Method, apparatus, clustered devices, and computer readable storage for conducting a wagering game

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016136512-A1
Application number	US-201414546814-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 18, 2014
Priority date	Nov 18, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and device for conducting a wagering game includes receiving an ante wager. A player hand of game pieces is dealt and a final player hand is formed by selecting as many sets as possible of game pieces with complementary game indicia from the player hand. For example, the object of the game may be to form as many straights as possible from the player hand. The final player hand is evaluated by comparing the final player hand to a standard, such as a pay table, a final dealer hand, and/or final player hands of other players. Payouts are issued if the final player hand is a winning hand based on the evaluation. Optionally, side wagers may be offered on the constitution of the final player hand.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of conducting a wagering game for at least one player using physical game pieces marked with at least one game indicium, said game indicia defined such that the game pieces may be included in sets of complementary game indicia, said method comprising:
receiving an ante wager from each player; dealing a player hand of game pieces for each player; forming a final player hand from each player hand by forming as many sets as possible of complementary game pieces from the game pieces in said player hand; evaluating each final player hand based at least on the quantity of sets of complementary game pieces in said final player hand; and determining whether to issue a payout based on the evaluation of each final player hand.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein said game pieces are playing cards, said game indicia are values, and said sets include game indicia with consecutive values.

3 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving an election from each player to fold and surrender the player's ante wager or place a raise wager, wherein the maximum amount of said raise wager varies depending the quantity sets in said player's hand containing complementary game indicia; and
forming a final player hand only for players electing to place a raise wager.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: dealing a dealer hand; and
forming a final dealer hand by forming as many sets as possible of complementary game pieces from the game pieces in said dealer hand such that said step of evaluating comprises comparing the quantity of sets in each final player hand to the quantity of sets in said final dealer hand and said step of determining comprises issuing a payout for each final player hand that outranks said final dealer hand and collecting at least said ante wager for each final player hand outranked by said final dealer hand.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
defining a pay table of hand rankings associated with pay outs, such that said step of evaluating said final player hand comprises comparing said final player hand to said pay table and said step of determining comprises issuing the pay out, if any, associated with the hand ranking of said final player hand according to said pay table.

6 . The method of claim 1 conducted for a plurality of players wherein said step of evaluating said final player hand comprises comparing said final player hands of said plurality of players and said step of determining comprises issuing a pay out to the player having the highest ranking player hand.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising dealing a community hand including at least one game piece such that said step of forming comprises forming a final player hand from among said player hand and said community hand.

8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
defining a side wager pay table of hand rankings and associated pay outs; receiving a side wager from at least one player prior to dealing said player hand; and
resolving said side wager by comparing said final player hand to said side wager pay table and issuing the pay out, if any, associated with said final player hand.

9 . The method of claim 1 further comprising discarding game pieces from said player hand not included in any set of complementary game pieces.

10 . A method of conducting a wagering game for at least one player using a device having a data processor in communication with a display, a player interface, and a data storage device, said data storage device adapted to store game pieces marked with at least one game indicium, said game indicia defined such that the game pieces may be included in sets of complementary game indicia, said data processor adapted to execute program instructions to conduct a method comprising the steps of:
receiving an ante wager from each player through said player interface; dealing a player hand of game pieces by said data processor; receiving an election through said player interface to fold and surrender the player's ante wager or place a raise wager, wherein the maximum amount of said raise wager varies depending on the quantity of sets of complementary game pieces that can be formed from the game pieces of the player hand; for each player electing to place a raise wager, forming a final player hand from each player hand by forming as many sets as possible of complementary game pieces in said player hand marked with complementary game indicia; evaluating each final player hand by said data processor based at least on the quantity of sets of complementary game pieces in said final player hand; and determining whether to issue a pay out by said data processor based on the evaluation of each final player hand.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein said game pieces are playing cards, said game indicia are values, and said sets include game indicia with consecutive values.

12 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
dealing a dealer hand of game pieces by said data processor; and
forming a final dealer hand by said data processor by forming as many sets as possible of complementary game pieces from the game pieces in said dealer hand such that said step of evaluating comprises comparing the quantity of sets in each final player hand to the quantity of sets in said final dealer hand and said step of determining comprises issuing a payout for each final player hand that outranks said final dealer
hand and collecting at least said ante wager for each final player hand outranked by said final dealer hand.

13 . The method of claim 10 further comprising:
storing at said data storage device a pay table of hand rankings associated with pay outs, such that said step of evaluating said final player hand comprises said data processor comparing said final player hand to said pay table and said step of determining comprises said data processor issuing the pay out, if any, associated with the hand ranking of said final player hand according to said pay table.

14 . The method of claim 10 conducted for a plurality of players wherein said step of evaluating said final player hand comprises said data processor comparing said final player hands of said plurality of players and said step of determining comprises said data processor issuing a pay out to the player having the highest ranking player hand.

15 . The method of claim 10 further comprising dealing a community hand including at least one game piece such that said step of forming comprises forming a final player hand from among said player hand and said community hand.

16 . The method of claim 10 further comprising discarding game pieces from said player hand not included in any set of complementary game pieces.

17 . A method of conducting a wagering game for at least one player using a device having a data processor in communication with a display, a player interface, and a data storage device, said data storage device adapted to store playing cards marked with at least a value, said data processor adapted to execute program instructions to conduct a method comprising the steps of:
receiving an ante wager from each player through said player interface; dealing by said data processor a player hand of playing cards; receiving an election through said player interface to fold and surrender the player's ante wager or place a raise wager, wherein the maximum amount of said raise wager varies depending the quantity of sets in said player hand, wherein each set contains playing cards of consecutive value; for each player electing to place a raise w

Assignees

• Ags Llc

Inventors

• Pertgen Michael

Classifications

• A63F3/00157

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

• G07F17/3204

  Player-machine interfaces · CPC title

• A63F1/00 Primary

  Card games · CPC title

• A63F2001/005

  Poker · CPC title

• G07F17/3223

  Architectural aspects of a gaming system, e.g. internal configuration, leader-follower, wireless communication · CPC title