Bounty poker game

Abstract

A method of playing a draw poker game includes the steps of placing a bet on at least one hand; receiving a deal of five playing cards from a standard 52-card deck; choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard; drawing replacement cards; and receiving a payout. The amount of the payout is based on the poker hand ranking of each resulting hand. Unlike conventional draw poker, the discarded cards are placed back into the deck prior to the draw. The amount of the payout may also be based on whether any of the discarded cards is drawn as a replacement card. The game may be implemented as video poker on a computer network, wherein a server acts as the “house” and a player plays by using a client network terminal. The video poker game may enable a player to play multiple hands simultaneously.

1 . A method for playing a poker game, comprising the steps of: 
 placing a bet on at least a first hand;    receiving a deal of five cards, the five cards being contained in a standard 52-card deck;    choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard;    drawing replacement cards from the deck, wherein the number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discarded cards; and    receiving a payout, wherein an amount of the payout is based on an amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards,    wherein the discarded cards are placed back into the deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of the payout is also based on whether any of the discarded cards is drawn as a replacement card.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  or  claim 2 , wherein the at least first hand is displayed on a monitor of a computer, and wherein the poker game is played by using a mouse and a keyboard that are operatively coupled to the computer, and wherein the computer is configured to be in communication with a server that acts as a dealer for the poker game.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the computer and the server are in communication via a computer network.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       6 . A method for playing a poker game, comprising the steps of: 
 placing a bet on at least a first hand, a second hand, and a third hand;    receiving a deal of five cards for each of the at least three hands, the five cards being contained in a standard 52-card deck corresponding to the respective hand, wherein the same five cards are dealt to each of the at least three hands;    choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard, wherein the same cards are held in each of the at least three hands and the same cards are discarded in each of the at least three hands;    drawing replacement cards for each of the at least three hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand, wherein the number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discarded cards; and    receiving a payout for each of the at least three hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on an amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards,    wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least three hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising the step of determining an additional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6  or  claim 7 , wherein the at least three hands are displayed on a monitor of a computer, and wherein the poker game is played by using a mouse and a keyboard that are operatively coupled to the computer, and wherein the computer is configured to be in communication with a server that acts as a dealer for the poker game.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the computer and the server are in communication via a computer network.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       11 . A method for playing a poker game, comprising the steps of: 
 placing a bet on at least ten separate hands;    receiving a deal of five cards for each of the at least ten hands, the five cards being contained in a standard 52-card deck corresponding to the respective hand, wherein the same five cards are dealt to each of the at least ten hands;    choosing which cards to hold and which cards to discard, wherein the same cards are held in each of the at least ten hands and the same cards are discarded in each of the at least ten hands;    drawing replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands from the deck corresponding to the respective hand, wherein the number of replacement cards is equal to the number of discarded cards; and    receiving a payout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on an amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards,    wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.    
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the step of determining an additional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11  or  claim 12 , wherein the at least ten hands are displayed on a monitor of a computer, and wherein the poker game is played by using a mouse and a keyboard that are operatively coupled to the computer, and wherein the computer is configured to be in communication with a server that acts as a dealer for the poker game.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the computer and the server are in communication via a computer network.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       16 . A method of conducting a poker game over a computer network, the network including a server computer and at least one client computer that is in communication with the server computer, and the method comprising configuring the server computer to execute the steps of: 
 causing the at least one client computer to display at least ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker;    prompting a user to indicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer;    dealing five cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at least ten hands;    dealing the same five cards from respective standard 52-card decks to each of the other at least nine hands;    causing the at least one client computer to display the five dealt cards in each of the at least ten hands;    prompting the user to indicate which of the five dealt cards will be held and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded, wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, and wherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the at least ten hands;    drawing replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands from the respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand are independent of the replacement cards for the other hands;    determining a payout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards; and    causing the at least one client computer to display the respective payouts;    wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the step of determining an additional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16  or  claim 17 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       19 . A system for conducting a poker game, comprising: 
 a server computer; and    at least one client computer, the at least one client computer being in communication with the server computer,    wherein the server computer is configured to: 
 cause the at least one client computer to display at least ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker;  
 prompt a user to indicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer;  
 deal five cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at least ten hands;  
 deal the same five cards from respective standard 52-card decks to each of the other at least nine hands;  
 cause the at least one client computer to display the five dealt cards in each of the at least ten hands;  
 prompt the user to indicate which of the five dealt cards will be held and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded, wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, and wherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the at least ten hands;  
 draw replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands from the respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand are independent of the replacement cards for the other hands;  
 determine a payout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards; and  
 cause the at least one client computer to display the respective payouts,  
   wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the draw of replacement cards.    
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the server computer is further configured to determine an additional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.  
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 19  or  claim 20 , wherein the server computer is in communication with the at least one client computer via a computer network.  
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       23 . A storage medium for storing software for conducting a poker game over a computer network, the network including a server computer and at least one client computer that is in communication with the server computer, the software being computer-readable, and the software including instructions for causing the server computer to: 
 cause the at least one client computer to display at least ten undealt hands of five-card draw poker;    prompt a user to indicate an amount of a bet using the at least one client computer;    deal five cards from a standard 52-card deck to a first hand of the at least ten hands:    deal the same five cards from respective standard 52-card decks to each of the other at least nine hands;    cause the at least one client computer to display the five dealt cards in each of the at least ten hands;    prompt the user to indicate which of the five dealt cards will be held and which of the five dealt cards will be discarded, wherein the held cards are held in each of the at least ten hands, and wherein the discarded cards are discarded in each of the at least ten hands;    draw replacement cards for each of the at least ten hands from the respective decks, wherein the replacement cards for a given hand are independent of the replacement cards for the other hands;    determine a payout for each of the at least ten hands, wherein an amount of each payout is based on the amount of the bet and a poker hand ranking of a combination of the cards that were held and the cards that were drawn as replacement cards; and    cause the at least one client computer to display the respective payouts;    wherein the discarded cards from each of the at least ten hands are placed back into each respective deck prior to the step of drawing replacement cards.    
   
   
       24 . The storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the software further includes instructions for causing the computer to determine an additional payout, wherein an amount of the additional payout is based on a cumulative number of the discarded cards that are drawn as replacement cards.  
   
   
       25 . The storage medium of  claim 23  or  claim 24 , wherein the computer network comprises the Internet.  
   
   
       26 . A method of conducting a draw poker game over a computer network comprising a host server and an electronic client device, the method comprising the steps of: 
 causing the client device to display at least one draw poker hand comprising a plurality of card symbols;    causing the client device to prompt a player to indicate a discarding of a plurality of the displayed cards symbols; and    causing the client device to display a plurality of drawn card symbols corresponding to the plurality of discarded card symbols, at least one of the drawn card symbols being identical to one of the discarded card symbols.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , the method further comprising the steps of: 
 causing the client device to prompt the player to indicate an amount of a bet to be placed on the draw poker hand; and    causing the client device to display an amount of a payout, the amount of the payout being based on a poker hand ranking of the draw poker hand being displayed after the drawn card symbols have been displayed.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the amount of the payout is further based on a number of drawn card symbols that are identical to any of the discarded card symbols.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the electronic client device comprises a client computer.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the electronic client device comprises a client monitor, wherein the monitor is configured to receive inputs from a keyboard.  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the electronic client device comprises a client monitor, wherein the monitor is configured to receive inputs from a mouse.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the electronic client device comprises a client monitor, wherein the monitor is configured to receive inputs from a joystick device.