Patent Publication Number: US-2009221339-A1

Title: Computer-implemented method and gaming apparatus for playing a card game

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 097107285, filed on Mar. 3, 2008. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a gaming apparatus, more particularly to a computer-implemented method and gaming apparatus for playing a card game. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     According to conventional blackjack rules, aces can be either 1 or 11, tens and face cards count 10, and other cards count their respective face value. In each round of a blackjack game, a player places a bet and then a dealer deals a pair of player cards and a pair of dealer cards. The player goes first and plays the player cards by taking additional cards if desired by the player. If a total value associated with dealt player cards is higher than 21, which is called busting, the player loses this round. If a total value associated with the two dealer cards is less than 17, another dealer card is dealt. If the total value associated with dealt player cards is higher than the total value associated with the dealt dealer cards without busting, or if the total value associated with the dealt dealer cards busts, the player wins this round. 
     Blackjack is a popular card game, and players need careful deliberation to win blackjack games. However, the wager of blackjack is not diverse, and payouts for winning wagers are not much. Consequently, there is a need to provide a card game with various wagers to promote player excitement. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a computer-implemented method and gaming apparatus for playing a card game with various wagers. 
     According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method for playing a card game. The computer-implemented method comprises the steps of:
         a) providing a gaming apparatus that includes a user interface;   b) allowing a player to place a first bet for a first outcome and an optional second bet for a second outcome via the user interface;   c) dealing a pair of player cards and a pair of dealer cards from a plurality of simulated playing cards, and showing the dealt cards on the user interface;   d) dealing at least one other player card from the simulated playing cards in response to a card request made by the player through the user interface;   e) dealing another dealer card from the simulated playing cards if a total value associated with the pair of dealer cards dealt in step c) is less than a predetermined value;   f) determining the first outcome based on a total value associated with the dealt player cards and a total value associated with the dealt dealer cards, and with reference to predetermined card game rules, settling the first bet placed by the player in step b) according to the first outcome; and   g) if the player placed the second bet for the second outcome in step b), and if another dealer card was dealt in step e), determining the second outcome based on whether said another dealer card dealt in step e) conforms with a predetermined playing card criterion, and settling the second bet placed by the player in step b) according to the second outcome.       

     According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product for a gaming apparatus that includes a user interface and a processing unit coupled to the user interface. The computer program product is adapted to configure the processing unit to perform consecutive steps of a method for playing a card game, and comprises: 
     a machine readable storage medium comprising:
         a first code that allows a player to place a first bet for a first outcome and an optional second bet for a second outcome via the user interface;   a second code for dealing an initial pair of player cards and an initial pair of dealer cards from a plurality of simulated playing cards, and for showing the dealt cards on the user interface;   a third code for dealing at least one other player card from the simulated playing cards in response to a card request made by the player through the user interface;   a fourth code for dealing another dealer card from the simulated playing cards if a total value associated with the initial pair of dealt dealer cards is less than a predetermined value;   a fifth code for determining the first outcome based on a total value associated with the dealt player cards and a total value associated with the dealt dealer cards, and with reference to predetermined card game rules, for settling the first bet placed by the player according to the first outcome; and   a sixth code for, if the player placed the second bet for the second outcome, and if said another dealer card was dealt, determining the second outcome based on whether said another dealt dealer card conforms with a predetermined playing card criterion, and for settling the second bet placed by the player according to the second outcome.       

     According to yet another aspect of the invention, a gaming apparatus for playing a card game comprises: 
     a user interface; and 
     a processing unit coupled to said user interface and operable so as to
         allow a player to place a first bet for a first outcome and an optional second bet for a second outcome via said user interface,   deal an initial pair of player cards and an initial pair of dealer cards from a plurality of simulated playing cards, and show the dealt cards on said user interface,   deal at least one other player card from the simulated playing cards in response to a card request made by the player through said user interface,   deal another dealer card from the simulated playing cards if a total value associated with the initial pair of dealt dealer cards is less than a predetermined value,   determine the first outcome based on a total value associated with the dealt player cards and a total value associated with the dealt dealer cards, and with reference to predetermined card game rules, settle the first bet placed by the player according to the first outcome, and   if the player placed the second bet for the second outcome, and if said another dealer card was dealt, determine the second outcome based on whether said another dealt dealer card conforms with a predetermined playing card criterion, and settle the second bet placed by the player according to the second outcome.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of the preferred embodiment of a plurality of gaming apparatuses according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart to illustrate the preferred embodiment of a computer-implemented method for playing a card game according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart to illustrate sub-steps of step  450  of the preferred embodiment of the computer-implemented method. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiment of a gaming apparatus  3  according to the present invention is adapted for allowing a player to play a card game with reference to black jack rules. The gaming apparatus  3  includes a user interface, a processing unit  34 , and a network connecting unit  33 . 
     In this embodiment, the user interface includes a display unit  31  and an input unit  32 . Preferably, the display unit  31  is, but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display used for showing a scene of the card game. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the display unit  31  can also be a cathode ray tube monitor, a plasma display panel, etc. The scene of the card game displayed by the display unit  31  includes a betting interface and a plurality of simulated playing cards. The betting interface includes a plurality of simulated chips and a simulated card game layout. Moreover, the input unit  32  is, but is not limited to, a plurality of buttons operable so as to receive game-playing commands from the player. The input unit  32  can also be integrated with the display unit  31  as a touch screen, or any other player-operable mechanism. Preferably, the input unit  32  is operable to allow the player to place a first bet for a first outcome and an optional second bet for a second outcome. 
     The first outcome indicates that the player wins the first bet when a total value associated with dealt player cards is higher than a total value associated with dealt dealer cards without going over 21. The second outcome indicates that the player wins the second bet when another dealer card dealt from the simulated playing cards is a face card (i.e., J, Q and K), and indicates that the player loses the second bet when another dealer card is not a face card. Game processes and rules for playing the card game will be described in greater detail in the succeeding paragraphs. 
     In this embodiment, the network connecting unit  33  is a network interface card coupled to the processing unit  34  and operable to permit a plurality of the gaming apparatuses  3  to be operatively interconnected in a network. The processing unit  34  of one of the gaming apparatuses  3  in the network is configured to serve as a game server, and the processing unit  34  of each of other ones of the gaming apparatuses  3  in the network is configured to serve as a player terminal, such that a plurality of players can play in the card game simultaneously. It should be noted that the processing unit  34  can also conduct the card game without cooperation with the network connecting unit  33 , and the player plays the card game alone via the gaming apparatus  3 . Since the technique of network connection is well known, further details of the network connection will be omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     The processing unit  34  is electrically connected to and controls the operations of the display unit  31 , the input unit  32  and the network connecting unit  33 . In this embodiment, the processing unit  34  is a motherboard that is mounted in the gaming apparatus  3  and that includes a computer readable storage medium, such as a read-only memory device, recorded with program codes for performing the computer-implemented method of this invention. The processing unit  34  can also be a central processing unit (CPU), and executes the program codes resident in a storage medium in the form of a hard drive, a floppy disk, a compact disk, or a server computer that is accessible via the Internet. When it is needed to execute the program codes, the program codes are loaded in a random access memory (RAM) for enabling the CPU to perform the computer-implemented method. 
     The processing unit  34  executes the program codes for conducting the card game with reference to the blackjack rules, and the input unit  32  is operable to allow the player to enter the game-playing commands. The player can see the game progress and the outcome through the display unit  31 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the program codes in the storage medium control the game progress as follows: 
     First, in step  41 , the player pushes a pre-defined button of the input unit  32  to join the card game conducted by the gaming apparatus  3 . Although the network connecting unit  33  is operable to permit a plurality of the gaming apparatuses  3  to be operatively interconnected in a network, only one player plays the card game alone via only one gaming apparatus  3  in the following game progress for convenience of illustration. 
     In step  42 , the display unit  31  shows a betting interface for allowing the player to place the first bet for the first outcome and the optional second bet for the second outcome via the input unit  32 . The process of placing the first and second bets can performed by inserting coins or tokens, or by decreasing a credit total in a virtual account of the player. It is assumed that the player places both the first and second bets in this step. Alternatively, the player can also place the first or second bet only. 
     Then, in step  43 , the processing unit  34  is operable so as to deal an initial pair of player cards and an initial pair of dealer cards from a deck of simulated playing cards, and show the dealt cards on the display unit  31 . According to the blackjack rules, a face-down player card and a face-down dealer card are dealt, and then a face-up player card and a face-up dealer card are dealt. 
     In step  44 , the player determines whether another player card is needed according to the initial pair of the player cards. When the player requires another player card by entering the game-playing command via the input unit  32 , one more face-up player card is randomly dealt from the simulated playing cards in step  45 . Consequently, a player value associated with the dealt player card is determined based upon the blackjack rules in step  46 . If the player value is less than 21, the flow goes back to step  44 . If the player value is over 21, which is called busting, the flow goes to step  460 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the player loses the first bet in step  460 , and the card game is still proceeding for determining the second outcome. First, the initial pair of the dealer cards dealt in step  43  are disclosed in sub-step  461 , i.e., the player can see values and suits of the dealt dealer cards via the display unit  31 . Sub-step  462  is to determine whether a dealer value associated with the dealt dealer cards is less than a predetermined value (e.g., 17) based upon the blackjack rules. When the dealer value is not less than the predetermined value, there is no second outcome. Therefore, the second bet is returned to the player in sub-step  463  if the player placed the second bet for the second outcome in step  42 , and then the card game ends in step  47 . If the dealer value is less than the predetermined value, another dealer card is dealt in sub-step  464 , followed by sub-step  465  to determine the second outcome. If the dealer card dealt in sub-step  464  conforms with a predetermined playing card criterion, i.e., the dealt dealer card is a face card, and if the player placed the second bet in step  42 , the player wins the second bet and the processing unit  34  awards the player a winning in a form of coins, tokens or virtual credit according to the second bet and a predetermined multiple in sub-step  466 . The flow then proceeds to step  47 . If the dealer card dealt in sub-step  464  is not a face card, and if the player placed the second bet in step  42 , the player loses the second bet and the gaming apparatus  3  takes away the second bet in sub-step  467 . The flow then proceeds to step  47 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , when the player does not require another player card in step  44 , the flow goes to step  48  to disclose the dealer cards dealt in step  43 , i.e., the player can see values and suits of the dealt dealer cards via the display unit  31 . 
     Step  49  is to determine whether the dealer value associated with the initial dealer cards dealt in step  43  is less than a predetermined value (e.g., 17). When the dealer value is not less than the predetermined value, there is no second outcome. Therefore, the second bet is returned to the player in step  50  if the player placed the second bet for the second outcome in step  42 . Then, step  51  is to determine the first outcome. If the player value is higher than the dealer value without busting, the player wins the first bet and the gaming apparatus  3  awards a winning in a form of coins, tokens or virtual credit according to the first bet in step  52 . The flow then proceeds to step  47 . If the player value is not higher than the dealer value, the player loses the first bet and the gaming apparatus  3  takes away the first bet in step  53 . The flow then proceeds to step  47 . 
     In step  49 , if the dealer value is less than the predetermined value, another dealer card is dealt in step  54 , followed by step  55  to determine the second outcome. If the dealer card dealt in step  54  is a face card, the gaming apparatus  3  awards the player a winning in a form of coins, tokens or virtual credit according to the second bet and a predetermined multiple in step  56 . It should be noted that if a plurality of players play the card game and some of the players lose the first bet, they still could stay in the card game for the second bet. 
     In order to enhance excitement of the card game, after step  56 , step  57  is to determine whether the dealer value associated with the dealt dealer cards is over 21. When the dealer value is higher than 21, the gaming apparatus  3  awards the player a bonus in step  58 , and the flow then goes to step  47 . If the dealer value is not higher than 21, the flow goes to step  51 . 
     In step  55 , when the dealer card dealt in step  54  is not a face card, the second bet is taken away in step  59  if the player placed the second bet in step  42 . The flow then goes to step  60  to determine whether the dealer value associated with the dealt dealer cards is over 21. The flow goes to step  52  if the dealer value is higher than 21, and goes to step  51  if the dealer value is not higher than 21. 
     Preferably, the game processes can further include a step after steps  56  and/or  59  to determine whether the dealer value associated with the dealt dealer cards is still less than the predetermined value. When the dealer value is still less than the predetermined value, the player can be allowed to place the second bet for the second outcome again, followed by step  54 . If the dealer value is not less than the predetermined value, the flow goes to step  57  or  60  as described above. 
     While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.