''CARDS AND CARD GAME''

Abstract

This patent relates to novel playing cards and games that can be played with those cards. The novel cards have the suit on one side and the card's value on the other. Thus, when they are dealt, the player will know the suit of some or all cards in his hand, but will not know the value.

Description

[0001] This patent relates to a novel card game and the associated novel cards. Typically playing cards have four suits and a series of values from 2 through ace. Traditionally, a card's value and the suit are displayed on one side of the card and the card back generally has a non-descriptive back (although there are some playing cards that “magicians” use that display the value and/or suit in a code on the card back).

[0002] The difference between the current invention and prior art playing cards is the suit is displayed on one side of the card and the value is on the other side. This configuration allows cards to be dealt so that the suit is displayed, but the value of the card is not. This gives the player some additional information about his odds of winning and may help determine the value of his bet.

[0003] The cards described in this patent could also be used with the applicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 10/015,314, as described in more detail below.

[0004] This invention can be used with traditional (i.e., non-electronic) playing cards or could be used with video gambling machines.

[0005] Another version of the invention allows some of the cards to have traditional, non-descriptive backs and some cards have the novel cards with the suit on one side and the value on the other, which I will refer to as split representation. In the video version of these games where only some of the cards that have the split representation, the cards could be changed cards from one game to the next to prevent the player from getting an unfair advantage. For example, if the seven of spades used a traditional representation (i.e., suit and value on the same side) in one game it could be changed in the next hand so that spades was shown on one side and the seven was shown on the other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] “Traditional” Video Poker”

[0007] FIG. 1 shown how this innovative card game would be played on a “traditional” video poker machine.

[0008] In this game the player would be dealt five cards, cards 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. The novel aspect of the game is that the player would know the suit of all five cards but would not know the value, which would be “face down” and hidden. The player could the bet, discard certain cards and get new cards to replace the cards he had discarded. The cards would then be revealed, as shown in 10A, 20A, 30A, 40A and 50A The resulting hand could be compared to a paytable and the machine would pay out depending on the paytable. For example a pair of jacks or better would pay two to one.

[0009] As shown in FIG. 2, this game could be modified so that only some of the cards are split representation and the remaining cards are traditional. In this Figure cards 80 and 90 are traditional cards and the others are the novel cards of this invention. The game would then be played in a conventional manner. Bets could be made and new cards drawn.

[0010] The mix of traditional and split representation cards could be changed from game to game to prevent players from knowing in advance the value of the cards.

[0011] Multihand Game

[0012] One version of the game is similar to the game described in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/015,314. In this version of the game, shown in FIG. 3, the all or some of the cards could be split representation. The player would then know the suit of some or all of the cards and would be able to exchange cards between the hands as described in more detail in that application. FIG. 3 shows exchanging card 300 with 380 and 340 for 420. This would give the player a flush in hand D.

[0013] If all the cards' suits were known and the player could freely exchange cards, however, the game might be too easy because the player could almost always exchange cards to form a flush (i.e., all cards of the same suit). As shown in FIG. 3, the player would easily be able to exchange his cards a form a flush and win. To make the game more difficult, the machine could limit the number of exchanges to one or two cards, for example, or it could restrict the exchange to opposing cards (number 310 and 410 for example), or it could limit the exchange to corner cards. As described in more detail in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/015,314, in alternate versions of the game bets could be required before an exchange were permitted. In these versions, the player would in effect have to buy the right to exchange cards. In another version, the player would have to pay for each hand (e.g., on quarter for one hand, four quarters would get four hands, etc.)

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, to make the game more challenging the corner cards could be conventional and the interior cards could be the novel split representation. This arrangement would allow the player to know the suit of only three of his five cards. He could then exchange cards, bet and then reveal the corner cards. Additional betting could take place either before or after the card exchange, and the card exchange could take place before the corner cards were revealed.

[0015] Alternatively, the corner cards could be conventional and could be dealt face up. In this embodiment, the player would know the suit and value of the corner cards (two cards in each hand) and would know the suit, but not the value of the interior cards. Betting to could then take place and the player could exchange some or all of the cards.

[0016] A similar version would be to invert the layout. The interior cards could be conventional and the corner cards could be the split representation.

[0017] Although a diamond shape is illustrated, other shapes could be used, as could a row and column matrix.

[0018] Using the novel aspect of this card game, having the suit on one side and the value on the other could lead to a variety of other games that would be covered by the claims.

Claims

1. Playing cards, or an electronic representation, that have the suit on one side and the value on the other side.

2. A deck of playing cards, or an electronic representation, where some of the cards have the suit on one side and the value on the other, and the remaining cards have the suit and value on the same side and a non-descriptive back.

3. A poker game where cards are dealt in a diamond pattern, some or all of the cards are split representation, the player is allowed to exchange cards between hands, and the player is paid off according to a paytable.

4. A poker game where cards are dealt in a diamond pattern, the interior cards of the pattern are split representation cards and the corner cards are conventional cards dealt face down, the player is permitted to exchange some or all of the cards and is paid off according to a paytable.

5. A poker game where n hands of cards are dealt where some or all of the cards are split representation cards, one or more bets can be placed and the player is paid off according to a paytable.

6. A method of playing poker where some or all of the cards are split representation.