Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A game playing apparatus
This invention relates to a game playing
apparatus comprising
S - a lottery-type lot drawing device starting at
least one lot drawing event by means of a coin or
other similar token, the lot drawing device drawing,
for each lot drawing event, an individual outcome
among prizewinning and losing ou-tcomes; and
- a display device for displaying said outcome.
Various apparatuses for playing a game of skill
are previously ~nown in which a coin is used to
initiate a game event and in which the course of the
game affects -the outcome of the game in such a way
that the player either wins a prize or loses the
coin. In -this kind of game playing apparatuses, the
player is able to influence the outcome of the game
by his own skill so that in the worst case an un-
skillful player may constantly lose his stake.
For this reason, devices for playing games of
skill of tha type described above are not permitted
in certain countries. In some of these countries,
however, lotteries and other similar games, such as
"scraping cards", are permitted. In lotter~-type
games, one lottery round includes a predetermined
number of prizewinning as well as losing lots or
marks appearing in random order. The outcome of the
game is thereby usually shown as a sequence of
numbers which indicates whether the player is en-
titled to a prize or not, or with words or symbols
which indicate the amount to be paid out or the
losing of the stake. A drawback of lottery-type games
is, however, that the player knows in advance that he
cannot influence the course of the game by his own
skill but the outcome of the game is predetermined by
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the random occurrence of the prizes. This is a factor
which considerably reduces the interest of the player
in this type of game.
The object of the present invention is to
provide a lottery-type game playing apparatus which
avoids the above-mentioned drawback and which is con-
siderably more interesting for the player in spite of
the fact that the player's skill does not actually
influence the course of the game. This object is
achieved by a game playing apparatus according to the
invention, which is characterized in that the display
device is arranged to visually display the outcome of
the lot drawing in terms of the rules of a card garne
or other similar game known per se.
The invention is based on the idea that by com-
bining a lottery event with a card playing event, the
player's interest in a simple lottery game is con-
siderably increased as the player in the first place
has the feeling that he :is playing a card game
familiar to him. It is obvious that it is con-
siderably more interesting for the player who has
started the game to see the outcome of the game in
terms of the rules of a well-known card gam~, such as
poker ("full house", "pair", a non-winning combina-
tion of cards, etc.) instead of seeing the outcome
indicated with such signs as "PRIZE 20,-" or "N0
PRIZE". In this way a less in-teresting lottery game
is made more attractive by associating it with game
playing apparatuses giving high prizes. The game it-
self, however, is a lottery game permitted in
countries which do not permit slot machines, such as
fruit machines, in which the player is able to
influence the amount of money to be paid out as a
prize.
In the following the invention will be de-
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scribed in greater detail with reference to the
attached drawings, in which
Figure 1 illustrates schematically the oper-
ating principle of one embodiment of a game playing
apparatus of the invention; and
Figure 2 shows the display panel of the game
playing apparatus. -
The main parts of the game playing device shown
in the drawings include a coin slot 1, a central pro- `
cessing unit 2, a display panel 3, a cash 4, a
receipt machinery 5 and a lottery ticke~ delivering
device 6.
The coin slot l is connected to the cash 4 and
provided with means 7 for causing the processing unit
2 to effect one lot drawing event. The processing
unit is connected through means 8 to the display
panel 3 to display the outcome of the lot drawing on
the display panel. The processing unit is also con-
nected through means 9 to the receipt machinery 5 to
write out a lottery ticket lO. The receipt machinery
is connected to the delivering device 6, which
delivers the lottery ticket ~to the player.
In this specific case, the outcome of the lot
drawing is shown by ive cards ll, and the prizes 12
follow the winning combinations of the poker game.
Other combinations of cards do not entitle to a
prize. The distribution of prizes between the dif-
ferent winning combinations, the amounts to be paid
out, and the number of the prizes for the different
combinations can be selected as desired with respect
to the total number of lot drawing events included in
one lottery round.
The winning scheme is permanently programmed in
the memory of the central processing unit as well as
the lot drawing program. The memory of the unit con-
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tains a table which comprises one element for eachlottery ticket and another table which shows the
amount to be paid out as a prize. When one particular
element has once been selected, it is marked so that
it cannot be used again. The same applies to each
prize which has already been won. If the outcome of
the lot drawing does not entitle to a prize, the dis-
play panel shows five randomly selected cards which
do not form a winning combination. A prizewinning
lottery ticket causes a corresponding winning com-
bination to appear in the display. The operation of
the lot drawing program is all the time controlled by
a random number generator 13 the state of which can-
not be calculated from outside. When the lots are
drawn, they are all of e~ual value. This kind of lot
drawing devices are known per se.
For each lot drawing event, the receipt
machinery writes out a lottery ticket in which the
possible prize is indicated. The prize will be paid
out to the player against the lottery ticket.
Prizewinning lot numbers can be distributed in
two different ways.
The lot numbers included in one lottery round
are fed to a data cassette 14 in the order in which
they are selected by the random number generator. The
cassette is then positioned in the proces~ing unit.
Whan the player inserts a coin into the coin slot 1,
the unit applies a signal to the receipt machinery so
that it writes out, on the lottery ticket to be given
to the player, information on whether the player wins
a prize or not. The information to be written on the
lottery ticket is in each case positioned uppermost
in the memory.
Instead of allowing the random number generator
to feed the lot numbers included in one lottery round
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in advance and in random order into the cassette, the
random number generator can be positioned in the
central processing unit to select the lot numbers at
the moment when a coin is inserted into the device.
5In other respects the device operates similarly as
the first alternative. In both cases the lottery
ticket is not printed until during the lot drawing,
and the device does not comprise any preprinted
lottery tickets which might tempt to theft.
1~It can be seen that as the outcome of the lot
drawing is shown in terms of the rules of a card game
re~uirin~ special skill, the player gets an idea that
he is playing a game of skill. The lot drawing pro-
cess itself is nevertheless controlled by a lottery-
15type game playing device.
The drawings and the description related there-
to are only intended to illustrate the idea of the
; invention. In its details, the device of the inven-
tion may vary within the scope of the claims. In
place of the card combinations of the poker game the
outcome of the game can be shown in terms of any
other well-known card game or other similar game. The
receipt machinery may ~lternatively be controlled by
the display device 3O
25Even though the invention has been described
above in connection with a game in which the outcome
of the lot drawing is shown in terms of combinations
of cards, the outcome can also be shown by means of
combinations of numbers, letters or symbols. In some
countries, certain numbers or combinations of
numbers, for instance, may be considered to bring
luck or have some other favorable effects, whereas in
some other countries certain figures or combinations
of figures may have a positive symbolic meaning. The
definition "card game or other similar game" is
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therefore intended to also include such ways of dis-
playing the outcome of the lot drawing.
The definition "coin or other similar token" is
intended to include bank notes if the game playing
apparatus can be started with a bank note for a-t
least one lot drawing event.
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