Double dead man guts

Abstract

In a guts game variation, one or more players play against one another and a sole participant must beat two “dead man” hands to win. For example, each player bets the ante and is dealt a hand of two cards. Each player is then given the option to participate in the hand or withdraw. All participating hands are revealed by turning the cards face-up. The player with the highest hand collects the pot, and all other participating players must put into the pot an amount equal to the value of winner's pot. When only one participant has elected to remain in the hand, the participant must beat both “dead man” hands in order to win the pot. The game ends when a sole participant beats both “dead man” hands, whereupon the cards are reshuffled and re-dealt to commence a new round of play.

1 . A method of playing a guts poker game using one or more decks of playing cards, a dealer, two or more players, and a playing surface comprising a dealer area and a player area, the method comprising:
 receiving on said playing surface an ante from each of said two or more players, wherein a sum of the received antes constitutes a pot;   dealing a hand comprising at least two playing cards to each of said two or more players;   dealing at least two additional hands face down in said dealer area to form at least two dead man hands;   providing each of said two or more players an option to participate in or withdraw from a current round of play;   determining that only one player of said two or more players is participating in the current round of play and revealing said at least two dead man hands;   determining a highest hand among said only one player and said at least two dead man hands in accordance with a predetermined ranking of hands; and   awarding a winning pot to said only one player when the only one player's hand is determined to be the highest hand, and otherwise receiving on said playing surface an amount equal to a value of said winning pot from said only one player.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a dealer position by distributing one of said playing cards to each player and assigning the dealer position to a player with a highest ranked card; and   moving the dealer position clockwise with each subsequent round of play.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said game is played with at least one standard deck of 52 playing cards. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said predetermined ranking from highest to lowest is as follows:
 (a) straight flush   (b) pair   (c) straight   (d) flush   (e) high card.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the participating players must bank said amount in order to participate. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said winning pot is limited to a predetermined amount. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said awarding comprises awarding the winning pot to said only one player when the only one player's hand is determined to be the highest hand, and a remaining amount remains in a next pot for a next round. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said winning pot is said pot. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein a hand ranked equally with a highest ranked one of said at least two dead man's hands is deemed a losing hand. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each of said at least two players wins a predetermined amount when dealt a predetermined hand or a sequence of hands. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said only one player receives half the winning pot when the only one player's hand and a highest hand among said at least two dead man hands are identically ranked. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising collecting and shuffling said one or more decks and commencing a next round of play.