Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
  • G07F17/326—Game play aspects of gaming systems
  • G07F17/3272—Games involving multiple players
  • G07F17/3276—Games involving multiple players wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
  • G07F17/3286—Type of games
  • G07F17/3293—Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of multiplayer card tournaments, such as blackjack tournaments, that can be played either in the presence of a community of players or over a communications network.
• Blackjack is a popular game played typically in casinos. The game is played by a player who tries to win the game playing against the house. In an ordinary casino set up, several players play concomitantly with the house but are not interacting amongst themselves. This is explained schematically in Figure 1 in which the set-up of the game is described. House 10 interacts directly with players 12, 14, 16 and 18. Each one of the players is a solitary player having no interaction with the other players.
• cards are dealt by the dealer (house) to each player and to the dealer in respect of each player separately.
• a player thus has a set of cards (a "hand") which opposes a corresponding "hand" of the dealer.
• the rules of the game are such that the opposing hands of cards, each typified by a numerical sum and nature of cards, are compared at specific events, determining which opposing side wins.
• the player and dealer are dealt cards, until the conditions defining an event are reached. The player places the bet before the dealing starts, but the bet may change if and when certain card combinations occur.
• Figure 1 is a schematic description of the relationships between the players and the house in a blackjack game of the prior art
• Figure 2 is a schematic description of the relationships between the players and the house in a game of the invention
• Figure 3 is a description of the sequence of steps carried out in the playing of a round by a player in a blackjack game of the invention.
• Figure 4 is a description of the sequence of steps carried out in the tournament game of the invention after the rounds are finalized, for determining the winner of the game.
• FIG. 2 portrays schematically the set-up of a game of the invention.
• House 10 interacts in a game session with the players, exemplified by players 12, 14, 16 and 18.
• a player such as player 14 also relates to the co-players in the game session in a relationship which is different than the interaction this player has with the house 10.
• the relationships of the player 14 with the co-players in the session are hereinafter referred to as inference relations.
• the inference relations of the invention are defined as the drawing of information from the playing conduct of co-players without interacting with them directly otherwise.
• a tournament is played by a player against the dealer (house) and other players.
• a tournament consists of a sequence of rounds. The number of rounds is predetermined and all of the players in the tournament are synchronized, so that all the players play the same round with the house concomitantly with the co-players.
• each of the players is allotted a number of credit points which is equally received by all the co-players. If during the tournament the number of credit points drops to zero, the player loses the game.
• the playing of a round is described with reference to Figure 3. As a round starts, the player of the example places a bet in step 20, after which the dealer starts dealing the cards at step 22. The game is subsequently played according to the customary rules in step 24.
• step 26 there is a decision to be made at step 26 as to who wins the game. If the player wins the round, the score of the player is increased by the wager at step 28. If the player loses the round, the score is nullified and the player is left with a zero score for that round at step 30.
• the tournament then continues by starting the next round at step 32 similar to step 20. As the predetermined number of rounds is reached, the tournament comes to an end and, as described in reference with Figure 4, further calculations are made.
• step 40 the personal betting score of each player is computed.
• step 42 the personal scores are compared, and the highest score is determined at step 44. If a player's score is highest he/she is declared a winner of the tournament at step 46. The player is declared a loser at step 48, if his/her score is not highest.
• a player of the game of the invention has a chance to learn from the playing behavior of the co-players.
• the individual player although playing a direct game only with the house, infers from the activities of the co-players as to their respective playing characteristics.
• Such a game is inducive to more involvement of planning and memory based activity on behalf of the players.
• the winning is less a matter of chance and more a matter of learning and planning, making the game overall a more joyful and rewarding pastime event.
• the game parameters e.g., score or bet
• the game parameters are presented on a screen that a player can observe.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
• Display Devices Of Pinball Game Machines (AREA)

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Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (2)

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Family Cites Families (76)

• 2005
  • 2005-06-24 US US11/166,462 patent/US20060055113A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2005-09-13 WO PCT/US2005/032790 patent/WO2006031913A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2005-09-13 EP EP05798782A patent/EP1804936A4/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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