Patent ID: 9547953
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: A63F,G07F

Claim:
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a server device, an opt-in request to a bad beat feature of a hand of poker, wherein the hand of poker is hosted by the server device, wherein the server device receives the opt-in request from a client device, wherein the server device has access to a credit balance of the client device and a separate bad beat token balance of the client device, wherein the server device simultaneously conducts multiple hands of poker with at least 30 client devices via a wide-area network, wherein the at least 30 client devices participate in different hands of poker, and each individually determine whether to opt-in to the bad beat feature, and wherein the opt-in request is generated in response to the client device receiving an opt-in indication by way of an input mechanism of the client device; in response to receiving the opt-in request, the server device decreasing the bad beat token balance of the client device by a given amount and increasing a bad beat progressive jackpot by the given amount, wherein client devices that opt-in to the bad beat feature are candidates for apportionment of the bad beat progressive jackpot; during the hand of poker, (i) the server device decreasing the credit balance of the client device by an amount wagered by the client device, (ii) the server device determining that the hand of poker is subject to a bad beat event, (iii) the client device receiving instructions for playing the hand of poker by way of the input mechanism of the client device, and (iv) the client device displaying events of the hand of poker by way of a display screen of the client device; and based on the hand of poker being subject to the bad beat event and the client device opting in to the bad beat feature, the server device apportioning, in real time, part of the bad beat progressive jackpot to the credit balance of the client device and a remaining portion of the bad beat progressive jackpot to credit balances of one or more client devices, of the at least 30 client devices, that opted-in to the bad beat feature, wherein the client device displays the part of the bad beat progressive jackpot apportioned to the client device by way of the display screen of the client device.