Video Poker Redraw System with Server-Mediated Card State
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a lack of single-player video poker versions that offer players control and influence over gameplay while maintaining game integrity and providing a transparent, fair, and mathematically verifiable edge for the operator.
Innovation Solution
A gaming system involving a game server and client device that simulates a poker game with a software representation of a deck of cards, allowing players to wager and redraw cards, with the server analyzing combinations to determine the highest payout and offering a cash-out option, ensuring a built-in advantage for the operator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single-player video poker game is designed with player control and influence, then player engagement and fun are improved, but game integrity and mathematical verifiability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the player and the game logic. The server maintains the software representation of the deck and card states, mediating all card dealing, holding, and drawing operations. This intermediary ensures that player control actions are executed transparently and verifiably, resolving the contradiction between player engagement and game integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides continuous feedback to the player through the client device, displaying the current hand, available actions, and potential outcomes. The server processes player inputs and returns updated game states, creating a transparent feedback loop that maintains both player control and verifiable game integrity through observable system responses.
2Measurement precision
If multiple card combinations are analyzed to determine highest payout, then payout accuracy is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the card hand analysis into discrete evaluable combinations. The system identifies and evaluates specific poker hand patterns (pairs, straights, flushes, etc.) separately rather than analyzing all possible card permutations simultaneously. This segmentation reduces computational complexity while maintaining payout accuracy by focusing only on relevant winning combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The server performs preliminary analysis of potential card combinations before finalizing the hand evaluation. By pre-identifying which card combinations could potentially form winning hands based on the current hold selections, the system reduces the computational scope to only those combinations that matter, thereby reducing complexity while preserving accuracy.
3Adaptability or versatility
If redraw option is offered to players, then player control and engagement are improved, but game complexity and operator disadvantage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic game structure where the redraw option and its associated cash-out offer are introduced at a specific intermediate stage. The game transitions from an initial card deal to a decision point where players can either accept the cash-out offer or proceed with redraw. This dynamic structure adds player control and versatility without permanently increasing overall game complexity, as the redraw mechanism is optional and staged.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of gaming includes, after collecting a wager, randomly selecting a first set of cards from a deck and displaying the first set of cards to the player along with a redraw offer (an amount that the player can pay to redraw the first set of cards). If the player accepts the offer, that amount is collected from the player and the player receives a new first set of cards from the deck. The play continues with randomly selecting a second set of cards from the deck and evaluating the best hand from the first set of cards combined with the second set of cards and determining a payout value by looking up that best hand in a payout table and awarding the payout value to the player. In some embodiments, the redraw offer is a fixed amount that is less than the wager amount.