Card Game Indicator Device for Tamper-Proof Player Selection

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing card games face issues with cheating due to transient and vulnerable player instructions, such as gestures or spoken words, which are difficult to capture and track, especially in busy casino environments, leading to a need for a more visible and stationary method for player choices.

Innovation Solution

A card game system using a unique indicator device, such as a button, where players select one of two card positions before dealing, with the selected side facing upwards in a compartmented rack, allowing all aspects of gameplay to be visually monitored, including the player who made the selection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If players use gestures or spoken words to indicate choices, then the game can be played quickly and casually, but the instructions are easily missed, susceptible to misunderstanding and vulnerable to cheating

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of making player choiceVSAvoidintegrity of player instruction

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a physical indicator device (button) as an intermediary between the player's choice and the game outcome. This button serves as a tangible mediator that clearly communicates the player's selection without relying on transient gestures or speech, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability of instruction transmission

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The player makes their selection using the button before the cards are dealt. This preliminary action ensures the choice is established and recorded in advance, preventing any ambiguity or cheating during the dealing process while maintaining simple operation

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If verbal or gesture instructions are used, then the game flow remains fast and simple, but casino cameras may not capture the instruction and it is difficult to track

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvespeed of game playVSAvoidvisibility of player selection

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The indicator device uses visual differentiation (different sides of the button showing different indicators) to clearly display the player's selection. This visual signaling method ensures the selection is easily detectable by cameras and human observers alike, resolving the contradiction between fast gameplay and visibility of selections

Inventive Principle:

Principle #32Color changes

Solution Approach 2:

The button creates a physical copy or representation of the player's choice that persists throughout the dealing process. Unlike transient gestures, this physical indicator can be captured by cameras and verified by multiple parties, making the selection easy to detect and measure without slowing down the game

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Adaptability or versatility

If instructions are transient and can be quickly withdrawn and replaced, then players can change their minds, but the withdrawal and replacement instructions are equally difficult to track

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveability to change player choiceVSAvoidtracking of instruction changes

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The button design allows the player to make a clear, definitive selection without the ability to partially change or ambiguously modify the choice. The selection is either one state or another, providing adaptability within clear boundaries while preventing information loss about what the player actually selected

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

4Reliability

If a stationary visible indicator is used for player choices, then each round of play can be thoroughly visualized to monitor integrity, but the device complexity increases with indicator devices and racks

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveintegrity of gameplayVSAvoidcomplexity of indicator system

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system is segmented into simple, modular components: a button with distinct sides and a rack with designated compartments. This segmentation allows the complex function of reliable indication to be achieved through simple, easily manufactured parts, resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS9555317B1Method and system for playing a card game that includes wagers for dealt hand positions

Publication Date: 2017.01.31 TOMPKINS CHARLES G

AI summary

A card game entails betting on the rank, suit, rank and suit, color, odd/even value of a card dealt to one of two positions on a table. Using a two-sided selector (button), a player selects which of the two position will count. The selection is made prior to dealing or revealing the dealt cards. Players may also bet on whether the two cards are a pair. The selector is placed in a compartment of a selector rack during the round of play.