Dice bearing card symbols have previously been developed for a variety of games. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,905, issued to Robert W. Edison, discloses a set of five twelve-sided, i.e. dodecahedron, dice intended for use in a game simulating poker. However, the dice set of Edison and the simulated poker game he describes lack the characteristics of "integrity of chance" and "total randomness." By "integrity of chance" is meant that some chance does exist in fact. In the case of the five dice set of Edison play can lead to situations where no chance at all exists upon a further roll of a die. For example, using Edison's set with reference to "Table 1" of his patent, if a player has rolled all five dice and has come up with AH-AS-AD-9C-Joker he may decide to roll the Joker again hoping for either the fourth ace (for four of a kind) or another nine (for a full house). Unfortunately, however, perhaps unknown to him, both such rolls are impossible because the die he is re-rolling (Die E) contains neither an ace nor a nine. What is meant by "total randomness" can also be illustrated with reference to "Table 1" of Edison. For example die A contains three spades, three hearts and three diamonds, but only two clubs and, thus, upon re-rolling die A, the odds are against rolling a club. Edison acknowledges some of these deficiencies at column 3, lines 44-54 and at column 4, lines 63-75.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds