Card Games and Card Game Methods

Abstract

A card game and method in which a five card poker hand is determined for each of the plurality of the players. The five card poker hands associated with the players contain all hold cards of the players. If the number of hold cards in any of the five card poker hands is less than five, the hold cards for are combined with at least one of the community cards to obtain the five card poker hands. At least one of the players having the highest five card poker hand is identified as a winner of the game.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of allowing a plurality of players to play a card game, comprising the steps of:
 setting up the game by providing a plurality of representations of cards, where
 each representation of a card has a face value selected from the group of face values consisting of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and a plurality of cards sequentially numbered from two to ten, and 
 the representations of cards are substantially randomly arranged in a shuffled deck; 
   distributing the cards to each of the plurality of players such that each of the plurality of players possesses a hand comprising a plurality of cards;   allowing each of the plurality of players to discard up to four cards from each of the plurality of players' hands, where cards not discarded from each of the plurality of players' hands are hold cards;   dealing at least one community card;   determining a five card poker hand for each of the plurality of the players who have not folded, where
 the five card poker hands associated with each of the plurality of players contain all of the hold cards of the plurality of players, and 
 if the number of hold cards in any of the five card poker hands is less than five, the hold cards for are combined with at least one of the community cards to obtain the five card poker hands; and 
   identifying at least one of the plurality of players having the highest five card poker hand as a winner of the game.   
     
     
         2 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which the step of setting up the game comprises the step of providing each player with chips. 
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which the step of setting up the game comprises the step of determining the number and type of chips to be distributed to the players. 
     
     
         4 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which the step of setting up the game comprises the step of identifying one of the plurality of players as a dealer. 
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 4 , in which the player immediately to the left of the deal puts out a first blind and the player immediately to the left of the player who puts out the first blind puts out a second blind. 
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which a wager is placed on the player cards dealt to each player. 
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which a wager is placed on the community cards. 
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 4 , in which the step of setting up the game comprises the step of setting values a first blind and a second blind, and the method further comprises the steps of causing at least one of the plurality of players to place the first blind and at least one of the plurality of players to place the second blind. 
     
     
         9 . A method as recited in  claim 4 , in which a player to the immediate left of the dealer places the first blind and the player immediately to a player to the immediate left of the player who places the first blind places the second blind. 
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which bets are solicited in a pre-flop betting round, where each of the players has the choice of folding, calling, or raising during the pre-flop betting round. 
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 4 , in which raises are based on amounts of the first and second blinds. 
     
     
         12 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , in which the pre-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to act and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money for the pre-flop betting round. 
     
     
         13 . A method as recited in  claim 10 , in which the pre-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to fold, call, or raise and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money for the pre-flop betting round. 
     
     
         14 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which the step of allowing each of the plurality of players to discard cards comprises the step of allowing each player to discard up to four cards. 
     
     
         15 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which bets are solicited in a first post-flop betting round, where the first post-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to act and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money. 
     
     
         16 . A method as recited in  claim 15 , in which, during the first post-flop betting round:
 the player who acts first is the next player holding a hand to the left of the dealer; and   the player who acts first may either check or bet.   
     
     
         17 . A method as recited in  claim 15 , in which the second post-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to act and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money. 
     
     
         18 . A method as recited in  claim 17 , in which, during the second post-flop betting round:
 the player who acts first is the next player holding a hand to the left of the dealer;   the player who acts first may either check or bet; and   sizes of bets are increased relative to bets in the first post-flop betting round.   
     
     
         19 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , in which:
 the step of dealing at least one community card comprises the step of dealing two first flop community cards in a first flop; and   the step of dealing at least one community card comprises the step of dealing two second flop community cards in a second flop.   
     
     
         20 . A method as recited in  claim 19 , in which:
 the step of dealing at least one community card in the first flop comprises the step of dealing a first burn card face down before the step of dealing the two first flop community cards; and   the step of dealing at least one community card in the second flop comprises the step of dealing a second burn card face down before the step of dealing the two second flop community cards.   
     
     
         21 . A method of allowing a plurality of players to play a card game, comprising the steps of:
 setting up the game by
 identifying one of the players as a dealer, 
 determining the number and type of chips to be distributed to the players, 
 providing each player with chips, 
 providing a plurality of representations of cards, where
 each representation of a card has a face value selected from the group of face values consisting of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and a plurality of cards sequentially numbered from two to ten, and 
 the representations of cards are substantially randomly arranged in a shuffled deck; 
 
   causing the player immediately to the left of the dealer to put out a first blind;   causing the player immediately to the left of the player immediately to the left of the dealer to put out a second blind;   distributing the cards to each of the plurality of players such that each of the plurality of players possesses a hand comprising a plurality of cards;   allowing each of the plurality of players in a pre-flop betting round to fold, call, or raise;   allowing each of the plurality of players to discard cards from each of the plurality of players' hands, where cards not discarded from each of the plurality of players' hands are hold cards;   dealing two first flop community cards in a first flop;   soliciting bets from the plurality of players in a first post-flop betting round, where the first post-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to act and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money;   dealing two second flop community card in a second flop;   soliciting bets from the plurality of players in a second post-flop betting round, where the second post-flop betting round ends when all players have had a chance to act and all players who have not folded have bet the same amount of money;   determining a five card poker hand for each of the plurality of the players who have not folded, where
 the five card poker hands associated with each of the plurality of players contain all of the hold cards of the plurality of players, and 
 if the number of hold cards in any of the five card poker hands is less than five, the hold cards for are combined with at least one of the community cards to obtain the five card poker hands; and 
   identifying at least one of the plurality of players having the highest five card poker hand as a winner of the game.   
     
     
         22 . A card game for a plurality of players, comprising:
 a plurality of representations of cards, where
 each representation of a card has a face value selected from the group of face values consisting of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and a plurality of cards sequentially numbered from two to ten, and 
 the representations of cards are substantially randomly arranged in a shuffled deck; whereby 
   the cards are distributed to each of the plurality of players such that each of the plurality of players possesses a hand comprising a plurality of cards;   each of the plurality of players is allowed to discard cards from each of the plurality of players' hands, where cards not discarded from each of the plurality of players' hands are hold cards;   four community cards are dealt;   a five card poker hand is determined for each of the plurality of the players who have not folded, where
 the five card poker hands associated with each of the plurality of players contain all of the hold cards of the plurality of players, and 
 if the number of hold cards in any of the five card poker hands is less than five, the hold cards for are combined with at least one of the community cards to obtain the five card poker hands; and 
   at least one player having the highest five card poker hand is identified as a winner of the game.