Electronic multi-hand stud poker games

Abstract

A player selects the number of hands that the player wishes to play. A plurality of initial partial hands are displayed to the player. Each initial partial hand has the same cards with the cards displayed face up to the player. Each hand is then completed as a stud poker final hand by dealing the additional cards from either the original single deck of cards (less the initially dealt cards) or from a plurality of partial depleted decks of playing cards, each depleted deck of playing cards comprising a full deck less the cards dealt as the initial partial hand. The player wins or loses depending on the poker hand ranking of each final hand. The amount won by the player is based on the poker hand ranking of each final hand and the amount wagered by the player according to a pay table.

Description

[0001] This invention relates primarily to electronic video poker games, and more particularly to electronic video stud poker games that are based on poker hand rankings and allow the player to play multiple hands at the same time. The player starts with two or more identical partial hands and then each hand is completed by the displaying of additional cards so that each hand is a final stud poker hand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Five card, six card and seven card stud have been played for many years, usually in a poker room setting in which a plurality of players play against each other striving to obtain the highest ranking poker hand (or lowest ranking poker hand in Lo-Ball poker) in order to win the pot which comprises the wagers made by the players during the play of the game.

[0003] Electronic video poker has also been a staple in gaming casinos for many years and this well known game is a single player game based on draw poker. The player attempts to achieve a winning poker hand ranking by discarding from an initial five card hand and drawing new cards in order to try and improve his poker hand. A pay table is provided to show the player what he can win based on the poker hand ranking achieved after the draw step and the amount wagered by the player.

[0004] There have been attempts to adapt stud poker to an electronic video game format. One attempt involved a single player seven card stud game in which the player makes a first wager and initially received three cards face up. In one version of this game, the player has the option of making additional wagers before the player receives the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards. In another version, the player also has the option of making additional wagers before receiving the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards unless the player has already achieved a winning poker hand combination, in which case the player is not allowed to make additional wagers. In either version, the final seven cards are analyzed and the best five card hand is used to determine the poker hand ranking of the player's hand. A pay table is used based on five card poker hand rankings and the amount wagered by the player to determine the amount won by the player when he achieves a winning hand.

[0005] Another popular single player stud poker game is known as DOUBLE DOWN STUD® poker. This game is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,100,137 and 5,167,413, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by this reference. In DOUBLE DOWN STUD® poker, the player makes a first wager and is dealt four cards all face up. The player may make an additional wager prior to receiving the fifth card. After the fifth card is dealt, the five card hand is compared to a pay table to determine if the player has a winning or losing card combination based on poker hand ranking.

[0006] Another stud poker game that has been adapted to a single player video poker format is a game known as LET IT RIDE®. In this game, the player makes a wager of three units at the start of each round of play. The player is then shown three cards face up. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let all three wagers ride. The player is then shown a fourth card. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let his wagers ride. The player is then shown a fifth card and the poker hand ranking of the final five card hand is used to determine winning or losing plays based on a pay table. The method of play of LET IT RIDE® is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,288,081, 5,417,430 and 5,544,892, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-hand format to stud poker games.

[0008] It is a feature of the present invention to deal and display multiple partial hands to the player, each partial hand having the same cards. Each partial hand is then completed into a final stud hand by dealing and displaying additional cards to each hand. The poker hand ranking of each final stud hand is determined and winning final hands are paid based on the poker hand ranking of the final stud hand and the amount wagered by the player.

[0009] It is an advantage of the present invention that multiple stud hands may be played by the player thereby increasing the enjoyment of the game as well as increasing the number of hands that can be played in a certain time period thereby creating a higher revenue game for the gaming casino.

[0010] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.

[0011] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The method of present invention involves the player making a wager to play multiple hands of a stud poker game. The player selects the number of hands that the player wishes to play. The wager is allocated among the number of hands that are to be played.

[0013] Once the player has made his wager, a plurality of initial partial hands are displayed to the player. Each initial partial hand has the same cards with the cards displayed face up to the player. The initial partial hands are randomly dealt from a single deck of playing cards. Each hand is then completed as a stud poker final hand by dealing the additional cards from either the original single deck of cards (less the initially dealt cards) or from a plurality of depleted decks of playing cards, each depleted deck of playing cards comprising a full deck less the cards dealt as the initial partial hand. The player wins or loses depending on the poker hand ranking of each final hand. The amount won by the player is based on the poker hand ranking of each final hand and the amount wagered by the player according to a pay table.

[0014] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each initial partial hand has four cards and the final hand has five cards. In other variations of the present invention, each initial partial hand can have one, two or three cards and the final hand has five cards. In yet other variations of the present invention, the final hand can have three, four, six, seven or more cards and the initial partial hand would then have less cards than the final hand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a gaming machine configured to practice the method of present invention.

[0016] FIG. 2 shows the screen display for Version #1 of the present invention after a representative result that could occur during the play of the game.

[0017] FIG. 3 shows the screen display for Version #2 of the present invention and shows a representative result that could occur during the play of the game.

[0018] FIG. 4 shows the screen display for Version #3 of the present invention and shows a representative result that could occur during the play of the game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] The present invention includes a variety of electronic video stud poker games. Each electronic video stud poker game is designed to be played by having the hands to be played by the player displayed on a video screen.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a gaming machine upon which the method of the present invention can be carried out. The gaming machine 10 includes a video screen display 20 on which is shown the playing cards that will be used during the play of the method of the present invention. The video screen display 20 also includes other information and data presented to the player to allow the player to understand the play of the game and to effect the operation of the method.

[0021] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the video screen display 20 shows a credit meter 22 and a display of the “bet per hand” 24 which is the number of credits wagered on each hand for a particular round of play of the game. The video screen display also has a DEAL/DRAW touch screen location to allow the player to cause the initial deal of the cards to be displayed on the video screen display 20. Other touch screen locations allow the player to make his initial wager, which can be made one credit at a time using the BET ONE location 26 or which can be made by wagering the maximum number of credits allowed by the gaming machine using the BET MAX location 28.

[0022] The gaming machine 10 also has a button panel 40 which includes typical buttons that the player may press to activate various actions during the play of the method of the present invention. A CASH OUT button 41 is provided to allow the player to collect any credits which the player has accrued on the credit meter 22. A BET MAX button 42 and a BET ONE button 44 are provided to allows the player to wager either the maximum amount of credits or to wager one credit at a time on the play of the game as desired by the player, if the player wishes to use buttons to place his wager instead of using the touch screen locations 26 and 28 to place his wager. A DEAL/DRAW button 46 is provided to allow the player to effect the initial deal step of the method of play as desired should the player prefer to use the button panel instead of the DEAL/DRAW screen location 47 on the video screen display 20.

[0023] The gaming machine 10 also includes a coin head 50 to allow the player to insert coins or gaming tokens as wagers to allow play of the gaming machine 10. A bill acceptor slot 52 is also provided on the gaming machine 10. In order to accrue credits that may be used to play the gaming machine 10, the player inserts paper currency or other suitable script or gaming coupons into the bill acceptor slot 52 behind which, on the interior of the gaming machine, is mounted a bill acceptor which takes in and validates the currency. The monetary value of the inserted currency is then applied to the credit meter 22, the credits on which the player may use to play the gaming machine.

[0024] A plurality of buttons 48 can also be provided on the button panel 40 to allow the player to select the number of hands which the player wishes to play. For example, TWO HAND button 48A allows the player to select to play two hands. THREE HAND button 48B allows the player to select to play three hands. FIVE HAND button 48C allows the player to select to play five hands. TEN HAND button 48D allows the player to select to play ten hands. FIFTY HAND button 48E allows the player to select to play fifty hands. Any suitable distribution of the number of hands can be allocated to the buttons and fewer or more than five buttons 48 can be used.

[0025] Instead of using buttons on the button panel, the video screen display 20 can be provided with touch screen locations (not shown) that the player would touch to select the number of hands that the player wishes to play.

[0026] Any other conventional and suitable equipment can be included in the gaming machine.

[0027] Version #1

[0028] Version #1 of the present invention uses a standard fifty-two card deck of playing cards. A player makes an initial wager to activate the game and the player selects the number of hands that the player wishes to play during that round of the game. The player also determines the amount of the wager that is to be allocated to each hand of cards that the player will play.

[0029] For example, the player may make a wager of fifteen credits and select to play three hands of cards. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer controls of the gaming machine will allocate five credits to each hand the player has selected to play. Alternatively, the computer controls could prompt the player to input the amount the player wishes to play on each hand.

[0030] After the wager is made and after the deck of playing cards has been electronically shuffled, a first partial hand of four cards is randomly dealt and displayed face up to the player on the screen display. These same four cards by suit and rank are also displayed in each of the other partial hands that the player has selected to play, which following the example, would be the second hand and the third hand. Thus, in this example, the player starts with three identical partial hands of four cards all displayed face up.

[0031] FIG. 1 shows on the video screen display 20 the first partial hand 910, the second partial hand 920 and the third partial hand 930 with the same four cards shown face up. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the four face up initial cards are the Ace of Hearts, the King of Hearts, the Queen of Hearts and the Jack of Hearts.

[0032] The computer controls of the gaming machine 10 then proceed to the next step of the method in which the fifth card in each hand is dealt and displayed to the player. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fifth card for each hand is dealt from the depleted deck of forty eight cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards). Thus in completing each hand, the player has one chance in forty-eight to be dealt the Ten of Hearts which would give the player a Heart Royal Flush. In this embodiment, the depleted forty-eight card deck is reshuffled electronically before the fifth card is dealt to complete each hand.

[0033] In another embodiment of the present invention, the fifth card for the first hand 910 is dealt from the depleted deck of forty-eight cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards). Thus in completing the first hand 910, the player has one chance in forty-eight to be dealt the Ten of Hearts which would give the player a Heart Royal Flush.

[0034] The fifth card for the second hand 920 is dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-seven cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards and the fifth card dealt to the first hand 910). Thus in completing the second hand 920, the player has one chance in forty-seven to be dealt the Ten of Hearts (unless, of course, the Ten of Hearts was already dealt to the first hand 910).

[0035] The fifth card for the third hand 930 is dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-six cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards, the fifth card dealt to the first hand 910 and the fifth card dealt to the second hand 920). Thus in completing the third hand 930, the player has one chance in forty-six to be dealt the Ten of Hearts (unless, of course, the Ten of Hearts was already dealt to the first hand 910 or the second hand 920). In this embodiment, the cards of each of the depleted decks may or may not be electronically reshuffled before displaying the fifth card to complete each hand.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows an example of how the hands may be completed by the display of the fifth card. Hand 910 could result in the Ace of Hearts 911, the King of Hearts 912, the Queen of Hearts 913, the Jack of Hearts 914 and the Nine of Clubs 915. The poker hand ranking of this hand is Ace High and would not be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Hand 920 could result in the Ace of Hearts 921, the King of Hearts 922, the Queen of Hearts 923, the Jack of Hearts 924 and the Ten of Hearts 925. The poker hand ranking of this hand is a Heart Royal Flush and would be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Hand 930 could result in the Ace of Hearts 931, the King of Hearts 932, the Queen of Hearts 933, the Jack of Hearts 934 and the Four of Hearts 935. The poker hand ranking of this hand is a Heart Flush and would be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Any suitable poker hand combinations can be designated was winning and losing hand combinations. The amount won by the player is determined according to a pay table based on the poker hand combination achieved by the player and the amount wagered by the player.

[0040] Typically, pay tables are determined based on the mathematical probability of certain poker combinations occurring during the play of the game and based on the desired theoretical hold percentage to be kept by the gaming establishment. Any suitable pay table may be used and a representative pay table is shown in Table 1. 1 TABLE 1 Poker Hand Combination Payout Odds Less than Pair of 6's Losing Hand Pair of 6's thru 10's 1 for 1 Pair of Jacks thru Aces 1 to 1 Two Pair 2 to 1 Three of a Kind 3 to 1 Straight 10 to 1  Flush 20 to 1  Full House 30 to 1  Four of a Kind 100 to 1  Straight Flush 800 to 1  Royal Flush 5000 to 1  

[0041] Version #2.

[0042] Version #2 of the present invention uses a standard fifty-two card deck of playing cards. This method of play is similar to that described in Version #1, but there are only three face up cards in each partial hand.

[0043] A player makes an initial wager to activate the game and the player selects the number of hands that the player wishes to play during that round of the game. The player also determines the amount of the wager that is to be allocated to each hand of cards that the player will play.

[0044] For example, the player may make a wager of fifteen credits and select to play three hands of cards. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computer controls of the gaming machine will allocate five credits to each hand the player has selected to play. Alternatively, the computer controls could prompt the player to input the amount the player wishes to play on each hand.

[0045] After the wager is made and after the deck of playing cards has been electronically shuffled, a first partial hand of three cards is randomly dealt and displayed face up to the player on the screen display. These same three cards by suit and rank are also displayed face up in each of the other partial hands that the player has selected to play, which following the example, would be the second hand and the third hand. Thus, in this example, the player starts with three identical partial hands of three cards all displayed face up.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows on the video screen display 20 the first partial hand 940, the second partial hand 950 and the third partial hand 960 with the same three cards shown face up. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the three face up initial cards are the Ace of Hearts 941, 951 and 961, the King of Hearts 942, 952 and 962 and the Queen of Hearts 943, 953 and 963.

[0047] The computer controls of the gaming machine 10 then proceed to the next step of the method in which the fourth and fifth cards in each hand are dealt and displayed to the player. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fourth and fifth cards for each hand are dealt from the depleted deck of forty-nine cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the three initially dealt cards). In this embodiment, the depleted forty-nine card deck is reshuffled electronically before the fourth and fifth cards are dealt to complete each hand.

[0048] In another embodiment of the present invention, the fourth and fifth cards for the first hand 940 are dealt from the depleted deck of forty-nine cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the three initially dealt cards). The fourth and fifth cards for the second hand 950 are dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-seven cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the three initially dealt cards and the two cards dealt to the first hand 940). Finally, the fourth and fifth cards for the third hand 960 are dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-five cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the three initially dealt cards, the two cards dealt to the first hand 940 and the two cards dealt to the second hand 950). In this embodiment, the cards of each of the depleted decks may or may not be electronically reshuffled before displaying the fifth card to complete each hand.

[0049] FIG. 3 also shows an example of how the hands may be completed by the display of the fourth and fifth cards. Hand 940 could result in the Ace of Hearts 941, the King of Hearts 942, the Queen of Hearts 943, the Queen of Clubs 944 and the Queen of Diamonds 945. The poker hand ranking of this hand is Three-of-a-Kind and would be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] Hand 950 could result in the Ace of Hearts 951, the King of Hearts 952, the Queen of Hearts 953, the Seven of Hearts 954 and the Four of Hearts 955. The poker hand ranking of this hand is a Heart Flush and would be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0051] Hand 960 could result in the Ace of Hearts 961, the King of Hearts 962, the Queen of Hearts 963, the Ten of Hearts 964 and the Jack of Hearts 965. The poker hand ranking of this hand is a Heart Royal Flush and would be a winning hand combination in the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] Again, any suitable poker hand combinations can be designated was winning and losing hand combinations. The amount won by the player is determined according to a pay table based on the poker hand combination achieved by the player and the amount wagered by the player.

[0053] Any suitable pay table may be used and a representative pay table is shown in Table 2. 2 TABLE 2 Poker Hand Combination Payout Odds Less than Pair of 6's Losing Hand Pair of 6's thru 10's 1 for 1 Pair of Jacks thru Aces 1 to 1 Two Pair 2 to 1 Three of a Kind 3 to 1 Straight 10 to 1  Flush 20 to 1  Full House 30 to 1  Four of a Kind 100 to 1  Straight Flush 800 to 1  Royal Flush 5000 to 1  

[0054] Other variations of the present invention can use only one card or two cards initially dealt face up with the remaining cards of the five card being dealt face down.

[0055] Another variation can use hands having more than five cards—such as six, seven or more cards. Less than the entire hand is shown face up with the remaining cards shown face down. Winning hand combinations can be based on the best five card poker hand achieved out of the six, seven or more card hands. Alternatively, the winning hand combinations can be the best six, seven or more card poker hand achieved. When six or more card poker hands are used, then additional non-traditional poker hand rankings can be used as winning card combinations such as two Three-of-a-Kinds, or a Four-of-a-Kind and a Pair, Six (or more) Card Straight Flushes and Six (or more) Card Royal Flushes.

[0056] It is also possible to use four card, three card or even two card poker hands. Again, less than the entire hand is shown face up with the remaining cards face down.

[0057] Another variation would include designating certain cards as wild cards or adding one or more Jokers to the standard deck and using the Jokers as wild cards.

[0058] Yet another variation of the present invention includes providing bonus payouts to the player for achieving the same ending hands. For example, if the player were playing three hands and the player received two or three Royal Flushes, or two or three Four-of-a-Kinds, or generally two or three of the same poker hand rankings, then the player could be awarded an extra payout.

[0059] This extra payout could be of any suitable type. The player could receive a higher fixed or progressive amount in lieu of the regular amount shown in the regular pay table. Alternatively, the player could be awarded a fixed or progressive amount bonus amount in addition to the payout that the player would be awarded from the regular pay table.

[0060] Version #3

[0061] In another version of the present invention, the method of play could start with a preselected partial hand, rather than having the partial hand randomly dealt and displayed to the player. At the beginning of each round of play, the player would know what the starting partial hand would be and the player would merely select how many hands the player wishes to play and the amount to be wagered on each hand. When the player had made these selections and pressed the DEAL button, the computer controls would complete each partial hand by randomly selecting the cards necessary to complete each hand. The player would win or lose on each hand depending on the poker ranking of each completed hand.

[0062] For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the preselected starting hand could be Four to a Straight Flush (as shown the King of Clubs, the Queen of Clubs, the Jack of Clubs and the Ten of Clubs). The player then decides how many hands of this preselected starting hand the player wishes to play (as shown the player has selected to play three hands—first hand 1010, second hand 1020 and third hand 1030). The player then determines how many credits to wager on each hand, say five credits.

[0063] The player presses the DEAL button and the computer controls randomly select a fifth card for each hand. In one embodiment of the present invention, the fifth card for each hand is dealt from the depleted deck of forty-eight cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four preselected cards that have been dealt and displayed to the player). Thus in completing each hand, the player has one chance in forty-eight to be dealt the Ace of Clubs which would give the player a Club Royal Flush. The player also has a one in forty-eight chance to be dealt the Nine of Clubs which would give the player a Club Straight Flush. The player also has a seven in forty-eight chance to be dealt one of the other clubs which would give the player a Club Flush (but not the Club Royal Flush or the Club Straight Flush). The player also has varying chances to achieve a Straight or a Pair, either of which would also be a winning hand. In fact, the player has only a twenty-one chance in forty-eight of not achieving a winning hand of some type.

[0064] In this embodiment, the depleted forty-eight card deck is reshuffled electronically before the fifth card is dealt to complete each hand.

[0065] In another embodiment of the present invention, the fifth card for the first hand 1010 is dealt from the depleted deck of forty-eight cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards). The fifth card for the second hand 1020 is dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-seven cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards and the fifth card dealt to the first hand 1010). The fifth card for the third hand 1030 is dealt from the further depleted deck of forty-six cards (which represent the cards remaining from the original fifty-two card deck less the four initially dealt cards, the fifth card dealt to the first hand 1010 and the fifth card dealt to the second hand 1020). In this embodiment, the cards of each of the depleted decks may or may not be electronically reshuffled before displaying the fifth card to complete each hand.

[0066] Any suitable poker hand combinations can be designated was winning and losing hand combinations. The amount won by the player is determined according to a pay table based on the poker hand combination achieved by the player and the amount wagered by the player.

[0067] Typically, pay tables are determined based on the mathematical probability of certain poker combinations occurring during the play of the game and based on the desired theoretical hold percentage to be kept by the gaming establishment. Any suitable pay table may be used and a representative pay table is shown in Table 3 when the starting is hand is Four to a Straight Flush and the four cards are a King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit. 3 TABLE 3 Poker Hand Combination Payout Odds Less than a straight Losing Hand Straight 1 for 1 Straight Flush 15 for 1  Royal Flush 26 for 1 

[0068] Any suitable starting partial hand can be preselected as the starting hand to be offered to the player. Typical preselected starting hands can include Two or Threes-of-a-Kind, Two Pair, Four card Straights and Four card Flushes. A menu can be provided to the player of a plurality of preselected starting hands and the player can pick from the menu which preselected starting the hand the player wishes to play for that round of the game. The number of face up cards initially dealt to the player would be determined by the preselected starting hand being offered to the player.

[0069] Alternatively, the preselected starting hand can be randomly selected by the computer controls from a group of possible starting hands or the gaming machine can be programmed to simply offer the player a single preselected starting hand such a Four to the Royal Flush.

[0070] Another variation can use hands having more than five cards—such as six, seven or more cards. Winning hand combinations can be based on the best five card poker hand achieved out of the six, seven or more card hands. Alternatively, the winning hand combinations can be the best six, seven or more card poker hand achieved. When six or more card poker hands are used, then additional non-traditional poker hand rankings can be used as winning card combinations such as two Three-of-a-Kinds, or a Four-of-a-Kind and a Pair, Six (or more) Card Straight Flushes and Six (or more) Card Royal Flushes.

[0071] Another variation would include designating certain cards as wild cards or adding one or more Jokers to the standard deck and using the Jokers as wild cards. For example, the preselected starting hand could be one or more wild cards. The winning and losing hand combinations would be chosen based on the probability of various poker hand combinations achieved and the percentage game return offered to the player.

[0072] In all of the versions of the present invention, special bonus payouts can be added if each hand completes to the same ending result, such as all of the hands finishing in the same Royal Flush. These bonus payout amounts could be fixed amounts or progressive payout amounts.

[0073] While the invention has been illustrated with respect to several specific embodiments thereof, these embodiments should be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. Various modifications and additions may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description, but rather should be defined only by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of playing a stud poker card game in which a final hand has at least five cards comprising:

a) the player selecting to play at least two hands;

b) a player making a wager which is allocated among the hands selected to be played by the player;

c) dealing and displaying face up a number of partial hands of less than five cards, the number of partial hands corresponding to the number of hands selected to be played by the player, each partial hand having the same cards;

d) dealing and displaying face up additional cards to each hand to complete each hand so that each final hand has at least five cards;

e) determining the poker hand ranking of each final hand; and

f) paying the player a pre-established amount based on the amount of the wager on each hand if the final hand comprises a predetermined poker hand ranking.

2. The method of claim 1 in which each partial hand has four cards.

3. The method of claim 1 in which each partial hand has three cards.

4. The method of claim 1 in which each partial hand has two cards.

5. The method of claim 1 in which each partial hand has one card.

6. The method of claim 1 in which the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from a depleted deck which consists of the original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

7. The method of claim 1 in which all of the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from the same original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

8. The method of claim 1 in which the final hand has at least six cards and the predetermined poker hand rankings are based on the best five card poker ranking of the final hand.

9. The method of claim 1 in which the final hand has at least six cards and the predetermined poker hand rankings are based on the best six card poker ranking of the final hand.

10. The method of claim 1 in which the final hand has at least seven cards and the predetermined poker hand rankings are based on the best five card poker ranking of the final hand.

11. The method of claim 1 in which the final hand has at least seven cards and the predetermined poker hand rankings are based on the best six card poker ranking of the final hand.

12. The method of claim 1 in which the final hand has at least seven cards and the predetermined poker hand rankings are based on the best seven card poker ranking of the final hand.

13. The method of claim 1 in which the player is awarded a bonus payout whenever the player achieves at least two final hands of the same poker hand ranking.

14. A method of playing a stud poker card game in which a final hand has a predetermined number of cards comprising:

a) the player selecting to play at least two hands;

b) a player making a wager which is allocated among the hands selected to be played by the player;

c) dealing and displaying face up a number of partial hands of less than the predetermined number of cards, the number of partial hands corresponding to the number of hands selected to be played by the player, each partial hand having the same cards;

d) dealing and displaying face up additional cards to each hand to complete each hand so that each final hand has the predetermined number of cards;

e) determining the poker hand ranking of each final hand; and

f) paying the player a pre-established amount based on the amount of the wager on each hand if the final hand comprises a predetermined poker hand ranking.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the predetermined number of cards in the final hand is two.

16. The method of claim 14 in which the predetermined number of cards in the final hand is three.

17. The method of claim 14 in which the predetermined number of cards in the final hand is four.

18. The method of claim 14 in which the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from a depleted deck which consists of the original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

19. The method of claim 14 in which all of the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from the same original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

20. The method of claim 14 in which the player is awarded a bonus payout whenever the player achieves at least two final hands of the same poker hand ranking.

21. A method of playing a stud poker card game in which a final hand has a predetermined number of cards comprising:

a) the player selecting to play at least two hands;

b) a player making a wager which is allocated among the hands selected to be played by the player;

c) dealing and displaying face up a number of partial hands of less than the predetermined number of cards, the number of partial hands corresponding to the number of hands selected to be played by the player, each partial hand having the same preselected cards;

d) dealing and displaying face up additional cards to each hand to complete each hand so that each final hand has the predetermined number of cards;

e) determining the poker hand ranking of each final hand; and

f) paying the player a pre-established amount based on the amount of the wager on each hand if the final hand comprises a predetermined poker hand ranking.

22. The method of claim 21 in which the preselected cards for the partial hand are from the groups consisting of a Four Card Straight Flush, a Four Card Flush, a Four Card Straight, a Three-of-a-Kind, a Two Pair and a Pair.

23. The method of claim 21 in which the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from a depleted deck which consists of the original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

24. The method of claim 21 in which all of the additional cards for each final hand are dealt from the same original deck of cards less the cards dealt as the partial hand.

25. The method of claim 21 in which the partial hand having the same preselected cards is selected by the player.

26. The method of claim 21 in which the partial hand having the same preselected cards is randomly selected.