Methods of playing wagering games and related systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10339766-B2
Application number	US-201815885087-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2018
Priority date	Sep 10, 2004
Publication date	Jul 2, 2019
Grant date	Jul 2, 2019

Abstract

A card game is played against a pay table, wherein a player receives a partial hand that is preferably completed by community cards, but may be completed by cards dealt directly to a hand or a combination of cards dealt directly to a hand and at least one community card or wild card. After placement of an ante wager, each player will have an opportunity to place a game wager before receiving another card for the player's hand (whether dealt directly to the player or as a community card revealed to all players). At least some or all game wagers may be an amount within a range of multiples of the player's ante wager, such as one times, two times, three times, four times, or five times the amount of the ante wager. The range of wagers may remain the same or vary with the number of dealt cards or community cards revealed to the players.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method of managing play of a wagering game by a control processor and memory in communication with a user device, the user device including a video display and player input controls, the method comprising:
receiving, at a control processor from the player input controls, an indication of an ante wager to participate in the wagering game from a user device;
storing the indication of the ante wager in the memory;
the control processor providing to each user device associated with an ante wager, the display of virtual playing cards on the video display from a set of randomized playing cards to define a partial player hand associated with the user device;
configuring the control processor to apply a set of rules for:
(1) receiving, at the memory, from the player input controls, a first play option including a fold or a first additional wager from the user device associated with a partial player hand;
(2) providing, in response to the received first additional wager of the first additional wager and to the associated user device, at least one first additional virtual card from the set of randomized playing cards to be added to the partial player hand and displayed on the video display of the user device and which is insufficient to complete the partial player hand;
(3) responsive to receiving the first additional wager and providing the at least one first additional virtual card, receiving, at the memory, from the player input controls, a second play option including a fold or a second additional wager;
(4) providing, in response to the received second additional wager, at least one second additional virtual card from the set of randomized playing cards to be added to the partial player hand and displayed on the video display of the user device;
(5) identifying a complete player hand including the partial player hand, the at least one first additional virtual card added to the partial player hand, and the at least one second additional virtual card added to the partial player hand and storing the complete player hand in the memory;
(6) comparing the complete player hand against a plurality of predetermined winning outcomes stored in the memory; and
(7) in response to comparing the complete player hand against the plurality of predetermined winning outcomes, resolving the ante wager, first additional wager, and second additional wager solely against the plurality of predetermined winning outcomes and not against a dealer hand.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ante wager, first additional wager, and second additional wager comprise non-monetary credits.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising awarding the non-monetary credits to a player associated with the user device in response to one or more of: use of a product, use of a casino, quantity of time a game is played in a session, number of games played, frequency of games played, identification of additional potential players by the player, elapsed time, and a game win event.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ante wager, first additional wager, and second additional wager comprise wagers having monetary value.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control processor is in communication with a set of user devices associated with respective players, further comprising configuring the control processor to apply a set of rules for receiving a poker wager from each of the players and placing the poker wagers in a pot, wherein at least a portion of the pot is awarded to at least one of the players associated with the user devices who holds a highest ranking poker hand at a conclusion of a round of play.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pot has no house advantage.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the entire pot is awarded to one or more players at the conclusion of a round of play.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein a rake is collected on all wagers placed in the pot.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising configuring the control processor to apply a set of rules for receiving a side wager from at least one of the players and placing the side wager in another pot, wherein the entire another pot is awarded to at least one of the players at a conclusion of a round of play.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control processor is configured by a set of rules for comparing the complete player hand against the predetermined winning outcomes selected from the group consisting of royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, and pair of sixes or better.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring the control processor to apply a set of rules for resolving the ante wager, first additional wager, and second additional wager solely against the plurality of predetermined winning outcomes comprises crediting the player holding a winning complete player hand according to a pay table, as follows:

FINAL HAND
PAYOUT ODDS

ROYAL FLUSH
100:1  

STRAIGHT FLUSH
50:1 

FOUR OF A KIND
12:1 

FULL HOUSE
7:1

FLUSH
5:1

STRAIGHT
4:1

THREE OF A KIND
3:1

TWO PAIR
2:1

PAIR OF SIXES OR BETTER
1:1

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising configuring the control processor to apply a set of rules for resolving the ante wager, first additional wager, and second additional wager solely against the plurality of predetermined winning outcomes comprises crediting the player holding a winning complete player hand according to a pay table, as follows:

FINAL HAND
PAYOUT ODDS

ROYAL FLUSH
150:1  

STRAIGHT FLUSH
70:1 

FOUR OF A KIND
15:1 

FULL HOUSE
8:1

FLUSH
5:1

Assignees

• Bally Gaming Inc

Inventors

• Yoseloff Mark L
• Castle Ii Louis J
• Snow Roger M

Classifications

• A63F2001/005

  Poker · CPC title

• A63F3/00157

  Casino or betting games (horse races A63F3/00082) · CPC title

• A63F2001/008

  adapted for being playable on a screen · CPC title

• A63F1/00

  Card games · CPC title

• G07F17/3293 Primary

  Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack · CPC title