Method of playing a card game

Abstract

A card game played against a dealer by other players. A hand begins by placement of low and high hand bets by the other players, dealing one card face down as a low hand, and four cards face down for combination with the one card to form a high hand, to the dealer, and to each other player, inspection by each other player of his or her respective low hand card, and thereafter, selection by each other player of betting/play options. Then, the low and high hands are played. For the low hand, the dealer's card value is compared separately with the card values of the other players, with the lower value in each instance being the winner and a tie being a push. For the high hand, the better poker hand wins in each instance. Optionally, each player can make an ante bet, or in a second embodiment, high and low hand side bets, which pay off according to the odds of occurrence of various card values and combinations.

1 . A method of playing a card game between a dealer and one or more other players, comprising the steps of: 
 placement of at least two bets by each other player, the bets including a low hand bet and a high hand bet;    dealing a low hand by the dealer comprising one card to the dealer, and to each other player, the one card being dealt face down, and viewable when dealt only by the recipient player;    dealing a high hand by the dealer comprising at least four additional cards to the dealer and to each other player, the four cards being dealt face down and not viewable when dealt by any player;    inspection by each other player of his or her respective low hand card;    selection of one further playing option by each other player from a group of options, 
 wherein the options are, to:  
 Play the Low Hand Only, for which option the high hand bet of that player is treated as a push;  
 Ride High, for which option the player will compete against the dealer with both the high hand and the low hand; and  
 Ride High Plus, for which option the player will compete against the dealer with both the high hand and the low hand, and, if the player does not lose the low hand, his low hand wager (and any winnings from it) will automatically be combined with his high hand wager;  
   playing the low hand by facing the dealer's low hand, and the low hands of the other players, and comparing the dealer's card separately with the respective cards of the other players, with the lower ranking card in each instance being the winner and a tie being a push; and    playing the high hand by facing the dealer's high hand cards, and the high hand cards of the other players who chose the Ride High or Ride High Plus playing option, combining the so faced cards with the dealer's and the respective players' low hand card, comparing the hands, of the dealer separately with the respective hands of the other players, with the better poker hand in each instance being the winner and a tie being a push, and with the payoff for a winning other player being determined by rank of the winning card combination.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, for the low hand play, the dealer must qualify by facing a card having a predetermined maximum rank, or each other player automatically wins.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the maximum rank is the Jack.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein for the high hand play, the payoff for a winning other player is at a first rate for a winning hand of a first ranking or better, and at a second lower rate for a winning hand of a ranking lower than the first ranking.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first ranking is a pair of Jacks.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first ranking is a pair of Queens.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein for the low hand play, the dealer must qualify by facing a card having a predetermined maximum rank, or each other player automatically wins the low hand.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the maximum rank is the Queen.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the low and high hand bets are limited to predetermined maximum values.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , including utilizing a gaming surface having a plurality of areas including a respective area for each other player's low and high hand bets, an area to indicate the player's selected playing option, areas for the player's low and high hands, and an area for the dealers high and low hands.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the low hand bet is at least equal to the high hand bet.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the gaming surface is an electronic display.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , further including the step of permitting each other player the option, at the beginning of a hand, to make a low hand side bet and/or a high hand side bet, wherein: 
 the low hand side bet provides a payoff to a participating other player determined only by the rank of the dealer's low hand card compared to that of the participating player; and    the high hand side bet provides a payoff to a participating other player determined only by the rank according to the ranking of the dealer's hand compared to that of the participating player.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the other players may make the high hand side bet, and also choose the Play the Low Hand Only playing option, and the dealer faces that player's high hand during high hand play, but only to determine the outcome of the high hand side bet.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the payoff for the low hand side bet is as follows:  
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
                   
               
                   
               
                 Non-Match 
                 Match 
                 Payoff 
               
                   
               
                 2-8 
                   
                 2:1 
               
                 8 
                 8 
                 5:1 
               
                 7 
                 7 
                 5:1 
               
                 6 
                 6 
                 5:1 
               
                 5 
                 5 
                 5:1 
               
                 4 
                 4 
                 5:1 
               
                 3 
                 3 
                 5:1 
               
                 2 
                 2 
                 10:1  
               
                   
               
                   
               
           
              
              
              
              
             
             
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
             
          
         
       
     
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the payoff for the high hand side bet is as follows:  
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
                   
                   
               
                   
                   
               
                   
                 Hand 
                 Payoff 
               
                   
                   
               
                   
                 Royal Flush 
                 1000:1   
               
                   
                 Straight Flush 
                 200:1  
               
                   
                 Four of a Kind 
                 100:1  
               
                   
                 Full House 
                 50:1  
               
                   
                 Flush 
                 25:1  
               
                   
                 Straight 
                 10:1  
               
                   
                 3 of a Kind 
                 3:1 
               
                   
                 Two Pairs 
                 2:1 
               
                   
                 Pair, JJ-AA 
                 1:1 
               
                   
                 Pair, 22-TT 
                 0:0 
               
                   
                 Other 
                 −0:1  
               
                   
                   
               
                   
                   
               
           
              
              
              
              
             
             
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
             
          
         
       
     
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the amounts of the low and high hand side bets are unlimited.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the low and high hand bets are limited to predetermined maximum values.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , including utilizing a gaming surface having a plurality of areas including a respective area for each other player's low and high hand bets and the player's low and high hand side bets, an area to indicate the player's selected playing option, and areas for the player's low and high hands, and an area for the dealers high and low hands.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the gaming surface is an electronic display.  
   
   
       21 . A method of playing a card game having a deck of cards and rules of play, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving at least two bets from a player, the bets including a low hand bet and a high hand bet, the high hand bet being at least equal to the low hand bet;    dealing one card faced down to each player, which card can be viewed by only a respective player to which it is dealt;    dealing at least four additional cards to each player face down and not to be looked at by the player until the low hand has been determined;    playing the low hand including permitting a player to play his first card on either the low hand or only on the high hand, the dealer needs to have a eight or less to qualify for playing the low hand, however, if a player plays a nine or higher on the low hand, the dealer does not need the qualifier, the low hand card of each player is then compared with the low hand card of the dealer, if a player's low hand card is lower than the dealer's low hand card, the player wins his low hand bet;    after the dealer has completed the low hand with each player, the four additional cards are turned over and combined with the low hand card;    the dealer then progresses through each player and compares a best possible combination of the player's cards with the best possible combination of the dealer's cards to determine if the player has a better poker hand, the winner wins an amount equal to the high wager, the dealer then progresses through any of the remaining players in a similar fashion.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein if the player plays the low hand and loses, his high hand is returned, or, if the player wins the low hand, he has the option of moving some or all of his winnings or original bets to the high hand.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21 , and further including placing an additional ante wager at the player's option, and paying off on the ante wager if the player has a hand matching a hand from a predetermined list, the pay off being an amount that is a multiple of the ante wager, and wherein if the player plays the low hand and loses and has made no ante wager, his additional four cards are collected without being shown.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein if the low hand results in a push, the player has an option of taking back the low hand wager or adding the low hand wager to the high hand wager, and wherein if a push results in the low hand, the dealer wins, and wherein if the player plays the first card as the high hand, the dealer returns the low hand wager to the player.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein standard poker rules are used to determine the best hand, and wherein the dealer or the player turns the cards of the high hand.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 21 , including utilizing a gaming surface having a plurality of areas including a respective area for each of the low wager, the high wager, the ante wager, first card low hand, first card high hand and for the additional four high hand cards.