Ex Parte Snow - Page 8



           Appeal No. 2006-2057                                                                     
           Application No. 10/277,482                                                               

           and a person who plays War in a casino (col. 3, lines 11-13).  As shown in the           
           figure, the game has three segments.  The first is War (high card), the second is        
           Blackjack (21), and the third is Poker.  A card is drawn for the first game, and the     
           player, after being given a second card to start the second segment, can draw up to      
           five more cards while playing the hand of Blackjack.  For the third segment, the         
           game of Poker, the player is given additional cards, if the player does not already      
           have seven cards, so that the player and dealer each have seven cards.  However, in      
           each of these segments, the player plays against the dealer's hand and does not play     
           against a paytable for the third segment, as claimed (col. 3, lines 29-53), and each     
           player obtains a total of seven cards as opposed to the maximum of six cards given       
           to each player in the invention of claim 1.  Awada ('643) further discloses that the     
           players are preferably entitled to contribute to a jackpot and bonus pool.  Players      
           are allowed to contribute to the bonus and jackpot pool at the initiation of the         
           game.  When a player's seven cards include a rank of four of a kind or higher, a         
           bonus is paid from the pool to the player.                                               
                 From this disclosure, we additionally find that in Awada ('643), the bonus         
           and jackpot is paid based on the player having four of a kind or better, and not         
           based upon winning or pushing at least two successive segments of the game.              
           Turning to Ornstein, we find that the reference is directed to a gaming system and       
           method for multiple game wagering (col. 1, lines 1 and 2).  Ornstein discloses that      
           one technique that can be used to increase the attraction of games of chance and         
           lengthen the time in which the players will stay at a particular gaming table is to      
           base the player's ultimate winning payoff, not just on a single play of a game, but      
           on their success on repeated plays (col. 1, lines 30-34).   As noted by the examiner     
                                                 8                                                  



Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next

Last modified: September 9, 2013