Lightning Poker gets poker table patent
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Lightning Poker has announced its success in receiving a patent for its electronic poker table.
Patent number 7,306,516 has been awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect the innovative center screen, which Brian Haveson, Lightning Gaming’s CEO, calls “a key component to the player experience.”
From the patent abstract:
The electronic game table of the invention may comprise a standard game table, e.g., for poker, incorporating multiple player seats for tournament or side game play. Each player has a display device in front of him/her containing information about the card in pocket. The community cards are displayed in the center of the table on a display device. Each player has a console with control elements, such as buttons, computer mouse, touch screen, etc. for activating means of betting, such as coins, tokens, credit or smart card readers, etc. A function of a dealer is accomplished by a central server, e.g., a random combination generator. For participation in multi table tournaments, e.g., of poker, the aforementioned electronic game table is provided with means of interfacing with other tables participating in the tournament via Internet, Intranet, local area network, etc., without participation of a live dealer.
The full patent document is available here.
