Poker table with integrated visual timer
The integration of a visualized timer into the poker table using a light strip or digital display addresses the need for a cost-effective and equally visible timer solution, enhancing player experience by adapting to various table designs.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE202024001888
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-10-02
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-09
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-10-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing poker tables lack a cost-effective and equally visible timer solution that does not obstruct the playing field or require complex external devices, which are either cumbersome to set up or too expensive for recreational use.
Integrate a cost-effective visualized timer into the poker table using a light strip or digital display, ensuring visibility for all players without disturbing the playing field, adaptable to various table designs.
Provides a cost-effective and unobtrusive timer solution that enhances player experience by ensuring equal visibility and adaptability to different table configurations.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a poker table with an integrated device for measuring time during game operation.
[0002] Poker tables of the usual design comprise a frame and a tabletop mounted on it, usually covered with a cloth forming the playing field (1). This tabletop is often equipped with an armrest (2) along the edge of the tabletop. This armrest may also be padded and / or interrupted, for example, to allow space for a permanent dealer. Such armrests can vary in height depending on the design, forming a raised edge around the usually visually enhanced playing field (1).Optionally, light strips (3), such as LED strips, are integrated into the poker tables for atmospheric ambient lighting, usually along the outer and / or inner side of the armrest or sometimes even in the middle of the tabletop (for example, to illuminate the "betting line" commonly found on poker tables). The light strips can also display color effects, such as moving colors or flashing lights along the strip. To measure time during a poker game, for example, the time remaining for a player to make their move or the time until a so-called "blind raise," it has previously been necessary to use external devices. There is also a complex card shuffling machine called "DECKMATE 2" that can be integrated into a table. This machine has an integrated timer as a secondary function, which can then be read by the permanent card dealer at the so-called "dealer position."
[0003] The problem is that external devices, if they are to be placed on the table for everyone to see, take up space on the table or have to be placed off to the side, where they are not equally visible to every player at the table, or they are so small that only one person can read the device. Equal visibility for everyone would otherwise only be possible with excessive effort, such as hanging devices all around or above the table. A built-in card shuffler is a large and complex technical device that, due to its high price, is only worthwhile for professional (casino) operations, and the timer function is only a secondary function on these devices. For a recreational player or smaller event companies, such a machine would not be worthwhile just for the timer function.In addition, such mixing machines are installed in the playing area (1) and take up a significant part of it, which must remain free of playing materials in order to maintain the usability of the machine and thus impair the usability of the playing field.
[0004] The invention solves this problem by integrating a cost-effective visual timer into the poker table itself, which is as clearly visible as possible to the players and the dealer without disrupting the playing field or otherwise rendering parts of it unusable. This can be achieved by installing a light bar programmed to visualize the passage of time based on the length of the bar, or by integrating a digital display of a counting timer into the table. This installation is independent of the table shape or the tabletop shape and size, and also independent of whether the armrest is installed along the entire edge of the tabletop or whether it has a recess (e.g., for the position of a permanent dealer).
[0005] A preferred embodiment - as in Fig.1 and mentioned in claim 2 a) - is to attach the light strip (3) to the entire inside of the armrest and to program it so that, for example, at the push of a button, a colored light stripe, starting from a starting point (4) and gradually following the course of the armrest, colors the entire light strip within a predetermined time, or runs to a predefined end point (5). After the time has elapsed, additional light signals, such as the brief illumination of the entire strip in a different color, can signal that the time has elapsed. List of reference symbols 1 playing field 2 armrests 3 light bar 4 Potential starting point 5 Potential endpoint
Claims
[1] Poker table with a frame and a table top, the edge of which is provided with an armrest, characterized by that a visual timer is installed in the area of the table top including the armrest, except in the case of a secondary function of a card shuffling machine equipped with a display that can be integrated into the table. [2] Poker table according to claim 1, characterized by that the timer, in the form of a programmable light bar, is laid along the inside of the armrest and the elapsed time is displayed by a light bar that grows along the light bar and starts and ends at a set point. a) Poker table according to claim 2, which characterized by is that the armrest and the light bar cover the entire edge of the table top and the light bar extends along the armrest within the preset time, gradually, over the entire length of the light bar. b) Poker table according to claim 2, which characterized by is that the armrest and the light bar have a recess and the light bar on the light bar grows from one end of the armrest to the other end. c) Poker table according to claim 2, which characterized by is that a light bar grows on a predefined section of the light bar within a given time. [3] Poker table according to claim 1, characterized by that the timer, in the form of a programmable light bar, is integrated into the surface of the table top and the elapsed time is displayed by a light bar growing along the light bar. [4] Poker table according to claim 1, characterized by that the timer in the form of at least one running digital time display or several digital time displays is mounted in the area of the table top and / or armrest. [5] Poker table according to claim 2 a) -c) or 3 or 4, characterized bythat when the time has elapsed, the visual display of the timer indicates by changing color and / or flashing or written out that the time has elapsed.