Beat the dealer 21 card game

Abstract

A method of playing the card game of Twenty-one or “Black Jack” involving a variation modification which allows a player to place a side wager in addition to the initial wager or ante, wherein the side wager allows a player to win if one of the printed cards grouped together on the layout, referred to as the “players hand”, matches the dealer's up card. This additional wager is paid according to predetermined odds, such as two-to-one odds, or three-to-two odds. The house only wins the side wager if there is no matching card. The dealer now reconciles the payoff or collection of the side wagers according to house policy. The side wager variation is now complete and the Twenty-one game is played out according to the conventional method of play and the normal winning and losing hands are paid or collected by the dealer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/699,341 filed Jul. 14, 2005

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a variation modified Twenty-One game, and more particularly to a variation modified Twenty-One game in which an additional wager is permitted with the outcome of the additional wager determined by the outcome of the dealer's face up card.

2. Description of the Prior Art

“Twenty-one”, also known as “Blackjack”, has historically been the most widely played card game of chance at gaming establishments. Each round of the game is a contest between each of the players respectively and the dealer.

Under the conventional rules of the game of twenty-one, the goal of the game is for one or more player's to achieve a hand which has a final number count closest to 21, without exceeding 21, than the final number count of the dealer's hand. Each card dealt contributes to the final number count in accordance with its face value, except all face cards count as 10 and an ace may count as either 1 or 11. The play of the game involves each player, as well as the dealer, receiving a first of two cards. Depending upon the particular rules of a given casino, the first card dealt the dealer normally represents his “up” card and is dealt to him face up. The second card dealt the dealer is considered his “hole” card and is presented to the dealer face down, usually during a normal deal. Furthermore, depending upon the particular house rules, each of the first two cards dealt the player may be face up or face down. In establishing the final number count and attempting to come as close to 21 as possible without exceeding 21, both the players and the dealer are allowed to “stand” on the number count of their first two cards or receive additional cards or “hits.” Each player may stand or hit on any number count of the first two cards. However, if any player decides to take additional cards or “hits” such player “busts” if the final number count exceeds 21. Any player's or dealer's hand that “busts” is considered a losing hand and is removed from consideration in the further play of the game. The dealer is normally placed under the additional requirement of being forced to take one or more hits if his number count is under 17. If the final number count of the first two cards dealt the dealer is between 17 and 21, the dealer is generally prohibited from taking a hit unless house rules provide otherwise. Typical betting involved under the conventional rules of the game of twenty-one require each player to make an original wager or ante. The player wins the amount of his initial wager from the house if the final number count of his hand is greater than that of the dealer's hand without exceeding 21 or if the dealer busts. If the player receives a “Black Jack” or reaches the final number count of 21 with his first two cards, he is paid a greater amount than his initial wager, normally in the range of one and one-half to two times the initial wager.

One advantage of the house which exists in the conventional play of the game is that the dealer shows his total number count of his first two cards only after all the players decide to stand, take hits or bust. As a result one or all of the players may be eliminated prior to the dealer determining his final number count. After all of the players have taken hits or have decided to stand on their hands, the dealer “stands” or “hits” based on the conventional rules of the game. After the final number count of the dealer's hand has been established, it is compared to the final number count of the hands of the existing players. All player's hands having a final number count closer to 21 than that of the dealer win in accordance with the conventional or normal payout, based on their initial ante or wager.

There are other variations normally found and accepted under the conventional rules of casino Twenty-one. Such variations include the well-known procedure of splitting pairs. If the player's first two cards are pairs, meaning that they have the same numerical count, they may be “split” thereby giving the player the opportunity to create two hands. The player is normally required to put up an additional ante bet equal in amount to his initial wager or ante and is thereafter dealt a second two cards, with the second card of one of the hands either being dealt immediately, or after the first hand is played out, depending upon the house rules. Each of the second two cards is applied to a different one of the split cards so as to form two complete hands for the player. The player than proceeds in his play by standing or taking hits on each of the two hands as set forth above. In most casinos the player is given the added opportunity of creating even more hands if either or both of the second two cards dealt the player also has the same number count as the split pair of cards.

Other variations normally accepted under the conventional rules of Twenty-one include allowing a player to “double down” if he is holding a total number count of 10 or 11. The player may double his original wager and take only a single additional hit. The player is not allowed to take additional hits in order to increase his final number count. If the player's final number count is closer to 21 than that of the dealer's hand, he wins the total amount wagered.

Yet another accepted version under the conventional rules of Twenty-One involves “insurance” wherein the player may make an insurance bet, often equal to half of his initial ante or wager if the face card of the dealer's hand is an ace. If the dealer's hand reaches the number count of 21 with his first two cards, the player loses his initial ante or wager, unless the player also has a natural 21, but receives twice the amount of his insurance bet.

These and other variations are generally accepted in playing conventional casino Twenty-one in order to make the game more exiting and seemingly more attractive from a payout standpoint to the player. However, in order to increase the popularity of the game by raising the excitement level of the players, additional variations in the method of play, not normally considered within the conventional rules, have been proposed. Such variations include the creation of a progressive jackpot or payout, at least a portion of which is paid to a player who obtains certain, predetermined arrangements of cards, in his first two cards or first successively dealt number of cards. Other modifications or variations involve allowing a player to modify his wager and/or make a side bet so he may selectively choose to bet that either a player's hand or a dealer's hand will be the winning hand. Other unconventional “side bet” variations of the game involve the player making a side wager on the number of hits that the addition, a player may make a side bet on whether he will receive a “stiff” hand wherein the term “stiff” is defined as occurring when the first two cards dealt to a player have a total number count of 12 to 16 or whether the player will be dealt either a non-pair “stiff” hand or a pair of aces.

Twenty-one has remained remarkably unchanged over the years. There have been a few other modifications proposed to the basic game, but none of these modifications have achieved universal popularity.

What is needed is a side bet game associated with twenty-one that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the side bet wager should give the player an opportunity to win when the dealer has a ten-value up card showing. Prior to the start of Twenty-one, even before the first card is dealt, the players are concerned with the numerical value of the dealer's up card as to whether the card is a ten valued card in which case their chances of making wagers on conventional variations that depend on the dealer holding a “stiff,” i.e. up card with a value between 2 and 6, in order to provide successful outcomes, and/or the chances of winning the hand are greatly diminished.

The conventional game of Twenty-one has a disadvantage, from the casino's standpoint, in that the house “edge” in the game is extremely small against players who do nothing more than play what is called the “basic strategy”, a system of play which defines the best action (hit, stand, double-down, etc.) the player should take in each playing situation. More and more players are becoming familiar with “basic strategy” with the result that the game is not as profitable as the casinos would like. In addition, since the betting action is limited, the profitability intake for the casino over a period of time is smaller than it would be if additional betting action is possible.

There is a need for the gaming establishment to increase the amount of revenue generated by the game of Twenty-one without simply increasing the size of the wagers made by the player.

There is a need in Twenty-One for a modification in which the player has the opportunity to win more than once during each round of play. It is an object of the present invention to provide a form of Twenty-one in which the player places a side bet wager at the start of the game and knows what the results of the side bet is as soon as the dealer deals himself an up card.

It is a feature of the present invention to have a side bet that is easily understood, and does not require any formal training for the dealers, and also does not slow down or compromise the flow of the Twenty-one game.

It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a super variation that will increase the “drop and hold” potential revenue twofold. Likewise the player is provided with multiple opportunities to win.

This unprecedented method of the present invention of combining two house advantages will challenge the notion about proposed Twenty-one modifications not being able to achieve universal popularity.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present variation modification to allow a player to protect the Twenty-One hand that he is dealt by betting on the dealer's up-card. On the layout in front of the dealer is an area that has indicia placed in a semi-circle that is centered on the layout that informs the players of a specific group of cards that represent the “Players Hand.” It is a community group of cards used by any player electing to wager on the side bet. The “Players Hand” consists of 4 tens, 4 jacks, 4 queens, 4 kings, and 4 aces. A player electing to wager on the “Players Hand” is betting that the dealer's up card will match a card in the “Players Hand” and that he will be paid at payoff odds of 2 to 1, or at 3 to 2. Having these side bet payoffs will add further excitement to the game. The player will now welcome the appearance of the dealer's once dreaded high card as this card will now place the player in a position that no matter whether he wins, ties, or loses his Twenty-One hand he will still come out a winner. The player's anticipation of having a losing hand is now reversed. The player is now on the dealer's side, rooting for the dealer to turn up a high card. The player can now sit back and enjoy playing his Twenty-One hand. If the player does not win the side bet, he knows that he has a better chance of beating a nine or lower dealer card than he would having to win against a face card.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of play of the game which increases the effective number of hands that can be played in the same amount of time.

It is a feature of the present invention to provide the player with a side bet that is easy to understand; does not require any formal training requirements for the dealers, floor personnel, of for surveillance, and does not require player decision making during play.

It is an advantage of the present invention that the potential revenue to the gaming establishment can be increased because more hands per hour are provided due to the addition of side wagers.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the ensuing description and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention; there is shown a top plan view of a table felt used while playing Twenty-one; the table felt having indicia provided thereon for making a side bet of the present invention; and a view of the “players hand.”

FIG. 2 is a view of the three markers used to identify the results of the dealer's up card to the players using a preferred version of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is generally indicated a table felt 10 that is used while playing Twenty-one according to the principles of the present invention. As shown, the table felt 10 has a layout of indicia imprinted thereon that is substantially similar to the layout of a standard Twenty-one table felt. More particularly, the table 10 has circular indicia 24 provided for designating where each player places a wager used to play Twenty-one. Also, circular indicia 22 is provided on the table felt 10 for designating where each player may place a side bet wager. Table felt 10 also has written indicia which spells out some of the basic rules of Twenty-one, such that “blackjack pays 3 to 2 and insurance pays 2 to 1,” respectively. Additionally written indicia is placed on the table felt 10 that spells “dealer must hit on all 16's, and stand on all 17's. Above the written indicia is a semicircle containing the “player's hand” 18. The “player's hand” 18 is made up of twenty miniature playing card indicia which are displayed on the semicircle consisting of tens, jacks, queens, kings, and aces (See FIG. 1). Centered above the “player's hand” 18 is a rectangular indicia 20 that is used by the dealer for the use of circular markers (See FIG. 2) to indicate to the players what the result of the side bet is. If the dealer's up card matches any black ace that is part of the “player's hand” 18 the dealer will place a green marker having “2:1” indicia 26 on the marker location indicia 20. If the dealer's up card matches any card other than a black ace that is part of the “player's hand” 18 the dealer will place a yellow marker having “3:2” indicia 26 on the marker location indicia 20. If the dealer's up card does not match any card on the “player's hand” 18 the dealer will place a red marker having “NO MATCH” indicia 30 on the marker location indicia 20. Players placing wagers to play Twenty-one should also place side bet wagers at the same time before any cards are dealt. The specific rules of Twenty-one pertinent to the present invention will be discussed in greater detail below as the detailed description of the invention proceeds.

To describe the operation of the invention, set forth in the following are the rules of play:

At commencement, a single deck is shuffled, and presented to a randomly selected player who cuts the deck. In this preferred embodiment only a single round is played with the cards having to be re-shuffled. An alternative to the use of a single deck is the use of a continuous shuffler. Use of this device does not require pre-cutting of the cards and since after every round of play the cards are placed back in the shuffler the games can proceed in a continuous manner.

Players 12 are seated in front of their respective Twenty-one betting circle indicia 24 and side bet indicia 22. Each player 12 places a wager on their Twenty-one indicia 24. The side bet is an optional wager therefore the player 12 may or may not place a side bet indicia 22 wager.

After all of the players have placed their wagers, the dealer 14 now deals one card to the player 12, one card to the dealer 14, one more card to the player 12, and one more card to the dealer 14. Both of the cards to the player 12 are face up whereas one of the cards to the dealer 14 is face up and the other card is face down. This face up card defines the “winning” or “losing” outcome of the side bet 22 wager. If the dealers 14 face up card matches a card from the “player's hand” 18 the dealer 14 will select a marker to place in the marker location 20 that properly identifies the results of the side bet wager. There are three possible results of the card matchup between the dealer's up card and the “player's hand” 18. (1) if the matching card is one of the black aces the dealer would select the green marker 26 that identifies the payoff odds as paying 2 to 1 and places the green marker 26 in the marker location 20; (2) if the matching card is not one of the black aces, the dealer will select the yellow marker 28 that identifies the payoff odds as paying 3 to 2 and places the yellow marker 28 in the marker location 20; and (3) if there is no match the dealer will select the red marker 30 that identifies the house as being the winner and places the red marker 30 in the marker location 30 and would immediately proceed to collect all of the side bet wagers 22. If a green or yellow marker had been placed in the marker location 20 the dealer in order to maintain the flow of the game would reserve paying the side bets until the conclusion of the game. At this point the dealer continues dealing the Twenty-One game according to the conventional method of play. At the end of the game the dealer would pay the player his side wager first and then pay the player the normal winning or collection from the Twenty-One game.

My invention has been disclosed in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof, which provides an improved playing card casino game system of great novelty and utility. Various changes, modifications, and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention encompass such changes and modifications.

Claims

1. A method of including an optional separate wagering feature in a standard game of Twenty-One comprising the steps of:

a) a player making a first wager to participate in the standard game of Twenty-One;

b) a player making a second wager, at the time that the first wager is made, on the dealer's initial up card;

c) the player participating in the standard game of Twenty-One conducted according to the standard method of play;

d) the player participating in a second wager that the dealer's initial up card will be a ten, jack, queen, king, or ace;

e) the player will win on his second wager at predetermined payoff odds of two-to-one if the dealer's initial up card is any black ace.

f) the player will win on his second wager at predetermined payoff odds of three-to-two if the dealer's initial up card is any ten, jack, queen, king, or red ace;

g) the player will lose his second wager if the dealer's initial up card is not a ten, a face card, or an ace;

h) an addition, to the typical Twenty-One layout, is the placement of 20 miniature playing cards printed side by side inside a semicircle;

i) an addition of three colored markers used by the dealer to validate the second wager outcome;

j) a restriction placed on the game variation that only a single deck or a continuous shuffler be used in the play of the game;

k) a player's first wager limits and second wager limits are determined by the house rules.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein the dealer upon turning up his up card will immediately proceed to validate the results of the second wager by placing a winning or losing marker at the center of the layout.

3. A method as in claim 2, wherein if the up card is a black ace the dealer places a green marker showing 2 to 1 payoff odds.

4. A method as in claim 2, wherein if the up card is a ten, jack, queen, king, or a red ace the dealer places a yellow marker showing 3 to 2 payoff odds.

5. A method as in claim 2, wherein if the up card is not a ten, jack, queen, king, or an ace the dealer places a red marker showing that there is no match.