Trick-taking card game with card replacement by auction winner

Abstract

Provided is a system for playing a trick-taking card game with card replacement. The system may include a dealing module to deal, from a deck of playing cards, all but an integral multiple of four cards, to each player from two opposing teams of two players, each player receiving an equal set of playing cards; and a receiving module to receive, from each player, bidding data indicating a number of tricks a bidding player contracts to win over a course of a hand, with a bidding player with a highest bid being an auction winner, trump suit data indicating a trump suit for the hand of the card game, a request to discard playing cards selected by the auction winner, and move data indicating moves of players. The system may further include an analysis module to determine a score of the players and a result of the card game.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for playing a card game, the method comprising:
 dealing, from a deck of playing cards, all but an integral multiple of four cards to each player from two opposing teams of two players, each player receiving an equal set of playing cards;   receiving, from each player, bidding data indicating a number of tricks a bidding player contracts, on behalf of a team associated with the player, to win over a course of a hand, a bidding player with a highest bid being an auction winner;   receiving, from the auction winner, trump suit data indicating a trump suit for the hand of the card game;   dealing the integral multiple of four playing cards to the auction winner, thereby increasing a set of playing cards associated with the auction winner by the integral multiple of four playing cards;   receiving, from the auction winner, a request to discard, from the set of playing cards associated with the auction winner, playing cards selected by the auction winner, the number of the playing cards discarded being equal to the integral multiple of four playing cards;   discarding the playing cards selected by the auction winner;   receiving move data from the players, in succession, until all the playing cards held by the players are played;   determining whether the team associated with the auction winner has won at least the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner; and   based on the determination, selectively assigning scores to the teams for the hand.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the playing cards selected by the auction winner are discarded before or after the auction winner views the integral multiple of four playing cards. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein upon a determination that the team associated with the auction winner has not won at least the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner, the number of tricks contracted to win or a predetermined number associated with the number of tricks contracted to win is subtracted from the score associated with the team of the auction winner, and the team opposite to the team associated with the auction winner is awarded a score equal to the number of tricks won or to a predetermined number associated with the number of tricks won. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein upon a determination that the team associated with the auction winner has won at least the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner, the number of tricks contracted to win or the predetermined number associated with the number of tricks contracted to win is added to the score associated with the team of the auction winner and the team opposite to the team associated with the auction winner gets nothing or the predetermined number associated with the number of tricks won. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising continuing playing the game until a cumulative score of a team reaches a predetermined goal. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the card game is played in a counterclockwise direction. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the card game is played in a clockwise direction. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the integral multiple of four playing cards is discarded by the auction winner. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the team associated with the auction winner is granted additional score points for winning extra tricks in excess of the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner. 
     
     
         10 . A system for playing a card game, the system comprising:
 a dealing module to deal, from a deck of playing cards, all but an integral multiple of four cards, to each player from two opposing teams of two players, each player receiving an equal set of playing cards;   a receiving module to receive, from each player, bidding data indicating a number of tricks a bidding player contracts, on behalf of a team associated with the player, to win over a course of a hand, a bidding player with a highest bid being an auction winner; trump suit data indicating a trump suit for the hand of the card game; a request to discard from the set of playing cards associated with the auction winner, playing cards selected by the auction winner, a number of the playing cards discarded being equal to the integral multiple of four playing cards; and move data indicating moves of players;   an analysis module to determine a score of the players and a result of the card game;   a data storage module to store data and the one or more scores related to the card game.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the playing cards selected by the auction winner are discarded before or after the auction winner views the integral multiple of four playing cards. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein upon a determination that the team associated with the auction winner has not won at least the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner, the number of tricks contracted to win or a predetermined number associated with the number of tricks contracted to win is subtracted from the score associated with the team of the auction winner, and the team opposite to the team associated with the auction winner is awarded a score equal to the number of tricks won or to a predetermined number associated with the number of tricks won. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein upon a determination that the team associated with the auction winner has won at least the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner, the number of tricks contracted to win is added to the score associated with the team of the auction winner and the other team gets nothing or the predetermined number associated with the number of tricks won. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising continuing playing the game until a cumulative score of a team reaches a predetermined goal. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the card game is played in a counterclockwise direction. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the card game is played in a clockwise direction. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the integral multiple of four playing cards is discarded by the auction winner. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the team associated with the auction winner is granted additional score points for winning extra tricks in excess of the number of tricks contracted to win by the auction winner. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, perform the following operations:
 provide a representation, on a display, of a plurality of playing cards dealt to each player from two opposing teams of two players and an integral multiple of four cards undealt;   receive data from players, the data including bidding data indicating a number of tricks a bidding player contracts, on behalf of a team associated with the player, to win over a course of a hand, a bidding player with a highest bid being an auction winner; trump suit data indicating a trump suit for the hand of the card game; a request to discard from the set of playing cards associated with the auction winner, playing cards selected by the auction winner, the number of the playing cards discarded being equal to the integral multiple of four playing cards; and move data indicating moves of players;   analyze the card game to determine a score of the players and a result of the card game;   store data and the one or more scores related to the card game.