Abstract:
A particular winning hand combination is converted into a different winning hand combination with a higher payout amount. In the preferred embodiment, whenever the player achieves a poker hand of Three-of-a-Kind and two Aces, the hand converts to a Four-of-a-Kind and the player receives the payout amount associated with Four-of-a-Kind.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/875,813, filed Dec. 18, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates primarily to electronic video poker games, and more particularly to electronic video poker games that are based on draw poker. Conventional video draw poker is a single player game in which the player does not play against a dealer or other players, but rather merely tries to achieve the highest possible ranking poker hand. 
         [0003]    After an initial deal of five cards, the player is allowed to discard and replace unwanted cards with replacement cards. Electronic video poker games use poker hand rankings to determine winning combinations and a payout schedule is used to determine the amount awarded to the player for achieving a winning combination. 
         [0004]    The conventional winning poker hand rankings that are used in video poker in order from highest to lowest are: 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. Any hand having less than a Pair of Jacks or better is a losing hand. These winning poker hand rankings are used in the Jacks or Better draw poker format as well as many of the other draw poker formats. 
         [0005]    Video poker as a draw poker game using the Jacks or Better draw poker format has been played in gaming casinos for many years. Variations of video draw poker have evolved and include video draw poker using Jokers as wild cards and video draw poker using Deuces (or even Sevens) as wild cards. Most of the more recent modifications to video involve the use of different draw poker formats changes such as Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double-Double Bonus Poker and even Triple Bonus Poker. Different draw poker formats involve changes to the pay table and often involve using different poker hand rankings as winning hand combinations. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention converts a particular winning hand combination into a different winning hand combination with a higher payout amount. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, whenever the player achieves a poker hand of Three-of-a-Kind and two Aces, the hand converts to a Four-of-a-Kind and the player receives the payout amount associated with Four-of-a-Kind. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0007]    The present invention includes a variety of electronic video poker games. Each electronic video poker game is designed to be played by having one or more poker hands displayed on a video screen to a player. These are “player&#39;s hand only” poker games in which the player does not play against a dealer&#39;s hand or against other players, but merely attempts to achieve a winning poker hand combination using the player&#39;s final cards of the hand. 
         [0008]    An initial hand of cards is dealt to the player and comprises the player&#39;s initial hand. By manipulating the buttons on the gaming device or by using conventional touch screen technology, the player selects which cards he wishes to hold in his hand and thus which cards he wishes to discard. Replacement cards are then displayed for the discarded cards resulting in a final hand and the outcome of the play of the final hand is determined. The resulting poker hand ranking of the final hand is then compared to a pay table to determine whether the player has a winning hand combination. A player is paid an award based on the poker hand ranking of the final hand and the number of coins, tokens or credits wagered by the player as shown in the pay table. 
         [0009]    A pay table is displayed to the player showing the amounts that the player can win based on the poker hand ranking achieved by the player and the amount wagered by the player. 
         [0010]    In video draw poker using the Jacks or Better poker game format, a typical pay table would be: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 DRAW POKER 
                 NUMBER OF COINS 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 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0011]    While this pay table is known as a regular Jacks or Better draw poker format pay table, other pay tables have been developed for the other variations of draw poker, such as Deuces Wild Poker, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Triple Bonus Poker, Joker&#39;s Wild Poker or any of the myriad of video poker formats that have been developed. Each of these video poker formats uses various arrangements of poker hand rankings as winning combinations and they use various payout amounts for the poker hand rankings. The amounts paid for the various winning hand combinations in each of the video poker formats are calculated to provide a certain theoretical game return based on the mathematical probability of achieving the winning hand combinations and the theoretical hold percentage that the casino wishes to offer to the players. 
         [0012]    The method of the present invention can be applied to any of the various video poker formats discussed above. 
         [0013]    The present invention provides that whenever the player achieves a winning final hand combination of two Aces and Three-of-a-Kind, then the player receives an award for a winning hand combination of a Four-of-a-Kind. 
         [0014]    For example, if the player a hand having the Ace of Clubs, Ace of Spades, Seven of Diamonds, Seven of Hearts and Seven of Clubs, the player receives the award that the pay table would provide for Four-of-a-Kind. With reference to Table 1, if the player had wagered 5 credits, the player would receive an award of 125 credits which the payout for Four-of-a-Kind when five credits are wagered. 
         [0015]    This same special payout can be applied to any other suitable video draw poker game format besides the Jacks or Better draw poker game format represented in Table 1. 
         [0016]    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.