What is claimed is:
1. A rotatable locking bar in contact with a plurality of segmental units, said locking bar comprising:
a corner for engaging and holding at least one of said segmental units to said geosynthetic reinforcement.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of said segmental units, when stacked on another segmental unit, forms a receiving conduit which loosely captures said locking bar and said geosynthetic reinforcement.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between a lower segmental unit and said locking bar.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between a lower segmental unit, said locking bar, and an upper segmental unit.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a distal end of said geosynthetic reinforcement extends from said locking bar and is loaded with a force.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said force displaces said segmental units and geosynthetic reinforcement away from away from each other.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said displaced segmental units and geosynthetic reinforcement rotates said locking bar until said corner engages and holds said geosynthetic reinforcement to an interior surface of said receiving conduit.
8. A segmental unit, comprising:
an upper channel;
an edgeless upper portion; and
a lower channel.
9. The segmental unit of claim 8, wherein said upper channel is defined by a first edge, a first sidewall which extends generally downward from said first edge, a bottom, and a second sidewall which extends generally upward to merge with a first side of said edgeless upper portion.
10. The segmental unit of claim 9, wherein said edgeless upper portion merges with said upper channel at said first side and merges with a block face at a distal second side.
11. The segmental unit of claim 8, wherein said lower channel is defined by a second edge, first sidewall which extends generally upward from said second edge, a top, and a second sidewall which extends generally downward to meet a bottom portion.
12. A segmental unit, comprising:
an upper channel; and
an edgeless upper portion.
13. The segmental unit of claim 12, wherein said upper channel is defined by a first edge, a first sidewall which extends generally downward from said first edge, a bottom, and a second sidewall which extends generally upward to merge with a first side of said edgeless upper portion.
14. The segmental unit of claim 13, wherein said edgeless upper portion merges with said upper channel at said first side and merges with a block face at a distal second side.
15. The segmental unit of claim 14, wherein said edgeless portion further comprises a filet at said first side and a filet at said distal second side.
16. A retaining wall, comprising;
a plurality of segmental units, each including an upper channel, an edgeless portion and a lower channel, positioned to form a lower course;
a plurality of segmental units, each including an upper channel, an edgeless portion and a lower channel, stacked on said lower course to form an upper course;
a receiving conduit formed by the stacking of said lower and upper courses and the mating of said lower and upper channels;
a rotatable locking bar loosely positioned within said receiving conduit;
a geosynthetic reinforcement in contact with said rotatable locking bar at a first end, and a second end of said geosynthetic reinforcement extending laterally to receive a backfill load; and,
a plurality of forces, generated by said backfill load, that act to displace said segmental unit and said geosynthetic reinforcement which, in turn, rotates said locking bar such that said locking bar engages and holds said first end to an interior surface of said receiving conduit.
17. The wall of claim 16, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said upper channel, followed by said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said upper channel and said locking bar.
18. The wall of claim 16, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said upper channel, followed by said locking bar, and then looped back over said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said upper channel, said locking bar, and said lower channel.
19. The wall of claim 16, wherein said rotatable locking bar includes a corner which engages and holds said geosynthetic reinforcement to an interior surface of said receiving conduit.
20. A retaining wall, comprising;
a plurality of segmental units, each including a channel and an edgeless portion positioned to form a lower course;
a plurality of segmental units, each including a channel and an edgeless portion stacked on said lower course to form an upper course;
a receiving conduit formed by the stacking of said lower and upper courses;
a rotatable locking bar loosely positioned within said receiving conduit;
a geosynthetic reinforcement in contact with said rotatable locking bar at a first end, and a second end of said geosynthetic reinforcement extending laterally to receive a backfill load; and,
a plurality of forces, generated by said backfill load, that act to displace said segmental unit and said geosynthetic reinforcement which, in turn, rotates said locking bar such that said locking bar engages and holds said first end to an interior surface of said receiving conduit.
21. The wall of claim 20, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said receiving channel, followed by said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said upper segmental unit and said locking bar.
22. The wall of claim 20, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said receiving channel, followed by said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said lower segmental unit and said locking bar.
23. The wall of claim 20, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said receiving channel, followed by said locking bar, and then looped back over said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said upper segmental unit and said locking bar.
24. The wall of claim 20, wherein said geosynthetic reinforcement is positioned over said edgeless portion and within said receiving channel, followed by said locking bar, and then looped back over said locking bar, such that said geosynthetic reinforcement is captured within said receiving conduit between said lower segmental unit and said locking bar.
25. The wall of claim 20, wherein said rotatable locking bar includes a corner that engages and holds said geosynthetic reinforcement to an interior surface of said receiving conduit.
26. A method of constructing a wall, comprising the steps of:
stacking segmental units which include internal channels;
positioning one end of a geosynthetic reinforcement over one of said internal channels;
inserting a rotatable locking bar over said geosynthetic reinforcement and into said internal channel;
capturing said rotatable locking bar and geosynthetic reinforcement within one of said internal channels with another segmental unit;
loading a distal end of said geosynthetic reinforcement with a force; and
holding said geosynthetic reinforcement to a surface of said internal channel.
27. The method of claim 26, wherein said step of inserting further comprises placing said rotatable locking bar within an internal channel which is wider than said locking bar.
28. The method of claim 26, wherein said step of loading with a force further comprises pulling said geosynthetic reinforcement in a direction away from said locking bar.
29. The method of claim 28, wherein said step of pulling further comprises rotating said rotatable locking bar.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein said step of rotating further comprises engaging said geosynthetic reinforcement with a corner of said locking bar.
31. A method of constructing a wall, comprising the steps of:
stacking segmental units which include internal conduits;
positioning one end of a geosynthetic reinforcement over one of said internal conduits;
inserting a rotatable locking bar over said geosynthetic reinforcement and into said internal conduit;
capturing said rotatable locking bar and geosynthetic reinforcement within said internal conduit by with another segmental unit;
loading a distal end of said geosynthetic reinforcement with a force; and
holding said geosynthetic reinforcement to a surface of said internal conduit.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein said step of inserting further comprises placing said rotatable locking bar within an internal conduit which is wider than said locking bar.
33. The method of claim 31, wherein said step of loading with a force further comprises pulling said geosynthetic reinforcement in a direction away from said locking bar.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein said step of pulling further comprises rotating said rotatable locking bar.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein said step of rotating further comprises engaging said geosynthetic reinforcement with a corner of said locking bar.
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 method for implementing a blackjack game in a physical casino, the method comprising:
providing the physical casino with a physical gaming table with a felt layout on top of the gaming table which includes a plurality of betting circles imprinted into the felt layout;
providing one or more physical decks of cards;
receiving a wager from a player in the form of one or more physical chips in a player’s betting circle out of the plurality of betting circles;
dealing, using the one or more physical decks of cards, a player’s hand and a dealer’s hand;
enabling the player to play out the player’s hand;
providing dealer hand resolution rules that comprise: A) if a point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than a predetermined amount then proceed to operation C otherwise deal an additional card to the dealer’s hand; B) if the point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than 21 then the dealer busts and the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise return to operation A), C) if a number of cards in the dealer’s hand is not greater than 2 then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise proceed to operation D, D) if the point total of the dealer’s hand does not equal a preset total then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise burn a card in the dealer’s hand and continue to resolve the dealer’s hand;
implementing the dealer hand resolution rules; and
resolving the wager according to predetermined blackjack rules.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the preset total is 21.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with no limit to a number of dealer’s cards that are potentially burned.
4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with a predetermined maximum number of dealer’s cards that can be burned whereupon operation D then ends the dealer hand resolution.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that when a dealer’s card is burned another dealer’s card is dealt automatically.
6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with no limit to a number of dealer’s cards that are potentially burned.
7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with a predetermined maximum number of dealer’s cards that can be burned whereupon operation D then ends the dealer hand resolution.
8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the card burned in the dealer’s hand is a last card dealt to the dealer.
9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the card burned in the dealer’s hand is a dealer’s up-card.
10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the card burned in the dealer’s hand is a dealer’s hole-card.
11. An electronic apparatus for implementing a blackjack game, the apparatus comprising:
a processing unit in communication with an input device and an output device, the processing unit configured to execute instructions to:
receive a wager from a player;
deal a player’s hand and a dealer’s hand;
enable the player to play out the player’s hand;
provide dealer hand resolution rules that comprise: A) if a point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than a predetermined amount then proceed to operation C otherwise deal an additional card to the dealer’s hand; B) if the point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than 21 then the dealer busts and the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise return to operation A), C) if a number of cards in the dealer’s hand is not greater than 2 then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise proceed to operation D, D) if the point total of the dealer’s hand does not equal a preset total then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise burn a card in the dealer’s hand and continue to resolve the dealer’s hand;
implement the dealer hand resolution rules; and
resolve the wager according to predetermined blackjack rules.
12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the preset total is 21.
13. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with no limit to a number of dealer’s cards that are potentially burned.
14. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with a predetermined maximum number of dealer’s cards that can be burned whereupon operation D then ends the dealer hand resolution.
15. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that when a dealer’s card is burned another dealer’s card is dealt automatically.
16. The apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with no limit to a number of dealer’s cards that are potentially burned.
17. The apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the dealer hand resolution rules further comprise that the continue to resolve the dealer’s hand returns to operation A with a predetermined maximum number of dealer’s cards that can be burned whereupon operation D then ends the dealer hand resolution.
18. The apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured such that the card burned in the dealer’s hand is a last card dealt to the dealer.
19. A method for implementing a blackjack game, the method comprising:
enabling the following operations to be performed on an electronic computer connected to an electronic output device:
placing a wager by a player using the electronic computer;
viewing, by the player on the electronic output device, a player’s hand and a dealer’s hand;
playing out, by the player, the player’s hand;
watching, by the player, the dealer resolve the dealer’s hand according to dealer hand resolution rules that comprise: A) if a point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than a predetermined amount then proceed to operation C otherwise deal an additional card to the dealer’s hand; B) if the point total of the dealer’s hand is greater than 21 then the dealer busts and the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise return to operation A), C) if a number of cards in the dealer’s hand is not greater than 2 then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise proceed to operation D, D) if the point total of the dealer’s hand does not equal a preset total then the dealer hand resolution ends otherwise burn a card in the dealer’s hand and continue to resolve the dealer’s hand;
watching, by the player, a resolution of the wager according to predetermined blackjack rules.
20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the before the enabling, the method further comprises connecting, by the player, the computer to an online casino using the Internet.