Method and device for conducting a poker game

Abstract

The player is randomly dealt an initial poker hand, optionally of five cards, from a composite deck formed by commingling two or more subdecks of cards. The player decides which of the initial cards to discard, if any, retaining the remaining cards from the dealt hand. The player receives replacement cards to replace the discarded cards. The player's final poker hand consists of the player's retained cards and the dealt replacement cards. The dealer evaluates the poker hand so reconstituted against a prespecified payoff table, and the player loses the game wager or receives a reward, as indicated in that payoff table. The payoff table determines the reward for a final hand based on the combination of suit, value, and source subdeck of the cards comprising that final hand.

1 . A method for conducting a card game for one or more players using playing cards, or electronic representations thereof, comprising:
 providing a composite deck of playing cards including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinct subdeck identifier, each subdeck formed from at least a subset of a standard poker deck;   defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand;   receiving a game wager from each player;   dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected from said commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said composite deck;   for at least one playing card of said initial hand, concealing at least one of the value, suit, and subdeck identifier of said at least one playing card;   receiving from each player a selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said initial hand;   dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards dealt randomly from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards;   forming a final hand for each player, said final hand consisting of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards;   following said dealing of replacement playing cards for each playing card selected for discard, revealing the value, suit, and subdeck identifier for all cards comprising said final hand;   comparing each final hand to said payoff table, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and   rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each playing card includes a face identifying the suit and value of the playing card and a back and wherein said subdeck identifier includes a visually distinct design on the back of each playing card comprising said subdeck. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each subdeck includes a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each subdeck includes a standard poker deck of fifty-two playing cards, supplemented with at least one joker. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each initial hand includes five playing cards and each player may select up to five playing cards for discard from the initial hand. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said payoff table includes payoffs for winning hands in which all playing cards comprising said winning hand are from a single subdeck. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each subdeck includes at least one wild card, wherein said wild card may substitute for any playing card in said composite deck. 
   
   
       8 . A method for conducting a card game for one or more players using playing cards, or electronic representations thereof, comprising:
 providing a composite deck of playing cards including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinct subdeck identifier, each subdeck formed from at least a subset of a standard poker deck;   defining at least one subset of said composite deck of playing cards, each subset including a plurality of visually distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another;   for each subset of said composite deck of playing cards, defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand;   receiving a game wager from each player;   receiving from at least one player a selection of a subset of said composite deck of playing cards;   dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said selected subset;   receiving from each player a selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said initial hand;   dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards dealt randomly from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said selected subset depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards;   forming a final hand for each player, said final hand consisting of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards;   comparing each final hand to said payoff table associated with said selected subset, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and   rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each playing card includes a face identifying the suit and value of the playing card and a back and wherein said subdeck identifier includes a visually distinct design on the back of each playing card comprising said subdeck. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each subdeck includes a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each subdeck includes a standard poker deck of fifty-two playing cards, supplemented with at least one joker. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each initial hand includes five playing cards and each player may select up to five playing cards for discard from the initial hand. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said payoff table includes payoffs for winning hands in which all playing cards comprising said winning hand are from a single subdeck. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 8  wherein each subdeck includes at least one wild card, wherein said wild card may substitute for any playing card in said composite deck. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said selection of a subset of said composite deck of playing cards includes a selection of said game wager. 
   
   
       16 . A method for conducting a card game for a player at an electronic gaming machine including a data processor in communication with a display, a player controller, and a data storage storing electronic representations of playing cards having a value and a suit, comprising:
 storing a composite deck of playing cards at said data storage, said composite deck including a plurality of distinct subdecks of playing cards commingled with one another, the playing cards of each subdeck including a visually distinguishable subdeck identifier;   defining a payoff table of winning hands and associated payoffs and storing said payoff table at said data storage, said payoff table including at least one winning hand distinguished from other winning hands based on the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards forming said winning hand;   receiving a signal at said data processor from the player controller representing a game wager from said player;   said data processor dealing an initial hand of playing cards randomly selected by said data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards included in said composite deck stored at said data storage;   displaying at least one of the value, rank, and subdeck identifier for at least one of said playing cards of said initial hand at said display;   forming a final player hand for each player;   said data processor comparing each player's final hand to said payoff table stored at said data storage, including comparing the subdeck identifiers of the playing cards in said final hand to the subdeck identifiers for said winning hands in said payoff table; and   said data processor rewarding each player having a winning hand with the payoff associated with said winning hand in said payoff table.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of forming a final player hand comprises:
 receiving at said data processor a signal from said player controller representing said player's selection to discard zero or more playing cards from said player's initial hand; and   said data processor dealing a replacement playing card for each playing card selected for discard, said replacement cards selected randomly by said data processor from the commingled subdecks of playing cards in said composite deck depleted of the previously-dealt playing cards such that said final hand consists of the playing cards of said initial hand, excluding said cards selected for discard and including said replacement cards.