Pai gow card game with side bet options

Abstract

A modified version of the casino table/video game Pai Gow Poker, may be played with five to seven cards dealt to each player/dealer. Optional secondary and tertiary side wagers are proved which allow the player to use their cards to establish various pre-defined card combinations and/or values which, if achieved, result in a pay-out according to a pre-defined proportional factor of the amount wagered. In the secondary side wager, the High and/or Low hands are viewed as a Blackjack hand which is resolved against a pay table representing a plurality of outcomes. Various tertiary bonus schemes may include, for examples, a bonus based on all cards considered against a poker table, a bonus paid on consideration of one, two, three, four or five cards, consideration of the High and Low hands separately or collectively based on a Low Sum pay table, etc. The subject modified Pai Gow card is preferably played with one or two Jokers to increase the likelihood of players making a hand and therefore increase the excitement of the game.

1 . A method of playing a wagering game utilizing one or more decks of standard playing cards comprising the steps of:
 providing a game table establishing playing positions for a dealer and at least one player;   providing at least one standard deck of 52-to-54 playing cards with respective faces designated in ascending rank 2-10, J, Q, K, A each in four suits and optionally one or two Joker cards; assigning a numerical value to each card, said numerical value being equivalent to the face value for cards designated 2-10, said numerical value being ten for cards designated J, Q, K, and said numerical value being one or eleven for cards designated A;   accepting a pai gow wager (PG) from each participating player;   dealing each player and a dealer five to seven cards;   requiring each player and the dealer to arrange the cards into a two-card Low hand and a High hand with the remaining cards;   comparing the rank of the dealer's High hand to the rank of each player's High hand and comparing the rank of the dealer's two-card Low hand to the rank of each player's two-card Low hand on the basis of standard Poker rankings;   settling each player's pai gow wager (PG) dependent upon the comparison of the rank of the dealer's High hand to the rank of each player's High hand and the comparison of the rank of the dealer's two-card Low hand to the rank of each player's two-card Low hand; said settling step including confiscating the player's pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the dealer's High hand and two-card Low hand outranks the player's High hand and two-card Low hand respectively, and paying the player a winning payout associated with the pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the player's High hand and two-card Low hand outranks the dealer's High hand and two-card Low hand respectively, and allowing the player to retain their pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand, but not both, outranks the dealer's High hand or two-card Low hand respectively;   characterized by,   prior to said arranging step, receiving from at least one participating player an optional secondary Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ); and paying a Blackjack bonus to the player if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum sufficiently close to but not exceeding twenty-one as in the traditional game of Blackjack.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 2  wherein said step of paying said Blackjack bonus includes paying a first proportional factor of the Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ) if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum exactly equal to twenty-one, and paying a second proportional factor of the Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ), lower than the first proportional factor, if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum falling within a predefined Blackjack pay-out range less than twenty-one. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 3  wherein said predefined Blackjack pay-out range associated with said second proportional factor includes the numerical sums 17-20. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further including the step of, prior to said arranging step, receiving from at least one participating player an optional tertiary side wager (B 3  . . . Bn), and paying a tertiary bonus to the player if the player's cards correspond to a pre-established pay table. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the participating player's cards against a list of five-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if five cards correspond to at least one of the listed five-card combinations. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the participating player's cards against a list of four-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if four of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed four-card combinations. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the participating player's cards against a list of three-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if three of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed three-card combinations. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the participating player's cards against a list of two-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if two of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed two-card combinations. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the participating player's cards against a list of one-card selections recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if one of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed one-card selections. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing the participating player's highest value card against the Dealer's highest value card, and paying the player a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 5 ) if the participating player's highest value card has a larger numerical value that the Dealer's highest value card. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further including the step of offering bad beat insurance (B 6 ) associated with a player losing the pai gow wager (PG) even though holding a hand having a pre-established strong ranking. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more decks includes two Joker cards which can be used as wild cards or to complete certain pre-established hands. 
     
     
         13 . An electronically implemented method of playing a wagering game using images of playing cards, comprising:
 providing an electronic gaming machine including a display screen configured to display images of playing cards; the electronic gaming machine including a non-transitory computer readable medium coded with instructions and executed by a processor to perform the steps of:   establishing playing positions on the display screen for a dealer and at least one player;   providing at least one standard deck of 52-to-54 playing cards with respective faces designated in ascending rank 2-10, J, Q, K, A each in four suits and optionally one or two Joker cards; assigning a numerical value to each card, said numerical value being equivalent to the face value for cards designated 2-10, said numerical value being ten for cards designated J, Q, K, and said numerical value being one or eleven for cards designated A;   accepting a pai gow wager (PG) from the player;   dealing the player and a dealer each five to seven cards;   requiring the player to arrange the cards displayed on the display screen into a High hand and a two-card Low hand;   automatically arranging the dealer cards displayed on the display screen into a High hand and a two-card Low hand;   comparing the rank of the dealer's High hand to the rank of the player's High hand and comparing the rank of the dealer's two-card Low hand to the rank of the player's two-card Low hand on the basis of standard Poker rankings;   settling the player's pai gow wager (PG) dependent upon the comparison of the rank of the dealer's High hand to the rank of the player's High hand and the comparison of the rank of the dealer's two-card Low hand to the rank of the player's two-card Low hand; said settling step including confiscating the player's pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the dealer's High hand and two-card Low hand outranks the player's High hand and two-card Low hand respectively, and paying the player a winning payout associated with the pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the player's High hand and two-card Low hand outranks the dealer's High hand and two-card Low hand respectively, and allowing the player to retain their pai gow wager (PG) if the rank of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand, but not both, outranks the dealer's High hand or two-card Low hand respectively; and,   prior to said arranging step, receiving from the player an optional secondary Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ); and paying a Blackjack bonus to the player if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum sufficiently close to but not exceeding twenty-one as in the traditional game of Blackjack.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein said step of paying said Blackjack bonus includes paying a first proportional factor of the Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ) if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum exactly equal to twenty-one, and paying a second proportional factor of the Blackjack side wager (B 1 , B 2 ), lower than the first proportional factor, if one of the player's High hand or two-card Low hand has a numerical sum falling within a predefined Blackjack pay-out range less than twenty-one. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein said predefined Blackjack pay-out range associated with said second proportional factor includes the numerical sums 17-20. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13  further including the step of, prior to said arranging step, receiving from the player an optional tertiary side wager (B 3  . . . Bn), and paying a tertiary bonus to the player if the player's cards correspond to a pre-established pay table. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the player's cards against a list of five-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if all cards correspond to at least one of the listed five-card combinations. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the player's cards against a list of four-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if four of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed four-card combinations. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all five of the player's cards against a list of three-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if three of the five cards correspond to at least one of the listed three-card combinations. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the player's cards against a list of two-card combinations recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if two of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed two-card combinations. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing all of the player's cards against a list of one-card selections recited in a pre-established pay table (B 4 ), and paying a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 4 ) if one of the cards correspond to at least one of the listed one-card selections. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16  wherein said step of paying a tertiary bonus includes comparing the player's highest value card against the Dealer's highest value card, and paying the player a pre-defined proportional factor of the tertiary side wager (B 5 ) if the player's highest value card has a larger numerical value that the Dealer's highest value card.