Low/max card game method and apparatus

Abstract

A card game method and apparatus is played with a standard deck of cards and a game table having a dealer area and a plurality of player areas. The dealer deals sets of cards to each of a plurality of players and to the dealer itself. An equal number of cards is dealt to each player. The equal number is preferably from 3 to 7. Each player makes an initial wager. After receiving their cards, each player and the dealer split at least three of their cards into two half-hands, a first half-hand having a “LOW” value and a second half-hand having a “HIGH” value. A player wins if both a) that player's LOW hand is lower than the dealer's LOW hand and b) that player's HIGH hand is higher than the dealer's HIGH hand. A number a variations of the game are also described.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of playing a card game, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a standard deck of cards;    providing a game table having a dealer area and a plurality of player areas;    having a dealer deal sets of cards to each of a plurality of players and to the dealer itself, an equal number of cards being dealt to each player, said equal number being from 3 to 7;    having each player make a wager prior to viewing the face value of their respective cards;    having each player split at least three of their respective cards into two half-hands, a first half hand having a LOW value and a second half-hand having a HIGH value;    having the dealer split at least three of his cards into two half-hands, a first half hand having a LOW value and a second half-hand having a HIGH value;    designating a player as a winner if both a) that player's LOW hand is lower than the dealer's LOW hand and b) that player's HIGH hand is higher than the dealer's HIGH hand.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of having a dealer deal includes dealing 4 cards to each player and wherein said steps of splitting the player's and dealer's cards into half-hands includes making each half-hand with 2 cards.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of having each player make a wager prior to viewing the face value of their respective cards includes having each player make a wager prior to having any cards dealt by the dealer.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of designating a player as a winner if both a) that player's LOW hand is lower than the dealer's LOW hand and b) that player's HIGH hand is higher than the dealer's HIGH hand is based on valuing aces as either 1 or 11, valuing 2's through 10's as 2 through 10, respectively, and valuing jacks, queens and kings as 10.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of designating a player as a winner if both a) that player's LOW hand is lower than the dealer's LOW hand and b) that player's HIGH hand is higher than the dealer's HIGH hand is based on poker values of the cards.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further including, after having the dealer deal sets of cards to each of a plurality of players, the steps of having a player a) discard one card and b) pay a replacement fee and then dealing that player an additional card.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further including, after said step of designating a player as a winner, the step of giving that player winnings in the amount of a 1 to 1 payout minus a commission fee.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said commission fee is 5% of the player's winnings on the hand.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said replacement fee is an additional 50% of the initial wager.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of having each player make a wager prior to viewing the face value of their respective cards is the only wagering available during the game.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said step of providing a game table having a dealer area and a plurality of player areas includes providing the dealer area with a location for a chip rack, with a location for receiving a HIGH half-hand and with a location for receiving a LOW half-hand and includes providing the player areas each with a chip wager region, a location for receiving a HIGH half-hand and with a location for receiving a LOW half-hand.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the players and the dealer are dealt four cards, and further including the steps of allowing a single replacement card to be purchased by any player upon the payment of a predetermined replacement fee and allowing the dealer to draw a single replacement card under certain conditions.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said certain conditions under which the dealer is allowed to draw a single replacement card include when either three of the dealer's cards are equal in value or have a value between 5 and 10.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each player and the dealer are dealt five cards.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each player and the dealer are dealt three cards.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each player is dealt four cards and the dealer is dealt five cards.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of allowing a player to bank a hand for a fee provided that that player has enough money to pay all of the remaining players combined.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of allowing a player to co-bank a hand for a fee provided that that player has 50% of all of the wagers from the other players combined.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of designating a player as a loser when either: a) both the player's HIGH and LOW half-hands lose; b) one of the player's half-hands loses and the other of the player's half-hands pushes; or c) both of the player's HIGH and LOW half-hands push.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of designating a player's hand as a push when either: a) one of the player's half-hands wins and the other of the player's half-hands loses; or b) one of the player's half-hands wins and the other of the player's half-hands pushes.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of giving a player an award if the player is dealt a hand having four-of-a-kind.  
     
     
         22 . A card game apparatus, comprising: 
 a) a standard deck of cards;    b) a game table having a curved side with a plurality of player areas and an opposite side with a central dealer area;    c) said central dealer area including: a chip rack; a HIGH half-hand region designated by indicia printed on a top surface of said game table; a LOW half-hand region designated by indicia printed on said top surface of said game table;    d) each of said player areas including: a chip region designated by printing on said surface of said game table; a HIGH half-hand region designated by indicia printed on said surface of said game table; and a LOW half-hand region designated by indicia printed on said surface of said game table.    
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein said dealer area further includes a discard rack and a card shoe.  
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the game table also includes other indicia thereon indicating a commission to be received by the house.  
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the game table also includes other indicia thereon indicating a replacement card fee.  
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein said HIGH half-hand region in said dealer area is located adjacent said LOW half-hand region in said dealer area, and wherein said HIGH half-hand region in each player area is located nearer said dealer area than said LOW half-hand region in the respective player area.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein said game table has seven player areas.