Methods of playing wagering games

Abstract

A card game is played against a pay table, wherein a player receives a partial hand that is preferably completed by community cards, but may be completed by cards dealt directly to a hand or a combination of cards dealt directly to a hand and at least one community card or wild card. After placement of an ante wager, each player will have an opportunity to place a game wager before receiving another card for the player's hand (whether dealt directly to the player or as a community card revealed to all players). At least some or all game wagers may be an amount within a range of multiples of the player's ante wager. The range of wagers may remain the same or vary with the number of dealt cards or community card revealed to the players.

1 . A method of playing a wagering game solely against a plurality of predetermined winning outcomes, the method comprising:
 receiving an Ante wager from at least one player;   providing the at least one player with an initial partial hand of randomized cards to view;   allowing the at least one player to fold or place an additional wager before being allowed to view any additional cards which may be used to complete the initial partial hand;   allowing the at least one player to view at least one first additional card which is insufficient to complete the initial partial player hand;   after receiving the additional wager from the at least one player and allowing the at least one player to view the at least one first additional card, allowing the at least one play to fold or place a second additional wager before being allowed to view at least a second additional card completing the partial hand; and   resolving all wagers against the plurality of predetermined winning outcomes and paying the at least one player if holding one of the predetermined winning outcomes.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of predetermined winning hand outcomes are paid according to odds associated with a pay table. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one player is allowed to select and place the additional wager in an amount from an available range of specific amounts consisting of 1×, 2× and 3× the Ante wager. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein allowing the at least one player to view the at least one first additional card comprises allowing the at least one player to view a community card. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one player is allowed to select and place the second additional wager in an amount from an available range of specific amounts consisting of 1×, 2× and 3× the Ante wager. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein allowing the at least one player to view the at least one second additional card comprises allowing the at least one player to view a community card. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising, after the second additional wager is received from the at least one player and the at least one player is allowed to view the at least one second community card, allowing the at least one player to fold or place a third additional wager before seeing any at least one third additional card to complete the partial hand. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one player is allowed to select and place the third additional wager in an amount from an available range of specific amounts consisting of 1×, 2× and 3× the Ante wager. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein resolution of all wagers are made after a poker hand of five cards for the at least one player is assembled from a total of between five and seven cards available to the at least one player. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising administering play of the wagering game using an apparatus selected from the group consisting of a hand-held game apparatus, a personal computer, a video gaming apparatus, a multi-player platform and the internet. 
     
     
         11 . A method of administering a wagering game, comprising:
 accepting an Ante wager on an occurrence of one of a predetermined plurality of winning poker hands having corresponding payout odds for each winning hands from one or more players;   dealing each player a set of randomly ordered cards;   dealing to a common card position at least two randomly ordered common cards, face down;   the dealer permitting each player to review the set of cards of that player and either fold or select and make a first play wager that is a specific multiple of the Ante wager from a predetermined range of allowable multiples;   the dealer revealing a first common card to each player;   the dealer permitting each player to fold or select and make a second play wager that is a specific multiple of the Ante wager from a predetermined range of allowable multiples based on combined values of the set of cards of that player and a value of the first common card;   the dealer revealing a second common card to each player;   resolving each player hand comprising the set of randomly ordered dealt cards and the common cards; and   awarding a payout on the Ante wager and the play wagers of each player holding one of the plurality of predetermined winning hands.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the predetermined range of allowable multiples is between 1× and 25× of the Ante. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the payout on the Ante wager and the play wagers is an odds payout, and odds are paid according to a pay table. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , and further comprising dealing at least three common cards and, after the second common card is revealed but before further common cards are revealed, allowing each player to fold or select and make a third play wager that is a specific multiple of the Ante wager from a predetermined range of allowable multiples based on combined values of the set of cards of that player and a value of the revealed common cards. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the predetermined range of allowable multiples is between 1× and 25× of the Ante. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein dealing at least three common cards comprises dealing five common cards, and further comprising forming a poker hand of each player from the set of cards dealt to that player and the five common cards. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising administering play of the wagering game using an apparatus selected from the group consisting of a hand-held game apparatus, a personal computer, a video gaming apparatus, a multi-player platform and the internet.