Alternative bets and betting structure in Pai Gow poker games

Abstract

Pai Gow poker wagering card game is played by: a) Players wagering on a Pai Gow game; b) Players placing an optional wager against a pay table on a specified color combination of playing cards in a separate game that uses only residual cards from the Pai Gow poker game; c) dealing seven-card hands from a set of cards to six player positions and one dealer position, leaving at least three residual cards that have not been dealt to players or the dealer as residual cards; d) resolving the game of Pai Gow poker; e) comparing playing cards in the residual cards to the specific color combination wagered on in step b); and f) paying players who have placed the optional wager when the color combination in the residual cards matches the color combination wagered on in step b) and wherein playing cards are provided as either physical playing cards on a gaming table or are provided as virtual playing cards from a processor having an associated random number generator. A tie-breaking event may also be included in the game using residual cards.

1 . A method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering card game comprising: a) a dealer accepts wagers at least one player position in a Pai Gow game; b) a dealer accepts at the at least one player position an optional wager against a pay table on a specified color combination of playing cards in a separate game that uses only residual cards from the Pai Gow poker game; c) the dealer dealing seven-card hands of physical playing cards from a set of physical playing cards to six player positions and one dealer position, leaving at least three residual physical playing cards that have not been dealt to players or the dealer as residual cards; d) the dealer resolving the wagers on the game of Pai Gow poker; e) the dealer comparing physical playing cards in the residual physical playing cards to the specific color combination wagered on in step b); and f) the dealer paying players who have placed the optional wager when the color combination in the residual cards matches the color combination wagered on in step b) and
 Wherein the physical playing cards are provided as physical playing cards on a gaming table.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the set of cards comprises a standard fifty-two card deck of physical playing cards and three residual cards are used to determined the specified color combination. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the set of physical playing cards consists of fifty-three cards, a fifty-two card physical playing card deck and one joker and exactly three of the residual physical playing cards are used to determined the specified color combination. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the player may wager on a specified color combination event selected from the group consisting of:
 a) only one physical playing card is a specific suit; 
 b) exactly two physical playing cards are a specific suit; 
 c) exactly three physical playing cards are a specific suit; 
 d) only one physical playing card is a specific color; 
 e) exactly two physical playing cards are a specific color; and 
 f) exactly three physical playing cards are a specific color. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the player may wager on a specified color combination event selected from the group consisting of:
 a) two or three physical playing cards are a specific color or a specific suit. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the presence of a joker in the residual physical playing cards causes the player to lose the optional wager, regardless of the suit, color or rank of other residual physical playing cards. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the presence of a joker in the residual physical playing cards causes the player to lose the optional wager, regardless of the suit, color or rank of other residual physical playing cards. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the presence of a joker in the residual physical playing cards causes the player to lose the optional wager, regardless of the suit, color or rank of other residual physical playing cards. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the presence of a joker in the residual physical playing cards causes the player to lose the optional wager, regardless of the suit, color or rank of other residual physical playing cards. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the wagering on the game of Pai Gow poker is done in a wager that includes the steps of the dealer including a Tie Breaker event in the underlying game of Pai Gow. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the wagering on the game of Pai Gow poker is done in a wager that includes the steps of the dealer including a Tie Breaker event in the underlying game of Pai Gow. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  where a single physical playing card in the residual physical playing cards is used as a basis for a tie breaking event. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  where a single physical playing card in the residual physical playing cards is used as a basis for a tie breaking event. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the tie breaking event uses the single physical playing card from the residual physical playing cards to determine a color, and the color determines a tie breaking outcome by at least one of the following events:
 a) the initial underlying wager was placed in an area dedicated to a single color, and in the event of a tie, the placement of the underlying wager in an area dedicated to the color of the single residual card breaks the tie in favor of the player or dealer, the player or dealer with the most matches to the color of the breaker card with their seven cards winning the game, and if color matches are equal, the game is still a tie and no winner is declared. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the tie breaking event uses the single card from the residual physical playing cards to determine a color, and the color determines a tie breaking outcome by at least one of the following events:
 a) the initial underlying wager was placed in an area dedicated to a single color, and in the event of a tie, the placement of the underlying wager in an area dedicated to the color of the single residual card breaks the tie in favor of the player or dealer, the player or dealer with the most matches to the color of the breaker card with their respective seven cards winning game, and if color matches are equal, the game is still a tie and no winner is declared. 
 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the dealer requires each player position to have the underlying wager dependent on the tie breaking event. 
     
     
         18 . A method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering physical card game comprising: a) the dealer accepting wagers at player positions on an underlying Pai Gow game; b) the dealer playing the wagering card game to conclusion with Pai Gow rules using physical playing cards dealt to each player position where a wager has been accepted and to the dealer hand;
 wherein the wager on the underlying game includes the steps of the dealer including a Tie Breaker event in the underlying game of Pai Gow, and a single card in the residual physical playing cards is used as a basis for a tie breaking event.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the tie breaking event uses the single physical playing card from the residual physical playing cards to determine a color, and the color determines a tie breaking outcome by at least one of the following events:
 a) the initial underlying wager was placed in an area dedicated to a single color, and in the event of a tie, the placement of the underlying wager in an area dedicated to the color of the single residual physical playing card breaks the tie in favor of the player or dealer. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the breaker physical playing card is at least in part defined by at least one of rank, suit or color or a Joker as breaker physical playing card results in tie, and wherein the breaker physical playing card may cause a player position to be paid a bonus by the dealer if the player's position seven card hand has at least a predetermined number of matches to the breaker physical playing card, and the player would automatically lose if the joker was the breaker physical playing card. 
     
     
         21 . A method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering card game on a system comprising a processor, video display and player input controls comprising: a) the processor acting as a virtual dealer accepts wagers from at least one player position player input control at a player position in a Pai Gow game; b) the processor acting as a virtual dealer accepts at the at least one player position and may accept an optional wager against a pay table from any player position player input control on a specified color combination of virtual playing cards in a separate game that uses only residual virtual cards from the Pai Gow poker game; c) the dealer dealing seven-card hands of physical playing cards from a set of virtual playing cards to six player positions and one virtual dealer position, leaving at least three residual virtual playing cards that have not been dealt to players or the virtual dealer as residual cards; d) the dealer resolving the wagers on the game of Pai Gow poker; e) the processor acting as the virtual dealer comparing virtual playing cards in the residual virtual playing cards to the specific color combination wagered on in step b); and f) the processor acting as the virtual dealer paying players who have placed the optional wager when the color combination in the residual virtual playing cards matches the color combination wagered on in step b).