Methods for administering a wagering game

Abstract

A variant game of Hold 'Em poker allows for rules of play of one or all of players being allowed to remain in game with an option of checking or making specific wagering amounts in first play wagers, being limited in the size of subsequent available play wagers or prohibited from making additional play wagers if a first play wager has been made, being limited in the size of available later play wagers if a first or earlier play wager has been made, and having the opportunity for at least two and as many as three or four distinct opportunities in the stages in the play of a hand to be able to make one or more play wagers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of administering a wagering game implemented in physical form on a surface of a gaming table, using a fifty-two card deck of physical playing cards and wagering elements in the form of physical chips, the method comprising:
 accepting from a player an ante wager comprising at least one chip placed on the surface of the gaming table;   distributing, onto the surface of the gaming table and from the fifty-two card deck of physical playing cards, a number of physical playing cards available for a player hand;   prior to acceptance of a play wager from the player, administering at least one betting round, comprising:
 accepting from the player an election from a set of options comprising:
 a play wager comprising at least one chip placed on the surface of the gaming table and corresponding to a value within a limit based on the number of the physical playing cards then available for the player hand, the limit for the play wager being reduced as the number of the physical playing cards then available for the player hand increases, and 
 one of a check and a fold, the one of the check and the fold being a check before the player hand is complete and a fold after the player hand is complete; and 
 
   resolving all accepted wagers.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, before distributing the number of physical playing cards available for the player hand, receiving from the player another wager comprising at least one chip on the surface of the gaming table and limited to an amount equaling the ante wager. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein resolving all accepted wagers comprises resolving the another wager based at least in part on a rank comparison of the player hand to a dealer hand. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein resolving the another wager comprises applying a pay table, associated with the gaming table, that defines payouts based on a winning player hand rank. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 :
 wherein accepting from the player an election from a set of options comprises accepting from the player the play wager; and   further comprising, after accepting from the player the play wager, prohibiting the player from placing another play wager.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein accepting from the player an election from a set of options comprises accepting from the player the election from the set of options comprising:
 the play wager corresponding to the value within the limit based on the number of physical playing cards then available for the player hand, the limit for the play wager being:
 at least three times the ante wager for the number of the then available physical playing cards equaling two, 
 two times the ante wager for the number of the then available physical playing cards equaling five, and 
 one times the ante wager for the number of the then available physical playing cards equaling seven, and 
   the one of the check and the fold.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, before completing the player hand, prohibiting the player from folding. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 :
 further comprising accepting from the player a side wager comprising at least one chip on the surface of the gaming table; and   wherein resolving all accepted wagers comprises resolving the side wager.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 accepting from the player a side wager comprises accepting from the player a side wager in physical form comprising at least one chip on the surface of the gaming table to be resolved based at least in part on a rank of the player hand; and   resolving the side wager comprises applying a pay table, associated with the gaming table, that defines side wager payouts based on the rank of the player hand.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein applying a pay table comprises applying the pay table, associated with the gaming table, that defines side wager payouts based on the rank of the player hand, a minimum winning player hand rank being three-of-a-kind. 
     
     
         11 . A method of administering a poker rank-based wagering game, the method comprising:
 providing a gaming table comprising a surface having a betting layout designated thereon, the betting layout including player positions, each player position comprising indicia designating at least three distinct wager areas on the surface, the at least three distinct wager areas comprising an ante wager area, a blind wager area, and a play wager area;   providing at the gaming table a standard deck of fifty-two randomized physical playing cards;   accepting from a player associated with at least one of the player positions an ante wager in the form of at least one token at least partially covering the ante wager area on the surface, the ante wager to be resolved based at least in part on a rank comparison of a player hand rank and a dealer hand rank;   accepting from the player associated with the at least one of the player positions a blind wager in the form of at least one token at least partially covering the blind wager area on the surface, the blind wager to be resolved based at least in part on the rank comparison of the player hand rank and the dealer hand rank;   before administering at least one betting round and subsequent to acceptance of the ante wager and the blind wager, distributing from the standard deck of fifty-two randomized physical playing cards two physical playing cards to the at least one of the player positions on the surface for a partial player hand associated with the at least one of the player positions and another two physical playing cards to a dealer hand position on the surface for a partial dealer hand;   administering the at least one betting round at the initiation of which the play wager area associated with the at least one of the player positions is unoccupied by any token, comprising accepting from the player associated with the at least one of the player positions an election from options comprising:
 a check election, leaving the play wager area unoccupied, and 
 a play wager comprising at least one token occupying the play wager area and of a value of at least three times the ante wager; 
   after administering the at least one betting round, distributing community physical playing cards on the surface to complete the player hand and the dealer hand; and   resolving all accepted wagers by removing one or more tokens from wager areas associated with losing wagers at the at least one of the player positions and adding one or more tokens proximate to wager areas associated with winning wagers at the at least one of the player positions.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein providing a gaming table comprising a surface having a betting layout comprises providing the gaming table comprising the surface having the betting layout including the player positions, each player position comprising indicia designating at least four distinct wager areas on the surface, the at least four distinct wager areas comprising the ante wager area, the blind wager area, the play wager area, and at least one side wager area. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising, after administering the at least one betting round, administering another betting round at the initiation of which the play wager area associated with the at least one of the player positions is unoccupied by any token, comprising accepting from the player associated with the at least one of the player positions an election from options consisting of:
 a check election, and   a play wager comprising at least one token occupying the play wager area and of a value limited to two times the ante wager.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, after administering the another betting round, administering a final betting round at the initiation of which the play wager area associated with the at least one of the player positions is unoccupied by any token, comprising accepting from the player associated with the at least one of the player positions an election from options consisting of:
 a fold election, and   a play wager comprising at least one token occupying the play wager area and of a value limited to one times the ante wager.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein administering the at least one betting round comprises accepting from the player associated with the at least one of the player positions the election from options consisting of:
 the check election,   a the play wager comprising at least one token and of a value of three times the ante wager, and   a play wager comprising at least one token and of a value of four times the ante wager.   
     
     
         16 . A method of administering a wagering game, the method comprising:
 providing a betting layout on a surface of a gaming table for each of a number of player positions, the betting layout bearing at least three visually distinct wager areas comprising an ante wager area, a blind wager area, and a play wager area, the at least three distinct wager areas defined by separate insignia displayed on the surface of the gaming table;   accepting from a player at one of the player positions an ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the ante wager area, the ante wager to be resolved based at least in part on a rank comparison of a player hand rank and a dealer hand rank;   accepting from the player a blind wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the blind wager area, the blind wager to be resolved based at least in part on the rank comparison of the player hand rank and the dealer hand rank;   before administering at least one betting round subsequent to acceptance of the ante wager and the blind wager from the player, dealing two physical playing cards for a hand of the player and dealing another two physical playing cards for a dealer hand from a randomized standard poker deck of fifty-two playing cards;   administering the at least one betting round, comprising accepting from the player an election from options comprising:
 a check election, and 
 a play wager of at least three times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the play wager area; 
   after administering the at least one betting round, dealing community cards to complete the hand of the player and the dealer hand; and   resolving all accepted wagers by removing chips from any wagering area at the one of the player positions associated with a losing wager and adding one or more chips proximate to any wagering area at the one of the player positions associated with a winning wager.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein providing a betting layout on a surface of a gaming table for each of a number of player positions further comprises providing the betting layout bearing the at least three visually distinct wager areas further comprising a side wager area. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising, after administering the at least one betting round, administering another betting round, comprising, absent prior acceptance of the play wager from the player, accepting from the player an election from options consisting of:
 a check election, leaving the play wager area unoccupied, and   a play wager limited to two times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the play wager area.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising, after administering the another betting round, administering a final betting round comprising, absent prior acceptance of the play wager from the player, accepting from the player an election from options consisting of:
 a fold election, and   a play wager limited to one times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the play wager area.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein administering the at least one betting round comprises accepting from the player the election from options consisting of:
 the check election, leaving the play wager area unoccupied,   a play wager of three times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the play wager area, and   a play wager of four times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips at least partially covering the play wager area.   
     
     
         21 . A method of administering a wagering game, the method comprising:
 accepting from a player in the form of one or more chips an ante wager and another wager equal to the ante wager on respectively designated wagering areas on a gaming table surface, the ante wager to be resolved based at least in part on a predetermined minimum dealer qualifying rank;   dealing, on the gaming table surface and from a randomized deck of fifty-two physical playing cards, two cards for a player hand;   dealing, on the gaming table surface and from the randomized deck of fifty-two physical playing cards, another two cards for a dealer hand;   administering a betting round, comprising accepting from the player an election from options comprising:
 checking, and 
 a play wager of at least three times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips on a further respectively designated area on the gaming table surface; 
   dealing, on the gaming table surface and from the randomized deck of fifty-two physical playing cards, five community cards to complete the player hand and the dealer hand; and   resolving all accepted wagers by removing chips from any wagering area associated with a losing wager and adding one or more chips to any wagering area associated with a winning wager.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein resolving all accepted wagers further comprises returning the ante wager to the player for the dealer hand not at least meeting the predetermined minimum dealer qualifying rank. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein resolving all accepted wagers comprises resolving the ante wager based at least in part on the predetermined minimum dealer qualifying rank predefined as a pair. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein dealing five community cards comprises dealing three community cards before administering another betting round and dealing two community cards after administering the another betting round. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein administering the betting round precedes revealing to the player the another two cards for the dealer hand. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein accepting from the player an election from options comprises accepting from the player the election from options comprising:
 the checking,   the play wager of three times the ante wager, and   a play wager of four times the ante wager.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising, after dealing the five community cards to complete the player hand and the dealer hand, administering a final betting round, comprising accepting from the player an election from options consisting of:
 folding, and   a play wager of one times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips on the further respectively designated area on the gaming table surface.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein administering a final betting round follows administering an interim betting round, comprising accepting from the player an election from options consisting of:
 checking, and   a play wager of two times the ante wager in the form of one or more chips on the further respectively designated area on the gaming table surface.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising prohibiting the player from placing more than one wager on the further respectively designated area on the gaming table surface. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein resolving all accepted wagers comprises resolving the another wager based at least in part on a pay table defining payouts based on a winning player hand rank.