Lottery-type gaming system for simulating an actual casino game

Abstract

A lottery-type gaming system simulating a traditional casino game, and a method of using same. Traditional casino card games, wherein winning hands are determined by combining specific, unshared playing cards dealt to individual players, with community cards shared among a plurality of such players, are simulated in the environment of a pull tab, scratch off or other type of player card or ticket lottery-type game. Traditional casino games other than card games, such as slot machines, are also simulated. The gaming system includes a plurality of player cards or tickets and one or more master game cards. Each of the player cards or tickets includes at least one player game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino game. At least one of the master game cards includes at least one community game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino game.

1 . A lottery-type gaming system simulating a conventional casino game having predetermined rules of play, comprising: 
 a plurality of player cards, each of the player cards including at least one player game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino game; and    one or more master game cards for use in conjunction with the plurality of playing cards, at least one of the master game cards including at least one community game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino game;    whereby the player card having the best combination of at least one of its player game symbols when taken together with at least one of the community game symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino game, is determined to be a winning player card.    
   
   
       2 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein: 
 the conventional casino game comprises a conventional casino card game wherein a winning hand is determined by combining a value of at least one hold card dealt to an individual player with a value of at least one community card shared among a plurality of such individual players;    at least one of the player game symbols comprises a hold card symbol indicative of a hold card in the conventional casino card game; and    at least one of the community card symbols comprises a community card symbol indicative of a community card in the conventional casino card game;    whereby the player card having the best combination of at least one of its hold card symbols, forming a complete game hand when taken together with at least one of the community card symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino card game, is determined to be a winning player card.    
   
   
       3 . The invention according to  claim 2  wherein the one or more master game cards includes a plurality of community card symbols, each of the community card symbols being a unique symbol, relative to the other community card symbols.  
   
   
       4 . The invention according to  claim 2  wherein the one or more master game cards further includes a plurality of community playing areas, each community playing area being associated with at least one community card symbol and being associated with a round of play in the conventional casino card game.  
   
   
       5 . The invention according to  claim 4  wherein at least one of the community playing areas is associated with a plurality of community card symbols.  
   
   
       6 . The invention according to  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of community playing areas includes a flop playing area, a turn playing area, and a river playing area, in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino card game.  
   
   
       7 . The invention according to  claim 6  wherein: 
 the player card includes two hold card symbols;    the flop playing area is associated with three community card symbols;    the turn playing area is associated with one community card symbol;    the river playing area is associated with one community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Texas Hold'em.    
   
   
       8 . The invention according to  claim 6  wherein: 
 the player card includes four hold card symbols;    the flop playing area is associated with three community card symbols;    the turn playing area is associated with one community card symbol;    the river playing area is associated with one community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Omaha Hold'em.    
   
   
       9 . The invention according to  claim 4  wherein: 
 the playing card includes three hold card symbols;    the plurality of community playing areas comprises four community playing areas, each associated with one different community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Seven Card Stud.    
   
   
       10 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein the simulated conventional casino game is a slot machine.  
   
   
       11 . The invention according to  claim 10  wherein the slot machine is a three reel slot machine.  
   
   
       12 . The invention according to  claim 10 , wherein the at least one player game symbol comprises a slot machine symbol, and the at least one community game symbol comprises two slot machine symbols.  
   
   
       13 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing at least one associated community game symbol.  
   
   
       14 . The invention according to  claim 13  wherein the concealment structure includes a repositionable flap-like member.  
   
   
       15 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein the player card further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing at least one associated game symbol.  
   
   
       16 . The invention according to  claim 15  wherein: 
 the player card comprises a first ply of material operably attached to a second ply of material;    the concealment structure comprises at least one frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material; and    at least one game symbol is revealed when the at least one frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material is removed.    
   
   
       17 . The invention according to  claim 16  wherein two game symbols are revealed when the frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material is removed.  
   
   
       18 . The invention according to  claim 16  wherein: 
 the player card comprises a first ply of material operably attached to a second ply of material;    the concealment structure comprises at least one frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material; and    at least one game symbol is revealed when the at least one frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material is moved from a first, concealing position to a second, revealing position.    
   
   
       19 . The invention according to  claim 18  wherein two game symbols are revealed when the frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material is moved from the concealing position to the revealing position.  
   
   
       20 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes indicia indicative of a game symbol on the winning player card to facilitate verifying the identity of the winning player card.  
   
   
       21 . The invention according to  claim 20  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing the indicia indicative of the game symbol on the winning player card.  
   
   
       22 . The invention according to  claim 21  wherein the concealment structure includes a repositionable flap-like member.  
   
   
       23 . The invention according to  claim 1  wherein the one or more master game cards comprises a single master game card.  
   
   
       24 . The invention according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one instant winning game card.  
   
   
       25 . A method of simulating a conventional casino game having predetermined rules of play, comprising: 
 providing a plurality of player cards, each of the player cards including at least one player game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino card game;    providing one or more master game cards for use in conjunction with the plurality of player cards, at least one master game card including at least one community game symbol indicative of a game symbol in the conventional casino game;    distributing at least a portion of the player cards to a plurality of individual players; and    determining the distributed player card that has the best combination of at least one of its player game symbols when taken together with at least one of the community game symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino game to be a winning playing card.    
   
   
       26 . The invention according to  claim 25 , wherein: 
 the conventional casino game comprises a conventional casino card game wherein a winning hand is determined by combining a value of at least one hold card dealt to an individual player with at least one community card shared among a plurality of such individual players;    at least one of the player game symbols comprises a hold card symbol indicative of a hold card in the conventional casino card game;    at least one of the community game symbols comprises a community card symbol indicative of a community card in the conventional casino card game; and    the step of determining comprises the step of determining the distributed player card that has the best combination of at least one of its hold card symbols, forming a complete game hand when taken together with at least one of the community card symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino card game, to be a winning player card.    
   
   
       27 . The invention according to  claim 26 , wherein: 
 the one or more master game cards includes at least two community card symbols indicative of community cards in the conventional casino game, at least two community playing areas, each of the community playing areas being associated with at least one community card symbol and being associated with a round of play in the conventional casino game, and at least one concealment structure associated with at least one community playing area and initially concealing the community card symbols associated therewith;    the step of determining is preceded by the step of sequentially revealing the community card symbols of each community playing area in an order specified by the rules of the play of the conventional casino card game; and    the step of determining comprises the step of determining the distributed player card that has the best combination of at least one of its hold card symbols, forming a complete game hand when taken together with at least one of the community card symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino card game, to be a winning playing card.    
   
   
       28 . The invention according to  claim 25  wherein the step of distributing at least a portion of the player cards comprises distributing only a portion of the player cards.  
   
   
       29 . The invention according to  claim 25 , wherein the step of distributing at least a portion of the player cards comprises distributing all of the player cards, and wherein the distributed player card that has the best combination of at least one of its hold card symbols is predetermined.  
   
   
       30 . The invention according to  claim 27  wherein at least one of the community playing areas is associated with a plurality of community card symbols.  
   
   
       31 . The invention according to  claim 27 , wherein the at least two community playing areas includes a flop playing area, a turn playing area, and a river playing area, in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino game.  
   
   
       32 . The invention according to  claim 31  wherein: 
 the player card includes two hold card symbols;    the flop playing area is associated with three community card symbols;    the turn playing area is associated with one community card symbol;    the river playing area is associated with one community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Texas Hold'em.    
   
   
       33 . The invention according to  claim 31  wherein: 
 the player card includes four hold card symbols;    the flop playing area is associated with three community card symbols;    the turn playing area is associated with one community card symbol;    the river playing area is associated with one community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Omaha Hold'em.    
   
   
       34 . The invention according to  claim 27  wherein: 
 the playing card includes three hold card symbols;    the at least two community playing areas comprises four community playing areas, each associated with one different community card symbol; and    the simulated conventional casino card game is Seven Card Stud.    
   
   
       35 . The invention according to  claim 25  wherein: 
 the simulated conventional casino game is a slot machine;    at least one of the player game symbols comprises a game symbol indicative of a slot machine symbol in the conventional casino slot machine game;    at least one of the community game symbols comprises a game symbol indicative of a slot machine symbol in the conventional casino slot machine game; and    the step of determining comprises the step of determining the distributed player card that has the best combination of at least one of its player game symbols, forming a complete round of slot machine play when taken together with at least one of the community game symbols and in accordance with the rules of play of the conventional casino slot machine game, to be a winning player card.    
   
   
       36 . The invention according to  claim 35  wherein the slot machine is a three reel slot machine.  
   
   
       37 . The invention according to  claim 35 , wherein the at least one player game symbol comprises one slot machine symbol, and the at least one community game symbol comprises two slot machine symbols.  
   
   
       38 . The invention according to  claim 26  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing at least one associated community card symbol.  
   
   
       39 . The invention according to  claim 38  wherein the concealment structure includes a repositionable flap-like member.  
   
   
       40 . The invention according to  claim 25  wherein the player card further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing at least one associated game symbol.  
   
   
       41 . The invention according to  claim 40  wherein: 
 the player card comprises a first ply of material operably attached to a second ply of material;    the concealment structure comprises at least one frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material; and    at least one game symbol is revealed when the frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material is removed.    
   
   
       42 . The invention according to  claim 41  wherein two game symbols are revealed when the frangibly removable portion of the second ply of material is removed.  
   
   
       43 . The invention according to  claim 41  wherein: 
 the player card comprises a first ply of material operably attached to a second ply of material;    the concealment structure comprises at least one frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material; and    at least one game symbol is revealed when the frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material is moved from a first, concealing position to a second, revealing position.    
   
   
       44 . The invention according to  claim 43  wherein two game symbols are revealed when the frangibly movable portion of the second ply of material is moved from the concealing position to the revealing position.  
   
   
       45 . The invention according to  claim 25  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes indicia indicative of a game symbol on the winning player card to facilitate verifying the identity of the winning player card.  
   
   
       46 . The invention according to  claim 45  wherein at least one of the one or more master game cards further includes at least one concealment structure initially concealing the indicia indicative of the game symbol on the winning player card.  
   
   
       47 . The invention according to  claim 46  wherein the concealment structure includes a repositionable flap-like member.  
   
   
       48 . The invention according to  claim 25  wherein the one or more master game cards comprises a single master game card.  
   
   
       49 . The invention according to  claim 25 , further comprising the step of providing at least one instant winning game card.