Video table game apparatus, system, and method of use – Some kind of video system technology to be used at poker gaming tables, to offer different kinds of side-bets. From Paltronics; see their product line, if you’re interested.

Roulette game based on results from a sporting event – A roulette game based on the patent that they already received for horse race based outcomes in December.

Tabletop basketball game – This game:

It can be played either as a roll and move game, or as a dexterity game of shooting baskets.

Roulette game apparatus and method – He doesn’t like the way the current roulette wheel is distributed. So not this:

But this:

For some reason ( explained over 30 pages), the second one is easier to understand for beginning players.

Two hand twenty-one wagering game – Yet another blackjack variant.

System and method for playing community hand poker games utilizing mathematical dealer qualifying criteria – From David Sklansky, author of numerous books on poker. This is a continuation of a patent from May, 2006, and it’s a Hold’em variant with a dealer.

Board game and method for playing the board game – A board game for up to 24 people. “A board game that simulates romance drama story lines.” Claims that the people won’t get bored when it’s not their turn because they’ll be enjoying the story that gets created during the game.

Method and apparatus for verifying players’ bets on a gaming table – Detecting bets as their placed, so that they can be locked in and then not sneakily removed during play. The patent claims an apparatus, but it doesn’t actually specify one, as far as I can tell.

Apportionment of pay out of casino dice game with escrow – “It would be an advantage and commercially viable to develop a knowledge-based casino game in which the house advantage is fixed, or narrowly limited, hence not subject to a range of possibilities depending on a player’s knowledge.” Some kind of system for creating a trivia based casino game where the house still holds an advantage overall.

Poker-type card game and method therefor – The abstract: “A poker-type game capable in which participants compete against a dealer in hands whose number of cards progressively increase. Play begins with two cards dealt to a dealer and two cards dealt to each player. Whoever has a superior two-card hand must place a wager into a transitional wagering area. At least three community cards are dealt creating first a three-card, then a four-card and ultimately a five-card poker hand. At each stage, whoever between the dealer and each at least one player has the inferior hand must place a wager equal to the ante wager into that player’s transitional wagering area. Whoever has the best five-card poker hand collects all wagers placed in the transitional wagering area.”

Takes some of the decision-making out of the game, near as I can tell. Extra bonus for having a hand above a certain amount, and possibility of a “bad beat” payout. Table makes 5% of the winner’s take.

• 0 Comments

TOP STORY: Rick Eddleman, the guy who embezzled over a million dollars from Decipher Games (and ruined the company) is sentenced to six years and five months in prison. He is ordered to pay back nearly a million dollars, but he only owns around $25,000 in assets. (source)

Edinburgh, Scotland: Man beats his mother to death and hands himself; the paper mentions that he is a BGG user. (source)

Pattaya City, Thailand: 8 charged with gambling with the dice game Hi Lo in a parking lot. All gambling is illegal in Thailand. (source) Also, parents are urged to check their children’s cell phones to see if they have downloaded any dice game applications, following a spate of addiction and gambling losses. (source)

Niagara Falls, NY: Robber takes board game (and other items) during a house break-in. (source)

Richmond, VA: Man became violent after getting drunk at a rummy game. (source)

Alexandria, LA: Card game loser hits another player and bites her on the cheek. (source)

Madison, WI: Man pulls knife and damages car door of someone who tells him he has a “big booty” at a dominoes game. (source)

Chicago, IL: Several people shot at a dice game by one of the losers. (source)

Fraser, MI: Man hits woman in head, breaking her glasses, because she won’t sell him Park Place and Boardwalk.  (source)

Live Oak, FL: Men break into a home and rob a card game in progress. (source)

• 1 Comment

As addictive fun as collectible can be, we much appreciate Fantasy Flight’s switch to the living card game format, which gives the casual player an opportunity to benefit from an expanding game world and further play options without putting so much effort (and money) in to the acquisition of cards. Now the company is further extending the benefits of its card games for the casual player, who nevertheless enjoys some friendly competition. At Gen Con, in addition to the traditional tournaments for A Game of Thrones and Call of Cthulhu, Fantasy Flight will be sponsoring alternative League play that works like this:

• Sign up at FFG HQ to receive a league ribbon and 10 tournament tokens.
• Anywhere, anytime throughout the convention weekend, see someone else with the same ribbon and challenge them to a match.
• The winner of the game takes a token from the loser.
• Return to FFG HQ by 11:00 AM Sunday.
• The player with the most tokens will win a special prize.

• 0 Comments

A game from the Boggle brand, Body Boggle was created in 1984.

Like Twister, you use your hands and feet to touch the required locations on the playing mat, only you have to spell out words, rather than simply touch the correct extremity to the correct color.

I grew up in the eighties, but I missed out on all the fun.

• 1 Comment

Next contender for the World X Championship: marbles.

Since 2005, the Czech Marbles Federation has hosted the World Marbles Championships, whose growth has been hampered by the niggly fact that most countries don’t have a national marbles federation. 2009’s event just took place, supposedly, but no information about participants or results is up, yet.

Thus, they are now promoting the World Marbles Federation [?] (yes, the “[?]” is right there in the title on the web site) to encourage nations to form their own groups, so that they’ll have more people with which to compete.

• 0 Comments

While profits were up at Hasbro and Mattel, and toy sales are up around the globe, Jakks Pacific saw income drop $406.5 million in Q2, compared to a gain of $4.2 million Q2 2008. Interestingly, sales were only down a little, from $145.3 million to $144.8 million.

How can this be?

The company took a $407.1 million goodwill impairment charge loss. The company took several other impairment charge losses, most of them intangible and related to “under-utilized” licenses. I.e. Hannah Montana, WWE, Pokémon and Cabbage Patch Kids are not selling as well as would be hoped. Which is odd, since The Hannah Montana Movie was only released a few months ago.

Please note that I am not an accountant, so I probably messed that up terribly. But that’s the gist.

Anyhoo, this means that Jakks will be firing people, and has lowered its profit expectations for the rest of this year.

(source, source)

• 1 Comment

The WBC is the most tournament-oriented of board gaming conventions, with events scheduled in 100 different games. It’s been running under the name since 1999, and since 2005 in Lancaster, PA.

Pre-tournament games start this weekend, with the actual championships starting next week.

Don’t go expecting riches, as well as fame; they only award plaques.

• 0 Comments

Famed board game geek Rich Sommer tells us that he’s been working on getting the rest of the cast of Mad Men to play board games. (source)

Famed Mormon preacher and sci-fi author Orson Scott Card reveals that he’s also a board game geek. He talks about what makes a good trivia board game and Mormon board game, pimps Blast from the Past, and reveals that he’s played and loved The Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne. (source)

The Philippine Daily Inquirer pimps Zingo, Munch Math, and Kids Battle the Grown-Ups. (source)

A report on a recent board game tournament in Bangalore. (source)

• 0 Comments

As of January 1, 2010, Hasbro will stop support for all North American Scrabble tournaments. And they’re only providing partial support (still a $15,000 prize package, I believe) for the upcoming 2009 US National Scrabble Championship in Dayton, next week.

The National Scrabble Association, originally founded by Selchow & Righter, was the branch that funded and oversaw these tournaments, and they are instead turning to promoting Scrabble in schools and other such activities. As a result, a new organization, the North American Scrabble Players Association, was formed this month to take over the North American tournament scene.

For more information, see their FAQ.

The 2009 World Scrabble Championships will be held in Malaysia, in November.

• 0 Comments

Synapse is a party game where a team of players create a sentence – one word at a time, with each member trying to come up with the next word in the sentence – to give a clue about the word that must be guessed. It comes with an electronic doodad that makes a lot of noise.

The creator’s sister’s friend is Doug Reuter, creator of Sequence, and he gave them some manufacturing advice.

Their website is pretty funky: a light trail follows behind the mouse when you move it. I keep making circles with the mouse, and I’m like whoa! Pass the bong.

• 0 Comments