Method and system for playing a card game

Abstract

A system and method for playing a card game are disclosed. The card game may be played with a real deck of cards and an associated playing surface or with a virtual deck of cards as part of a virtual card game on a processor-based platform. The card game combines the apparent attractiveness of casino wagering with a user-friendly method of play while still prompting the spontaneous wagering on the seemingly even or higher odds money bets.

1 . A method of playing a card game, said method comprising: 
 providing at least one deck of playing cards;    shuffling said at least one deck of playing cards such that said playing cards in said deck are put into a substantially unknown random order;    placing at least one wager by betting a monetary amount and attempting to correctly guess at least one feature of a top card of said shuffled deck before any feature of said top card is revealed;    flipping said top card of said shuffled deck to reveal all features of said top card; and    paying any winning wager according to said monetary amount bet and odds associated with said winning wager.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising cutting said shuffled deck at least once to change said top card before revealing said top card.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said deck of playing cards comprises a conventional deck of 52 cards.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said at least one feature is selected from the group consisting of a face value of a card, a suit of a card, a red color of a card, a black color of a card, and a joker.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein a plurality of wagers are available to the player, with each of the wagers have varying odds.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of wagers comprise varying odds wagers for the face value of a card, a suit of a card, a red color of a card, a black color of a card, and a joker.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the odds for a color are 2-to-1, the odds for the suits are 4-to-1, the odds for the face values are 13-to-1, the odds for the suit and face value of individual cards and for the Joker is 52-to-1.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said winning wager includes any wager whose guessed features of said top card are true features of said top card.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said deck of playing cards is virtual and said method is implemented as an electronic card game.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said deck of playing cards is virtual and said method is implemented as a computer-based card game.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said card game is played virtually on a processor-based apparatus, and wherein said processor-based apparatus comprises a personal computer which is programmed, via software, to implement at least said method.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said card game is played virtually on a processor-based apparatus, and wherein said processor-based apparatus comprises a hand-held electronic device which is programmed, via software, to implement at least said method.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said card game is played virtually on a processor-based apparatus, and wherein said processor-based apparatus comprises a standalone video-poker type of electronic system which is programmed, via software, to implement at least said method.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said card game is played virtually by accessing a software implementation of said card game from a server, via the Internet, using a personal computer.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising debiting a cash account for each placed wager.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising crediting a cash account for each winning wager.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising notifying a player of said card game when said player wins a wager.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising notifying a player of said card game when said player loses a wager.  
   
   
       19 . A processor-based system for implementing a virtual card game, said processor-based system comprising: 
 at least one processor to execute playing of said virtual card game, and wherein said playing of said virtual card game comprises the steps of providing at least one virtual deck of playing cards, electronically shuffling said at least one virtual deck of playing cards such that said playing cards in said deck are put into a substantially unknown random order, electronically placing at least one wager by betting a monetary amount and attempting to correctly guess at least one feature of a resultant top card of said virtual shuffled deck before any feature of said top card is revealed, electronically flipping said top card of said shuffled deck to reveal all features of said top card, and electronically paying any winning wager according to said monetary amount bet and odds associated with said winning wager;    a program memory interfacing to said at least one processor to store software associated with said virtual card game;    a user interface connecting to said at least one processor to allow a player of said virtual card game to select various functional inputs of said virtual card game;    an image memory interfacing to said at least one processor to store image data of said virtual card game to be displayed;    a display controller interfacing to said image memory to extract image data from said image memory in a controlled manner and to convert said image data to video data; and    a display interfacing to said display controller to accept said video data from said display controller such that said video data is presented to said player on said display.    
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein said user interface comprises at least one of a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-screen, and push-buttons.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 19  wherein said various functional inputs include: 
 an ability to select a monetary amount per wager;    an ability to select at least one card feature for wagering; and    an ability to select that a virtual deck of playing cards be shuffled and/or cut such that all features of a resultant top card are revealed to a user on said display after said shuffling and/or cutting.    
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 19  wherein an amount of a cash account and an amount per wager are displayed on said display.  
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 19  wherein a notification of a winning wager is displayed to a player of said virtual card game on said display when said player wins a wager.  
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 19  wherein a notification of a losing wager is displayed to a player of said virtual card game on said display when said player loses a wager.