Texas Dinero Poker Game

Abstract

A poker game played with a standard 52-card deck, in which each player is provided with one individual card, in addition to six community cards. Each player can form a hand from his single pocket card and any of the community cards, or can form a hand from only the community cards. The six community cards are dealt in the sequence three cards, two cards, and one card, which does not make available to a player a full hand of five cards until after the second round of betting. Additionally, the increased proportion of community cards makes hands which split the pot more likely. The features of this game combine to increase the length of time players stay in each hand and correspondingly increase pot size. When played at a casino with a rake base on a percentage of the pot, the increased pot size also increases the casino's take.

1 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method of providing a modified poker game to be played by players competing against one another using one or more standard 52-card decks comprising the steps of:
 a. dealing one pocket card to each player, wherein the one pocket card is dealt in a manner which does not reveal its respective rank to other players;   b. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player with the option to place a wager for other respective players to match or forfeit the game;   c. dealing three community cards, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   d. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in a pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   e. dealing two community cards, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   f. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in the pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   g. dealing one community card, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   h. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in the pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   i. exposing the dealt cards of each player remaining in the round of play;   j. determining the players having achieved the highest ranking hand based on conventional poker ranking rules, wherein the ranking of each of the respective player's hands is based on any five cards selected from the group of cards formed by the one pocket card and the community cards dealt; and   k. awarding at least a substantial portion of the pot to the player determined to have the highest ranking hand.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  in which said steps (a) through (h) are conducted sequentially beginning with step (a) and concluding with step (h). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  in which said steps (a) through (k) are conducted sequentially beginning with step (a) and concluding with step (j). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising the step of receiving one or more ante wagers from one or more players prior to the step of dealing the one pocket card. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of receiving matching ante wagers from each of the remaining other players after the step of dealing the one pocket card, wherein a player forfeits if a matching ante wager is not received. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of receiving all wagers placed in the pot by players during the round of betting, in which said steps (a) through (j) are conducted sequentially beginning with step (a) and concluding with step (j). 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein wagers placed in the pot during the round of betting include raises of other player prior wagers placed in the pot during that round. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of distributing the awarded amount to the player determined to have the highest ranking hand. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more standard 52-card decks comprise physical playing cards and each of the steps of dealing cards comprises dealing randomly-ordered cards to the players. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more standard 52-card decks comprise virtual representations of playing cards and each of the steps of dealing cards comprises displaying randomly generated cards to the players through a display device. 
     
     
         18 - 53 . (canceled) 
     
     
         54 . A method of electronically providing a card game utilizing representations of cards in one or more standard 52-card decks to be played by players competing against one another comprising the steps of:
 a. dealing one pocket card to each player, wherein the one pocket card is dealt in a manner which does not reveal its respective rank to other players;   b. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player with the option to place a wager for other respective players to match or forfeit the game;   c. dealing three community cards, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   d. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in a pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   e. dealing two community cards, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   f. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in the pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   g. dealing one community card, wherein each of the three community cards are dealt in a manner which reveals their respective ranks;   h. conducting a round of betting, wherein the round of betting includes providing each respective player in the game with the option to place a wager in the pot for other respective players in the game to either match or forfeit the game;   i. exposing the dealt cards of each player remaining in the round of play;   j. determining the player having achieved the highest ranking hand based on conventional poker ranking rules, wherein the ranking of each of the respective player's hands is based on any five cards selected from the group of cards formed by the one pocket card and the community cards dealt; and   k. awarding at least a substantial portion of the pot to the player determined to have the highest ranking hand.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54  in which the community cards are displayed. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 54  in which one or more players are virtual players. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 54  in which cards are displayed to players on separate computers connected by a network. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 57  in which cards are displayed to players on separate computers connected by the Internet. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 57  in which cards are displayed to players on one or more screens connected to the same computer. 
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 54  in which cards are displayed to players on a handheld device. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 54  in which the cards to be displayed are determined by a server which is remote from any player.