Wagering settlement methods for casino games

Abstract

The invention comprises methods of settling wagers in a game with one or more Player/Dealer pools. The invention includes a mechanism of specifying a subset of wagers that the Player/Dealer pool is used to settle. It also includes a method of limiting the amount of a player wager the Player/Dealer pool can win or not allowing the Player/Dealer pool to win any of the wager if it does contain enough funds to pay the maximum possible amount the player might win on that wager. It includes an optional mechanism to make these methods work effectively by settling wagers in two or more passes around the table.

1 . A method of playing a game between players comprising:
 designating at least one player as the Player/Dealer, wherein all other players are playing against this Player/Dealer;   having the at least one player make a wager that comprises one or more pools of Player/Dealer funds;   determining in which order the pools are to be used to settle wagers when there is more than one pool of Player/Dealer funds;   making one or more wagers on a hand by each player;   identifying a subset of player wagers before any wagers are settled when the funds in the first Player/Dealer pool used to settle wagers might not be sufficient to cover all the player wagers;   playing a hand by each player and the Player/Dealer, wherein the outcome of each hand determines whether wagers are won or lost; and   settling only the player wagers in said subset using the funds in the first Player/Dealer pool.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, when the funds in the second Player/Dealer pool used to settle wagers might not be sufficient to cover all the player wagers not in said subset, identifying a second subset of player wagers before any wagers are settled and only the player wagers in said second subset are settled using the funds in the second Player/Dealer pool. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  further including a using a physical indicator to identify the last wager in said subset of player wagers that will be settled using the funds in the first player pool. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein a button is used as the physical indicator to identify the last wager in said subset of player wagers that will be settled using the funds in the first player pool. 
   
   
       5 . A method of playing a game between players comprising:
 designating at least one player as the Player/Dealer, wherein all other players are playing against this Player/Dealer;   having the at least one player make a wager that comprises one or more pools of Player/Dealer funds;   determining in which order the pools are to be used to settle wagers when there is more than one pool of Player/Dealer funds;   making one or more wagers on a hand by each player;   identifying a portion of the total money in the player wagers when the funds in the first Player/Dealer pool used to settle wagers might not be sufficient to cover all the player wagers;   playing a hand by each player and the Player/Dealer, wherein the outcome of each hand determines whether wagers are won or lost; and   settling only player wagers up to said portion of the total money in the player wager using the funds in the first Player/Dealer pool.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  further including:
 identifying a second portion of the money in the player wagers when the funds in the second Player/Dealer pool used to settle wagers might not be sufficient to cover all the player wagers not in said subset; and   settling only the player wagers in said second portion using the funds in the second Player/Dealer pool.   
   
   
       7 . A method of playing a game between players comprising:
 designating at least one player as the Player/Dealer, wherein all other players are playing against this Player/Dealer;   making a wager by the at least one player that comprises one or more pools of Player/Dealer funds;   determining in which order the pools are to be used to settle wagers when there is more than one pool of Player/Dealer funds;   making at least one wager on a hand by each player;   playing a hand by each player and the Player/Dealer, wherein the outcome of each hand determines whether wagers are won or lost; and   retiring the remaining funds in that Player/Dealer pool when the amount of money left in a Player/Dealer pool is not sufficient to cover the largest possible payout on a player wager.   
   
   
       8 . A method of playing a game between players comprising:
 designating at least one player as the Player/Dealer, wherein all other players are playing against this Player/Dealer;   making a wager by the at least one player that comprises one or more pools of Player/Dealer funds;   determining in which order the pools are to be used to settle wagers when there is more than one pool of Player/Dealer funds;   making at least one wager on a hand by each;   playing a hand by each player and the Player/Dealer, wherein the outcome of each hand determines whether wagers are won or lost; and   when the amount of money left in a Player/Dealer pool is not sufficient to cover the largest possible payout on a player wager, that Player/Dealer pool only wins a portion of the player's wager when the player loses the wager.   
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the fraction of the player wager the Player/Dealer can win is the same as the fraction of the largest possible player win that is in the Player/Dealer pool. 
   
   
       10 . A method of playing a game between players comprising:
 identifying a predetermined subset of possible player wagers prior to any wagers being made and the start of play;   designating one player or group of players as the Player/Dealer, wherein all other players are playing against this Player/Dealer;   making a wager by the at least one player that comprises one or more pools of Player/Dealer funds;   determining in which order the pools are to be used to settle wagers when there is more than one pool of Player/Dealer funds;   making a wager by on a hand by each;   playing a hand by each player and the Player/Dealer, wherein the outcome of each hand determines whether wagers are won or lost; and   settling all the wagers in the predetermined subset of possible player wagers before settling player wagers that are not in the predetermined subset.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein said subset contains one or more type of wager with a pre-determined criterion for winning and excludes one or more type of wager with a different pre-determined criterion for winning.