Patent Abstract:
A sales-inducement business method which preferably uses a roulette wheel provided by merchants for their customers to play for having charges paid by the customers for goods and services refunded by the merchant if the customers win the game. Described as preferred games are miniature roulette games having horizontal roulette wheels  13  rotatable in horizontal roulette tables  14  and optionally vertical roulette wheels  21  rotatable in vertical roulette tables  22.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    My invention relates to games and more particularly to a sales-inducement business method provided by merchants for their customers to play for having charges paid by the customers for goods and services refunded by the merchant if the customers win the game.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Most people like to gamble, even though a night of gambling usually ends by the gambler losing money, especially if the gambling is done in a professional gambling casino. People who like to gamble look for a way to gamble without losing money, but to date there is no such thing on the market.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    My invention is a play-free game that is played at a cashier&#39;s counter in any commercial establishment such as a restaurant, motel or gasoline station where a person pays by cash or credit card for their meal, lodging or gasoline. Sitting on the cashier&#39;s counter is a miniature roulette wheel that is preferably mounted on an attractive teak frame about twelve inches in diameter.  
           [0004]    The roulette wheel has a ball and 38 spherical depressions numbered  1  to  36 + 0 + 00  into one of which a spinning ball rests at the end of the game.  
           [0005]    The game begins by the cashier&#39;s asking a customer who has paid for their goods or services if they would like to play a game that costs nothing, but if they win, the full amount of the charges they just paid except tax and tips would be refunded.  
           [0006]    If the customer wants to play, as they usually do for a no-loss game, the customer calls out a number from  0 -to - 36  and vigorously turns the roulette wheel to spin the ball around a circular track until the ball slows and finally comes to rest in one of the 37 depressions. If the ball rests in the numbered depression called out by the customer, the customer is paid back in cash the amount of their bill less tax and tips or a voucher for the next visit. If the ball rests in any other depression, the customer loses, but it has cost him nothing to play. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    This invention is described by appended claims in relation to description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows:  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the game business method:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 2 is a top view of a horizontal miniature roulette wheel for the gambling game;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of the FIG. 2 illustration;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a vertical miniature roulette wheel;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view of the FIG. 4 illustration; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway top view of the FIG. 2 illustration with a slot-machine ball ejector.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0014]    Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description.  
         [0015]    1. Sale to customer  
         [0016]    2. Customer pays bill  
         [0017]    3. Merchant offers play  
         [0018]    4. Customer accepts  
         [0019]    5. Customer plays  
         [0020]    6. Customer wins  
         [0021]    7. Merchant refunds bill  
         [0022]    8. Customer loses  
         [0023]    9. No refund  
         [0024]    10. Merchant gains  
         [0025]    11. Customer declines  
         [0026]    12. No game  
         [0027]    13. Horizontal roulette wheel  
         [0028]    14. Horizontal roulette table  
         [0029]    15. Ball depression  
         [0030]    16. Roulette ball  
         [0031]    17. Ball rail  
         [0032]    18. Rotator handle  
         [0033]    19. Central shaft  
         [0034]    20. Ball ejector  
         [0035]    21. Vertical roulette wheel  
         [0036]    22. Vertical roulette table  
         [0037]    23. Sleeve ball depressions  
         [0038]    24. Horizontal sleeve  
         [0039]    25. Horizontal axis  
         [0040]    26. Transparent window  
         [0041]    Referring to FIG. 1, this game business method is started when a merchant makes a sale of goods and/or services to a customer  1 , followed by the customer paying the bill as indicated by customer pays bill  2 . The merchant then makes an offer for the customer to play a game for refund of the paid bill as indicated by merchant offers play for refund  3 . Preferably, the game is an attractive miniature roulette game positioned convenient and obvious to the customer, preferably near a cash register, in order to tempt the customer to play it.  
         [0042]    Usually, the customer accepts  4  and plays the game  5 . If the customer wins  6 , the merchant refunds the payment of the bill to the customer  7 . If the customer losses the game  8 , there is no refund  9 .  
         [0043]    This is a win-win situation in that the merchant gains customer base with tax-deductible refund and game costs from either win or loss by the customer  10 . Even if the customer declines  11  and there is no game  12 , the merchant wins public favor and increased customer base for merely making the game available at a low cost which can be passed onto customers with their knowledge, acceptance and appreciation for making the win-win game available.  
         [0044]    Referring to FIGS.  2 - 3  and  6 , the miniature roulette game can have a horizontal roulette wheel  13  that is rotatable centrally on a horizontal roulette table  14  having 37 or more ball depressions  15  placed circumferentially proximate an outside perimeter of the horizontal roulette wheel  13 . The ball depressions  15  are articulated to contain a bottom portion of a roulette ball  16  to be hurled radially from the ball depression  15  by rotation of the horizontal roulette wheel  13  at a predetermined speed of rotation.  
         [0045]    The horizontal roulette table  14  is tapered predeterminedly downward and inward to proximate the outside perimeter of the horizontal roulette wheel  13 . The horizontal roulette wheel  13  is tapered predeterminedly downward and outward from a central position on the horizontal roulette wheel  13  to proximate the ball depressions  15 . The horizontal roulette wheel  13  is also tapered predeterminedly downward and inward from the outside perimeter of the horizontal roulette wheel  13  to the ball depressions  15 . The horizontal roulette table  14  has a ball rail  17  with a circumferential inside periphery having a height to prevent radial escape of the roulette ball  16  from being hurled from the ball rail  17  by the speed of the rotation of the horizontal roulette wheel  13 . Circumferentially intermediate the ball depressions  15 , the horizontal roulette wheel  13  is arched upwardly to prevent resting of the roulette ball  16  between the ball depressions  15 . A wheel rotator which can include a rotator handle  18  on a central shaft  19  is provided for rotating the horizontal roulette wheel  13 .  
         [0046]    Referring to FIG. 6, the horizontal roulette table  14  can include a slot-machine ball ejector  20  to hurl the roulette ball  16  against the ball rail  17  in addition to or in lieu of rotation of the horizontal roulette wheel  13 .  
         [0047]    Referring to FIGS.  4 - 5 , the miniature roulette game can have a vertical roulette wheel  21  that is rotational proximate a center of a vertical roulette table  22 . The vertical roulette wheel  21  has eleven or more sleeve ball depressions  23  in an inside periphery of a horizontal sleeve  24  that is concentrically outward radially from a horizontal axis  25  on which the vertical roulette wheel  21  is rotatable on the vertical roulette table  22 .  
         [0048]    The sleeve ball depressions  23  are articulated to allow the roulette ball  16  to come to rest in a bottommost sleeve ball depression  23  when the vertical roulette wheel  21  is not rotating.  
         [0049]    A transparent window  26  on a front end of the horizontal sleeve  24  provides visibility of the roulette ball  16  tumbling circumferentially in the horizontal sleeve  24  and coming to rest in a bottommost sleeve ball depression  23  when the vertical roulette wheel  21  is not rotating.  
         [0050]    The roulette ball  16  for the vertical roulette wheel  21  is preferably a ball made of wood, plastic or metal.  
         [0051]    The miniature-roulette game having the horizontal roulette wheel  13  is played by choosing a numbered ball depression  15  into which the roulette ball  16  will come to rest after the horizontal roulette wheel  13  stops rotating or when it is not rotating after only hurling or spinning the roulette ball  16  about the inside periphery of the ball rail  17 . In most cases, the horizontal roulette wheel  13  and the roulette ball  16  are rotated simultaneously. After waiting for the roulette ball  16  to come to a rest and it settles in a ball depression  15 , the customer wins only if the chosen ball depression is the one in which the roulette ball  16  comes to rest. Otherwise, the customer loses.  
         [0052]    The miniature-roulette game having the vertical roulette wheel  21  is played by making a section of a number of the bottommost sleeve ball depression  23  in which the roulette ball  16  will come to rest after the vertical roulette wheel  21  is rotated and stops. A win results from resting of the roulette ball  16  in the chosen sleeve ball depression  23 .  
         [0053]    The miniature roulette games having horizontal roulette wheels  13  and vertical roulette wheels  21  can both be played by merely rotating the respective roulette wheels  13  and  21  because the roulette ball  16  stops automatically in a ball depression  15  or sleeve ball depression  23  from which the roulette ball  16  is removed by rotation of the particular roulette wheel.  
         [0054]    The rotator handle  18  shown in FIGS.  2 - 6  is optional to an electrical or other mechanical rotator. Either are foreseeable and intended.  
         [0055]    Also intended and foreseeable is placement of the ball depressions  15  either radially inside of the numerals  1 -to- 36  or more on the horizontal roulette wheel  13  as shown in FIGS.  2 - 3  and  6  or outside next to its outside perimeter.  
         [0056]    Preferably but not necessarily, the miniature roulette game will have a diameter of about a foot and the roulette balls  16  a size of approximately ½ inch..  
         [0057]    The ball depressions  15  can have a depth of about twenty-five-to-100 percent of a diameter of the roulette balls  16  in order to allow the roulette balls  16  to be hurled from the ball depressions  15  by fast rotation of the horizontal roulette wheel  13 . This will be sufficient for some uses, but is not as reliable for achieving desired spin or fast travel of the roulette ball  16  against the ball rail  17  as by use of the ball ejector  20  shown in FIG. 6 or by hand throwing the roulette ball  16  tangentially against the ball rail  17 , either of which are intended and foreseeable options.  
         [0058]    A new and useful game business method and device having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities of combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6