US1557284A - Playing cards - Google Patents

Description

J. HOROWITZ PLAYING CARDS Filed Supt. 13. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig.3

Oct. 13, 1925- v 1. 12

J. HOROWITZ 7 10:! Sept 13 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig Fig.8 Pig. 9

Oct. 13,1925. l.557,284

J. HOROWITZ PLAYING CARDS Filed Sept. 15. 1924 3 Sheets-Shut 5 I NV EN TOR. 3 M

Patented @ct. I3, 1925.

- JOSHUA HO RUWITZ, 0F BRUOIKJLYN, NEW YORK.

PLAYING- CARDS.

Application filed September 13, 1924. aerial Ito. 737,55b.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, JOSHUA Honowlrz, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing Cards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in playing cards and has for its object to enhance the interest in and the recreational and educational value of standard card games by correlating the latterwith simulations of plays, actions and developments of athletic games or exercises, to which end the invention comprises providing each of the cards of a standard deck, having the suit and value markings thereon, with additional characters, indicia or markings denoting a play or action of an athletic game, said additions indicating an athletic scoring value of a given play in a standard card game.

An exemplification of the invention, involving the coordination of a standard deck of playing cards with markings indicating the plays, actions and developments of a baseball game, is set forth in the following description, predicated on the accompanying drawings, in whichz- Fig. 1 represents the ace of clubs, to which has been added, at diametrically opposite corners, the symbol 1B and the word Single, denoting that the batter in a base ball game made a single, or one-base hit at histurn at the bat, and is therefore entitled to the first base. In addition thereto the card bears centrally-positioned, pictorial illustrations indicative of the player making a single in a baseball game, and safely reaching first base.

Fig. 2 represents the deuce of spades, appropriately marked, and illustrated to indicate a two-base hit.

Fig. 3 represents the trey of diamonds similarly marked and illustrated to indicate a triple, or three-base hit.

Fig. 4 represents the four of clubs, and a strike-out.

that the batter fouled-out to the catcher.

in each instance.

Fig. 6 represents. the 6 of diamonds and that the batter flied-out to right field.

Fig. 7 represents the 7 of clubs, and that the batter flied-out to center field.

Fig. 8 represents the 8 of hearts and that the batter flied out to left field.

Fig. 9 represents the 9 of diamonds and that the batter was given a base on balls.

Fig. 10 represents the 10 of spades, and that the batter hit into a doubleplay.

Fig. 11 represents the 10 of diamonds, and that the batter hit a home run.

Fig. 12 represents the jack of spades and that the batter grounded to second base and was thrown out at first base.

Fig. 13 represents the queen of clubs, and that the batter grounded to short-stop and was thrown out at first base.

Fig. 14 represents the king of diamonds and that the batter grounded to third base and was thrown out at first base.

Fig. 15 represents the back of the playing card, and, by the baseball paraphernalia illustrated thereon, indicates that the cards are adapted for utilization in playing the game of -card-baseball. Q0

Fig. 16 represents a method of playing solitaire card baseball.

Now referring specifically to the drawings, it is to be understood that Fig. 1 rep resents the ace of clubs, exactly as it is shown in all of the well known playing cards. The large representation of the ace is in the center of the cards, and the letter A, immediately above a smaller representation of the ace, is positioned in diametrically opposed corners of the cards. In addition to these customary card markings, I-have placed on this particular cards the symbol 1B and the word Single, directly under the small representation of the ace .In addition thereto I provide pictorial matter which is illustrative of the actual baseball play indicated at the corners of the card. In all instances the illustrations are placed as nearly as possible on the approximate center of the card, and in all cases I prefer to show the representation of the base-ball diamond, the bases, the players who participate in the particular play being illustrated, and the ball and its flight or roll. In all the cards of an odd number, to wit, the are, a three, a five, or a nine, the illustration of the suit sentation of the diamond in the center of the card, as shown in 'Figs. 2, 4 and 10, or just below the center, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8.

The face cards the jack, queen and king also carry .the representation of the diamond and play, at the center of the card, as shown in Figs. 12, 13 and 14.

The, athletic markings and representations carried by the cards are so printed as to be considerably lighter than the regular numbers and symbols of the ordinary cards, whereby not to interfere with the utilization of the cards in playing the usual card games.

Except as herein noted, the cards of the same denomination, such as all the aces, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7 s, 8s, 9s, jacks, queens and kings, etc., have the same baseball indicia carried thereon, it being noted however that the 10 of diamonds indicates a home run, whereas the other lOs indicate double plays; that three of the deuces indicate doubles or two base hits, and the club deuce indicates an out; that the heart and diamond treys indicate triples or three base hits and the spades and club treys indicate outs. The deck of'cards, as described, is adapted to the playing of practically all of the standard card games, such as casino, bridge, whist, euchre, pinochle, et cetera, according to the standard rules and modes of play governing the particular games and correlating the regular plays of such standard card games with the plays or actions in or of a base ball ame, as indicated by the additional markings on the cards, the scoring being effected in terms of baseball plays or results, the object being for each player to make as many runs as possible andto prevent his opponent scoring runs whenever possible. For example, in playing the casino baseball game with two players engaged, the mode of play is the same. as that of the regular game of casino, the only difference being in the results represented. by the scoring, which are predicated upon baseball plays, or actions, as the latter are indicated by the successive and-sequential plays in the casino game. Four cards are dealt face up upon the table, and four are dealt to each player. The first player may take from the table any card of the same denomination as a card in his hand, that is, he may take a 6 with a 6, or aking with a king. Or he may take with a card in his hand any two? or more cards from the table, if the total digit numbers of such cards taken aggregates the digit of the card which he has in his hand. Thus a player may take a 4 and 3 with a 7, or 21.5, 3 and ace'with a 9, orhe may build with a card in his hand to add ntevzeaa to a card upon the table so as to aggregate the total of another card held in his hand. For instance the player may hold a 3 and a 7 in his hand, and there happens to be a 4 on the board. The 3 is a valuable'card, and he may place it on the 4 on the table and declare that he is building 7. If his opponent has a seven the opponentmay take the 3 and 4, otherwise the builder may take it on the next play. After each player has played his four cards the cards are dealt out again and the pla continues. I

As thus far indicated, the play follows strictly the rules of the "game of casino, but instead of scoring according to'the rules of said game, the scoring is made in terms of plays or actions in a baseball game, such as hits, runs, outs, et cetera, a practical eX-.

players, A and B, engaged, each is dealt four cards and,four cards are dealt-upon the table. A dealt the cards and it was Bs first play. After the deal ithappened that there was a 4 and a 2 on the table, and B has a 6 in his hand. The 6 indicates an a man, as is also the "4 spot; the 2 spot is valuable however as a double, or two-base ing that Bs first man at the bat is on second base by virtue of a two-base hit.

It is-now As play, and he .finds a 7 in his I hand representing an out. Following the rule to take all hits or advantageous plays for yourself, and give all cuts or other disadvantageous plays to your opponent, A gives B the 7, placing it beside Bs 2, thus making B have a man on second base and one out. At this point Ahas none on base and'none out. B plays next and, since there is no advantageous play to be made, places a .9 (base onballs) on'the table. A, playing next, happens to have a 9 in his hand, and matches the 9 on the table, and places the two 9sin front of him, one on top of the other, face up. This gives A a man on first base, and none out.

13 plays, andseeing'nothing in front of him to his advantage, plays a 3, indicating a three-base hit. A places an ace on the 3, and melds 4. B happens to have a 4 spot in his hand, and takes the 3 and ace built up by A. According tothe special rules of the game B now has the right to use any one of the three cards (the ace, the 3 or the 4) to his,'Bs, best advantage. He may'use the 3, the tri 1e, orace, advantage cards, for himself, ormay force his opponent to take the 4, which is a disadvantage card.

However B has a man on second base, and

uses the 3 to score him. He therefore places antennae right of the other two cards already in his score. He therefore has one run scored, and a man on third and one out.

A then places his A on the table, and both A and B have used up their four cards and A, the dealer, gives each player four more cards. It is still Bs play, and he finds a 4: in his hand. Since no card may be given to an opponents score directly from the players hand, B takes the 4 (struck-out) from the table, with the A in his hand, and gives A the 4 spot, placing it next to the nine which A took previously. A then has a man on first base, and one out. A then plays and drops the 10 of spades (doubleplay) on the table. B has a club 10in his hand, and takes the spade 10 from the table and forces it upon A, making three out for the latter, his cards reading from left to right9 spot (walked-wile man on base); 4: spot-one man out, and club 10, double play-three outs and no runs.

Since B has only one man out, the innings play is continued by a new deal. B still plays first and places a 3 (triple) on the table. A takes it with a 3, but has three outs and cannot use it, but cannot afi'ord to give it to B, and therefore discards it where B cannot use it. B table; A takes it with a jack, and gives it to B, making two outs for the latter. B then places a 2 (double) on the table, on which there also happens to he a 5 (fouled out). A holds a 7 and takes the 5 and 2 I therewith. Having the choice of using the 7 or 5, both disadvantage cards, or the 2, advantage card, he would ordinarily use the 2, but, since he has three men out he is now merely trying to prevent more runs for B. He therefore places the 5 (fouled out) on top of the 7 and 2, and places it be fore B as the third out. Bs cards then read, from left to right :-2 (double) one man on. second base; 7 (out); 3 (triple) one score in and man on third; jack (out); and 5 (out). Thus B made one run in first inning and A made none- The cards are then shufied and B deals, and so on throughout the full nine innings of the game. A regular score may he kept if desired, with the names of the players, and the particular plays involved during the entire game.

The game may be played with three players if desired, but a card may begiven to a player at the right only. In playing a 4- handed game the opposite players are partners, and each pair of partners represents a team.

Tn playing pinoc'hle baseball, the standard pinochle deck, ranging from the ace to the nine and including the king, queen and jack of each suit, is provided with arbitrary denotations of plays or actions in a baseball game, as hereinbefore described. For explaces a jack (out) on the base hit and four are marked @ut; three of the queens are marked Two base hit and five are marked Gut; two of the kings are marked Three base hit and six are marked Unit; one of the tens is marked Home run and four are marked Gut; four of the nines are marked Base on balls and four are marked Uut; two of the jacks are marked Stolen base and six are marked @ut; and three of the tens are marked Double play. The method of play follows strictly that employed in the standard game of pinochle. The dealer serves his opponent and himself withtwelve cards, dealt three at a time, and then faces the next card, which indicates trump, and places the remainder of the pack face down at the edge of the trump card. The value of the cards is indentical to that prescribed in the game of pinochle, the highest one being the ace. followed by the ten, king, queen, jack and nine in order and a higher value card takes one of a lower value of the same suit and a trump card takes any card played, except a higher trump- The order of play is that followed in the regular game of pinochle and the player who takes a trick has the privilege of melding. Instead, however, of melding according to the pinochle count or score, the melding is done in terms of baseball plays, actions or developments, the ultimate object being for each player to obtain' as many runs or favorable plays for himself as possible and to prevent the attainment of like results by his opponent. For example, the player who has taken a trick has the privilege of selecting two cards of equal value from his hand, as, for instance, two aces, one of which is marked One base hit and placing the two cards in front of him with the last mentioned card on top, indicating that he has made a play resulting in a one base hit. Similarly, if he has two queens in his hand, one of which is marked Three base hit, he arranges these cards as before, putting that with the three-base hit on top of the other and placing the two cards upon the table in front of him face up. If the player cannot find in his hand a combination or two cards which indicate a play or action in baseball, advantageous to himself, but does holdtwo cards of the same value that indicate a disadvantageous play 6r action to his opponent, as, for-example, two jacks that are marked Gut, he withdraws the cards placing one on top of the other in front of his opponent, which scores an Out for the latter. After melding, each player draws one card from the as in pinochle, the winner of drawing first and making the next play, after which he and his opponent have an opportunity to meld, that is to say, to withdraw cards from his hand which indicate an adunused deck, the last trick in the latter game. For every twenty points that one player has in excess of the other,

- the former is given advantage of an additional base hit. For example, if player A, at the end of a hand, has 145 in cards and B has 105 in cards, As total is 40 more than Bs .and he'is entitled to scorean additional two base hit, and thereby advances any players that may be left on the bases accordingly, the. state or condition of the game as to -men on bases being indicated by the cards face up on the table before'the player. Each deal may be played as an inning, and the play may be continued until the desired number of innings have been concluded, and the player accumulating the largest number of runs is the winner in the baseball phase of the game. Obviously, if desired, the regulation pinochle score may also be kept according to the standard rules, thereby lending additional zest and interest in taxing the skill and ingenuity of the player in carrying on the two games simultaneously to the best advantage to himself. v

In playing this game A and B are playing. and A deals, as in stud poker, the first card being dealt face down or closedf- Each player looks at hiscard without disclosing it to the other, and the second card is dealt to each face up. Suppose Bs closed card is a heart deuce (double) and his open card a 6 (out), and the dealers open card is a -jack (out 213), A is still leading, because he has the higher card showin ,.'in accord ance with the above schedule. The next deal gives Ba queen (out to short-stop) and A aking (out to 3rd),.and A is still ahead. He then deals B a 3 hearts, (triple) and himself an ace (single). B is now ahead, his triple being of higher value than, any other open card. On the next deal B receives an ace (single) and A a 3 diamond (triple). The cards now showing for A are, from right to left; 3 (triple) A (single) king (out) jack (out) :1 run scored and a man on base. For B the cards read 3 (triple) queen (out) ace (single) 6 (out) :1 run scored anda man on base.

Now calculating the runs scored and the position of the men on bases, we find that each has scored a run and has a man on third, so that the teams are tied. ,Then figurin the highest out card, we find that it be ongs to A with the king (grounded to third base). The runs and men 011 bases are tied but A, is ahead of B by the schedule, on

mutate account of the highest out card, and without consideration of the closed card. By reversing the closed card it is determined who is to win the inning. It is found that Bs closed card is a heart 2 (double) which scores his man from third base and .places a man on second. As closed card is an ace (single) which scores a man placmg another on hrst base. Therefore B wins this inning and the game proceeds to conclusion.

The rules to determine the winner are:

l. The winner must have the greater number of runs, or of runners most nearly advanced towards home plate. The five cards are calculated to determine the. number of runs scored, or the position of the men on the bases. .The cards need not be figured in the rotation. in which they are dealt. If

the player were Jfirst given a diamond 10 (home run) and then an ace (single) he has the privilege of counting it as though they j weredealt in' the opposite order. In other words the player may advance his men as far as possible to advance them with the 5 cards, just as if they had been dealt him' in the rotation most advantageous to the player. i i

2. If no runs are scored, or tied, the-playcr who has a man farthest advanced is the winner. If no runs are scored and the position of the menon the bases is the same,

the winner is decided by the highest out value, that is, the-king represents a higher value than a queen; i

Solitare baseball (for one player).-After shulfling, the player holds the pack of cards,

facing downwards, and counts three cards from thetop. Holding the three cards together, he places them on the table with the bottom card face upwards, on top of the other two cards, the two bottom cards notshowing and the top card representing the play of .the first batter. It Wlll slgmfy whether he received a base on balls, a single, double, triple, home run or any of the various outs. The next three cards are then taken from the top' of the deck, in a similarmanner and placed upon the table beside the first three cards; the upwardly faced bottom card determining the'play of the next player, and the deal-is so continued until three are out. The game is continued as described above, until nine innings arecompleted.

It iscustomary to keep a score of the teams, and, if desired, a regular score card, with the batting order'of the two teams, as St. Louis vs. New York'may bemaintained.

:Solz'iare baseball (for two players).- When two play solitare baseball, the cards are divided equally, and the player representing the team that is atbat, begins the play. Theprocess is the same asdescrlbed above. The player takes three cards from play, except instead of taking threecardsfacing upwards, the upturned card indicating the pla of the first batter; it being a single, or ouble'or out, etc., he continues until three are out. Then the other player takes his turn at bat etc., through the nine innings. The cards are'shuflled after every inning. v"

Solitaire baseball (for three pla era).- The game is exactly the same as w en two from the top, the bottom card of which would represent what the batter did, only two'cards are taken from the top.

Solitaire baseball (four pla easy-Same as above, except one card is ta en from the top, instead of two, representing what the batter did.

Many other games. are possible with my improved cards, the foregoing being referred to in order to. indicate several of the interesting possibilities. It is also obvious that the cards may readily be adapted for.

use in playing tennis, baseball, elf or any other athletic games, the symbo s and pictorial representations, and the rules of the games being revised accordingly.

Various modifications of' the arrangements and indicia carried b the cards may be suggested to those skille in the art, but

standard card game.

my invention covers all embodiments falling claims.

What I claimis 1,

1. A deck of playing cards each having the usual suit and value markings thereon to efiect or indicate the mode of play of the standard card games and. each also having thereon the denotation of a play or action in an athletic game indicating the scoring value thereof in the standard card game-in terms of -'the athletic game.

2. A deck of standard playing cards each having the usual indicia thereon and each being provided with additional characters denoting a play, or action in an athletic game, said additional characters indicating an athletic scoring value of a given play in a fairly within the scope of the appende 3...A' standard playing card having the usual indicia thereon and provided with additional characters or marmngsdenoting a play or action in an athletic game, said ad ditional characters indicatin an athletic scoring value of a given play m a standard card game.

ture.

' JOSHUA HOROWITZ.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signa-

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