Ask the Wizard #277

Quote: Scotty71

25,000,000 hands of video poker!!!! Any Idea of how many hours that dude has spent playing at a machine and what his expected loss would be?

Expected loss probably negative, which means expected gain.

You're right, I was off by a factor of 7, which I just fixed.

Let's just say that not all video poker is negative EV. During the 80s and 90s there was no shortage of positive games, which is when most of this play was probably done.

Only thing I might add would be when or if the patent for Carribean Stud Poker expires and it hits the public domain.

Quote: Wizard

You're right, I was off by a factor of 7, which I just fixed.

Let's just say that not all video poker is negative EV. During the 80s and 90s there was no shortage of positive games, which is when most of this play was probably done.

Oh, I don't doubt that the player was playing +EV games. I just question the rationale behind spending the equivalent of 12 years' full-time employment sitting in front of a video screen, pushing buttons, and hoping the screen shows you the results you want. . .

Oh wait, never mind. I used to be a software engineer so I did that too. :)

Quote: AZDuffman

Only thing I might add would be when or if the patent for Carribean Stud Poker expires and it hits the public domain.

Good suggestion. Casino game patents last 20 years, so Caribbean Stud would have expired in 2009. I tend to think most novelty games have a useful lifespan of less than 20 years anyway.

Quote: Wizard

Good suggestion. Casino game patents last 20 years, so Caribbean Stud would have expired in 2009. I tend to think most novelty games have a useful lifespan of less than 20 years anyway.

Actually, the patent laws from 1989 stated that patents expire 17 years from publication, so it would have expired in 2006. They changed to the 20 year term in 1995, as part of the GATT agreement in 1994. But it's quite interesting, much like the high tech industries, that casino patents have shelf lives that usually are eclipsed by the patent term.

-B

Quote: toastcmu

Actually, the patent laws from 1989 stated that patents expire 17 years from publication, so it would have expired in 2006. They changed to the 20 year term in 1995, as part of the GATT agreement in 1994. But it's quite interesting, much like the high tech industries, that casino patents have shelf lives that usually are eclipsed by the patent term.

-B

Did they just change a lot of this again? I read the USA is joining the rest of the world and moving from a first-to-invent to a first-to-register system. Did terms change as well.

Wiz, also would this mean I could set up a CSP layout and call it "Carribean Stud Poker" or would I have to call it something else? Sorry to be a Danny Detail on it all.

The name is a trademark / copyright issue, not a patent one. TESS shows several live registered trademarks for "Caribbean Stud".

I assume you are talking about a casino game that actually made it , not the first one patented ?? In 1977 someone patented an electronic dice game for casinos. That same year also a horse race game for casino play was patented. In 1980 several patents were issued for electronic roulette.
One patent was to suspend a color TV camera above the roulette wheel and have it rotate the same speed as the wheel. Then it was to be broadcasted to monitors where bettors could watch in slo-mo or stop action.

Good comments. Please keep them coming.