US20070013134A1

US20070013134A1 - Novel deck of playing cards and methods for use

Info

Publication number: US20070013134A1
Application number: US11/198,867
Authority: US
Inventors: Adam Bondra
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-07-12
Filing date: 2005-08-05
Publication date: 2007-01-18

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel deck of playing cards and to various games that can be played therewith. In some embodiments, the cards of the deck are distinguishable from each other based on three different dimensions, rank, suit, and family. Some embodiments include additional cards such as jokers or wildcards. Various new games and adaptations of existing games are also disclosed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/698,571, filed on Jul. 12, 2005, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel deck of playing cards and to various games that can be played therewith. In some embodiments, the cards of the deck are distinguishable from each other based on three different dimensions, rank, suit, and family. Some embodiments include additional cards such as jokers or wildcards. Various new games and adaptations of existing games are also disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention of the deck of playing cards is one of the most important advances in the history of games. A standard deck of playing cards is lightweight, portable, inexpensive, and can serve as the basis for a vast number of games which are suitable for one or many players. A conventional deck of playing cards features fifty-two cards which carry both rank and suit designations. Each card is distinguishable from all other cards in the deck because it has a unique combination of rank and suit. For example, although a typical deck contains four kings and thirteen diamonds, there is only one king of diamonds. The rules of most card games are built on the rank and suit relationships that the cards have to one another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is a card deck, containing a plurality of families, wherein each of the families contains: a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimension contains thirteen ranks and the second dimension contains four suits.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of playing poker including: providing at least one deck of cards containing a plurality of families, wherein each family contains a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimension contains ranks and the second dimension contains suits; dealing a plurality of cards from the deck of cards to a plurality of players so that each player has a poker hand; and comparing the poker hands of at least two players and determining a hierarchy based at least in part on the families represented by the cards contained in the poker hands of the at least two players.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of playing 21 including: providing at least one deck of cards containing a plurality of families, wherein each family includes a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimension contains ranks and the second dimension contains suits; dealing a plurality of cards to a player hand; dealing a plurality of cards to a dealer hand; and comparing the cards of the player hand in each family to the cards of the dealer hand in the corresponding family.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates various cards in a “Lone Star deck” and shows various Lone Star poker hand combinations.
FIG. 2 illustrates the preparation and play of Lone Star 21.
FIG. 3 further illustrates the preparation and play of Lone Star 21.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A conventional deck of playing cards features four suits and thirteen ranks. The conventional ranks are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace, and the conventional suits are club, diamond, heart, and spade. The rank and suit of each card are generally designated by indicia which appear on the card. For example, a “3” and a “
” on the same card indicate that the card is the three of clubs. Some embodiments of the present invention use the same ranks and suits as a conventional deck of cards, though it will be appreciated that alternative ranks and suits (as well as alternative numbers of ranks and suits) can also be used to create card decks. In some embodiments of the present invention, four suits are used and are titled star, planet, crescent, and quasar, and are depicted in FIG. 1.
Some embodiments of the present invention build upon the two dimensional array of rank and suit, and add a third dimension which is independent from the first two. In the present disclosure, the third dimension is referred to as “family,” so that a card in the deck can be assigned a rank, a suit, and a family. The family to which a card belongs can be identified by an indicia on the card. In some embodiments, the indicia is a color, such as the color of the card's background or field, though the indicia can also be a letter, number, typographical character, image, icon, or other recognizable feature. In some embodiments, two families are used, black and white, such that fifty two cards (an array of thirteen ranks and four suits) exist in each family, for a total of 104 cards. In this way, there are two cards corresponding to each unique combination of rank and suit—there are two kings of planets, one black and one white. FIG. 1 shows several cards from such a deck. Rank indicia 2, suit indicia 4, and family indicia 6 appear on each card. In FIG. 1, the two family indicia are the colors black and white, such that one of those colors appears in the field of each card.
In some other embodiments, there are three families, white, black, and red, for a total of 156 cards. FIG. 2 shows several cards from such a deck. In FIG. 2, the three family indicia are the colors red 10, white 12, and black 14, such that one of those colors appears in the field of each card.
Additional families can also be used, and be designated by unique colors, such as blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, etc. Depending on the requirements of the game to be played, and the preferences of those playing, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten families, or more, can be used.
In some embodiments, a card deck of the present invention contains two or more families, and each family contains the same array of suits and ranks (so that each rank and suit combination exists in every family). In some other embodiments, a card deck contains two or more families, but some rank and suit combinations do not exist in every family. Many alternative deck arrangements can be accomplished by making a complete deck available commercially, and providing instructions to users to remove one or more particular cards depending on the game and number of players. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that some games can call for less than a complete deck to accommodate varying rules and varying numbers of players.
In some embodiments, a multiple family card deck can be sold as a single commercial unit. In some other embodiments, a plurality of cards in a single family can be sold as a “family deck,” and can be combined with other family decks to form a complete, multiple family deck that contains the desired number and identity of families.
In some embodiments, one or more additional cards, such as a joker, can be added to the deck. Such additional cards can be members of a single family, members of multiple families, or carry no family indicia at all. Such additional cards can serve as wildcards, limited wildcards (such as a bug in poker), or for any other function to enhance the play of the game.
The addition of the third “family” dimension creates new relationships between cards and can serve as the basis for new games, some of which are based on existing games. For example, two cards of the same rank are identified as “a pair” in a conventional game of poker. However, when using a deck containing two or more families, a pair of cards that are also members of the same suit, or the same family, can be considered a particularly unique pair, and so be granted special status in new game derived from conventional poker. Similar relationships can be developed for other hands in poker, and for other games. For example, new types of melds in rummy and cribbage are possible with the added dimension of family. New versions of trick-based games such as bridge, whist, hearts, and spades can take advantage of the family dimension to develop new hierarchies, new trump cards, and obligations that a player follow suit, follow family, or both. The rules for games of solitaire and patience can also recognize different families to dictate how cards can be arranged when playing those games.
Rules for playing some specific new games which use a deck of cards having ranks, suits, and families are disclosed below. Those of skill in the art will recognize that such rules can be adapted according to individual preferences or other constraints such as the number of players, the desired duration or complexity of play, or the level of wagering, where applicable. As used herein, a “Lone Star deck” is deck of playing cards in which families are depicted as colors (black, white, red, etc.) and the four suits are star, planet, crescent, and quasar. The rules of the particular game to be played and the preferences of the players will generally determine the number families (colors, in this case) that are required. Many of the games disclosed herein utilize two or three families, with the color preferences being black and white, or black, white, and red respectively.

EXAMPLE 1

Lone Star Poker

“Poker” is general term which can refer to a variety of games in which players place wagers on the cards in their hands in hopes of ultimately winning the pot by either getting all the other players to fold, or by having the best poker hand of the players remaining. Games of poker can feature a designated dealer (who distributes cards as the rules dictate), or one of the players may act as a dealer. Traditional poker hands (high card, one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, etc.) are ordered based on the probabilities of different combinations with respect to the rank and suit of the cards in the hand. When the third dimension of family is added (as depicted in a Lone Star deck by color), new types of poker hands, as well as new criteria for traditional poker hands are possible. FIG. 1 shows several examples of such hands when using a Lone Star deck having two families, black and white. In particular, the three card majority rule is illustrated by the examples which are identified as either “Valid Lonestar Hands” or “Not Valid Lonestar Hands.” Examples of specific games follow which utilize this Lone Star Combination style of play.
Games of poker can be played either with or without community cards. In games without community cards, such as stud and draw games, all the cards a player may use are unique to the player. In these games, each player can be dealt one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or more cards. Games in which each player receives five or seven cards are the most common. In other poker games, the deal can include designating certain cards as community cards, which can thus be used by more than one player. Community card games include Texas hold 'em and Omaha. In community card games, one, two, three, four, five, or more cards are dealt to each player, and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, or more community cards are dealt. In Texas hold 'em, each player receives two cards, and five cards are dealt as community cards. In Omaha, each player receives four cards and five cards are dealt as community cards.

EXAMPLE 2

Lone Star Draw Poker

2-10 players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Use chips to keep score.
OBJECTIVE: Make best five card poker hand using Lone Star Combination style of play.
Shuffle both decks together with Lone Star Shuffler and place combined deck in Lone Star Dealer Shoe.
Distribute equal amount of Lone Star Poker Chips to each player at start (twenty chips is typical.)
Use Lone Star Dealer Button to locate the bettor. At start of game the bettor is the first player left of the dealer.
Deal six cards to each player, face down.
First player to act is the bettor.
Players may act in one of three ways:
1. Call ante. (The ante amount is usually one chip but you may set different betting limits depending on your game.) Even the initial bettor must ante if he does not choose to raise the ante. By anteing a player is saying that he/she wants to draw from the dealer shoe. Consider the ante the price of drawing cards. A player may draw any amount up to six cards and discard the same amount so that he/she always has six cards in his/her hand. After drawing cards the player passes the turn to the next player in a clockwise rotation.
2. Raise. A player may raise the ante at any time, including the initial bettor (or re-raise the raise) to twice the ante (raise) amount. If a player raises, he/she is stating that they have a good enough hand to win the pot and that player becomes the bettor. Any players to act after a raise must call the raise and eventually show their hand, raise the raise to claim they have the best hand and become the new bettor, or fold their hand and let others fight for the prize. A raise indicates there will be a showdown. All participating players must show their cards when the action is raised by one player who is only called by all other players. If there are no callers to a players raise, the bettor wins without showing his cards.
3. Fold cards. As stated above, a player may choose to fold his/her hand any time there is a raise. Players cannot fold to an ante bet.
After a showdown, pass the dealer shoe one position to the left and begin another round. When all cards have been used, reshuffle and continue play.
GAME OPTION: A player who calls a raise may draw again to improve his/her hand. This feature creates a unique dynamic to game play and adds a check-raising element to game play if the caller thinks their will be a re-raise after he has simply called.

EXAMPLE 3

Lone Star Hold 'Em Poker

2-20 players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Use chips to keep score.
OBJECTIVE: Make best five card hand using Lone Star Combination style of play.
Shuffle both decks together with Lone Star Shuffler and place combined deck in Lone Star Dealer Shoe.
Distribute equal amount of Lone Star Poker Chips to each player at start.
Use Lone Star Dealer Button to locate the bettor. At start of game the bettor is the first player left of the dealer.
Blind bets are placed after the dealer button (to the left.) There is a small and big blind. The small blind is the first bet directly left of the dealer button and the big blind is twice the amount of the small blind directly left of the small blind position. These bets are placed before any cards are dealt and are meant to cause action for game play.
Deal three “hole cards” to each player face down. Players must use two of the three hole cards in combination with the community cards to make the best five card poker hand.
There are four rounds of play in Lone Star Hold 'em: The Deal, the Flop, the Turn and the River. Each round players act in one of five ways: 1.) checking (pass option to next player without betting), 2.) betting (placing the minimum bet to show a strong hand), 3.) calling a bet, 4.) raising a bet (usually by twice the amount of the bet) or 5.) folding his/her cards.
The Deal: The first player to act after the Deal is the player directly to the left of the big blind. He/she may either: call the big blind, raise the big blind to twice the amount or fold. Play continues around the table until the last bet or raise has been called. If there are no raises after the deal and the turn passes to the big blind, the player behind the big blind has the option to raise.
The Flop: Burn a card face down and deal three cards face up in the center of the table. These cards are called community cards and they are used by all players to make a hand. Action after the turn starts with the player to the left of the dealer button.
The Turn: Burn a card face down and deal one card face up next to the Flop. This is used by all players as a community card.
The River: Burn a card face down and deal one final card face up next to the turn card. This card is the last community card to be dealt and after all action has been completed on this round, all remaining players must show their cards to win the pot.
After a showdown, pass the dealer shoe one position to the left and begin another round. When all cards have been used, reshuffle and continue play.

EXAMPLE 4

Lone Star Fizgin

2-8 players (Note: for games with 5 or more players larger dealer shoes must be used.) Use chips to keep score.
Shuffle X amount of different colored Lone Star decks together and place in dealer shoe. X=number of players and number of colors.
OBJECTIVE: Score most points or eliminate opponents.
Players choose a colored deck to represent them in the game. When a player's color is next to be dealt from the shoe, that player must draw a card until an opponent's color is next to be dealt. In this fashion, there is no specific order to each player's turn. Players simply draw when their color shows up.
When a player has ten cards in his hand he/she must stop drawing from the shoe and play a hand or a trick. After playing a hand/trick face up on the table, that player may continue pulling cards from the shoe if there are still cards left to deal for that player.
Tricks are combinations of 3 to 5 cards in consecutive rank or consecutive ranks of same suit or same rank. At no time can a trick exceed 5 cards in combination. When a trick has reached the 5 card limit it is a “capped” trick.
Hands are always combinations of 5 cards and must have at least a pair of Jacks to qualify for play. When scoring hands, players may only use the cards that make the hand a qualifying hand. For instance a five card hand with only a pair of Jacks is scored by counting the values of the two jacks=20 points.
If a player has ten cards in his/her hand and there is no qualifying hand/trick to be played, that player must resign all ten cards by placing them in the penalty discard pile. At the end of the game, the cards in the penalty discard pile will be added up according to card values, and deducted from the player's final score.
RUMMY: At any time during a player's turn, that player may play off any trick on the board. For instance if black has played three 3's and the red player has two red 3's she may play on the black 3's.
SCORING: Aces=11 points

- Face=10 points
- Numbers=face value
- Playing all cards in a turn=10 points
- Having more than 50 penalty points=elimination

When the shoe is empty players tally their scores to declare a winner. Games may be played to pre-specified point limits for longer games.

EXAMPLE 5

Lone Star

21

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the preparation and play of Lone Star 21, which is based on traditional 21 (also called blackjack), but utilizes a Lone Star deck that contains three families of cards designated by color: black 14, white 12, and red 10. In this game, one or more players compete against a dealer. Play begins when each player places one or more wagers, and the dealer deals cards. Cards are dealt to create a “player hand” for each player and a “dealer hand” for the dealer. Typically, three cards are dealt to each player hand (and to the dealer hand). Within each of these hands, however, the cards are divided according to family. Thus, each player hand will contain a black family hand, a white family hand, and a red family hand, as will the dealer hand. Accordingly, a player's black family hand competes only against the dealer's black family hand, and so on.
As in standard 21, the players must choose whether to hit (take additional cards) before the dealer does, and do so with incomplete knowledge about the cards held by the dealer. A player electing to hit does not know the family of the card he will receive. However, the card becomes part of the family hand of its corresponding family. For example, if the hit card is a white card, it becomes part of the player's white family hand. In this way, a player acts at his peril if, while trying to improve his black or red family hands, hits, and receives a white card that causes his white family hand to exceed 21 (“bust”). In some embodiments, a player who has busted any of his family hands loses his ability to hit again. If a player hand or a dealer hand contains no card from a particular family, then the numerical total in that family hand is zero. In this way, a zero for never receiving a card in a particular family can be treated the same as a busted hand (it loses to any non-zero hand that has not busted).
As in standard 21, the decision to hit or stand on the dealer hand can be dictated by a protocol that the dealer must follow. In Lone Star 21, a preferred protocol requires that the dealer stand when he has 17 or better in any family hand. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that alternative protocols can be established to adjust the odds (for example, some protocols may distinguish between soft totals and hard totals).
After all the players and the dealer have played (hit as many times as they wish, or busted), the player hands are compared to the dealer hands to determine whether the player or the dealer has won. In Lone Star 21, each of the three family hands of each player are compared to the corresponding family hands of the dealer. Effectively, each player's black hand is compared to the dealer's black hand; each player's white hand is compared to the dealer's white hand; and each player's red hand is compared to the dealer's red hand. In each instance, the family hand with the higher total that has not busted is deemed the winner. Payouts can be based either on whether the player has won overall (that he beats the dealer on more family hands than he loses) or on individual family hands (such that a player winning three out of three family hands would win more than a player betting the same amount, but winning only two out of three family hands). In some preferred embodiments, the wagers are placed on family hands separately (one for each color), so that the payouts are separate as well.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that games of 21 can be played with other numbers of families as well; for example, two families, four families, five families, or more can also be used in the alternative.

EXAMPLE 6

Lone Star Continuum

2 to 10 Players. Use one black and one white deck (104 cards). Points: players use chips to score, each player should start with same amount of chips.
Shuffle both decks separately and deal 5 cards of each color to all participants so that each player has 10 cards (5 black and 5 white) and so that there are two separate decks from which a player can draw.
Select a betting limit. There will be a minimum bet and a maximum bet set for the table limits.
Players act in turn starting to the left of the dealer. Each player is allowed two actions per turn.
Action #1: Discard a five card poker hand in front of you. This hand must be five black, five white or three of one color and two of the other. Combinations must follow the three card majority rule to be eligible for discard.
Action #2: Draw five new cards to replenish the cards you used in action # 1. Of course you must have five black and five white cards in your hand after the draw.
Players place a bet on their hand when it is the highest hand on the board. Each player to act after the bettor must beat the hand or discard an inferior hand and pay the bettor the amount of the bet. Players can bet anywhere between the preset betting limits.
If the bettor's hand is beaten, the bettor must pay the amount of his bet to the player who beat him. The player who beats a high hand may raise the amount of the bet up to 2× the amount of the previous bet or bet within the preset betting limits.
Use a dealer button to locate the bettor.
If no one beats the bettor's hand, all players must pay the bettor the amount of his bet. Then the bettor begins the next round of betting.
Reshuffle decks when any one of the decks is depleted.
Continue play. Player with most chips wins.

EXAMPLE 7

Lone Star World Wars

2-6 players. Use chips to score.
Lone Star World Wars is played using two decks (one black and one red.) Red cards are used for attacking your opponent and black cards are used to defend against opponent attacks.
Double deck games are played without life point cards. Each player starts the game with equal life points (chips) from which all indefensible attacks and chip leech taps are deducted. A player is eliminated when all her life points=0.
The Ranks:
Red Aces—Tap +1, Dam +11
Red K, Q, J (Red Guards)—Dam +10, attack unguarded suit, eliminate guard.
Red Numbers (Red soldiers)—Dam +N (attack unguarded suit or eliminate shield.)
Black Aces—prevent opponent tap, destroy red ace, block leech +11
Black K, Q, J (Black Guards)—Def +10, guard suit +0, block leech +10
Black Number Cards—Def +N: shield suit +N, block leech +N
Red Cards Attack/Black Cards Defend:
Attack: Players may attack any player once per turn, each attack with a different suit.
Direct Attack on defender: Red “attack” cards are used for melee encounters to attack your opponent. You may attack a player with a red card by placing it in front of his play area. Red cards have values for their respective ranks (see above.) The amount of damage incurred by the defender depends on the value of the red card being played.
Shielding a direct attack: If the defender has no black guard posted for the attacking suit, the defending player may play a like suited black card to subtract damage from the attack. If an attacking red card ranks higher than the defending card, the balance of the damage is taken from the defending players chip stack and placed in the center pot and both cards go to the discard pile. If the defending card ranks higher than the red card, the attack has failed and both cards are sent to the discard pile.
Attacking guards: All ‘untapped’ direct attacks do damage to the defending player or defending guard. A player may attack a guard with red suited cards of any rank. Lesser ranked red cards will do incremental damage to underlying guard or shield card so that black guard cards and red attack cards will stack up and remain in play until the guard has been defeated by the incremental damage of all attacking red cards. Stacking red cards on a guard pile requires that each incremental card is higher in rank than the previous red card on the stack. When the incremental damage exceeds the value of the black guard, any balance of damage is incurred by the defender and the blackguard is eliminated and all cards in the guard stack go to the discard pile.
Tapping/Leeching: Use red Aces to tap into an opponent's unguarded suit. A tap is successful only if the defending player has no guard in her playing area for the suit being tapped. When a player taps an opponent she gains +1 chip from the defending player's stack of chips and gains access to the defender's chips for every like suited red card played on the tap in following rounds of play. The ace stays in play unless the defender plays a same suited black ace to destroy the tap on the same turn as the tap.
Open Tap: Each incremental red card played on an open tap will allow the attacking player to leech/steal chips from the defending player and each card played must be higher in rank than the previously played red card. When the red King has been played on a tap, the tap is considered to be exhausted. Send all exhausted tap cards to the discard pile.
Defense: Players may play black cards against attacking cards of same suit, to block taps and to guard suit.
Placing guards: Any black card can be played in front of any player to protect the respective suit from being tapped. Players may play one guard of each suit per turn.
Blocked taps: If the ace stays in play, on the defender's next turn (or any successive turn) she may play a black card of same suit to block the tap. If a tap is blocked, the opposing player must eliminate the blocking guard card with any red card of same suit that ranks higher than or equal to the blocking guard. For instance, if a black ace of stars blocks a tap only a red ace of stars will unblock the tap. If a black 8 of stars blocks a tap, any 8 of stars or higher will unblock the tap. There is no incremental damage on a tap blocking guard. If the block is eliminated, discard the blocking card and continue with the tap. An unblocked tap can be further tapped incrementally by same suited red cards until the tap is exhausted.
Setup:
Shuffle all decks together and place in Lone Star Shoe.
Play:
Each player draws 7 cards from the shoe. Alternatively, each player may be dealt one card in turn until each player has 7 cards. Players will have a mixture of cards that make up their batteries of attack (red) and defense (black.)
Player left of dealer goes first.
First Round: Players may only play black guard cards. One of each suit may be played per round to guard the respective suit from direct attack. Attack cards cannot be used on the first round of play.
Successive Rounds: Players may play guard cards on unguarded suits. Player may attack in one different suit per player per round. When tapping, players can play multiple cards of the same suit in one attack round on the respective tap, excluding the turn in which the tap was played. However, when attacking directly, only one card may be used per suit per attack per turn. When attacking a guard a player may use multiple suited cards to destroy a guard.
Direct attack (“Unguard, Pay Hard”): Attack an opponent by playing a red card of any suit in front of her. Direct attack damage is equal to the value of the red attack guard. Damage is deducted from defender's chip stack and placed in the center pot.
Deflecting a direct attack: A direct attack on a player may be deflected in part or whole by a defensive black card. If the defending card is greater in rank than the attacking card, the attack has failed. If the attacking card is greater in rank than the deflecting black guard, the difference is deducted from the player's chip stack and deposited in the center pot.
Guard suit from tap: A player may play a black card in front of him to protect the respective suit against attack or tap.
Attacking a guard: A player may eliminate a guard by incremental damage or with a red card of equal to greater rank of the guard card. When eliminated, the difference between the rank of the red card and the remaining life points of the guard card incur damage on the player
Tapping (“Tap and Jack”): When a player attacks with a red ace and there is not a defensive guard to block the attack, the attacking player opens a leeching point to his opponent's chips. Each successive red card placed on the tapped stack allows the attacker to steal chips from his opponent. The ace is worth +1 chip when being used to tap an opponent's chips. All successive red cards are equal to their respective rank values (see above.)
Deflecting a tap: A defender can play a black ace of the same suit as the red ace to make the tap fail. This is can be done immediately after the tapping attempt only.
Blocking a tap: A defender can play any black card on the top of a stacked tap. This black card must be destroyed by red cards of equal to greater rank.
Attacking a tap blocker: Tap blockers can only be destroyed and removed from the tap stack when a red card of equal to greater rank attacks.

Claims

1. A card deck comprising a plurality of families, each family comprising a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimension comprises thirteen ranks and the second dimension comprises four suits.

2. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the thirteen ranks are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace.

3. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the four suits are Star, Planet, Crescent, and Quasar.

4. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the four suits are Club, Diamond, Heart, and Spade.

5. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the number of families is two.

6. The card deck of claim 5, wherein one family is black and one family is white.

7. The card deck of claim 1, wherein the number of families is three.

8. The card deck of claim 7, wherein one family is black, one family is white, and one family is red.

9. The card deck of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional card designated as a Joker.

10. A method of playing poker comprising:

providing at least one deck of cards comprising a plurality of families, wherein each family comprises a two-dimensional array of cards, wherein the first dimension comprises ranks and the second dimension comprises suits;

dealing a plurality of cards from said deck of cards to a plurality of players so that each player has a poker hand; and

comparing the poker hands of at least two players and determining a hierarchy based at least in part on the families represented by the cards contained in the poker hands of said at least two players.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving each player at least five cards.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving each player at least seven cards.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving each player two cards and designating at least three additional cards as community cards.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of dealing comprises giving each player four cards and designating at least three additional cards as community cards.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein comparing the poker hands comprises evaluating whether at least three cards out of a five-card poker hand are in the same family.

16. A method of playing 21 comprising:

dealing a plurality of cards to a player hand;

dealing a plurality of cards to a dealer hand; and

comparing the cards of the player hand in each family to the cards of the dealer hand in the corresponding family.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the number of families within the deck is three.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein a player playing said player hand is given an option to receive at least one additional card without knowing the family of said additional card until it is dealt.