Systems, methods and articles to facilitate delivery of sets or packets of playing cards
First Claim
1. A method of operating a card handling system having a playing card input receiver, a playing card output receiver, a first and at least a second intermediary playing card receiver positioned relative between the playing card input and playing card output receivers along at least one playing card transport path, the first and the second intermediary playing card receivers each having a plurality of playing card receiving compartments, the method comprising:
- transporting a number of playing cards from the playing card input receiver to the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of at least one of the first or the second intermediary playing card receivers;
for each of at least some of a number of participants, retrieving at least two playing cards from respective ones of the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of at least one of the first or the second intermediary playing card receivers based on a number of pseudo-randomly generated virtual playing card values; and
for each of the at least some of the number of participants, forming a distinct set of playing cards from the at least two retrieved playing cards for delivery to the respective participant as a packet of playing cards.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method may provide sets or packets of playing cards for forming part or all of a hand of playing cards. Each set or packet may be formed before starting to form another set or packet. Sets or packets may be formed in respective playing card receiving compartments. The playing cards may be withdrawn from a plurality of playing card receiving compartments of an intermediary playing card receiver in random or pseudo-random fashion, which may, or may not, be based at least in part on the selected payout or house odds and/or house advantage.
386 Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method of operating a card handling system having a playing card input receiver, a playing card output receiver, a first and at least a second intermediary playing card receiver positioned relative between the playing card input and playing card output receivers along at least one playing card transport path, the first and the second intermediary playing card receivers each having a plurality of playing card receiving compartments, the method comprising:
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transporting a number of playing cards from the playing card input receiver to the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of at least one of the first or the second intermediary playing card receivers; for each of at least some of a number of participants, retrieving at least two playing cards from respective ones of the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of at least one of the first or the second intermediary playing card receivers based on a number of pseudo-randomly generated virtual playing card values; and for each of the at least some of the number of participants, forming a distinct set of playing cards from the at least two retrieved playing cards for delivery to the respective participant as a packet of playing cards. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of operating a card handling system, the method comprising:
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transferring a plurality of playing cards from a playing card input receiver along at least one playing card transport path toward at least a first intermediary playing card receiver; locating at least some of the playing cards at least partially into respective ones of a number of playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver, such that there is no more than one playing card in any one of the playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver at a time; for each of at least one playing card receiving compartment of a plurality of playing card receiving compartments of a second intermediary playing card receiver; retrieving at least two playing cards from respective ones of the playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver based on a number of randomly generated virtual playing card values, and forming a distinct set of at least two playing cards at least partially received in the respective one of the playing card receiving compartments from the playing cards retrieved from the playing card receiving compartments of the first playing card receiver; and transferring the distinct set of at least two playing cards into a playing card output receiver. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A processor-readable medium storing instructions that cause a processor to operate a playing card handling system, by:
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transferring a plurality of playing cards from a playing card input receiver along at least one playing card transport path toward at least a first intermediary playing card receiver; locating at least some of the playing cards at least partially into respective ones of a number of playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver, such that there is no more than one playing card in any one of the playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver at a time; for each of at least one playing card receiving compartment of a plurality of playing card receiving compartments of a second intermediary playing card receiver; retrieving at least two playing cards from respective ones of the playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver based on a number of randomly generated virtual playing card values, and forming a distinct set of at least two playing cards at least partially received in the respective one of the playing card receiving compartments of the second intermediary playing card receiver from the playing cards retrieved from the playing card receiving compartments of the first playing card receiver; and transferring the distinct set of at least two playing cards to a playing card output receiver. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A card handling system, comprising:
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a playing card input receiver sized and dimensioned to receive a number of playing cards; a playing card output receiver sized and dimensioned to receive a number of playing cards; a first intermediary playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments that each store at most one of the playing cards when in use; a second playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card compartments at least some of which each store at least two of the playing cards when in use; and a processor configured to cause a retrieval of at least two playing cards for each of at least some of a number of participants in a card game from respective ones of the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver and the second playing card receiver based on a number of randomly generated virtual playing card values; and
to cause a delivery of the at least two retrieved playing cards for each of the participants to the playing card output receiver to form packets of playing cards. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A card handling system, comprising:
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a playing card input receiver sized and dimensioned to receive a number of playing cards; a playing card output receiver sized and dimensioned to receive a number of playing cards; a first intermediary playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments that each store at most one of the playing cards when in use; a second playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card compartments at least some of which each store at least two of the playing cards when in use; means for retrieving at least two playing cards for each of at least some of a number of participants in a card game from respective ones of the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of the first intermediary playing card receiver and the second playing card receiver based on a number of randomly generated virtual playing card values; and means for delivering of the at least two retrieved playing cards for each of the participants to the playing card output receiver to form packets of playing cards. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. A method of operating a playing card handling system, the method comprising:
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determining a number of random virtual playing card values; forming a first set of at least two playing cards that will comprise at least a portion of a first hand of playing cards for a round of a card game based on at least some of the number of virtual playing card values, before delivering any playing cards to form a second set of at least two playing cards that will comprise at least a portion of a second hand of playing cards for the same round of the card game, wherein the first set of at least two playing cards is formed from a third set of playing cards held in a first intermediary playing card receiver and a fourth set of playing cards held in a second intermediary playing card receiver; and delivering the first set of at least two playing cards through a playing card output receiver. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A playing card handling system, comprising:
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a playing card input receiver to receive a plurality of playing cards that are to be handled; a playing card output receiver having a single playing card receiving compartment to provide a respective set of at least two playing cards for forming at least a portion of each of at least two hands of playing cards dealt in a card game; a first intermediary playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments that each receive at most one playing card during use; a second intermediary playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments; at least a first playing card input transport path extending between the playing card input receiver and at least one of the first intermediary playing card receiver or the second intermediary playing card receiver, along which the playing cards are transported from the playing card input receiver to at least one of the first intermediary playing card receiver and the second intermediary playing card receiver; and at least a first playing card output transport path extending between at least one of the first intermediary playing card receiver or the second intermediary playing card receiver, and the playing card output receiver, along which the playing cards are transported from at least one of the first intermediary playing card receiver or the second intermediary playing card receiver to the playing card output receiver without any intervening multiple compartment playing card receivers therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 57, 58, 59)
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51. A playing card handling system, comprising:
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at least a first intermediate playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments that each receive at most one playing card during use; at least a second intermediate playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments; a playing card output receiver to make accessible to a user a number of sets of at least two playing cards for each of a plurality of hands of playing cards; and at least a first playing card output transport path extending between at least one of the first intermediary playing card receiver or the second intermediary playing card receiver, and the playing card output receiver along which the playing cards are transported without stopping at any intervening locations therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 60)
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Specification