EP1750233A2 - Machine de poker multi-jeux et jeux à bonus - Google Patents

Machine de poker multi-jeux et jeux à bonus Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP1750233A2
EP1750233A2 EP06254030A EP06254030A EP1750233A2 EP 1750233 A2 EP1750233 A2 EP 1750233A2 EP 06254030 A EP06254030 A EP 06254030A EP 06254030 A EP06254030 A EP 06254030A EP 1750233 A2 EP1750233 A2 EP 1750233A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
hands
bonus
hand
playing
poker
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP06254030A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1750233A3 (fr
Inventor
Michael Paul Novellie
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Waterleaf Ltd
Original Assignee
Waterleaf Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Waterleaf Ltd filed Critical Waterleaf Ltd
Publication of EP1750233A2 publication Critical patent/EP1750233A2/fr
Publication of EP1750233A3 publication Critical patent/EP1750233A3/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F1/00—Card games
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F3/00—Board games; Raffle games
    • A63F3/00003—Types of board games
    • A63F3/00157—Casino or betting games
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
    • G07F17/3286—Type of games
    • G07F17/3293—Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63F—CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • A63F1/00—Card games
    • A63F2001/005—Poker

Definitions

  • This invention relates to card games and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for playing card games, such as poker, multiple times. It also relates to bonus game features for multi-play games.
  • the methods and bonus game features can be used in electronic games such as, for example, games that are provided by a gaming website on the World Wide Web of the Internet.
  • the well-known poker game of five-card draw involves each player receiving an initial hand of five cards. One at a time, each player makes a selection of cards they wish to hold. They then discard unwanted cards and receive a replacement of discarded cards. The players' resulting hands are then ranked in accordance with the poker hand rankings and the hand with the highest ranking wins.
  • U.S. Patent Numbers 5,823,873 and 6,007,066 both issued to Earnest Moody, disclose multi-hand variations of five-card draw poker, wherein multiple hands are played simultaneously in an electronic video poker format.
  • a card game is played in which three rows of cards are dealt to a player. The player makes a wager for each row of cards. All three rows of cards are dealt face up with each row having the same cards by rank and suit. The player selects none, one or more of the face up cards from one of the rows as cards to be held. The cards that are held are also held in all of the other rows. Replacement cards for the non-selected cards are dealt into each row. The poker hand ranking of each five-card hand by row is determined. The player is then paid for any winning poker hands based on a pay table and the amount of the player's wager.
  • U.S. Patent Application No. 11/058,680 filed February 14, 2005 , describes multi-play poker games that include graphical user interface features which are well suited to on-line gaming environments.
  • the game includes a pool hand comprising five face-up cards that are displayed to a player.
  • the pool hand is not a played hand and is not subject to wagering or poker hand ranking, but is displayed to a player only for purposes of selection of cards to be held.
  • the played hands do not exist and, as such, are not displayed to the player.
  • the player designates none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards.
  • the playing hands are displayed to the player in a separate area of the display.
  • the cards that are held are reproduced into a plurality of playing hands.
  • Each of the playing hands includes the same held cards that were designated as held cards in the pool hand.
  • the plurality of playing hands are completed with new, randomly selected, face up cards, the additional cards that are added to complete each hand being dealt from a separate deck of cards.
  • the ranking of each of the completed playing hands is separately determined, in accordance with standard poker hand rankings.
  • a bonus feature is provided for multi-play poker games.
  • a player plays a round of multi-play poker where some number (N) of hands are played simultaneously.
  • N may be 3, 5, 10, 50 or some other number, greater than or equal to 2.
  • the bonus feature is a wager that pays out as a function of the rankings of all the completed playing hands. For example, the wager is that at least some minimum number of hands in the total number of hands will have a minimum poker hand ranking, e.g., a pair of Jacks, and if so, a payout occurs.
  • a minimum poker hand ranking e.g., a pair of Jacks
  • a payout occurs.
  • the player has more than the minimum number of hands of the minimum poker hand ranking, they also win a bonus, and the more winning hands they have the greater the payout in the bonus feature.
  • the minimum number of hands required to win the bonus feature can and will normally vary depending on the total number of hands (N) that are played.
  • M can be equal to 4.
  • This value for M could be different depending on the features and "flavor" of the game desired by the proprietor, and different values of M may likely cause the bonus pay table entries to vary.
  • M 6
  • M 6
  • M is preferably an integer greater than or equal to 2 and between 2 and N, inclusive. Values of M of between 0.3 and 0.8 times the total number of hands (N) are preferred, with M rounded up or down as may be necessary, but between the values of 2 and N, inclusive. The minimum number of hands required to have a bonus payout may be the same regardless of the poker hand ranking, or conceivably could vary depending on the poker hand ranking.
  • a method for playing a multiple-play poker game comprising the steps of (a) playing a round of multi-play poker wherein N hands are played, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2; (b) determining a payout for the N hands based on rankings of the N hands and a first pay table; and then determining a bonus payout in accordance with a bonus pay table, the bonus payout occurring when at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the set of N hands have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N.
  • a method for playing a multiple-play poker game comprising the steps of: displaying a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not played; designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards; reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands; completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards; determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands; and deriving a bonus payout from a bonus pay table as a function of the rankings of all the completed playing hands.
  • a method of facilitating play of a multi-play poker game including receiving a wager associated with a plurality of hands to be played and a wager associated with a bonus feature.
  • a first pay table is provided showing the odds associated with poker hand rankings that provide for a payout.
  • a bonus pay table is provided to show odds as a function of the collective poker hand rankings of all the hands that are played in the multi-hand poker game.
  • a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards is dealt, wherein the pool hand is not a played hand.
  • a selection is received designating none, one or more cards of the pool hand as held cards.
  • the held cards are reproduced in a plurality of playing hands.
  • the playing hands are completed with new face up cards.
  • the method includes steps of determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands; determining a payout amount based on the ranking of each of the played hands, the wager and the first pay table, and determining a bonus payout based on the collective poker hand rankings of all the completed playing hands, the wager on the bonus feature and a bonus pay table.
  • an apparatus for playing a multiple-play poker game comprising a storage medium containing set of machine-readable instructions for controlling a display device, wherein the machine readable instructions comprise instructions for generating the following displays on the display device:
  • the methods of this invention can also be played by an electronic gaming device that is coupled to a gaming server over a computer network, such as the Internet.
  • the gaming server facilitates play of the game by a player at a remotely located gaming device, such as a computer in a home or casino environment.
  • a gaming server is provided which is adapted for communication with a remote gaming device over a network.
  • the gaming server comprises a computing platform (e.g. Windows computer operating system and central processing unit), and a game service module implemented in software executable by the computing platform.
  • the game service module includes instructions (a) for receiving a datagram from the remote gaming device representing (1) a wager on a plurality of hands in a multi-play poker game, and (2) a wager on a bonus feature, wherein, in the bonus feature, an additional payout is determined according to a bonus pay table, the bonus payout occurring when a minimum number of hands (M) have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N, and N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the plurality of hands.
  • M minimum number of hands
  • the game service module performs a function (b) of responsively generating a plurality of playing hands and a function (c) of transmitting a datagram containing data representing the playing hands to the remote gaming device, the playing hands to be displayed on the remote gaming device in a multi-play poker game, the datagram further indicating the results of the wagers (1) and (2) on the plurality of playing hands.
  • a client computer for playing a multi-play poker game, comprising: a general purpose computing platform, and a memory storing gaming software comprising a set of machine-readable instructions.
  • the instructions including communications utilities for enabling the client computer to communicate with a remotely located gaming server, and a file containing logic required for the multi-play poker game, and for controlling the presentation of the game to the player.
  • the logic includes code wherein the player may make a bonus wager that a minimum number of hands (M) will have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N, wherein N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the multi-play poker game.
  • Figure 1 is a screen shot showing a GUI display (10) that may be provided on a computer screen, video poker terminal or other game device, which is provided to facilitate playing of multi-play poker games.
  • the display (10) of Figure 1 is presented to a player at the commencement of a multi-hand poker game.
  • the bonus feature will be described below in conjunction with Figures 7-10.
  • the bonus feature can be implemented in a variety of multi-play poker games, and so the example of a multi-play poker game using a pool hand described below in Figures 1-4 is just one of may possible examples of how the bonus feature may be incorporated into a multi-play poker game.
  • the bonus feature could be adapted to the multi-play poker games of the above-referenced Moody patents or variants thereof.
  • the bonus feature could be adapted to seven card stud multi-play poker.
  • the bonus feature can be applied in any situation where you have 2 or more hands that are played simultaneously in a multi-play poker format.
  • the display (10) of Figure 1 includes a variety of features that are designed to facilitate ease of use.
  • the first feature is the display of a pool hand (12).
  • the pool hand. (12) in this embodiment consists of five cards, which are shown face down indicating that the game has not yet commenced.
  • the pool hand (12) is a hand that is used for selection of cards to be held in a draw-type poker hand. The held cards are later presented in each of a plurality of playing hands, as will be described in further detail below in conjunction with Figures 2-4.
  • the pool hand (12) is not ranked and is also not played or subject to any wagering. It merely exists as a convenient vehicle for selection of cards to be held and presented in the playing hands.
  • the number of cards in the pool hand (12) will preferably be the same number of cards in the completed playing hands, described below. For example, where the game is five-card draw, the pool hand has five cards and each completed playing hand has five cards. It is possible to have a greater or lesser number of cards in the pool hand as compared to the playing hands.
  • the display includes a region (14) that is devoted to a later display of the playing hands.
  • the region (14) includes placeholders (16), each of which delineate an area where a playing hand is later displayed. In Figure 1, there are ten placeholders (16), indicating to the player that this particular hand is a ten-hand poker game.
  • the display of Figure 1 further includes a plurality of boxes (22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38) that, collectively, form a first pay table for the game.
  • Each box (or entry in the pay table) consists of a poker hand ranking (e.g. "Three of a Kind", “Straight”, etc.) and a corresponding number indicating the payout associated with the particular poker hand.
  • a minimum ranking (pair of Jacks or better in the game of Figure 1) is needed for a payout.
  • the game of Figure 1 - 4 is played with ten played hands (see Figure 2) having an equal amount wagered on each playing hand.
  • Each of the playing hands is individually ranked and the amount wagered on that playing hand is paid in accordance with the pay table. For example, a single played hand with a pair of Jacks will pay out the amount wagered on that particular hand (indicated by the "1" in box (22).
  • a single playing hand with a Flush poker ranking (five cards in the same suit) will pay out six times the amount wagered on that playing hand.
  • a Royal Flush hand will pay out 250 times the amount wagered on that playing hand.
  • the total payout for playing all ten playing hands is equal to the sum of the poker hand rankings for each hand, in accordance with the pay table. In other words, a player obtaining ten hands with a pair of Jacks or better will break even, whereas a player obtaining five hands with a Flush ranking will obtain a payout of three times the amount wagered for all ten hands.
  • the display further includes a control section (18), where a set of icons are presented which allow the player to exercise control over the wagering of money and the execution of play of the game.
  • the icons in the control section (18) include a DEAL icon (20) which, when activated (e.g. by mouse click), causes the game to commence and the five cards in the pool hand (12) to be turned face up, as shown in Figure 2.
  • the pool hand (12) shown in Figure 1 could simply consist of a graphical representation of five cards, in which case the dealing of five random cards from a standard deck of playing cards to form the pool hand (12) does not occur until the deal icon (20) is activated.
  • the icons in the control section (18) include the leftmost icon (40), which is a credit meter that reflects a running balance of a player's credit account.
  • the balance on the credit account will vary according to the ebb and flow of the game.
  • the credit meter thus allows the user to track how much money they have won or lost, and helps the player to decide whether to quit the game or to continue playing.
  • the control section (18) includes a group of icons (42), which include MENU, BANK, HELP, OPTIONS, STATS and EXPERT icons.
  • the MENU icon when activated, takes the player to a "games lobby" display, which presents the player with a menu of games available for play.
  • the BANK icon takes the player to a banking application where the player may purchase credit to top up their credit account, or may cash out all or a portion of the credit in their credit account.
  • the HELP icon displays help text describing the rules of the game to the player.
  • the OPTIONS icon allows the player to configure certain game parameters such as, for example, speed of play, sound effects, autohold feature, etc.
  • the STATS icon is used for display of parameters relating to the player's current session of play in this particular game such as, for example, number of hands played to date, duration of current playing session, hands played per hour, a ranking of player's highest wins, etc.
  • the EXPERT icon toggles between two modes, EXPERT and REGULAR. These will be described subsequently.
  • the control section (18) includes a "Coin Size” set of icons (44), which display the current "coin size” used for the wager on each of the playing hands.
  • the coin size is $ 0.10 in Figure 1, denominated in units of credit. There are a number of selectable standard coin sizes, such as $ 1, $ 0.50, $ 0.10, or other value.
  • the "-" icon decrements the current coin size to the next smaller standard size, while the "+” icon increments the current coin size to the next larger standard size.
  • the current value of the coin size indicates the amount wagered on each of the ten played hands. For example, if the coin size unit is $ 0.10, this amount is wagered on each playing hand and a total of $ 1 is wagered on all ten playing hands.
  • the DEAL icon (20) toggles between two modes, a DEAL mode and a DRAW mode.
  • the DEAL mode the activation of the icon initiates a turn of the game by dealing cards in the pool hand face up, whereupon the icon switches to the DRAW mode.
  • the DRAW mode the player selects which cards to hold in the pool hand.
  • the player selects which cards to hold in the pool hand.
  • the player has finished the selection, he activates the icon (20).
  • the activation initiates a phase of the game in which the held cards are replicated in each playing hand and any additional cards are dealt in each playing hand to complete the playing hands.
  • the playing hands are then ranked, as shown in Figure 4.
  • the display includes the BET ONE and BET MAX icons (46) and (48).
  • the manner of use of these icons changes depending on whether the player is in EXPERT mode or in REGULAR mode (the state of toggling the EXPERT icon in the group of icons (42)).
  • Each activation of the BET ONE icon, in the REGULAR mode causes the number of coins (or units) of the current standard coin size that are wagered on each playing hand to be incremented by 1. There is a minimum value of 1 coin or unit per playing hand and a maximum of 5 coins or units per playing hand.
  • the BET MAX icon (48) wagers five coins of the current standard coin size per playing hand.
  • play commences automatically by dealing the cards in the pool hand (12) (i.e. turning the cards face up).
  • a DOUBLE icon (50) initiates a side game in which the player is offered a chance to double his winnings (if any) on the current turn of the game.
  • the side game is explained further below in conjunction with Figures 5 and 6.
  • An ANALYZE icon appears, which displays to the player the probabilities of obtaining a winning poker hand as a function of the cards held in the pool hand.
  • a SHOW HINTS icon displays a warning message to the player each time the player's selection of held cards in the pool hand differs from optimal play by more than a quantifiable threshold.
  • a DEAL 10X icon appears which, when activated, plays 10 consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player.
  • a DEAL 5X icon occurs that, when activated, plays 5 consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player.
  • An AUTOPLAY icon appears that plays a selectable number of consecutive turns of the game automatically without further intervention by the player. The player is able to configure stopping rules and a doubling strategy.
  • COLLECT icon (52) allows the player to receive his winnings and the player's credit account balance is updated to reflect these winnings. If the player clicks on the DEAL icon (20) to initiate a new turn of the game, without first having clicked on the COLLECT icon (52) to collect the previous winnings, this action causes a COLLECT operation to occur anyway behind the scenes.
  • FIG. 3 is a screen shot showing the selection of cards in the pool hand as cards to be held.
  • the player selects none, one or more cards from the pool hand as cards to be "held", that is, cards that will be present in the ten new hands.
  • the player moves the mouse or cursor (60) over a card in the pool hand (12) he wishes to hold and clicks the mouse.
  • the selection of a held card is indicated by the "Held” legend superimposed on the card in the pool hand.
  • the player has elected to hold the Queen of Spades, the Jack of Clubs and the Ten of Clubs, each card having the "Held” legend.
  • the player After completion of the process of designation of none, one or more held cards, the player activates the DRAW icon (20).
  • the pool hand (12) is "greyed out", that is, partially darkened.
  • the cards in the pool hand (12) that were designated as held cards remain in a face up orientation and the cards that were not designated are turned face down, to further emphasize the cards designated as held cards. There is no replacement of un-held cards in the pool hand.
  • the held card or cards from the pool hand (if any) are presented in each of ten new playing hands (70) that are displayed in the central and upper portion of the display.
  • the playing hands (70) are then completed with additional cards, face up, that are dealt at random to complete a hand of five cards.
  • each of the ten played hands includes new cards dealt at random from a standard deck of playing cards. The held cards are removed from the decks used to deal the additional cards to complete the playing hands (70) to avoid the possibility of any single playing hand having two cards that are exactly the same.
  • a ranking of the ten playing hands (70) then occurs.
  • the ranking can be done in accordance with standard poker hand rankings. No ranking of the pool hand occurs, as it is not used for playing and remains greyed out.
  • the ten playing hands in the example of Figure 4 include three hands with a pair of Jacks or better and one hand with a Straight. A ranking of a pair of Jacks or better is needed for any hand to pay out in accordance with the first pay table. To facilitate the player's appreciation of the rankings, boxes (22) and (28) flash to highlight for the player that they had at least one hand of these rankings (pair of Jacks and Straight).
  • a ranking indicium in the form of an icon with the rank of the hand is superimposed on each played hand having a minimum poker hand ranking (pair of Jacks or better).
  • hand (72) has a Jacks or better indicium (74) superimposed over the hand and hand (76) has a Straight indicium superimposed over the hand.
  • the indicia (74) and (78) also indicate the payout for the hand.
  • Jacks or better has a payout of 0.10, which is the payout for Jacks or better, namely 1, multiplied by the coin value of 0.10 units and 1 coin wagered per hand.
  • a Straight has a payout of 0.4, which is the payout for one Straight, namely 4, multiplied by the coin value of 0.01 and 1 coin wagered per hand.
  • the size of the wager on each hand is the coin size multiplied by the number of coins.
  • the total wager on each turn of the game in a ten-hand game is ten times the wager on each playing hand.
  • the total payout on each turn of the game is equal to the sum, for each playing hand, of the coin size multiplied by the pay table multiplier for the ranking of that hand, multiplied by the number of coins wagered.
  • the total payout is 0.70 units (or 70 cents on a dollar wager for all ten hands), since the play resulted in three hands with Jacks or better and one hand with a Straight [(3 x 0.10 x 1 coin wagered per hand) + (4 x 0.10 x 1 coin wagered per hand)].
  • the total payout, 0.70 units, is shown in box (90) in Figure 4.
  • Figure 7 represents an alternative GUI design for a ten-play multi-hand poker game.
  • the display of Figure 7 includes a region (14) for later display of ten playing hands with a border or placeholder (16) showing the future location for each of the playing hands.
  • a control section (18) is provided for game playing control icons as described above.
  • the number of playing hands (10 in this example) can of course vary, e.g., 4, 10 or 50.
  • the display of Figure 7 further includes a bonus feature check box (150) that allows the player to enable or to disable the bonus feature of the game.
  • the display includes a further icon (155) labeled "View Bonus Paytable” that, when activated, causes the display of Figure 8 to appear.
  • the display of Figure 8 represents a bonus pay table (160) and an icon (165) labeled "Back to Game” that, when activated by the player, causes the display to revert back to that of Figure 7.
  • the bonus pay table (160) is displayed as a two-dimensional array (170) with nine rows and seven columns. Each row corresponds to a different poker hand ranking, namely "Jacks or better", “Two Pairs”, “Three of a Kind”, “Straight”, “Flush”, “Full House”, “Four of a Kind”, “Straight Flush” and “Royal Flush”. Jacks or Better is the minimum poker hand ranking needed for a payout, and need not necessarily be the same as the minimum poker hand ranking to win in the pay table of Figure 1 (boxes (22) - (38)).
  • the columns of the bonus pay table are labeled "4'' to "10", respectively.
  • the pay table could be arranged with the rankings in the columns and the number of hands in the rows, of course.
  • the value of M need not necessarily be the same for each ranking in the bonus pay table. (E.g., six hands of Jacks or Better are needed to have a bonus payout, but for a Royal Flush, only 3 hands are needed).
  • Each entry in the two-dimensional array (170) of the bonus pay table (160) represents a multiplier associated with a bonus feature win, which is determined as a function of the respective poker hand rankings of all of the ten playing hands. For example, if five played hands have a ranking of Jacks or better, the bonus game will have a multiplier of 2, while if seven played hands have a ranking of Full House, the bonus game multiplier will be 36.
  • the bonus feature check box (150) an amount equal to the wager on a single playing hand is wagered on the bonus feature.
  • the payout arising out of the bonus feature is the amount wagered on the bonus feature multiplied by the multiplier derived from the bonus pay table (160).
  • the amount wagered on the bonus feature is the number of coins wagered per playing hand multiplied by the selected standard coin size. It will be appreciated that any payout from the bonus feature is additional to any winnings achieved by the player in the multi-play poker game as described above. It will be further appreciated that payouts arising from the bonus feature itself are cumulative. For example, a turn of the game in which six playing hands have a ranking of Two Pairs and the remaining four playing hands have a ranking of Full House results in a bonus feature multiplier of 12 (6 + 6).
  • a pool hand (12) is dealt.
  • the first and fourth cards from the left in the pool hand (12) are Jacks and are held.
  • the pool hand (12) is greyed out and the non-designated cards are placed face down.
  • the two held cards (Jacks) are reproduced in the playing hands (70) and additional face up cards are dealt at random into each of the ten playing hands to complete each playing hand.
  • Each hand is dealt from a separate deck with the held cards removed.
  • the ten playing hands are ranked in accordance with a poker hand ranking. The play resulted in nine Jacks or better and one Three of a Kind.
  • the playing hands with a minimum poker hand ranking have ranking indicia (100) superimposed over the hands, as indicated in Figure 10.
  • the bet icon (125) shows that the player wagered 1 unit and won 1.8 units from the multi-play game, or a net gain of 0.8 units.
  • the "View Bonus Paytable” icon (155) is replaced by a notice indicating that the player has won an additional 0.6 units from the bonus feature according to the bonus pay table (160), from a 0.1 unit bonus feature wager, to yield a total gain of 1.3 units on the turn of the multi-play poker game.
  • the bonus win of 0.60 is calculated as follows from the pay table of Figure 8: in the Jacks or Better row, one goes to the column under the heading "9" since nine played hands have a Jacks or better ranking.
  • the value of 6, for this location in the pay table array, is multiplied by the 0.10 coin size wagered on the bonus feature, for a total of 0.60 units.
  • At least four hands meeting one of the poker hand rankings in the pay table is needed to win in accordance with the bonus pay table. For example, if the player had three winning hands of a Flush or Royal Flush, they would win the wager in the regular game using the pay table of Figures 1-4, but would not win the bonus feature.
  • a method for playing a multiple-play poker game comprising the steps of (a) playing a round of multi-play poker wherein N hands are played, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2; and (b) determining a bonus payout in accordance with a bonus pay table, the bonus feature pays out as a function of the rankings of all the completed playing hands. For example, the bonus feature pays out when at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the set of N hands have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N.
  • the method includes a step of displaying a pool hand (12) comprising a plurality of face up cards ( Figures 2, 9), wherein the pool hand is not played.
  • the method continues with a step of receiving a selection from a player designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards ( Figures 3, 9).
  • the method continues with a step of retaining the held cards in a face up orientation and turning face down any cards of the pool hand not designated as a held card ( Figure 4, lower portion of the display, Figure 10).
  • the method continues by reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands ( Figures 4, 10, playing hands (70)).
  • the method continues with a step of completing the plurality of playing hands (70) with new face up cards (Figures 4, 10). For example, in Figure 4, three hands have rankings of a pair of Jacks or better and one hand has a ranking of a Straight.
  • the method continues with a step of deriving a bonus payout from a bonus pay table (160) as a function of the rankings of all the completed playing hands ( Figure 7 and Figure 10, lower portion of the display).
  • a method for facilitating play of a multiple-hand poker game with a bonus feature.
  • the method comprises a step of receiving a wager associated with a plurality of hands to be played and a wager associated with a bonus feature.
  • the player may wager a given amount (say, $ 10 or some number of units of wager) that the poker hand ranking of each of N hands will be equal to or greater than a certain score.
  • the player may wager an additional amount (say $ 1) on the bonus feature that the collective poker hand rankings of all N hands will be equal to or greater than a certain score.
  • the wager size is indicated in the coin size icon (48) of Figure 1.
  • a first pay table (set of boxes (23) - (28) in Figure 1, set of boxes (115) in Figure 7) may be provided on the screen display to show the odds associated with.poker hand rankings that provide for a payback.
  • N is the number of hands that are played in the multi-hand poker game. N could be any integer of 2 or more, such as four, ten, fifty or even more.
  • a bonus pay table ( Figure 8) may also be provided to show odds as a function of the collective poker hand rankings of all the N hands that are played in the multi-hand poker game. The method continues with the steps of dealing a pool hand (12) comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not a played hand (see Figures 2, 7).
  • the method continues with the steps of receiving a selection designating none, one or more cards of the pool hand as held cards, retaining the held cards in a face up orientation and turning face down any cards of the pool hand.not designated as one of the held cards ( Figures 3, 9), reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands, completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards, and determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands ( Figures 4, 10).
  • the method continues with the step of determining a payout amount based on the ranking of each of the played hands, the wager and a first pay table, and determining a bonus payout based on the collective poker hand rankings of all the completed playing hands, the wager on the bonus feature and a bonus pay table.
  • the payouts and the bonus payout can be determined as explained above.
  • an apparatus for playing a multiple-hand poker game.
  • the apparatus comprises a storage medium containing set of machine-readable instructions for controlling a display device, such as a video poker machine or terminal, computer display, or display of any other gaming device.
  • the set of instructions can be downloaded as an executable file from a web site, for example in an on-line gaming situation, or stored locally on the game device, as in the case of a video poker terminal.
  • the machine-readable instructions comprise instructions for generating the following displays on the display device:
  • the format for display of the first pay table can vary widely and is not particularly important. Further examples are illustrated in U.S. application serial no. 11/058,680 filed February 14, 2005 .
  • the displays include the following displays: 1.) a pool hand (12); 2.) a plurality of playing hands (70) for playing a multiple-hand poker game; 3.) a first pay table (boxes (22) - (38), (115)) comprising a display of poker hand rankings and the associated payout odds for each hand in the rankings; 4.) a control section (18), the control section comprising at least one of wagering controls (e.g., icons (44), (46), (48)), a deal icon and a draw icon (which can be combined as shown in the Figures); 5.) ranking indicia (74), (76) for illustrating the poker hand ranking of at least one of the playing hands; 6.) a bonus pay table comprising a display of composite poker hand rankings and the associated payout odds for each composite poker hand ranking; and 7.) a bonus payout indicium (155).
  • the ranking indicia can be superimposed over the played hand, as shown in Figures 4 and 10. For example, if a hand has a poker hand ranking of a Flush, the ranking indicia "Flush" can appear superimposed over the hand.
  • the ranking indicia may also display the payout for that hand, as shown in indicia (74) and (76) in Figure 3.
  • the bonus payout indicium may indicate a payout based on the collective hand rankings of all the playing hands. The total payout for all the playing hands is determined by summing the individual payouts for each hand and the bonus payout as explained above.
  • the player can optionally play a side game to double their money.
  • the player activates the double icon (50).
  • the screen of Figure 5 then appears.
  • the side game consists of showing one card randomly selected as a face up card (80) (here the Four of Hearts), and four face down cards (82) dealt from the same deck. The player selects one of the face down cards, and then all four cards (80) are turned over and the card they selected is highlighted. If the selected card has a higher value than the face up card, the player doubles their money. If the selected face down card is of an equal or lower value, they lose the money they won in the multi-hand game.
  • 80 face up card
  • 82 face down cards
  • the player was fortunate in being dealt the Four of Hearts (80), as the chances are good that a card they select from the four cards (82) will be a five or better.
  • the player could be dealt a high card, such as a King, as the face up (card (80)), and none of the four cards in the pool (82) are an Ace.
  • the player will lose their wager regardless of which card they select.
  • the player selected the third card over (84) (which turned out to be the Three of Hearts) and loses the "Double" side wager.
  • the disclosed embodiments meet a need in the art for an improved multi-play poker game that offers a player a more exciting playing experience.
  • the bonus feature of the multi-play poker game serves to magnify the payout associated with completed playing hands that are uniformly successful. For example, as described above, a player playing a ten-hand poker game that obtains ten hands with a ranking of pair of Jacks or better will break even when the bonus feature is not present, but will achieve a net gain of 70% of his original wager when the bonus feature is enabled. As a further example, a player obtaining five hands with a Flush ranking will obtain a net gain of twice the amount wagered on all ten hands without the bonus feature versus 3.2 times the amount wagered on all ten hands when the bonus feature is present. It is expected that the bonus feature will render the multi-play poker game more attractive to players, thereby helping to prolong player interest in the game and reducing the likelihood of player attrition from the game.
  • the games of Figures 1-10 can be played on a computer that has a connection to the World Wide Web.
  • This section of the disclosure will describe the apparatus, processing, and message flow for playing multi-play poker games with a bonus feature in a Web-based gaming environment.
  • FIG 11 is a network diagram showing a client computer (200) that connects to a gaming server (202) via an Internet Service Provider (204) and Internet Protocol network (206) such as the Internet.
  • the client computer (200) downloads gaming software from the gaming server (202) and exchanges messages with the gaming server (202) as described below to play multi-play poker games with a bonus feature as illustrated in Figures 1-10.
  • the client computer (200) may take the form of any general purpose computing device such as a personal computer running a Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows ME and the like operating system, or an alternative such as a Linux operating system. Only one such computer (200) is shown, but in practice any number of client computers may be connected simultaneously with the gaming server (202) and play the games.
  • the gaming server (202) takes the form of a general purpose computing platform and may operate, for example, under a Windows Server 2003 operating system or other state of the art system.
  • the gaming server (202) may include other functions, such as an HTML web page server.
  • the gaming server is managed by a entity offering Internet casino gaming services via a presence on the World Wide Web.
  • FIG 12 is a more detailed diagram of the gaming server (202) showing the software modules included in the gaming server (202) in a preferred embodiment.
  • the modules include a router module (210), a game service module (212), a casino database module (214), and an ancillary services module (216).
  • the router (210) provides one point of contact for all download clients (200) communicating with the gaming server (202).
  • a download client (200) establishes a connection to the router (210) when a player using the download client (200) wishes to play a game.
  • the router (210) receives a message from the download client and passes the message to the game service (212) for processing.
  • the game service module (212) is written as one or more Windows Server 2003 services.
  • the game service (212) generates an outcome for the game, determines the results of any wagers and transmits the outcome and the result of the wager back to the download client.
  • the processing logic executed by the game service module (212) is explained in more detail in the flow chart of Figures 14 - 18.
  • the casino database (214) is used to log the state of a player's session with the casino.
  • the game service (212) on the gaming server (202) writes the outcome of the game and the result of the wager to the casino database (214), before the outcome and the result of the wager are transmitted back to the download client (200).
  • the casino database (214) uses a state engine such that if the download client (200) disconnects from the gaming server (202) for whatever reason (say, communication failure or session termination by the player), the player will, upon subsequent reconnection with the gaming server (202), be presented with an identical screen display and game state as when disconnection occurred.
  • the server (202) also includes an ancillary services module (216) that performs ancillary functions related to operation of the gaming site, such as banking, player login, player registration, and the like.
  • ancillary services module 216 that performs ancillary functions related to operation of the gaming site, such as banking, player login, player registration, and the like.
  • the client computer (200) executes client software that is either downloaded from a remote download server and subsequently installed on the client computer, or is installed directly from a storage medium such as a compact disc.
  • the software is downloaded directly from the gaming server (202).
  • Figure 13 is a more detailed diagram of a set of software modules (220) which are downloaded onto the client computer (200) and stored locally in memory in the computer (200) in order to communicate with the gaming server (202) and play the multi-play poker games with a bonus feature as illustrated in Figures 1-10.
  • These modules include a graphics engine (222) which renders graphics on the screen of the client computer (200), a sound engine (224) which plays sound effects occurring during play, a script engine (226) which renders text on the screen, communications utilities (228) which enable the client computer (200) to communicate with the gaming server (202), a set of graphics objects (230) such as, for example the cards of a deck of cards, buttons and text objects, a game-specific Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file (232) that contains all the logic required for the game, and which controls the presentation of the game to the player, an encrypted text file (2)34 that tells the game where to position the graphics, the buttons, what graphics to load, etc., and an encryption engine (236) that provides 128-bit encryption of data communication between the download client (200) and the gaming server (202).
  • a graphics engine 222
  • a sound engine 224
  • a script engine which renders text on the screen
  • communications utilities which enable the client computer (200) to communicate with the gaming server (202)
  • Figures 14 - 18 are a flow chart showing the flow of messages (300) between the gaming server (202) and the client computer (200), and processing steps performed at both the gaming server (202) and client computer (200), to play the multi-play poker games with a bonus feature as illustrated in Figures 1 - 10.
  • the flow of messages (300) is for one turn of the game and the flow may repeat any number of times as the player plays the game repeatedly.
  • the message flow (300) assumes that client computer (200) has initially accessed the web site hosted by the gaming server (202) and registered to play games at the online casino, and in the process has downloaded the software modules of Figure 13.
  • the DLL file has been loaded for processing by the host processor (not shown) in the client computer (200) and the display of Figure 1 has been presented to the user on the client computer (200).
  • the host processor not shown
  • Figure 1 has been presented to the user on the client computer (200).
  • the client software determines the coin size (0.10 in Figure 1, see icons (44)).
  • the client software determines the number of coins played (depending on the state of activation of the BET ONE and BET MAX icons (46) and (48) in Figure 1).
  • the client software determines the number of played hands. For example, in a ten-hand game such as shown in Figures 1 - 4 the number is 10.
  • the client software computes the total wager as the product of number of coins multiplied by the coin size multiplied by the number of played hands, plus the bonus feature wager.
  • step (312) the client software determines if the account balance is greater than or equal to the total wager. If the answer is no, then processing proceeds to step (314) and display of an error message and the processing stops (316).
  • step (318) the client software constructs a datagram containing the coin size, number of coins and number of hands played and a flag that the player has enabled the bonus feature.
  • step (320) the encryption engine (236) in the client software encrypts the datagram and the communication utilities module (228) transmits the datagram generated at step (318) to the gaming server over the Internet (206).
  • the processing (300) proceeds with the flow chart shown in Figure 15.
  • the datagram generated at step (318) is received at the router module (210) in the gaming server (202) and passed to the game service (212).
  • the game service (212) computes the total wager.
  • the game server debits the player account balance by the total wager amount.
  • the game server "deals" five cards of a pool hand (12).
  • this step may take the form of random selection of five cards from a standard deck of playing cards (i.e., the digital equivalent of this action) and storage of data indicating the selection of cards in memory.
  • the game service (212) constructs a datagram containing the updated account balance and the five cards dealt in the pool hand (12).
  • step (332) the datagram generated in step (330) is sent to the router module (210) and_ transmitted over the Internet (206) to the client computer (200).
  • the processing flow (300) continues with Figure 16.
  • step (334) the datagram generated at step (330) is received at the client computer (200).
  • step (336) the display of the cards in the pool hand (12) face up occurs (see Figure 2).
  • the deal icon toggles to DRAW as shown in Figure 2.
  • the client software enables the user to select cards to be held and the player uses the mouse to click on the displayed pool hand card to select it.
  • step (340) the processing determines whether the selection is completed. If not, the selection process at step (338) continues.
  • step (342) the selection is completed and the user activates the DRAW icon (20).
  • the client software constructs a datagram containing data signifying the held cards in the pool hand (12), the number of playing hands (10 in the example of Figure 2), and the position of the held cards in the pool hand (12).
  • step (346) the datagram is transmitted to the gaming server (202).
  • the processing flow (300) continues with Figure 17.
  • the router (210) receives the datagram constructed at step (344) and forwards it to the service module (212).
  • the service module (212) determines the held cards from the datagram.
  • the service module (212) creates a first playing hand by adding to the held cards additional cards selected at random from a deck of playing cards, with the held cards removed, to make up a complete poker hand.
  • step (354) the poker hand “dealt” at step (352) is ranked.
  • the ranking is analyzed to determine whether it is a "winning hand", i.e., has a minimum poker hand ranking (Jacks or better in the game of Figures 1 and 7).
  • step (358) the processing proceeds to step (358) and the service module (212) determines the payout and updates the player balance at step (360).
  • step (360) If the hand is not a winning hand (and after step (360) is performed), the processing proceeds to step (362), where a check is made to determine whether the hand just processed in steps (352) - (360) is the last hand.
  • Step (364) If not, a count is incremented at step (364) and the processing loops back to step (352). Steps (352) - (362) repeat until all the hands in the game are created and processed.
  • the service module (212) determines the total win for all played hands by summing up the payouts calculated at step (358).
  • step (380) the rankings of all the playing hands are collated and compared to the bonus pay table (160) to determine whether conditions for a bonus win are present.
  • step (382) the service module (212) determines the size of the bonus win and updates the player balance at step (384).
  • the service module (212) constructs a datagram containing the updated account balance, the cards in each played hand, the rank of each played hand, the payout of each played hand, the total win or payout for all the played hands, and the bonus win.
  • step (370) the datagram generated at step (368) is sent from the router (210) to the client computer (200) over the Internet (206). The processing continues with the flow chart shown in Figure 18.
  • step (372) the datagram generated at step (368) is received at the client computer (200).
  • the display of Figure 10 is generated, and in particular the display on the computer includes the display of the played hands (70), the ranking indicia (100) including the payout for each played hand, the total win (item (90) in Figure 10), and the bonus payout (155) of Figure 10.
  • the deal icon toggles to DEAL as shown in the lower right of Figure 10.
  • FIG. 14 - 18 The processing of Figures 14 - 18 is performed in parallel for a multitude of remotely located gaming clients (computers) connected to the gaming server.
  • the gaming server (202) adapted for communication with a remote gaming device (100) over a network (206).
  • the network (206) could be a local area network in an embodiment where the remote gaming device (100) and the gaming server (202) are in the same building (e.g., in a casino environment).
  • the gaming server (202) comprises a computing platform (e.g., Windows Server 2003) and a game service module 212 implemented in software executable by the computing platform.
  • the .gaming server module includes instructions (a) for receiving a datagram from the remote gaming device representing (1) a wager on a plurality of hands in a multi-play poker game, and (2) a wager on a bonus feature, wherein, in the bonus feature, an additional payout is determined according to a bonus pay table, the bonus payout occurring when a minimum number of hands (M) have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N, and N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the plurality of hands; (b) responsively generating a plurality of playing hands, and (c) transmitting a datagram containing data representing the playing hands to the remote gaming device, the playing hands to be displayed on the remote gaming device in a multi-play poker game, the datagram further indicating the results of the wagers (1) and (2) on the plurality of playing hands.
  • a client computer 200 for playing a multi-play poker game with a pool hand 12 and bonus feature comprising a general purpose computing platform (e.g., PC with Windows operating system), and a memory storing gaming software comprising a set of machine-readable instructions.
  • a general purpose computing platform e.g., PC with Windows operating system
  • gaming software comprising a set of machine-readable instructions.
  • the instructions include communications utilities 228 ( Figure 13) for enabling the client computer to communicate with a remotely located gaming server and a file (232, Figure 13) containing logic required for the multi-play poker game, and for controlling the presentation of the game to the player, and wherein the logic includes code wherein the player may make a bonus wager that a minimum number of hands (M) will have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2 ⁇ M ⁇ N, wherein N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the multi-play poker game.
  • M minimum number of hands
  • the bonus feature wager may be made mandatory and not discretionary as described in these embodiments. This variation can be achieved by eliminating the previously described bonus feature check box (150) with an automatic bonus feature wager on each turn of the game without requiring an explicit action by the player.
  • the multi-hand game may not require the player to make, either explicitly or implicitly, an additional wager on the bonus feature of the game.
  • the bonus feature involving the second pay table may apply unconditionally requiring the player to only make the wager on the multiple playing hands, thus making the bonus feature a "free bet".
  • the detailed processing shown in Figures 14-18 is offered by way of example and not limitation as to particular processing sequence and communication flow between the client and server. Other processing steps or message flow sequence can occur.
  • the multi-play poker game may not involve a separate pool hand (12) that is not played and is not completed as described above.
  • the invention is directly applicable to a multi-play poker game where a player selects none, one or more cards to be held from one of the playing hands, which is a played hand and which is completed by removing and replacing the card therein that are not designated as held cards. All questions regarding the scope of the invention are to be determined by reference to the appended claims.
EP06254030A 2005-08-01 2006-08-01 Machine de poker multi-jeux et jeux à bonus Withdrawn EP1750233A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US11/195,558 US20060194628A1 (en) 2005-02-14 2005-08-01 Multi-play poker apparatus and games with bonus feature

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1750233A2 true EP1750233A2 (fr) 2007-02-07
EP1750233A3 EP1750233A3 (fr) 2007-09-05

Family

ID=37267526

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP06254030A Withdrawn EP1750233A3 (fr) 2005-08-01 2006-08-01 Machine de poker multi-jeux et jeux à bonus

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US20060194628A1 (fr)
EP (1) EP1750233A3 (fr)
AU (1) AU2006202449B2 (fr)
CA (1) CA2549395A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP4001896B2 (ja) * 2005-11-30 2007-10-31 株式会社コナミデジタルエンタテインメント ゲームシステム、サーバ及び端末機
JP2008142283A (ja) * 2006-12-08 2008-06-26 Aruze Corp ゲームマシン、ゲームマシンの制御方法、及びプレイ方法
JP2008142288A (ja) * 2006-12-08 2008-06-26 Aruze Corp ゲームマシン、ゲームマシンの制御方法、及びプレイ方法
US9147321B2 (en) 2006-12-18 2015-09-29 Igt Casino game with next round multipliers
US20100081498A1 (en) * 2006-12-18 2010-04-01 Moody Ernest W Casino game with next round multipliers
US8690659B2 (en) * 2006-12-18 2014-04-08 Ernest W Moody Casino game with next round multipliers
US7654894B2 (en) * 2007-03-20 2010-02-02 Cfph, Llc Card game with fixed rules
US8152616B2 (en) 2007-10-24 2012-04-10 Ernest Moody Revocable Trust Casino game with pay line multipliers
US8177617B1 (en) 2008-02-15 2012-05-15 Nottke Timothy G Three card video poker
AU2009200767A1 (en) 2008-03-10 2009-09-24 Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited A gaming system and a method of gaming
US8092292B1 (en) * 2009-02-26 2012-01-10 Primo Innovo, Llc Method and apparatus for a wagering game having a game outcome determined from a player selected indicia set
US20100259004A1 (en) * 2009-04-08 2010-10-14 Hammock Sr Michael Edward Twelve way pay poker
US8113934B2 (en) 2009-11-09 2012-02-14 Ernest W Moody Gaming system, gaming device and method for draw poker game
US9067144B1 (en) 2010-06-01 2015-06-30 Timothy G. Nottke Multi-draw video poker
US9345960B2 (en) * 2012-12-21 2016-05-24 Igt Gaming system and method providing an enhanced winning hand display feature
US10755529B2 (en) 2014-09-24 2020-08-25 Igt Gaming system and method providing a video poker game with modifiers
CN107547492B (zh) * 2016-06-29 2022-02-15 无敌媒体有限公司 用于减少网络中断的影响的系统和方法
KR20180077355A (ko) * 2016-12-28 2018-07-09 엔에이치엔엔터테인먼트 주식회사 카드 게임 제공 방법 및 시스템
USD907656S1 (en) * 2019-03-15 2021-01-12 Antonio Di Bella Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5823873A (en) 1995-06-28 1998-10-20 Moody Ernest W Method of playing electronic video poker games
US6007066A (en) 1995-06-28 1999-12-28 Moody; Ernest W. Electronic video poker games
US20060183526A1 (en) 2005-02-14 2006-08-17 Waterleaf Limited Multi-play poker game with pool hand

Family Cites Families (34)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20040A (en) * 1858-04-27 Ebog fob bailboad-cbossibrgs
US20020A (en) * 1858-04-20 Improvement in manufacture of leather pasteboard and paper
US20030A (en) * 1858-04-27 Rice-huller
US4836553A (en) * 1988-04-18 1989-06-06 Caribbean Stud Enterprises, Inc. Poker game
US5364104A (en) * 1988-04-18 1994-11-15 D&D Gaming Patents, Inc. Apparatus for progressive jackpot gaming
US5118109A (en) * 1991-04-30 1992-06-02 Champions Management Group, Inc. Instant poker game card
US6336859B2 (en) * 1993-03-31 2002-01-08 Progressive Games, Inc. Method for progressive jackpot gaming
US6120378A (en) * 1996-06-17 2000-09-19 Ernest W. Moody Multi-line slot machine method
US5976016A (en) * 1995-06-28 1999-11-02 Ernest W. Moody Multi-line slot machine method
US6419578B1 (en) * 1995-06-28 2002-07-16 Ernest W. Moody Bonus feature on starting hands
US6568680B1 (en) * 1995-06-28 2003-05-27 Ernest W. Moody Electronic video poker games
US6098985A (en) * 1995-06-28 2000-08-08 Moody; Ernest W. Electronic video poker games
US6652377B1 (en) * 1995-06-28 2003-11-25 Ernest W. Moody Electronic video slot and poker games
US5954335A (en) * 1995-06-28 1999-09-21 Moody; Ernest W. Multiple play twenty-one games
US5732950A (en) * 1995-06-28 1998-03-31 Moody Ernest W Electronic video poker games
US6517074B1 (en) * 1995-06-28 2003-02-11 Ernest W. Moody Electronic video poker games
US6364313B1 (en) * 1995-06-28 2002-04-02 Ernest W. Moody Multiple play keno game with bonus feature
US6672959B2 (en) * 1995-06-28 2004-01-06 Ernest W. Moody Bonus feature on starting hands
US6561898B2 (en) * 1995-06-28 2003-05-13 Moody Ernest W Electronic multi-hand stud poker games
US6312332B1 (en) * 1998-03-31 2001-11-06 Walker Digital, Llc Method and apparatus for team play of slot machines
US5816916A (en) * 1997-08-14 1998-10-06 Moody; Ernest W. Video poker game
US6409602B1 (en) * 1998-11-06 2002-06-25 New Millenium Gaming Limited Slim terminal gaming system
US6565432B2 (en) * 2000-09-18 2003-05-20 Ernest W. Moody Auto hold video poker
US6474645B2 (en) * 2001-03-08 2002-11-05 Colepat, Llc Multi-hand poker game
US6638163B2 (en) * 2001-09-05 2003-10-28 Ernest W. Moody Stud poker games
US20030070178A1 (en) * 2001-09-09 2003-04-10 Boyd Robert A. Poker tournament system
GB2397403A (en) * 2001-09-18 2004-07-21 Acres Gaming Inc Player specific game system
US6729621B2 (en) * 2002-03-04 2004-05-04 Ernest W. Moody Video poker games
US6878060B2 (en) * 2002-05-14 2005-04-12 Ernest W. Moody Poker game with multiple hands having similar expected value
US6877747B2 (en) * 2002-08-15 2005-04-12 Ernest W. Moody Video poker game
US20040113363A1 (en) * 2002-08-28 2004-06-17 Moody Ernest W. Multiple way stud poker games
US7351139B2 (en) * 2002-09-11 2008-04-01 Sawyer Thomas E Royal game and method of playing
US8016656B2 (en) * 2004-01-12 2011-09-13 King Show Games, Inc. Apparatus and method for playing poker-style games involving a draw
US8177616B2 (en) * 2007-11-06 2012-05-15 Igt Gaming system and method for providing multiple hand three-card poker game

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5823873A (en) 1995-06-28 1998-10-20 Moody Ernest W Method of playing electronic video poker games
US6007066A (en) 1995-06-28 1999-12-28 Moody; Ernest W. Electronic video poker games
US20060183526A1 (en) 2005-02-14 2006-08-17 Waterleaf Limited Multi-play poker game with pool hand

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1750233A3 (fr) 2007-09-05
CA2549395A1 (fr) 2007-02-01
AU2006202449A1 (en) 2007-02-15
AU2006202449B2 (en) 2008-03-20
US20060194628A1 (en) 2006-08-31

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
AU2006202449B2 (en) Multi-play poker apparatus and games with bonus feature
EP1690572B1 (fr) Poker électronique multi-jeux avec 'pool hand'
US7380795B2 (en) Methods and apparatus for playing poker games
EP1903522A1 (fr) Tournois de black-jack en ligne avec options d'achat d'un rapport de décompte de cartes
US20060058082A1 (en) System and method for providing a card tournament using one or more electronic card table
US9881457B2 (en) Apparatus and methods for playing electronic table card games
AU2008100162B4 (en) System and method for providing a card tournament using one or more electronic card tables
US20150221185A1 (en) Gaming device and method for multi-hand video poker
US11322002B2 (en) System for an alternative version of poker with redraw
US20220207968A1 (en) System for an Alternative Version of Gaming
US11967207B2 (en) Secure poker gaming methods and systems
US11600142B1 (en) Secure poker gaming methods and systems
AU2012201542B2 (en) A gaming system and method of gaming
AU2017201720A1 (en) A method of gaming, a gaming system and a game controller
AU2012258289A1 (en) A method of gaming, a gaming system and a game controller
AU2012202168A1 (en) A gaming method and a gaming system

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL BA HR MK YU

PUAL Search report despatched

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009013

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A3

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL BA HR MK YU

AKX Designation fees paid
REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: 8566

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20080306