Card games utilizing a novel shuffle and dealing methodology

Information

  • Patent Application
  • 20080079219
  • Publication Number
    20080079219
  • Date Filed
    October 02, 2007
    17 years ago
  • Date Published
    April 03, 2008
    16 years ago
Abstract
A monitor screen is provided on which card symbols may be provided for use in a video poker game. In the video poker game, the player makes a wager. A predetermined number of initial cards are dealt from a set of cards to form an initial array of cards. The cards are randomly dealt either face up or face down. The player selects one group of cards to hold, the card(s) selected being displayed face up into the final hand area. The player then selects at least a second group of cards from the initial array that are displayed face up in the final hand area. After a predetermined number of cards are selected, the final hand may be considered complete, or may be completed by cards drawn from the remainder of the deck. The outcome for this final hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable.
Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES


FIG. 1 shows a monitor screen of a video poker machine with the random deal of 10 initial cards, randomly dealt face up or face down, as well as a display area for a 5-card hand.



FIG. 2 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 3 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 4 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 5 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 6 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 7 shows the same game at a later stage.



FIG. 8 shows the same game at a final stage.





DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A monitor screen is provided on which card symbols may be provided for use in a video poker game. In the video poker game, the player makes a wager to play an underlying poker game consisting of at least one single hand of poker consisting of a predetermined number of cards. A predetermined number of initial cards is randomly dealt from a standard deck or decks of 52 cards (or up to 54 cards including jokers or specialty cards) to form an initial array of cards, displayed separately from a final hand display area. The cards are randomly dealt either face up or face down according a predetermined probability, i.e., if the probability is 50%, then each card has a 50% chance of being dealt face up; if the probability is 30%, then each card has a 30% chance of being dealt face up. The cards are preferably arranged in at least two groups of at least one card each, and may be arranged in groups of varying number of cards. The player selects one group of cards to hold, presses the draw button to lock in the choice, and the card(s) from said group are displayed face up into the final hand area. If the number of cards in the final card area has not equaled a predetermined number of cards, the player then selects at least a second group of cards from the initial array, presses the draw button to lock in the choice, and those said cards are then added to and displayed face up in the final hand area. As soon as the predetermined number of cards is reached, the final hand may be considered complete, or may completed by cards drawn from the remainder of the deck. The remainder of the deck may or may not contain cards in the unselected groups. The outcome for this final hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable and any wins are then provided to the player.


A first preferred embodiment of the present invention requires a wager to play a 5-card video poker game. An area for the 5-card player hand is shown on the monitor, with no actual cards as yet being displayed. After the wagering is completed, the machine initiates the deal, wherein 10 cards are each randomly dealt either face up or face down from a standard 52-card deck to a separate area on the screen. Each card has a 50% chance of being dealt face up. The cards are displayed in five groups of two cards each. The player selects one group, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those cards are displayed face up as the first two cards in the player hand. These first two cards are locked in, and may not be altered or eliminated. The player then selects a second group, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those two cards are added face up to the player hand. The remaining six cards in the three unselected groups are added to the remainder of the deck (for a total of 48 cards) and a single card is then randomly dealt from this depleted deck to complete the 5-card player hand. This final hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable and any wins are provided to the player.


A second preferred embodiment of the present invention requires a wager to play a 5-card video poker game. An area for the 5-card player hand is shown on the monitor, with no actual cards as yet being displayed. After the wagering is completed, the machine initiates the deal, wherein 15 cards are each randomly dealt either face up or face down from a standard 52-card deck to a separate area on the screen. Each card has a 50% chance of being dealt face up. The cards appear in three groups of three cards each, and three groups of two cards each. The player selects one group of either two or three cards each, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those cards are displayed face up as the first cards in the player hand. These first cards are locked in, and may not be altered or eliminated. If the player first selected a group of three cards, the player then selects one of the groups of two cards; if the player first selected a group of two cards, the player then selects one of the groups of three cards. The player makes this second selection, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those cards are added face up to complete the player hand. This final hand is evaluated according to a predetermined paytable and any wins are provided to the player.


A third preferred embodiment of the present invention requires a wager to play a 6-card video poker game. An area for the 6-card player hand is shown on the monitor, with no actual cards as yet being displayed. After the wagering is completed, the machine initiates the deal, wherein 10 cards are each randomly dealt either face up or face down from a standard 52-card deck to a separate area on the screen. Each card has a 50% chance of being dealt face up. The cards appear in five groups of two cards each. The player selects one group, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those cards are displayed face up as the first two cards in the player hand. These first two cards are locked in, and may not be altered or eliminated. The player then selects a second group from the remaining groups, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those two cards are added face up to the player hand. These additional two cards are locked in, and may not be altered or eliminated. The player makes a final selection from the remaining groups, presses the draw button to lock in the selection, and those two cards complete the player hand. This final hand is evaluated as the best 5-out-of-6 cards according to a predetermined paytable and any wins are provided to the player.


An additional feature may be added to the previous embodiments. Before the player has placed a wager to play the game, the player may be prompted to select (using physical buttons or touchscreen buttons) one of a plurality of available percentages. These percentages may range from 0% to 100%, and reflect the chances that any initially dealt card has to be dealt face up. For instance, if the player chooses “30%”, each initially dealt card has a 30% chance that it will be dealt face up. Relative to a 50% chance and its associated predetermined paytable, the choice of 30% would offer a higher paytable, and the choice of 70%, for example, would offer a lower paytable.


An alternate feature offers an “Auto-Lock” button (physical or touchscreen) that would allow for faster play. In any of the above embodiments, upon the “Auto-Lock” selection by the player (the selection occurring before the wager), the player's selection of a particular group would automatically appear in the player hand without having to press the draw button. This would facilitate a faster gameplay, but negates any chance that the player has to change his choice.


Reference to the Figures will assist in further understanding of the practice of the present invention.



FIG. 1 shows a video poker machine monitor screen 2 with a card area (4, 6, 8, 10, 12) for five final player hand cards. An initial deal of 10 cards (14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32) from an original deck of 52 cards is shown, the cards being randomly dealt face up or face down. Five touchscreen HOLD buttons (34, 36, 38, 40, 42) are shown. Hold button 34 is for the selection of the two-card group incorporating card 14 and card 16. Hold button 36 is for the selection of the two-card group incorporating card 18 and card 20. Hold button 38 is for the selection of the two-card group incorporating card 22 and card 24. Hold button 40 is for the selection of the two-card group incorporating card 26 and card 28. Hold button 42 is for the selection of the two-card group incorporating card 30 and card 32.



FIG. 2 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 1 with selection of Hold button 40 shown highlighted for the selection of cards 26 and 28.



FIG. 3 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 2 with the selected cards 26 (King of Diamonds) and 28 (King of Hearts) now being displayed face up as the first two cards 4 and 6 in the final player hand.



FIG. 4 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 3 with selection of Hold button 36 shown highlighted for the selection of cards 18 and 20.



FIG. 5 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 4 with the selected cards 18 (7 of Spades) and 20 (King of Clubs) now being displayed face up as the second two cards 8 and 10 in the final player hand.



FIG. 6 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 5 with unchosen initial deal cards (14, 16, 22, 24, 30, 32) being deleted and returned to the remainder of the deck (for a total of 48 cards in the depleted deck).



FIG. 7 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 6 and shows the draw result, with the deal of one card 44 (8 of Spades) from the depleted deck being dealt into the final card area 12 to complete the final player hand.



FIG. 8 refers to the game elements shown in FIG. 7 and shows a final resolution and win 46.


The play of the technology may be extended to other steps, such as if specific cards or specific card ranks are disclosed in at least one of dealer's hands and players' hands, players or dealers must turn additional cards over for view at the table. For example, if there are wild cards or jokers in the set of playing cards, when the dealer displays a wild card, the dealer may have to reveal at least one additional card to provide more information to a player.


Although specific examples and specific images have been provided in this discussion, these specifics are intended to be only support for the generic concepts of the invention and are not intended to be absolute limits in the scope of the technology discussed.

Claims
  • 1. A method of playing a video poker game comprising: a player placing a wager on the video poker game to play at least one player hand comprising a predetermined number of cards;displaying a set of playing card symbols from a complete set of playing cards comprising a predetermined number of displayed playing cards randomly placed face up or face down according to a predetermined probability;arranging the displayed set of playing card symbols in at least two groups of at least one card each;the player selecting at least a first group to be displayed face up into a player hand area until the number of cards in the player hand area is a predetermined number of cards;dealing additional cards from the remainder of the complete set of playing cards to the player hand to complete the player hand if the predetermined number of cards in the player hand area is less then the predetermined number of cards in the player hand;determining a final player's hand;determining if the player's hand comprises a win according to a predetermined paytable;providing a win to the player based on the determination.
  • 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of cards in each group is equal.
  • 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of cards in each group is not equal.
  • 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the player is permitted to select a probability from a set of probabilities that any card be dealt face up.
  • 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the remainder of the deck may or may not include unselected cards in the displayed groups of cards.
  • 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the player selects a group of cards by depressing a physical button or touchscreen button and then secondarily requiring locking the selection by an alternate button input.
  • 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the player selects a group of cards by depressing a physical button or touchscreen button without the requirement of a second “locking” step.
  • 8. The method of claim 1 wherein if specific cards or specific card ranks are disclosed in at least one of dealer's hands and players' hands, players or dealers must turn additional cards over for view at the table.
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60849095 Oct 2006 US