Wireless syncronizing poker tournament timer

Abstract

A wireless synchronizing poker tournament timer the size of a deck of playing cards consisting of front and back cover enclosures 101&102, a graphical liquid crystal display 103, circuit board 109 with a microprocessor, speaker, and a wireless transmitting and receiving device. It provides a flexible way of tracking and displaying poker tournament information and can be set to broadcast tournament information with other devices to synchronize the timer and starting bet information.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]Not ApplicableFEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH [0002]Not ApplicableSEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM[0003]C code program included on CD-ROM. The following files are included: About, ButtnMgr, Common, Eeprom, Font, GameMode, GLOBALS, KEYPAD, LCD, LevelCfg, Lfont, MAIN, MainMenu, mAT898252, MenuBmp, MenuBmpCCW, MenubmpFlipped, Mfont, PokrLinx, PokrLinx.Inp, PokrLinx.Opt, PokrLinx.Uv2, Ports, rcvtx1.Inp, rf, screens, Sfont, TestMode, Tools, TmyCnfg, txcw1.Inp, TyAdjust, TyWizard, XLfontBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0004]1. Field of Invention[0005]This invention relates to poker tournament timing and starting bet management devices, specifically in situations were tournament information needs to be displayed to multiple players[0006]2. Prior Art[0007]With the popularity of poker tournaments growing throughout the world, recreational players are looking for better ways to host and manage poker tournaments.[0008]Hosting a poker tournament requires the hos...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Due to the complexity involved, many hosts use computer programs installed on laptop or desktops computers to track the tournament information and display the information on monitors.

Unfortunately, a laptop or desktop computer is not the best device to use in a poker environment.

Smoke, spilled drinks and other issues represents a danger to the computer.

In addition, a computer typically needs to be plugged to a wall outlet due to the long duration of typical tournament.

The most problematic aspect of using a computer to manage a tournament is a computer screen can only be seen by a limited number of players.

Many tournaments are often played with more than 10 players and require multiple tables which adds to the problem because a computer monitor display is even harder to see with multiple tables.

This causes some players to have more information regarding the status of the tournament than other players which causes a level of unfairness in the tournament.

These devices are fairly large devices and are not able to be placed into a poker chip carry case which limits portability.

These devices do not have menu based displays which makes configuration of a tournament difficult and information displayed during a tournament can not be adjusted based upon the player's preference.

The most problematic issue with these devices is the single display problem similar to the computer problem above.

Because these devices have a single display, half of the players in the tournament have their backs to the device and can not see critical tournament information, which again causes a lack of parity of information in the tournament.

If a host buys two or more of these timing devices so all players can see the information, this causes additional problems.

Each device needs to be setup independently and quickly become unsynchronized due to frequent timer start and stops caused by moving players, tournament breaks, and resolving tournament issues.

These devices can not be synchronized via a broadcast signal and because the get unsynchronized, players at a table with two or more devices or with multiple tables with devices will be looking at divergent tournament information.

This would cause a considerable increase in tournament inequality.

Without the starting bet levels related to the timer, the device can not be used for a tournament.

The device's display is too small for more than two players to see at a time and significantly compounds the single display problem described above.

If many players were using this type of device, a lack of synchronization again becomes a critical issue.

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