WO2008151358A1

WO2008151358A1 - Property trading board game incorporating aspects of poker

Info

Publication number: WO2008151358A1
Application number: PCT/AU2008/000814
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brett Nutland
Original assignee: SAMOSKA TECH Pty Ltd
Current assignee: SAMOSKA TECH Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2007-06-12
Filing date: 2008-06-10
Publication date: 2008-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 2009-12-12
Also published as: AU2008261599A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a property trading board game incorporating aspects of the popular card game of poker. Various casinos are depicted on the board (69). Players may purchase entry to each casino's poker tournament and charge other players a 'rake' each time they land on that casino. Each casino can be 'improved' by purchasing 'hands' for that casino, in which case the rake increases according to the hand purchased. To improve a casino the player pays a fee and deals themselves six playing cards from the regular deck (73) and attempts to make a predefined combination (i.e. the best possible poker hand) using a combination of the card indicia from any five of the seven available indicia (i.e. the card indicia from the six playing cards dealt and the position indicia representing the casino that is the subject of the improvement attempt). If a poker hand is formed the improvement attempt is successful and this is indicated by a token representing the poker hand being placed on the casino board position.

Description

PROPERTY TRADING BOARD GAME INCORPORATING ASPECTS OF POKER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for playing a game, for example a board game . Embodiments of the present invention find application, though not exclusively, in the leisure industry. Yet other embodiments find application, though not exclusively, in the gaming industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In some cases the initial excitement and interest levels generated by known games may dwindle after repeated exposure. This may lead to a reduction in sales and therefore a commensurate reduction in the commercial value of the game. Hence, it is generally desirable to develop new games to stimulate fresh interest and sales potential. However, some potential players may exhibit a reluctance to invest the time and intellectual effort required to gain a working understanding of the rules of a new game. For this reason, it is also desirable, if possible, to reduce the amount of new information that must be assimilated before a new player can participate in a game.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or substantially ameliorate, one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative. According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for playing a game, said apparatus including: a playing field defining a path having a plurality of positions, at least some of said positions depicting position indicia; and a plurality of cards, each of said cards depicting card indicia; whereby at least some of said card indicia are combinable with at least some of said position indicia so as to form a plurality of pre-defined combinations.

An embodiment includes a plurality of playing pieces, each of the pieces being associable with a respective player of the game, the playing pieces being progressable along the path. This embodiment further includes monetary indicators for distribution amoungst some or all of the players. The playing field of this embodiment defines a repository for receipt of at least some of the monetary indicators. In an embodiment the card indicia are playing card designations and the plurality of cards is a deck of playing cards. In such an embodiment the pre-defined combinations are card game hands and the card game is poker. This embodiment also includes a plurality of tokens respectively corresponding to each of the pre-defined combinations.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: providing a playing field defining a path having a plurality of positions, at least some of said positions depicting position indicia and having an improvement option; providing a plurality of cards, each of said cards depicting card indicia; and triggering an improvement option on a specified position by providing a player with a pre-defined number of cards and ascertaining whether a combination formed from the position indicia depicted on the specified position and/or the card indicia on at least some of the cards received by the player is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations; and improving the position if said combination is one of said plurality of pre-defined combinations.

An embodiment includes the step of imposing one or more criterion to establish whether a player is eligible to exercise an improvement option. This embodiment utilizes a plurality of tokens respectively corresponding to each of the pre-defined combinations. In this embodiment the step of "improving the position" includes placement of a token corresponding to the combination upon said position.

One or more embodiments include the provision of a plurality of playing pieces respectively associable with a corresponding plurality of players. In this embodiment the playing pieces are progressed along the path in accordance with an output of at least one random number generator and at least some of said positions are purchasable by one or more of the players. The positions purchased by a player may include an offensive capability exercisable against competitors to the player and the step of "improving the position" may include increasing the offensive capability of the improved position. In one embodiment the increment to the offensive capability is dependent upon the predefined combination that triggered the improvement option.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: progressing player pieces along a playing path defining a plurality of positions, at least some of the positions including position indicia; providing players with an opportunity to purchase at least some of the positions; and providing players with an opportunity to improve an offensive capability of a purchased position based upon a combination formed from the position indicia of the purchased position and/or card indicia provided upon a plurality of playing cards.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: progressing player pieces along a playing path defining a plurality of positions; providing means for formulating combinations of playing card indicia; providing players with an opportunity to purchase at least some of the positions; and providing players with an opportunity to improve an offensive capability of a purchased position dependent upon whether a combination formulated by said means is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations.

In an embodiment the pre-defined combinations are poker hands.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in Australia or elsewhere before the priority date of this application.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments, provided by way of example only, together with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a plan view of a board layout for use with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a table setting out in more detail some of the information depicted in some of the regions of the board shown figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 is a table setting out the costs to purchase casinos and the amounts payable by competitors when they land on either a standard casino or an improved casino.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention is a property trading board game incorporating aspects of the popular card game of No Limit Texas Hold 'em poker. The game advantageously combines the fun of a board game with the excitement of playing poker. Due to the popularity of poker, many players will already be aware of the rules of poker, which will advantageously assist their assimilation of the rules of the game of the present embodiment. However, card games other than poker may be implemented in alternative embodiments.

Each of the players is given an initial allotment of monetary indicators, in the form of chips, which are subsequently traded between some or all of the players and the cashier. Additionally, at various points in a game, some of the chips accumulate in a central repository 70, which is bounded by circle 66 and which is referred to as "The Pot".

An embodiment of the invention includes a playing field in the form of a board 69, as shown in figure 1. In the illustrated embodiment the board 69 is a 64 cm by 64 cm square. However, other embodiments utilize different board layouts and sizes. The outer circle 62 has a radius of 30cm, with concentric inner circles 63, 64, 65 and 66 having respective radii of 23 cm, 22 cm, 21 cm and 10 cm. The annular region intermediate circles 62 and 63, which is referred to as Ring 1, defines a path 67, which forms a circular loop. Radial lines 68 divide the path 67 into a plurality of truncated wedge shaped positions, which are individually numbered 1 to 52. The majority of the positions 1 to 52 are representative of world renowned casinos. The main aim of this embodiment of the game is to either send competitor players bankrupt or simply to have amassed the largest value of chips at the end of a designated time period. One strategy for achieving this is to purchase entry to each casino's poker tournament and charge other players a "rake" each time they land on that casino. Each casino can be "improved" by purchasing "hands" for that casino, in which case the rake increases according to the hand purchased. There are various hazards and rewards which can increase or decrease each player's total chips. The game also provides numerous opportunities to play various poker tournaments during the game, to win chips from the other players and/or to otherwise determine various outcomes. The positions 1 to 52 depict information as shown in the middle column of the table shown in figure 2. In particular, the information may be instructions to the players, such as the following statement depicted at position 1: "Rebuy - top up bank by $1000 if you pass, or $2000 of you land on it." Other examples of instructions are given at positions 6, 11, 16, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 38, 43 and 48. The remaining positions 2 to 5, 7 to 10, 12 to 15, 18 to 21, 23 to 26, 28 to 31, 33 to 36, 39 to 42, 44 to 47 and 49 to 52 are representative of casinos and the name of each casino is depicted in the respective position. According to the rules of the embodiment, each of the casinos has an "improvement option", which will be described in detail below.

The positions within the annular region intermediate circles 63 and 64 (which is referred to as ring 2) depict one of ten possible colours representing ten sets of four casinos. This identifies to the players which set a particular casino is a part of. It will be appreciated that other means for indicating casino sets may be adopted, for example making use of alternative combinations of colours, shades, other indicia, etc.

The positions within the annular region intermediate circles 64 and 65 (which is referred to as ring 3) contain position indicia 74 in the form of playing card designations which respectively represent each particular position. The particular playing card designations that are respectively depicted on each of the 52 positions are shown in the third column of the table of figure 2. For example, a "2 of spades" is depicted in position 1, in the form of a black number 2 and a black symbol representing spades. The designations of each of the 52 cards within a regular deck of playing cards are represented on the board 69, with one designation being depicted per position. The positions within the annular region intermediate circles 65 and 66 (which is referred to as ring 4) contain three card repositories 71, 72 and 73. The first and second card repositories 71 and 72 are for cards referred to as "Hazard / Reward" cards. The lower faces of these cards depict instructions that may be advantageous or disadvantageous for the players to carry out. In some embodiments of the invention, one or more sponsors may be identified on the upper faces of these cards. The instructions contained on a first set of Hazard / Reward cards are set out in table 1 below, with each instruction being present on one card in the first Hazard / Reward deck:

Instructions On First Hazard / Reward Deck of Cards

You have been caught cheating in a satellite tournament. Hand any one of the casinos you currently own back to the cashier.

Go back 3 spaces

Move forward to the re - buy square, and collect $2000

Keep this card secret until needed. Use it to block the improvement of any casino by any other player.

Keep this card until needed. Use it once to completely cover the rake that you are required to pay another player. This card will then become the property of that player, and they in turn may use it to pay any rake required.

Go directly to Bad Beat Boot Camp. Do not rebuy.

RAKE - pay 10% of all chips (to the nearest $5) into the pot.

Play one hand of No Limit Texas Hold 'em with everyone at the table. The initial starting stake is $100 and no one can add to their starting stake. Any chips not used in the hand by a player can be returned to their own pile of chips at the completion of the hand.

You have been caught bluffing. Throw $100 into the pot.

Shuffle the regular deck of cards and deal yourself the top card from the deck. Move FORWARD to the casino represented by the card you have just dealt yourself. If you pass rebuy, collect $1000 from the cashier. Deal a 3 hand mini tournament of No Limit Texas Hold 'em. The initial starting stack is $100 and each player may re buy up so they have no more than $100 at the beginning of each hand. Any chips not used in the mini tournament by a player can be returned to their own pile of chips at the completion of the mini tournament. You will be the dealer for the first hand and the dealer position will move clockwise for each subsequent hand.

Play one hand of No Limit Texas Hold 'em with everyone at the table. The initial starting stake is $100 and no one can add to their starting stake. Any chips not used in the hand by a player can be returned to their own pile of chips at the completion of the hand. THE WINNER TAKES HALF OF ALL CHIPS IN THE POT.

Move to any casino square owned by another player and challenge that player for ownership of that casino. Deal 5 cards to yourself and the owner of the casino. The player with the highest poker hand will be the winner. If you win, take ownership of that casino, including any improvements. If you lose, pay the full rake owed for landing on that casino.

No one wants to hear your bad beat story. Miss one turn.

While playing in a tournament, you bet out of turn. Throw $100 into the pot.

You win a big pot while bluffing with 2 - 7 off suit. Collect $200 from the cashier.

Bad etiquette gets you banned from the casino. Miss one turn.

The "bunny" at the table hits an inside straight. Throw $200 into the pot.

Shuffle the regular deck of cards and deal the top 5 cards to yourself. If you get 2 pair or higher (in ranked poker hands) collect $500 from the cashier.

Keep this card until next time you pass or land on the re buy square. Collect double the regular amount of chips from the cashier.

You lose your lucky sunglasses. Throw $200 into the pot.

Your Ace High Flush gets beaten on the river by a full house. Throw $200 into the pot.

You lose your lucky card protector. Throw $300 into the pot

You get "comped" by a casino of your choice. Collect $200 from the owner of that casino. If no other player owns a casino, collect $200 from the cashier instead.

The casino manager forgets to call your name at the start of a tournament. Pay $200 into the pot, OR miss one turn. You have been accused of cheating and found innocent. Collect $200 from each player at the table.

Roll one of the dice. If you roll an even number collect $300 from the cashier. If you roll an odd number, pay $100 into the pot.

You give away one of your "tells" at the table. In the next poker tournament, you MUST play the first hand with one of your hole cards dealt "Face Up" for everyone at the table to see.

You manage to turn $5 into $300 at an online poker site. Collect $300 from the cashier.

One of your opponents accidentally mucks a winning hand. Collect $100 from the cashier.

You have Aces full of Kings and get beaten by four kings. Luckily for you, the house has a "Bad Beat Jackpot". Collect $500 from the cashier.

You hold on to your pocket aces, for far too long. Pay $100 into the pot.

You have been invited to the World Championship of Poker. Move forward to Las Vegas. If you pass Rebuy, collect $1000

Due to your excellent poker knowledge and ability, you have been invited to be the poker advisor on a new Hollywood blockbuster. Move forward to Monte Carlo Casino. If you pass Rebuy, collect $1000.

You win a fancy dress competition on Halloween at your favorite casino. Collect $50 from the cashier.

You lose your limited edition Rounders DVD. Miss one turn.

You miss Big Blind while on a break and have to "Post" when you return. Pay $50 into the pot.

You count your money while sitting at the table. Pay $50 into the pot

You have 2 pair - Aces and Eights. You win the "Dead Mans Hand" Jackpot. Collect $50 from the cashier.

You lose all your money at the tables and can't pay for car parking. Miss 1 turn.

You go All In Pre Flop with pocket 5's and everyone folds. Collect $75 from the cashier. Keep this card secret until needed. Use it to block the improvement of any casino by any other player.

Go directly to Bad Beat Boot Camp. Do not rebuy.

Shuffle the regular deck of cards and deal yourself the top card from the deck. Move FORWARD to the casino represented by the card you have just dealt yourself. If you pass rebuy, collect $1000 from the cashier.

No one wants to hear your bad beat story. Miss one turn.

Go Back 3 Spaces.

Table 1

The instructions contained on the second set of Hazard / Reward cards are set out in table 2 below, with each instruction being present on one card in the second Hazard / Reward deck: Instructions On Second Hazard / Reward Deck of Cards

You have been caught cheating in a "Main Event" tournament. Throw $200 into the pot.

Move Forward 3 spaces.

You have been invited to the Australian Poker Championships. Move forward to Melbourne Casino. If you pass Rebuy collect $1000.

Keep this card secret until needed. Use it to block the purchase of any casino by any other player.

Keep this card secret until needed. Use it once to completely cover the rake that you are required to pay another player. This card will then become the property of that player, and they in turn may use it to pay any rake required.

Go directly to Bad Beat Boot Camp. Do not rebuy.

TAX - pay 10% of all chips (to the nearest $5) into the pot.

You miss your start time and get blinded out. Pay $50 to each player at the table.

Deal a 3 hand mini tournament of No Limit Texas Hold 'em. The initial starting stack is $200 and each player may re buy up so they have no more than $200 at the beginning of each hand. Any chips not used in the mini tournament by a player can be returned to their own pile of chips at the completion of the mini tournament. You will be the dealer for the first hand and the dealer position will move clockwise for each subsequent hand.

Play one hand of No Limit Texas Hold 'em with everyone at the table. Everyone must start with $200 and can not add to their starting stake. Any chips not used in the hand by a player can be returned to their own pile of chips at the completion of the hand. THE WINNER TAKES HALF OF ALL CHIPS IN THE POT. Move to any casino square owned by another player and challenge that player for ownership of that casino. Deal 5 cards to yourself and the owner of the casino. The player with the highest poker hand will be the winner. If you win, take ownership of that casino, including any improvements. If you lose, pay the full rake owed for landing on that casino.

No one wants to hear your bad beat story. Miss one turn.

While playing in a tournament, you accuse someone of cheating. You turn out to be wrong. Throw $100 into the pot.

You are chip leader at the half way stage of a big tournament. You use this advantage to "steal" the blinds on the next few hands. Collect $50 from each player at the table.

You have a run of bad luck at the tables. You can't afford the entry to the next big tournament. Miss 1 turn.

The "calling station" at the table hits a "runner, runner flush". Throw $200 into the pot.

Shuffle the regular deck of cards and deal the top 5 cards to yourself. If you get 3 of a kind or higher (in ranked poker hands) collect $750 from the cashier.

You lose your lucky sunglasses. Throw $200 into the pot.

You lose your lucky card protector. Throw $300 into the pot

The casino manager forgets to call your name at the start of a tournament. Pay $200 into the pot, or miss one turn

You have been accused of cheating and found innocent. Collect $200 from the cashier

You have been invited to the US Army Poker Championships. Move forward to Guam casino. If you pass Rebuy, collect $1000

You have been invited to a big poker tournament in the Carribean. Move forward to Aruba casino. If you pass Rebuy, collect $1000

Keep this card until needed or sold. Use it to pay the cashier for any un -owned casino you land on and wish to purchase. While playing a home game you upset the host and get asked to leave. Pay $100 into the pot.

You have been tapping on the aquarium glass and annoyed all the fish. Pay each player

$75.

You accidentally muck a winning hand. Pay $100 into the pot.

You flop the nuts. Collect $200 from the cashier.

The dealer makes a mistake while calculating the side pot. Pay $50 to one player of your choosing.

You are caught soft - playing in a satellite tournament. Pay $50 into the pot.

While playing "on tilt" you get badly beaten. Pay $200 into the pot.

Your "big slick" holds up. Collect $200 from the cashier.

You have been invited to the European Poker Championships. Move forward to the Paris casino. If you pass Rebuy, collect $1000.

You were not paying attention and you go all in without actually having the flush you thought you had. Pay $200 into the pot.

You don't know when to walk away. Pay $75 into the pot.

Roll the dice again. If you roll an even total, move that many spaces forward. If you roll an odd total, move that many spaces backwards.

Keep this card until needed or sold. Use it to pay the cashier for any un -owned casino you land on and wish to purchase.

You get "comped" by a casino of your choice. Collect $200 from the owner of that casino. If no other player owns a casino, collect $200 from the cashier.

No one wants to hear your bad beat story. Miss one turn.

You miss your start time and get blinded out. Pay $50 to each player. Shuffle the regular deck of cards and deal yourself the top card from the deck. Move FORWARD to the casino represented by the card you have just dealt yourself. If you pass rebuy, collect $1000 from the cashier.

Go directly to Bad Beat Boot Camp. Do not rebuy.

Move forward 3 spaces.

Table 2

The third card repository 73 is for a regular deck of 52 playing cards. As is known in the art, each of the playing cards includes card indicia. More particularly, the card indicia indicate the designations of the playing cards, for example Ace of Hearts or 4 of Diamonds, etc. Hence, the card indicia is combinable with at least some of the position indicia so as to form a plurality of pre-defined combinations in the form of poker hands, as is described in greater detail below.

In the illustrated embodiment the majority of the board is typically a shade of green that is similar to the majority of casino tables and it may feature green felt as the top layer to simulate the layout of a poker table. In some embodiments, various sponsor logos may be printed on various locations of the board 69.

In addition to the board 69, the hazard / reward cards and the regular playing cards, the embodiment of the game includes the following equipment: • Random number generators, in the form of two regular six-sided dice.

• A plurality of Playing Pieces, each of each of which is associated with a respective player of the game.

• Forty Casino Cards to represent each casino property depicted on the board 69;

• A Chip set with a total of five hundred chips, as follows: o $5 Chips - Red Coloured with Sponsors Logo - 120 pieces o $25 Chips - Green Coloured with Sponsors Logo - 120 pieces o $100 Chips - Black Coloured with Sponsors Logo - 160 pieces o $1000 Chips - White Coloured with Sponsors Logo - 60 pieces o $5000 Chips - Yellow Coloured with Sponsors Logo - 40 pieces. • A set of poker hand tokens respectively corresponding to the various pre-defined combinations in the form of the card game hands used in poker, as follows (listed in order of ranking from highest to lowest): o Royal Flush (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10, all of the same suit ) - 4 tokens o Straight Flush (a set of 5 cards of the same suit and in numerical order e.g. 7, 8, 9, 10, and Jack of Spades) - 4 tokens o Four of a Kind (four cards of the same value e.g. four Kings, or four

Aces) - 4 tokens o Full House (three of a kind plus a pair e.g. three Tens, and two Queens, or three sixes, and two Eights) - 8 tokens o Flush (five mixed cards of the same suit) - 8 tokens o Straight (five cards in numerical order of any suit) - 12 tokens o Three of a Kind (e.g. 3 Kings) - 12 tokens o 2 Pair (e.g. A Pair of Queens and a Pair of Eights) - 20 tokens o 1 Pair (e.g. A Pair of Three's) - 40 tokens.

The method of playing the embodiment of the game commences with all of the player's pieces on the Buy In/Re Buy position (i.e. position 1) and each player is given monetary indicators in the form of chips to a value of $2000. Each player uses the random number generator in the form of rolling the pair of dice to determine who shall go first. The player with the highest total moves first, and play continues clockwise from that person.

When their turn arises, each player rolls the pair of dice and then progresses their player's piece clockwise along the path 67 defined in the board 69. The player moves their player's piece in a clockwise direction a total number of positions equal to the total of the 2 dice.

Once a player has completed their turn, the dice will pass to the next player in a clockwise direction. No one shall have more than one "turn" at a time unless directed to by one of the hazard/reward cards.

As each player's piece completes laps of the board, the piece will either pass starting position 1 (Buy In/Re Buy), or land directly on it at the completion of the player's turn. If the piece passes position 1, the player receives $1000 in chips from the Cashier. If the piece lands on position 1, the player receives $2000 in chips from the Cashier.

The embodiment provides players with opportunities to purchase an interest in one or more of the casinos. In some embodiments the interest is an outright purchase of the casino. In another embodiment the interest is referred to as "entry to casino poker tournaments". Within this document, including the claims, the phrase "purchase of a position" and the like should be construed to include "purchase of an interest in a casino" and "purchase of an interest in a position". In the embodiment described below, the terminology used is to "purchase a casino". However as each casino has a corresponding position, alternative equivalent terminology such as to "purchase a position" could also be employed. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the word "casino" as used in many contexts within this document is effectively synonymous with the word "position". After the completion of the first lap of the path 67, if the player's piece lands on a position representing a casino that has not already been purchased, they may elect to purchase that casino. Each casino can only be purchased by one player, and the purchasing player will receive a card that represents that casino. The cost of purchasing the casinos varies as shown in the second column of the table of figure 3. For example, the cost to purchase the casino at position 2 is $50 worth of chips, whereas the cost to purchase the casino at position 52 is $800 worth of chips. The purchase cost of each casino is depicted on its position and on the card representing the relevant casino. The casino purchase price is paid to the cashier. Players will generally benefit from the purchase of casinos due to an offensive capability that is inherent in casinos in this embodiment. The offensive capability is exercisable against the other players competing against the owner of the casino.

If a player so desires, he/she may sell a casino back to the cashier for one half of the original purchase price. Once this occurs, the casino will become available for purchase by other players. A player may also sell or trade the casino with another player for whichever price they can negotiate.

As mentioned above, each of the casinos has an improvement option, which is triggered for the casino on a specified position by providing a player with six regular playing cards from repository 73. The player then ascertains whether a combination formed from the position indicia depicted on the specified position and/or the card indicia on at least some of the playing cards received by the player is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations in the form of poker hands. If so, the casino on the specified position is improved.

The embodiment includes a criterion to establish whether a player is eligible to exercise an improvement option in relation to any given casino. This criterion is that a player must own two or more of the four casinos in a particular colour set, before they are allowed to "improve" the casinos that they have purchased in that group. The colour sets are depicted by the colours in ring 2.

Exercising an improvement option in relation to a casino involves purchasing a "hand" for that casino. To attempt to exercise an improvement option an eligible player must follow the steps listed below prior to taking their turn:

• Announce which casino they are going to attempt to improve. • Pay a fee of $300 in chips to the cashier.

• Shuffle the regular deck of playing cards located at repository 73 and deal six playing cards to themselves.

• If the card indicium on one of the playing cards that has been dealt to the player matches the position indicia on the board position representing the casino that is the subject of the improvement attempt, then the player wins the $300 fee back from the cashier. The player then places the matching card at the bottom of the deck and deals themselves another card and proceeds as set out below. (See Improvement Attempt Example 1 below.)

• The player attempts to make a predefined combination (i.e. the best possible poker hand) using a combination of the card indicia from any five of the seven available indicia (i.e. the card indicia from the six playing cards dealt and the position indicia representing the casino that is the subject of the improvement attempt). (See Improvement Attempt Example 2 below.) • If the player' s combination is one of the predefined combinations (i.e. if the player' s combination forms a poker hand) then the player selects a poker hand token representing the predefined combination and places it on the board position representing the improved casino and the improvement attempt is a success.

• If the player' s combination is one of the predefined combinations, however there are none of the required poker hand tokens remaining, then the hand is considered to be "no hand" and the improvement attempt fails.

• If the player' s combination is not one of the predefined combinations, then the improvement attempt fails. (See Improvement Attempt Example 3 below.)

At the completion of the above steps and whatever the outcome, all of the regular playing cards are returned to the deck of cards at repository 73.

Improvement Attempt Example 1: An eligible player decides to improve the casino that the player owns at position 31, which has position indicia "10 of clubs". The player pays the fee to the cashier and receives six playing cards from the regular deck. The six dealt playing cards have the following card indicia: "2 of Spades, 10 of Clubs, Jack of Clubs, Ace of Hearts, 4 of Diamonds, King of Hearts". Since the player already "has" the 10 of Clubs due to the position indicia, the player wins the fee back from the cashier as a prize. The playing card with the 10 of Clubs card indicia is then placed at the bottom of the regular deck at repository 73 and the player deals another playing card to themselves and the improvement attempt then proceeds as per normal . Improvement Attempt Example 2: An eligible player decides to improve the casino that the player owns at position 20, which has position indicia "8 of diamonds". The player pays the fee to the cashier and deals the six cards having the following card indicia from the regular deck to themselves: 8 of clubs, Ace of Diamonds, 9 of clubs, 3 of Spades, 9 of Hearts and King of Diamonds. The best predefined combination (i.e. five-card poker hand) that can be formed with the seven available indicia is "Two Pair"

(8 of Diamonds, 8 of Clubs, 9 of Hearts, 9 of Clubs, and Ace of Diamonds). The player then takes a "Two Pair" token (if any are remaining) and places it on the casino at position 20.

Improvement Attempt Example 3: An eligible player decides to improve the casino that the player owns at position 2, which has position indicia "5 of Hearts". The player pays the fee to the cashier and deals six cards from the regular deck to themselves. The dealt playing cards have the following card indicia: "2 of Clubs, 7 of Spades, Ace of Hearts, 10 of Diamonds, Jack of Hearts, and King of Clubs". Since any five indicia out of the seven available indicia do not form a predefined combination, the improvement attempt fails.

If a player has improved a casino with a poker hand token and subsequently needs to sell it back to the Cashier, the player can sell the poker hand token for one-half of the purchase price (e.g. $150). Alternatively the player can sell or trade an entire improved casino to another player for the best available negotiated price.

A player cannot transfer an improvement token between casinos they own, or to a casino owned by another player. As will be described in more detail below, the "improvement" of a casino effectively increases the casino's offensive capability that is exercisable against competitors to the player who owns the improved casino. The increment to the offensive capability of an improved casino is dependent upon the pre-defined combination that triggered the improvement option. When a player lands on casino "owned" by a competitor, the player is given two options, as outlined below.

Option 1 - Pay a rake amount to the owner of the casino. The rake amount ranges between 10% of the purchase price of an unimproved casino, up to 10 times the purchase price of the casino depending on the poker hand improvement to the casino. The relevant rake amounts for each of the casinos in the embodiment are set out in columns 3 to 12 of the table shown in figure 3. For example, if a player lands on the casino at position 10 and it is owned by another player, then the player must pay chips worth $25 as rake to the owner if the casino is unimproved. If the casino has been improved, this rake amount increases depending upon the particular predefined combination that triggered the improvement. For example, if the casino at position 10 is improved with a "3 of a kind" token, the rake amount rises to $750 worth of chips. If the casino at position 10 is improved with a "Royal Flush" token, the rake amount rises to $2500 worth of chips. In other words, the increment to the offensive capability is dependent upon the pre-defined combination that triggered the improvement option. Option 2 - Double or nothing. The player challenges the owner of the casino regarding the rake to be paid. If the player wins the challenge, the player is not required to pay the rake. If the player loses the challenge, the player is required to pay double the rake. This option (i.e. Option 2) is only available to a player that lands on an improved casino. The challenge involves the following steps:

• The player shuffles the regular deck of cards from repository 73 and deals six cards to themselves . If one of the cards dealt matches the card which represents the casino that the player has landed on, then the player places it at the bottom of the deck and deals another card.

• The player makes the best possible predefined combination (i.e. poker hand) using any five of the seven card designations available (i.e. using the card indicia from the six cards dealt and/or the position indicia associated with the casino.)

• If the player' s poker hand is equal to or better than the poker hand token already on the casino, then the player wins the challenge; otherwise the player loses the challenge. This is assessed with reference to the standard ranking of poker hands, which is set out above. (Note: Poker hand types are used in this option and the actual cards are irrelevant.

That is, in regular poker, if two people have equal hand types, then the cards used to make those hands are counted; e.g. "3 of a kind" beats any "Two Pair", but "3 of a Kind - Kings" will beat "3 of a Kind - 10' s". In this challenge only the hand types count. Position nos. 6, 11, 16, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 38, 43 and 48 on the board 69 correspond to either one of the two decks of hazard/reward cards that are stored at repositories 71 and 72 respectively. Each of these positions states whether the first or the second deck of Hazard / Reward cards are to be used, as indicated at column two of the table of figure 2. If a player's piece lands on one of these positions at the completion of the player' s turn, the player has to pay a fee into The Pot 70. The amount of the fee is dependent upon whether it is the first or the second deck of Hazard / Reward cards that are to be used. The player then picks up the top card of the relevant deck of Hazard / Reward cards and follows the instructions on that card.

Some of the Hazard / Reward cards may be kept secret by the player, until they need or want to use the benefit assigned to that card. This option is marked clearly on the relevant Hazard / Reward cards. In this case the player does not return the Hazard / Reward card to the deck until it has been used. All other cards are immediately read aloud by the player and the instructions followed.

All fees paid for collecting a hazard/reward card, and all fines decreed by the hazard/reward cards are paid into The Pot 70. These chips amass over time and can be played for during poker tournaments and poker hands depending on the instructions given on various Hazard / Reward cards.

Playing hands of poker provides a significant aspect of this embodiment of the invention. At various stages of the game, players may be instructed by the Hazard / Reward cards to play hands of poker against each other. In most cases, there will be a minimum entry fee, and the players may also be playing for all or part of the chips already in The Pot 70.

In all such poker games, the player whose turn led to the playing of a game of poker shall be the dealer. In a multi hand tournament the job of dealer will move clockwise around the table with each player taking turns at being the dealer until the designated amount of hands have been dealt.

Any variation of poker may be played and the rules for Texas Hold 'em are included with the embodiment. In all poker games, the limits will be designated in the instructions. In all poker games the big blind (or high) shall be 10% of the entry fee. For example, if the entry fee is $100 then "Big Blind" will be $10. In alternative embodiments variations to the rules are made. By way of non- limiting example: the amount of the starting stake may be varied; the criteria for attempting to improve a casino may be relaxed, such as by dispensing with the rule that a player must firstly purchase at least two casinos in a colour set; in relation to the payment of rake after landing on a casino owned by another player, Option Two may be dispensed with; variations to the cost of casino's may be implemented; variations to the Rake percentages may be implemented; variations to the entry cost to poker tournaments may be implemented; variations to the cost of any hazards or the value of any rewards may be implemented; when attempting to form a predefined combination from the position indicia and the card indicia, the player may be forced to include the position indicia within the combination; and/or the amount of Poker Hand Tokens available may be varied.

As mentioned above, available triggers for the end of the game include sending at least one competitor player bankrupt or amassing the largest value of chips at the end of a designated time period. Additional or alternative triggers that may be implemented in some embodiments include, for example, sale of all of the available properties, or the improvement thereof. In some embodiments, once an end-trigger is reached, the players calculate the sum of their monetary indicators. The player with the greatest total amount given by summation of their monetary indicators is the winner and the game ceases. In another similar embodiment, once an end-trigger is reached, the players calculate their total net worth. This is a value dependent upon both the sum of the player's monetary indicators and the value of the property which owned when the end-trigger was reached. The player with the greatest net worth wins is designated as the winner of the game.

In other embodiments, once an end-trigger is reached, the players compete in a final poker tournament. To do so, firstly each of the players liquidates their game assets, which involves converting each player's properities back into monetary indicators. In one such embodiment this conversion is calculated with reference solely to the initial purchase price of the properties; with the amount liquidated being a factor multiplied by the the initial purchase price. In yet another embodiment, the conversion is calculated with with reference to the initial purchase price; with additional cash bonuses being provided for any improvements thereto. Once the final poker tournament is concluded, the player with the greatest total amount given by summation of their monetary indicators is the winner and the game ceases.

An alternative embodiment can dispense with the use of card indicia and position indicia and instead provide other means for formulating combinations of playing card indicia. One example of such means would be an electronic device programmed to display randomly generated predefined combinations of playing card designations in the form of poker hands. This device could include a display for displaying the poker hands; a processor with access to a random number generator or a pseudo-random number generator; and input means to allow a player to send a signal to the processor to commence the formulation and display of a new poker hand. In this embodiment the players are provided with opportunities to improve the offensive capabilities of their purchased positions dependent upon whether a combination formulated by the means is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations. Another embodiment may dispense with the physical board, cards, pieces, chips, etc, and instead implement the game electronically, for example on a computer or a group of networked computers. Such an embodiment could simulate the board and the position of the various players' pieces on it and the simulation could be presented graphically to the players on one or a plurality of monitors. Remote communication means, such as the internet and the like, may be used to communicate game data between the computers of geographically dispersed players.

While a number of embodiments have been described, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Apparatus for playing a game, said apparatus including: a playing field defining a path having a plurality of positions, at least some of said positions depicting position indicia; and a plurality of cards, each of said cards depicting card indicia; whereby at least some of said card indicia are combinable with at least some of said position indicia so as to form a plurality of pre-defined combinations.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further including a plurality of playing pieces, each of said pieces being associable with a respective player of the game, said playing pieces being progressable along said path.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 further including monetary indicators for distribution amongst some or all of said players.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said playing field defines a repository for receipt of at least some of said monetary indicators.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said card indicia are playing card designations.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said plurality of cards is a deck of playing cards.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said pre-defined combinations are card game hands.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 further including a plurality of tokens respectively corresponding to each of the pre-defined combinations.

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 wherein said card game is poker.

10. A method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: providing a playing field defining a path having a plurality of positions, at least some of said positions depicting position indicia and having an improvement option; providing a plurality of cards, each of said cards depicting card indicia; and triggering an improvement option on a specified position by providing a player with a pre-defined number of cards and ascertaining whether a combination formed from the position indicia depicted on the specified position and/or the card indicia on at least some of the cards received by the player is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations; and improving the position if said combination is one of said plurality of pre-defined combinations.

11. A method according to claim 10 further including the step of imposing one or more criterion to establish whether a player is eligible to exercise an improvement option.

12. A method according to claim 10 or 11 including provision of a plurality of tokens respectively corresponding to each of the pre-defined combinations and wherein the step of "improving the position" includes placement of a token corresponding to said combination upon said position.

13. A method according to any one of claims 10 to 12 further including the provision of a plurality of playing pieces respectively associable with a corresponding plurality of players.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein said playing pieces are progressed along the path in accordance with an output of at least one random number generator.

15. A method according claim 14 wherein at least some of said positions are purchasable by one or more of the players.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein a position purchased by a player includes an offensive capability exercisable against competitors to the player.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the step of "improving the position" includes increasing the offensive capability of the improved position.

18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the increment to the offensive capability is dependent upon the pre-defined combination that triggered the improvement option.

19. A method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: progressing player pieces along a playing path defining a plurality of positions, at least some of the positions including position indicia; providing players with an opportunity to purchase at least some of the positions; and providing players with an opportunity to improve an offensive capability of a purchased position based upon a combination formed from the position indicia of the purchased position and/or card indicia provided upon a plurality of playing cards.

20. A method of playing a game, said method including the steps of: progressing player pieces along a playing path defining a plurality of positions; providing means for formulating combinations of playing card indicia; providing players with an opportunity to purchase at least some of the positions; and providing players with an opportunity to improve an offensive capability of a purchased position dependent upon whether a combination formulated by said means is one of a plurality of pre-defined combinations.

21. A method according to claim 20 wherein the pre-defined combinations are poker hands.