Point-count pai gow game

Abstract

A casino has at least one player placing a first wager. The dealer deals a first number of cards to the at least one player and a second number of cards to the dealer. The player views the first number of cards to see if fewer than all cards can be rearranged to form a qualifying HIGH hand. Only if the less than all cards can be rearranged to form the qualifying hand, the at least one player places an additional wager, or the player must fold. The player places a remainder of cards to form a LOW hand. The dealer rearranging a second number of cards to form a dealer HIGH hand and a dealer LOW hand and separately compares the at least one player's HIGH hand to the dealer's HIGH hand and the dealer's LOW hand to the player's LOW hand on the basis of the highest point count total in the HIGH hand and lowest point count total in the LOW hand. Wagers are resolved according to specific rules.

1 . A method of playing a casino wagering game with player hands competing at least against a dealer hand comprising:
 at least one player placing a first wager to play the casino wagering game;   the dealer dealing a first number of cards to the at least one player;   the dealer dealing a second number of cards to the dealer;   the player viewing the first number of cards to see if less than all cards in the first number of cards can be rearranged to form a qualifying HIGH hand;   only if the less than all cards can be rearranged to form the qualifying hand, the at least one player placing an additional wager to continue play of the casino wagering game, and if the less than all cards cannot be rearranged to form the qualifying hand, the at least one player must fold;   if the additional wager has been placed by the at least one player, the player placing a remainder of cards comprising the first number of cards less the less than all cards to form a LOW hand;   the dealer rearranging the second number of cards to form a dealer HIGH hand and a dealer LOW hand;   separately comparing the at least one player's HIGH hand to the dealer's HIGH hand and the dealer's LOW hand to the player's LOW hand on the basis of the highest point count total in the HIGH hand and lowest point count total in the LOW hand;   resolving the wagers in steps comprising comparing the dealer's HIGH hand count to the at least one player's HIGH hand count to determine a player win, loss or tie with respect to the HIGH hands and comparing the dealer's LOW hand count to the at least one player's LOW hand count to determine a player win, loss or tie with respect to the LOW hands, the wagers being resolved according to:   if the player's HIGH hand and LOW hand both outrank the dealer's HIGH hand and LOW hand, the wager and additional wager are paid evenly; if either the player's HIGH hand or the at least one player's LOW hand outranks the dealer's HIGH hand or the dealer's LOW hand, a push results, wherein the first bet is returned to the at least one player, and if the dealer's HIGH and LOW hands outrank the at least one player's HIGH and LOW hands, the first bet and additional wager are forfeited.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first number of cards and the second number of cards consist of five cards. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the less than all cards in a HIGH hand consists of three cards. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein all cards in a LOW hand consists of two cards. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  wherein all cards in a LOW hand consists of two cards. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the qualifying hand consists of a three-card HIGH hand point count of 17, 18, 19, 20 and/or 21. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein an initial tie between player HIGH hand count and dealer HIGH hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player HIGH hand and dealer HIGH hand. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  wherein an initial tie between player HIGH hand count and dealer HIGH hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player HIGH hand and dealer HIGH hand. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 3  wherein an initial tie between player LOW hand count and dealer LOW hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player LOW hand and dealer LOW hand. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3  wherein an initial tie between player LOW hand count and dealer LOW hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player LOW hand and dealer LOW hand. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 4  wherein an initial tie between player LOW hand count and dealer LOW hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player LOW hand and dealer LOW hand. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 5  wherein an initial tie between player LOW hand count and dealer LOW hand count is resolved by comparing rank of individual cards in the player LOW hand and dealer LOW hand. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the at least one player has an option of placing a side bet on an outcome of specific predetermined combinations of playing cards being present in either a dealer's hand or the at least one player's hand.