Card game

Abstract

A method of playing a card game in which each player places a wager and a dealer deals at least four cards to each player and four cards to the dealer. Each player and the dealer arrange said four cards into a high hand and a low hand in high and low hand areas on a playing area. The high hand comprises a pair if only one pair exists, the highest ranked pair if the player has two pairs, or the highest point count that can be made from two of the four cards if no pairs exist. The low hand comprises the remaining two cards. High and low hands of dealer and player are compared based on a pair winning against any lower ranked pair or any point count and a point count winning against any lower ranked point count. The player is paid winnings related to their wager if the player has a greater number of winning hands than the dealer and loses if they have a lower number of winning hands than the dealer.

1 .- 16 . (canceled) 
   
   
       17 . A method of playing a card game comprising the steps of:
 providing a shuffled standard deck of playing cards in which jacks, queens, kings and jokers have been removed;   providing a playing area having an initial wager area for each player, and a single secondary wager area for each player;   each player placing an initial wager;   each player optionally placing a secondary wager;   dealing four cards from the shuffled standard deck to each player and dealing four cards to a dealer;   each player and the dealer arranging their respective four cards into two cards forming a high hand and two cards forming a low hand, wherein the high hand comprises:
 if the player or dealer has two pairs, a highest ranked pair of the two pairs; 
 if the player or dealer has one pair, the one pair; 
 if the player or dealer has no pairs, the highest point count that can be made from two of the four cards, where the point count is a function of the numerical value of the cards; 
 and the low hand comprises the remaining two cards; 
   calculating winnings or losses for each player based on the initial wager made by the player and by comparing the high hand of the dealer to the high hand of the player and comparing the low hand of the dealer to the low hand of the player and determining whether the player wins or loses the high hand or the low hand based on:
 a pair winning against any lower ranked pair or any point count, and 
 a point count winning against any lower ranked point count; 
   the player being paid winnings based on their initial wager if the player has a greater number of winning hands than the dealer, or the player losing their initial wager if the player has a lower number of winning hands than the dealer, or the player being returned their initial wager in any other event; and,   the player being paid winnings based on their secondary wager if the player's high or low hand includes a pair.   
   
   
       18 . A method of playing a card game in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein in the event that the high or low hand of the player is of the same rank as the corresponding hand of the dealer:
 the high hand of the dealer wins against a high hand of the player of the same rank; and   the low hand of the player wins against a low hand of the dealer of the same rank.   
   
   
       19 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein in the event that the high or low hand of the player is of the same rank as the corresponding hand of the dealer:
 if both the high and low hands of the dealer and the player are of the same rank, the dealer's high and low hands are ranked higher than the player's high and low hands;   if one only of the high and low hands of the player and dealer are of the same rank, those same ranked hands are considered equal rank.   
   
   
       20 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein the point count is calculated by summing the numerical values of the cards and subtracting ten if the sum is greater than or equal to ten. 
   
   
       21 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein in the event that the player wins a greater number of hands than the dealer, the player is paid an amount equal to the player's initial wager. 
   
   
       22 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein the winnings paid on the secondary wager may be paid at different odds depending on whether the player's high and low hands comprise one pair, two pairs of different rankings, or two pairs of the same rankings. 
   
   
       23 . A method in accordance with  claim 22 , wherein the winning are paid at odds of one to one if the player's high and low hands include a single pair. 
   
   
       24 . A method in accordance with  claim 22 , wherein the winnings are paid at odds of six to one if the player's high and low hands include two pairs of different rank. 
   
   
       25 . A method in accordance with  claim 22 , wherein the winning are paid at odds of 200:1 in the event that the player's high and low hands include a two pairs of the same rank. 
   
   
       26 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein the ace is ranked higher than any remaining cards for pair rankings and counts as a one for calculating a point count. 
   
   
       27 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein each player is dealt five cards and then is required to discard one of the cards before arranging the high and low hands. 
   
   
       28 . A method in accordance with  claim 27  wherein the player is required to pay for an extra card to obtain the five cards. 
   
   
       29 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein a point count wager may be made by the player, the player selecting a value for the difference in point count between the high or low hands of the player and the dealer. 
   
   
       30 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein progressive bets are provided where players bet to qualify for jackpots or bonus prizes. 
   
   
       31 . A method of playing a card game between players and a dealer comprising:
 providing a playing area having an initial wager area for each player, a single secondary wager area for each player, a high hand area for each player, a low hand area for each player, a high hand area for the dealer and a low hand area for the dealer;   providing a shuffled standard deck of playing cards in which jacks, queens, kings and jokers have been removed;   each player placing an initial wager in the initial wager area of the player;   each player optionally placing a secondary wager in the secondary wager area of the player;   the dealer dealing four cards to each player and four cards to the dealer;   each player and the dealer arranging from their respective four cards two cards into a high hand in the high hand area and two cards into a low hand in the low hand area, wherein the high hand comprises:
 if the player has two pairs, a highest ranked pair of the two pairs; 
 if the player has one pair, the one pair; 
 if the player has no pairs, the highest point count that can be made from two of the four cards, where the point count is a function of the numerical value of the cards; 
   and the low hand comprises two cards of the respective four cards no in the high hand;   calculating winnings or losses for each player based on the initial wager of the player and comparing the high hand of the dealer to the high hand of the player and comparing the low hand of the dealer to the low hand of the player and determining whether the player wins or loses the high or the low hand based on;
 a pair winning against any lower ranked pair or point count; 
 a point count winning against a lower ranked point count; 
   the player being paid winnings related to the initial wager of the player if the player has a greater number of winning hands than the dealer or the player losing the initial wager of the player if the player has a lower number of winning hands than the dealer, or the player being returned their initial wager in any other event; and   the player being paid winnings related to their secondary wager if the high and or low hand of the player includes a pair.   
   
   
       32 . A method in accordance with  claim 17 , wherein the method is implemented on an electronic gaming machine.