Casino poker game

This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/041,599 filed on Apr. 2, 2008.

The present invention relates to a poker game played with a conventional deck of cards. A conventional deck of cards includes four suits (spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds) having thirteen cards each totaling fifty-two cards per deck. Often times, two additional joker cards are included in the deck. The present invention concerns the manner in which cards are dealt to the players and the manner in which players use the cards to form winning poker hands.

There are a wide variety of poker games being played around the world. These poker games include Five Card Stud, Five Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, Texas Hold\'em, and Omaha among many, many others. Typically, a single winner is determined by having the highest poker hand. Hands are ranked in standard poker fashion, namely Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card, in descending order.

Texas Hold\'em is played by dealing each player two cards face down. Thereafter, five community cards are dealt face up by first dealing a three card “flop”, a “turn” card, and a “river” card. The term “community card” refers to a card that is exposed (face up) and available for use by any of the players in order to form a poker hand. In Texas Hold\'em, each player is then able to use seven cards including the two cards dealt to him and the five community cards available to each player.

In Texas Hold\'em, betting occurs during various pauses in the deal. Usually after two face down cards have been dealt, a first round of betting is held. A second round of betting is typically held after the first three community cards have been dealt. Thereafter, rounds of betting are conducted after the fourth and fifth community cards have been dealt. Thus, Texas Hold\'em typically includes four rounds of betting, though an ante and/or blind bets may be required prior to any of the cards being dealt.

Unfortunately, Texas Hold\'em has numerous problems. For example, each player has to guess only two of the cards of each opponent, specifically the first two cards dealt face down to each player. One raise in the betting can often indicate that a person has a concealed pair which will often times drive other players out of the game. Another problem with Texas Hold\'em is that only four rounds of betting are typically conducted. Conversely, many betters desire the additional action and bigger pots provided by more rounds of betting.

Seven Card Stud poker also suffers from various drawbacks. Seven Card Stud is played by first dealing each player two cards face down and one card face up. Thereafter, each player is dealt three cards, consisting of cards 4-6, which are dealt face up. Finally the seventh and last card is dealt to each player face down. Rounds of betting are typically conducted after the third up card, fourth up card, fifth up card, sixth up card, and the final seventh down card are dealt.

A drawback of Seven Card Stud poker is that it does not incorporate a dealing of community cards which are desired by many poker players. Furthermore, the dealing of a down card at the end of the game makes the game incredibly unpredictable. Oftentimes, poker players desire to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their hand early in the game so that they can bet accordingly. Conversely, Seven Card Stud can result in a bad hand or marginal playing hand becoming very strong only after the seventh down card has been dealt. Conversely, strong hands can become unpredictably weak only after the seventh card has been dealt. This results in players staying in too long or folding too early when they may have had a winning hand because their hand did not suggest strength. Furthermore, the unpredictability of the last card causes betting to be unpredictable and not always particularly representative of a person\'s hand which can be undesirable to experienced poker players.

Seven Card Stud is also complicated in that players fold their “up” cards when folding their hands. Players try to gain an advantage by attempting to remember the folded cards to determine the strengths of their hand and the hands of other players. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for players to see, and thus remember, cards dealt to players at the other end of a table. Further, some players do not wish to memorize cards or otherwise have poor memories, thus putting themselves at a disadvantage and thus making the game less desirable.

There is thus a need for an improved poker game which provides more action, particularly in providing many rounds of betting.

There is also a need for an improved poker game which provides bigger pots.

In addition, there is a need for an improved poker game which appeals to both novice and expert players.

There is still an additional need for an improved poker game employing a community card format.

It would also be desirable to provide an improved poker game that did not require the complexity of memorizing folded “up” cards.

Finally, there is a need for an improved stud poker game which is fast and easy for dealers and players which will result in more hands being played per hour and more profits for casinos.

The present invention addresses the aforementioned disadvantages by providing an improved poker game. The poker game of the present invention is ideal for casino game play, but may also be played on a computer in a video poker game format. The name of the poker game of the present invention is Texas Stud Poker.

The poker game is played with a standard deck of fifty-two conventional playing cards, preferably but not necessarily with no jokers. The game may be played with or without an initial ante. However, it is preferred that the game be played without an initial ante, and instead is played with a big blind and a small blind. The poker players designated the small blind and big blind are required to bet, and thus put money into the pot, before the start of the hand. The small blind bet is one-half of the amount of the big blind bet. Subsequent players making an initial bet must bet at least the amount of the big blind.

The dealer sequentially deals three cards face down to each person. The players look at their cards, without showing them, and preferably a first round of betting is conducted. In the event that the poker game is being played with blind bets, the person to the left of the big blind is the first person to act. He has the choice of folding, calling, or raising. After the first person acts, each player sequentially around the table then decides to fold, call or raise. Later rounds of betting are conducted in a similar manner; however, players may also “check”. A person who “checks” is indicating that he wishes to remain in the hand, but does not want to place a bet. In the event that another player in the round of betting places a bet, the checking player must “call” by betting the amount bet by the other player to remain in the hand.