Blackjack side bet on different suited cards   

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept is directed to a method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium directed to a side bet that can be used with casino blackjack.

2. Description of the Related Art

The game of blackjack is known in the art. Side bets have been introduced which attempt to induce the player to place more betting action in the hopes of generating additional entertainment for players and additional revenue for casinos.

The game of Paduki is a popular poker variant in which the players\' goal is to make a hand comprising four cards of different suits.

What is needed is a new and entertaining side wager for blackjack that incorporates aspects of the Paduki game.

SUMMARY

It is an aspect of the present invention to provide an exciting casino game.

The above aspects can be obtained by a method that comprises (a) providing a physical gaming table; (b) providing to a player a set of betting circles comprising a heart betting circle, a spade betting circle, a diamond betting circle, and a club betting circle; (c) receiving a main wager from the player; (d) offering a side wager to the player for a chosen suit chosen by the player, the side wager being placed by the player in a corresponding betting circle out of the set of betting circles for the chosen suit; (e) dealing three designated cards for use with the side wager for the player on the gaming table; (e) providing predetermined rules for the side wager comprising a) if the three designated cards and the chosen suit are all different suits then the player wins a first payout on the side wager; (f) resolving the side wager, if placed, in accordance with the predetermined rules; and (g) completing the blackjack game in accordance with predetermined blackjack rules.

These together with other aspects and advantages which will be subsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of implementing a blackjack side wager, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of determining a winning side wager, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3A is a drawing illustrating a gaming table, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a drawing illustrating a betting layout for an individual player, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating exemplary hardware that can be used to implement an electronic version of the methods described herein; and

FIG. 4B is a drawing of an electronic suit generating device, according to an embodiment.

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The present inventive concept relates to a method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium to implement a blackjack side bet. The casino game of blackjack is well known, for example see U.S. Patent publication 2003/0155715 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In general, casino blackjack is played by one or more players at a gaming table against a dealer. The idea is for the player to make a point total closest to 21 without going over 21 (busting). Each player (after making a main wager) is dealt two initial cards (typically face up) and the dealer is also dealt two cards (one face up—the upcard, and one face down—the hole card). The player can stand on his or her initial two cards, or continuously hit (take another card) until the player stands or the player\'s point total is over 21 (upon which the player automatically loses). If the player has not busted, then after the player stands the dealer will play out the dealer\'s hand according to predetermined rules. One set of dealer predetermined rules is as follows: the dealer will continuously hit until the dealer\'s point total is greater than 16. Once the dealer has resolved the dealer\'s hand, the wager is resolved. If the player has busted then the player loses (the main wager). If the player has not busted but the dealer has busted (the dealer\'s point total is over 21) then the player wins (wins even money on the main wager). If both the player and the dealer have not busted, then if the player\'s point total is higher than the dealer\'s point total then the player wins (wins even money on the main wager). If both the player and the dealer have no busted, then if the dealer\'s point total is higher than the player\'s point total then the dealer wins (the player loses the main wager). If the player\'s point total equals the dealer\'s point total, then the main wager pushes (neither wins nor loses). Other options the player may have at his or her disposal is to double down or split. Cards are given their standard numerical value (i.e., aces count as 1 or 11 (whichever makes the best hand), 2\'s-10\'s count as their respective face value, jacks, queens, and kings all count as 10).

The side wager is an optional wager that the player makes when the player is making the main blackjack wager. The side wager can be of any amount, or in one embodiment the casino may cap the side wager at a maximum bet (e.g., $50). The player is betting that four different indicia will be all different suits. The indicia can be on four different cards designated for the purpose of the side bet. The indicia can also be on three different cards designated for the purpose of the side bet along with an initial suit chosen by the player before any of the designated cards are dealt (or revealed).

For example, the four designated cards can be the player\'s two initial cards and the dealer\'s two initial cards. These cards are also used in the blackjack game. As is known in blackjack, the dealer deals a player\'s initial two card hand (typically both face up) and a dealer\'s initial two card hand (typically one face up and one face down). It is when all four cards are revealed (i.e., the dealer\'s face down card is revealed) that the side wager can be resolved. If all four cards are different suits, then the player wins a payout on the side wager. For example if the suits on the four cards are: hearts/clubs/diamonds/spades, then because the player has a “Paduki” the player wins a first payout. In an embodiment, if the player achieves all four of the same suit (e.g., four spades) then the player also wins a payout (typically of a different amount than the Paduki payout).

In a further embodiment, instead of using four dealt cards, three designated cards can be used along with an initially chosen suit chosen by the player. For example, the player can be presented with a set of betting area (such as that illustrated in FIG. 3) wherein the player can choose to place his or her side wager (in the form of chips) in a spade betting area, a heart betting area, a diamond betting area, and a club betting area, which of the four areas is at the choice of the player. In an embodiment, the player would be allowed to play more than one of the betting areas simultaneously (e.g., the player can play from 0-4 betting areas). The betting area chosen by the player to place his or her chips inside is considered the chosen suit. This will be used as the player\'s first suit and is done before the player has viewed any of the designated cards. Then the player can be dealt his or her initial hand (comprising two cards) and the dealer can be dealt his or her initial hand (comprising a visible up card and a downcard). The three designated cards used to evaluate the side wager will be the player\'s two initial cards and the dealer\'s upcard. If the three designated cards all match the same suit as the chosen suit then the player has a paduki and wins a payout on the side wager. If the three designated cards do not all match the chosen suit then the player does not have a paduki. Thus, for example, when a player chooses a chosen suit (either hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) then all of the three designated cards have to match the chosen suit for the player to have a paduki (which wins the player a payout on the side wager).

Table I below is an exemplary paytable that can be used with the embodiment wherein the player chooses a chosen suit. Of course, other payouts can be used and this is merely one example.

TABLE I PAY- HAND # p OUT p*PAYOUT Four diff. suits diff. rank 471744 .09410 6 0.56459 Four same suits diff. rank 75816 .01512 17 0.25709 Four diff. suits same rank 2808 .00056 35 0.01960 Four same suits same rank 260 .00005 200 0.01037 Other 4462692 .89017 −1 −0.89017 1.00000 H/A 3.8513% Std. Dev.: 3.37835 Hit Freq: 10.922%

For example, if a player chooses hearts as the chosen suit (and places his or her side wager in the hearts betting area), then if the three designated cards (the player\'s initial two cards and the dealer\'s upcard) are all of different suits (e.g., diamonds, clubs, spades) but of different ranks, then the player wins a payout of 6:1 (i.e., if the player bet $1 the player wins an additional $6 for a total of $7 to keep), this is “four different suits different rank” from Table I. If the three designated cards are of all different suits and the same rank (e.g., three 7\'s or three kings) then this is considered four different suits with same rank for a payout of $35 (this is “four different suits same rank”) from Table I). It is noted that there is no rank associated with the betting areas (only a suit associated with each betting area), thus the player needs to match three ranks of the designated cards to win the same rank bonus.

If the player chooses hearts as the chosen suit and the three designated cards are hearts (but of different rank), then this is considered “four same suits different rank” in Table I and the player wins a payout of $17. If the player chooses hearts as the chosen suit and the three designated cards are hears of equal rank, then this is considered “four same suits same rank” in Table I for a payout of $200.

While in the above examples hearts was the chosen suit, it can be appreciated that the player can chose any of the four suits as the chosen suit (by placing a chip in the corresponding betting area) and the paytable illustrated in Table I can be used. “Different suits” means that the three designated cards plus the chosen suit are all different suits, and “same suits” means that the three designated cards plus the chosen suit are all the same suit.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of implementing a blackjack side wager, according to an embodiment.

The method can begin with operation 100, which receives the side wager from the player. If the embodiment being implemented uses four cards, then a single side wager betting area is used to receive the player\'s side wager. If the embodiment being implemented uses three cards with a player\'s initial choice of suit, then a set of betting areas (such as illustrated in FIG. 3B) can be used to receive the side wager. The main blackjack wager can also be placed during this operation. Multiple players typically pay simultaneously at a blackjack table, and each player can place their own respective side wager.

From operation 100, the method proceeds to operation 102, which deals the initial player\'s hand and the initial dealer\'s hand. The initial player\'s hand is typically dealt using two face up cards (although in another embodiment they can be dealt face down). The initial dealer\'s hand is typically dealt one card face up (the up-card) and one card face down (the hole card).

From operation 102, the method proceeds to operation 104, which determines whether the player has a predetermined combination which wins a payout on the side wager. For example, a paytable such as Table I can be used to list a number of predefined winning conditions. All initial combinations which do not qualify as a winning condition would be considered a losing side wager.

If in operation 104, the player has a winning predetermined combination, then the method proceeds to operation 106, which pays the player a payout based on the side wager (typically a multiple of the side wager).

If in operation 104, the player does not have a winning predetermined combination, then the method proceeds to operation 108, wherein the player loses the side wager and the side wager place by the player in operation 100 is taken by the house.

From operation 106 or 108, the method proceeds to operation 110, which completes the blackjack game using known blackjack rules and resolves the main wager.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the side wager can be resolved before the blackjack game is completed and the main wager is resolved. In another embodiment, the side wager would not be resolved until after (or at the same time of) the main wager is resolved.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of determining a winning side wager, according to an embodiment. Operations 200-206 are a more detailed view of operations 104-108 from FIG. 1.

If in operation 200, the player has four different suits (clubs, hearts, diamonds, spades) on the four designated indicia (either four designated cards or three designated cards plus the chosen suit as indicated by the indicia on the betting area used by the player to place his or her chips), then the method proceeds to operation 204 wherein the player wins the side wager (with a payout determined by a paytable).

If it is determined in operation 200 that the player does not have four different suits, then the method proceeds to operation 202, wherein it is determined whether the player has four same suits (either four designated cards or three designated cards plus the chosen suit as indicated by the indicia on the betting area used by the player to place his or her chips), then the method proceeds to operation 204.

If in operation 202 the player does not have four same suits, then the method proceeds to operation 206, wherein the player loses the side wager.

It is noted that in the embodiment where four cards can be used for the designated cards, the four cards can be one of: a) the dealer\'s two initial cards and the player\'s two initial cards; b) the player\'s two initial cards and the dealer\'s upcard and the first card dealt after the player\'s two initial cards are dealt; c) the player\'s two initial cards and the dealer\'s upcard and the card dealt immediately before the player\'s first initial card is dealt; or any other combination of four cards used in the blackjack game. The designated cards used to resolve the side wager should be predefined and cannot be randomly chosen once cards are dealt on the table. In a further embodiment, a mechanical/electronic suit generator can be located on the gaming table and used to generate a suit. The suit generator can for example be a dice that is rolled by the dealer (e.g., an 8 sided dice with each unique suit on 2 sides), a wheel that can stop with equal probability on indicate of one of the four suits, an electronic display that will display a randomly chosen suit by an electronic random number generator. Thus, the player\'s initial two cars plus the dealer\'s upcard plus the suit on the suit generator can be used to resolve the side wager. The suit on the suit generator can be used with a same paytable as in Table I. For example, if the player is dealt as his or her initial hand: 3 spades/5 spades and the dealer\'s upcard is 10 spades and the suit generator generates a suit of: spades, then the player has a paduki and wins a payout of 6:1.

FIG. 3A is a drawing illustrating a gaming table, according to an embodiment.

A physical gaming table 300 has seven individual betting layouts to accommodate seven players simultaneously (although of course any number of players can be accommodated at a single table such as 1-10). A player\'s initial hand 302 and a dealer\'s initial hand 301 is shown.

FIG. 3B is a drawing illustrating a betting layout for an individual player, according to an embodiment.

A main wager betting circle 310 is used to place the main wager. The main wager is dependent upon the outcome of the blackjack game, and can be subject to further wager(s) such as doubling down, splitting, etc. A set of four side wager betting areas, a club betting area 311, a heart betting area 312, a diamond betting area 313 and a spade betting area 314. The player would choose which suit the player wishes as his or her chosen suit and place their chips (the side wager) in the corresponding betting area. The player can player any number betting areas as he or she wishes (from 0 to 4 in any combination).

Some examples will now be presented of how this game would work. Jim places a $5 main wager on blackjack and a $1 side wager in the ‘hearts’ box (see FIG. 3B). Jim is now dealt (as the player\'s initial blackjack hand) a 2-hearts/3-hearts and the dealer\'s upcard is 10-hearts. Jim wins (according to Table I) a payout of 17:1 or $17 on the side wager. The blackjack game would then continue (the player can win or lose the $5 main wager on the blackjack game, it would not affect the side wager). If the three cards all had the same rank (e.g., all 7\'s) then Jim would have won a 200:1 payout on the side wager.

Another example will now be presented. Jim places a $5 main wager and a $1 side wager in the ‘spades’ box (see FIG. 3B). Jim is now dealt as Jim\'s initial blackjack hand a 2-spades/10-diamonds and the dealer\'s upcard is a jack-spades. Jim loses the $1 side wager (since all four indicia are not the same suit). The blackjack game now continues.

Another example will be presented. Jim places a $5 main wager and a $1 side wager in the ‘spades’ box (see FIG. 3B0. Jim is now dealt a 2-diamonds/4-hearts and the dealer\'s upcard is a 8-clubs. Jim has a paduki (the suits of all four indicia are different) and thus Jim wins a 6:1 payout ($6) on the side wager. The blackjack game now continues. If the three cards all had the same rank, then Jim would have won a 35:1 payout on the side wager.

A further example will now be presented of the embodiment which uses a single betting area for the side wager and an electronic suit generating device. Jim places a $5 main wager and a $1 side wager (only one side wager betting area is provided). The dealer deals Jim a 2-diamonds/4-hearts and the dealer\'s upcard is a 5-spades. The dealer now activates the electronic suit generating device which displays clubs. Jim has a paduki (since the suits of all 4 indicia are different) and wins a payout of $6. The other payout options (such as those in Table I) are all still available in this embodiment, for example if the ranks of all three cards were the same, then Jim would have won a 35:1 payout on the side wager. The main blackjack game now continues.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating hardware that can be used to implement the wagering methods, according to an embodiment. The hardware can be, for example, an electronic gaming machine (EGM) used in casinos. The hardware can also be a personal computer, playing the game using the Internet at an Internet casino for real money.

A processing unit 400 (such as a microprocessor and any associated components) is connected to an output device 401 (such as an LCD monitor, touch screen, CRT, etc.) and an input device 402 (e.g., buttons, a touch screen, a keyboard, mouse, etc.) The processing unit 400 can also be connected to a network connection 403, which can connect the electronic gaming device to a computer communications network such as the Internet, a LAN, WAN, etc. The processing unit 400 is also connected to a RAM 404 and a ROM 405. The processing unit 400 is also connected to a storage device 406 which can be a DVD-drive, CD-ROM, flash memory, etc. A computer readable storage medium 407 can store a program which can control the electronic device to perform any of the methods described herein. The processing unit 400 can also be connected to a financial apparatus 408 which can receive cash and convert the received cash into playable credits for use by the player when playing the electronic device. When the player decides to cash out any remaining credits, the financial apparatus 408 can issue coins or a cashless ticket (voucher) for the remaining credits which is redeemable by the player.

FIG. 4B is a drawing of an electronic suit generating device, according to an embodiment.

In the embodiment where one of the four indicia is generated electronically, then a device such as illustrated in FIG. 4B can be used. In this embodiment, only one betting area is used (instead of the four illustrated in FIG. 3B) for the side wager, wherein the four indicia can be selected from the player\'s two cards, the dealer\'s upcard, and a suit displayed on the electronic suit generating device.

The suit generating device 410 can be a handheld device that can sit on top of the gaming table 300. The internal hardware can be similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3A, although there is no need for the network connection or the financial apparatus. The processing unit would execute instructions to pick and display a random suit out of the four possible suits. A LCD (or other output device) 411 can be used to output the random suit. A button 412 (or other input device) can be pressed by the dealer which will instruct the processing unit to generate and display a new random suit. Not pictured is an on/off button.

The side wager described herein can also be played as a main game instead of a side wager in blackjack as described above. For example, the player makes a wager on four designated indicia (as described herein) which pays using a paytable such as that illustrated in Table I (thus in this embodiment there is no simultaneous blackjack game).

The side wager described herein can also be used as a side wager for other games besides blackjack, for example THREE CARD POKER (described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,916 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), LET IT RIDE (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), or other games. For example, the game described herein can be used for THREE CARD POKER in a same manner as blackjack. The player can be presented with four side wager betting areas (as illustrated in FIG. 3B) and the player\'s three card hand (dealt to each player) is used in the same manner as the player\'s initial two card hand plus the dealer\'s upcard (in the blackjack embodiment) in order to resolve the side wager. For LET IT RIDE, the player can also be presented with the four side wager betting areas and each player\'s three card hand is also used in a like manner.

It is noted that the methods described herein are typically played with a single deck of cards, although in other embodiments more than one deck can be used (from 1 o 10 decks). Cards can be shuffled or a continuous shuffling machine (CSM) can be used. A standard deck of 52 cards can be used, as well as other kinds of decks, such as Spanish decks, decks with wild cards, etc. The operations described herein can be performed in any sensible order. Furthermore, numerous different variants of house rules can be applied.

Methods described herein can also be played on a physical table using physical cards and physical chips used to place wagers. Such physical chips can be directly redeemable for cash.

Initial cash deposits can be made into the electronic gaming machine which converts cash into electronic credits. Wagers can be placed in the form of electronic credits, which can be cashed out for real coins or a ticket (e.g., ticket-in-ticket-out) which can be redeemed at a casino cashier or kiosk for real cash and/or coins.

Any description of a component or embodiment herein also includes hardware, software, and configurations which already exist in the prior art and may be necessary to the operation of such component(s) or embodiment(s).

Further, the operations described herein can be performed in any sensible order. Any operations not required for proper operation can be optional. Further, all methods described herein can also be stored on a computer readable storage to control a computer.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification and, thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.