System and method for playing blackjack

Abstract

After players make their wagers, a dealer deals hands comprised of two cards to each player and a hand comprised of two cards to himself. When the players hand as dealt has a predetermined point value (or one of a plurality of predetermined point values), the player is offered an early payout option. If the early payout option is elected, the player receives a portion of the original wager. In one embodiment, the early payout option is offered only when the dealer's hand is not a natural. In another embodiment, the early payout option is offered only if the dealer's face up card is a predetermined value (or one of a plurality of predetermined point values), such as ten.

1 . A method of playing a variation of the game of Black Jack where a player makes a wager against a house, comprising the steps of: 
 dealing a first hand of two cards to a player;    giving the player an option to accept a payout equal to a portion of the wager before the player takes any other action associated with the first hand only if the player's first hand has a predetermined point value;    paying to the player the payout if the player elected the option to accept the payout.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of giving the player an option to accept a payout is given only if the player's first hand is one of a plurality of predetermined point values.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the plurality of predetermined point values comprises nineteen and twenty.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the predetermined point value is twenty.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the portion is one half of the wager.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of collecting the player's cards after a payout is made.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of dealing a second hand of two cards to the house.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the hand dealt to the second hand comprises one face down card and one face up card.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising the step of examining the face down card if the face up card has a value of ten or is an Ace to determine if the hand is a natural Black Jack.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the step of giving the player the option to accept the payout is only given to the player if the second hand is not a natural Black Jack.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the step of giving the player the option to accept the payout is further only given to the player if the face up card is a predetermined value.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the predetermined value of the face up card is ten.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the step of giving the player the option to accept the payout is further only given to the player if the face up card is one of a plurality of predetermined values.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the steps are performed by program instructions stored on a computer-readable medium and wherein the cards are represented graphically on a visual display.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the steps are performed by a person.  
   
   
       16 . A system for providing a variation to the game of Black Jack where a player makes a wager before cards are dealt by a house, comprising: 
 a game manager that deals a virtual hand of cards to a player and that monitors wagers;    an early payout processor that provides the player the option to elect to receive a payout of a portion of the wager before the player takes any action associated with the virtual hand when the virtual hand that was dealt to the player has a predetermined point value and that provides such a payout to the player when the option has been elected.    
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 16  further comprising: 
 a display device for displaying the dealt cards to the player; and    an input device that allows the player to input playing decisions.    
   
   
       18 . A method of playing a card game comprising the steps of: 
 a player making a wager;    dealing a hand of two cards to the player;    dealing a hand of two cards to a dealer;    determining if the dealer was dealt a natural;    if the dealer was not dealt a natural, providing the player an option to accept a payout equal to a portion of the wager if the player's two card hand has a point value of twenty; and    paying to the player the payout equal to a portion of the wager if the player elected the option to accept the payout.    
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the portion of the wager is one half of the wager.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the player is provided the option to accept the payout only if one of the cards dealt to the dealer has a value of ten.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the step of providing the player an option to accept a payout is performed before the player takes any other action associated with the player's hand.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the player makes the wager by placing the wager in a first area and wherein the step of paying the payout further comprising placing the payout in a second area.