US20060043680A1

US20060043680A1 - Poker flash cards

Info

Publication number: US20060043680A1
Application number: US11/212,467
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeremy Gray; Brant Janeway
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-08-28
Filing date: 2005-08-27
Publication date: 2006-03-02

Abstract

Poker instructional flash cards arranged on a deck of fifty-two playing cards of standard casino size and shape that particularly correspond with the play of various kinds of poker games facilitating a player's ability to memorize and understand the correct response or playing action to common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations in poker play. Poker instructional flash cards arranged on a deck of fifty-two playing cards utilized as a learning tool in simulated or actual game play will reinforce standard flash card lessons with time in game experiences.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flash cards arranged on a playing card deck and more particularly to flash cards arranged on a playing card deck which teach a player the correct playing actions in response to common poker situations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Poker is a very popular card game that has been enjoyed by the public for years. Poker is a very popular game and is well known in the art. We will outline the rules in the interest of clarity. The game is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards composed of the two conventional black suits of spades and clubs and the two conventional red suits of hearts and diamonds. Each suit contains thirteen cards, one each of numerically indicated cards of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and one each of the face cards Jack, Queen, King and each suit contains an Ace. Many poker games have evolved from traditional five-card poker, all of which use the same basic priority or rank order of winning poker hands.
In poker, each player is dealt cards or in some poker incarnations they share community cards, from which the winning hand is assembled. The object of the game of poker is to obtain the best five-card hand among all participants. The individual cards are ranked in the following order from highest to lowest: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two. The winning poker hands common to all poker games are ranked in the following order from highest to lowest:

(1) Royal Flush—Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, all of the same suit.
(2) Straight Flush—Five sequential cards all of the same suit.
(3) Four-of-a-Kind—Four cards all of equal rank.
(4) Full House—Three cards of equal rank and two cards of equal rank.
(5) Flush—Any five cards of the same suit
(6) Straight—Five sequential cards of mixed suits.
(7) Three-of-a-Kind—Three cards of equal rank.
(8) Two Pair—Two cards of equal rank and a different two cards of equal rank.
(9) One Pair—Two cards of equal rank.
(10) High Card—The card that has the highest rank.

The best hand among the players is declared and that player is the winner. If two or more players have the same best hand, the players are each declared the winner, however if one of the hands has higher individual card rankings then that player is declared the winner.
In recent years, the popularity of the particular poker game Texas Hold 'Em or sometimes Hold 'Em has soared. In Texas Hold 'Em, all of the standard aforementioned poker rules apply and the specific rules are as follows: Up to ten players can participate in a game of Texas Hold 'Em. Each player is dealt two cards face down. There is a subsequent round of betting strictly based on the two cards in each player's hand thus far. The dealer then deals three cards face up, known as the Flop, in the center of the table—these are community cards that are shared by all of the players. After the Flop, there is another round of betting. The dealer then deals a fourth community cared face up, known as the Turn. There is another round of betting. Then the dealer turns a final, fifth community card face up, known as the River. All five of the community cards are now organized together and are available for any players use. There is a final round of betting, followed by a showdown where each player makes his best five-card poker hand, using any combination of his two face down cards and the five community cards. The final five cards are determined by which combination yields the best possible hand.
There is mandatory predetermined betting included in Texas Hold 'Em. On each hand, the person to the left of the dealer, called the Button, is the first to act. Before the deal, this person must post a bet known as the Little Blind and the person to his left must post a larger bet known as the Big Blind. The player to the left of the Big Blind must call (or match) the bet, raise the bet or fold the hand. There are no Blind bets on subsequent betting rounds. After each hand, the Button moves one space to the left, and the obligation for the respective Blind bets does as well.
A common instructional tool for teaching and practicing educational material and games are flash cards. Flash cards are usually hand-held rectangular cards containing questions or situations printed on one side of the card with the answers to the questions, or the actions to be taken in the situations, printed on the other side. The cards are gathered in a stack, with all the questions printed face up. The user must read the question and attempt to figure out the answer before turning the card over to see if they got the correct answer. The user must repeat this process over and over again with each card until he begins to memorize the answers. The cards can then be rearranged in random order in order to facilitate memorization.
Flash cards are commonly used in elementary schools for the teaching of arithmetic. For example, “2+2=?” is printed on the front and on the back is printed the answer “4”.
It became apparent to us that flash cards present a useful way to learn the game of poker, specifically common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations in common scenarios. Fifty-two flash cards can facilitate the memorization and learning of proper playing responses to common odds and scenarios because they can encompass all of these necessary to be in a better position to win, and it is advantageous to be able to practice them in random order. None of the prior art is particularly suited to facilitate learning poker this way.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,246,152 to Perrine (1917) discloses a pack of flash cards upon which are printed arithmetical problems, and presents a children's game for learning arithmetic. The problems are printed at opposing ends of the cards, so that the problem is visible right side up at the top end of the card, no matter which end is held uppermost However, the answer is revealed on the back of the card when the user flips the card over. This implementation forces the invention to be on two sides of each card and therefore both sides must be in use. It also limits shuffling the cards since all of the answer side cards must be facing the same way in order to use the cards effectively. This invention is directed primarily towards the minimization of the number of cards necessary to provide a complete exposition of all possible combinations in an area of arithmetical study, such as multiplication.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,399 to Gordy et al. (1973) discloses a pack of flash cards for teaching the game of bridge. It presents each hand of bridge on a set of four cards, one for each player in the game. The cards have a different hand at the opposing end of each card, thus presenting two hands in each set of four cards. The cards are specifically designed only for instruction in how to bid in the game of bridge. They have the deficiency that one cannot easily shuffle them, except as four separate decks. Moreover, they use numbers and letters to represent card faces and do not depict the card faces as they actually appear.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,651 to Robert Mankoff and Marcy Mankoff (1977) discloses a deck of playing cards similar to a standard deck with the four suit designations but including a vocabulary word on each card, rather than a card value. The vocabulary word has three possible definitions, one of which is correct. Each definition is given a card value and only by knowing the correct answer will the user learn the appropriate value of the card. Only after accurately identifying the correct definition is the deck adaptable to any standard card game, thus the cards would be inaccurate for a card game if a user did not realize he chose the wrong definition. Additionally, although the cards have the potential to act as an actual deck of traditional playing cards, it becomes exceedingly difficult to keep track of what values a user is holding. While playing a hand in a card game, it would be necessary to view the definitions of the cards to know each card's value, therefore the cards must be held far apart in the user's hand, making it extremely difficult in practice to play an actual card game using these cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,549 to Cywar (1977) discloses a blackjack card deck. Each card has a number and suit printed in the corner to simulate one of the player's cards. The card has a chart summarizing the action a player should take depending on what other cards are present. The chart has the player's cards and the dealer's cards along its two axes. Though the symbols in the corners of each card simulate the printing on a playing card, they do not substantially depict any actual playing card situation. The information presented on the card in chart form is quite complex and difficult to interpret Complexity deters the user from learning and practicing quickly. Complexity causes disinterest and will thwart the desire to learn.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,326 to Leep, et al. (1992) discloses a pack of flash cards for teaching and practicing blackjack. The face of each card contains two playing situations on opposite ends of the card arranged so that each appears either right side up or upside down regardless of which end is up. Each half also contains within a frame a smaller perspective image of a card and a still smaller oblong box containing an identifier for a method of grouping subsets of the total deck. The back of each card also presents two separate sections which provide a recommended action for the situation represented on the same half of the card's face. These cards are only valuable for one set of casino or house rules and they do not account for the varying rules that exist worldwide, namely number of decks being used and rules governing both the dealer's and the players' options. Also, the instructions on the cards are two-sided and therefore both sides of the cards must be in use and since the cards are two-sided, they cannot be assembled into a deck and dealt out randomly face down because the player will be able to view the recommended action. This prevents the player from simulating actual play while practicing.
Albert H. Morehead “The Complete Guide to Winning Poker” (1967) listed the odds against improving various combinations in poker and specifically in this example Seven-Card Stud on pages 226,227. These odds are given in an uninteresting list with straight numbers and not in a situational manner that facilitates learning quickly.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are as follows:

(a) to provide flash cards arranged on a traditional deck of playing cards with questions and answers representing common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations, which will facilitate and expedite the comprehension of poker;
(b) to provide flash cards arranged on a traditional deck of playing cards, which can be used in an actual or simulated game of poker, where the user can apply the poker lessons with the exact situation as it arises in order to promote learning;
(c) to provide flash cards arranged on a traditional deck of playing cards which identify to the user the appropriate playing action;
(d) to provide a set of cards having 52 common poker situations that are necessary to be understood in order to be in a better position to win.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following drawings and descriptions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the objective of the present invention to provide poker instructional flash cards arranged on a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards that particularly correspond with the play of various kinds of Poker games facilitating a player's ability to memorize and understand the correct response or playing action to common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations in poker play, enabling the player to make the appropriate corresponding decisions.
The objective of the present invention is attained by a deck of standard fifty-two playing cards of the present invention, which can be utilized as flash cards in order to memorize and understand the correct response to common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations that occur in poker play.
An understanding of the odds is crucial to improving an individual's overall Poker play. The odds determine whether a player should call, bet or fold the hand they are playing. When a player is considering any play in Poker, knowing the odds is the key to winning and making money. For example, if there is $50 in the pot, and it will cost the player $10 to call a bet, then the player is receiving 5 to 1 odds and the pot is potentially paying the player $5 for every $1 he bets. If the odds of the player making his hand are better than 5 to 1, then the player is in a favorable situation of making his hand and should not fold but remain in the hand.
The present invention provides instructional flash cards on a standard playing card deck of fifty-two playing cards. The backs of the cards all contain an ornamental design and are indistinguishable from one another such that the value of any given card cannot be ascertained by viewing the back of the card. The front of each card contains a representation of the fifty-two standard cards found in a traditional deck of playing cards. In addition to these standard card face pips and suit indicators, each playing card contains questions printed on the top, which represent common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations in common scenarios. The correct responses or playing actions to the common poker scenarios or the answers to these odds of making certain hand combinations questions at the top of the card face are printed upside down on the bottom of the card face. The version of the present invention represented in our drawings specifically correspond with the poker game Texas Hold 'Em.
In order to play poker and be in a position to win, a player must know common poker scenarios, as well as the odds of making specific hand combinations in common scenarios. Each of the fifty-two cards ask and answer a different question representing an instructional lesson and when they are memorized and internalized by the user, he will become a poker player in a much better position to win.
The cards in the present invention can be memorized in classic flash card fashion where the user must read the question and attempt to figure out the answer before turning the card around to see if they got the correct answer. The user must repeat this process over and over again with each card until he begins to memorize the answers. As the user familiarizes himself with the questions and answers he can begin using the cards in an actual or simulated game of Poker. As the user plays the game with the present invention, he will encounter the situations during the course of play that are covered by the questions and answers printed on the cards. As the player applies the poker lessons as instructed on the cards in a real game situation, the cards will act to reinforce the player's knowledge and enable him to internalize the odds, strategies and correct responses or playing actions to common scenarios furthering the learning process for the player.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following description taken into consideration with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIGS. 1 and 2 show the card faces of the eight and the four of hearts value cards of the present invention.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show example layouts of the card back variant indicating where a logo or other identifying advertisement material may be placed.
FIGS. 5,6,7 and 8 show the complete indicia content, in table format for each card in the present 52-card deck invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention embodied in FIGS. 1 through 8 is presented on a deck of fifty two playing cards all of size, shape and weight of a typical card used in casino gaming play.
Referring to the drawing on FIG. 1, the face of each card 13 has value indicators 11,19 and traditional card suit indicators 12,17 disposed near the top corner 10 and in the opposite bottom corner 18 in inverted orientation. The suit of the card is displayed with standard pips on the center card face 15 in larger fashion. Printed on the top of each card face 13 in the FIG. 1 embodiment of the present invention is a question 14 relating to the mathematical odds of making a specific hand in the game of poker. In the opposite bottom corner on the card face 13 of the FIG. 1 embodiment is printed the answer 16 in inverted fashion to the question 14 asked above.
Referring to the drawing on FIG. 2, the face of each card 13 has value indicators 11,19 and card suit 12,17 disposed near the top corner 10 and in the opposite bottom corner 18 in inverted orientation. The suit of the card is again displayed on the center card face 15 in larger standard pip fashion. Printed on the top of each card face 13 in the FIG. 1 embodiment of the present invention is a question 14 relating to choices presented by a specific scenario in the game of poker. In the opposite bottom corner on the card face 13 of the FIG. 1 embodiment is printed the answer 16 in inverted fashion to the question 14 asked above.
FIGS. 3 and 4 represent the card backs of all 52 cards in the present invention's deck. Card back 20 is embossed with company-designed logos in mirrored fashion 21,25 as to be indiscernible from any other of the 52 cards in the deck. Spaces 22, 24 have been left on either side of the graphic arts divider 23 for labeling of poker game type.
FIGS. 5 through 8 represent the printed information on each card face 13 of the 52 cards which make up the presented version of the invention. Each table present in FIGS. 5 through 8, displays the question 14 and answer 16 in column format for every suit 12 and numerical value 11 for every card in the presented version of this invention's 52-card deck. The suits are displayed as standard pips: hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs and are arranged in a column descending in rank Ace, King, Queen, Jack, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three and two. The first column of FIGS. 5 through 8, represents the card rank and suit and to the right of each card rank in the first column is that card's corresponding question 14 which are listed in the second column and asked at the top of that specific cards face 13. The Third Column provides the answer 16 to the question asked and is printed on the bottom of each card face 13 in inverse fashion.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
Although the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain illustrative embodiments, those skilled in the art undoubtedly will find alternative embodiments obvious after reading this disclosure. With this in mind, the following claims are intended to define the scope of protection to be afforded the inventor, and those claims shall be deemed to include equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, learning and improving in the game of poker, consisting of:

fifty-two cards of identical external dimensions, said cards having a face and a back;

said backs of said cards all contain an ornamental design and are indistinguishable from one another such that the value or suit of any given card cannot be ascertained by viewing the back of the card;

said faces of said cards having indicia indicating the two conventional black suits of spades and clubs and the two conventional red suits of hearts and diamonds;

said faces of said cards each having indication of value by thirteen serially ranked alphanumeric indicia including two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace;

said faces of said cards having printed thereon, at the top of the card face, indicia representing instructional questions related to poker playing scenarios and strategies, as well as the odds of making certain hand combinations; and

said faces of said cards having printed thereon, at the bottom of the card face in inverted fashion, indicia representing the answers to the aforementioned questions and recommended playing actions.

2. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, learning and improving in the game of poker as recited in claim 1, wherein:

each of the fifty-two cards ask and answer a different question representing an instructional lesson

3. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, learning and improving in the game of poker as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the cards in the present invention can be memorized in classic flash card fashion, where the user must read the question and attempt to figure out the answer before turning the card around to see if they got the correct answer and the user must repeat this process over and over again with each card until he begins to memorize the answers.

4. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, learning and improving in the game of Poker as recited in claim 1, wherein:

fifty-two flash cards facilitate a player's ability to understand common game scenarios that occur in poker play and enables the player to make the appropriate corresponding decisions.

5. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, learning and improving in the game of Poker as recited in claim 1, wherein:

fifty-two flash cards facilitate the memorization and learning of proper playing responses to common odds, situations putting the player in a better position to win

6. A playing card deck of fifty-two flash cards particularly suited for playing, leaning and improving in the game of Poker as recited in claim 1, wherein:

a user playing an actual or simulated game of poker applies the instructional questions or lessons as indicated on the cards simultaneously with the exact situation as it arises, the cards will act to reinforce the player's knowledge and enable him to internalize the odds, strategies and correct playing actions or responses to common scenarios furthering the learning process for the player.