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DOUBLE DOUBLE | |||||
BONUS POKER | NUMBER OF CREDITS BET | ||||
POKER HAND | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
ROYAL FLUSH | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
STRAIGHT FLUSH | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
FOUR ACES | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
WITH 2, 3 OR 4 | |||||
FOUR ACES | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
WITH ACE, 2, 3 OR 4 | |||||
FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
FULL HOUSE | 11 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 55 |
FLUSH | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
STRAIGHT | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
THREE-OF-A-KIND | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
TWO PAIR | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
JACKS OR BETTER | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
DEUCES WILD | |||||
DRAW POKER | NUMBER OF CREDITS BET | ||||
POKER HAND | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
ROYAL FLUSH | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
FOUR DEUCES | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 |
WILD ROYAL FLUSH | 30 | 60 | 90 | 120 | 150 |
FIVE-OF-A-KIND | 18 | 36 | 54 | 72 | 90 |
STRAIGHT FLUSH | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
FOUR-OF-A-KIND | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
FULL HOUSE | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
FLUSH | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
STRAIGHT | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
THREE-OF-A-KIND | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
[0002] Five card draw poker in an electronic video gaming machine format has been a staple in gaming casinos for many years and this well known game is a single player game based on draw poker. The player attempts to achieve a winning poker hand ranking by discarding from an initial five card hand and drawing new cards in order to try and improve his poker hand. A pay table is provided to show the player what he can win based on the poker hand ranking achieved after the draw step and the amount wagered by the player.
[0003] There have been single hand versions of video draw poker in gaming machines for a long time. The first video draw poker machines offered the player a single poker format—usually what is called plain “Draw Poker.” In this poker format, the winning hand combinations included a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four-of-a-Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three-of-a-Kind, Two Pair and a Pair of Jacks or Better (a Pair of Jacks, Pair of Queens, Pair of Kings or Pair of Aces). Any other final poker hand combination was a losing event. A player would wager one to five coins (or credits if the gaming machine has a credit meter which is now conventional) and the player would win coins or credits based on the amount wagered and the final winning poker hand combination achieved by the player. The possible awards to be won by the player are shown in a pay table associated with the poker format being played by the player.
[0004] A typical pay table for plain Draw Poker is shown in Table 1:
TABLE 1 DRAW POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 25 50 75 100 125 FULL HOUSE 9 18 27 36 45 FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 2 4 6 8 10 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5
[0005] This pay table awards the player based on the final poker hand ranking achieved by the player and the number of coins or credits wagered by the player. Typical electronic video poker gaming machines provide for a maximum wager of five coins or credits. If the final hand does not achieve a winning hand combination as shown in the pay table, then the player has a losing hand and his wager is lost.
[0006] Other poker formats have been developed for video poker. The Deuces Wild poker format provides that each deuce in the deck of playing cards is a wild card. The Deuces Wild poker format uses a different pay table of winning hand combinations because other card combinations can be treated as winning hand combinations based on the mathematical probability of various card combinations occurring. For example, when wild cards are used, it is possible to obtain Five-of-a-Kind, Four Wild Cards (Four Deuces when the Deuce is the wild card) and a Wild Royal Flush (a Royal Flush that includes one or more wild cards).
[0007] A typical pay table for Deuces Wild poker format is shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2 DEUCES WILD DRAW POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 FOUR DEUCES 200 400 600 800 1000 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 25 50 75 100 125 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 15 30 45 60 75 STRAIGHT FLUSH 13 26 39 52 65 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 4 3 12 16 20 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 3 6 9 12 15 STRIAGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5
[0008] Other poker formats have been developed for video poker. Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Triple Bonus Poker, Super Double Bonus Poker, Sevens Wild and One-eyed Jacks Wild are among the poker formats that use standard draw poker hand rankings as winning hands, with variations being made in the amounts paid out for the different winning hand combinations.
[0009] Poker hand formats have been developed that use Jokers as wild cards—such as Joker Poker, Deuces Joker Poker and Double Joker Poker. In Joker Poker, a single Joker is added to a standard fifty-two card deck of playing cards resulting in a fifty-three card deck; in Double Joker Poker, two Jokers are added resulting in a fifty-four card deck. In Deuces Joker Poker a single Joker is added to the deck and both this Joker and the Deuces are wild cards. In video poker with one or more Jokers added as wild cards, winning hand combinations include Five-of-a-Kind and Wild Royal Flushes.
[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and exciting video poker game in which the player has the opportunity to achieve two winning occurrences while playing a single video poker hand.
[0011] It is a feature of the present invention that a single video poker hand is played and is then analyzed with respect to two poker formats at the same time. The player can achieve a winning hand relative to both poker formats, the player can achieve a winning hand relative to one of the poker formats and a losing hand relative to the other poker format and the player can achieve two losing hands.
[0012] It is an advantage of the present invention that the player will be able to participate in two poker game formats while playing a single hand. The player will have two opportunities to win and could win on either poker game format or on both poker game formats. It is a further advantage that the operator of the gaming machine can offer pay tables with a theoretical return in excess of 100% for each poker format while the overall theoretical game return will be below 100%. This occurs because the optimal game strategy for one poker format results in a player disadvantage against the other poker format.
[0013] Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
[0014] The method of present invention involves the player making a wager that is allocated between two poker hand formats. The player can play the same number of credits on each poker hand format or a different number of credits on each poker hand format.
[0015] Once the player has made his wager, the player selects a first poker hand format and a second poker hand format. Each poker hand format must be different. The player can select each poker hand format from a group of poker hand formats provided in a menu on the video poker gaming machine. Each poker hand format has a pay table associated therewith showing the winning hand combinations for that poker hand format and the payouts available based on the number of credits wagered by the player.
[0016] Then the initial poker hand is dealt and displayed to the player. The player holds desired cards and discards unwanted cards as is conventional in video poker. Replacement cards for the unwanted cards are dealt and displayed to the player. The final poker hand is analyzed for poker hand ranking.
[0017] The poker hand ranking of the final poker hand is compared to the pay table for each poker hand format to determine whether the final poker ranking is a winning combination for that poker hand format. Winning hand combinations are paid in accordance with the pay table for each poker format and based on the amount wagered by the player.
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022] The present invention includes an electronic video poker game. Each electronic video poker game is designed to be played by having the poker hand displayed on a video screen to a player. By manipulating the buttons on the gaming device or by using conventional touch screen technology, the player selects how much he wishes to wager, which poker hand formats the player wishes to use for that play of the game and which cards the player wishes to hold and which cards the player wishes to discard.
[0023]
[0024] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the video screen display shows a credit meter
[0025] Finally, yet another touch screen location allows the player to determine the poker formats the player wishes to play. POKER FORMAT location
[0026] The gaming machine
[0027] The gaming machine
[0028] Any other conventional and suitable equipment can be included in the gaming machine.
[0029] The preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a standard fifty-two card deck, and may add one or more Jokers as wild cards when a Joker wild card format is selected by the player. A player makes an initial wager to activate the game and the player selects the two poker hand formats that the player wishes to play during that round of the game. The player also determines the amount of the wager that is to be allocated to each poker hand format that the player will play.
[0030] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the amount wagered by the player will be equally divided between each poker hand format. Alternatively, the computer controls of the gaming machine can be configured to allow the player to wager different amounts on each poker hand format. As shown in
[0031] In order to select the first poker format to be used during the round of play, the player presses the POKER FORMAT
[0032] As shown in
[0033] After the wager has been made and after the player has selected his desired poker hand formats for that round of play of the game, an initial hand of five cards is randomly dealt (after the playing cards have been randomly shuffled electronically as is conventional) and displayed to the player on the screen display. A representative initial deal is shown in
[0034] As is conventional in video poker gaming machines, the player selects which cards he player wishes to hold be pressing the “Hold” button under each card or by touching the card on the touch screen display. In the example shown in
[0035] The player then presses the “Draw” button to discard the unwanted non-held cards and replacement cards from the original deck of playing cards are dealt and displayed to the player. The resulting five card hand is the player's final hand. In the example as shown in
[0036] The final hand is analyzed by the computer controls to determine the poker hand ranking. The poker hand ranking of the final hand is compared to the pay table for each poker hand format to determine whether a winning hand combination has been achieved.
[0037] With reference to the example shown in
[0038] The player also has five Sevens relative to the Deuces Wild Poker format. Using any suitable pay table for the Deuces Wild Poker format, such as the one shown in Table 2, the player would be awarded fifteen credits for each credit wagered for a Five-of-a-Kind achieved in Deuces Wild Poker.
[0039] Any suitable pay table may be devised for each of the poker formats that can be used in the method of the present invention. The selection of the appropriate pay table is based on the mathematical probability of video poker and the desired game return to be offered to the player.
[0040] As discussed above, any of the myriad of poker formats that have been devised may be used and the method of the present invention can be easily adapted to any new poker formats that may be devised in the future.
[0041] Following are examples of pay tables that can be used with some well-known poker formats, but these examples should be considered as illustrative and the method of the present invention is not intended to be limited to any particular pay table or groups of pay tables.
[0042] A typical pay table for Bonus Poker is shown in Table 3:
TABLE 3 BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR ACES 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 40 80 120 160 200 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 25 50 75 100 125 FULL HOUSE 8 16 24 32 40 FLUSH 5 10 15 20 25 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 2 4 6 8 10 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5
[0043] A typical pay table for Double Bonus Poker is shown in Table 4:
TABLE 4 DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR ACES 160 320 480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100 150 200 250 FULL HOUSE 7 14 21 28 35 FLUSH 5 10 15 20 25 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5
[0044] A typical pay table for Double Double Bonus Poker is shown in Table 5:
TABLE 5 DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR ACES 400 800 1200 1600 2000 WITH 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR ACES 160 320 480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 160 320 480 640 800 WITH ACE, 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR 2'S, 3's, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100 150 200 250 FULL HOUSE 6 12 18 24 30 FLUSH 5 10 15 20 25 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5
[0045] A typical pay table for Joker Poker is shown in Table 6:
TABLE 6 JOKER POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 250 500 750 1000 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 100 200 300 400 500 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 15 30 45 60 75 FULL HOUSE 10 20 30 40 50 FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 PAIR OF ACES 1 2 3 4 5
[0046] A typical pay table for Joker Poker is shown in Table 6:
TABLE 7 DEUCES JOKER WILD POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 FIVE WILD CARDS 1600 3200 4800 6400 10000 ROYAL FLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000 FOUR DEUCES 25 50 75 100 125 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 12 24 36 480 60 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 9 18 27 36 45 STRAIGHT FLUSH 6 12 18 24 30 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 3 6 9 12 15 STRAIGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5
[0047] In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the player cannot select which two poker formats the player may play during any round of the game. Instead the gaming machine is programmed to offer the player two preselected poker formats and those two preselected poker formats are the two that the player will use during each round of play of the game.
[0048] For example, the two preselected poker formats could be Double Double Bonus Poker and Deuces Wild Poker. The pay table for each of these preselected poker formats can be set to have a game return in excess of 100%. However, the overall game return will be less than 100% because the optimal hold and draw strategy for one poker format would not be the optimal hold and draw strategy for the other format.
[0049] For example, in this preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Double Double Bonus Poker format pay table is shown in Table 8 and has a theoretical game return of 103.1179%:
TABLE 8 DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000 STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 100 150 200 250 FOUR ACES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WITH 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR ACES 160 320 480 640 800 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 160 320 480 640 800 WITH ACE, 2, 3 OR 4 FOUR 2'S, 3'S, 4'S 80 160 240 320 400 FOUR 5'S THRU KINGS 50 100 150 200 250 FULL HOUSE 11 22 33 44 55 FLUSH 7 14 21 28 35 STRAIGHT 4 8 12 16 20 THREE-OF-A-KIND 3 6 9 12 15 TWO PAIR 1 2 3 4 5 JACKS OR BETTER 1 2 3 4 5
[0050] The Deuces Wild Poker format pay table is shown in Table 9 and has a theoretical game return of 103.8111%:
TABLE 9 DEUCES WILD DRAW POKER NUMBER OF CREDITS BET POKER HAND 1 2 3 4 5 ROYAL FLUSH 800 1600 2400 3200 4000 FOUR DEUCES 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 WILD ROYAL FLUSH 30 60 90 120 150 FIVE-OF-A-KIND 18 36 54 72 90 STRAIGHT FLUSH 10 20 30 40 50 FOUR-OF-A-KIND 4 8 12 16 20 FULL HOUSE 3 6 9 12 15 FLUSH 2 4 6 8 10 STRIAGHT 2 4 6 8 10 THREE-OF-A-KIND 1 2 3 4 5
[0051] The overall game return when Double Double Bonus Poker and Deuces Wild Poker are the two preselected poker formats would be 98.2134% because the optimal play for each initially dealt hand may not be the same for each poker format. For example, if a player is initially dealt three Deuces, a King of Spades and an Ace of Spades, the player on the deal would have a Wild Royal Flush in the Deuces Wild Poker format but only a Three-of-a-Kind in the Double Double Bonus Poker format. If the player holds all five initially dealt cards, the player would win the payout for a Wild Royal in the Deuces Wild Poker format and the payout for Three-of-a-Kind in the Double Double Bonus Poker format. But the player would give up the opportunity to achieve four Deuces (with or without the kicker) in the Double Double Bonus Poker format which has a very high payout. Likewise, if the player only holds the three Deuces and tries to achieve a higher payout in the Double Double Bonus Poker format, the player would be giving up a guaranteed payout for the Wild Royal Flush in the Deuces Wild Poker format.
[0052] Other preselected poker format combinations can be used, particularly those that combine a wild card poker format with another wild card poker format. For example, the Joker Poker format can be combined with the Deuces Joker Poker format.
[0053] Another variation of the present invention can use three or more poker formats played from a single player poker hand. The player would make a wager that would be allocated among the three or more poker formats and the final five card hand is then analyzed relative to each of the three or more poker formats to determine winning and losing hands.
[0054] While the invention has been illustrated with respect to several specific embodiments thereof, these embodiments should be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. Various modifications and additions may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description, but rather should be defined only by the following claims.