Apparatus for Betting-Type Card Game or Simulated Card Game

Abstract

A game and method are described. The game includes a surface having a first set of betting areas, each area displaying a different representation of a playing card combination and a second set of betting areas each displaying a different representation of a card combination. There is also a card deck containing all of the cards of a standard deck but for those in the first and second sets. This deck is used during play to deal community cards. There are also sets of betting chips for the players to place bets on the betting areas, each set having means for distinguishing the chips of one set from chips of the other sets so that each betting chip indicates the player to whom it belongs. In one embodiment, there are low and high card betting areas for side bets on the denomination of a community card to be dealt.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to betting-type card game apparatus or machine for one or more players to play an actual card game or a simulated card game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of betting-type card games are known in the gaming industry, including the Internet gaming industry. In particular, a variety of poker-type games are known and are quite popular with gamblers, including those that play at casinos. A particularly popular poker game is commonly known as Texas Holdem and this game has expanded into many different variations of play (Rush/Matrix) over the years and around the world. There is continued interest in new variations on the basic table version of this game and also in video game versions. In a standard game of Texas Holdem played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards, each player is dealt two cards face down, which are referred to as hole cards or pocket cards. There is then a round of betting, this round being referred to as the preflop betting round and players can call, raise or fold during this round. After the betting round ends, the dealer discards the top card of the deck which is called the burn card. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the table, this step being referred to as the flop. These are communal or community cards that anyone can use in combination with their two pocket cards to form a poker hand. The player to the left of the dealer then starts another betting round and after this betting round concludes, the dealer burns again and flips another communal card onto the table. This is called the turn. The player to the left of the dealer then begins another round of betting after which the dealer burns a card and places a final card faceup on the table which is called the river. Players can then use any of the five cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form a five card poker hand. There is then a final round of betting starting with the player to the left of the dealer.

Another form of popular betting game, particular in casinos, is roulette. In this game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even. To determine the winning number and color, the person running the game, commonly called a croupier, spins a roulette wheel. A ball spins in the opposite direction around a track which is circular and tilted and extends around the circumference of the wheel. The ball eventually falls onto the wheel and into one of the 37 or 38 colored and numbered pockets on the wheel which determines the winning bets.

Another well known card game that can be played by two to eight people is the game of Rummoli, which requires a Rummoli board, a standard deck of playing cards and chips or coins to play. The board is in the shape of an octagon, with eight different pots surrounding a center pot called Rummoli. The eight surrounding pots are the poker pot, ten of spades, jack of diamonds, queen of clubs, king of hearts, ace of spades, the ace and king of diamonds, and finally, the sequence 7-8-9 of any suit. In this game, before the cards are dealt, each player pays one chip to each pot on the Rummoli board and then the dealer deals around the table to every player, plus an extra hand which can be referred to as the widow. All cards of the deck are dealt out. If the dealer does not exchange his deal hand for the widow hand, the widow hand is auctioned off to the highest bidder who pays the bid to the dealer. The game then proceeds to a poker phase with the player to the left of the dealer starting the betting, which continues in a regular poker fashion. The player with the best poker hand wins the poker pot and then the game proceeds to a Rummoli phase.

There is a need for an improved, interesting betting-type card game or simulated card game that can be played in casinos and elsewhere by one or more players. A game played with the betting-type card game apparatus or machine described herein is interesting and fun to play and can include features of both the poker game known as Texas Holdem and roulette. An exemplary version of the card game or simulated card game played with the described apparatus or machine can provide a significant house or casino advantage for the operator of the card game or machine.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a betting-type card game apparatus for one or more players to play a card game comprises a playing surface having (a) a first set of defined betting areas, each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits, each with 13 cards, including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace and (b) a second set of defined betting areas, each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from a standard deck of cards, each two card combination of the first and second sets being different than any of the other two card combinations. The game apparatus also includes a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of the standard deck of playing cards, except the cards in the first and second sets represented on the playing surface. This deck of playing cards is used during play of the card game to deal communal or community cards for the one or more players in the card game. There are also sets of betting chips for the one or more players to place bets on the defined betting areas. Each set of betting chips has means for distinguishing each betting chip of the set from betting chips of the other sets so that each betting chip indicates the player to whom it belongs during play of the game.

In an exemplary version of this game apparatus, the playing surface also has low and high card betting areas for side bets by the one or more players who have made initial bets on one or both of the first and second sets of defined betting areas.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic game machine for a simulated card game for one or more players suitable for betting includes an electronic display system for showing a simulated playing surface having (a) a first set of defined betting areas, each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits, each with thirteen cards, including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace and (b) a second set of defined betting areas, each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from the standard deck of cards. Each two card combination of the first and second sets is different for any of the other two card combinations. The game machine also includes electronic means for randomly generating and displaying simulated community cards from a group of possible card simulations corresponding to a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of a standard deck of playing cards, except the cards in the first and second sets represented on the simulated playing surface. There are also means for placing bets by one or more players on one or more of the two card combinations, the bet placing means including means for distinguishing bets placed by one player from bets placed by any other players in the simulated card game.

In the exemplary version of the aforementioned electronic game machine, the electronic display system includes electronic means for showing both low and high card betting areas for side bets by the one or more players who have made one or more initial bets on one or more of the displayed two card combinations.

According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a betting-type game apparatus for one or more players to play a real or simulated card game comprises means for providing a real or simulated playing surface displaying (a) a first set of five predetermined betting indicia, each indicating a two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits, each with thirteen cards, including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace and (b) a second set of five predetermined betting indicia, each indicating a two card combination from the standard deck of playing cards. Each two card combination of the first and second sets is different than any of the other two card combinations. This game apparatus also has means for randomly providing real or simulated community playing cards corresponding to any of the cards of the standard deck not including any cards indicated in the two card combinations of the first and second sets. There are also means for placing bets on one or more of the two card combinations of the first and second sets.

In an exemplary version of the aforementioned game apparatus, the means for providing a real or simulated playing surface provides a playing surface that displays card color betting indicia divided equally between red card indicia and black card indicia. Each of the card color betting indicia specifies a number of dealt or displayed community playing cards in a complete hand of the card game that will be from the two red suits or that will be from the two black suits. The bet placing mechanism of the apparatus includes means for making a bet or bets on the actual number of dealt or displayed community playing cards being from the two red suits in the complete hand or the actual number of these community playing cards being from the black suits in the complete hand.

These and other aspects of the disclosed apparatus, machines, systems and methods of playing card games or simulated card games will become more readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains will more readily understand how to make and use the subject invention, exemplary embodiments thereof will be described in detail here and below with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a playing surface for a betting-type card game apparatus constructed in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a detail view of sections of the playing surface of FIG. 1, this view showing card color betting areas;

FIG. 3 is a detail view of two further sections of the playing surface of FIG. 1, this view showing two sets of defined betting areas;

FIG. 4 is a view showing two additional sections of the playing surface of FIG. 1, this view showing a low card betting area and a high card betting area for side bets;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a table having a top with the playing surface of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating how a card game can be played with the playing surface of FIG. 1, a deck of playing cards and betting chips of different colors; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the front and one side of an electronic game machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary playing surface 10 for a betting-type card game for one or more players is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5. As illustrated in FIG. 5, this playing surface can be painted, drawn or otherwise formed on a top 12 of a playing table 14 which can be supported on legs or posts 16. The illustrated table top has side and end areas 18 and 20 which can, for example be used to hold betting chips suitable for the game. A few of these chips 22 are illustrated in FIG. 1 where they are drawn to indicate different colors. The card game can be played with sets of these betting chips 22 for the players to place bets on the playing surface as described hereinafter. Each set of these betting chips has means for distinguishing each betting chip of one set from betting chips of the other sets so that each betting chip indicates the player to whom it belongs during play of the game. For example each set of chips can have a different color including red, white, blue, purple, etc. However instead of or in addition to different colours, each set of chips can bear different indicia to identify the player who has placed the bet. The indicia might comprise different letters, symbols or pictures.

Turning to the configuration of the playing surface 10 shown in FIG. 1 the surface includes first and second sets of defined betting areas each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination of a standard deck of playing cards. The first set is indicated at 26 and extends across the top of the playing surface as shown in FIG. 1. A second set 28 can extend either across the center of the playing surface as shown in FIG. 1 or across the bottom of the playing surface as shown in FIG. 5. The two sets 26, 28 are shown separately in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows only indicia in the form of names of the cards rather than a full representation of each card of each two card combination. As illustrated, each of the two sets comprises five different combinations of two playing cards with the total number of cards in the combined two sets being twenty. It will be understood that a standard deck of playing cards has four suits which comprise clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. Each suit in a standard deck has thirteen cards including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, one of which is indicated at 30 in FIG. 1, a queen, one of which is indicated at 32, a king, one of which is indicated at 34, and an ace, one of which is indicated at 36. An exemplary version of a card game apparatus of the present disclosure includes, in addition to the playing surface 10, a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of the aforementioned standard deck of playing cards except the cards in the first and second sets 26, 28 represented on the playing surface. This deck of playing cards is used during play of the card game to deal community or communal cards to the one or more players in the card game. The chosen ten combinations of two cards are identified by references 40 to 49 in FIG. 3. These ten two card combinations are selected on a mathematical basis to equalize approximately each of the hands on the probability to win taking into account the various bets that can be made during one hand of the card game. Table 1 set out below indicates the odds of obtaining various poker hand combinations for each of the two card combinations. The total number of these poker combinations for each two card combination is indicated in the right hand column.

	TABLE 1
	Royal	Straight	4 of a	Full			3 of a
	Flush	Flush	Kind	House	Flush	Straight	Kind	2 Pair	1 pair	Total
(A-D/10-H)	28	108	0	2219	1335	2033	958	1566	296	8543
(A-H/5-D)	0	1	404	3607	1258	2891	1914	1618	0	11693
(K-C/K-S)	0	1	4057	14849	2539	503	13653	0	922	36524
(Q-C/J-S)	0	1	0	2091	0	5940	1198	2033	0	11263
(Q-S/10-S)	0	1	0	1886	10568	6121	0	1182	0	19758
(J-C/9-C)	0	436	405	3867	10552	4920	1864	1059	0	23103
(8-D/6-D)	0	28	808	5514	10643	6023	3107	1792	0	27915
(7-S/7-D)	0	84	3997	10873	1	1837	7461	0	0	24252
(4-H/2-H)	0	23	807	3700	10472	3707	3386	1694	0	23789
(3-C/3-H)	0	82	3997	8046	0	1253	5798	0	0	19176
ALL HANDS	0	1	0	0	0	18	0	0	0	19
TOTALS	28	765	14475	56652	47367	35228	39339	10944	1218	206016

The ten two card combinations 40-49 are permanent combinations displayed on the playing surface. It will be understood that in the case of an electronic video game machine 100 (see FIG. 7) or one played using a computer screen, these combinations can be displayed electronically on a screen 101 during the play of game. The combination 40 comprises the ace of diamonds and 10 of hearts while the combination 41 comprises the king of clubs and king of spades. The combination 42 comprises the queen of clubs and the jack of spades while the combination 43 comprises the queen of spades and the 10 of spades. The final two card combination of the first set is the combination 44 which comprises the jack of clubs and the 9 of clubs. In the second set the first combination 45 on the left comprises the 8 of diamonds and the 6 of diamonds while the combination 46 comprises the 7 of diamonds and the 7 of spades. The combination 47 comprises the 4 of hearts and the 2 of hearts while the next combination 48 comprises the 3 of clubs and the 3 of spades. The fifth combination 49 of the second set comprises the ace of spades and the 5 of diamonds. It will be seen that four of the two card combinations comprise cards of the same suit. The combination 43 comprises two spades while the combination 44 comprises two clubs. The combination 45 comprises two diamonds while the combination 47 comprises two hearts. It will be understood that these four two card combinations represent all four suits. Moreover, there are five cards of each of the four suits represented on the first and second sets and in addition every card denomination is displayed at least once amongst the cards of the two sets. It will also be understood that the first set 26 displays high cards with the lowest card being the numerical card 9 while the second set 28 displays low cards (since the ace in combination 49 can be either high or low in poker). It will be understood that the deck of thirty-two cards, none of which are represented on the playing surface, is generally kept in a dealer's possession and the cards are dealt when required during the play of the game by the dealer. This is particularly true of a card game played in a casino where the dealer is an employee of the casino. In a non-casino game, such as a private game or game played at home, it is possible for one of the players to be a dealer as well.

An exemplary version of the playing surface 10 includes card color betting areas indicated generally by reference 55. In the illustrated exemplary playing surface there are six of these betting areas which are shown separately in FIG. 2 and identified separately by references 56-61. These betting areas are divided equally between red card areas 56-58 and black card areas 59-61. In the playing surface shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the six red and black card areas are on the lower half of the playing surface. Each of the card color betting areas in the illustrated embodiment specifies the number of dealt community cards in a complete hand that will be from the two red suits in the deck (diamonds and hearts) or that will be from the two black suits in the deck (clubs and spades). As indicated in FIG. 6, the player or players cannot only place bets at the beginning of play on the first and second sets of defined betting areas 26, 28 but can also place a bet or bets on the card color betting areas 56-61 prior to the dealing of any community cards for a particular hand.

Table 2 set out below is an odds table showing the number of possible hands that can satisfy the three red cards requirement of area 56, the four red cards requirement of area 57, the five red cards requirement of area 58, the three black cards requirement of betting area 59, the four black cards requirement of betting area 60 and the five black cards requirement of betting area 61. The number of possible hands meeting each color requirement are listed horizontally beside the ten two-card combinations of the first and second sets 26, 28 on the playing surface. These ten two-card combinations are listed in the left hand column of Table 2.

	TABLE 2
	3 RED	4 RED	5 RED	3 BLACK	4 BLACK	5 BLACK	TOTALS
(A-D/10-H)	1510	1349	522	2006	902	77	6366
(A-H/5-D)	2765	1158	439	4404	1981	267	11014
(K-C/K-S)	14747	6307	747	10463	3415	826	36505
(Q-C/J-S)	3942	1463	176	2877	475	0	8933
(Q-S/10-S)	3000	899	36	6994	4957	967	16853
(J-C/9-C)	4802	1681	140	8925	5581	1032	22161
(8-D/6-D)	10315	5805	1067	7455	2959	295	27896
(7-S/7-D)	8470	2332	82	9429	3530	390	24233
(4-H/2-H)	8887	5508	1072	5853	2256	194	23770
(3-C/3-H)	6787	1887	62	7438	2706	277	19157
(A/10 & A/5)	136	66	0	237	179	42	660
(A/10 & Q/10)	688	177	0	505	128	0	1498
(Q/J & Q/10)	690	292	17	363	26	0	1388
(Q/J & J/9)	449	190	8	250	26	0	923
ALL HANDS	12	6	0	0	0	1	19
TOTALS	67200	29120	4368	67199	29121	4368	201376

Of the 5 community cards revealed during the course of a hand (see FIG. 6 which explains the steps involved in playing a hand), there can only be six combinations of color which are as follows:

Combinations of color amongst five community cards
0 Red and 5 black
1 Red and 4 black
2 red and 3 black
3 red and 2 black
4 red and 1 black
5 red and 0 black

This sequence is used to resolve the roulette type bets in which players placed wagers on 3 red, 4 red, or 5 red amongst the 5 community cards to be dealt by the dealer. In the event that all community cards are the same color red, each of these wagers would win and pay out based on a pay table. This pay table is set out below as Table 3.

TABLE 3
Royal Flush Pays      250-1
Straight Flush Pays   100-1
1 Pair Pays           15-1
2 Pair Pays           8-1
Regular Win Hand Pays 4-1
5 Red or Black        7-1
4 Red or Black        2-1
3 Red or Black        1-1
Low/High              1-1
Regular winning hands are the following
4 Of A Kind
Full house
Flush
Straight
3 Of A Kind

In the event that the five community cards when dealt contain only 3 red cards and 2 black cards, then a 3 red wager wins and would pay out 1-1 in accordance with the pay table. Wagers on 4 red and 5 red would be taken by the house.

A similar situation applies in the case of wagers placed on the black card areas. If the players place wagers on 3 black, 4 black and 5 black and the 5 community cards when dealt are all black cards, then each of these wagers would win with a payout based on the pay Table 3. On the other hand, if wagers are placed on all 3 black card areas and the 5 community cards when dealt include only 4 black and 1 red card, then wagers on 3 black and 4 black would win but wagers on 5 black would be taken by the house.

An exemplary version of the playing surface 10 also has a low card betting area 64 for side bets by the one or more players who have made initial bets on one or both of the first and second sets of the defined betting areas (26, 28). There is also a high card betting area 66 for alternative side bets by the one or more players who have made the initial bets in the game. Two low card and high card betting areas 64, 66 are shown separately in FIG. 4. If desired, these betting areas can be placed at each end of the playing surface as shown in FIG. 1 and they can be rectangular, square, circular or another shape such as that shown in FIG. 4. Also as shown in FIG. 4, the low card betting area 64 displays the indicia “LOW/2-7” in the center thereof. The high card betting area 66 displays the indicia “HIGH/8-Ace”. Optionally the words “Bet made at river card” can be shown on each of these areas to remind the players when these particular bets are to be made during the course of a hand. In the case of the low card betting area 64, each of the side bets during play of the game made by placing chips on this area is a bet that one of the community cards to be dealt from the deck will be one of the numerical cards in the card deck having a value equal to or less than a predetermined value. In an exemplary version of the card game the bet is made at the river card, which is the card in the deck that precedes the fifth and last community card. Thus the bets placed on the betting areas 64, 66 in this particular version of the game concern the last community card to be dealt by the dealer in the hand. Moreover, in an exemplary version of the card game, a bet on the low card area 64 is a bet that the last community card will have a value equal to or less than 7 and will not be an ace which, for purposes of this bet is treated as a high card.

An alternative bet placed on the high card betting area 66 during play of the game is a bet that the community card to be dealt will be higher in assigned value than the aforementioned predetermined value. Again, in the exemplary version of the card game, the community card on which this bet is placed is the last or fifth card and in order for a bet to win when placed on the betting area 66 the card must have a value of 8 or higher or, in other words, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, or ace.

To further explain the side bet option, in order to make either the low card bet on area 64 or the high card bet on area 66 the player or players must be current players in the game. When they are required to place the side bets on area 64, 66 they will have seen the first four community cards dealt by the dealer. For purposes of the side bet they are required to predict either that the fifth community card will be a low card or a high card.

Table 4 below shows if the indicated cards are in the dealer's hand (indicated by letter Y) or if they are on the playing board or surface (indicated by the letter N).

	TABLE 4
	Diamonds	Hearts	Clubs	Spades
2	Y	N	Y	Y
3	Y	N	N	Y
4	Y	N	Y	Y
5	N	Y	Y	Y
6	N	Y	Y	Y
7	N	Y	Y	N
Total (16)	Low/Red (3)	Low/Red (3)	Low/Black (5)	Low/Black (5)
Total (16)	High/Red (5)	High/Red (5)	High (3)	High (3)
8	N	Y	Y	Y
9	Y	Y	N	Y
10	Y	N	Y	N
J	Y	Y	N	N
Q	Y	Y	N	N
K	Y	Y	N	N
A	N	N	Y	Y

TABLE 5
Low Vs High Odd's Logic
Community cards Revealed
Low	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2
High	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2
Card Discarded - Not Revealed
Low	3	2	1	0	3	2	1	0	3	2	1	0
High	0	1	2	3	0	1	2	3	0	1	2	3
Card Remaining In Deck
Low	13	14	15	16	12	13	14	15	11	12	13	14
High	12	11	10	9	13	12	11	10	14	13	12	11
Percentage of Fifth Community Card
Low	52%	56%	60%	64%	48%	52%	56%	60%	44%	48%	52%	56%
High	48%	44%	40%	36%	52%	48%	44%	40%	56%	52%	48%	44%
Community cards Revealed
Low	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	Low
High	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	High
Card Discarded - Not Revealed
Low	3	2	1	0	3	2	1	0	Low
High	0	1	2	3	0	1	2	3	High
Card Remaining In Deck
Low	10	11	12	13	9	10	11	12	Low
High	15	14	13	12	16	15	14	13	High
Percentage of Fifth Community Card
Low	40%	44%	48%	52%	36%	40%	44%	48%	Low
High	60%	56%	52%	48%	64%	60%	56%	52%	High

Table 5 shown above is an odds table showing the odds for the fifth community card to be either low or high.

To explain these odds further, if the four revealed community cards are all high cards and if the three discarded cards were actually three low cards and zero high cards, then the remaining twenty-five cards in the deck would be thirteen low cards versus twelve high cards. In this case, the percentage of low versus high for the last card is 52% to 48%. However, in the same situation where there are four high community cards shown, the percentages will change if the three discarded cards were two low cards and one high card. In this case, of the remaining twenty-five cards in the deck, there would be fourteen low cards versus eleven high cards, so that the percentage for a low community card is 56% versus 44% for a high card.

To consider one further example, take the situation if the four community cards include only one high card and three low cards. Then, if one assumes that the three discarded cards contained two low cards and one high card, the chances of the remaining community card being low is 44% while the chances of this card being high is 56%.

Method of Playing the Card Game

FIG. 6 illustrates how an exemplary betting-type card game can be played using the above described game apparatus. It will be understood that in the case of a corresponding electronic game machine, such as the machine 100 shown in FIG. 7, there can and will be some differences in the manner in which the electronic version of the game is played as will be explained hereinafter. Normally, the first step in the manual game played with an actual set of playing cards is the shuffling of the deck of thirty-two cards by a dealer. This first step is indicated at 78. The dealer starts with an open, clear table with no bets on the playing surface. The deck of cards can be shuffled either manually or with the use of a mechanical device prior to wagers being placed on the playing surface 10.

The next step 80 involves the player or players placing at least one bet by placing wagers in the form of betting chips on the designated betting areas of the playing surface, these being the first and second sets 26, 28 of defined betting areas and the card color betting areas 56 to 61. In order that the bets of the players can be distinguished during the course of play, each player is given and assigned a separate individual color for his betting chips. The card game can be played by as few as one player up to a maximum of ten players at a single time. This does not limit any changes to the number of participants per gaming table over the course of time. After the wagers are completed, the dealer deals the so-called flop which comprises the first three community cards. These cards are dealt normally after the top card of the deck is discarded, without revealing the card's value. At all times while dealing the deck of cards is held so that the cards are face down. The first, second and third community cards comprising the flop are dealt face up onto the table or playing surface. The dealer calls out the card values to the players and will indicate the current winning hand. For example, if the first community card is the ace of clubs, the second community card is the 6 of hearts and the third community card is the queen of diamonds, the current winning hand at the time (chosen between the ten two-card combinations) would be the ace of Diamonds and ten of Hearts, this hand having a pair of aces. After this procedure and in accordance with the rules of Texas Holdem, the dealer can optionally discard the second card from the top of the deck without revealing the card's value. After this discard, the dealer draws the fourth community card face-up onto the table and announces its card value to the players. He again indicates the current winning hand. Assuming that the fourth community card is an 8 of hearts and the other three community cards are as indicated above, the current winning hand would be the hand which includes the two card combination having the 8 of diamonds since a hand of five cards would have two pairs. Also, at this stage, there would be one black community card and three community red cards indicating that a bet on the three red betting areas is already guaranteed a payoff.

In the next step 84 of the game, the player or players currently participating in the game play by having made initial bets have an option of betting side bets in the high/low betting areas 64, 66. In an exemplary version of the game, the maximum allowed bet for each player is equal to the current individual bet in play by that player. The minimum bet is whatever amount has been set by the house as a minimum. In an exemplary version of the game, the dealer will announce the number of high community cards and the number of low community cards showing. Then, each player participating in the game must decide on whether or not to make the side bet as to whether the fifth community card will be in the low numerical range of two to seven or the high range being eight to ace. Also, players have the opportunity at this time to see, on the basis of the community cards showing, whether they have no chance of winning or currently winning, and they may wish to place a side bet in order to break even by doubling up and correctly predicting the outcome of the fifth community card. The player will, of course, lose or bust if he or she does not correctly predict the outcome of the fifth community card.

As an example, a first player in the game may see that he is currently winning on the two card combination 8 of diamonds and 6 of diamonds with two pairs and he sees that the odds are in the low card's favour with the possibility of 48% to 60% compared to the win percentage of 40-52% for the high cards. This player may then choose to wager $10.00 if this is the current maximum that the player can wager on low.

After all of the players in the game have decided on and placed their side bets, the dealer then deals the river card at step 86, the river card being a discard. Then at step 88 the dealer deals the fifth and last community card and determines the outcome of the roulette type bets, that is, the bets made on the red and black card color betting areas 56 to 61. At step 89, all bets are resolved with the dealer announcing all winning hands. Assuming that the fifth community card which was dealt face-up onto the table was a queen of hearts, then the best card hand (assuming the other community are as indicated above) is the two card combination comprising the 4 of hearts and the 2 of hearts, this hand winning with a flush comprising five heart cards. Also, as there are three red cards showing, both the card color betting area 56 (three red cards) and the color card betting area 57 (four red cards) constitute winning bets. In the case of the side or optional bet on the denomination of the fifth community card, bets placed on the high card betting area 66 win, in this example. As indicated by block 90, the winning players will get paid based on the pay table chart (see Table 3). The final step 92 to complete the hand is that all losing bets placed by the players are taken by the dealer and go to the house. It has been calculated that the casino's average rate in the exemplary version of the game will be 32.5% straight from the table and without paying from house funds.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the construction of electronic game machines which simulate card games suitable for betting that the above described betting-type card game can readily be implemented by means of an electronic game machine such as video machine 100 shown in FIG. 7, with a video display or screen 101. This video display can be provided by an electronic display system capable of showing a simulated playing surface 103 which includes in electronic form of the above described first and second sets 26, 28 of defined betting areas, each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination. Also, instead of providing a deck of actual cards for the play of the game as described above, there can be provided electronic means for randomly generating and displaying simulated community cards from a group of possible card simulations that corresponds to a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of the standard deck of playing cards, except the cards in the first and second sets represented on the simulated playing surface. The electronic game machine can also include means for placing bets by one or more players on one or more of the displayed two card combinations. The bet placing mechanism can be a button or touch screen 109 arranged on the front of the machine. This bet placing system includes means for distinguishing the bets placed by one player from any bets placed by other players in the simulated card game. FIG. 7 shows one or more buttons or touch screen areas 110,111 for a player to indicate the amount of the bet being placed. For example, the button 110 can be used to make one dollar ($1) bet while the button 111 could be pressed to bet five dollars ($5).

If desired, the aforementioned electronic display system in an electronic game machine can include electronic means for showing both a low card betting area for side bets by one or more of the players as well as a high card betting area for alternative side bets by these players who have made initial bets in the game. These low and high card betting areas can be for the same type of side bets as the physical playing surface areas 64, 66 illustrated in FIG. 1. It is also possible to provide separate button(s) or touch screen(s) (not shown) for selecting and placing a low card bet or a high card bet in accordance with this betting option.

Furthermore, the electronic display system of this electronic game machine can, in an exemplary version of the machine, have means for showing simulated card color betting areas divided equally between red card areas and black card areas, these areas corresponding to the physical card color betting areas 56 to 61 shown in FIG. 3. The electronic game machine would offer the player or players the same opportunity to place a bet or bets that correspond to the bets placed in the above described betting areas 56 to 61.

Additional exemplary features of the video machine 100 shown in FIG. 7 include electronic means 102 for displaying credits to which the player or players are entitled, electronic means 104 for displaying the total bet in play, and electronic means 105 for displaying the next wager. The illustrated machine 100 can also be equipped with a cash out ticket slot 106, a money slot 107 for receiving cash to play the game, and a cash out button 108 for use at the end of game play. Such features are well known in the video game industry and therefore are not described in detail herein. An additional button 112 can be provided on the machine for use in starting game play. Simulated community cards generated by the electronic means for randomly generating and displaying the simulated cards can be displayed on the screen as well (not shown).

While the present invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in various exemplary embodiments, i.e., embodiments having particular utility for playing a betting-type card game or simulated card game, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to the details shown herein, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the disclosed apparatus, machine and methods of use may be made by those skilled in this art without departing in any way from the scope of the present invention. For example, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily adapt the present disclosure for various other applications, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A betting-type card game apparatus for one or more players to play a card game, said game apparatus comprising:

a playing surface having (a) a first set of defined betting areas each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits each with thirteen cards including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king and an ace; (b) a second set of defined betting areas each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from said standard deck of cards, each two card combination of the first and second sets being different than any of the other two card combinations;

a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of said standard deck of playing cards except the cards in the first and second sets represented on said playing surface, said deck of playing cards being used during play of said card game to deal community cards for said one or more players in the card game; and

sets of betting chips for the one or more players to place bets on the defined betting areas, each set of betting chips having means for distinguishing each betting chip of one set from betting chips of the other sets so that each betting chip indicates the player to whom it belongs during play of the game.

2. A card game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said playing surface also has the following:

(i) a low card betting area for side bets by said one or more players who have made initial bets on one or both of said first and second sets of defined betting areas, each of said side bets during play of the game being a bet that one of the community cards to be dealt from said deck will be one of said numerical cards having a value equal to or less than a predetermined value; and

(ii) a high card betting area for alternative side bets by said one or more players who have made said initial bets, each of said alternative bets during play of the game being a bet that said one community card to be dealt will be higher in assigned value than said predetermined value.

3. A card game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said playing surface also has card color betting areas divided equally between red card areas and black card areas, each of said card color betting areas specifying a number of dealt community cards in a complete hand that will be from the two red suits of the deck or that will be from the two black suits, said one or more players placing a bet or bets on said card color betting areas prior to the dealing of any community cards for a particular hand of the card game.

4. A card game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said playing surface also has card color betting areas divided equally between red card areas and black card areas, each of said card color betting areas specifying a number of dealt community cards in a complete hand that will be from the two red suits of the deck or that will be from the two black suits, said one or more players placing a bet or bets on said card color betting areas prior to the dealing of any community cards for a particular hand of the card game.

5. A card game apparatus according to claim 3, wherein there are a total of three red card areas and three black card areas, the three card areas specifying said number of dealt red community cards in the hand to be three, four and five respectively and the three black card areas specifying said number of dealt black community cards in the hand to be three, four and five respectively.

6. A card game apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of said first and second sets of defined betting areas have five of said betting areas, the two card combinations in said first set all display representations of cards having a value of at least 9 or higher including possible face cards and aces, and the two card combinations of the second set display representations of cards having values less than 9 including possible aces.

7. A card game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the represented cards of the two card combinations of both the first and second sets include at least one of each card denomination in said standard deck of playing cards.

8. A card game apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the represented cards of the two card combinations of both the first and second sets include five cards from each of the four suits of said standard deck.

9. A card game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said relatively low predetermined value is 7.

10. An electronic game machine for a simulated card game for one or more players suitable for betting, said game machine comprising:

an electronic display system for showing a simulated playing surfacing having (a) a first set of defined betting areas each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits each with thirteen cards including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king, and an ace, and (b) a second set of defined betting areas each displaying a different representation of a predetermined two card combination from said standard deck of cards, each two card combination of the first and second sets being different than any of the other two card combinations; electronic means for randomly generating and displaying simulated community cards from a group of possible cards simulations corresponding to a deck of playing cards containing all of the cards of said standard deck of playing cards except the cards in the first and second sets represented on the simulated playing surface; and

means for placing bets by one or more players on one or more of the displayed two card combinations, the bet placing means including means for distinguishing bets placed by one player from any bets placed by other players in the simulated card game.

11. An electronic game machine according to claim 10, wherein said electronic display system includes electronic means for showing the following:

(i) a low card betting area for side bets by said one or more players who made one or more initial bets on one or more of the displayed two card combinations, each of said side bets during play of the simulated card game being a bet that one of the simulated community cards to be generated will be one of said numerical cards having a value equal to or less than a predetermined value; and

(ii) a high card betting area for alternative side bets by said one or more players who have made said one or more initial bets, each of said alternative side bets during play of the simulated card game being a bet that said one simulated community card to be generated will be higher in assigned value than said predetermined value.

12. An electronic game machine according to claim 10 wherein said electronic display system includes means for showing simulated card color areas divided equally between red card areas and black card areas, each of said simulated card color betting areas specifying a number of generated and displayed simulated community cards in a complete hand of the card game that will be from the two red suits or that will be from the two black suits, and wherein said bet placing means includes means for placing a bet or bets on the actual number of the displayed community cards being from the two red suits in the complete hand or the actual number of the displayed community cards being from the two black suits in said complete hand.

13. An electronic game machine according to claim 12, wherein said electronic display system includes electronic means for showing the following:

(iii) a low card betting area for side bets by said one or more players who made one or more initial bets on one or more of the displayed two card combinations, each of said side bets during play of the simulated card game being a bet that one of the simulated community cards to be generated will be one of said numerical cards having a value equal to or less than a predetermined value; and

(iv) a high card betting area for alternative side bets by said one or more players who have made said one or more initial bets, each of said alternative side bets during play of the simulated card game being a bet that said one simulated community card to be generated will be higher in assigned value than said predetermined value.

14. An electronic game machine according to claim 12, wherein there are a total of three red card areas and three black card areas, the three simulated card color betting areas for each of the colors red and black specifying the number of displayed simulated community cards to be three, four, and five respectively.

15. An electronic game machine according to claim 10, wherein each of said first and second sets of defined betting areas have five of said betting areas, the two card combinations in said first set all display representations of cards having a value of at least 9 or higher including possible face cards and aces, and the two card combinations of the second set display representations of cards having a value less than 9 and including possible aces.

16. An electronic game machine according to claim 15, wherein the represented cards of the two card combinations of both the first and second sets include at least one of each card denomination in said standard deck of playing cards.

17. A betting-type game apparatus for one or more players to play a real or simulated card game, said game apparatus comprising:

means for providing a real or simulated playing surface displaying (a) a first set of five predetermined betting indicia each indicating a two card combination from a standard deck of playing cards having four suits each with thirteen cards including numerical cards from 2 to 10, a jack, a queen, a king, and an ace; and (b) a second set of five predetermined betting indicia each indicating a two card combination from the standard deck of playing cards, each two card combination of the first and second sets being different than any of the other two card combinations;

means for randomly providing real or simulated community playing cards corresponding to any of the cards of said standard deck not including any card indicated in the two card combinations of the first and second sets; and

means for placing bets on one or more of the two card combinations of the first and second sets.

18. A betting-type game apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said playing surface displays card color betting indicia divided equally between red card indicia and black card indicia, each said card color indicia specifying a number of dealt or displayed community playing cards in a complete hand of the card game that will be from the two red suits or that will be from the two black suits, and wherein said bet placing means includes means for making a bet or bets on the actual number of dealt or displayed community playing cards being from the two red suits in the complete hand or the actual number of these community playing cards being from the black suits in said complete hand.

19. A betting-type game apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said playing surface displays the following during use of the apparatus:

(i) low card betting indicia for an optional side bet by the or each player who have made one or more initial bets on one or more of the two card combinations, each side bet being a bet that one of the real or simulated community cards to be provided will correspond to one of said numerical cards having a value equal to or less than a predetermined value; and

(ii) high card betting indicia for an alternative optional side bet by the or each player who have made one or more initial bets on one or more of the two card combinations, each alternative side bet being a bet that said one real or simulated community card to be provided will be higher in assigned value then said predetermined value.

20. A betting-type game apparatus according to claim 18, wherein there are a total of three red card indicia and three black card indicia, the card color betting indicia for each of the colors red and black specifying the number of dealt or displayed community cards to be three, four and five respectively.