Method of playing card games

Abstract

Methods of playing card games include the steps of (a) affording each player an opportunity to place an ANTE wager to participate in the game, (b) affording each player an opportunity to make an optional EXTRA BET wager; (c) dealing seven cards to each player and to a dealer; (d) affording each player an opportunity to view their cards and to divide their cards into a two-card High Hand and a five-card Low Hand according to predetermined rules for dividing cards; (e) affording each player an opportunity to either fold and forfeit their ANTE wager, or call by making a BET wager exactly twice the amount of the ANTE wager; (f) dividing the dealer's hand into a two-card High Hand and a five-card Low Hand according to the predetermined rules for dividing cards; (g) evaluating whether the dealer's High Hand qualifies by achieving a predetermined poker rank of a pair of 6s or better; and (h) settling wagers by (1) if the dealer's High Hand does not qualify, refunding the ANTE and BET wagers to each remaining player and paying each remaining player who opted to make the EXTRA BET wager an amount determined by a predetermined pay table based on a point value of the player's Low Hand; (2) if the dealer's High Hand does qualify, comparing each remaining player's High Hand with the dealer's High Hand using poker rank as the criterion for comparison and comparing each remaining player's Low Hand with the dealer's Low Hand using point value as the criterion for comparison, and settling the ANTE, BET, and EXTRA BET wagers based upon the results of the comparisons of the player's hands and the dealer's hands and predetermined pay tables based on the point value of the player's Low Hand.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of playing a card game wherein at least one player competes against a dealer, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) affording each player an opportunity to place an ante wager to participate in the game;    (b) dealing seven cards to each player and to a dealer;    (c) affording each player an opportunity to view their cards and to divide their cards into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to predetermined rules for dividing cards;    (d) affording each player an opportunity to either fold and forfeit their ante wager, or call by making a bet wager;    (e) dividing said dealer's hand into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to said predetermined rules for dividing cards;    (f) evaluating whether at least one of said dealer's high and low hands qualifies according to predetermined qualifying criteria;    (g) comparing at least one of said player high and low hands against at least one of said dealer high and low hands; and    (h) settling at least one of said ante and bet wagers according to at least one predetermined payout table.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of affording each player an opportunity to place an optional extra bet wager.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising prior to step(b), the step of affording each player an opportunity to place an optional extra bet wager.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said bet wager is settled according to a first payout table and said extra bet wager is settled according to a second, different payout table.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said bet wager is settled according to a first payout table and said extra bet wager is settled according to a second, different payout table.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (g) is performed only if at least one of said dealer high and low hands qualifies according to predetermined qualification criteria.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (g) is performed only if said dealer high hand qualifies according to predetermined qualification criteria.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said predetermined qualification criteria includes said dealer high hand comprising a pair of 6s or better.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said dealer high hand is compared to said player high hand using poker rank as the criterion for comparison.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said dealer low hand is compared to said player low hand using point value as the criterion for comparison.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said dealer high hand is compared to said player high hand using poker rank as the criterion for comparison.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said bet wagers are settled substantially according to the following payout table based upon a point value of said player's low hand:  
       
         
           
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                     
                 
                     
                 
                   Low Hand Point 
                   16+ 
                   11-15 
                   6-10 
                   2-5 
                   0 
                   Ace 
                   48 or 49 
                 
                   Value 
                 
                   Payout Ratio 
                   1:1 
                   2:1 
                   3:1  
                   4:1 
                   5:1 
                   11:1 
                   0 
                 
                     
                 
                     
                 
             
                
                
               
               
                
                
                
                
                
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of affording each player an opportunity to place an optional extra bet wager, and wherein said extra bet wagers are settled substantially according to the following payout table based upon a point value of said player's low hand:  
       
         
           
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
               
                     
                 
                     
                 
                   Low Hand 
                   16-20 
                   11-15 
                   6-10 
                   2-5 
                   0 
                   Ace 
                   48 or 49 
                 
                   Point Value 
                 
                   Payout Ratio 
                   push 
                   1:1 
                   2:1  
                   7:1 
                   15:1 
                   15:1 
                   100:1 
                 
                     
                 
                     
                 
             
                
                
               
               
                
                
                
                
                
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said game is played on a live casino gaming table with a human dealer.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said game is played on an electronic gaming device.  
     
     
         16 . In a method of playing a card game, the steps of: 
 (a) dealing seven cards to at least one player;    (b) affording said player an opportunity to divide their cards into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to predetermined rules for dividing cards, wherein said predetermined rules for dividing cards require that the best two of the seven cards be allocated to said high hand so as to make the highest possible poker ranking of said high hand.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the steps of dealing seven cards to a dealer and dividing the dealer's cards into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to said predetermined rules for dividing cards, and comparing at least one of said dealer's hands with at least one of said player's hands.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dealer's high hand is compared with the player's high hand.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dealer's low hand is compared with the player's low hand.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the steps of dealing seven cards to a dealer and dividing the dealer's cards into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to said predetermined rules for dividing cards, and, if at least one of said dealer's hands qualifies according to predetermined qualification criteria, comparing at least one of said dealer's hands with at least one of said player's hands.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said predetermined qualification criteria includes said dealer's high hand comprising a predetermined poker rank.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said predetermined qualification criteria includes said dealer's high hand comprising a predetermined poker rank of at least a pair of 6s.  
     
     
         23 . A method of playing a card game, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) affording each player an opportunity to place an ante wager to participate in the game;    (b) affording each player an opportunity to make an optional extra bet wager;    (c) dealing seven cards to each player and to a dealer;    (d) affording each player an opportunity to view their cards and to divide their cards into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to predetermined rules for dividing cards;    (e) affording each player an opportunity to either fold and forfeit their ante wager, or call by making a bet wager exactly twice the amount of the ante wager;    (f) dividing the dealer's hand into a two-card high hand and a five-card low hand according to said predetermined rules for dividing cards;    (g) evaluating whether the dealer's high hand qualifies by achieving a predetermined poker rank of a pair of 6s or better; and    (h) settling wagers by: 
 ( 1 ) if the dealer's high hand does not qualify, refinding the ante and bet wagers to each remaining player and paying each remaining player who opted to make the extra bet wager an amount determined by a predetermined pay table based on a point value of the player's low hand;  
 ( 2 ) if the dealer's high hand does qualify, comparing each remaining player's high hand with the dealer's high hand using poker rank as the criterion for comparison and comparing each remaining player's low hand with the dealer's low hand using point value as the criterion for comparison, 
 (I) wherein if the dealer wins both of the high and low hands, the house wins the ante and bet wagers and pays to each remaining player who opted to make the extra bet wager an amount determined by a predetermined pay table based on the point value of the player's low hand;  
 (II) wherein if the dealer wins one of the high and low hands, the house refunds the ante and bet wagers to each remaining player and pays to each remaining player who opted to make the extra bet wager an amount determined by a predetermined pay table based on the point value of the player's low hand; and (III) wherein if a player wins both of the high and low hands, the player wins the ante wager and is paid on the bet wager an amount according to a predetermined pay table based on the point value of the player's low hand and the house pays to each remaining player who opted to make the extra bet wager an amount determined by a predetermined pay table based on the point value of the player's low hand.