MULTIVARIATE POKER

Abstract

A multivariate poker game is provided. In an implementation, a multiplayer card game offers player-selectable sequences of play, including optional 3-card plays and 5-card plays, all within a single round of the card game. A player's choice can determine how the action branches into different subsequent plays. Each 3-card play and each 5-card play within a single round may give rise to corresponding wagers from a player. Real or virtual cards are dealt facedown to form a 5-card dealer hand and 5-card player hands for each participating player. In one example, play begins with optional 3-card hands blindly selected by each player from the player's facedown cards and resolved against a 3-card pay table.

Description

BACKGROUND

Multi-part card games have gained popularity because the different possibilities offered by the multiple parts add variety and increase opportunity for players to win. The variety may take the form of more chances to bet, side bets, or concurrent side games. Each game part may have its own reward system.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,990 to Mourad entitled, “Method of Playing a Card Game Involving a Dealer” describes a multi-stage card game in which the dealer controls the cards dealt and played at each stage. What is needed is a multi-stage card game in which the player has more freedom and latitude over the elements of chance inherent in parts of a card game.

SUMMARY

A multivariate poker game is provided. In an implementation, a multiplayer card game offers player-selectable sequences of play, including optional 3-card plays and 5-card plays, all within a single round of the card game. A player's choice can determine how the action branches into different plays. In an implementation, each 3-card play and each 5-card play within a single round may give rise to corresponding wagers from a player. Real or virtual cards are dealt facedown to form a 5-card dealer hand, and to form 5-card player hands for each participating player. In one implementation, according to player selections and associated wagers, a 3-card hand may be blindly selected by the player from the player's facedown cards and resolved against a 3-card pay table. The rest of each player's five cards are then revealed and the five are separately resolved against a 5-card pay table. Then, a best 3-card hand selected by the player from the player's five face-up cards may be played against the dealer's best 3-card hand, or instead, the player's five cards may be played against the dealer's five cards. The player can choose how the action branches in each round of the multivariate poker game.

This summary section is not intended to give a full description of multivariate poker, or to provide a list of features and elements. A detailed description of example embodiments follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example multivariate poker layout.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the example multivariate poker layout of FIG. 1 as implemented by an electronic game machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the example multivariate poker layout of FIG. 1 as implemented by a dealerless electronic game machine.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example system for implementing multivariate poker on an electronic game table.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example network system for implementing multivariate poker.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example network system for implementing multivariate poker across multiple electronic game tables.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method for executing a round of multivariate poker

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an example game flow for multivariate poker.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example bet flow for multivariate poker.

FIG. 10 is an example flow diagram of a combined game flow and wagering flow for an implementation of multivariate poker.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a player hand of facedown cards and a dealer hand of facedown cards.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of example player selection of three facedown cards in a 3-card bonus round.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of an example stage in a multivariate poker game at which all player cards are revealed while the dealer's hand remains facedown.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an example 3-card player hand versus an example 3-card dealer hand.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of an example 5-card player hand versus an example 5-card dealer hand.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

This disclosure describes multivariate poker games. In an implementation, a multiplayer card game offers player-selectable sequences of play, including optional 3-card plays and 5-card plays, all within a single round of the card game. A player's choice can determine how the action branches into different plays. In an implementation, each 3-card play and each 5-card play within a single round may give rise to corresponding wagers from a player. Real or virtual cards are dealt facedown to form a 5-card dealer hand, and to form 5-card player hands for each participating player.

In one implementation, according to a player selection of plays and associated wagers, a 3-card hand is blindly selected by the player from the player's facedown cards and resolved against a 3-card pay table. The player's five cards are also separately resolved against a 5-card pay table. Then, a best 3-card poker hand selected by the player from the player's five face-up cards may be played against the dealer's best 3-card hand, or the player's five cards may be played as a poker hand against the dealer's five cards. The player can choose how the action branches in each round of the multivariate poker game.

Versions of a multivariate poker game may be played manually or on a computing device, such as on an electronic game table that uses real or virtual playing cards and/or real or virtual betting chips. Example game devices and electronic game tables on which multivariate poker can be played are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,766 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,998 to Forte et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,069, U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,629, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,642 to Sines et al., each of these incorporated herein by reference.

Example Systems

FIG. 1 shows an example multivariate poker layout 100. The layout 100 may be implemented in a non-electronic scenario, such as on a traditional felt game table, or on an electronic game machine or network of game machines.

The illustrated layout 100 accommodates multiple players. In an implementation, each player position, for example player position 102, includes a first designated area to place an ante wager, i.e., an ante wager location 104. A second designated betting area provides a 3-card bonus wager location 106. The 3-card bonus wager location may be accompanied by a 3-card bonus wager pay chart 108. A third designated betting area provides a 3-card poker wager location 110. A fourth designated betting area provides a 5-card poker wager location 112. A fifth designated betting area provides a 5-card bonus wager location 114. The 5-card bonus wager location 114 may be accompanied by a 5-card bonus wager pay chart 116.

Each player may have a sixth designated area providing a playing card location 118, for individually placing cards to form various hands. Likewise, a seventh designated area provides a dealer playing card location 120 to individually place five playing cards, for the dealer.

The example layout 100 may be implemented on a tabletop, a felt casino table, or on the one or more displays of an electronic game table. The example layout 100 is only one example layout 100 to illustrate playing card locations and betting areas. Other layouts may be used. The betting areas may be for physical chips or virtual chips, or both; or for designating amounts of the virtual chips or other forms of wagering value.

FIG. 2 shows the example layout 100 described above as implemented, and modified as needed, for operation on an electronic game table 200. Each individual player may have an electronic display, functioning as a user interface 202 at the player's position. For example, each user interface 202 may consist of a touchscreen display. The same betting locations for different parts of a multivariate poker game as shown in FIG. 1 can be displayed electronically on the displays of the electronic game table 200. The dealer playing card location 120 can be presented on a common display 204 so that all the participants can view the dealer's playing cards or other game tokens. The layout 100 as applied to an electronic game table 200 can use virtual cards, that is, virtual card images on the displays instead of real cards, or can accommodate real playing cards dealt from a physical card shoe, or can accommodate both virtual cards and real cards. Likewise, the layout 100 implemented on an electronic game table 200 can use virtual chips, real betting chips, or accommodate both.

FIG. 3 shows a second version of an electronic game table 300, in which player positions 102 occupy the entire periphery of the table 300. Such a table 300 may be “dealerless,” or the dealer may assume a position at one of the player positions for some games. The illustrated example game table 300 has a size that seats eight participants maximum. Other versions can seat a different number of participants. The game table 300 has an electronic user interface 202 for each participant. A participant's user interface 202 may consist of an electronic display for presenting visual images or a touchscreen display for interactive contact. Depending on implementation, each participant position 102 includes a user interface 202 and may also include various other forms of interactive interface, such as pointing devices, light sensors, wagering chip sensors, etc.

The illustrated example gaming table 100 also includes a common display 302 in the center of the gaming table 300, for presenting visual information to all participants. The common display 302 may present general information redundantly in two, four, or more visual orientations so that the displayed information is oriented correctly for each participant.

The example layout 100 may be modified for a dealerless table, such as electronic game table 300. The dealer's functionality in multivariate poker may be automated. When virtual playing cards are used, images of the dealer's playing cards may be replicated on the common display 302, and placed so that players in many different locations can view the dealer's cards in the dealer playing card locations 120.

FIG. 4 shows an example game processing system 400 that can be included in the electronic game tables 200 & 300 of FIGS. 2 & 3. The illustrated configuration of the example game processing system 400 is meant to provide only one example arrangement for the sake of overview. Many other arrangements of the illustrated components, or similar components, are possible within the scope of the subject matter. Such an example game processing system 400 can be executed in hardware, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.

The example game processing system 400 includes a computing device 402, which may be, or may use, desktop, server, or notebook style computing hardware, or may be another device. The computing device 402 includes a processor 404, memory 406, data storage 408, and interface(s) 410 to communicate with the participant displays, such as player interfaces 202 and dealer interface 412. The game processing system 400 also includes a gaming engine 414 and game rules 416 for implementations of multivariate poker, shown as software loaded into memory 406. The gaming engine 414 and game rules 416 can also be hard-wired into a game controller as transistors and transistor logic, or other forms of hardware.

The interface 410 component of the computing device 402 typically includes one or more hardware components and software drivers to control visual displays and communicate with interactive components, e.g., touchscreen displays, of the multiple participant user interfaces 202.

FIG. 5 shows another example game processing system 500 that can be included in the gaming tables 200 and 300, or that can be implemented as a network of individual player stations. The illustrated configuration of the exemplary game processing system 500 is meant to provide only one example arrangement for the sake of overview. This example game processing system 500 can be executed in hardware, or combinations of hardware, software, firmware, etc.

The example game processing system 500 includes a server computing device 502, which can be a computer or other processing device. The example server computing device 502 includes a processor 504, memory 506, data storage 508, and an interface, such as a network interface card (NIC) 510, to communicatively couple over a network 512 with remote computing devices, such as computing devices 514, 516, 518, and 520, each hosting a player position 102 and user interface 202 with the example layout 100, or hosting a dealer interface 412.

The game processing system 500 includes a gaming engine 522 and game rules 524, shown as software loaded into memory 506. The gaming engine 522 and the game rules 524 governing multivariate poker can also be hard-wired into a game controller or serving device as transistors and transistor logic, application-specific integrated circuits, or other forms of hardware.

The participant computing devices 514, 516, 518, and 520 may be desktop or mobile computers or their components, such as workstations or other client computing devices that have processor and memory, but may or may not have significant onboard data storage. Typically, a player station does not have data storage. Such modules may be “dumb” in that they have no bootable device, but receive images and instructions from the server 502. Thus, in one implementation, a participant computing device 514 may be a visual display with graphics processing power and user interface components.

FIG. 6 shows another example game processing system 600, with a server 502 similar to server 502 in FIG. 5, but consisting of a network of game machines that may each have “n” players with n player positions 102 and n user interface displays 202. The game processing system 600 is similar to that shown in FIG. 5, except that the client nodes of the network 512 are multiplayer gaming machines (e.g., 200 of FIGS. 2 and 300 of FIG. 3) instead of individual gaming stations for an individual player position 102. That is, each node of the network 512 can accommodate multiple players. In another implementation, the network 512 connects a mixture of client nodes consisting of individual computing devices 514 or player stations as in FIG. 5, and multiplayer game tables 200 & 300 as shown in FIG. 6.

Exemplary Implementations of Multivariate Poker Games

In one implementation, multivariate poker is a house-banked 3-card poker and 5-card poker game involving a dealer hand and at least one player hand. In other implementations, a multivariate poker game can be played with other size hands, such as two-card, three card, four card, six card, or seven card hands, for example.

FIG. 7 shows an example basic method 700 of performing a multivariate poker game. In the flow diagram, the operations are summarized in individual blocks. The example basic method 700 may be performed manually, or by combinations of hardware and software, for example, by the processors, gaming engines, electronic game tables, and/or networks shown in FIGS. 2-6.

At block 702, a sequence of possible 3-card and 5-card plays is offered, to be played within a single round of a card game. At least some of the 3-card plays and some of the 5-card plays are player-selectable or optional.

At block 704, a wager is accepted from each player for determining a payout for each 3-card play and each 5-card play selected.

FIG. 8 shows an example game flow 800 for one implementation of multivariate poker. In the flow diagram, the operations are summarized in individual blocks. The example game flow 800 may be performed manually, or by combinations of hardware and software, for example, by the processors, gaming engines, electronic game tables, and/or networks shown in FIGS. 2-6.

At block 802, an “ante wager” and a “5-card bonus wager” are accepted. The player then has the option of next playing a blindly selected 3-card bonus hand or else proceeding to play either 3-card poker or 5-card poker. In some versions of the game, the ante bet and the 5-card bonus bet are required from the outset so that pay charts associated with the game will provide the desired odds. If one or both of these bets are made optional, then the pay charts are modified accordingly.

At block 804, if the player has opted to play a 3-card bonus hand, an optional 3-card bonus bet is accepted from the player.

At block 806, the 3-card bonus hand consists of the player randomly choosing three cards from five facedown cards.

At block 808, the three selected cards are settled against a first pay chart, a fixed table of payouts.

At block 810, in a bonus play, the player's 5-card hand is settled against a second pay chart, based at least in part on the 5-card bonus bet placed at block 802.

At block 812, the player has another option of playing 3-card poker, 5-card poker, or folding at this point.

At block 814, if the player decides to play 3-card poker, the player's 3-card poker hand is played against a dealer 3-card hand.

At block 816, the outcome of the 3-card poker play is decided by a 3-card poker hand hierarchy.

At block 818, if the player has decided instead of 3-card poker to play 5-card poker, then the player's 5-card hand (e.g., all 5 cards dealt) is played against the dealer's 5-card hand.

At block 820, the outcome of the 5-card poker play is decided by a 5-card poker hand hierarchy, such as a conventional poker hand hierarchy.

Other game flows that vary the illustrated game flow 800 can be implemented by adding, changing, or rearranging branches of game play.

FIG. 9 shows an example flow of wagers 900 for an example implementation of multivariate poker. In the illustrated bet flow 900, there are some mandatory bets and some optional bets, depending on the branches of play selected by the player.

An ante bet 906 qualifies each player to play a multivariate poker game. The disposition of the ante bet 906 depends on implementation. For example, the ante 906 may be a straight admission fee collected by the house. In one implementation, the ante bet 906 is a wager on 3-card or 5-card poker hand options in the multivariate poker game, with a 1:1 payout on the ante in the event of a player win.

A 5-card bonus bet 912 is mandatory, unless in a particular version of the game the mathematics of the game are configured to allow for an optional 5-card bonus play. The 5-card bonus bet 912 is paid out according to a pay chart 914 that is fixed for the round in play. The contents of the pay chart 914 may be adjusted according to regulations or house preference.

912912The order of the wagering does not necessarily correspond to the order of the game play. For example, the 5-card bonus bet may be placed before the 3-card bonus round, but settled after the 3-card bonus round.

In one implementation, a 3-card bonus bet 908 is an optional wager. Each player who opts in, blindly draws three cards at random from the player's facedown hand. In an implementation, the 3-card bonus bet 908 is settled according to a pay chart 910. The pay chart 910 may be varied to provide various odds for the player or for the house.

In an implementation, a 3-card poker bet 916 may be placed by each player opting to play a 3-card poker hand against the dealer's best 3-card hand. The 3-card poker bet 916 can be settled according to a 3-card poker hand hierarchy 918. For example, winners might be paid 1:1 on their ante bet 906 and also paid 1:1 on their “play three” 3-card poker bet 916 for a 3-card poker win against the dealer.

Likewise, a 5-card poker bet 920 can be placed by each player opting to play a 5-card poker hand against the dealer's 5-card hand. The 5-card poker bet 920 can be settled according to a 5-card poker hand hierarchy 922. For example, winners might be paid 1:1 on their ante bet 906 and also paid 1:1 on their “play five” 5-card poker bet 920 for a 5-card poker win against the dealer.

The order of the wagering, such as that shown in FIG. 9, does not necessarily correspond to the order of the game play.

FIG. 10 shows an example combined game and wagering flow 1000 for an implementation of multivariate poker. FIG. 10 represents an example, other variations can be used. In this example, the term “players” generally means the game participants excluding the dealer, unless noted otherwise. In the flow diagram, the operations are summarized in individual blocks. The example combined game and wagering flow 1000 may be performed manually, or by combinations of hardware and software, for example, by the processors, gaming engines, electronic game tables, and/or networks shown in FIGS. 2-6

At block 1002, an ante bet is accepted from each participating player, with the exception of the dealer.

At block 1004, a 5-card bonus bet is accepted from each participating player.

At block 1006, in one implementation, players also have an option at the beginning of a round to place a 3-card bonus bet and thereby play a 3-card hand chosen blindly by the player from the player's facedown cards.

At block 1008, five cards are dealt facedown to each player, whether a given player will play the 3-card bonus hand or not.

At block 1010, five cards are also dealt facedown to the dealer.

FIG. 11 shows the player hand of facedown cards and the dealer hand of facedown cards, as dealt at blocks 1008 and 1010 above. The cards may be dealt by a human dealer in a manual implementation of multivariate poker, or by an electronic game machine or computer, in implementations in which the card handling and randomization functions are automated.

Returning to FIG. 10, at block 1012, if the player has opted to play the 3-card game, then each participating player selects and reveals three of their five facedown cards to make a 3-card bonus hand.

FIG. 12 shows an example player hand, in which the player has blindly selected three cards to be revealed of the five facedown cards dealt to the player, in an optional 3-card bonus part of a multivariate poker round.

Returning to FIG. 10, at block 1014, each participating 3-card hand is evaluated to determine if the hand has a Pair or better.

If the player does have at least a Pair, then at block 1016 the winning 3-card bonus bets are settled according to a first pay table.

If the player does not have at least a Pair, then the player skips the settlement of a 3-card bonus wager.

After the 3-card bonus round, all player cards are revealed. FIG. 13 shows the state of a player hand and a dealer hand after all the player cards are revealed.

Returning to FIG. 10, at block 1018, another part of the game round commences. Each player's five cards are evaluated against a second pay table, such as pay chart 914 in FIG. 9, to determine if a player receives a bonus payout.

At block 1020, in one implementation, each remaining player's hand is evaluated to determine if the hand contains Two Pairs or better in a conventional poker hand hierarchy.

At block 1021, if the player's hand does not contain at least a Two Pair hand, then the player loses the 5-card bonus bet.

At block 1022, if the player does have at least Two Pairs, then the player's highest card combination is paid according to the second pay table 914.

Other arrangements of 3-card and 5-card plays within a single round of multivariate poker, and other wagering arrangements may be used.

At block 1024, each player decides whether to continue playing or to fold.

At block 1026, if a player folds, then in one implementation the player loses the ante bet and 5-card bonus bet placed above at blocks 1002 & 1004.

At block 1028, each remaining player is then offered a choice of playing 3-card poker or 5-card poker against the dealer.

At block 1030, if a player selects 3-card poker, a 3-card poker bet is accepted from the player. In an implementation, the 3-card poker bet is twice the amount of the ante bet at block 1002.

At block 1032, the player's best 3-card poker hand, chosen by the player out of the player's five face-up cards, is evaluated against the dealer's best 3-card hand. In electronic implementations, selection of the dealer's best hand may be automated by the computer or circuitry using a database of hands or an optimization algorithm.

FIG. 14 shows a player's best 3-card hand 1402 versus the dealer's best 3-card hand 1404 in a 3-card poker part of a multivariate poker game. In this instance, the dealer has a 3-card Flush and wins over the player's One Pair. In some implementations, the player's best 3-card poker hand is selected manually by the player and the player is accountable and suffers the consequences for selecting an inferior 3-card poker hand when a better 3-card poker hand was also present. In other implementations, the player's best 3-card poker hand and the dealer's best 3-card poker hand are automatically selected by an electronic game machine.

Returning to FIG. 10, at block 1034, winning player hands receive a payout. In an implementation, there is no dealer qualifying requirement for the 3-card poker game. For example, winning hands may be paid even money (1:1) on both their ante and 3-card play wagers. A tie may be a push of the wagers. (As push as used herein means the bet remains with the player, neither increased nor diminished.) A conventional 3-card poker hand ranking hierarchy may be applied to determine payouts (e.g., 918 in FIG. 9).

At block 1036, if a player selects 5-card poker instead of the 3-card poker option, a 5-card poker bet is accepted from the player. In an implementation, the 5-card poker bet is equal to the ante bet at block 1002.

At block 1038, the player's 5-card poker hand (i.e., all of the player's cards, when a 5-card hand is dealt) is evaluated against the dealer's 5-card hand. In electronic versions of the game, comparison between a player's virtual cards and the dealer's virtual cards may be automated.

At block 1040, hands are compared to determine whether the dealer's current hand outranks a given player's hand.

If the dealer's hand outranks the player's hand, then at block 1042 the player loses the ante bet and the 5-card poker bet.

If the dealer's hand does not outrank a given player's hand, then at block 1044, in the five card poker option only, the dealer's hand is checked to determine if the dealer's hand qualifies. For example, in one implementation, the dealer's hand must contain a King in order to qualify.

At block 1046, if the dealer's hand does qualify, the a winning player is paid, for example, even money (1:1) the player's ante bet and even money (1:1) on the player's 5-card poker bet.

At block 1042, if the dealer's hand does not qualify, then the player's winning hand is paid even money (1:1) on the player's ante bet, but the player's 5-card poker bet is pushed (remains with the player, neither increased nor decreased).

FIG. 15 shows a player's 5-card poker hand versus the dealer's 5-card poker hand in a 5-card poker part of a multivariate poker game. In this instance, the dealer qualifies by having a King, but the Player wins by having One Pair over the dealer's hand of “King High.”

Example Pay Tables

The pay tables (pay charts) used in implementations of multivariate poker can be varied to suit circumstances. Odds provided by a given pay table may be varied to balance larger payoffs for the players against larger profits for the house.

Below are three different versions of a 3-card bonus bet pay chart 910:

3-Card Bonus Bet—House Edge 4.38%

3-Card Royal Straight Flush 200X
Straight Flush              40X
3 of a Kind                 30X
Straight                    6X
Flush                       3X
Pair                        1X

3-Card Bonus Bet—House Edge 4.20%

3-Card Royal Straight Flush 100X
Straight Flush              50X
3 of a Kind                 30X
Straight                    6X
Flush                       3X
Pair                        1X

3-Card Bonus Bet—House Edge 2.14%

3-Card Royal Straight Flush 50X
Straight Flush              40X
3 of a Kind                 30X
Straight                    6X
Flush                       4X
Pair                        1X

These pay schemes are only examples, many other 3-card bonus bet payout schemes can be used.

For 5-card poker, the 5-Card bonus bet pay chart 914 shown in FIG. 9 has a house edge 3.2% (combined with the ante bet 906 and the 5-card bonus bet 912). Other payout schemes for 5-card poker may also be used.

Conclusion

Although exemplary systems have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms of implementing the claimed systems, methods, and structures.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A processor-executable method, comprising: storing game instructions on a nonvolatile data storage medium;loading the game instructions into a computer memory to create a virtual game engine when the game instructions are executed by the processor;running the virtual game engine to perform the following operations with input and output implemented at least on video display hardware:accepting an ante wager and a full hand wager from each participating player in a card game implemented by the virtual game engine;dealing cards facedown from a playing card deck to form a five-card dealer facedown hand and a five-card player facedown hand for each participating player;accepting a selection of a 3-card blind hand from each player from the corresponding five-card player facedown hand of each player;paying each 3-card blind hand according to a first pay table;revealing the remaining two cards of the dealer five-card facedown hand and of each player five-card facedown hand;paying each revealed five-card hand of each player according to a second pay table based on the full hand wager;offering each player a selection to play a 3-card poker round or a 5-card poker round against the dealer;paying each 3-card poker round result according to a third pay table; andpaying each 5-card poker round result according to a fourth pay table.

14-18. (canceled)

19. The processor-executable method of claim 13, wherein the first pay table comprises one of: a three card royal flush pays 200 times the ante wager, a three-card straight-flush pays 40 times the ante wager, a three of a kind pays 30 times the ante wager, a straight pays 6 times the ante wager, a flush pays 3 times the ante wager and a pair pays 1 times the ante wager;a three card royal flush pays 100 times the ante wager, a three-card straight-flush pays 50 times the ante wager, a three of a kind pays 30 times the ante wager, a straight pays 6 times the ante wager, a flush pays 3 times the ante wager and a pair pays 1 times the ante wager; ora three card royal flush pays 50 times the ante wager, a three-card straight-flush pays 40 times the ante wager, a three of a kind pays 30 times the ante wager, a straight pays 6 times the ante wager, a flush pays 4 times the ante wager and a pair pays 1 times the ante wager.

20. (canceled)

21. The processor-executable method of claim 13, wherein the accepting a selection of a 3-card blind hand from each player from the corresponding five-card player facedown hand of each player; and the paying each 3-card blind hand according to a first pay table are optional.

22. The processor-executable method of claim 13, further comprising: accepting a 3-card blind hand wager; andpaying each 3-card blind hand according to the first pay table, wherein the first pay table is based on the 3-card blind hand wager.

23. The processor-executable method of claim 13, further comprising: accepting a 3-card poker round wager when a player selects the 3-card poker round; andpaying each 3-card poker round result according to the third pay table based on each 3-card poker round wager.

24. The processor-executable method of claim 23, further comprising paying each 3-card poker round result according to the third pay table based on each 3-card poker round wager and on the respective ante wager of a player.

25. The processor-executable method of claim 13, further comprising: accepting a 5-card poker round wager when a player selects the 5-card poker round; andpaying each 5-card poker round result according to the fourth pay table based on each 5-card poker round wager.

26. The processor-executable method of claim 25, further comprising paying each 5-card poker round result according to the fourth pay table based on each 5-card poker round wager and on the respective ante wager of a player.