US5364106A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Card mark sensor and methods for blackjack
Assignee: No Peek 21
•
Filing: 1992-11-04
•
Granted: 1994-11-15
•
Expires: 2012-11-04
Abstract
Abstract A novel method and apparatus for determining whether or not a hole card is a member of a blackjack pair without direct observation of the hole card. The cards are separably marked in groups of aces and of face cards and tens. Each mark is detectable by a card mark sensor. The card mark sensor is used to differentially determine whether or not the hole card is a member of predetermined group when a card is placed face down therein. Thus, when the dealer receives a face-up member of a blackjack pair, the hole card is inserted into the sensor and determined to be or not to be the other member of the blackjack pair immediately and without observation of the face of the hole card. If the hole card is the other member of the blackjack pair play is stopped, and the next hand is thereby more quickly started. If the dealer does not have blackjack, play continues without knowledge by either player or dealer of the actual value of the hole card.
Inventors
- 👤 Donald J. Laughlin
- 👤 Lawrence E. Wagoner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 08:25
CPC Classifications
A; A63; A63F; A63F1/00; A63F1/06; A63F1/18; A63F9/00; A63F9/24; A63F2009/2401; A63F2009/2411; A63F2009/2419; A63F2009/2436; A63F2009/2442; A63F2009/2444; A63F2009/2445
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 34
Claim 1
Independent Claim
105 words
A method of playing a game of blackjack, comprising the steps of: providing a deck of blackjack playing cards having a group of sixteen blackjack cards with a blackjack value of ten and each said blackjack card carrying face indicia at an otherwise unoccupied specific site representative of only the blackjack value of ten; inserting, during a game of blackjack, the specific site of a down card into a receptacle mounted to a blackjack table and generally over a sensor for sensing said indicia and for causing a human detectable signal to be generated in response to the sensor detecting the presence of said indicia.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
105 words
A method of playing a game of blackjack, comprising the steps of: providing a deck of blackjack playing cards having a group of sixteen blackjack cards with a blackjack value of ten and each said blackjack card carrying face indicia at an otherwise unoccupied specific site representative of only the blackjack value of ten; inserting, during a game of blackjack, the specific site of a down card into a receptacle mounted to a blackjack table and generally over a sensor for sensing said indicia and for causing a human detectable signal to be generated in response to the sensor detecting the presence of said indicia.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of playing a game of blackjack, comprising the steps of: providing a deck of blackjack playing cards having a first group of sixteen cards each with a blackjack value often and having a first face indicia at a first otherwise unoccupied specific site representative of only the blackjack value of ten, the deck further having a second group of four cards each with a blackjack value of eleven and having a second face indicia at a second otherwise unoccupied, specific site representative of only the blackjack value of eleven; disposing, during a game of blackjack, the specific first or second sites of a down card generally over a sensor for sensing said indicia, sensing the indicia, and generating a human detectable signal when said indicia is sensed by said sensor.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of playing a game of blackjack, comprising the steps of: providing a deck of blackjack playing cards having a first group of sixteen cards each with a blackjack value often and having a first face indicia at a first otherwise unoccupied specific site representative of only the blackjack value of ten, the deck further having a second group of four cards each with a blackjack value of eleven and having a second face indicia at a second otherwise unoccupied, specific site representative of only the blackjack value of eleven; disposing, during a game of blackjack, the specific first or second sites of a down card generally over a sensor for sensing said indicia, sensing the indicia, and generating a human detectable signal when said indicia is sensed by said sensor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
119 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards which are selectively marked with special face indicia comprising: a first group of blackjack playing cards comprising sixteen cards each having a blackjack value of ten and each comprising unique face indicia representative in a first predetermined location of only the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a second group of blackjack playing cards comprising all cards having blackjack values within the range of two through nine, each card of the second group comprising a normal face without unique face indicia; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising four cards each having a blackjack value of eleven and each comprising no unique face indicia in said first predetermined location.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
119 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards which are selectively marked with special face indicia comprising: a first group of blackjack playing cards comprising sixteen cards each having a blackjack value of ten and each comprising unique face indicia representative in a first predetermined location of only the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a second group of blackjack playing cards comprising all cards having blackjack values within the range of two through nine, each card of the second group comprising a normal face without unique face indicia; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising four cards each having a blackjack value of eleven and each comprising no unique face indicia in said first predetermined location.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one comprising the steps of: during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon and while face down generally over a sensor; sensing by the sensor the indicia when the down card has a value of ten and generating a human detectable signal in response thereto; when the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring the game to be ended when the dealer's up card is an ace; and during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon and while face down generally over said sensor; sensing by the sensor the indicia when the down card has a value of eleven and generating a human detectable signal in response thereto; and when the down card has a value of eleven, declaring the game to be ended when the dealer's up card has a value of ten.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one comprising the steps of: during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon and while face down generally over a sensor; sensing by the sensor the indicia when the down card has a value of ten and generating a human detectable signal in response thereto; when the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring the game to be ended when the dealer's up card is an ace; and during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon and while face down generally over said sensor; sensing by the sensor the indicia when the down card has a value of eleven and generating a human detectable signal in response thereto; and when the down card has a value of eleven, declaring the game to be ended when the dealer's up card has a value of ten.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
117 words
A method of accelerating play of a game of blackjack comprising the steps of: dealing two cards to each player, the dealer receiving an up card and a down card; ascertaining the blackjack value of the up card of the dealer; when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, placing at least a portion of the down card of the dealer having a sensor detectable indicia thereon generally over a sensor and sensing by the sensor the indicia when the blackjack value of the down card is ten; generating a human detectable signal when the value of the down card has a blackjack value of ten; and ending the game, without additional dealing steps.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
117 words
A method of accelerating play of a game of blackjack comprising the steps of: dealing two cards to each player, the dealer receiving an up card and a down card; ascertaining the blackjack value of the up card of the dealer; when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, placing at least a portion of the down card of the dealer having a sensor detectable indicia thereon generally over a sensor and sensing by the sensor the indicia when the blackjack value of the down card is ten; generating a human detectable signal when the value of the down card has a blackjack value of ten; and ending the game, without additional dealing steps.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
60 words
The method according to claim 5 wherein, when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of ten, the portion of the down card placed over the sensor is in a different orientation; and when the sensor senses the down card to have a blackjack value of eleven, said signal is generated, and ending the game, without additional dealing steps
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
187 words
A deck of value encoded blackjack cards comprising: a first group of the blackjack playing cards comprising sixteen cards each having a blackjack value of ten, each of the sixteen ten value cards of the first group comprising at least one ascertainable primary and secondary face marks, the secondary face marks being disposed in a predetermined first location representative only of the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a second group of the blackjack playing cards comprising four cards each having a blackjack value of eleven, each of the four eleven value cards of the second group comprising at least one ascertainable primary and secondary face marks, the secondary face marks being disposed in a different predetermined second location representative only of the blackjack numerical value of eleven and no other value; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck excluding the first and second groups, each card of the third group comprising no atypical face markings whatsoever representative in ascertainable form that each card of the second plurality has a numerical value less than ten independent of suit.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
187 words
A deck of value encoded blackjack cards comprising: a first group of the blackjack playing cards comprising sixteen cards each having a blackjack value of ten, each of the sixteen ten value cards of the first group comprising at least one ascertainable primary and secondary face marks, the secondary face marks being disposed in a predetermined first location representative only of the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a second group of the blackjack playing cards comprising four cards each having a blackjack value of eleven, each of the four eleven value cards of the second group comprising at least one ascertainable primary and secondary face marks, the secondary face marks being disposed in a different predetermined second location representative only of the blackjack numerical value of eleven and no other value; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck excluding the first and second groups, each card of the third group comprising no atypical face markings whatsoever representative in ascertainable form that each card of the second plurality has a numerical value less than ten independent of suit.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
183 words
A blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: when a dealer's up card has a blackjack value of ten, manually positioning at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon in a first orientation and placing said portion of the down card into alignment with a card value sensor, sensing by the sensor a specific face site of the down card and indicia thereon, and generating a human detectable signal when the sensor senses the down card as having a blackjack value of eleven; and when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, manually positioning at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon into a second orientation distinct from the first orientation and placing said portion of the down card into alignment with the card value sensor, sensing by the sensor another specific face site of the down card and indicia thereon, and generating a human detectable signal when the sensor senses the down card as having a blackjack value of ten.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
183 words
A blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: when a dealer's up card has a blackjack value of ten, manually positioning at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon in a first orientation and placing said portion of the down card into alignment with a card value sensor, sensing by the sensor a specific face site of the down card and indicia thereon, and generating a human detectable signal when the sensor senses the down card as having a blackjack value of eleven; and when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, manually positioning at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon into a second orientation distinct from the first orientation and placing said portion of the down card into alignment with the card value sensor, sensing by the sensor another specific face site of the down card and indicia thereon, and generating a human detectable signal when the sensor senses the down card as having a blackjack value of ten.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
133 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards comprising: a first group of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly four cards, each having a blackjack value of eleven, each card of the first group comprising normal blackjack face indicia and additional detectable face indicia representative of only the blackjack numerical value of eleven and no other value; a second group of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly sixteen cards, each having a blackjack value of ten, each card of the second group comprising normal blackjack face indicia and additional detectable face indicia representative of only the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck, excluding the first and second groups, comprising normal playing cards with normal face indicia but without additional face indicia.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
133 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards comprising: a first group of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly four cards, each having a blackjack value of eleven, each card of the first group comprising normal blackjack face indicia and additional detectable face indicia representative of only the blackjack numerical value of eleven and no other value; a second group of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly sixteen cards, each having a blackjack value of ten, each card of the second group comprising normal blackjack face indicia and additional detectable face indicia representative of only the blackjack numerical value of ten and no other value; a third group of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck, excluding the first and second groups, comprising normal playing cards with normal face indicia but without additional face indicia.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
101 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards, the deck comprising a plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly twenty cards, each card having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the plurality comprising normal face indicia located in conventional face locations additional face indicia located in at least one location on each of the twenty cards other than the conventional face locations, the at least one location being different for eleven value cards than ten value cards, representative in readable form of only the blackjack numerical value of ten or eleven, respectively, and no other value.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
101 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards, the deck comprising a plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising exactly twenty cards, each card having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the plurality comprising normal face indicia located in conventional face locations additional face indicia located in at least one location on each of the twenty cards other than the conventional face locations, the at least one location being different for eleven value cards than ten value cards, representative in readable form of only the blackjack numerical value of ten or eleven, respectively, and no other value.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
55 words
A deck of blackjack playing cards according to claim 10 wherein the additional face indicia of each card comprises at least one of a dark area, a dark spot, an ink mark, a magnetic ink mark, an area of magnetized material, an area comprising fluorescent dyes, an area of self-radiating ink, a light polarizing area.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
184 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during a game of twenty-one, visually ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon face down over a detection site on a twenty-one table; sensing by a sensor near the detecting site when the down card has an indicia indicating a value of ten and generating a human detectable signal in response to said sensing; and when said signal is detected, the dealer declares the game to be over; and during a game of twenty-one, visually ascertaining when the dealer's up card has a value of ten; thereafter, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon face down over the detection site; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia indicating an ace and generating a human detectable signal in response to said sensing; and when said signal is detected, the dealer declares the game to be over.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
184 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during a game of twenty-one, visually ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon face down over a detection site on a twenty-one table; sensing by a sensor near the detecting site when the down card has an indicia indicating a value of ten and generating a human detectable signal in response to said sensing; and when said signal is detected, the dealer declares the game to be over; and during a game of twenty-one, visually ascertaining when the dealer's up card has a value of ten; thereafter, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon face down over the detection site; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia indicating an ace and generating a human detectable signal in response to said sensing; and when said signal is detected, the dealer declares the game to be over.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of conserving time taken to play a game of blackjack on a blackjack table comprising the steps of: dealing two down cards to each player other than the dealer and an up card and a down card to the dealer; ascertaining the blackjack value of the up card of the dealer; when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon over a sensor site disposed on the table and generally over a sensor located below the table; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia representing a blackjack value of ten; and ending the game.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of conserving time taken to play a game of blackjack on a blackjack table comprising the steps of: dealing two down cards to each player other than the dealer and an up card and a down card to the dealer; ascertaining the blackjack value of the up card of the dealer; when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of eleven, placing at least a portion of the dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon over a sensor site disposed on the table and generally over a sensor located below the table; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia representing a blackjack value of ten; and ending the game.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one comprising the steps of: during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon while face down over a sensor site on a blackjack table; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia thereon representing a blackjack value of ten; when the value of the down card is ten, ending the game when the dealer's up card is a card having a blackjack value of eleven.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
88 words
A method of playing a game of twenty-one comprising the steps of: during a game of blackjack, placing at least a portion of a dealer's down card having a sensor detectable indicia thereon while face down over a sensor site on a blackjack table; sensing by said sensor when the down card has an indicia thereon representing a blackjack value of ten; when the value of the down card is ten, ending the game when the dealer's up card is a card having a blackjack value of eleven.
Claim 27
Independent Claim
205 words
A method accelerating the play of a game of blackjack in which a dealer's initial cards have a face down card of unknown blackjack value and a face up card with a blackjack value of ten or eleven, comprising: (1) providing at least one deck of cards wherein only the cards having a blackjack value of ten or eleven carry a sensor detectable indicia on the faces thereof, and wherein the indicia for a card having a blackjack value of ten is located on the card at a position different from the location of the indicia on a card having a blackjack value of eleven; (2) placing the down card while being maintained in its down position such that at least said indicia is in register with a sensor capable of sensing the presence of the indicia; (3) sensing when the indicia is present on the down card such that the dealer cannot determine the blackjack value of the down card during sensing; and (4) generating a human detectable signal in response to the sensing of the indicia by the sensor, wherein the signal indicates to the dealer that the down card forms a blackjack pair with the up card and the game is terminated.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
205 words
A method accelerating the play of a game of blackjack in which a dealer's initial cards have a face down card of unknown blackjack value and a face up card with a blackjack value of ten or eleven, comprising: (1) providing at least one deck of cards wherein only the cards having a blackjack value of ten or eleven carry a sensor detectable indicia on the faces thereof, and wherein the indicia for a card having a blackjack value of ten is located on the card at a position different from the location of the indicia on a card having a blackjack value of eleven; (2) placing the down card while being maintained in its down position such that at least said indicia is in register with a sensor capable of sensing the presence of the indicia; (3) sensing when the indicia is present on the down card such that the dealer cannot determine the blackjack value of the down card during sensing; and (4) generating a human detectable signal in response to the sensing of the indicia by the sensor, wherein the signal indicates to the dealer that the down card forms a blackjack pair with the up card and the game is terminated.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 15, wherein when the dealer's up card has a blackjack value of ten, the down card is placed in register with the sensor in a different orientation than when the up card has a blackjack value of eleven.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method of claim 16, wherein when the up card has a blackjack value of ten and the down card has a blackjack value of ten, the indicia on the down card is not in register with the sensor and no signal is generated.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 17, wherein when the up card has a blackjack value of eleven and the down card has a blackjack value of eleven, the indicia on the down card is not in register with the sensor and no signal is generated.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
220 words
An apparatus for accelerating the play of a game of blackjack in which the dealer's initial cards have a face down card of unknown blackjack value and a face up card with a blackjack value of ten or eleven, in combination comprising: (1) at least one deck of cards wherein only the cards having a blackjack value of ten or eleven carry a sensor detectable indicia on faces thereof, and wherein the indicia for a card having a blackjack value of ten is located on the card at a position different from the location of the indicia on a card having a blackjack value of eleven; (2) a blackjack table having a detection site for receiving at least a portion of the cards at which said indicia is disposed and for receiving said portion while the down card is maintained in its down position; (3) a sensor in register with the detection site and capable of sensing the presence of the indicia such that the dealer cannot determine the blackjack value of the down card; and (4) means for generating a human detectable signal in response to a sensing of the indicia by the sensor such that the signal indicates to the dealer that the down card forms a blackjack pair with the up card and the game is terminable.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
220 words
An apparatus for accelerating the play of a game of blackjack in which the dealer's initial cards have a face down card of unknown blackjack value and a face up card with a blackjack value of ten or eleven, in combination comprising: (1) at least one deck of cards wherein only the cards having a blackjack value of ten or eleven carry a sensor detectable indicia on faces thereof, and wherein the indicia for a card having a blackjack value of ten is located on the card at a position different from the location of the indicia on a card having a blackjack value of eleven; (2) a blackjack table having a detection site for receiving at least a portion of the cards at which said indicia is disposed and for receiving said portion while the down card is maintained in its down position; (3) a sensor in register with the detection site and capable of sensing the presence of the indicia such that the dealer cannot determine the blackjack value of the down card; and (4) means for generating a human detectable signal in response to a sensing of the indicia by the sensor such that the signal indicates to the dealer that the down card forms a blackjack pair with the up card and the game is terminable.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the indicia is at least one of a darkened area, a darkened spot, an ink mark, a magnetic mark, an area of fluorescent dye, an area of self-radiating ink, and a light polarizing area and the sensor is capable of correspondingly sensing the indicia.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1997-11-14 | 1998-05-16 | 1998-11-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-11-14 | 2002-05-16 | 2002-11-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-11-14 | 2006-05-16 | 2006-11-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |