ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,551,777, issued on Feb. 17.
"Apparatus for modified poker" was invented by Charles M Curley (Cortland, N.Y.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A card handling apparatus creates pre-formed hands for use in poker games and may be programmed to accommodate a number of different game variations and players. An unshuffled card input portal and a shuffled card discharge portal each have two output trays, each discharging play-ready hands. Two play-ready hands are simultaneously discharged face down to each of the output trays at the initiation of a game. A first player can choose to receive his/her hand from either tray, where each vacant tray is ...