A typical football pools coupon lists of the order of 50 or 60 matches from which the entry must be selected. A typical bet may entail selecting say eight, ten or twelve matches from those available. For example, current pools coupons usually list a total of 58 matches; a very popular bet involves selecting ten matches and then entering a permutation covering all possible combinations of eight matches from those ten. In order to select the matches upon which to base such an entry, the entrant therefore needs a method of selecting ten matches at random from 58.

It is 'an object of the present invention to provide apparatus by means of which a smaller number of items may be selected at random from a relatively larger number of available items.

The betting apparatus according to the invention comprises a plurality of regular dodecahedra, bearing a different number on each of a majority of the total number of faces thereof.

In producing the apparatus of the present invention, the selection of the number of dodecahedra is determined largely by the total number of available items from which the selection is to be made. The relatively large number of faces of a dodecahedron ensures that a manageably small number of dodecahedra are required. The number of such dodecahedra is also determined taking account of the number of items required to be selected. By way of example, if the user is required to select say 4 or 8 items from say 45 available, then four dodecahedra may be provided, of which 45 of the 48 total faces are numbered. If the user is required to select 5 or 10 items from 45, then five dodecahedra may be provided, 45 of the 60 total faces being numbered accordingly.

In a particularly preferred form of the invention which is devised for use with football coupons in their current form, the apparatus comprises five regular dodecahedra, bearing different numbers from 1 to 58 on each of 58 of the sixty total faces thereof.

At least a majority of the total faces of the dodecahedra in the apparatus according to the present invention carry the required numbers from which the selection is to be made.

Preferably at least 80 per cent, more preferably at least 90 per cent, of the total number of faces each carry a different number. If the total number of items from which the selection is to be made is less than the total number of faces of the dodecahedra, that is if less than 100 per cent of the faces each carry a different number, then the remaining faces may be marked as desired. However it is much preferred that those remaining faces should be unnumbered.

For example, such faces may be left blank, or may bear some instruction to the user such as "throw again", or may carry advertising material, for example promoting a particular pools company or the betting apparatus itself.

The polyhedra may be made of any suitable material, in particular any of the materials from which conventional dice are made. Thus they may be formed in a hard plastics material or in wood or metal. Other possible but less preferred materials are glass, clay and paper.

For example, pools promoters or other companies could distribute card or paper blanks from which the dodecahedra may be assembled.

The size of each dodecahedron is a matter of choice but advantageously each one will have a height (that is, the distance apart of opposite parallel faces) within the range from 10 to 25 millimetres. Dodecahedra at the larger end of this range allow the numbers to be sufficiently large to be readable particularly readily.

The distribution of the numbers between or among the different dodecahedra may be wholly random or may be to a pre-determined pattern.

In a preferred form, the distribution is such as to maximise the spacing apart of numerically adjacent numbers. For example, using five dodecahedra, it is preferred that the numbers from 1 to 5 should appear on five different dodecahedra and that the top five numbers, say from 54 to 58, should be similarly distributed.

A possible distribution of 58 numbers over five dodecahedra is shown in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example only, one preferred embodiment of the betting apparatus according to the invention.

In the drawings, two views of each of the dodecahedra are shown, to enable all twelve faces of each one to be visible. The numbers are shown upright in each case, but may each be differently orientated to allow for the different potential orientations of the faces.

As will be understood, a user of the illustrated apparatus wishing to select ten matches to form the basis of a bet throws all five dodecahedra at once and notes the five numbers visible on the flat top faces of the dodecahedra. He then throws them all again, with the object of selecting five more numbers.

If the second throw duplicates any of the numbers already selected, or if on either throw a "blank" face appears (identified by the letter "B" in the drawings), then the relevant dodecahedron is thrown again until the required ten numbers have been selected.

While the illustrated apparatus is of particular merit in selecting numbers to assist in completing a conventional football pools coupon, the apparatus according to the invention is useful generally for arbitrarily selecting numbers for entering competitions of various types. For example, such competitions may be games based upon game boards or upon printed rules or sheets, or competitions or games administered via radio, television, newspapers, magazines or other media.

Claims

1. Betting apparatus comprising a plurality of regular dodecahedra, bearing a different number on each of a majority of the total number of faces thereof.

2. Betting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, comprising four or five said dodecahedra.

3. Betting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, bearing said different numbers on at least 80 per cent of the total number of faces.

4. Betting apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, including one or more unnumbered faces.

5. Betting apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, comprising five said dodecahedra bearing a different number on each of fifty-eight faces thereof, the remaining faces being unnumbered.

6. Betting apparatus as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, carrying instructions or advertising matter on said unnumbered face(s).

7. Betting apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said polyhedra are formed in a hard plastics material or in wood or metal.

8. Betting apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the distance apart of opposite parallel faces of each dodecahedron lies within the range from 10 to 25 millimetres.

9. Betting apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.