Multi-play poker apparatus and games with bonus feature

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for playing multi-play poker games are disclosed. The games include a bonus wager feature in which the player makes a wager that at least a minimum number of hands in the multi-play poker game will have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking. For example, if ten hands are played in the multi-play poker game, the player may wager $1.00 that at least four of the ten hands will have a ranking of a pair of jacks or better. The pay table for the bonus wager feature may take the form of an array of rows and columns, rows representing poker hand rankings (including the minimum poker hand ranking) and columns headed by integers representing a number of hands between the minimum number of hands (M) and the total number of hands (N) in the multi-play poker game, with the entries in the array being payout multiplies that are applied to the bonus wager if the player has the number of hands with the associated poker hand ranking.

1 . A method for playing a multiple-play poker game, the method comprising the steps of: 
 playing a round of multi-play poker wherein N hands are played, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2;    determining a bonus payout in accordance with a bonus pay table, the bonus payout being a function of the rankings of all the completed N playing hands.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each played hand has one or more cards common to each hand.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the common cards were selected from a pool hand.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein in the bonus pay table, at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the plurality of N playing hands having a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking is required to result in a bonus payout, where 2≦M≦N.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein, in the bonus paytable, M is the same for all poker hand rankings listed in the paytable.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein M is an integer having a value of between 0.3 and 0.8×N, rounded either up or down to the nearest integer, if necessary depending on the value of N.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the bonus paytable takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the rows comprising poker hand rankings and the columns comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the second paytable takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the columns comprising poker hand rankings and the rows comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       9 . A method for playing a multiple-play poker game, the method comprising the steps of: 
 displaying a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not played;    designating none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards;    reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands;    completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards; and    determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands; and    deriving a bonus payout from a bonus pay table as a function of the rankings of all the completed playing hands.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of playing hands comprise four or more hands.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein, in the bonus pay table, at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the plurality of playing hands having a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking is required to result in a bonus payout.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein M is an integer having a value of between 0.3 and 0.8×N, rounded either up or down to the nearest integer, if necessary depending on the value of N, and wherein N comprises the number of hands played in the plurality of playing hands.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the rows comprising poker hand rankings and the columns comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the columns comprising poker hand rankings and the rows comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       15 . A method of facilitating play of a multi-play poker game, the method comprises the steps of: 
 receiving a wager associated with a plurality of hands to be played and a wager associated with a bonus feature;    providing a first pay table showing the odds associated with poker hand rankings that provide for a payback;    providing a bonus pay table to show odds as a function of the collective poker hand rankings of all the hands that are played in the multi-hand poker game;    dealing a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards, wherein the pool hand is not a played hand;    receiving a selection designating none, one or more cards of the pool hand as held cards,    reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands,    completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards,    determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands;    determining a payout amount based on the ranking of each of the played hands, the wager and the first pay table, and    determining a bonus payout based on the collective poker hand rankings of all the completed playing hands, the wager on the bonus feature and a bonus pay table.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of playing hands comprise four or more hands.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein, in the bonus pay table, at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the plurality of playing hands having a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking is required to result in a bonus payout.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein M is an integer having a value of between 0.3 and 0.8×N, rounded either up or down to the nearest integer, if necessary depending on the value of N, and wherein N comprises the number of hands played in the plurality of playing hands.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the rows comprising poker hand rankings and the columns comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the columns comprising poker hand rankings and the rows comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       21 . An apparatus for playing a multiple-play poker game, comprising a storage medium containing set of machine-readable instructions for controlling a display device, wherein the machine readable instructions comprise instructions for generating the following displays on the display device: 
 1.) a plurality of playing hands for playing a multiple-play poker game;    2.) a first pay table comprising a display of poker hand rankings and the associated payout odds for each hand in the rankings; and    3.) a bonus pay table, wherein, in the bonus pay table, at least a minimum number of hands (M) in the plurality of playing hands having a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking is required to result in a bonus payout, wherein N comprises an integer representing the number of playing hands, and wherein N is greater than or equal to 2 and 2≦M≦N.    
   
   
       22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the rows comprising poker hand rankings and the columns comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the bonus pay table takes the form of an array arranged in rows and columns, with the columns comprising poker hand rankings and the rows comprising integers M . . . N.  
   
   
       24 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions are obtained from a gaming web site.  
   
   
       25 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the display device comprises a display of a general purpose computer.  
   
   
       26 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the display device comprises a display of a video poker terminal.  
   
   
       27 . A gaming server adapted for communication with a remote gaming device over a network, the gaming server comprising: 
 a computing platform; and    a game service module implemented in software executable by the computing platform, the game service module including instructions 
 (a) for receiving a datagram from the remote gaming device representing a wager on a bonus feature, wherein, in the bonus feature, a bonus payout is determined according to a bonus pay table, the bonus payout occurring when at least a minimum number of hands (M) have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2≦M≦N, and N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the plurality of hands;  
 (b) generating a plurality of N playing hands, and  
 (c) transmitting a datagram containing data representing the playing hands to the remote gaming device, the playing hands to be displayed on the remote gaming device in a multi-play poker game, the datagram further indicating the results of the wager on the bonus feature.  
   
   
   
       28 . The gaming server of  claim 27 , wherein the remote gaming device comprises a general purpose client computer, and wherein a download server transmits a set of software modules to the client computer to enable the client computer to interact with the gaming server.  
   
   
       29 . The gaming server of  claim 27 , wherein the gaming server includes a router module allowing the game service module to communicate simultaneously with a plurality of remote client computers and receive and transmit datagrams according to (a) and (c) in  claim 27 .  
   
   
       30 . A client computer for playing a multi-play poker game, comprising: 
 a general purpose computing platform;    a memory storing gaming software comprising a set of machine-readable instructions;    the instructions including communications utilities for enabling the client computer to communicate with a remotely located gaming server;    a file containing logic required for the multi-play poker game, and for controlling the presentation of the game to the player, and wherein the logic includes code wherein the player may make a bonus wager that at least a minimum number of hands (M) will have a predetermined minimum poker hand ranking or better, where M is an integer and 2≦M≦N, wherein N is an integer representing the number of hands played in the multi-play poker game.    
   
   
       31 . The client computer of  claim 30 , wherein the client computer connects to the gaming server via a network.  
   
   
       32 . The client computer of  claim 31 , wherein the network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       33 . The client computer of  claim 30 , wherein the client computer downloads the logic file from the gaming server.  
   
   
       34 . The client computer of  claim 30 , wherein the logic includes code wherein a pool hand is displayed and the player selects cards to be held from the pool hand and such held cards are replicated into the N playing hands.  
   
   
       35 . The client computer of  claim 30 , wherein the logic includes code displaying a bonus wager pay table, and wherein, in order to pay out in the bonus wager, M is the same for all poker hand rankings in the bonus wager pay table.  
   
   
       36 . The client computer of  claim 30 , wherein the logic includes code displaying a bonus wager pay table, and wherein, in order to pay out in the bonus wager, M is not the same for all poker hand rankings in a bonus wager pay table.