Multi-play poker game with pool hand

Abstract

A method for playing a multiple-play poker game includes the step of displaying a pool hand comprising a plurality of face up cards. The pool hand is not played, subject to wager, or subject to poker hand rankings. The pool hand is provided solely as a means for designation of none, one or more of the cards of the pool hand as held cards. Preferably, at the time of display of the pool hand and designation of held cards, playing hands are not displayed, keeping the player focused on the selection process. The method continues with reproducing the held cards in a plurality of playing hands, completing the plurality of playing hands with new face up cards, if any, and determining a ranking of each of the completed playing hands.

1 . A gaming server adapted for communication with a remote gaming device over a network, the gaming server comprising: 
 a computing platform; and    a game service module implemented in software executable by the computing platform, the game service module including instructions for receiving a datagram from the remote gaming device representing a wager on a plurality of hands in a multi-play poker game, and instructions responsively generating a pool hand comprising a random selection of cards and transmitting a datagram containing data representing the pool hand to the remote gaming device for selection of cards to be held in a multi-play poker game.    
   
   
       2 . The gaming server of  claim 1 , wherein the remote gaming device comprises a general purpose client computer, and wherein a download server transmits a set of software modules to the client computer to enable the client computer to interact with the gaming server and play the multi-play poker game, wherein the software modules include a one or modules for processing the datagram containing data representing the pool hand and displaying the pool hand to a user of the client computer.  
   
   
       3 . The gaming server of  claim 1 , wherein the gaming server includes a router module allowing the game service module to communicate simultaneously with a plurality of remote client computers and generate datagrams containing randomly selected pool hands for each of the plurality of remote client computers and transmit the randomly selected pool hands to the plurality of remote client computers.