POKER GAME WITH WAGER RETURN FEATURE

• US 20110250942A1
• Filed: 03/24/2011
• Published: 10/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pablo Caraballo
• Original Assignee: Pablo Caraballo
• Inventors: Caraballo, Pablo
• Granted Patent: US 8,734,218 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/13
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3267 Game outcomes which determine the course of the subsequent game, e.g. double or quits, free games, higher payouts, different new games
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Abstract

A return feature for poker games may be activated after at least two all-in wagers to a pot have been made. The player having the current best hand at the time of the all-in wagers may be returned a portion of the pot regardless of whether or not the player ultimately wins. This allows this player to continue playing should he or she lose the all-in wager. The return feature may return various portions of the pot to a player and may be used in both electronic and non-electronic embodiments of poker.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a poker game for one or more players comprising:

dealing one or more physical playing cards to one or more players;

accepting a first all-in wager from a first player, wherein the first all-in wager is added to a pot;

accepting a second wager from a second player into the pot, the second wager being a wager selected from the group consisting of all-in wagers, call wagers and raise wagers, wherein the second wager is added to the pot;

after the second wager has been accepted, assigning a first rank for the one or more physical playing cards of the first player according to a ranking table for the poker game, and assigning a second rank for the one or more physical playing cards of the second player according to the ranking table;

comparing the first rank and the second rank;

returning a portion of the pot to the first player if the first rank is higher than the second rank, and to the second player if the second rank is higher than the first rank;

dealing one or more additional physical playing cards; and

ending the poker game by comparing one or more hands formed with the one or more physical playing cards dealt to the one or more players and one or more of the one or more additional physical playing cards to identify a winning hand.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising paying a remaining portion of the pot to a player with the winning hand.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising ranking the one or more hands according to a paytable.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more hands consist of a predefined number of physical playing cards and the ranking table identifies one or more rankings for combinations of cards having less than the predefined number of physical player cards.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more additional physical playing cards that are dealt are community cards exposed to the one or more players.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a quarter of the pot is returned to the first player if the first rank is higher than the second rank, and to the second player if the second rank is higher than the first rank.

7. A method for conducting a poker game for one or more players comprising:

dealing one or more unexposed player cards to one or more players, the one or more unexposed player cards being physical playing cards;

conducting one or more betting rounds comprising;

receiving a wager or a decision to fold from each of the one or more players; and

if received, adding the wager to a pot;

identifying an all-in wager and a first player that placed the all-in wager during the one or more betting rounds;

identifying a second player that placed a matching wager after the all-in wager during the one or more betting rounds;

comparing a first partial hand comprising the first player'"'"'s unexposed player cards to a second partial hand comprising the second player'"'"'s unexposed player cards and ranking the first partial hand and the second partial hand; and

returning a portion of the pot to the first player if the first partial hand outranks the second partial hand, and to the second player if the second partial hand outranks the first partial hand.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising

exposing one or more community cards, the one or more community cards also being physical playing cards;

comparing a first complete hand comprising the first player'"'"'s unexposed player cards and one or more of the community cards to a second complete hand comprising the second player'"'"'s unexposed player cards and one or more of the community cards; and

ending the poker game by ranking the first complete hand and the second complete hand and identifying the first player as a winning player if the first complete hand outranks the second complete hand, and identifying the second player as the winning player if the second complete hand outranks the first complete hand.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising awarding a bonus award to the first player and the second player if the first partial hand and the second partial hand are equal in rank.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing a partial hand paytable configured to rank a plurality of partial hands, wherein the first partial hand and the second partial hand but not the first complete hand and the second complete hand are ranked according to the partial hand paytable.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

identifying a third player that placed a matching wager after the all-in wager during the one or more betting rounds; and

comparing the first partial hand and the second partial hand to a third partial hand comprising the third player'"'"'s unexposed player cards and ranking the first partial hand and the second partial hand and the third partial hand.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the portion of the pot that is returned is a first amount if only the second player placed a matching wager, and a second lower amount if the second player and the third player placed a matching wager.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein comparing the first partial hand and the second partial hand and returning a portion of the pot only occurs for a preselected one or more of the one or more betting rounds.

14. A gaming machine for presenting a poker game with a return feature, the gaming machine comprising one or more input devices and a display and configured to:

associate one or more player cards with one or more players;

present the one or more player cards on the display;

accept an all-in wager from a first player via one or more of the one or more input devices and add the all-in wager to a pot;

receive a matching wager from a second player and add the matching wager to the pot;

compare a first partial hand comprising the first player'"'"'s one or more player cards to a second partial hand comprising the second player'"'"'s one or more player cards to determine a ranking for the first partial hand and the second partial hand;

allocate a predetermined portion of the pot to the first player if the first partial hand outranks the second partial hand, and to the second player if the second partial hand outranks the first partial hand.

15. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the gaming machine is further configured to:

present one or more exposed community cards on the display;

compare a first complete hand comprising the first player'"'"'s one or more player cards and one or more of the one or more community cards to a second complete hand comprising the second player'"'"'s one or more player cards and one or more of the one or more community cards to determine a ranking for the first complete hand and the second complete hand; and

allocate a remaining portion of the pot to the first player if the first complete hand outranks the second complete hand, and to the second player if the second complete hand outranks the first complete hand, the remaining portion of the pot being the pot minus the predetermined portion.

16. The gaming machine of claim 15, wherein the gaming machine is further configured to:

receive a one or more additional matching wagers from one or more additional players and add the one or more additional matching wager to the pot; and

reduce the predetermined portion of the pot for each of the one or more additional players from which at least one additional matching wager was received.

17. The gaming machine of claim 15, wherein the gaming machine comprises a memory device storing a paytable, and is further configured to rank the first complete hand and second complete hand according to the paytable.

18. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the gaming machine is further configured to accept one or more other wagers via at least one of the one or more input devices and add the one or more other wagers to the pot.

19. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the predetermined portion of the pot is a quarter of the pot to permit a player allocated the portion of the pot to play at least one more round of the poker game.

20. The gaming machine of claim 14, wherein the gaming machine is configured to receive the matching wager from the second player by receiving an indicator that the matching wager has been placed by the second player.