Side bet for the card game of blackjack

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.119(e) of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/888,340, filed Feb. 6, 2007.

The present invention relates to a method of playing a card game based on the well-known game of blackjack in which a side bet is placed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,266, by Fernando Terminel, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes various aspects of the game of Blackjack or Twenty-One. One example of a side wager is described in detail, however, as further described therein, the average lifetime for a variant side bet game is short enough that there remains a continuing need for candidate games.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of playing a game of blackjack between a dealer and a player wherein the player is dealt two initial cards and the dealer is dealt a single initial card, the method comprising:

allowing the player to place a side bet in addition to a blackjack hand bet of the game of blackjack;

determining a three card hand comprising the two initial cards of the player and the single initial card of the dealer; and

paying the player a winning amount on the side bet if a sum of the three card hand is equal to 8, 18, or 28.

Preferably the non-numerical card value A is counted as 1 and the non-numerical card values J, Q, or K are counted as 10 for the purpose of determining totals of 8, 18, or 28.

When the game of blackjack is played with at least three decks, preferably the method includes paying the player a first winning amount when a first criteria is met, the first criteria comprising the three card hand being: A-A-6, A-2-5, A-3-4, 2-2-4, 2-3-3, A-7-10, A-7-J, A-7-Q, A-7-K, A-8-9, 2-6-10, 2-6-J, 2-6-Q, 2-6-K, 2-7-9, 2-8-8, 3-5-10, 3-5-J, 3-5-Q, 3-5-K, 3-6-9, 3-7-8, 4-4-10, 4-4-J, 4-4-Q, 4-4-K, 4-5-9, 4-6-8, 4-7-7, 5-5-8, 5-6-7, 6-6-6, 8-10-10, 8-10-J, 8-10-Q, 8-10-K, 8-J-J, 8-J-Q, 8-J-K, 8-Q-Q, 8-Q-K, 8-K-K, 9-9-10, 9-9-J, 9-9-Q, or 9-9-K; or paying the player a second winning amount when a second criteria is met, the second criteria comprising at least two cards of the three card hand having matching index values.

The method may further include only paying the player the first winning amount when both the first and second criteria are met, the first winning amount being greater than the second winning amount.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount which is greater than either one of the first winning amount or the second winning amount, instead of paying the player the first or second winning amounts, if exactly two cards of the three card hand have matching index values and the matching index values are 8\'s.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount which is greater than either one of the first winning amount or the second winning amount, instead of paying the player the first or second winning amounts, if all three cards of the three card hand have matching index values.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount which is greater than either one of the first winning amount or the second winning amount, instead of paying the player the first or second winning amounts, if the three cards of the three card hand have index values of 5-6-7.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount which is greater if all three cards of the three card hand have matching index values and the matching index values are 8\'s than if the three cards of the three card hand have index values of 5-6-7.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount which is greater if all three cards of the three card hand have matching index values of 8 and are of the same suit than if the three cards of the three card hand have matching index values of 8 and are not of the same suit.

The method may further include paying the player an auxiliary winning amount if at least two cards of the three card hand have matching index values and the sum of the three card is not equal to 8, 18, or 28.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of playing a game of blackjack between a dealer and a player wherein the player is dealt two initial cards and the dealer is dealt a single initial card, the method comprising:

allowing the player to place a side bet in addition to a blackjack hand bet of the game of blackjack;