Lucky nine card game

Abstract

This is a card game with an object of reaching a count of nine. In this card game, the player completes playing his/her hand before knowing the count value of the dealer's hand. The player makes all the decision on the play of his/her hand while the dealer has limited or no option in the play of his hand. The game allows for splitting an initial pair of cards having equal numerical values into separate hands and playing each hand independently. Special payouts, if desired, are provided for a player hand having a final count value of nine: a hand comprising of three cards with each card having a point value of three; a hand comprising of three cards of the same suit with one card having a point value of two, a second card having a point value of three and a third card having a point value of four; and, a winning player hand comprising a combination of two cards having a total count value of nine.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A method for playing a card game by at least one player and a dealer with playing cards, comprising: 
 (a) providing at least one deck of playing cards comprising four suits totaling fifty two cards, with each suit including thirteen cards ranking from ace to ten and through court cards, jack, queen and king, the deck of cards shuffled before playing;    (b) assigning a point value to each of the playing cards, with the ace through nine of each suit counted at face value of one through nine points, and the ten through king of each suit being assigned a point value of zero by dropping the tens digit;    (c) dealing an initial player's hand of two cards to the player and an initial dealer's hand of two cards to the dealer, the point value of the initial dealer's hand not revealed by dealing at least one of the two dealer's cards face down;    (d) adding the point values of the initial player's hand, dropping the tens digit of the point value if any, to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (e) hitting a third card by the player if desired and adding the point values of the resulting three card player's hand, dropping the tens digit of the sum of the three card player's hand if any, to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (f) exposing the initial dealer's hand after the player has acted completely on his hand thereby revealing the point value of the initial dealer's hand;    (g) adding the point values of the initial dealer's hand and dropping the tens digit of the point value to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (h) completing the dealer's hand by hitting a third playing card when the point value of the initial dealer's hand is zero to four and standing if the point value is five to nine;    (i) adding the point value of the dealer's hand, dropping the tens digit if any, to provide a final count value between zero and nine; and,    (j) comparing the final count value of the dealer's hand with the count value of the player's completed hand, a player's completed hand having a count value closer to nine and greater than the dealer's final count value resulting in a win for the player, a player's completed hand having a count value equal to the dealer's final count value resulting into a tie, and a player's completed hand having a count value less than the dealer's final count value resulting in a loss for the player.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the player's completed hand is limited to three cards.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the card game is a wagering card game and a bet is placed by the player on the outcome of the card game, the bet being collected by the dealer when the player losses the game but the player paid even money for a winning hand.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the bet is collected by the dealer when the tie is on a count value of zero while the player keeps his/her bet when the tie is on a non-zero count value.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  including the step of giving a special payout for a player hand having a final count value of nine selected from the group consisting of a hand comprising of three cards with each card having a point value of three, a hand comprising of three cards of the same suit with one card having a point value of two, a second card having a point value of three and a third card having a point value of four, and a winning player hand comprising a combination of two cards having a total count value of nine.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of splitting an initial pair of cards having equal numerical values into separate hands and playing each hand independently.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the number of separate hands after splitting is limited to three.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein a bet on a split hand is placed by the player on the outcome of the card game in a wagering card game.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the bet is limited to the same amount as the player's bet placed initially on the unsplit hand.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3  wherein a cut card is used after shuffling to signal when to terminate the dealing of the cards during the play.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the third card is dealt and placed at a position different from the initial player or dealer cards.  
     
     
         12 . A method for playing a card game by at least one player and a dealer with playing cards, comprising: 
 (a) providing at least one deck of playing cards comprising four suits totaling fifty two cards, with each suit including thirteen cards ranking from ace to ten and through court cards, jack, queen and king, the deck of cards shuffled before playing;    (b) assigning a point value to each of the playing cards, with the ace through nine of each suit counted at face value of one through nine points, and the ten through king of each suit being assigned a point value of zero by dropping the tens digit;    (c) dealing an initial player's hand of two cards to the player and an initial dealer's hand of two cards to the dealer, the point value of the initial dealer's hand not revealed by facing at least one of the two dealer's cards down;    (d) splitting the initial player's hand if desired on an initial pair of cards having equal numerical values into separate hands and playing each hand independently.    (e) adding the point values of the initial player's hand or the player's separate hands and dropping the tens digit of the point value if any to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (f) hitting a third card by the player if desired and adding the point values of the resulting three card player's hand, dropping the tens digit of the sum of the three card player's hand to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (g) exposing the initial dealer's hand after the player has acted completely on his hand thereby revealing the point value of the initial dealer's hand;    (h) adding the point values of the initial dealer's hand and dropping the tens digit of the point value to provide a count value between zero and nine;    (i) completing the dealer's hand by hitting a third playing card when the point value of the initial dealer's hand is zero to four and standing if the point value is five to nine;    (j) adding the point value of the dealer's hand, dropping the tens digit if any, to provide a final count value between zero and nine; and,    (k) comparing the final count value of the dealer's hand with the count value of the player's completed hand, a player's completed hand having a count value closer to nine and greater than the dealer's final count value resulting in a win for the player, a player's completed hand having a count value equal to the dealer's final count value resulting into a tie, and a player's completed hand having a count value less than the dealer's final count value resulting in a loss for the player.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the player's completed hand is limited to three cards.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the card game is a wagering card game and a bet is placed by the player on the outcome of the card game, the bet being collected by the dealer when the player losses the game but the player paid even money for a winning hand.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the bet is collected by the dealer when the tie is on a count value of zero while the player keeps his/her bet when the tie is on a non-zero count value.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  including the step of giving a special payout for a player hand having a final count value of nine selected from the group consisting of a hand comprising of three cards with each card having a point value of three, a hand comprising of three cards of the same suit with one card having a point value of two, a second card having a point value of three and a third card having a point value of four, and a winning player hand comprising a combination of two cards having a total count value of nine.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the number of separate hands after splitting is limited to three.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein a bet on a split hand is placed by the player on the outcome of the card game in a wagering card game.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the bet is limited to the same amount as the player's bet placed initially on the unsplit hand.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein a cut card is used after shuffling to signal when to terminate the dealing of the cards during the play.