US20150343300A1

US20150343300A1 - Royal deal poker

Info

Publication number: US20150343300A1
Application number: US14/726,361
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael R Aboumrad, SR.
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-05-29
Filing date: 2015-05-29
Publication date: 2015-12-03

Abstract

A card game and method for playing the card game are provided for a plurality of players. The card game is a variety of poker and utilizes only Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 cards, and two Joker cards from two standard 52-card decks. Because deuces through nines have been eliminated, the present invention allows a much higher frequency of royal flushes over conventional poker games. In the present invention, players make a bet, then cards are distributed. The players are allowed to modify their bet or fold. Additional cards are then distributed. Players must beat the dealer's hand in order to win the game. Payouts are determined by ranks of the players' hands. The card game may be played on a game table or on a computer implemented device.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/004,478, filed May 29, 2014.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to gambling card games such as poker. More specifically, the present invention is a poker game utilizing a deck comprising eight Ace cards, eight King cards, eight Queen cards, eight Jack cards, and eight 10 cards from two standard 52-card decks, otherwise known as French decks. Two Joker cards are included in the deck for a total of 42 cards in the deck, although a maximum of 40 cards of the shuffled deck are dealt during each session of play.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Poker is by far one of the most popular gambling card games due to the combination of skill and chance that is required for success. Poker has a number of different variants with Texas hold 'em in particular having developed a large professional scene. The object of poker for each player is to assemble the strongest possible hand utilizing individually dealt cards as well as cards in the “community” that are shared and may be used by all players. Forced bets or “blinds” are generally required in order to be dealt a hand and to provide an initial stake in play. The position of the blinds as well as position of the (house or nominal) dealer rotates with the progression of play from hand to hand. After each player has been dealt a hand, one or more betting rounds take place in which players are able to place wagers into a pot. Although the rules differ across variants of poker, cards in hands are generally discarded and replaced or supplemented with additional cards from the deck between betting rounds. Wagering is largely centered on bluffing in which a player attempts to lure other players into calling his or her bets or folding their hands. After the conclusion of all betting rounds, players remaining in play are required to display their hands in order to determine the player with the highest ranking hand. While there are many variations of poker, the same hand ranking system is generally used across the various different types of poker. One notable disadvantage of conventional poker games is very low rates of royal flushes.
The present invention is a poker game utilizing only the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 cards from two standard 52-card decks along with two Joker cards. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the poker game utilizes a 42-card deck comprising eight Ace cards, eight King cards, eight Queen cards, eight Jack cards, eight 10 cards, and two Joker cards. The two Joker cards serve as bugs and may be utilized in an attempt to attain the highest possible five card hand. Although the deck comprises 42 cards, only the top 40 cards of the shuffled deck are utilized for play. The poker game may be played by up to seven players and one dealer. Prior to receiving a hand, each player is required to post a minimum ante bet and may post an optional minimum bonus side bet. The dealer then deals each participating player an initial three card hand. Players are then permitted to view their initial three card hands and hold their bets, double their antes, or fold their hands. The final two cards are then dealt to each player. Based on mathematical analysis, it is advised never to fold. After the players receive their cards, they are required to reveal their hands for evaluation. Regardless of hand ranking outcome, a player will receive ante win if the players hand outranks the dealer's hand. Players must beat the dealer's hand in order to win the main game and payouts are determined by the ranks of the players' hands. If a player has placed a bonus side bet and has achieved a bonus hand, he or she receives a bonus payout regardless of if the hand beats the dealer's hand.
Players are able to play up to a maximum of two total hands per game. A player who wishes to play more than one hand is required to double his or her minimum bet. The player may only play an additional hand that is dealt to an unoccupied player position to his or her immediate left or right.
The present invention provides the advantage of providing much higher rates of royal flushes than ordinary games of poker by eliminating deuces through nines from the playing deck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a playing table for the poker game.

FIG. 2 is a table of main game hand rankings and payouts.

FIG. 3 is a table of bonus side bet hand rankings and payouts.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of game process.

FIG. 5 is an image of a rack card for the poker game.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION

All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The present invention is a poker game utilizing only the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 cards from two standard 52-card decks. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the deck utilized in the poker game comprises eight Ace cards, eight King cards, eight Queen cards, eight Jack cards, eight 10 cards, and two Joker cards. While the deck of the poker game comprises 42 total cards, only the top 40 cards of the shuffled deck are dealt during a maximum single round of play with the bottom two cards unused. As such, the poker game of the present invention is playable by up to seven players and one dealer with each player dealt a five card hand. The two Joker cards serve as bugs, used as aces, straights and flushes may be utilized in order to attain the highest possible five card hand. An example table for the poker game is shown in FIG. 1.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each player is required to post a minimum ante bet and if desired, an optional minimum bonus side bet. After the initial bets have been placed, the player seated at the dealer position deals each player three cards from the shuffled deck of the poker game. The players are permitted to view their initial three card hands. After viewing the initial three card hands, the players are able to hold their bets, double their antes, or fold their hands. After each player has decided on his or her next play, the dealer deals two additional cards to each player. After all cards have been dealt and un-played cards have been discarded, all players are required to reveal their final five card hands for evaluation.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, player hands do not compete with the hands of other players. Players are required to attain a higher hand than that of the dealer in order to win the main game. Payouts for players with higher hands than that of the dealer are determined based on the ranks of the players' hands. A table of hand rankings and payouts is shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen, possible hands include traditional poker hands such as straight, full house, and four of a kind. Player hand rankings differ based on the presence of the bug Jokers that may be utilized to attain the hands. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, player hands that have been attained utilizing bug Jokers are considered a push with hands that have been “naturally” attained without the use of the bug Jokers. However, the presence of bug Jokers additionally allows for players to attain various non-traditional hands such as five aces.
Payouts are additionally awarded to players who placed a bonus side bet at the onset of play. In order to receive a bonus side bet payout, a player is required to have attained a hand for which bonus side bets are awarded. These payouts are awarded independent of the main game and are awarded regardless of whether or not the player has attained a higher hand than that of the dealer. A table of hand rankings and bonus side bet payouts is shown in FIG. 2.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each player is permitted to play up to a maximum of two total hands per round of play in the event of vacant seating at a table of play. However, in order to play a second hand, a player is required to double his or her initial minimum bet. Additionally, the player is limited to playing an additional hand that is dealt to an unoccupied player position to his or her immediate left or right. Payouts, if any, may be awarded for each of the two player hands following the conclusion of play.
The flow diagram of FIG. 4 summarizes the general process of gameplay of the present invention as has been previously described.
FIG. 5 is an image of a rack card designed to educate players of the rules of the game. The rack card contains a logo, a brief description of the rules, a recommended basic strategy, place bet paytable, a brief description of bonus envy rules, and a bonus envy playtable. The rack card can be placed at the playing table so that players can easily reference it.
The poker game of the present invention may incorporate progressive jackpots into play. The implementation of progressive jackpots is at the sole discretion of the house. A progressive jackpot may grow in value based on set criteria. For example, if a royal flush has not been attained for a certain period of time, the payout for a royal flush may substantially increase following the declaration of a progressive jackpot for attaining a royal flush. This progressive jackpot may be limited to the house's maximum jackpot payout limit.
Because of the widespread use of electronic and virtual poker environments, the poker game of the present invention is not limited to a physical playing environment. Alternative embodiments of the present invention may comprise a virtual playing environment implemented on a platform such as, but not limited to, a video poker application or an online poker game.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of playing a card game, the method comprising the steps of:

providing eight Ace cards, eight King cards, eight Queen cards, eight Jack cards, eight 10 cards, and two Joker cards;

shuffling the cards;

prompting by a dealer for a plurality of players to place bets;

placing ante bets and optional bonus envy side bets by the plurality of players;

dealing three cards by a dealer to each of the plurality of players face down and dealing five cards by the dealer to the dealer face down;

wherein each player is enabled to identify the three cards dealt to the player;

selecting to place a play bet equal to the ante bet or fold by each of the plurality of players;

dealing by the dealer an additional two cards to each of the plurality of players who did not fold face down;

upturning by the dealer the cards dealt to the dealer;

comparing values of the cards of each player with a value of the cards of a dealer;

awarding payouts for ante and play bets based on a hand ranking system, comprising:

if a first value of the cards of a given player is greater than a second value of the cards of the dealer, the given player is paid a payout according to a pay table; and

if the first value is less than the second value, the dealer takes the ante bet and bonus envy side bet;

if the first value is equal to the second value, the ante bet and bonus envy side bet push; and

processing by the dealer the envy bonus bets according to the pay table.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requiring a minimum ante bet by the players.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the ante bet is limited to $5-$100.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonus envy side bet is limited to $1-$25.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

each player plays one or two hands per round of play.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the number of players is limited to one to seven.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a natural royal flush is assigned a payout of 100 times the play bet, five aces is assigned a payout of 75 times the play bet, other five of a kind is assigned a payout of 30 times the play bet, a wild royal flush is assigned a payout of 20 times the play bet, a natural four aces is assigned a payout of 12 times the play bet, wild four aces is assigned a payout of 8 times the play bet, other four of a kind is assigned a payout of 4 times the play bet, a flush is assigned a payout of 3 times the play bet, a full house is assigned a payout of 1 times the play bet, a straight is assigned a payout of 1 times the play bet, three of a kind is assigned a payout of 1 times the play bet, a two pair results in a push, a one pair results in a push, and a high card results in a push.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

a natural royal flush is assigned a payout of 500 times the bonus envy side bet with a $75 bonus envy to participating players of the bonus envy side bet, a natural five aces is assigned a payout of 500 times the bonus envy side bet with a $50 bonus envy to the participating players of the bonus envy side bet, wild five aces is assigned a payout of 300 times the bonus envy side bet with a $25 bonus envy to the participating players of the bonus envy side bet, other five of a kind (10-K) is assigned a payout of 200 times the bonus envy side bet, a wild royal flush is assigned a payout of 80 times the bonus envy side bet, a natural four aces is assigned a payout of 25 times the bonus envy side bet, a wild four aces is assigned a payout of 12 times the bonus envy side bet, other four of a kind is assigned a payout of 6 times the bonus envy side bet, a full house is assigned a payout of 1 times the bonus envy side bet, a flush is assigned a payout of 1 times the bonus envy side bet, a natural straight is assigned a payout of 1 times the bonus envy side bet, a wild straight results in a push, and three of a kind results in a push.

9. A method for playing a card game, the method comprising the steps of:

executing, with a processor, a program stored on a non-transitory memory of a computer implemented device, the program directing the computer implemented device to perform the following:

(a) prompting a player to input an ante bet and optionally a bonus side bet;

(b) storing the input ante bet and optionally the bonus side bet in a memory;

(c) generating a first distinct set of cards by the computer implemented device, the first distinct set of cards consisting of three randomly selected cards from a virtual deck of cards consisting of eight Ace cards, eight King cards, eight Queen cards, eight Jack cards, eight 10 cards, and two Joker cards, and storing the first distinct set of cards in the memory;

(d) generating a second distinct set of cards by the computer implemented device, the second distinct set of cards consisting of five randomly selected cards from the virtual deck of cards, and storing the second distinct set of cards in the memory;

(e) displaying the first distinct set of cards on a display;

(f) prompting a decision by the player to place a play bet equal to the ante bet or fold, executing the decision of the player with the following actions:

1. if the player decides to place the play bet, rewrite the stored ante bet to twice its original value;

2. if the player decides to fold, display a message indicating an end of a round and return to step (a);

(g) generating a third distinct set of cards by the computer implemented device, the third distinct set of cards consisting of two randomly selected cards from the virtual deck of cards, and storing the third distinct set of cards in the memory;

(h) displaying a player's hand consisting of the first and third distinct set of cards on the display;

(i) displaying a dealer's hand consisting of the second distinct set of cards;

(j) comparing the player's hand to the dealer's hand; and

(k) accessing a database to determine payout.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

requiring a minimum ante bet from the player.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the ante bet is limited to $5-$100.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

requiring a minimum bonus side bet from the player.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the bonus envy side bet is limited to $1-$25.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

steps (a)-(c), (e)-(g), and (h-k) are repeated for additional players playing simultaneously.