Progressive side bet game with four card poker and associated games

Abstract

A method of playing a wagering game is used with symbols or cards. At least a first hand and a second hand are provided. The first hand competes against the second hand. The first hand has a statistical advantage versus the second hand. A player elects to place a side bet on a jackpot game and has an option on wagering on at least the first hand or on at least the second hand to win the jackpot event. A first separate paytable is provided against the jackpot for the first hand and a second separate paytable is provided against the jackpot for the second hand. If the side bet includes a wager on the first hand, at least some winning events against the first paytable for the first hand return a lesser amount or lesser percentage of a jackpot than a same winning event will return from the second paytable for the second hand.

1 . A method of playing a wagering game comprising: 
 providing at least a first hand and a second hand;    the first hand competes against the second hand;    the first hand has a statistical advantage versus the second hand;    a player elects to place a side bet on a jackpot game and has an option on wagering on at least the first hand or on at least the second hand to win the jackpot event;    a first separate paytable is provided against the jackpot for the first hand and a second separate paytable is provided against the jackpot for the second hand; and    wherein if the side bet includes a wager on the first hand, at least some winning events against the first paytable for the first hand return a lesser amount or lesser percentage of a jackpot than a same winning event will return from the second paytable for the second hand.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  played on an electronic system in which a higher statistical probability for higher ranked hands is programmed into provision of symbols for the first hand.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the higher statistical probability is provided for the first hand by mapping of individual symbol probabilities or mapping of template probabilities for combinations of symbols.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first hand and the second hand comprise playing cards.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the playing cards are used to determine a score to determine awards against paytables.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the playing cards are used to determine a poker hand rank to determine awards against paytables.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the statistical advantage for the first hand versus the second hand is provided by providing more playing cards to the first hand than to the second hand.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein an initial wager is placed by the player on the second hand on winning or losing against the first hand on a basis of poker ranks.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the side bet wager may be placed by the player on first hand or the second hand.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the side bet wager may be placed by the player on first hand, the second hand or both the first hand and second hand.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein for a highest award ranked hand attained by the second hand, 100% of the jackpot is awarded and for the highest award ranked hand attained by the first hand, less than 100% of the jackpot is awarded.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first and second pay tables pay a progressive jackpot, and at least a portion of the side bet increments the progressive jackpot.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein an initial wager is placed on a player versus dealer poker game utilizing at least one deck of playing cards, the game comprising: 
 at least one player placing at least one wager to participate in the casino game;    dealing a first number of cards to a dealer to form the first hand, said first number of cards being greater than the number of cards to be used in determination of a poker rank hand for the dealer;    dealing a second number of cards to the at least one player to form the second hand, said second number of cards being greater than the number of cards to be used in determination of a poker rank hand for each player;    the dealer utilizing fewer than all of the cards dealt to form a resulting single dealer hand; the at least one player utilizing fewer than all of the cards dealt to form a resulting player's hand for the at least one player, wherein the number of cards utilized in the resulting player's hands and the resulting dealer's hand are equal; and resolving each player hand against the dealer's hand according to predetermined game rules.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the first number of cards is six cards and the second number of cards is five cards and the resulting number of dealer's cards and the resulting number of player cards are both four cards.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the at least one player makes an Ante wager prior to review of that player's second number of cards, and after the at least one player reviews that player's second number of cards, that player must place an additional play wager of at least 1× the Ante wager to stay in the game.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein after the at least one player reviews that player's second number of cards, that player may place a wager of greater then 1× the Ante wager when the player's resulting number of cards' hand exceeds at least a predetermined minimum poker ranking for a player's hand.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein after the at least one player reviews that player's second number of cards, that player may place a wager at the election of the player which is a multiple of the Ante wager selected from the group consisting of 1×, 2×, 3×, 4× and 5× the Ante wager.  
     
     
         18 . A method of playing a secondary playing card game concurrently with an underlying playing card game wherein a dealer and a player receive hands of cards, comprising the steps of: 
 a) placing one or more wagers in the underlying game, wherein the one or more wagers optionally include an election among i) a wager on the final player hand achieving at least one preset poker rank, ii) a wager on the final dealer hand achieving at least one preset poker rank, or iii) both;    b) forming the final player hand and the final dealer hand according to the rules of the underlying game, wherein the rules of the underlying game provide for a difference in the odds of the player hand and the dealer hand achieving final hands of the same poker rank;    c) resolving the one or more wagers in the side game based on the final player hand and the final dealer hand;    d) paying an award to players placing winning wagers, wherein awards on wagers i), ii) and iii) differ for the same at least one poker rank achieved depending on whether the winning wager relates to the final player hand or the final dealer hand, and wherein the difference in the award corresponds in relative amount to the relative difference in the odds of the player hand and the dealer hand achieving the at least one poker rank.    
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each pay table comprises a plurality of predetermined winning outcomes and corresponding prizes, wherein the prizes are selected from the group consisting of a fixed payout amount, an odds payout amount, an amount displayed on a progressive meter, a percentage of an amount displayed on a progressive meter and a randomly determined amount.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the statistical advantage of the first hand is lowered by one or more methods selected from the group consisting of: providing a hand qualification step, providing more cards to the first hand, discarding and replacing at least a portion of the first hand, and providing at least one wild symbol to the first hand.