| Casino card games with one or more community cards -> Monitor Keywords |
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Casino card games with one or more community cardsRelated Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Card Or Tile Games, Cards Or Tiles ThereforCasino card games with one or more community cards description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070090600, Casino card games with one or more community cards. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application is a continuation application of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/817,011, having a filing date of Apr. 1, 2004, being incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to casino card games and, in particular, to a poker game played with at least one community card. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Casino card games, such as poker and blackjack, continue to be a major source of entertainment for card players. Poker games with features that are different from those found in conventional poker have increased in popularity over the recent years. Such poker games are available in many casinos located throughout the United States where legal gambling is offered. These include the poker games identified as CARIBBEAN STUD.RTM. Poker, LET IT RIDE.RTM., THREE CARD POKER.RTM. and CRAZY 4.RTM. Poker. [0004] Among the aspects valued by players of these poker games are speed of play and a number of betting options to choose from, which contribute to the excitement of playing the game. THREE CARD POKER.RTM. has these beneficial features and has proven to be highly attractive to a great number of poker players. However, the conventional five card hand is not used in making determinations related to winning or losing hand positions. Furthermore, no community card is used. Players therefore do not have the option of using one or more community cards, while discarding an equivalent card(s), in order to improve their hands. It would therefore be advantageous to integrate the relatively high speed play of games such as THREE CARD POKER.RTM. with other features such as the use of one or more community cards, while the hand relied on remains the traditional five card poker hand. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] In accordance with the present invention, a casino card game is provided that uses one or more community cards, with each being available for possible selection and use by at least each player of the game and preferably for possible selection and use by the dealer as well. In a preferred embodiment, only one community card is available to be used, although in other embodiments, two or more community cards could be used. [0006] The casino card game of the present invention includes a game layout having playing areas. The playing areas can include a separate playing area for each of a plurality of players. The playing areas can also include a dealer area for a dealer. The playing area of each player can have a number of wagering areas: a first or community card wagering area, a second or ante wagering area, a third or bet wagering area and a fourth or predetermined hand and higher waging area (PH+H, e.g., a pair of 10's or better). The playing area of each player can also include a discard area. Each player playing area has a section or area over which each player's cards are contained and this area can include at least parts of the bet wagering area. The dealer playing area can include a community card(s) area and dealer cards area. [0007] The community card(s) dealt by the dealer is (are) placed in the community card(s) area(s) of the layout. One or more cards discarded by one or more of players are placed in the player's discard area. For each player: (a) any community card wager made is placed in his community card wagering area; (b) any ante wager made by the player is placed in his ante wagering area; (c) any bet wager made by the player is placed in his bet wagering area; and (d) any predetermined hand and higher wager made by the player is placed in the predetermined hand and higher wagering area. [0008] With respect to methods of play, such as the embodiment in which there is one community card, each player playing the game makes one or more decisions directed to playing a round of play. Each player decides whether or not to make a community card wager, a predetermined hand and higher wager and an ante wager. A player at the start of play for a particular round decides to make one or more of these wagers by placing an amount, a chip, or other indicia in his wagering area associated with that particular wager. In the preferred embodiment, at the start of the round, each player can make a wager in one, two or all three of the community card, ante and PH+H wagering areas. [0009] Once the wagers are made by players that are playing the particular round of the game, the dealer places a card from the deck, which is preferably a 52 card deck, face up in the community card area so that all players can see it. Once the community card is dealt and seen by all players, potential players that have not placed a wager in one or more of the community card wagering area, the PH+H wagering area and the ante wagering area are not allowed to play the particular round of the game. For those players that have made a PH+H wager and/or an ante wager, the dealer deals five cards to each of them. These cards are dealt face down. The dealer also deals five cards to himself that are face down. [0010] After the players receive their five cards, they must make certain determinations. A player can elect to fold or, alternatively, can elect to continue to play. For each player that elects to play, he must decide either to play the five cards that were dealt to him or elect to use the community card as a substitute for one of the five cards in his hand for the purpose of improving his hand. Players that made ante wagers must also wager an additional amount in the bet wagering area to continue to play. [0011] For each player that decided to fold and did not make a bet wager in the bet wagering area, the dealer collects his PH+H and ante wagers. The dealer also collects any community card wagers when the community card is not a predetermined card or one of a group of predetermined cards. The dealer then turns over his five cards. The dealer uses the five cards dealt to him and the community card to decide his best five card hand. The dealer then announces whether or not he has a qualified hand. If the dealer's hand is a qualified hand, he will announce the value of his hand. After making known whether or not the dealer's hand is a qualified hand, a number of determinations are made by him related to any payment(s) to one or more players. [0012] The dealer pays these players that made community card wagers when the community card is a predetermined card or one of a group of predetermined cards. In the preferred embodiment, when the community card is an ace or face (king, queen, jack) card, the dealer pays all players that made the community card wager according to a community card payout schedule. When the community card is the predetermined card or one of the predetermined cards, the player who made such a wager receives the payout, even if the player folds, regardless of whether the dealer's hand is a qualified hand or the dealer's hand beats the player's hand. [0013] If the player has made a PH+H wager and the player's hand contains certain cards or better, the dealer pays that player according to a PH+H payout schedule. In a preferred embodiment, the predetermined hand and higher includes a pair of 10's or better. The dealer makes this payout to the player regardless of whether or not the dealer's hand qualifies or the dealer's hand beats the player's hand. [0014] Additionally, when the dealer's hand is a qualified hand and the player's hand beats the qualified dealer's hand, the dealer pays the player one-to-one on the ante wager and the dealer pays the bet wager according to a bet payout schedule. On the other hand, if the dealer's qualified hand beats the player's hand, the dealer collects both the ante and bet wagers from the player. If the dealer's hand is not a qualified hand, each player that has not folded is paid one-to-one on the ante wager and the bet wager pushes. In one embodiment, a qualified hand is one that contains at least a pair or better. Once all determinations are made related to payouts and the determined payouts are made according to the proper payout schedule(s), all cards played in that round are placed in a discard rack. A new round of the game can then be started. [0015] Based on the foregoing summary, a number of salient features of the present invention are readily discerned. A casino card game is provided that offers the player a number of wagering options. There are numerous payouts based on the different wagering options and there can be different payout schedules for each of them. One or more community cards are used to provide the player with the capability of improving his hand. The community card itself presents a potential payout for the player. Furthermore, the card game of the present invention can be played rapidly, while using a traditional five card poker hand. The card game is also easy to play and benefits both the player and the casino. Additional advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following discussion, particularly when taken together with accompanying drawing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE [0016] The sole FIGURE illustrates a table layout for a five card poker game using one community card. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0017] With reference to the FIGURE, a layout 10 of a casino poker game of a preferred embodiment is illustrated. The layout 10 identifies components, areas or sections of a table or a cover overlying a table that can be used in playing the poker game. [0018] The layout 10 can be defined as having a dealer playing area 12 and a plurality of player playing areas 16, such as five playing areas 16a-16e illustrated in the FIGURE, although more than five playing areas 16 are possible. [0019] Each player playing area 16a-16e is the same. A description of one player playing area 16a applies to all other playing areas 16b-16e. The player playing area 16a includes a number of wagering areas. The wagering areas can include: a community card ("comcard") wagering area 20a, a predetermined and higher (PH+H) wagering area 24a, an ante wagering area 30a and a bet wagering area 34a. The cards that are dealt to the player playing the poker game at playing area 16a can be placed adjacent to the bet wagering area 34a. In the preferred embodiment, when the player using the playing area 16a makes a bet wager, at least part of the bet is placed over portions of one or more of the cards which are face down and which make up at least part of the player's hand. The player playing area 16a, like all player playing areas 16, has a discard area 40a. Each discard area 40 is typically located closer to the dealer than to the particular player. The discard area 40 can be used in receiving at least one card that is discarded by the player when the player decides to play the particular round of the poker game and relies on at least one community card as part of the player's hand, as will be explained in more detail in connection with descriptions related to playing the poker game. In another embodiment, instead of the player deciding whether or not to use the community card, the dealer determines the player's best five card poker hand. In such an embodiment, the player does not discard to his discard area 40 but relies on the dealer to decide what five cards will be used in determining the player's betting hand. Continue reading about Casino card games with one or more community cards... Full patent description for Casino card games with one or more community cards Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Casino card games with one or more community cards patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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