Method of playing a new wagering card game

Abstract

A method of playing a wagering card game that utilizes one or more card decks that are used to deal four cards to each player to form two 2-card hands that can be played and bet on jointly or separately. The game includes a playing surface, card value designation and ranking system that are specific to the present game. The game is adaptable to play when the casino or house participates in the betting and when they do not. In the preferred embodiment, the players and dealer form their cards into two hands having two cards each and place one hand on a front area and one hand on a back area. Players compare their front and back hands to the front and back hands, respectively, of the other players, a banker or the dealer, with the higher ranked hand winning.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of playing a wagering card game between two or more players, comprising the steps of: 
 providing at least one deck of playing cards, said deck of playing cards comprising a plurality of cards mixed in a random manner;    establishing a numerical value for each card in said deck;    establishing a ranking system for various combinations of said cards in said deck, said ranking system comprising a first group, a second group and a third group, said first group being the highest rank and comprising pairs of said cards, said second group comprising non-pair face card combinations of said cards, said third group being the lowest rank and comprising non-pair combinations of said cards;    designating one of said players as a banker and each of remaining said players as an active player, at least each of said active players wagering at least one bet;    dealing at least each of said active players and said banker a predetermined number of cards from said deck;    each of said active players and said banker arranging said predetermined number of cards into a front hand and a back hand, said front hand and said back hand each having a rank in said ranking system;    comparing said rank of each of said active player's front hand to said rank of said banker's front hand; and    comparing said rank of each of said active player's back hand to said rank of said banker's back hand.    
     
     
         2 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , further comprising a house dealer, said house dealer performing the steps of dealing said predetermined number of cards and allocating said winnings.  
     
     
         3 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1  further comprising the step of each of said active players and said banker deciding whether to discard one or more of said predetermined number of cards and draw a like number of cards to replace the discarded cards from said deck of cards prior to said step of arranging said predetermined number of cards.  
     
     
         4 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , wherein said numerical values include designating the ace as one point and the 10, jack, queen and king as zero points.  
     
     
         5 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , wherein the sum of said cards in said front hand and the sum of said cards in said back hand are determined, said ranking system ranking each of said front hand and said back hand according to the first digit of the sum of said cards, wherein nine points is the highest point level obtainable.  
     
     
         6 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 5 , wherein said rank of said front hand or said back hand having equal sums with at least one other said front hand or said back hand is determined by comparing the highest value card in each of said front hand or said back hand to the highest value card in each of said front hand or said back hand having the equal sum, wherein the ace is the highest value card in said deck and the two is the lowest value card in said deck.  
     
     
         7 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , wherein said ranking system further designates the ace-ace pair as the highest pair and the 2-2 pair as the lowest pair in said first group of said ranking system.  
     
     
         8 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand after said front hand comparing step.  
     
     
         9 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 8  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.  
     
     
         10 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the collective comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand and the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.  
     
     
         11 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , wherein said predetermined number of cards is an even number and said cards are equally divided between said front hand and said back hand.  
     
     
         12 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 11 , wherein said predetermined number of cards is four and each of said front hand and said back hand comprise two of said predetermined number of cards.  
     
     
         13 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 1 , wherein said arranging step arranges said front hand and said back hand such that said rank of each of said active player's and said banker's back hand is greater than said rank of each of said active player's and said banker's front hand.  
     
     
         14 . A method of playing a wagering card game between two or more players, comprising the steps of: 
 providing at least one deck of standard playing cards, said deck of playing cards mixed in a random manner;    establishing a numerical value for each card in said deck, said numerical values including designating the ace as one point and the 10, jack, queen and king as zero points;    establishing a ranking system for various combinations of said cards in said deck, said ranking system comprising a first group, a second group and a third group, said first group being the highest rank and comprising pairs of said cards wherein said ace-ace pair is the highest rank and said 2-2 pair is the lowest rank in said first group, said second group comprising non-pair face card combinations of said cards, said third group being the lowest rank and comprising non-pair combinations of said cards wherein nine points is the highest point level obtainable;    designating one of said players as a banker and each of remaining said players as an active player, at least each of said active players wagering at least one bet;    dealing each of said active players and said banker a predetermined number of cards from said deck, said predetermined number of cards being an even number;    each of said active players and said banker deciding whether to discard one or more of said predetermined number of cards and draw a like number of cards to replace the discarded cards from said deck of cards;    each of said active players and said banker arranging said predetermined number of cards into at least a front hand and a back hand having two cards each, said front hand and said back hand each having a rank in said ranking system;    comparing said rank of each of said active player's front hand to said rank of said banker's front hand; and    comparing said rank of each of said active player's back hand to said rank of said banker's back hand.    
     
     
         15 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 14 , wherein said ranking system ranks each of said front hand and said back hand by the first digit of the sum of said cards in each of said front hand and said back hand, wherein nine points is the highest point level obtainable.  
     
     
         16 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 15 , wherein said rank of said front hand or said back hand having equal sums with at least one other said front hand or said back hand is determined by comparing the highest value card in each of said front hand or said back hand to the highest value card in each of said front hand or said back hand having the equal sum, wherein the ace is the highest value card in said deck and the two is the lowest value card in said deck.  
     
     
         17 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 14  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand after said front hand comparing step and the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.  
     
     
         18 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 14  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the collective comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand and the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.  
     
     
         19 . A method of playing a wagering card game between a house and one or more players, comprising the steps of: 
 providing at least one deck of playing cards, said deck of playing cards mixed in a random manner;    establishing a numerical value for each card in said deck, said numerical values including designating the ace as one point and the 10, jack, queen and king as zero points;    establishing a ranking system for various combinations of said cards in said deck, said ranking system comprising a first group, a second group and a third group, said first group being the highest rank and comprising pairs of said cards wherein said ace-ace pair is the highest rank and said 2-2 pair is the lowest rank in said first group, said second group comprising non-pair face card combinations of said cards, said third group being the lowest rank and comprising non-pair combinations of said cards wherein nine points is the highest point level obtainable;    each of said players wagering at least one bet;    dealing each of said players and said house a predetermined number of cards from said deck;    each of said players and said house arranging their said predetermined number of cards into a front hand and a back hand, said front hand and said back hand each having a rank in said ranking system;    comparing said rank of each of said player's front hand to said rank of said house's front hand; and    comparing said rank of each of said player's back hand to said rank of said house's back hand.    
     
     
         20 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 19  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand after said front hand comparing step and the step of allocating winnings based on the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.  
     
     
         21 . The method of playing a wagering card game of  claim 19  further comprising the step of allocating winnings based on the collective comparison of said rank of said active player's front hand and said banker's front hand and the comparison of said rank of said active player's back hand and said banker's back hand after said back hand comparing step.