1. A method of incorporating a possible real-world consequence in a virtual world, comprising:
creating one or more contextual categories in the virtual world;
associating the possible real-world consequence with the one or more contextual categories;
identifying a virtual world patron with a real-world profile that correlates with the one or more contextual categories;
making the possible real-world consequence available to the virtual world patron who has a potential relationship with the one or more contextual categories; and
implementing a promotion or offer or award of the real-world consequence to the virtual world patron.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said associating the possible real-world consequence includes:
associating the possible real world consequence with a contextual category that is at least partially based on a temporal participation parameter in the virtual world, which temporal participation parameter has a potential relationship with the virtual world patron.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said associating the possible real-world consequence includes:
associating the possible real world consequence with a contextual category that is at least partially based on a subject matter participation parameter in the virtual world, which subject matter participation parameter has a potential relationship with the virtual world patron.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
detecting one or more of the following types of behavioral parameter involving the virtual world patron: continuous on-line time in virtual world, cumulative on-line-time in virtual world, cumulative number of acquired virtual world objects, cumulative number of virtual world location visits, frequency of virtual world logon, continuous time at VW location, frequency of visits to virtual world location, continuous time at VW activity, frequency of participation in virtual world activity, continuous time at VW shop, frequency of VW purchases, accumulation of virtual world objects, frequency of VW acquisitions, accumulation of VW value symbols, accumulation of VW skills, accumulation of VW inventory, current activity, activity history, current item usage, item usage history, membership, membership application, item in possession, current task, task history, prospective task, goal, degree of success, and degree of qualification.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said making the possible real-world consequence available includes:
making availability of the possible real-world consequence to be responsive to said detecting the one or more types of behavioral parameter.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said associating the possible real-world consequence includes:
associating the possible real world consequence with a contextual category that is at least partially based on a character participation parameter in the virtual world, which character participation parameter has a potential relationship with the virtual world patron.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:
detecting one or more of the following types of character participation parameter involving the virtual world patron: speaking, conversation, writing, motion, running, walking, jumping, leaping, flying, gesture, touching, falling, pushing, pulling, rolling, dragging, carrying, lifting, dropping, placing, selecting, pointing, shooting, slinging, throwing, holding, eating, drinking, smelling, tasting, attendance, arrival, departure, transportation, battle, construction, destroying, quest, goal selection, goal completion, task selection, task completion, prospective action, behavior, competition, winning, losing, succeeding, failing, drawing (as in breaking even), surrendering, learning, listening, watching, wearing, acquiring, possession, usage, disposing of, owning, displaying, distributing, becoming a member, current membership, loss of membership, applying for membership, attaching, purchasing, bartering, trading, selling, redeeming, and traveling.
8. The method of claim 7 said making the possible real-world consequence available includes:
making availability of the possible real-world consequence to be responsive to said detecting the one or more types of character participation parameter.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said making the possible real-world consequence available to the virtual world patron includes:
providing one or more of the following types of notification: patron is awarded the real-world consequence, patron is qualified to obtain the real-world consequence, patron is selected as a candidate for the real-world consequence, RW consequence can be redeemed on certain calendar day, RW consequence can be redeemed during certain time-of-day period, RW consequence can be obtained at designated location, RW consequence conditional on further RW activity, RW consequence conditional of further VW activity, RW consequence conditional upon status of group, RW consequence requires group membership of patron, and patron required to provide RW identity information.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing informational data that lists the one or more contextual categories, and that further specifies the possible real-world consequence associated with the one or more contextual categories.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein said providing the informational data includes:
providing informational data that is accessible to the virtual world patron.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein said providing the informational data that is accessible to the virtual world patron includes:
making informational data accessible to enable the virtual world patron to seek a particular real-world consequence based on a prerequisite or a progress status in the virtual world.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein said providing the informational data that is accessible to the virtual world patron includes:
making informational data accessible to enable the virtual world patron to be awarded a particular real-world consequence.
14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
making data accessible by an interactive participation parameter involving the virtual world patron.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
screening out a virtual world patron based on a contextual occurrence in the virtual world.
16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing a data record that lists the virtual world participant who has been awarded the real-world consequence.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said providing the data record includes:
providing the data record that is accessible to a real-world entity responsible for implementing the real-world consequence.
18. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
providing a legend that serves as an identifier for a contextual category and its related real-world consequence.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein said providing the legend includes:
providing a legend that identifies a real-world entity responsible for implementing the real-world consequence.
20. The method of claim 18 wherein said providing the legend includes:
providing the legend that identifies an available real-world product.
21. The method of claim 18 wherein said providing the legend includes:
providing the legend that identifies a real-world service.
22. The method of claim 18 wherein said providing the legend includes:
providing the legend using one or more of the following techniques that can be recognized by the virtual world patron: word, symbol, abbreviation, logo, image, sound, display, slogan, personage, caricature, alteration, texture, overlay, alternate shape, addition of accessory, mobile object, dynamic presentation, random presentation, intermittent presentation, sequential presentation, passive presentation, and removal of component.
23. The method of claim 18 wherein said providing the legend includes:
providing the legend that is displayed in the virtual world in one or more of the following ways: on item, at location, at entrance, at exit, on avatar, player inventory, status display, directional arrows, game map, game calendar, participation requirement, logon duration, at logon, at logoff, VW availability schedule, VW timetable, VW availability location, event listing, topical category, VW setting, VW activity, character communication, game inventory object, game element, quest goal, task description, achievement target, attribute level, skill level, and group membership benefit.
24. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
keeping the contextual categories hidden from the virtual world patron.
25. A method of providing virtual world access to an entity, comprising:
providing a virtual participation parameter having a nexus for communicating with one or more virtual world patrons;
incorporating in a virtual world a legend associated with a real-world opportunity provided by the entity, which legend serves as an identifier to the one or more virtual world patrons;
identifying among the one or more virtual world patrons a targeted virtual world patron having a real-world profile that correlates with the virtual participation parameter;
presenting the legend to the one or more virtual world patrons involved with the virtual participation parameter; and
implementing a promotion or offer or award of the real-world opportunity to the targeted virtual world patron.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein said providing the virtual participation parameter includes:
selecting a particular virtual participation parameter including a contextual category for use with respect to one or more-real world opportunities offered by one or more entities.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein said selecting the particular virtual participation parameter includes:
making available to the entity a listing of real-world opportunities currently offered in connection with one or more virtual participation parameters; and
allowing the entity to select the particular virtual participation parameter for communicating the entity’s real-world opportunity
28. The method of claim 25 wherein said providing the virtual participation parameter includes:
providing a particular virtual participation parameter including a contextual category that is limited for use with respect to communicating one or more real world opportunities offered by only one entity.
29. The method of claim 25 wherein said presenting the legend includes:
presenting the legend that promotes the real-world opportunity to the one or more virtual world patrons.
30. The method of claim 25 wherein said presenting the legend includes:
presenting the legend that offers the real-world opportunity to the one or more virtual world patrons.
31. The method of claim 25 wherein said presenting the legend includes:
presenting the legend that provides notification of an award of the real-world opportunity to the one or more virtual world patrons.
32. A communication system in a virtual world environment, comprising:
computer apparatus for presenting a legend in a virtual world environment, which legend serves as an identifier for a contextual category associated with a real-world consequence;
a program module bearing computer readable instructions to make the real-world consequence accessible in the virtual world environment to one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category;
a data record listing informational data regarding the real-world consequence; and
another data record for real-life profile information regarding the one or more virtual world participants, wherein the program module is configured to correlate the real-life profile information with the contextual category.
33. The communication system of claim 32 further comprising:
a detection device operably coupled with the program module to detect one or more of the following contextual parameters in the virtual world environment: temporal participation parameter, subject matter participation parameter, character participation parameter.
34. The communication system of claim 32 wherein said program module includes:
program instructions that implement a promotion of the real-world consequence to the one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category.
35. The communication system of claim 32 wherein said program module includes:
program instructions that implement an offer of the real-world consequence to the one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category.
36. The communication system of claim 32 wherein said program module includes:
program instructions that implement an award of the real-world consequence to the one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category.
37. The system of claim 32 where said computer apparatus is configured to present an interactive legend to the one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category.
38. The system of claim 32 where said computer apparatus is configured to present a passive legend to the one or more virtual world participants who have a nexus with the contextual category.
39. The system of claim 32 where said computer apparatus is configured to present a legend that includes one or more of the following identification indicia related to the real-world consequence: real-world entity responsible for implementing the real-world consequence, real-world product, real-world service, real-world premium, real-world group membership, real-world discount, prerequisite, progress status, directional information, and listing of available RW benefits.
40. The system of claim 32 further comprising:
a communication interconnection configured to process an awarded real-world consequence, wherein the communication interconnection incorporates one or more of the following techniques: wireless transmission, cable, wired connection, telephonic transmission, email, virtual world storage media, virtual world database, virtual world website, mobile memory device, public database, shared database, hardcopy delivery, personal storage medium, public storage medium, encoded message, deferred transmission, aggregated transmission, store-and-forward transmission, cached transmission, point-to-point transmission, direct transmission, broadcast, and business data interchange.
41. The system of claim 32 wherein said data record includes:
an awarded real-world consequence encoded on one or more of the following types of records: flash memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, opticalmagnetic memory, disk, card, mobile device, database, volatile memory, permanent memory, local memory, remote memory, in-game inventory, character profile, in-game inventory, character profile, and patron profile.
42. A computer program product comprising:
a) program instructions configured to perform a process that associates information in a computer system, the process including
creating one or more contextual categories in a virtual world environment,
associating a possible real-world consequence with the one or more contextual categories,
identifying a targeted virtual world patron with a real-world profile that correlates with the one or more contextual categories,
making the possible real-world consequence available to the targeted virtual world patron who has a potential relationship with the one or more contextual categories,
generating a promotion or offer or award of the real-world consequence to the targeted patron; and
b) computer readable media for encoding the instructions.
43. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein said process further includes:
presenting the identifier legend using one or more of the following communication techniques that can be recognized by targeted virtual world patron: word, symbol, abbreviation, logo, image, sound, display, slogan, personage, caricature, alteration, texture, overlay, alternate shape, addition of accessory, mobile object, dynamic presentation, random presentation, intermittent presentation, sequential presentation, passive presentation, and removal of component.
44. The computer program of claim 42 wherein said process further includes:
communicating the identifier legend to the targeted virtual world patron by one or more of the following ways: on item, at location, at entrance, at exit, on avatar, player inventory, status display, directional arrows, game map, game calendar, participation requirement, logon duration, at logon, at logoff, VW availability schedule, VW timetable, VW availability location, event listing, topical category, VW setting, VW activity, character communication, game inventory object, game element, quest goal, task description, achievement target, attribute level, skill level, and group membership benefit.
45. The computer program product of claim of claim 42 wherein said process is encoded on computer readable transmission type media andor storage media accessible to multiple targeted virtual world patrons having logon capabilities at different locations.
46. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein said process is encoded on computer readable transmission type media andor storage media capable of functional operation on localized computer apparatus accessible to an individual targeted virtual world patron.
47. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein said process feature of generating the promotion or offer or award includes:
encoding the promotion or offer or award on one or more of the following types of records: flash memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, opticalmagnetic memory, disk, card, mobile device, database, volatile memory, permanent memory, local memory, remote memory, in-game inventory, character profile, in-game inventory, character profile, and patron profile.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A physical playing card gaming system, comprising:
a gaming table including at least one dealer position and at least one player position;
a physical playing card reading system configured to read at least one of card rank or card suit of physical playing cards to be delivered to the at least one dealer position and the at least one player position;
a display associated with the gaming table; and
at least one processor in communication with the physical playing card reading system and the display, the at least one processor programmed to determine composition of at least one of a dealer hand or at least one player hand based on the at least one of card rank or card suit read by the physical playing card reading system and programmed to cause at least one player instruction based on the at least one determined hand composition to be displayed on the display.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a card shuffler that comprises the physical playing card reading system.
3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a card dispensing shoe that comprises the physical playing card reading system.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor programmed to cause at least one player instruction based on the at least one determined hand composition to be displayed on the display comprises at least one processor programmed to cause the at least one player instruction based on at least one game rule and based on the at least one determined hand to be displayed on the display.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one player instruction based on the at least one determined hand composition to be displayed on the display comprises an electronic wagering instruction.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one player instruction based on the at least one determined hand composition to be displayed on the display comprises a rank, suit, or rank and suit of at least some of the physical playing cards.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor programmed to cause at least one player instruction based on the at least one determined hand composition to be displayed on the display comprises at least one processor programmed to cause a house way of setting the determined hands to be displayed on the display.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the display comprises a common display positioned to be viewable by a dealer and players at the gaming table, and further comprising at least one individual player display viewable to only one player.
9. A casino table card game system, comprising:
a gaming table with a gaming surface including player positions and a dealer position for receipt of randomized sets of physical playing cards;
a playing card reading system for reading card information including at least one of a rank or suit of the physical playing cards of the randomized sets;
at least one display viewable from the player positions of the gaming table; and
at least one processor in communication with the playing card reading system and the at least one display, the at least one processor programmed with house way rules, the at least one processor programmed to cause the at least one display to display instructions on how to set hands from at least one randomized set of physical playing cards of the randomized sets of physical playing cards according to the house way rules.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to determine a composition of at least one of the randomized sets based on the at least one of card rank or card suit read by the physical playing card reading system, and the at least one processor is programmed to cause the at least one display to display instructions on how to set hands from the at least one of the randomized sets based on the determined composition.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to cause the at least one display to display which physical playing cards of the at least one determined randomized set composition are to be arranged in a low hand and a high hand.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one display comprises a common display positioned to be viewable by a dealer and players at the gaming table and at least one individual player display viewable to only one respective player.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor comprises a single processor.
14. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor comprises at least one processor internal to the physical playing card handling device and at least one processor external to the physical playing card handling device.
15. A method of operating a physical playing card gaming system, the method comprising:
providing a set of physical playing cards for use in the physical playing card gaming system to a physical playing card reading system at a gaming table, the gaming table including at least one player position and at least one dealer position;
reading the physical playing cards with the physical playing card reading system to determine card information;
communicating the card information to at least one processor;
delivering sub sets of physical playing cards from the physical playing card reading system to the at least one player position and the at least one dealer position;
identifying each card in each sub set of physical playing cards delivered to each of the at least one player position and the at least one dealer position with the at least one processor using the communicated card information;
determining at least one player instruction with the at least one processor using the identified each card in at least one sub set of physical playing cards delivered; and
displaying on a display the at least one player instruction.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein displaying on a display the at least one player instruction comprises displaying the at least one player instruction on a common display.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein providing a set of physical playing cards for use in the physical playing card gaming system to a physical playing card reading system comprises providing the set of physical playing cards to at least one of a shuffler or a shoe.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein determining at least one player instruction with the at least one processor comprises determining a house way of setting at least one of the sub sets of physical playing cards delivered.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one sub set of physical playing cards delivered comprises a dealer hand.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one sub set of physical playing cards delivered comprises a player hand.