SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING CALCULATED ODDS BETS IN A BLACKJACK GAME

• US 20070085274A1
• Filed: 11/20/2006
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cantor Index LLC
• Original Assignee: Cantor Index LLC
• Inventors: Findlay, Lewis, Asher, Joseph, Riches, Guy Iain
• Granted Patent: US 8,474,819 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 273/292
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3223 Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, master/slave, wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Abstract

A method of managing a blackjack game is provided. A blackjack game bet comprising a bet against a house entity on a blackjack hand is received from a player. A pair of cards is determined for a hand for the house entity, and another pair of cards is determined for a hand for the player. The odds of the occurrence of one or more subsequent events are determined based at least in part on one or more of the pair of cards selected for the house entity'"'"'s hand and one or more of the pair of cards selected for the player'"'"'s hand. The odds for an additional bet are determined based at least on the determined odds for the one or more subsequent events, and the additional bet is offered to the player at the determined odds for the additional bet.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving from a player a blackjack game bet comprising a bet against a house entity on a blackjack hand;

determining a pair of cards for a hand for the house entity;

determining a pair of cards for a hand for the player;

determining the odds of the occurrence of one or more subsequent events based at least in part on one or more of the pair of cards selected for the house entity'"'"'s hand and one or more of the pair of cards selected for the player'"'"'s hand;

determining the odds for an additional bet based at least in part on the determined odds for the one or more subsequent events; and

offering the player the additional bet at the determined odds for the additional bet.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the additional bet from the player;

determining the occurrence of the one or more subsequent events;

determining a result of the additional bet based on the determined occurrence of the one or more subsequent events; and

determining a payment between the player and the house entity for the additional bet based at least in part on the result of the additional bet and the determined odds for the additional bet.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a unit stake for the additional bet based at least in part on the determined odds for the additional bet;

wherein offering the player the additional bet at the determined odds for the additional bet comprises offering the player the additional bet at the determined unit stake; and

wherein receiving the additional bet from the player comprises receiving the additional bet in the amount of the determined unit stake.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the additional bet comprises a bet regarding whether the house entity will bust; and

determining the odds of the occurrence of one or more subsequent events comprises determining the odds that the house entity will bust.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving the additional bet from the player;

determining whether the house entity busts;

determining a result of the additional bet based on the determination of whether the house entity busts; and

determining a payment between the player and the house entity for the additional bet based at least in part on the result of the additional bet and the determined odds for the additional bet.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining one or more hit cards for the house entity'"'"'s hand;

and

wherein determining whether the house entity has busted comprises determining whether the house entity has busted based at least in part on the pair of cards determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand and the one or more hit cards determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

determining the odds that the house entity will bust comprises determining the odds that the house entity will bust on a single hit card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand;

the method further includes determining the single hit card for the house entity'"'"'s hand; and

determining whether the house entity has busted comprises determining whether the house entity has busted based on the pair of cards determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand and the single hit card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein:

determining a pair of cards for a hand for the house entity comprises determining a face-up card and a face-down card for the house entity'"'"'s hand; and

determining the odds that the house entity will bust comprises determining the odds that the house entity will bust based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand and the pair of cards determined for the player.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

accessing a set of optimal player strategies defining an optimal playing strategy for the player for each of a plurality of potential situations that will optimize the player'"'"'s odds of winning the blackjack hand; and

identifying the situation from the plurality of potential situations based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand and the pair of cards determined for the player; and

identifying the optimal playing strategy for the player for the identified situation from the set of optimal player strategies; and

wherein determining the odds that the house entity will bust comprises determining the odds that the house entity will bust based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand, the pair of cards determined for the player, and the identified optimal playing strategy.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the odds that the house entity will bust comprises assuming that the player will not bust.

11. The method of claim 4, wherein offering the player the additional bet at the determined odds for the additional bet comprises communicating to the player the determined odds that the house entity will bust.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the additional bet comprises a bet regarding whether the player will win the blackjack hand; and

determining the odds of the occurrence of one or more subsequent events comprises determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the additional bet from the player;

determining whether the player has won the blackjack hand;

determining a result of the additional bet based on the determination of whether the player has won the blackjack hand; and

determining a payment between the player and the house entity for the additional bet based at least in part on the result of the additional bet and the determined odds for the additional bet.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining one or more hit cards for at least one of the house entity'"'"'s hand and the player'"'"'s hand;

and

wherein determining whether the player has won the blackjack hand comprises determining whether the player has won the blackjack hand based at least in part on the pair of cards determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand, the pair of cards determined for the player'"'"'s hand, and the one or more determined hit cards.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand comprises determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand based at least in part on the face-up card selected for the house entity and the pair of cards selected for the player.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein:

determining one or more cards for a hand for the house entity comprises determining a face-up card and a face-down card for the house entity;

determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand comprises determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity and the pair of cards determined for the player.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein:

determining one or more cards for a hand for the house entity comprises determining a face-up card and a face-down card for the house entity;

the method further comprises determining one or more hit cards for the player;

determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand comprises determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity and the pair of cards and the one or more hit cards selected for the player; and

offering the player the additional bet at the determined odds for the additional bet comprises offering the player the additional bet after determining the one or more hit cards for the player.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand comprises determining the maximum possible odds that the player will win the blackjack hand based at least in part on the face-up card selected for the house entity and the pair of cards selected for the player.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

accessing a set of optimal player strategies defining an optimal playing strategy for the player for each of a plurality of potential situations that will optimize the player'"'"'s odds of winning the blackjack hand; and

identifying the situation from the plurality of potential situations based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand and the pair of cards determined for the player; and

identifying the optimal playing strategy for the player for the identified situation from the set of optimal player strategies; and

wherein determining the maximum possible odds that the player will win the blackjack hand comprises determining the odds that the player will win the blackjack hand based at least in part on the face-up card determined for the house entity'"'"'s hand, the pair of cards determined for the player, and the identified optimal playing strategy.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein offering the player the additional bet at the determined odds for the additional bet comprises communicating to the player the determined odds that the player will win the blackjack hand.