GAME APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION ABOUT A GAME

• US 20080182644A1
• Filed: 09/05/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Original Assignee: CFPH LLC (Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.)
• Inventors: Merkel, Stephen, LUTNICK, Howard W., Gelman, Geoffrey M., Alderucci, Dean P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,523,684 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/20
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/34 depending on the stopping of moving members in a mechanical slot machine, e.g. "fruit" machines

Abstract

Various embodiments may include an apparatus operable to determine a value of a statistic describing cards that have been dealt from a deck.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a rectangular enclosure with four vertical walls, a bottom surface, and a top surface, with a door in one wall and a thin horizontal opening in the opposite wall;

three planar dividers, each having a vertical orientation, each retractable into the bottom surface, and each disposed parallel to the wall with the door and to the wall with the opening;

three wheels, each wheel attached to the top surface of the enclosure via a separate retractable arm, and each wheel having its axis of rotation lying horizontally and parallel to both the wall with the door and to the wall with the opening, in which;

the three wheels are each controlled by a separate motor;

the first wheel is between the wall with the door and a first of the three dividers;

the second wheel is between the first of the three dividers and a second of the three dividers; and

the third wheel is between the second of the three dividers and a third of the three dividers;

an imaging device embedded within the bottom surface;

a memory; and

a processor operable to;

direct any of the motors controlling one of the three wheels to spin its respective wheel in either direction;

direct any of the three retractable arms to extend or retract;

direct any of the three dividers to rise or retract; and

receive images from the imaging device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the processor is further operable to determine the rank and suit of a card based an image captured by the imaging device.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the processor is further operable to direct the memory to store ranks and suits of cards determined from images captured by the imaging device.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the processor is further operable to:

direct the third retractable arm to extend, thereby lowering the third wheel into contact with a particular card that is disposed between the second and third dividers;

direct the third divider to retract, thereby exposing the thin horizontal opening; and

direct the third motor to spin the third wheel, thereby expelling the particular card through the thin horizontal opening.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the processor is further operable to:

direct the first divider to retract;

direct the first retractable arm to extend, thereby bringing the first wheel into contact with a first card that is disposed between the wall with the door and the first divider;

direct the first motor to spin the first wheel, thereby forcing the first card to move to a new location between the first divider and the second divider;

direct the second divider to retract;

direct the second retractable arm to extend, thereby bringing the second wheel into contact with a second card that is disposed between the first divider and the second divider;

direct the second motor to spin the second wheel, thereby forcing the second card to move to a new location between the second divider and the third divider;

direct the third retractable arm to extend, thereby bringing the third wheel into contact with a third card that is disposed between the second divider and the third divider;

direct the third motor to spin the third wheel, thereby forcing the third card to move to a new location between the first divider and the second divider;

direct the first divider to retract;

direct the second retractable arm to extend, thereby bringing the second wheel into contact with a fourth card that is disposed between the first divider and the second divider; and

direct the second motor to spin the second wheel, thereby forcing the fourth card to move to a new location between the wall with the door and the first divider.

6. An apparatus comprising a computing device operable to:

direct a deck of cards to be shuffled a first time;

direct that each card in the deck be passed over an imaging device;

receive an image of each card in the deck as the card is passed over the imaging device;

determine a rank and suit of each card in the deck; and

determine an order of the cards in the deck.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the computing device is further operable to:

determine a first value of a statistic describing the cards remaining in the deck;

direct a first card from the deck be dealt;

determine a first rank and a first suit of the first card based on the determined order of the cards in the deck; and

determine a second value of the statistic based on the first value and based on at least one of the rank and suit.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the computing device is further operable to:

direct, if the second value of the statistic falls within a first range, that the deck of cards be shuffled a second time.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further including a display, in which the computing device is further operable to direct the display to display the second value of the statistic.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the computing device is further operable to:

direct, if the second value of the statistic falls within a first range, that a new card be added to the deck.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the computing device is further operable to:

direct, if the second value of the statistic falls within a first range, that a new card of a determinate rank be added to the deck.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the computing device is further operable to:

direct, if the second value of the statistic falls within a first range, that a card be removed from the deck.

13. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the statistic describes the number of cards remaining in the deck which are either an ace or a ten-value card less the number of cards remaining in the deck which have ranks from 2 to 6.

14. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the statistic describes the formula:

52*(number of aces and ten-value cards remaining−

number of cards ranked two through six remaining)/total number of cards remaining.

15. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the statistic describes a probability that a player will win while using the deck.

16. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the statistic describes an expected amount that a player will win while using the deck.

17. An apparatus comprising a computing device operable to:

direct a display to show a first rule governing play in a game;

determine a first value of a statistic describing a first set of cards remaining in a deck;

determine a card that has been dealt from the deck;

determine, based on the card that has been dealt, a second value of the statistic describing a second set of cards remaining in the deck;

determine a second rule based on the second value of the statistic; and

direct the display to cease showing the first rule and to show the second rule.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 in which:

the first rule places a first limit on the size of bets allowed in the game; and

the second rule places a second limit on the size of bets allowed in the game.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 in which to determine a second rule based on the second value of the statistic includes to:

determine, based on the second value of the statistic, a second rule that leads to a predetermined house edge in a game using the second set of cards.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 in which to determine a second rule based on the second value of the statistic includes to:

determine a second rule only if the second value of the statistic exceeds a predetermined threshold.