Fantasy football poker

Abstract

A game for a set of participants has a deck with cards of n suits, each uniquely identified according to a player position in a team sport. There are m cards within each suit, each of the m cards assigned to one of a set of m sports teams, and assigned to a sports player selected from the sports team who has the player position corresponding to the suit. For each suit, there is one card in the deck associated with each of the m sports teams within the suit. The deck has at least n times m cards. The card for each sports player has a point value according to sports game statistics during a specified time period. The value of the cards of a participant is determined according to both the combination of sports teams in the hand and the point values for one or more cards.

1 . A game for a set of participants comprising 
 a deck comprising a plurality of cards of a number n suits, wherein each suit is uniquely identified according to a player position in a team sport;    wherein there are another number m cards within each suit,    wherein each of the m cards within each suit is assigned to one of a set of m sports teams, and assigned to a sports player selected from the sports team who has the player position corresponding to the suit,    such that, for each suit, there is one card in the deck associated with each of the m sports teams within the suit,    the deck comprising at least the product n times m cards thereby,    wherein the card corresponding to each sports player is assigned a point value according to sports game statistics for said sports player during a specified time period;    and wherein the value of the set of cards of a participant is determined according to both:    (i) the combination of sports teams for cards in the hand of the participant; and,    (ii) the point values for one or more cards in the hand of the participant.    
   
   
       2 . A game according to  claim 1  wherein the deck comprises printed cards.  
   
   
       3 . A game according to  claim 1  wherein cards for at least one participant are displayed on a terminal.  
   
   
       4 . A game according to  claim 1  wherein a control logic processor deals the cards according to a poker hand distribution rule.  
   
   
       5 . A game according to  claim 1  wherein the team sport is football.  
   
   
       6 . A game according to  claim 1  wherein the specified time period is a week chosen from a season.  
   
   
       7 . A game for a set of participants comprising: 
 a) a deck comprising a plurality of cards of a number n suits, wherein each suit is uniquely identified according to a player position in a team sport;    wherein there are another number m cards within each suit,    wherein each of the m cards within each suit is assigned to one of a set of m sports teams, and assigned to a sports player selected from the sports team who has the player position corresponding to the suit,    such that, for each suit, there is one card in the deck associated with each of the m sports teams within the suit,    the deck comprising at least the product n times m cards thereby;    b) a control logic processor for distributing cards from the deck to each member of the set of participants according to a poker hand distribution rule, such that each participant is dealt a hand of cards,    wherein the control logic processor is in communication with a database of sports game statistics for each of the sports players corresponding to the n times m cards in the deck, wherein the sports game statistics are based on sports player performance within a specified time period,    the control logic processor assigning a point value to each card dealt to a participant according to said sports game statistics;    wherein the control logic processor manages the game sequence between participants according to predetermined rules and computes results.    
   
   
       8 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the deck further comprises wild cards.  
   
   
       9 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the game is played over a computer network.  
   
   
       10 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the database is provided on a removable data storage medium.  
   
   
       11 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the sports teams are football teams.  
   
   
       12 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the specified time period is a week during a sports season.  
   
   
       13 . The game of  claim 7  wherein the control logic processor is a hand-held computing device.  
   
   
       14 . A method for providing a card game comprising: 
 a) providing a deck comprising a plurality of cards of a number n suits, wherein each suit is uniquely identified according to a player position in a team sport;    wherein there are another number m cards within each suit,    wherein each of the m cards within each suit is assigned to one of a set of m sports teams, and assigned to a sports player selected from the sports team who has the player position corresponding to the suit,    such that, for each suit, there is one card in the deck associated with each of the m sports teams within the suit,    the deck comprising at least the product n times m cards thereby;    b) dealing cards from the deck to each of a set of card game participants according to a poker hand distribution rule, such that each participant is dealt a hand of cards;    c) assigning a point value to each card in the hand of cards dealt to each participant according to sports performance statistics for the corresponding sports player within a specified time period;    d) managing play from one participant to the next according to game rules; and,    e) computing scores for one or more portions of the game.    
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the card game is played by the participant at a computer terminal.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the step of providing a deck comprises the step of printing onto a substrate.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the step of computing scores comprises multiplying the total accumulated point value for a participant's hand by an odds factor, wherein the odds factor is selected according to a combination of cards in that participant's hand.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the team sport is football.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the specified time period is a week chosen from a previous season.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the odds factor is 1.