A SYSTEM OF A NEW DECK OF CARDS AND OF AN ASSOCIATED RANKING SYSTEM AND THEIR APPLICATION IN PLAYING GAMES

Abstract

A new deck of E physical cards composed of X subdecks of cards is disclosed. Each subdeck represents a category as part of human life or from our world, and comprises of at least 26 cards, each card having a face side that bears a letter of the alphabet, including 21 consonants and 5 vowels. All the cards of the deck are indistinguishable when facing down (have the same font, shape, color, and pattern) but when facing up, each card is identified by the category associated with, by one of the 26 alphabetic letters A to Z and by the name and photo of an item the card/category is associated with, if any. The deck of cards establishes a grid of X-26 cells, whereas each cell includes a single blank card without an item, or a single or multiple non-blank cards each is associated with an item. A gaming system including the deck of cards and a unique ranking system of R levels is used to play games. The gaming system is applied to play social and gambling games with physical cards or in a virtual environment executed by a video game application on a computing device.

Claims

1. A deck of E physical cards composed of X subdecks of cards, each subdeck (i) composed of E(i) cards, represents a category (i) comprising of at least 26 cards, each card having a face side that bears a letter of the alphabet, (l), including 21 consonants and 5 vowels, a pattern associated with the category (i), and either labelled as (a) a non-blank card if it includes a photo/name of an item, associated with the category (i) and the leading letter of its name is the alphabetic letter on the card, or (b) a blank card if it is lacking a photo/name; wherein the number of the blank cards in each subdeck (i) is B(i), and the number of the non-blank cards is E(i)-B(i); wherein the cards making up the deck of physical cards are associated with and distributed within a grid of X-26 (X times 26) cells formed out of the X subdecks and of the 26 alphabetic letters; and wherein each cell of the grid is associated with a single card (blank or non-blank) or multiple non-blank cards.

2. A gaming system comprising: The deck of claim 1 and wherein at least one player receives L cards; and a ranking system of R levels wherein the L cards received by the at least one player are compared to all the different combinations of L cards that can be formed out of the deck.

3. The gaming system of claim 2, wherein the ranking system consist of seven levels, G to A, highest to lowest, representing all the different combinations of cards, listed, and stored in seven libraries G(L) to A(L) as follows: level G: a unique pre-determined combination of cards and/or player's choice of a combination of cards drawn from all possible combinations of cards listed in libraries F(L) to A(L), as listed in library G(L); level F: combinations of non-blank cards only, all located at the same cell and their leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, as listed in library F(L); level E: combinations of blank cards only, as listed in library E(L); level D: combinations of non-blank cards only, located at the same cell and the leading letter is not R, S, T, L, N, nor E, as listed in library D(L); level C: combinations of cards including at least one-blank card, and the leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, as listed in library C(L); level B: combinations of cards including at least one-blank card, and the leading letter is not R, S, T, L, N or E, as listed in library B(L); level A: combinations of non-blank cards only, not all located at the same cell, as listed in library A(L); and wherein the combinations within each level A to G are re-ranked, lowest to highest, in accordance with the number of blank cards forming the combinations, and if the same, with the order of the alphabetical letters and/or the order of the categories associated with the combinations.

4. The gaming system of claim 2, wherein the ranking system consists of five levels, E to A, highest to lowest, representing all the different combinations of cards listed and stored in five libraries E(L) to A(L) as follows: level E: a unique pre-determined combination of cards and/or player's choice of a combination of cards drawn from all possible combinations of cards listed in libraries D(L) to A(L), as listed in library E(L); level D: combinations of blank cards only, as listed in library D(L); level C: combinations of cards including at least two blank cards, as listed in library C(L); level B: combinations of cards including at least one blank card, as listed in library B(L); level A: combinations of non-blank cards only, as listed in library A(L); and wherein the combinations within each level A to E are re-ranked, lowest to highest, in accordance with the number of blank cards forming the combinations, and if the same, with the order of the alphabetical letters and/or the order of the categories associated with the combinations.

5. The gaming system of claim 2, wherein the ranking system consists of twelve levels, 1 to 12, highest to lowest, L is equal to 5, representing all the different combinations of 5 cards listed and stored in twelve libraries L(5) to A(5) as follows: level 1: combinations of five cards in the same cell, as listed in library L(5); level 2: combinations of 4 blank cards, plus any non-blank card, as listed in library K(5); level 3: combinations of cards including three blank cards, plus a pair of cards in the same cell, as listed in library J(5); level 4: combinations of two blank cards, plus three non-blank cards, located in the same cell, as listed in library I(5); level 5: combinations of four non-blank cards in the same cell, plus any other card in a different cell, as listed in library H(5); level 6: combinations of three non-blank cards in the same cell, plus a pair of cards in another cell, as listed in library G(5); level 7: combinations of three blank cards, plus two non-bank cards not located at the same cell, as listed in library F(5); level 8: combinations of two blank cards, plus a pair of cards in the same cell, plus any non-blank card in a different cell, as listed in library E(5); level 9: combinations of 2 pairs of cards, a pair of non-blank cards in a cell, and a second pair of non-blank cards in a different cell, as listed in library D(5); level 10: combinations of three non-blank cards in the same cell, plus two more cards in different cells, at least one which is a non-blank card, as listed in library C(5); level 11: combinations of two blank cards, plus three non-blank cards in three different cells, as listed in library B(5); level 12: all other combinations not listed in libraries L(5) to B(5), as listed in library A(5); and wherein the combinations within each level A to L are re-ranked, lowest to highest, in accordance with the number of blank cards forming the combinations, and if the same, with the order of the alphabetical letters and/or the order of the categories associated with the combinations.

6. The gaming system of claim 2, wherein the ranking system consists of thirteen levels, 1 to 13, highest to lowest, L is at least three, representing all the different combinations of cards, listed, and stored in thirteen libraries M(L) to A(L) as follows: level 1: a unique pre-determined combination of cards and/or player's choice of a combination of cards drawn from all possible combinations of cards listed in libraries L(L) to A(L), as listed in library M(L); level 2: combinations of L blank cards, as listed in library L(L); level 3: combinations of L cards in the same cell, as listed in library K(L); level 4: combinations of (L-1) blank cards only, as listed in library J(L); level 5: combinations that consist of (L-1) non-blank cards, located in the same cell, as listed in library I(L); level 6: combinations of (L-2) blank cards, plus a pair of cards in a different cell, as listed in library H(L); level 7: combinations of (L-2) non-blank cards in the same cell, plus a pair of cards in another cell, as listed in library G(L); level 8: combinations of (L-2) blank cards, plus two non-bank cards not located in the same cell, as listed in library F(L); level 9: combinations of (L-3) blank cards, plus three cards in a cell, as listed in library E(L); level 10: combinations of (L-2) non-blank cards in the same cell, and two cards at least one of them is a blank card, as listed in library D(L); level 11: combinations of (L-2) non-blank cards in the same cell, plus two more cards in different cells, as listed in library C(L); level 12: combinations of (L-3) blank cards, plus three non-blank cards in 3 different cells, as listed in library B(L); level 13: all other combinations not listed in libraries M(L) to B(L), as listed in library A(5); and wherein the combinations within each level 1 to 13 are re-ranked, lowest to highest, in accordance with the number of blank cards forming the combinations, and if the same, with the order of the alphabetical letters and/or the order of the categories associated with the combinations.

7. The gaming system of claim 2 involving at least two players competing each against the other or others during a round of play in a game, wherein each player receives randomly one or more cards to form a hand, and whereas each player has the option to replace one or more of their cards and stop the round of play by calling it.

8. The gaming system of claim 7 wherein a winner is declared after the players hands are exposed and compared.

9. The gaming system of claim 2 involving a dealer for a house conducting a game and at least one player, wherein each player makes a main wager against the house, dealing randomly one or more cards to each player and to the house to form hands with respective hand rankings, comparing the hand ranking of each player with the house hand ranking, and settling the main wager in accordance to a predetermined payout schedule.

10. The gaming system of claim 9 wherein the house qualifies to play if the house hand ranking is ranked at a specified ranking level or higher.

11. The gaming system of claim 2 involving at least one player in a game, wherein each player makes a first side wager to play, and receives randomly one or more cards to form a first hand, and the first side wager is settled in accordance to a predetermined payout schedule.

12. The gaming system of claim 11, wherein the at least one player makes a second side wager to play in a game and receives one or more additional cards to form a second hand associated with the second side wager, and the second hands are settled in accordance to a predetermined payout schedule.

13. The gaming system of claim 12 wherein an existing pre-determined condition must be met to receive one or more additional cards.

14. The gaming system of claim 13 wherein the pre-determined condition for receiving one or more cards, is that the player has a chance to form a second hand ranking at a specified ranking level or higher.

15. The gaming system of claim 11 wherein the deck includes six categories, a ranking system of five levels, E to A, and three cards are dealt to each player, L=3.

16. The gaming system of claim 11 wherein the deck of cards includes six categories, a ranking system of seven levels, G to A, and two cards are dealt to each player, L=2.

17. The gaming system of claim 11 wherein the deck of cards includes a single category, a ranking system of twelve levels, 1 to 12, and five cards are dealt to each player, L=5.

18. The gaming system of claim 11 wherein the deck of cards includes a single category, a ranking system of thirteen levels, 1 to 13, and five cards are dealt to each player, L=5.

19. The gaming system of claim 11 wherein the deck of cards includes a single category, a ranking system of eight levels, H to A, and four cards are dealt to each player, L=4.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates three samples of shape, colors and patterns of cards facing down.

[0003] FIGS. 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate a (6 by 26) grid 1 embodiment of a deck of 436 cards within six categories (countries, pets/animals, fruits) as in FIG. 2.1, and (vegetables, music instruments and dances by couples) as in FIG. 2.2.

[0004] FIG. 2A gives samples of cards facing up for the six categories in grid 1.

[0005] FIG. 2B gives for grid 1 the number of combinations of two cards out of the 436 cards when split within seven levels of a ranking system, A to G, payouts, hit frequency and casino advantage.

[0006] FIGS. 2C.1 to 2C.8 illustrate the subdeck of 57 (52 non-blanks+5 blank) cards of the fruits category of grid 1.

[0007] FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2 illustrate a (6 by 26) grid 2 embodiment of a deck of 416 cards within six categories (capital cities, baby names, individual characteristics) as in FIG. 3.1, and (chemical elements, things in the kitchen and sports) as in FIG. 3.2.

[0008] FIG. 3A gives samples of cards facing up for the six categories in grid 2.

[0009] FIG. 3B gives for grid 2 the number of combinations of two cards out of the 416 cards when split within seven levels of a ranking system A to G, payouts, hit frequency and casino advantage.

[0010] FIGS. 3C.1 to 3C.7 illustrate a set of 52 (44 non-blank+8 blank) cards of the things in the kitchen category of grid 2.

[0011] FIG. 4 gives for grid 1 the number of combinations of three cards out of 436 cards when split within five levels of a ranking system, A to E, payouts, hit frequency and casino advantage.

[0012] FIG. 5 illustrates a (1 by 26) grid 3 embodiment of a deck of 52 cards within a single category Chemical Elements as given in grid 2.

[0013] FIG. 5A gives for grid 3 the number of combinations of five cards out of the 52 cards when split within twelve levels of a ranking system, 1 to 12, payouts, hit frequency and casino advantage.

[0014] FIG. 5B gives for grid 3 the number of combinations of five cards out of the 52 cards when split within thirteen levels of a ranking system, 1 to 13, payouts, hit frequency and casino advantage.

[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates grid 4/deck of 66 cards within a single category Prime numbers less than 200 and 8-levels ranking system.

[0016] FIG. 7 gives the characteristics of the four grids/decks used in the preferred embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 8 gives a chart of claims 1 to 19.

[0018] FIG. 9 gives the characteristics of 6 preferred embodiments of the four grids, claims 15 to 19.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] A system consisting of a new deck of E cards is disclosed.

[0020] The deck of E cards is composed of X subdecks of cards, each subdeck is associated with a category as part of human life or from our world, such as categories used in the TV shows such as wheel of fortune and jeopardy. Categories include something tangible capable to be perceived by absolute identification especially by the sense of touch (such as things in the kitchen, pets/animals, fruits, vegetables, and music instruments) or vision (such as shapes, colors, living things, dances and patterns) or taste (such as food and drinks), or knowledge (such as countries, cities, islands, oceans, lakes & rivers, institutions, landmarks, prime numbers, individual characteristics, chemical elements, baby names, singers, celebrities, kings and queens, games and sports). Each category (i) consists of E(i) cards. The number of categories (X) may vary say between 1 and 8, and the number of cards in each category (E(i)) is at least 26 and may vary say between 26 and 200. The number of cards in the deck could vary in practice between 26 and 500.

[0021] All the cards of the deck are indistinguishable when facing down (have the same shape, color and pattern), as illustrated in FIG. 1, but when facing up, each card is different from the others as being identified by the category associated with, by one of the 26 alphabetic letters A to Z and by the name and photo of an item associated with the category, if any, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A, 3A, 2C.1 to 2C.8 and 3C.1 to 3C.7. The deck of cards establishes a grid of (26 times X) cells, each cell is identified by one of the X categories and one of the 26 alphabetic letters A to Z. A cell under the category (i) and the letter (l), may contain either a single or multiple E(i, l) cards. When a cell under the category (i) and the letter (l) is associated with an item, then the cell includes a single or multiple non-blank cards, each card is identified by the category (i), the letter (l) and the name/photo of the item associated with. When a cell under the category (i) and the letter (l) has no associated item with, then the cell includes a single card, called blank card, being identified by the category (i) and the letter (l) only.

[0022] The mathematical relation between E, E(i) and E(i, l) is:

[00001]$\underset{i=1\mathrm{to}X}{E=\mathrm{SIGMA}E\left(i\right)}\mathrm{or}\underset{i=l\mathrm{to}X,l=A\mathrm{to}Z}{E=\mathrm{SIGMA}E\left(i,1\right)}$

[0023] FIGS. 2.1 and 2.2 provide a deck of 436 cards in grid 1, a grid of 26 times 6 (156) cells as being established by the following six categories; countries, animals, fruits, vegetables, music instruments and dances by couples.

[0024] FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2 provide a deck of 416 cards in grid 2, a grid of 26 times 6 (156) cells as being established by the following six categories; capital cities, baby names, individual characteristics, chemical elements, things in the kitchen and sports.

[0025] FIGS. 2A and 3A illustrate samples of cards, facing up, of the 6 categories in grid 1 and grid 2 respectively.

[0026] FIGS. 2C.1 to 2C.8 and FIGS. 3C.1 to 3C.7 illustrate samples of cards, facing up, of the category fruits of grid 1 and things in the kitchen of grid 2 respectively.

[0027] FIG. 5 provides a deck of 52 cards in grid 3, a grid of 26 times 1, (26) cells as being established by using a single category of the chemical elements as given in grid 2.

[0028] FIG. 6 provides a deck of 66 cards in grid 4, a grid of 26 times 1, (26) cells as being established by using a single category of the prime numbers under 200.

[0029] The disclosed deck of cards herein is significantly different from the well-known standard deck of cards or from any other decks of cards for the following reasons:

[0030] First, the number of cards E of the disclosed deck is at least 26 cards and may vary up to 500, pending on the number of subdecks (categories) X, and the number of items within each category and its cells. Second, the displayed letters, names, items and characters are unique and have never been suggested or used before. Third, each subdeck is distinguished by the number of blank and non-blank cards, and as it will be demonstrated in any embodiment and in the preferred embodiments to follow, there is a new and useful relation between the printed matter and the card itself.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] All the different combinations of L cards that can be formed out of the E cards deck are ranked within a defined ranking system of R levels. In practice R may vary between 5 to 15.

[0032] In the six preferred embodiments given herein, combinations of L cards out of E cards of the deck are ranked and stored in five, seven, eight, twelve and thirteen levels/libraries.

[0033] In two of the preferred embodiments, combinations of L cards out of a deck of E cards, are split and ranked within a ranking system of seven levels G to A, highest to lowest, and stored in seven libraries G(L) to A(L) as follows: [0034] LEVEL G: a pre-determined combination and/or participant's choice of a combination out of the combinations listed in library A(L). [0035] LEVEL F: combinations that consist of non-blank cards, located at the same cell and identified by one of the letters R, S, T, L, N, or E, as listed in library F(L). [0036] LEVEL E: combinations that consist of blank cards only, as listed in library E(L). [0037] LEVEL D: combinations that consist of non-blank cards, located at the same cell and not identified by any of the letters R, S, T, L, N, or E, as listed in library D(L). [0038] LEVEL C: combinations that consist of at least one-blank card and at least one non-blank card, and identified by one of the letters R, S, T, L, N, or E, as listed in library C(L). [0039] LEVEL B: combinations that consist of at least one-blank card and at least one non-blank card, and not identified by any of the letter R, S, T, L, N, or E, as listed in library B(L). [0040] LEVEL A: combinations that consist of non-blank cards only, not located at the same cell, as listed in library A(L).

[0041] In another embodiment, combinations of L cards are split and ranked within a ranking system of five levels E to A, highest to lowest, and stored in five libraries E(L) to A(L) as follows: [0042] LEVEL E: a pre-determined combination and/or participant's choice of a combination out of the combinations listed in library A(L). [0043] LEVEL D: combinations that consist of blank cards only, as listed in library D(L). [0044] LEVEL C: combinations that the number of the blank cards is equal or greater than the non-blank cards, as listed in library C(L). [0045] LEVEL B: combinations that the number of non-blank cards exceeds the number of the blank cards, as listed in library B(L). [0046] LEVEL A: combinations that consist of non-blank cards only, as listed in library A(L).

[0047] In another embodiment, combinations of L cards are split and ranked within a ranking system of twelve levels, 1 to 12, highest to lowest, and stored in twelve libraries L(L) to A(L) as follows: [0048] LEVEL 1: five of a kind, 5 cards in the same cell. [0049] LEVEL 2: four blank cards plus a non-blank card. [0050] LEVEL 3: three blank cards plus a pair (2 cards in the same cell). [0051] LEVEL 4: two blank cards plus three of a kind (3 cards in the same cell). [0052] LEVEL 5: four of a kind, 4 cards in a cell plus a blank card or a non-blank card. [0053] LEVEL 6: three of a kind, 3 cards in a cell, plus a pair, 2 cards in another cell. [0054] LEVEL 7: three blank cards plus 2 cards, not a pair (2 cards in different cells). [0055] LEVEL 8: two blanks plus a pair (2 cards in the same cell), plus a card in another cell. [0056] LEVEL 9: two pairs, 2 cards in a cell, 2 cards in another cell and a blank card or a non-blank card in another different cell. [0057] LEVEL 10: three of a kind only, 3 cards in a cell, plus a blank and a non-blank cards, or plus two non-blank cards in different cells. [0058] LEVEL 11: two blanks only plus 3 cards in different cells. [0059] LEVEL 12: losing combinations; no or one blank only, no or one pair only.

[0060] In the fifth embodiment, combinations of L cards are split and ranked within a ranking system of thirteen levels, 1 to 13, highest to lowest, and stored in thirteen libraries M(L) to A(L) as follows: [0061] LEVEL 1: a unique or player's choice of any combination. [0062] LEVEL 2: five of a kind, 5 cards in the same cell, [0063] LEVEL 3: four blank cards plus a non-blank card. [0064] LEVEL 4: three blank cards plus a pair (2 cards in the same cell). [0065] LEVEL 5: two blank cards plus three of a kind (3 cards in the same cell), [0066] LEVEL 6: four of a kind, 4 cards in a cell plus a blank card or a non-blank card. [0067] LEVEL 7: three of a kind, 3 cards in a cell, plus a pair, (2 cards in another cell). [0068] LEVEL 8: three blank cards plus 2 cards, not a pair (2 cards in different cells). [0069] LEVEL 9: two blanks plus a pair (2 cards in the same cell), plus a card in another cell. [0070] LEVEL 10: two pairs, 2 cards in a cell, 2 cards in another cell and a blank card or a non-blank card in another different cell. [0071] LEVEL 11: three of a kind only, 3 cards in a cell, plus a blank and a non-blank card, or plus two non-blank cards in different cells. [0072] LEVEL 12: two blanks only plus 3 cards in different cells. [0073] LEVEL 13: losing combinations, no or one blank only, no or one pair only.

[0074] In the sixth embodiment, combinations of L cards are split and ranked within a ranking system of eight levels, 1 to 8, highest to lowest, and stored in thirteen libraries F(L) to A(L).

[0075] A further refinement within each level of the above ranking systems may apply.

[0076] Combinations within each category maybe re-ranked, lowest to highest, in accordance with: [0077] 1. The order of the category that identify the combinations, and if the same, with [0078] 2. The order of the alphabetical letters that identify the combinations.

[0079] The system is applied to play social and gambling games with physical cards or in a virtual environment executed by a video game application on a computing device. The objective of the application of the disclosed system in games is for educational purposes and to provide fun and enjoyment to the participants in playing games.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0080] Six preferred embodiments are illustrated herein with four grids; two grids, grid 1 and 2 of 26 (alphabetic letters) by six categories, grids 3 and 4 of 26 by a single category, and the use of five, seven, eight, twelve and thirteen ranking levels, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. It is noted that the number of cards in the deck, E, the number of categories. X, the number of the ranking levels, R, the number of cards in a cell (i, l), and the term card are used herein for illustration purpose only and deviation from these numbers or from the number of items used in each category. E(i), or in each cell, E(i, l), would not affect the extent or the scope of the application of the invention.

[0081] FIGS. 2.1 and 2.2 show a preferred embodiment of 436 cards deck (E=436) in a grid of six categories, X=6: countries, pets/animals, fruits, vegetables, music instruments, and dances by couples. The categories 1 to 6 have 168, 72, 52, 52, 32 & 24 non-blank cards and 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 & 13 blank cards respectively. The total number of blank cards is therefore 36, and the total number of non-blank cards is 400. The total number of cards in each category E(i) is 170, 75, 57, 58, 39, and 37 respectively. The letter A shows on 17 cards and the letter R shows on 12 cards. The cell (5, L) and the cell (2, N) have each a blank card, the cell (2, L) has 4 cards, and the cell (1, C) has 14 cards.

[0082] FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2 show another preferred embodiment of 416 cards deck (E=416) in a grid of six categories, X=6; capital cities, baby names, individual characteristics, chemical elements, things in the kitchen and sports. The categories 1 to 6 have 100, 98, 52, 48, 44 & 42 non-blank cards and 4, 6, 0, 4, 8 & 10 blank cards respectively. The total number of blank cards is therefore 32, and the total number of non-blank cards is 384. The total number of cards in each category E(i) is 104, 104, 52, 52, 52, and 52 respectively. The letter A shows on 24 cards and the letter R shows on 22 cards. The cell (5, J) has 3 cards, and the cell (2, N) has one non-blank card, the cell (4, D) has a blank card, the cell (2, L) has 10 cards, and the cell (1, C) has 5 cards.

[0083] FIG. 5 shows another preferred embodiment of a 52 carda deck (E=52) in a grid of a single category, X=1; Chemical Elements. The deck of cards has 48 non-blank cards and 4 blank cards. The letter A shows on one non-blank card and the letter R shows on 4 cards. No elements are shown on the four blank cards with the leading letters D, J, Q or W.

[0084] FIG. 6 shows another preferred embodiment of a 66 cards deck (E=66) in a grid of a single category, X=1; Prime numbers under 200. The deck of cards has 46 non-blank cards and 20 blank cards. The letter E shows on three non-blank cards and the letter S shows on 7 non-blank cards. Prime numbers show only on six cell-46 cards, with the leading letter E, F, N, O, S and T.

System Application in Playing Social and Gambling Games

[0085] When the deck of cards is used in playing games, then all the cards, when facing down, have the same shape, color and pattern, as shown in FIG. 1. Face up cards, however, are quite different as they are distinguished one from the other due to differences in the letter and photo being displayed, if any, in the pattern, font and colors being used, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2C.1 to 2C.8, 3A and 3C.1 to 3C.7. All the cards are undistinguished when they are shuffled face down. Also, it is easy and simple to partition them into the six sets (categories) of cards when the cards face up.

[0086] FIG. 2B shows that in grid 1 with 7 ranking levels, G to A, out of 94830 possible combinations of 2 cards, there are 14400 combinations of 2-cards one of which is blank and the other is non blank, (2400 combinations ranking C with the blank card leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, and 12,000 combinations ranking B with the blank card leading letter is not R, S, T, L, N or E), 1149 combinations of two cards in the same cell (406 combinations ranking F with cards leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, and 743 combinations ranking D with cards leading letter is not R, S, T, L, N or B) and 630 combinations ranking E of 2-blank cards. The frequency of getting any of these combinations (ranking B to G) is 17.06%. When applied to casino games, payouts of 1.5, 8, 15, 20, 25 and 5000 to 1 to the respective levels B to G, as given in FIG. 2B, will lead to a casino advantage of 2.69%.

[0087] FIG. 3B shows that in grid 2 with 7-ranking levels, G to A, out of 86320 possible combinations of 2 cards, there are 12288 combinations of 2-cards one of which is blank and the other is non blank. (1920 combinations ranking C with the blank card leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, and 10,368 combinations ranking B with the blank card leading letter is not R, S, T, L, N or E), 775 combinations of two cards in the same cell (213 combinations ranking F with the cards leading letter is R, S, T, L, N or E, and 562 combinations ranking D with the cards leading letter is cot R, S, T, L, N or E) and 496 combinations ranking E of 2-blank cards. The frequency of getting anyone of these combinations (ranking B to G) is 15.71%. When applied to casino games, payouts of 1.5, 8, 20, 25, 50 and 5000 to 1 to the respective levels B to G, as given in FIG. 3B, will lead to a casino advantage of 2.96%.

[0088] FIG. 5A shows that in grid 3 with 12 ranking levels, 1 to 12, out of 2598960 possible combinations of 5 cards, there are 22 combinations of 5-cards with the same leading letter, ranking level 1, 216 combinations of 5-cards comprising of 3 blank cards and 2-cards with the same leading letter, ranking level 3, 1906 combinations of 5-cards comprising of 4-cards with the same leading letter and a card in a different cell, ranking level 5, 42726 combinations of 5-cards comprising 2-pairs, ranking 9, and 89520 combinations of 5-cards comprising of 2-blanks, ranking 11, and 23888618 losing combinations. The frequency of getting any of the winning combinations (ranking 1 to 11) is 8.09%. When applied to casino games, payouts of 4, 6, 8, 20, 50, 80, 100, 400, 600, 2500 and 5500 to 1 to the respective levels 11 to 1, as given in FIGURE SA, will lead to a casino advantage of 0.43%.

[0089] FIG. 5B shows that in grid 3 with 13 ranking levels, 0 to 12, out of 2598960 possible combinations of 5 cards, there is a single combination of 5-cards which is the player's choice, ranking level 0, 216 combinations of 5-cards comprising of 3 blank cards and 2-cards with the same leading letter, ranking level 3, 1906 combinations of 5-cards comprising of 4-cards with the same leading letter and a card in a different cell, ranking level 5, 55336 of 5-cards combinations comprising of 3-cards with the same leading letter, ranking 10, and 89520, and 23888617 losing combinations. The frequency of getting any of the winning combinations (ranking 0 to 11) is 8.09%. When applied to casino games, payouts of 4, 6, 8, 20, 50, 80, 88, 400, 500, 2000 and 100000 to 1 to the respective levels 11 to 0, as given in FIG. 5B, will lead to a casino advantage of 0.49%.

[0090] The associated ranking system may vary from the levels above and may apply to combinations of a different fixed number of cards, say 1, 4 or 6 cards, to any different number of categories, say, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 or 8, and to any number of cards in each of the categories. The application of a specific deck of cards in association with a defined ranking system will require the assessment of the rules of the game in play, the evaluation of the frequency of each level of the ranking system, the respective payouts and the assessment of the casino advantage.

[0091] As an example, for a single card combination in grid 1, FIGS. 2.1 and 2.2, out of the 436 cards, there are 47 cards that are either blanks (36) or non-blank cards that carry the leading letter X, Y or Z(11). The frequency of getting one of these cards is 10.78%, (47100/436).

[0092] Similarly, for a single card combination in grid 2, FIGS. 3.1 and 3.2, out of the 416 cards, there are 47 cards that are either blanks (32) or non-blank cards that carry the leading letter X, Y or Z(15). The frequency of getting one of these cards is 11.3%, (47100/416).

[0093] In embodiment 3 of the invention, for three cards combinations in grid 1, as given in FIG. 4 for a ranking system of 5 levels, out of 13,718,740 possible combinations of 3-cards, there are 3,131,940 combinations of 3-cards that at least one of which is blank, (or equivalently 2,872,800 combinations of one-blank card (ranking B), 252,000 combinations of 2 blank cards (ranking C) and 7.140 combinations of 3 blank cards (ranking D)). The frequency of getting anyone of these combinations (ranking B or higher) is 22.83%, When applied to casino games, payouts of 1.5, 15, 300, and 10,000 to 1 to the respective levels B to E, as given in FIG. 4, will lead to a casino advantage of 2.52%.

[0094] In embodiment 6 of the invention, for four cards combinations in grid 4, (which is a deck of cards of a single category, consisting of 66 cards, 46 non-blanks and 20 blanks) as given in FIG. 6, for a ranking system of 8 levels, G to A, out of the 720720 possible combinations of 4-cards, there are 603243 combinations ranking A, 52440 combinations ranking B, 28420 combinations ranking C, 14112 combinations ranking D, 11590 combinations ranking E, 6070 combinations ranking F and 4845 combinations ranking G. A player's choice combination is ranked H. The frequency of a player's getting anyone of the combinations ranking B or higher is 16.3%. When applied to casino games, payouts of 2, 4, 6, 8, 15, 20 and 10.000 to 1 to the respective levels B to H, as given in FIG. 6, will lead to a casino advantage of 1.296%.

[0095] Characteristics of the exemplary four grids/decks and of the six preferred embodiments presented herein are given in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.

[0096] Combining two categories into one, such as foods and drinks, X=1, leads to a single category of 26 cells, 89 cards (4 blanks and 85 non-blanks), E=89), a total number of combinations of 2441626 for L=4, and when using 9 ranking levels, I to A, with winning combinations consisting of at least one blank card or of at least of 3 of a kind, (winning levels I to B), the Hit Frequency is 6.3% and the casino advantage with payouts 3 to 1 and up to 100000 to 1, is 2.75%.

[0097] An apparatus including numerous physical structures, a display, a data processor, a database and a user operable trigger is disclosed.

[0098] The apparatus shares some of the hardware associated with existing gaming apparatus (i.e., video slot machines, which include a data processor in communication with a display and database), but there are at least four important features that distinguish the proposed apparatus from current slot/video machines.

[0099] First and most important, in the proposed machine, all the symbols (E) have an equal chance to be selected and displayed on a pay line. When E symbols are used on each reel, the selection and display of each one of the E symbols is purely and equally random: the RNG (Random Number Generator) divider is also B, and each quotient (0 to E-1) corresponds to a single symbol providing each symbol equal chance to be selected and displayed. The selection and display of each symbol is random and has the same frequency value (1/E); the chance of each symbol to be selected and displayed on a pay line is 1/E or 100/E %. This is not the case with prior-art machines.

[0100] Second, the displayed symbols are unique and never been suggested or used before. There are no current machines that use or display these symbols or even a part of them.

[0101] Third, in the proposed machine, combinations and permutations are assessed and compared on a unique ranking system, and winning outcomes are identified through the combinations of the symbols being selected and displayed on a pay line. In current machines, combinations and permutations are assessed and compared through the matching of symbols on a pay line, and a pay line must have 2 or 3 matching symbols displayed in sequence to win.

[0102] Forth, in the proposed machine, combinations or permutations that include blank symbols are highly rated and paid, whereas in the current machines, permutations or combinations with one or more blank symbols if displayed on a pay line, especially if displayed on the first or second reel, are doomed to lose.