Variant games of chance using three dice

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. N. 61/123,286, filed with the USPTO on Apr. 7, 2008, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

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1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to games of chance, more specifically, the present invention relates to dice games wherein a player wagers upon the outcome of a roll of three dice.

2. Background Art

Dice games are well known in the art. Two of the most well known dice games are Craps and Sic Bo. In Craps, players place multiple roll wagers on the sum of the dice, single roll wagers on the sum of the dice, and multiple roll wagers on the combination of numbers shown on the face of the dice. For example, a pass line wager is paid when a natural, i.e. a seven or eleven, is rolled on the initial, or come out, roll or a point number, i.e. four, five, six, eight, nine, or ten, is rolled on the come out roll and then repeated before rolling a seven. The pass line wager is collected if a craps, i.e. two, three, or twelve, is rolled on the come out roll or a point number is rolled and a seven is rolled before the point number is repeated.

Conversely, a don\'t pass line wager is paid when a craps is rolled on the come out roll or a point number is rolled and a seven is rolled before the point number is repeated. The don\'t pass line wager is collected if a natural is rolled on the come out roll or a point number is rolled and then repeated before rolling a seven. A wager related to the pass line wager and the don\'t pass line wager is the free odds wager. Should a shooter roll a point number on the come out roll, any player with a pass line wager may place an additional free odds wager which will be paid at actual odds if the point number is rolled before a seven. For example, if the point number is six, a player with a free odds wager will be paid at 6:5 if the shooter rolls a six before rolling a seven. Likewise, any player with a don\'t pass line wager may place an additional wager which will be paid at actual odds if a seven is rolled before the point number. Thus, if the point number is six, a player with a free odds wager will be paid at 5:6 if the shooter rolls a seven before rolling a six.

A come wager and a don\'t come wager are treated similarly to the pass wager and don\'t pass wager, respectively, with the roll immediately following the placing of the wager treated as the come out roll for the come and don\'t come wagers.

Other possible wagers include place, or box, wagers in which a player wagers that a selected number will be rolled before a seven is rolled. The player may also choose to bet the converse, that is, that a seven will be rolled before a selected number is rolled. Yet another wager is the hardway wager in which a player wagers that the next roll of a selected sum will include double numbers. For example, the ten hardway wager is paid if the next ten rolled includes two fives and collected if the next ten rolled includes a four and a six. A hardway wager is also collected if a seven is rolled before a winning roll is rolled. Finally, a player may wager on a group of single roll sums. These single roll wagers include the field wager on the numbers two, three, five, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve and wagers on various other sums and dice combinations such as any craps, any sevens, two aces, two sixes, and the like.

Sic Bo is a single roll dice game in which players may wager on the sum of the dice. For example, the player may wager on the sum of fifteen without regard to the combination of dice required to form a fifteen, i.e. the wager would win if the dice show 5-5-5, 4-5-6, or 3-6-6. Alternatively or additionally, the player may wager on the combination of dice, for example, wagering on the combination of 5-5-5. Three dice are rolled and all wagers are immediately resolved; that is, there are no multiple roll wagers in Sic Bo.

The drawback of these games is that there is no opportunity to receive a large bonus. Moreover, there is no wager in Craps or Sic Bo on a subgroup of sums wherein each group is mutually exclusive and each group has substantially the same probability of winning.

Thus, there is a need in the art for a dice game which may include a jackpot payout and wagers on a single roll of the dice or on multiple rolls of the dice wherein the wagers are paid or collected based on the sum of the dice and the combination of numbers showing on the dice.

One embodiment of the invention is a set of three dice and a gaming table. Each die has six sides. The first die has one form of sequential even indicia disposed on each of the respective six faces of the first die. The second die has one form of sequential indicia disposed on each of the respective faces of the second die. The third die has one form of sequential odd indicia disposed on each of the respective six faces of the third die. The gaming table is imprinted with the numbers four (4) through twenty-nine (29). Additionally, each of the die may be a different color and the table may be imprinted with additional betting areas of corresponding colors so that side bets may be placed.

Another embodiment of the invention is a method for playing a dice game with three dice, each of which is different from the others. The players wager on the total value of the roll of the dice. The wager may be based on the combined value of the skyward faces of the three dice. The payout may be determined based on the statistical probability of rolling any given total value. The payout may be doubled to all players placing any wager if a particular dice combination is rolled, such as 12-4-1. Additionally, side bets may be placed which will result in a double or triple total payout if the side bet is won. One such side bet that may be placed is wagering which of the three dice will roll the highest number.

A final embodiment of the invention is a method for playing a dice game with three dice. All dice being six sided. The first die being numbered sequentially with only even numbers from two (2) to twelve (12). The second die being numbered sequentially from one (1) to six (6). And the third die being numbered sequentially with only odd numbers from one (1) to eleven (11). The players wager on the total value of the roll of the dice. The wager may be based on the combined value of the skyward faces of the three dice. The payout may be determined based on the statistical probability of rolling any given total value. The payout may be doubled if a particular dice combination is rolled, such as 12-4-1. Side bets may be placed which will result in a double or triple total payout if the side bet is won. One such side bet that may be placed is wagering which of the three dice will roll the highest number. Another such side bet is wagering that a seven (7) or eleven (11) will be rolled and that the die numbered from one (1) to six (6) will display the highest value.