I am looking for the particulars of a blackjack game that may exist
and may be played in some las vegas casinos. The game might be called
"Blackjack Switch". The game might resemble a game that I patented. 
My game is based on a player switching his hand after it is dealt but
before anyone actually looks at their cards.  I need to know if this
blackjack       game exists or even if any similar type game has been
introduced that is similar to my game

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 25 Aug 2005 18:33 PDT

Dear forestbenton,

There are several references to a rather new blackjack variant named
"Blackjack Switch". I have found an article about the game, explaining
the special rules (scoll down a bit for the beginning of the article):
http://www.bjinsider.com/newsletter_54_switch.shtml

Is this what you had in mind? Please let me know.

Regards,
Scriptor

Hello forestbenton,

The home page for Blackjack Switch is:

BlackjackSwitch.com [Customized Casino Games Ltd]
http://www.blackjackswitch.com/
alternate URL: http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/home.asp

The game is currently installed at four casinos in Las Vegas, as
several casinos in Moscow and on the Internet.

"Land Based Installations"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/installations.asp

"Internet Based Installations"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/installations.asp?list=internet

The rules of Blackjack Switch have been updated over time.  (I don't
know of a version where player may switch his hand after it is dealt
but before anyone actually looks at their cards.  However, the older
set of rules, cited below, says that "'Blackjack Switch' is an
extremely flexible game."  So it is conceivable that a casino with
rights to do so could modify the rules to allow for switches before
players looking at the cards.)

The rules for the current version are at:

"Rules of Blackjack Switch"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/rules.asp

If you're curious, an older set of rules is found at:

Internet Archive cache "Blackjack Switch Rules" (August 26, 2002)
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://web.archive.org/web/20020806011844/blackjackswitch.com/rules.htm

You can download a version of the game at:

"Download 'Fun Play' Version"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/download_bjs.asp

The official site, like the page cited by scriptor, includes a
strategy guide supplied by WizardOfOdds.com.

"Blackjack Switch Strategy"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/strategy.asp

According to the site, Blackjack Switch was created by Geoff Hall,
Managing Director of Customized Casino Games Ltd.

"Customized Casino Games Ltd: Company Profile"
BlackjackSwitch.com
http://www.tmmuk.com/blackjack/profile.asp

The bottom line of the home page states: "Fully Patented : US
5,322,295 and Patent Pending."

United States Patent 5,322,295 is found at:

"Method of playing a multiple hand card game" (Cabot, et al. June 21, 1994)
United States Patent and Trademark Office
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5,322,295.WKU.&OS=PN/5,322,295&RS=PN/5,322,295

Of course, I couldn't say whether this site's assertions of creating
and patenting Blackjack Switch are accurate, given what you've stated
in the question.  I present this material only so that you may
evaluate the assertions for yourself.

I hope that this information is helpful.  Please let me know if you
need any clarification of this answer.

- justaskscott


Search strategy --

Searched on Google for these terms, individually and in various combinations:

"blackjack switch"
"four queens"
"casino royale"
site:nv.us
hall
site:blackjackswitch.com

[I tried other searches as well; but the searches I've mentioned led
me to the pages I've cited.]

Searched on Internet Archive Wayback Machine (http://www.archive.org) for:

http://www.blackjackswitch.com/

Searched on US Patent Full-Text Database Patent Number Search
(http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm) for:

5,322,295