POKER GAMES

Abstract

Processing means is arranged to provide a single bet poker game to at least one player playing over a network. The processing means is arranged to cause the card dealer to deal at least one card to each player to form a starting hand. The bet manager requests a single bet from the or each player, and, once a single bet has been received from each player, stores the total of the amounts of the bets in the prize fund storage means. The card dealer then deals further cards to provide a poker hand to each player and the hand assessment means assesses the hands of all of the players determine the winning hand. At least one prize is awarded to the winning hand from the prize fund.

Description

This invention relates to improved processing means arranged to provide a poker game and to an improved poker game.

The game of poker, with its many variations, is played all over the world. Despite its huge popularity, it has a reputation as an exclusive game, perhaps because the game is complex to master and because of the specialised language, rules and etiquette used by poker players. It is usually played as a gambling game at which money can be lost, particularly by inexperienced players.

Poker games tend to follow the following basic pattern:

1. Cards (know as a ‘hand’ or ‘poker hand’) are dealt to each player at the table.
2. Each player then evaluates the strength of each hand.
3. Based on that evaluation, certain decisions are made in order to continue or abandon the hand.
4. Once a decision has been made to continue, various other decisions will be required during the course of the hand. These will be based on various factors, including the dealing of further cards and of further actions or bets from other players in the game.

Although the format of the game is simple, it requires a great deal of skill to become a regular winner at poker. One required skill is to ‘read’ other players cards (i.e. know or guess what cards are held by an opponent based on their behaviour). This ‘reading’ determines whether one should continue playing in the hand. Another skill requirement is ‘bluffing’, whereas players represent a strong or winning hand, when in fact, they hold a weak or losing hand. Bluffing is an accepted part of the game and can cause players to fold a hand which would have won the game.

Betting or wagering in a poker hand consists of the following four options:

1. The action to ‘call’. Calling a bet indicates that a player wishes to continue playing in the hand. The amount or size of the bet is determined by a minimum opening bet or by the amount that is bet by other players in the hand.
2. The action to ‘fold’. Folding a hand determines that a player does not wish to call a bet and to continue in the hand. Therefore, a player that ‘folds’ a hand, does not take any further action in the hand.
3. The action to ‘raise’. Raising determines that a player wishes to increase the size of the bet that had been previously placed by other players.
4. The action to re-raise. Re-raising determines that a player wishes to increase further still the size of the bet after a player has raised any initial bet.

On occasion, players will ‘fold’ a hand after they have made a bet and therefore contributed to the size of the pot. Once a player has folded, they are no longer eligible to win the pot.

More recently, ‘Limit’ poker has introduced a betting structure in which there is a limit to how much can be bet in each round. These limits are pre-set and are dependent on the stakes of each game. Irrespective of this, the same four betting options still apply. Even with limits to each bet, bluffing still plays a part in the game and on occasion players will ‘fold’ what would have been be a winning hand.

Losing with the best starting hand, a so-called ‘bad-beat’, in poker is not unusual. However, due to the betting structures described above this tends to prove very costly for the player involved. For example, Player ‘A’ gets dealt A-A (pair of Aces), the best possible starting hand in any standard variation of poker. Player ‘B’ gets dealt 2-2 (a pair of deuces). In the Texas Hold'em version of poker, the pair of Aces hand is as high as 82.44% favourite to win the hand. In Texas Hold'em five community cards (extra cards that are used by all players in a hand) are dealt. Along with the two cards dealt to each of the players, the community cards are used to create the best 5-card poker hand. For the purposes of example, the community cards for this hand include another deuce. Therefore, the pair of deuces will win the hand. This example hand highlights the luck factor and the uncertainty that exists to any single outcome in any specific hand of poker. It also highlights the frustration that exists in the game of poker.

Recently, on-line poker, in which players play against other players connected to a network, has become popular.

The on-line game has many benefits. For example, it is easier to track betting patterns to identify the characteristics of a player; some game providers do this for players. It is also possible for a player to perform a review of his or her own game to determine whether tactics used result in success. As more games are played, a player can rapidly gain experience. However, there are at present many limitations, downsides and frustrations associated with both off and on-line games.

A problem with on-line gaming arises from the chance that the communication link between the player and the game provider may be lost. This is a common occurrence and while interruptions are usually brief, a player could lose any money invested during a hand. Game providers initially counteracted such situations by providing ‘all-in’ protection. Going ‘all-in’ in poker means betting all of one's money. Under ‘all-in’ protection here remains the possibility of winning money played up until that point but not any money bet in later rounds. When connections are lost or a player fails to act in time, all-in protection assures that any would be able to still win from others the amount invested in to a hand, without requiring them to bet all of their money. However, many players abuse this protection. This form of ‘cheating’ usually takes place when a player is placed in a difficult situation due to betting from other players. Faced with a tough decision (sometimes one that required the player to put all available money at risk) players choose to disconnect on purpose. Many operators therefore fold the player's hand instead. However, this is also not satisfactory as players may lose whatever money they had contributed to the pot, irrespective if their hand would have ultimately been the winning hand, because of a lost connection. Therefore, players tend not to play on-line poker games from, for example, mobile devices such as mobile telephones or in wireless networks due to the increased risk with such devices that connections may be lost.

The risk of collusion between players is particularly high for on-line poker. It is known for a group of players to, for example, be taking part in a conference call whilst playing a hand to dupe another player. Various strategies, including game providers running algorithms to track suspicious betting behaviour, are employed to identify such players, but this remains a problem. Such monitoring means that the bandwidth requirements for running a game over a network are increased.

Some players mistrust the game providers, believing that games are ‘rigged’ to favour weak players. These players may have identified the advantage to game providers in not to having weak players losing too much money and therefore no longer being able to play on the site. It is likely that such players have also suffered so-called ‘bad beats’, in which the best starting hand loses out to a lesser hand. The seemingly high number of ‘bad beats’ in on-line poker is due at least in part to the speed of the game, which allows many more games to be played—perhaps as many as three times more than with manual dealing—in a specified period.

The issue of mistrust keeps players from playing on-line and drives existing players away.

The present format of on-line poker has barriers in being able to attract a wider range of player. Due to the skill requirements and the complex betting structures as described above, players are intimidated and do not take part. This issue has become apparent to game providers who run poker schools or give advice in order to help newcomers or novices to on-line poker. This is seen as the only way in to breaking down such barriers.

These problems combine with the fact that around 70-80% of the players lose overall which leads to frustration which ultimately results in many players stopping playing the game and the game provider losing customers. These negative aspects have cast doubt concerning the future growth of the on-line poker industry.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided processing means arranged to provide a single bet poker game to at least one player playing over a network and comprising

• • i) a card dealer arranged to associate at least one card with each player of the game and to provide an indication of the identity of the at least one card to the associated player,
  • ii) a bet manager arranged to request from the or each player an indication of an amount comprising a bet,
  • iii) a prize fund storage means arranged to store the total of the bets(s) received,
  • iv) a hand assessment means arranged to assess the value of a poker hand
  • v) a prize award means arranged to award prizes to winning hands as determined by the prize assessment means from the prize fund,
    the processing means being arranged to cause the card dealer to deal at least one card to each player to form a starting hand, to cause the bet manager to request a single bet from the or each player, and, once a single bet has been received from each player, to store the total of the amounts of the bets in the prize fund storage means, to cause the card dealer to deal further cards to provide a poker hand to each player, to cause the hand assessment means to assess the hands of all of the players determine the winning hand and to award at least one prize to the winning hand from the prize fund.

The increased simplicity of the game is advantageous as it reduces the time for which a player must to maintain a connection with the game provider and the amount of data that need be sent. The player need only have an active connection at the instant the bet is placed. This means that the processing means will be able to run more games at one time, or else to require reduced bandwidth to run the same number of games, than was previously possible when continued player interaction was required throughout a hand of poker. This is particularly advantageous in providing the game to network devices such as personal digital assistants, mobile telephones, and the like, some of which are not suited to maintaining connections over time. Further, as the connections need not be maintained over time, the risk of a player losing their connection during the play of a game is reduced. This results in a game more suited for use with wireless devices or devices with an unreliable network connection. This increases the variety of devices which could be used to play the game.

This is also advantageous as it eradicates the complex betting sequences that usually form part of the game of poker, replacing them with a single bet from each player based on the value of their starting hand. The processing means arranged as above allows a player to budget their play and to play according to their bankroll and not their skill level. This allows a player to better control the loss that may be suffered.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

Preferably, the amounts of bets made are made known to all players only after a single bet has been received from each player.

This is advantageous as the data need not be sent to all players throughout play of the game. Further, instead of receiving information indicative of each players bet in turn, as in prior art poker games, a single transmission supplies all of the information. This reduces the data transmitted overall and also the requirement for a player to remain connected throughout play of the game in order to be kept appraised of the actions of other players. Therefore, the game is better suited than prior art processing means to allow play on devices with low data transmitting/receiving capabilities and/or unreliable data connections.

This is also advantageous as it prevents the problem of players colluding to the detriment of another player. Collusion normally involves at least two players using betting behaviour either to entice further and/or higher bets from another player/players in a hand or to push players into folding possible winning hands. As all bets are revealed only after all bets have been placed (in contrast with prior art games in which the players openly place bets one after the other), no player can be affected by the betting behaviour of another. As the benefits of collusion are removed, the game provider need not monitor game play for evidence of suspect betting patterns and therefore, resulting in a reduction in the bandwidth requirements for playing the game.

A further advantage is seen in that players will not need to learn the traditional skills of ‘bluffing’, complex betting strategies such as raising and ‘reading’ other players hands in order to play successfully. Furthermore, each player is free to determine the size of bet that can be made in order to place the player in a position where games can be won. This is particularly advantageous for novice players who can start playing and winning with low or high stakes poker while in the process of learning poker skills.

The method is also advantageous as it reduces the possible benefits to the game provider provided by ‘rigging’ a game by setting up ‘bad beats’. This will reduce the chance of such a scheme being employed by a game provider and will further reassure players who may otherwise mistrust the game provider. This makes the on-line game more attractive to players.

Preferably, the processing circuitry is arranged to provide players with an indication of the strength of their starting hand. This is advantageous as it provides a guide to the level of bet that should be placed, given the odds associated with that starting hand winning a game.

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry comprises a bet/hand lookup table, which provides an indication of the level of bet that should be placed. This enables a player to look up the appropriate level of bet to be placed. In one embodiment, the processing circuitry is arranged to allow a player to construct the bet/hand lookup table. Such a table is advantageous as it allows a player to be consistent in their game play strategy, which in turn allows the player to develop their strategy while playing against players, in contrast to prior art strategies which are developed with reference to statistical analysis alone.

In some embodiments, a bet based on the strength of the starting hand may be placed automatically. This is advantageous as it allows a player to place bets whilst away from their network connected device and/or when they have lost their connection to the network.

In preferred embodiments, the starting hand comprises two cards. This is advantageous as it corresponds to the most common version of ‘Hold'em’ poker which provide an easily recognised game which is attractive to players. However, in some embodiments, variations of Hold'em may be played. For example, one embodiment may comprise providing a starting hand of three cards. This is advantageous as it provides a player with a better indication of the hand they may hold at the end of the game and therefore their chances of winning at the time they place their single bet.

The poker game provided by the processing means may comprise a version of ‘Hold'em’ poker, Stud poker, Omaha poker or any other poker game.

The bet manager may be arranged to only accept bets in amounts which exceed a predetermined minimum amount. This is advantageous as it ensures that, while a player's maximum losses calculable, each player must make a significant contribution to the prize fund.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided processing means arranged to provide a poker game to at least one player playing over a network and comprising

• • i) a card dealer arranged associate at least one card with each player of the game and to provide an indication of the identity of the at least one card to the associated player,
  • ii) a bet manager arranged to request from the or each player an indication of an amount comprising a bet, and
  • iii) a prize fund storage means arranged to store the total of the bets(s) received,
    the processing means being arranged to cause the card dealer to deal at least one card to a player to form a starting hand, to cause the bet manager to request a bet from the or each player, and to add the amount of the bet to the prize fund storage means, and, only once all bets have been received, to disclose all bets received to all players.

This is advantageous as it prevents the problem of players colluding to the detriment of another player. Collusion normally involves at least two players using betting behaviour either to entice further bets from another player/players in hand or to push players into folding possible winning hands. As all bets are revealed only after all bets have been placed (in contrast with prior art games in which the players openly place bets one after the other), no player can be affected by the betting behaviour of another. As the benefits of collusion are removed, the game provider need not monitor game play for evidence of suspect betting patterns and therefore, resulting in a reduction in the bandwidth requirements for playing the game.

A further advantage is seen in that players will not need to learn the traditional skills of ‘bluffing’, complex betting strategies and ‘reading’ other players hands in order to play successfully. Furthermore, each player is free to determine the size of bet that can be made in order to place the player in a position where games can be won. This is particularly advantageous for novice players who can start playing and winning with low stakes poker while in the process of learning poker skills.

The method is also advantageous as it reduces the possible benefits to the game provider provided by ‘rigging’ a game by setting up ‘bad beats’. This will reduce the chance of such a scheme being employed by a game provider and will further reassure players who may otherwise mistrust the game provider. This makes the on-line game more attractive to players.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

Preferably, the bet manager is arranged to request only a single bet from each player.

However, in some embodiments, the processing circuitry may be arranged to cause the card dealer to deal at least one further card and to cause the bet manager to request at least one further bet from each player, to add the amount of the at least one further bet to the prize fund storage means, and, once all bets have been received, to disclose all further bets received to all players. This is advantageous as it corresponds to the betting opportunities provided by prior art poker games and will therefore be attractive to players of such games.

Preferably, the processing circuitry further comprises a hand assessment means arranged to assess the value of a poker hand and a prize award means arranged to award prizes to winning hands as determined by the prize assessment means from the prize fund.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a processing means arranged to provide a poker game to at least one player playing over a network, the processing means comprising an auto-play mode and further comprising a card dealer arranged associate at least one card with each player of the game and to provide an indication of the identity of the at least one card to the associated player, a bet manager arranged determine whether the processing means is in auto-play mode and, if so, to automatically generate a bet based on the at least one card associated with that player and, if otherwise, to request from the or each player an indication of an amount comprising a bet.

This is advantageous as it allows players to take part in a game without the requirement that they need to be actively engaged in the game to be able to play. At present, if a player wishes to take a break from playing, there is no option but to cease playing.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

Preferably, the bet manager is provided with a predetermined amount comprising a minimum bet. This is advantageous as it ensures that an appreciable amount is bet and available as a prize.

Preferably, the processing circuitry is arranged such that it comprises an auto-bet mode, wherein the bet manager is arranged to make automatic bets. The processing circuitry may be arranged to enter auto-bet mode at the instruction of a player, in the absence of an input from a player or in some other circumstance. In one embodiment a bet of the amount of the minimum bet is placed if no input is received from a player within a predetermined time limit. This is advantageous as it could be employed to prevent players from losing out on winnings due to a lost connection.

Preferably, the processing circuitry comprises a bet/hand lookup table, which provides an indication of the level of bet that should be placed. This enables a player to look up the appropriate level of bet to be placed. In one embodiment, the processing circuitry is arranged to allow a player to construct the bet/hand lookup table. Such a table is advantageous as it allows a player to be consistent in their game play strategy, which in turn allows the player to develop their strategy while playing against players, in contrast to prior art strategies which are developed with reference to statistical analysis alone.

A bet generated by the bet manager may be a function, for example a multiple, of the minimum bet. This provides a convenient basis for generating the automatic bet.

In a preferred embodiment, the game provided by the processing means requests a single bet from each player during play of a game. Such an embodiment is advantageous as it restricts the complexity of betting options and is therefore more suited to automatically betting.

In a preferred embodiment, the game provided by the processing circuitry may be arranged to accept bets from each player without disclosing the bets to any other player. This is advantageous as in prior art games, players may be influenced by the bets made by competitors. By keeping bets secret until all bets are received, this is not possible. This is advantageous as processing means which could react appropriately to every betting scenario would be complex, if not impossible, to produce.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a processing means arranged to provide a game of poker to at least two players, the processing means being arranged to associate cards with players, to accept bets from players and being further arranged such that the bets made are not disclosed to other players until bets have been received from all players eligible to make bets.

This is advantageous as it prevents a player from being influenced by other players, which may be to his or her detriment. By not disclosing the bets, there is no opportunity for players to bluff about the value of their hand or successfully collude with other players against a specified player. This provides a low-skill version of poker which will appeal to beginners of the game.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing means arranged to provide a single bet poker game to at least one player wherein the processing means is arranged to associate at least one card with each player and to receive from each player an indication of a single bet, the processing means further comprising an automated bet generation means comprising a hand assessment means arranged to assess the strength of cards associated with a player according to predetermined characteristics and, based on the assessment, calculate a bet on behalf of the player.

This is advantageous as it allows players to take part in a game without the requirement that they have access to the network. This may be particularly advantageous in the event of a failure in a communication link which prevents the player from placing a bet and may therefore result in bets made in a hand thus far to be lost. Such processing circuitry may allow players to take part in more than one game at a time. A player may use the method to verify their own betting strategies or to investigate the betting strategies of others.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a single bet poker game for two or more players in which a starting hand comprising at least one playing card is dealt to each player, the or each player is provided with a single opportunity to place a bet, further cards are dealt to a player to allow each player to form a poker hand, a winner is determined as the player with the best poker hand and a prize is awarded from the bet placed by each player.

This provides a low-skill, low risk version of poker. As there is only one round of betting, each player independently controls how large a bet to risk whilst being in a position to be able to win a prize.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gambling game for at least two players wherein bets from each player contribute to a prize fund, the game comprising a plurality of betting options, one of said betting options comprising electing to cease contributions to the prize fund, the game being such that a player who elects to cease contributions to the prize fund (i) does not participate in any subsequent betting rounds and (ii) limits the maximum amount which can be won from the prize fund to a multiple, equal to the number of players in the game, of the amount contributed to the prize fund by the player who elects to cease contributions to the prize fund.

This is advantageous as a player could chose to limit their risk in a game by ceasing to contribute to a prize fund without losing the opportunity to profit from that game. Further, it prevents the problem of players colluding to the detriment of another player in that a player cannot be forced to fold and abandon his or her stake in a game. As the benefits of collusion are reduced, the game provider need not monitor game play for evidence of suspect betting patterns and therefore, resulting in a reduction in the bandwidth requirements for playing the game.

In one embodiment, the gambling game is poker. In such embodiments, the option to cease making contributions to the prize fund could be offered instead of the option to fold.

Preferably, the other betting options comprise one or more of the following: call, raise, re-raise, all in.

In one embodiment, the game may be played over a computer network

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention there is provided processing means arranged to provide a poker game to at least one player playing over a network and comprising

• • i) a card dealer arranged associate at least one card with each player of the game and to provide an indication of the identity of the at least one card to the associated player,
  • ii) a bet manager arranged to request from the or each player an indication of a bet, and
  • iii) a prize fund storage means arranged to store a total of the bet(s) received from each player,
    the processing means being arranged to cause the card dealer to deal at least one card to a player to form a starting hand, to cause the bet manager to request a bet from the or each player, wherein each player has a plurality of betting options, one of said betting options comprising electing to cease contributions to the prize fund, the game being such that a player who elects to cease contributions to the prize fund (i) does not participate in any subsequent betting rounds and (ii) limits the maximum amount which can be won from the prize fund to a multiple, equal to the number of players in the game, of the amount contributed to the prize fund by the player who elects to cease contributions to the prize fund.

This is advantageous as a player could chose to limit their risk in a game by ceasing to contribute to a prize fund without losing the opportunity to profit from that game. Further, it prevents the problem of players colluding to the detriment of another player in that a player cannot be forced to fold and abandon his or her stake in a game. As the benefits of collusion are reduced, the game provider need not monitor game play for evidence of suspect betting patterns and therefore, resulting in a reduction in the bandwidth requirements for playing the game.

In a preferred embodiment, the steps are carried out in the order set out above.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided software which, when loaded onto a processing means, causes the processing means to act as the processing means of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth or eighth aspects of the invention.

Features described in relation to the one aspect of the invention may also relate to other aspects of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention are now described, by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 shows a processing device arranged to provide access to an on-line poker game;

FIG. 2 shows schematically detail of the memory of a processing device;

FIG. 3 shows schematically a network of processing devices arranged to take part in an on-line poker game;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of steps in during play of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart indicating the steps in calculating the payout received by players according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of steps in during play of one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart indicating the steps in calculating the payout received by players according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a processing device, in this example a computer 100 comprising a display means 102, which in this example is a cathode ray tube display means, a keyboard 104 and a mouse 106, which provide input devices, and processing circuitry 108 arranged to receive inputs from the keyboard 104 and the mouse 106 and to control the display of the display means 102.

The processing circuitry 108 comprises a display driver 110, an IP port 112, a hard drive 114, a memory 116 and an I/O subsystem 118. The display driver 110, IP port 112, hard drive 114, memory 116 and I/O subsystem 118 communicate with one another via a system bus 120 in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. The IP port 112 is arranged to allow the processing device to connect to a network, in this example the Internet as expanded upon hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2.

As is shown schematically in FIG. 2, the computer 100 is connected via a network, in this example the Internet, to another computer 100a, a server 200 and a mobile phone 202. The server 200 provides a processing means and comprises processing circuitry as described in relation to the computer 100, comprising display driver 110′, an IP port 112′, a hard drive 114′, a memory 116′, an I/O subsystem 118′ and a system 120′ and is arranged to generate data to be sent over the Internet (which provides a network over which the game can be played) and to distribute data to the computers 100, 100a and the mobile phone 202 connected to the Internet. The mobile phone 202 also comprises processing circuitry similar to that described in relation to FIG. 1 and further comprises an antenna 204 arranged to transmit signals to and receive signals from the network.

The memory 116′ of the processing circuitry 108′ of the server 200 is described in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

As shown schematically in FIG. 3, the memory 116′ comprises a program storage portion 302, allocated to program storage and is used to hold blocks of program code that can be used to cause the server 200 to perform predetermined actions.

In this embodiment, the program code comprises a card dealer 306, a bet manager 308, a hand assessment means 310, a bet generation means 312, and a prize award calculator 314.

The functions of these blocks of program code will be expanded upon hereinafter.

The memory 208 further comprises a data storage portion 304, allocated to holding data and in this embodiment comprising a prize fund storage means 320, a bet storage means 322, a bet/hand lookup table 324, a prize fund contribution storage means 326, and a winnings storage means 328

Again, the function of the portions of the data storage portion 304 will be expanded upon hereinafter.

To aid understanding of the present invention, one variation of the prior art poker game of ‘Texas Hold'em’ is now briefly described.

In Texas Hold'em, a dealer is nominated from the players (typically there are between two and ten players). The dealer can be the person who deals the cards, but is more usually an indication of where the dealer would be, given that the dealer moves clockwise around the players. The significance of the dealer is that the person to the dealer's left starts the betting. The first bet placed is a compulsory ‘small blind’ bet, usually equal to half of the minimum bet. The second bet is a ‘large blind’, placed by the player to the left of the small blind. The large and small blinds are paid into a ‘pot’, providing a potential prize fund for the eventual winner of the hand. Each player then receives two cards, (visible only to that player) known as hole cards as their personal hand. There then follows a round of betting, starting from the player to the left of the player who placed the large blind, in which each player has the opportunity to fold their hand, bet by adding money into the pot, fold or check (make no bet). Three cards are then laid on the table, with their faces visible to all players (these are called the ‘flop’) and another round of betting occurs. The two further cards are laid down (the ‘river’ and ‘turn’ cards), one at a time, with a round of betting after each card. The five cards on the table are referred to as community cards. A player may use any five-card combination from among the cards on the table and those in their hand in order to achieve the highest rated poker hand possible.

During rounds of betting, hands may be folded and the players of such hands lose the possibility of winning the hand. Any bet made must be matched by players wishing to stay in the hand. The game is won either by the last player after all other players have folded or been knocked out or the player with the highest rated poker hand. This winning player receives the money in the pot (a portion of which is usually taken by the game provider). In the event of a draw, the pot is split.

In some prior art versions of the game, it is possible for a player to ‘go all in’, i.e. at some stage of the game to bet all of his or her remaining money. This has the effect of splitting the pot. Although other players may continue to bet, their subsequent bets are added to a ‘side pot’, the amount of money which has been bet up to that point now being termed the ‘main pot’. If the player who has gone all in wins, then his maximum prize is defined by the total amount he has contributed to the main pot—he will collect from each player the amount they have bet up to a maximum of his own contribution. Different players can ‘go all in’ at different stages of the game and therefore a number of side pots can be formed.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a player X joins a poker game by accessing the Internet via the IP port 112 of their computer 100 and logging on to the server 200 via its IP port 112′. In this embodiment, player X joins a game being played by the users Y and Z of the other computer 100a and the mobile phone 202 connected to the server 200.

Data is sent from the server 200 to the IP port 112 of the computer 100 and is used to control the display of the display means 102 to display a game play interface. For the purposes of this example, it is assumed that the player holds an account with the game provider and that the account is in credit.

For reasons of clarity, in the ensuing description, the game play is described as if physical cards are used. However, it should be appreciated that, for example, ‘dealing a card’ means that the card dealer 306 code is retrieved from the program storage portion 302 of the memory 116′, which uses a random number generator to identify a card from a UK/US standard deck of fifty-two cards and instructions are sent from the server 200 to a computer 100, 100a, or the mobile phone 202 to cause that computer 100, 100a, or mobile phone 202 to display a representation of that card, and so on. In the case of the mobile phone, which has more limited processing and display capabilities than the computers, the representation may, for example, be textual (e.g. A-A for two aces), rather than pictorial, as is the preferred representation for a computer 100, 100a.

An example of play of a game according to one embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

In step 402, the server 200 accesses the card dealer 306 and causes it to deal two cards to each of the players X, Y, Z as hole cards. Each player is allocated a number from 1 to 3 by the server 200, which then accesses the bet manager 308 portion of code to ensure that bets are received from each player in turn (step 404). The bet manager 308 checks to see whether the player has requested to play in ‘auto-play mode’ (discussed further below) in step 406.

If auto-play mode has not been selected, the bet manager 308 checks to see whether a message has been received indicating the bet that the player wishes to make (step 408). If no message has been received then the bet manager 308 checks whether the time limit (in this example 30 seconds) for placing a bet has passed as step 410. If the time limit has passed and no bet has been detected then the bet manager checks to see when an input was last received (step 411). If this was greater than 50 minutes ago, the player is removed from the table (step 413). Otherwise, the bet manager places a minimum bet (step 412) and the betting process continues as set out below.

If auto-play mode has been selected, the processing circuitry 108′ of the server 200 accesses the hand assessment means 310 from its memory 116′. This ranks the hand according to predetermined rules. For example, if the hole cards are a pair of aces or a pair of kings, the hand may be awarded rank one. If the hole cards are a pair of nines, the hand may be awarded rank three. If the hand consists of a three and a ten in different suits, the hand may be awarded a rank zero.

While a full guide is not provided herein, the man skilled in the art will be aware that many systems for ranking hole cards exist and are often debated by experienced players. Any predetermined ranking system could be used. Alternatively, a player may develop their own ranking system and use this to populate the bet/hand look-up table 324.

Once a rank has been awarded, the bet generation means 312 is accessed by the processing circuitry. This uses the bet/hand look-up table 324 to look up the appropriate level of bet that should be placed as step 414. For example, a rank one hand may have an associated bet of fifty times the table minimum (the table minimum is the minimum bet required to play the hand), whereas a hand with rank zero will likely be associated with a table minimum bet. The bet generation means 312 then generates the appropriate bet in step 416.

Once a bet has been generated or input by a player, the bet manager 308 inputs the bet for storage in the bet storage means 322 and in the prize fund contribution storage means 326, and the value is used to increment the prize fund storage means 320 in step 418.

The above routine is repeated for each of the players until it is detected, in step 420, that all the players have placed a bet.

The processing circuitry 108′ transmits all the bets received to all the players X, Y and Z (step 422), and proceeds to deal the five community cards in step 424.

The hand assessment means 310 then, in step 426, ranks the hands of all the players by building the best possible poker hand from the two hole cards held by each player and the five community cards.

In step 428, the prize award calculator 314 is used to calculate the prize awarded to each player based on the rank of their hand and the amount that the player bet. This is described in greater detail, again in relation to a three player game with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5.

In step 502, the processing circuitry 108′ identifies the rank one player, i.e. the player with the best hand. The winnings for this player are then calculated as follows.

First, in step 504, the bet placed by that player is retrieved from the bet storage means 322. In step 506, the player who came second is identified (the runner-up) and the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is retrieved from the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

In step 508, it is determined whether the bet placed by the winning player is smaller than the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up. If the bet was smaller, in step 510, the winning player is awarded winnings in the amount of their bet and this is stored in the winnings storage means 328. The contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is reduced by the amount of the winning player's bet and this reduced amount is stored in the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

If the bet placed by the winning player is larger than the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up, in step 512, the winning player is awarded winnings in the amount of the runner-up's contribution and this is stored in the winnings storage means 328. The contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is reduced to zero and this amount is stored in the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

A similar process then occurs comparing the winning player's bet with the losing player's prize fund contribution.

In step 514, it is determined whether there are further players who may have won an award to be allocated from the prize fund and, if so, the prize award process is repeated for the runner-up, comparing the runner-up's bet with the losing player's prize fund contribution.

Once all the prize amounts have been calculated, notification of all the bets placed and of the prizes won is issued to players in step 516.

Whilst in this embodiment only three players are discussed to provide a simple example, in other embodiments the process would continue until all ‘winning’ players were paid in turn, insofar as it is possible.

There follows an example of the money taken away from the table based on various bets if X had the best hand, Y the runner-up hand and Z the losing hand:

	A	B	C
	Initial	Take away	Initial bet	Take away	Initial bet	Take away
	bet £	£	£	£	£	£
X	10	30	3	9	2	5
Y	10	0	12	14	1	1
Z	10	0	5	0	16	13

In example A, player X gets back his own stake of £10 plus his bet is matched from the stake of Y and Z, so takes away £30 in total. Although Y has beaten Z, Z's stake has been exhausted, so Y wins nothing.

In example B, player A claims his own stake of £3, plus £3 each from Y and Z. Y then claims his stake of £12 from Z up to the limit of Z's remaining portion of stake, in this case only £2 is remaining. Y then takes away his own stake of £12 plus Z's £2.

In example C, X takes all of Y's £1 stake and £2 of Z's £16 stake. Y takes £1 of Z's stake. Z is left with £13 remaining of his stake.

Alternative embodiments exist which will be readily apparent to the man skilled in the art which do not depart from the scope of the invention. For example, it may be that three hole cards are dealt to each player and, after a round of betting, four community cards are dealt. This variation allows a bet to be placed after more cards have been seen so a player can make a better guess at the strength of the hand they may be able to make.

There may be the option of a second round of betting, perhaps after the flop (where three hole cards are dealt, the flop is preferably comprises two cards). However, in order for the advantages of the present invention to be maintained, this is preferably limited to, for example, the original bet made or to 50% of this amount or the like. In such embodiments, it is preferable that the bets still remain secret until all bets have been placed.

Indeed, there may be four rounds of betting, as in Texas Hold'em, with a round following the deal of the hole cards, one after the flop, one after the turn card is dealt and one following the river card, with players electing whether to continue to place bets in each round. In such embodiments, once a round of betting has been missed, it may not be possible to bet in subsequent rounds.

While the invention has hereto been described with reference to a ‘Hold'em’ game, the inventive concept could be readily adapted to other game formats, for example to Omaha or Stud versions of the game.

As described above, a player who becomes disconnected from the network may have minimum bets placed on each hand for 50 minutes, or some other length of time. In other embodiments, the processing means may automatically be placed in autobid mode if no bet is made within a predetermined time limit.

In some embodiments, there may be no option for a player to fold their hand. This means that each hand remains ‘live’ right up until the final card (the river card) is dealt. In embodiments where there is more than one round of betting, this may be possible even when a player does not take part in later rounds of betting. If for example a player bets an amount on the strength of his hole cards, then declines to make a further bet following the flop, his original bet stands and he will be able to win from all other bets made before the flop (similar to going ‘all in’ in Texas Hold'em). In such embodiments, a player has the option to electing to cease contributions to the prize fund, which is herein described as ‘freezing’ their hand. This mode of play may appeal to ‘high-stakes’ players who are at present reluctant to play on the internet due to the possibility of collusion but in such a game a high stakes player could divide up ether ‘bankroll’ between betting rounds according to the community cards and how the hole cards fall. There will be some room for strategy but the skill level of the game is reduced when compared to prior art poker games. An example of such a game is as follows:

In this example, five players are playing limit Texas Hold'em. One player is dealt two kings as their hole cards. This hand has a high potential and the player will be keen to bet and raise prior to the flop. However, the flop of Ace-Queen-Queen does not benefit the hand and, in this example, attracts a bet and a raise before the player holding the kings is required to act. In normal poker, the player's options are to call, raise or fold. Based on the situation in this hand, the player would perhaps be prudent to fold. However, with in the present example, folding is not an option; the player may instead opt to ‘freeze’, which has an effect similar to going ‘all in’ for the amount already committed into the pot. In this example, the turn card is another King and the player has made a full-house. The game continues action continues, but without any further part from the player who has opted to freeze. If the full-house is the strongest hand, that player receives the amount they contributed from each player (or, if a player has committed less that that amount to the pot, the amount contributed by that player), which in this example office players means receiving a total of five times the amount risked.

The amount bet in later rounds of betting (i.e. following the ‘freeze’) may be returned to the players placing the bets or may be won by the strongest hand which remained in the game, as described in greater detail below

As the ‘freeze’ option allows a player to opt out of later rounds of betting (thereby ceasing to make contributions to the prize fund), this format could be combined with a no-limit format in which risk can be better managed. This means that a novice player will be more willing enter no-limit games which might have otherwise seemed imposing.

A game according to this embodiment of the invention could also be played using a computer as described in relation to FIG. 1.

In one example of such an embodiment, a player X joins a poker game by accessing the Internet via the IP port 112 of their computer 100 and logging on to the server 200 via its IP port 112′. In this embodiment, player X joins a game being played by the users Y and Z of the other computer 100a and the mobile phone 202 connected to the server 200, as described above.

As in the example described above, for reasons of clarity in the ensuing description the game play is described as if physical cards are used.

An example of play of a game including the ‘Freeze’ option with three players is now described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7.

In step 602, the server 200 accesses the card dealer 306 and causes it to deal two cards to each of the players X, Y, Z as hole cards. Each player is allocated a number from 1 to 3 by the server 200, which then accesses the bet manager 308 portion of code to ensure that bets are received from each player in turn (step 604).

The bet manager 308 checks to see whether a message has been received indicating the bet that the player wishes to make in step 606. If no message has been received then the bet manager 308 checks whether the time limit (in this example 30 seconds) for placing a bet has passed as step 608. If the time limit has passed and no bet has been detected then the bet manager checks to see when an input was last received (step 610). If this was greater than 50 minutes ago, the player is removed from the table (step 614). Otherwise, the bet manager places a minimum bet (step 615) and the betting process continues as set out below.

Once a bet has been input by a player, the bet manager 308 inputs the bet for storage in the bet storage means 322 and in the prize fund contribution storage means 326, and, if the bet has a value, the value is used to increment the prize fund storage means 320 in step 616.

In step 618, the bet manager 308 determines whether a player has opted to ‘freeze’. If the player has chosen to ‘Freeze’, then the total contribution by that player to the prize fund is stored in the bet storage means 322 (step 620), the player is prevented from making further bets in step 624 and the total number of players is reduced by one in step 626 as the frozen player takes no part in later betting rounds.

The above routine is repeated for each of the players until it is detected, in step 628, that all the players have placed a bet.

The processing circuitry 108′ transmits all the bets received to all the players X, Y and Z (step 628), and proceeds to deal the three cards forming the ‘flop’ in step 632. A second round of betting follows in the same manner following the flop, a third round of betting following the river card, and a fourth round following the turn card, assuming that some players are still in the game.

The hand assessment means 310 then ranks the hands of all the players by building the best possible poker hand from the two hole cards held by each player and the five community cards. The prize award calculator 314 is used to calculate the prize awarded to each player based on the rank of their hand and the amount that the player bet. This is described in greater detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7.

The prize award calculator 314 starts by looking for the winning player, or in this example by identifying the player with rank one (in the Figures, the rank is designated by m, and the prize award calculator 314 therefore starts by setting m=1 in step 702) In step 704, the processing circuitry 108′ identifies the rank one player, i.e. the player with the best hand. The winnings for this player are then calculated as follows.

First, in step 706, it is determined whether that player elected to Freeze.

If the winning player did not elect to Freeze, then, in step 707, that player is awarded the prize fund and, in step 708, the players are notified of the bets placed and the prize awarded.

If the winning player did elect to Freeze, the bet placed by that player is retrieved from the bet storage means 322 (step 709) (in the Figures, A is an integer). In step 710, the player who came second is identified (the runner-up, rank m=2) and the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is retrieved from the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

In step 712, it is determined whether the bet placed by the winning player is smaller than the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up. If the winning player's bet was smaller, in step 714, the winning player is awarded winnings in the amount of their bet and this is stored in the winnings storage means 328. The contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is reduced by the amount of the winning player's bet and this reduced amount is stored in the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

If the bet placed by the winning player is larger than the contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up, in step 716, the winning player is awarded winnings in the amount of the runner-up's contribution and this is stored in the winnings storage means 328. The contribution made to the prize fund by the runner-up is reduced to zero and this amount is stored in the prize fund contribution storage means 326.

The prize award calculator 314 determines if there are any further players from whom winnings can be claimed in step 718. In this example, there is the losing, or rank m=3 player. A similar process then occurs comparing the winning player's bet with the losing player's prize fund contribution

In step 720, it is determined whether a prize award should be calculated for any further players, and, in this example, the process is then repeated for the runner-up, determining whether the runner-up decided to freeze and then calculating the prize available, if any.

Once all the prize amounts have been calculated, notification of all the bets placed and of the prizes won is issued to players in step 722.

Of course, variations to the game which do not depart from the scope of the invention are also possible. For example, any funds not won by the winning player could be returned to the player who contributed those funds.

Claims

1.-31. (canceled)

32. A system for providing a poker game to at least one player playing over a network, the system comprising:

a card dealer module programmed to associate at least one card with each player of the game;

a bet manager module programmed to present a plurality of betting options to each player, and to request from each player an indication of a bet; and

a prize fund storage module programmed to store in a prize fund a total of the bet received from each player;

wherein one of the betting options provided by the bet manager module includes electing to cease contributions to the prize fund, such that if one player elects to cease contributions to the prize fund, the one player (i) does not participate in any subsequent betting rounds, and (ii) limits a maximum amount which can be won from the prize fund to a multiple, equal to a number of players in the game, of an amount contributed to the prize fund by the one player who elects to cease contributions to the prize fund.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the bet manager module is programmed to provide each player with the betting options including call, re-raise, all in, and freeze.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the bet manager module is programmed to allow the one player to cease contributions to the prize fund when the one player selects the freeze betting option.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the bet manager module is programmed to allow the one player to cease contributions to the prize fund when the one player selects a freeze betting option from the betting options.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the card dealer module is further programmed to deal Texas ‘Hold'em’ poker, Stud poker, or Omaha poker.

37. The system of claim 32, wherein the bet manager module is further programmed to provide an indication of a strength of the one player's hand.

38. The system of claim 32, wherein the bet manager module is further programmed to place a bet automatically based on a strength of the one player's hand.

39. The system of claim 32, further comprising a memory module programmed to store the card dealer module, the bet manager module, and the prize fund storage module.

40. A system for providing a poker game to at least one player playing over a network, the system comprising:

a card dealer module programmed to associate at least one card with each player of the game;

a bet manager module programmed to present a plurality of betting options, including call, re-raise, all in, and freeze, to each player, and to request from each player an indication of a bet; and

a prize fund storage module programmed to store in a prize fund a total of the bet received from each player;

wherein, when one player selects the freeze betting option, the one player (i) does not participate in any subsequent betting rounds, and (ii) limits a maximum amount which can be won from the prize fund to a multiple, equal to a number of players in the game, of an amount contributed to the prize fund by the one player.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the card dealer module is further programmed to deal Texas ‘Hold'em’ poker, Stud poker, or Omaha poker.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein the bet manager module is further programmed to place a bet automatically based on a strength of the one player's hand.

43. The system of claim 40, further comprising a memory module programmed to store the card dealer module, the bet manager module, and the prize fund storage module.

44. A method for playing a game of poker, the method comprising:

associating at least one playing card with each player;

allowing each player to select one of a plurality of betting options to place a bet, wherein the betting options include a freeze option;

if the freeze option is selected: excluding a player selecting the freeze option from participation in any subsequent betting rounds; and limiting a maximum amount the player can win to a multiple, equal to a number of players in the game, of an amount contributed by the player; and

calculating a prize for each player.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein allowing each player to select one of the plurality of betting options further comprises presenting the betting options as call, re-raise, all in, and freeze.

46. The method of claim 44, further comprising allowing the player to cease betting when the player selects the freeze betting option from the betting options.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein associating at least one playing card with each player further includes dealing Texas ‘Hold'em’ poker, Stud poker, or Omaha poker.

48. The method of claim 44, further comprising providing an indication of a strength of the player's hand.

49. The method of claim 44, further comprising automatically betting based on a strength of the player's hand.

50. The method of claim 44, further comprising allowing a plurality of players to log into a system through a network to play the game.

51. The method of claim 44, further comprising using a computer system to associate at least one playing card with each player, allow each player to select one of the plurality of betting options, and calculate the prize for each player.