Method and apparatus to play cards

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a network (100) of equipment (10a, 10b, 11) for the game of cards. The network includes a server for controlling the game (10b, 11) and at least one piece of playing equipment (10a), the server and the piece of playing equipment being able to communicate data between them, each piece of playing equipment (10a) including display means (20). The method comprises the steps of: identifying a portion (R) of the totality (T) of the playing cards which is able to be displayed on the display means (20), the portion (R) of cards displayed being the same in all the pieces of playing equipment (10a); determining the number of cards assigned (Q) to each player using a piece of playing equipment (10a) in order to play a hand at the game of cards; generating at the side of the server (10b, 11) a vector vetcar having a dimension which is equal to or greater than the total number of cards (T), there being associated with each a element vetcar(i) of the vector a card of the totality of cards (T); generating a plurality of elements in a number equal to the portion (R) of cards and subdividing the plurality of elements into a plurality of m subgroups sottogrup, each of those elements in each subgroup being unambiguously identified by at least one alphanumeric character; displaying on the display means (20) in each piece of playing equipment the elements subdivided into the subgroups; selecting in the piece of playing equipment (10a) in a first selection an element from the n forming a subgroup of the plurality and sending to the server (10b) a piece of data representing the alphanumeric character identifying the element or alternatively generating in the server (10b, 11) an alphanumeric character which unambiguously determines an element in one of the subgroups and sending a piece of data representing the alphanumeric character to the piece of playing equipment so as to select an element from a subgroup of the plurality; sending the vector vetcar from the server (10b) to all the pieces of playing equipment (10a) present in the network (100); associating with each element of the subgroups a card of the vector vetcar, the same card is associated with the same element identified by the same alphanumeric character in each piece of playing equipment (10a); the element selected in the first selection being associated with a card which forms part of the cards (Q) in the possession of the player in a hand of the game.

主权项

1. A method for controlling a network of computing devices for managing a game of cards, said game being played with a plurality of cards R and each player possessing a specific number Q of cards per hand, the network including a server for controlling the game and at least one gaming device, the server and the gaming device being configured to communicate data between them, and each gaming device including a memory, at least one display device and at least one processor, the method comprising the steps of:
generating a first plurality of elements in a number equal to the plurality R of cards and subdividing said first plurality of elements into a second plurality of M subgroups, displaying on respective displays of said at least one gaming device the elements subdivided into said plurality of subgroups; identifying each of the elements in each subgroup by at least one alphanumeric character; selecting by the gaming device in a first selection phase an element for each one of said subgroups from a number N of alphanumeric characters forming a subgroup of the plurality of elements and sending to the server for each one of the selected elements the alphanumeric character identifying the selected element, or alternatively, generating by the server an alphanumeric character which determines an element in one of the subgroups and sending the alphanumeric character to the gaming device so as to select an element from a subgroup of the plurality of elements; generating by the server a vector named vetcar having a dimension which is equal to or greater than the number of cards of the plurality R, wherein each value vetcar(i) of the vector is associated with a card of the plurality of cards R; sending the vector vetcar from the server to all of the gaming devices present in the network; associating with each element of the subgroups a card of the vector vetcar, in which the identity of a particular card is associated with the same element and is identified by the same alphanumeric character for each vector stored in memory on each gaming device; assigning to the players in a playing hand the cards of the vector vetcar associated with the selected element in the first selection phase for each one of said subgroups as belonging to the cards Q in his possession; generating by the server an exchange string comprising the number N of alphanumeric characters equal to the dimension of a subgroup M, arranging in a random manner the N alphanumeric characters in the exchange string so as to generate a vector of characters s(i) with i being from 0 to N−1; associating the string with the subgroup so that a value of the exchange string corresponds to each element of a subgroup named sottogrup, such that an element s(t)=k is associated with each element t of sottogrup(t), and sottogrup(k) is an element of the subgroup; and sending said exchange string to each one of at least one gaming device.