Novel variation on traditional poker

Abstract

A new variation to standard poker card games is provided involving the initial dealing of a token to each contestant in a tournament prior to the initial hand being played. The token may then be utilized by the holder at anytime after an individual hand has been fully played by all contestants and an initial winner is determined at that time. Such a token allows the holder to include the token within the pot of such an individual hand in order to have a subsequent card dealt in order to improve, potentially, any remaining contestant's hand. Additionally, different variations including the utilization of such a token as well as the utilization of such a poker variation with electronic and on-line gaming systems is encompassed within the invention as well.

1 . A poker game variation including the steps of:
 a) prior to the dealing of the first round of a poker game including a plurality of contestants, an extra card token is made available for distribution to each contestant, wherein at least one contestant takes possession of an extra card token in this manner;   b) a first round and any number of successive rounds are then played with appropriate betting by contributing monetary amounts into a community pot and comparison of resultant individual hands to determine a winning hand according to acceptable card combination hierarchy, wherein, at any time once an initial individual winning hand is determined within a round after each remaining hand at that time is shown in total for review by each contestant, any remaining contestant possessing an extra card token may then place said token into the pot in order to have one further community card dealt for all remaining contestants to utilize in combination with their own individual hands such that any such remaining contestant may improve their individual hand in order to defeat the initial individual winning hand;   wherein said extra card token may only be played by a remaining contestant if the initial individual winning hand of another remaining contestant may be bested in terms of hand strength by the inclusion of a single card in combination with the token-playing contestants initial hand; and wherein if such extra card combines with an initial hand of any remaining contestant provides the strongest hand in comparison with the hands of all other remaining contestants, then such hand is deemed the subsequent individual winning hand, allowing for the holder of such subsequent individual winning hand to be awarded at least a portion of the pot for that hand; and   wherein if said extra card causes two or more contestants to have the same hand strength, and thus to have the same effective subsequent individual winning hand, and thus exceeding the hand strength of the initial individual winning hand, then said contestants holding such subsequent winning hands are to be awarded a split of at least a portion of the pot for that hand.   
     
     
         2 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein the contestant with the initial individual winning hand is guaranteed a payout of at least half of the pot regardless of the result generated by the combination of said extra card with any other remaining contestant's hand. 
     
     
         3 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein said extra card must generate a better hand than that held by the contestant with the initial individual winning hand in order to allow for any payout of the pot to any contestant other than the holder of the initial individual winning hand. 
     
     
         4 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein if said extra card generates a tie in hand strength between the initial individual winning hand and another contestant's hand, then said other contestant is awarded a payout of 25% of the pot and the holder of the initial individual winning hand is awarded 75% of the pot and the token. 
     
     
         5 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein if said extra card generates a subsequent individual winning hand then the holder of said hand is awarded 100% of the pot amount and the token. 
     
     
         6 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein multiple extra card tokens may be played by multiple contestants during a round, effectively allowing for more than one extra card to be dealt subsequent to the determination of the initial individual winning hand. 
     
     
         7 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein a contestant with multiple tokens may play such multiple tokens to request an extra card that is solely available for their combination with their own hand for comparison with the initial individual winning hand. 
     
     
         8 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein said extra card token played during a hand is handled by one of the three following alternatives: a) passed on to the holder of the subsequent individual winning hand if only one such hand results from the introduction of the extra card; b) passed on to the holder of the initial individual winning hand due to the lack of improved hand strength of any other contestant to overcome such an initial individual winning hand upon introduction of the extra card; c) passed on to the contestant playing said token if said contestant has a subsequent hand that at least ties in strength with that of another contestant; or d) said token is removed from play after utilization to generate an extra card during a hand. 
     
     
         9 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         10 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 2 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         11 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 3 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         12 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 4 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         13 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 5 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         14 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 6 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         15 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 7 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         16 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 8 , wherein said variation is employed in a game of poker selected from the group consisting of draw poker, stud poker, Texas Hold'Em poker, and Omaha poker. 
     
     
         17 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein said variation is employed in a casino setting. 
     
     
         18 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 1 , wherein said variation is employed in an on-line setting. 
     
     
         19 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 9 , wherein said variation is employed in a casino setting. 
     
     
         20 . The poker game variation as described in  claim 10 , wherein said variation is employed in a casino setting.