Flat line hold 'em poker game

Abstract

A method of playing a poker style card game, wherein the dealer deals two “hole” cards to each player. The dealer then deals nine cards as the community cards which are arranged in two separate sets. One set of community cards is arranged in a North-South direction and the other set is arranged in an East-West direction, the two sets being intersected by one shared community card. In a preferred embodiment, the community cards are laid out in a “Cross” or “Star” shape or “+” or small letter “t” shape. All players can utilize the community cards, in conjunction with their “hole” cards, so as to form a poker hand. The winning hand comes from that player whose two “hole” cards best fit with one of the sets of community cards on the table, and achieves the highest poker ranking.

1 . A method of playing a card game using at least one standard deck of playing cards comprising the steps of: 
 a) dealing an initial hand of two cards to at least two players;    b) arranging a collection of community cards from the deck in a predetermined pattern of at least two distinct groupings, the at least two distinct groupings each having at least five community cards therein which are usable by any of the at least two players to form a poker hand;    c) the at least two players each combining the initial hand of two cards with the community cards contained in one of the at least two distinct groupings to each form the poker hand; and    d) examining each of at least two players completed hands to determine the poker hand ranking thereof.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined pattern of the at least two distinct groupings forms a cross shape, so that there is a middle community card shared by the at least two distinct groupings, at least two upper community cards, at least two lower community cards, at least two left community cards and at least two right community cards.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  in which the at least two distinct groupings of community cards further comprise a first group of community cards which runs in a North-South direction, and a second group of community cards which runs in an East-West direction.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the first group comprises the at least two upper community cards, the at least two lower community cards and the middle community card.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the second group comprises the at least two upper community cards, the at least two left community cards, the at least two right community cards and the middle community card.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the at least two players can each optionally combine the initial hand of two cards with the first group of community cards to form the poker hand, or combine the initial hand of two cards with the second group of community cards to form the poker hand.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein each of the at least two players can optionally combine the initial hand of two cards with only one of the first and second group of community cards to form the poker hand.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method of playing the card game further comprises placing a dealer and the at least two players at a casino table, each of the dealer and the at least two players having a unique playing position at the casino table.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising dealing the initial hand of two cards to the at least two players from a plurality of decks of playing cards.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of combining the initial hand of two cards with the community cards contained in one of the at least two distinct groupings to form the poker hand further comprises the at least two players forming a poker hand having five cards therein.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two distinct groupings are intersected by at least one shared community card, wherein the at least one shared community card is contained in each of the at least two distinct groupings.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein steps (a) to (d) are repeated to continue play and begin subsequent rounds, if necessary.  
   
   
       13 . A method for playing a virtual card game on a computer device comprising a processor for executing a set of instructions, and involving at least two players and a virtual dealer comprising: 
 (a) displaying a wagering area on a display screen for the computer device where the at least two players place a first wager to start the card game;    (b) displaying a betting area on the display screen for the computer device where the at least two players can place a bet, call or fold, as necessary, the bet being added to a jackpot, an amount of the jackpot being displayed on the display screen;    (c) the virtual dealer dealing an initial hand of two “hole” cards to the at least two players, the cards which have been dealt to the at least one player being displayed in respective Player Hand Areas on the display screen;    (d) the processor beginning a first round of betting after the two cards have been dealt, whereby the at least two players can place a bet, an amount of the bet being placed    (e) the processor arranging a collection of community cards comprising nine cards from the deck face down into first and second distinct set areas on the display screen, each of the first and second distinct set areas having four separately distinct cards and one shared card displayed therein, whereby the shared card intersects the two distinct sets, and wherein the community cards which are displayed in any one of the first and the second distinct set areas are usable, in any combination with the initial hand of two cards, by the at least two players to form a five card poker hand;    (f) the processor turning two of the community cards in the first distinct set area face up on the display screen;    (g) the processor turning two of the community cards in the second distinct set face up on the display screen;    (h) the processor beginning a second round of betting after the two of the community cards in the first distinct set and the two of the community cards in the second distinct set have been turned face up on the display screen, whereby the at least two players can place another bet, if necessary, an amount of the another bet being placed into a pot;    (i) the processor turning a final two of the community cards in the first distinct set area face up on the display screen;    (j) the processor turning a final two of the community cards in the second distinct set face up on the display screen;    (k) the processor beginning a third round of betting after the final two of the community cards in the first distinct set area and the final two of the community cards in the second distinct set area have been turned face up on the display screen, whereby the at least two players can place a further bet, if necessary, an amount of the further bet being placed into a pot;    (l) the processor turning the shared card which intersects the two distinct sets face up on the display screen;    (m) the processor beginning a final round of betting after the shared card which intersects the first and the second distinct set areas has been turned face up on the display screen, whereby the at least two players can place a final bet, if necessary, an amount of the final bet being placed into a pot;    (n) the processor turning up the at least two players initial hands of two cards on the display screen;    (o) the processor allowing the at least two players to form the five card poker hand by selecting any combination of the community cards contained in only one of either the first distinct set or the second distinct set, in combination with the initial hand of two cards;    (p) the processor examining the at least two players completed hand to determine a poker hand ranking thereof, with a hand having a highest poker hand ranking among players utilizing the community cards contained in the first distinct set in combination with the initial hand of two cards being declared one winning hand, and another winning hand having a highest poker hand ranking being declared among players utilizing the community cards contained in the second distinct set in combination with the initial hand of two cards;    (q) the processor paying each of the players with the one winning hand and the another winning hand a preestablished amount of the pot; and    (r) the processor repeating steps (a) to (q) to continue play and begin subsequent rounds, if necessary.    
   
   
       14 . The computer device of  claim 13 , wherein the device for playing the card gam is implemented as a kiosk.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein a progressive building jackpot is added to the game, an amount of the progressive building jackpot being displayed on the display screen.  
   
   
       16 . The computer device of  claim 15 , wherein the processor further comprises means for allowing the at least two players to each place a side bet to enter a progressive building jackpot, the side bet being paid or collected in accordance with a pre-established rules set of rules, and wherein the progressive building jackpot is connected to other on-going virtual card games having the same or substantially similar rules, the other on-going virtual card games being run at a same location as the virtual card game, or elsewhere.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the progressive building jackpot is connected to other on-going card games having the same or substantially similar rules, the other on-going card games being run at a same location as the virtual card game, or elsewhere.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the other on-going card games are run simultaneously in occurrence with the virtual card game.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the accumulated jackpot can be contributed to, and won by a player at any of the other on-going card games or the virtual card game.  
   
   
       20 . The computer device of  claim 13 , wherein the display screen is a touch screen.