Patent Application
20070241502
The invention herein relates to table card games. More particularly it relates to poker games and apparatus used for the play thereof, and particularly adapted for use in casinos.
In the past there been numerous poker games played in the conventional manner in which the individual players play against each other and where the position of the dealer rotates among the players. Cardhouse/casino poker games may have a house dealer sit in to deal the cards but the dealer is not involved in the game itself, and the players still play only against each other. Conversely there are other games such as Caribbean poker in which each player plays only against the house dealer and the specific hand held by each of the players is of little consequence to the other players. Games in which a player can play simultaneously with a single hand against both a dealer and the other players are seldom found. However, such games are anticipated to be highly popular with players because the games give them the opportunity to have two winnings with each hand, one against the house dealer and the other against the other players.
The invention herein is a unique poker card game, particularly adapted for casino play, in which each player in a given game, using only a single dealt hand, plays simultaneously separately against the dealer (the house) and against the other players. Betting for the two lines of play may be separate or may be linked, and a player can elect to play only against the dealer or to play both lines together. A player can fold against the other players without also folding against the dealer, but cannot fold against the dealer without thereby also folding against the other players.
The game is played as a form of five-card stud starting with an ante and an initial two-card deal face up to all players and the dealer, and progresses with subsequent one-card deals, also face up, with betting before each deal. At the end of each hand a player's status as to whether he/she beat the dealer, beat the other players or both, is determined and displayed, and winners are paid accordingly. Any or all of the players may be winners against the dealer. With respect to the players' pool pot, several alternatives are possible, and any one may be chosen or two or more combined for specific games at the selection of the house or of the players. The preferred alternative is that only the player with the highest ranking hand will win the pool pot, but only if that player also beats the dealer. Another alternative is that only the player with the highest ranking hand will win the pool pot, but that player need not also beat the dealer. Yet another alternative is that if no player beats the dealer on a hand, the money in the pot rolls over to the next hand and is incorporated into that hand's pot. Still another alternative is that two or more players share the pot, under conditions which may include whether or not one or more has also beaten the dealer on the hand, how the players' hands ranked compared to each other, and whether shares are to be equal or divided in accordance with predetermined ratios based on relative hand rankings. It will be evident that two or more of these alternatives may in some cases be combined, as long as the combination conditions are consistent.
Conventional dealing may be used, but it is preferred that a biased deal, which reduces the proportion of weak poker hands from that produced by normal non-biased deals and thereby enhances the opportunities for players to be dealt reasonably good poker hands, be used to encourage players to play complete hands (i.e., not fold during a hand).
While the game may be played manually with dealt cards laid face up on a poker table surface, the game is primarily intended to be played as an electronic casino game, using a specially configured table with computer monitors built into the table at the dealer's position and at each player's position. All of the monitors are connected to a central (usually dedicated) computer processing unit which may also be built into the table. The software which runs on the processing unit and operates the play of the game is controlled from the dealer's monitor which includes a touch screen controller. The players' monitors can also have touch screens to communicate with the processor, but only for the purpose of indicating that a player wishes to bet or fold prior to a deal. Preferably the players' monitors will be for viewing only and players will announce verbally at the table whether they are betting or folding prior to each deal, and after each player has verbally announced the dealer will enter any folds into the system via his/her touch screen and then activate the deal of the next card, also from the touch screen.
The game as designed has great attractiveness to players because of its ability to generate multiple winners on each hand. Each player has the chance on a single hand to be both a winner against the dealer (house) and also the players' pot winner. Multiple players can win on a single hand against the dealer. If the house or table rules permit, there can also be a variation where multiple players can split the players' pot. The use of a biased deal enhances the attractiveness, since all players can expect to be dealt hands that are good enough in ranking to be worth playing through an entire hand or at least through the first or second additional dealt cards. Because players stay in each hand longer, larger player pots are built, and players find the potential rewards of playing and winning to be a significant enticement to play the game, as compared to prior art casino poker games.
In the description of the invention herein, the term “game” will be used in two senses. In the broad discussion “game” will mean the overall inventive concept of the described variation of poker in which players can obtain two winnings on a single hand of cards. In this sense, players may participate in the “game” over a period of time (e.g., several hours) repeatedly dealing, betting and playing an extended sequence of dealt hands. Thus players would, say, spend an evening “playing the game.” Alternatively, in the description of play herein “game” will mean a single round of deals and bets to determine the outcomes of a single hand for each player against the dealer's hand and the other players' hands. In this sense, each round of dealing of a five-card hand to the dealer and each player, with the resultant payout of winnings against the dealer and distribution of the pool pot, constitutes a “game” and the players and dealer thereafter start another “game” with another dealt hand to the dealer and each player. This second usage is to avoid possible confusion with the use of the term “hand” when the latter refers to the cards dealt to each player and the dealer. The distinction is that each player and the dealer receives, evaluates and plays their own individual “hands” within a single “game” and then, following the completion of the “game” using those “hands,” they proceed to a next “game” with a new round of “hands.” The context will make evident the intended meaning of each of the terms where they appear.
The present invention is best understood by reference to the Figures and the following recitation of the play of an example game.
In front of the dealer's position and each of the players' positions is a computer monitor screen 22 or 24 built into the tabletop. All the players' screens 24 have the same configuration, but the dealers screen 22 is significantly different from the players' screens. The dealers screen 22, which is shown in
In the exemplary play of a game described herein, a game with four players present, seated at positions 2-5, is illustrated. Each player's screen 24 prior to dealing of a hand is normally blank or merely shows the backs of up to five cards, as illustrated in
The game is started by each of the players anteing by placing one or more chips 50 on the 1 marker in front of each player position, as illustrated in
Once all players have anteed the dealer moves the pot chips from the P markers in front of the players to the “Pot” area 28 of the table close to the dealer and then presses the “start game” button 40 on the dealers control screen so that the apparatus “deals” the first two cards electronically to the dealer and each player face up. The deal may be a regular poker deal or it may be a biased deal as will also be discussed below. At the end of this first deal the dealers screen changes to the configuration shown in
Customarily as in other poker games the player with the highest ranking hand shown (in the example this is Player 3 with cards A-K) starts the betting for the deal of the next card, by placing the appropriate chips on the 2 position marker. Each of the other players in sequence around the table then decides whether to call the bet, raise the bet or fold his/her hand, depending on the rules of the game. The dealer neither bets nor folds throughout the hand. In the example game each of the player is shown as continuing with a bet (but no raise) in order to obtain a third card in this round. If a player betting also bets into the pot by placing additional chip(s) on the letter P in front of him/her all other players must also bet into the pot if they wish to continue in the player pool pot. A player may at any time stop placing any further chips into the pool pot but if he/she does so his/her chips already played into the pot in this game are forfeited and he/she is not permitted to reenter the pool pot on subsequent card rounds in this game. However, the player continues to play against the dealer unless he/she subsequently folds.
When all bets are placed the dealer again collects the pot chips placed on the P markers, moves them into the “pot” 28 and then presses the “deal” button 48 on his control screen 22 and the apparatus deals a third card to the dealer and each of the continuing players. The configuration of the screens after this second deal is shown in
The last two rounds follow in the same manner with the status of the hands being as shown in
Normally there will be a definite “high hand” among the players so that, preferable assuming that the high hand has beaten the dealer's hand, the player with the high hand will be the sole winner of the players' pot. In the rare instance where two players have equally high hands (for instance, two equal straights or flushes), the pot can be split between them. It is also contemplated that house or table rules can provide for split pots in other situations or even in every game in which two or more players complete the game (and, preferably, also beat the dealer). Pots may be split into equal shares to each player who beats the dealer, or they may be split into graduated-size shares according to the relative rankings of the winning hands. In this regard, house or table rules may permit all players who complete the game (i.e., have not folded during the game) and who have also bet into the pot at each round of the hand, to participate in a split of the pot, even if they have not also beaten the dealer. The latter variation is not preferred, however, and should be considered only if the shares are graduated and the shares returned to players who did not beat the dealer are less than the amounts they bet into the pool pot, to discourage players with weak hands from continuing to play in a game in effect just to get some portion of their bet back.
The hand now being over, the dealer's screen for a period of time shows the configuration illustrated in
It is also contemplated that preferably a “qualifying hand” will be established by house or table rules in order for a player to win against the dealer/house. For instance, the qualifying hand could be defined as a pair of sevens. If the dealer's hand upon completion of a game does not rank above a pair of sevens, all players that have not folding during the course of the game will win only a single bet against the dealer, rather than winning all four bets (on the 14 markers) against the dealer. Alternatively, the win against a non-qualifying dealer's hand for a player completing the game could be defined by rules as return of the player's ante bet placed on the 1 marker, with no winnings from any of the 24 marker bets. In either case all of the non-folded players wins the single- or ante-bet from the dealer, regardless of whether a player's hand does or does not beat the dealer's hand. Also, the ante and all 24 marker bets made by the non-folding players are retained by them.
Each game can be played with a regular deal, as in a conventional poker game, so that the cards as dealt can be any five-card combination within a deck of cards from the lowest possible ranking hand (2-3-4-5-7, assuming A is high only) to the highest possible ranking hand (an A-high straight flush). However, it is preferred that biased dealing be used to enhance the game experience for the players. The purpose of a biased deal in the present game is to increase the likelihood that each of the players will be dealt a reasonably good poker hand. This reduces the chance that players will get poor early cards and fold at an early round, leaving only one or two continuing players and substantially reducing the amount of the player pot available. Numerous types of biased deal methods are known and most are likely to be suitable for use in the present game. The specific type of biased deal is not critical. A particularly preferred biased deal method for use in the present game is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2005/0077679 A1 (inventors Campell et al.), published on Apr. 14, 2005.
The dollar value of the bets or raises permitted will be determined prior to the game by house or table rules. It is preferred, however, to keep bets and raises (if the latter are allowed) the same or within a narrow range in a hand, in order to encourage most or all of the players to stay in the hand and thus avoid having hands prematurely halted by a sudden overwhelming bet or raise by one player. By thus restricting bets and raises, the game experience is enhanced for all of the players. Thus, in a preferred mode the first player's ante or bet in the first round after the ante establishes the basic bet to the pot and thereafter all players must bet the same amount or raise by not more than a predetermined amount, which is preferably limited to no more than a low multiple of the basic bet. This prevents any player who has an apparently good hand based on early cards to bluff and attempt to “by the pot” by making a large early pot raise and thereby discouraging the other players from continuing. On the other hand, individual players' bets against the dealer may vary or may be determined by the initial player's bet, as predetermined by the house or table rules. Preferably each player's subsequent bet against the dealer (on the 2, 3 and 4 markers) must be the same as the player first bet at the beginning of the game (on the 1 marker). This is intended to protect the house, in that if a player after one or two card rounds senses that he/she is going to have a better hand than the dealer he/she cannot take advantage of the house by then increasing his/her bet substantially on the remaining rounds.
As mentioned above, the game is primarily intended to be played as an electronic casino game, using a specially configured table with computer monitors built into the table at the dealer's position and at each player's position. All of the monitors are connected to a central (usually dedicated) computer processing unit normally which may also be built into the table. The software which runs on the processing unit and operates the play of the game is controlled from the dealer's monitor which includes a touch screen controller. The players' monitors can also have touch screens to communicate with the processor, but only for the purpose of indicating that a player wishes to bet or fold prior to a deal round. Preferably the players' monitor will be for viewing only and players will announce verbally at the table whether they are betting or folding prior to each deal, and after each player has verbally announced the dealer will enter any folds into the system via his/her touch screen and then activate the deal of the next card, also from the touch screen.
It will thus be seen that this game allows the players to win either by playing against the dealer or by playing against the other players or both. Not only does this feature of the invention make for a much more profitable game for players, but it also raises the players' interest in the progress of each hand since each player must consider not only the status of the other players' hands but also the dealer's hand in determining whether to bet, call, raise or fold on a particular round.
it will be evident that there are numerous embodiments of the present invention which, while not expressly set forth above, are clearly within the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the invention is therefore to be determined solely by the appended claims and the embodiments described in the above specification are to be considered exemplary only.
