Patent Publication Number: US-2010112531-A1

Title: Safety Poker Game

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The invention relates generally to games. More specifically, the invention is directed to a game of chance relating to employee focus on industry safety procedures. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Businesses are continually faced with a myriad of rising costs. Accordingly, businesses must continually explore methods of reducing costs. The business costs can be fixed or variable. One example of a variable business cost is workers compensation. Typically, a business incurs worker compensation costs when employees are injured on-the-job and subsequently file workers compensation claims. Accordingly, businesses are interested in preventing and lessening the severity of injuries. One example of activities undertaken by businesses to prevent injuries is education of the employees as to proper and safe procedures for accomplishing potentially hazardous work tasks. As the education of the employees is conducted, businesses are then keen to maintain the focus of the employees on the proper and safe procedures. It would be advantageous to provide safety education materials for business employees. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A game includes a game board having a playing surface. The playing surface has a plurality of player boxes and a common card box. Each player box has a name box and a card box. Each name box is configured for a game participant name. 
     A container is configured to contain a plurality of playing cards. The container allows for a blind draw of the playing cards. The container includes a common card. 
     A plurality of playing cards is initially positioned in the container. The drawn playing cards are attached to the card box of each game participant. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is front view of a playing board according to the invention; 
         FIGS. 2   a - 2   c  are plan views of the backs of playing cards, each having a safety-related slogan, used with the playing board of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 2   d - 2   f  are plan views of the fronts of playing cards, each having a safety-related slogan, used with the playing board of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the playing board of  FIG. 1  during game play; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the playing board of  FIG. 1  at the end of game play; 
         FIG. 5  is an alternate embodiment of the playing board of  FIG. 1 , illustrating a focus on a different business issue. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a safety poker game is indicated generally by the reference number  10 . The safety poker game  10  includes a game board  12  having a playing surface  12   a.  As will be explained in more detail below, the game board  12  is configured such that playing cards are attached to the playing surface  12   a . The game board  12  can have any suitable size and shape, and can be made of any suitable material, such as for example cardboard, vinyl or plastic. The playing surface  12   a  can be any surface suitable for writing or marking and attaching playing cards. In the illustrated embodiment, the playing surface  12   a  is a dry erase surface. However, the playing surface  12   a  can be other suitable surfaces. 
     The playing surface  12   a  of the game board  12  includes a plurality of player boxes  14   a - 14   l , a common card box  20  and an optional award box  22   a.  Each of the player boxes,  14   a - 14   l , includes a name box and a card box,  16   a - 16   l  and  18   a  and  18   l , respectively. While the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  illustrates a quantity of twelve player boxes,  14   a - 14   l , it should be understood that the playing surface  12   a  can include any number of player boxes. 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the player boxes  14   a - 14   l , the name boxes  16   a - 16   l , the card boxes  18   a - 18   l  and the common card box  20  have a rectangular shape. However, the player boxes  14   a - 14   l , the name boxes  16   a - 16   l , the card boxes  18   a - 18   l  and the common card box  20  can have other suitable shapes. 
     Optionally, the playing surface  12   a  can include an award box  22   a . The award box  22   a  includes an award title box  22   b  and an award amount box  22   c.  The award title box  22   b  includes award title indicia  22   d.  As still shown in  FIG. 1 , the award title indicia  22   d  provide a title for the award box  22 . However, the award title box  22   b  can contain indicia  22   d  that addresses other subject matter. The award amount box  22   c  includes award amount indicia  22   e  that provides the dollar amount to be awarded during the current game. The award amount indicia  22   e  is shown as $50.00. However, the dollar amount awarded during the game can be more or less than $50.00. 
     The playing surface  12   a  also includes various indicia  24 ,  26 ,  27   a,    27   b  and  28 . The indicia  24 ,  26 ,  27   a,    27   b  and  28  can be any desired message, symbol, slogan or logo. While the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  illustrates the indicia  24 ,  26 ,  27   a,    27   b  and  28 , it should be understood that the indicia  24 ,  26 ,  27   a,    27   b  and  28  is optional and not necessary for the operation of the safety poker game  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the playing surface  12   a  also optionally includes a prior award box  30 . The prior award box  30  is configured to display past winners of the safety poker game  10 . The prior award box  30  includes past winners for a quantity of four months. However, the prior award box  30  can display more or less than four months of winners. While the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  illustrates the prior award box  30 , it should be understood that the prior award box  30  is optional and not necessary for the operation of the safety poker game  10 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2   a - 2   f , the safety poker game  10  is played with standard decks of fifty-two playing cards. The number of decks of playing cards and the number of game boards  12  used depends on the number of game participants. For example, a quantity of one to twelve game participants requires a single deck of playing cards and a single game board  12 . For a quantity of thirteen to twenty four game participants, two decks of playing cards and two game boards  12  are used. 
     Optionally, the fronts and the backs of the playing cards can be marked with indicia. As shown in  FIGS. 2   a - 2   c , the backs of the playing cards,  32   a - 32   c,  include indicia,  34   a - 34   c,  which comprise safety-related short sayings. As shown in  FIGS. 2   d - 2   f , the fronts of the playing cards,  32   d - 32   f,  include indicia,  34   d - 34   f,  which comprise safety-related short sayings. However, the playing cards,  32   a - 32   f,  can include other desired indicia. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the game is started as each game participant is assigned a player box  14   a - 14   k.  In an embodiment, eleven participants are included in this game. Accordingly, the names of the eleven participants are entered into the name boxes  16   a - 16   k.  Player box  14   l  is left blank and is not used. The amount of the award is determined and entered into award amount box  22   c . As indicated above, the amount of the award can be any desired amount. 
     A standard deck of playing cards (not shown) is shuffled and placed into a container (not shown). The container is configured to allow a blind, random selection of the game cards by the game participants. In an embodiment, the container can be a bag made of an opaque material. In other embodiments, the container can be a raffle drum or other devices suitable to allow a blind, random selection of the game cards by the game participants. 
     Sequentially, each game participant draws a playing card  32  from the container. The drawn playing card  32  for each game participant is attached to the respective card box,  18   a - 18   k,  for each game participant. As a first example,  FIG. 3  illustrates a first game participant, BILL M., having drawn a six of hearts as his first playing card  32 . The six of hearts playing card  32  is attached to the card box  18   a  associated with the player box  14   a  for the game participant BILL M. Each game participant continues in this same manner until all of the game participants have selected their first playing cards  32  and all of the playing cards  32  have been attached to the respective card boxes  18   a - 18   k.  The playing cards are attached to the playing surface  12   a  in any suitable manner, such as for example, thumb tacks and adhesive tape. 
     In an embodiment, the safety poker game  10  is configured for play over the course of four consecutive time periods such that a game participant draws one playing card in each time period. The time periods can coincide, for example, with the weekly pay periods of the game participants. Accordingly, a game participant draws one playing card per week for four consecutive weeks thereby allowing one game to be started and completed over the span of consecutive four weeks. However, the time periods can be other periods, such as for example, over a span of a number of days, months, or years. In other embodiments, the time periods can based on any desirable increment, such as for example, the days or weeks spanning a selected business contract or a holiday season. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the safety poker game  10  has completed four time periods. Accordingly, each game participant has drawn four playing cards  32  and each playing card  32  has been attached to the appropriate player&#39;s box,  14   a - 14   k.  At the fourth time period, after each game participant has drawn their last playing card  32 , a common playing card  32  is drawn from the container and attached to the common card box  20 . Each game participant can use the playing cards  32  within their player&#39;s box and the common playing card  32  within the common card box  20  to form their best five-card poker hand. The game participant with the best poker hand wins the award amount  22   e.  As shown in  FIG. 4 , game participant Dale B. has a winning five-card poker hand of three aces. 
     The common card is not drawn until all of the game participants have drawn their fourth (last) playing card  32 . Accordingly, each game participant is unable to predict a winner until the last time period and each game participant has a chance to win, thereby maintaining the interest until the end of the safety poker game  10 . 
     In the event of an injury or accident involving any of the game participants during the four time periods of the safety poker game  10 , all of the playing cards are removed from the player&#39;s boxes  14   a - 14   k  and the game is terminated without a winner. 
     A business using the safety poker game  10  will experience many benefits. First, the business can select and involve each employee involved in a potentially hazardous task in the game. Accordingly, each employee with the potential to experience an accident or injury can be involved. Second, each game participant receives safety-related education, both through the safety-related slogans on the backs of the playing cards and through the safety-related indicia located on the game board  12 . Third, the safety poker game acts as a constant reminder and a constant point of focus, over an extended period of time, as to the importance of safety in the workplace. Fourth, the employees are forced to act as a unit to prevent accidents and injuries. Fifth, any accident or injury incurred by any of the game participants will be known by all of the game participants, thereby instilling an element of peer pressure into the workplace. Sixth, any accident or injury incurred by any of the game participants will have an impact on all of the game participants, thereby reinforcing the safety-related message to all of the game participants. Lastly, the business will benefit from net reduced costs as the cost of the safety poker game  10  will be offset by lower worker compensation claim costs. 
     While the embodiments of the poker game  10  described above concern the business area of safety and worker&#39;s compensation claims, it should be appreciated that other embodiments of the poker game can address additional suitable areas of a business needing improvement. For example, the poker game  10  can address business concerns such as overdue collections, lack of sales, excess inventory, late shipments, or excess cell phone usage. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , an alternate embodiment of the poker game  110  is illustrated. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the indicia  124 ,  126  and  128  has been revised to focus on the business area of sales. The method of playing the poker game  110  is the same in this embodiment as described above. 
     While the invention as been described with reference to particular embodiments, it should be understood that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the essential scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments, but that the invention shall include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims.