Abstract:
A method of conducting a Mahjong-style card game is disclosed. The method comprises utilizing a deck of cards depicting Mahjong-type symbols. In one version, players place a Tian-Hu wager, and optionally a bonus wager, and receive six cards. Players then have the option to progress through four rounds of play, including additional wagers and folding options, wherein players seek to form a Hu in the form of a Tian-Hu, Di-Hu, Fa-Hu or Ting-Hu using cards in their individual hand and/or in combination with community cards. A Hu comprises a pair of cards having a same suit and rank in combination with a three-card run or trips. Optional double down and bonus wagers may also be offered to players.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The embodiments of the present invention relate to a casino card game. More particularly, the embodiments of the present invention constitute a new casino card game based on the Chinese game of Mahjong. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Mahjong is a Chinese game played by four players against one another. It is a game of skill, strategy, intelligence, calculation and luck. Depending on the variation which is played, luck can be anything from a minor to a dominant factor in success. The object of the game is to build complete suits (usually of threes) from thirteen to sixteen tiles. The first person to achieve this goal is said to win the game. The game is very popular in Asia but has not attained the same level of popularity on other continents. One reason is the level of sophistication and complexity of the game. Another reason is the use of unfamiliar tiles which are not as well known as other gaming props like playing cards or dice. 
     It would be advantageous to conduct a casino Mahjong game using cards to attract new players and to attract experienced Mahjong players visiting casinos and other gaming establishments. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, a first embodiment of the present invention is a method of conducting a card game comprising: requiring participating players to place an initial wager to participate in a current hand; providing one or more participating players with at least five initial cards; providing payouts to any player optionally declaring a Tian-Hu formed using the at least five initial cards wherein any such player is out of the current hand; allowing remaining players to place an additional Di-Hu double-down wager; requiring remaining players to discard at least one card and providing each player with a number of replacement cards equal to the number of discards; providing payouts to any player optionally declaring a Di-Hu formed using the at least five cards, comprising the held initial cards and the replacement cards, wherein any such player is out of the current hand; requiring remaining players to place a second wager and to discard at least one card in order to continue in the hand or allowing players to fold thereby losing the initial wager; revealing a first set of one or more community cards; providing payouts to any player holding a Fa-Hu formed using the at least five cards, comprising a combination of some initial cards and the replacement cards, in combination with the first set of one or more community cards, wherein any such player is out of the current hand; requiring remaining players to place a third wager in order to continue in the hand or allowing players to fold thereby losing the initial and second wagers; revealing a second set of one or more community cards; and providing payouts to any player holding a Ting-Hu formed using the at least five cards, comprising the held initial cards and the replacement cards, in combination with the first and second sets of one or more community cards wherein at least one card of a Ting-Hu hand must be a held initial card or replacement card. 
     The card game utilizes Mahjong principles in the form of a casino card game pitting players against the house. Cards are more typical for casino games and will be more apt to attract players than atypical tiles. Moreover, the cards depict only a small set of Mahjong suits to maintain the ease of play of the game. The cards are similar to poker cards in size and design, enabling the use of automatic card shufflers and other relevant gaming devices and equipment with little or no modification. 
     The embodiments of the present invention may be implemented live or online. The embodiments may also be facilitated by electronic gaming devices or a global computer network (e.g., the Internet). 
     Other variations, embodiments and features of the present invention will become evident from the following detailed description, drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates conventional Mahjong tiles; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary gaming table layout for facilitating the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates one player position of the gaming table layout illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates four cards depicting a copper suit, bamboo suit, kanji suit and a joker; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary hand forming a run (also known as a straight); 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary hand forming a run with a joker; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary hand forming trips; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates two exemplary hands, each forming a Hu; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates two exemplary hands, each forming a Hu with a joker; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an exemplary hand forming a flush; 
         FIG. 11  illustrates an exemplary hand forming a straight flush; 
         FIG. 12  illustrates an exemplary hand constituting a flush Hu; 
         FIGS. 13   a - 13   c  illustrate a flow chart detailing one embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 14  illustrates an exemplary payout scheme for each stage of one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed. 
     Reference is now made to the figures wherein like parts are referred to by like numerals throughout.  FIG. 1  shows exemplary Mahjong tiles  50  used to play conventional Chinese Mahjong.  FIG. 2  shows a gaming table layout generally referenced by numeral  100 . As shown, the table layout  100  accommodates six player positions  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  and a dealer position  115  and may be played at a blackjack style table, online or via electronic gaming devices. The game may be modified slightly to accommodate seven players as well. Six replacement card areas  112 - 1  through  112 - 6  are depicted adjacent to the dealer position  115 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , each player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  depicts five wager areas comprising a Tian-Hu, Di-Hu wager area  120 , Fa-Hu (8-Hu) wager area  125 , Ting-Hu (10-Hu) wager area  130 , Di-Hu double down wager area  135  and bonus wager area  140 . The meaning and significance of each wager area  120  through  140  is described in detail below. A game pay table  150  and bonus pay table  155  may also be depicted adjacent to each player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  or single pay tables  150 ,  155  may be prominently depicted on the table layout  100 . The table over which the table layout  100  is positioned may also support a chip rack, tip box, dead card container, card shoe and/or card shuffling device. The wager areas  120  through  140  support a Mahjong card game using 82 cards. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the cards comprise 3 suits termed the “copper”  160 , “bamboo”  165  and “kanji”  170 . It is recognized by those skilled in the art that the suits and/or terms associated therewith may take any form (for example, tong, tiao and wan, or coin, rope and wan). The deck comprises three identical cards numbered 1 through 9 within each suit so that each suit makes up 27 cards. The 82 nd  card is a joker  175  that is wild and may represent any card (rank and suit) in the deck. 
       FIGS. 5-12  show different Mahjong hands according to the embodiments of the present invention.  FIG. 5  shows a hand  200  forming a three-card run of cards having sequential ranks and the same suit.  FIG. 6  shows a hand  205  forming a three-card run with the use of a joker. In this instance, the joker acts as the third card (i.e., 8 of kanji) thereby creating a three-card run.  FIG. 7  shows a hand  210  forming trips. Trips comprises three cards of the same numerical rank and suit.  FIG. 8  shows two five-card hands  220 ,  225  forming Hus. A Hu can be formed in two distinct manners. A first Hu  220  is a hand comprising a pair of suited cards  221  in combination with a three-card run  222 . A second Hu  225  is a hand comprising a pair of suited cards  226  in combination with trips  227 .  FIG. 9  shows two five-card hands  230 ,  235  forming Hus. Hand  230  utilizes a joker to complete the pair of suited 5s while hand  235  utilizes the joker to complete the three-card run comprising the 6, 7 and 8 of copper.  FIG. 10  shows a six-card hand  240  forming a flush. A flush comprises a collection of cards having the same suit.  FIG. 11  shows a six-card hand  245  forming a straight flush comprising six cards of the same suit and in sequence.  FIG. 12  shows two five-card hands  250 ,  255  forming flush Hus. A flush Hu can be formed in two distinct manners. A first flush Hu  250  is a hand comprising a pair of suited cards  251  in combination with a three-card run  252  wherein each of the five cards is of the same suit. A second flush Hu  255  is a hand comprising a pair of suited cards  256  in combination with trips  257  wherein each of the cards is of the same suit. 
       FIGS. 13   a - 13   c  show a flow chart  300  detailing one embodiment of the present invention. At  305 , players place a Tian-Hu, Di-Hu wager (deemed a Ya Bao) into the Tian-Hu, Di-Hu wager area  120  and may optionally place a bonus wager (deemed a Cha Hua) into the bonus wager area  140 . Casinos are responsible for setting the initial minimum and maximum wagering limits on all table wagers. Consequently, different tables may have different limits such that some table limits are designed to attract novice players while other table limits are designed to attract high rollers. At  310 , a single dice is thrown by the dealer to determine which player is deemed “first base” thus receiving his or her cards first for this hand. The six player positions  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  each correspond to a different side of the six-sided dice such that a rolled  1  corresponds to player position  110 - 1  and so on. Based on the roll outcome, a first base marker is placed at the player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  regardless of whether a player is seated in the player position  110 - 1  though  110 - 6  or not. It should be noted that other means, including playing cards, may be used to determine first base or first base can be rotated between player positions  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  after each hand. At  315 , a first round begins with the dealer dealing six face-down cards, starting at first base and proceeding in a clockwise manner, to each player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6 . The cards are dealt whether the player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  is occupied by a player or not. At  320 , the dealer collects any cards dealt to unoccupied player positions  110 - 1  through  110 - 6 . While players are inspecting their six cards, at  325 , the dealer deals two, face-down replacement cards into each replacement card area  112 - 1  through  112 - 6 . At  330 , players holding cards forming a Hu may declare the Hu or may elect not to declare the same. At  335 , if any player declares a Hu (deemed a Tian-Hu at this stage of the hand), the player reveals his or her cards and is paid, according to pay table  150 , 5 to 1 on his or her Tian-Hu wager and, if the initial cards also form a five-card flush, the flush Hu bonus of one-half the Tian-Hu wager. Any declaring player turns in his or her cards and is out of the remainder of the hand, except that the player&#39;s bonus wager, if any, remains in play. Any player not declaring a Hu remains in the hand. A player may elect not to declare a Tian-Hu in an effort to maximize the return on the hand. By not electing to declare a Tian-Hu, a player remains in the hand and may, as described below, may obtain a Di-Hu and/or Flush Di-Hu with a double down wager in place, a Fa-Hu (also deemed an 8-Hu since there are 8 cards available to make the Hu) and/or flush Fa-Hu with additional wagers in place or a Ting-Hu (also deemed a 10-Hu since there are 10 cards available to make the Hu) and/or flush Ting-Hu with additional wagers in place. 
     At  340 , each player that did not declare a Hu after the initial cards must discard two of his or her initial six cards. At  345 , each remaining player has the option to place a wager in the Di-Hu double down wager area  135 . In one embodiment, the Di-Hu double down wager must equal the player&#39;s Tian-Hu wager. The Di-Hu double down wager is only active for this second round of the game. At  350 , each player is provided with two replacement cards from the cards previously dealt into the replacement areas  112 - 1  through  112 - 6 . Replacement card area  112 - 1  is dedicated to the player, if any, designated as first base, while cards in the replacement area  112 - 2  are dedicated to the player, if any, seated immediately clockwise from the first base position and so on. Thus, if no player is seated at a player position  110 - 1  through  110 - 6  corresponding to the replacement card area  112 - 1  through  112 - 6 , the replacement cards in those areas are collected as dead cards by the dealer. While players are inspecting their two new cards in combination with their four held cards, at  355 , the dealer deals one face-down community card into each replacement card area  112 - 1  through  112 - 6 . At  360 , if a player now holds a hand forming a Hu, the player may declare the Hu or may elect not to declare the same. At  365 , if any player declares a Hu (deemed a Di-Hu at this stage of the hand) the player reveals his or her cards and is paid, according to pay table  150 , 2 to 1 on the player&#39;s Tian-Hu wager or, if the player placed the optional Di-Hu double down wager, 4 to 1. If the hand forming the Di-Hu also forms a flush, the player is also paid the flush Hu bonus of one-half the Tian-Hu wager, or, if the player placed the optional Di-Hu double down wager, even money on the Tian-Hu wager. After the payouts have been made, the dealer collects the cards of any declaring players and those players are out of the remainder of the hand, except that those players&#39; bonus wagers, if any, remain in play. At  370 , any remaining player may elect to remain in the hand, or may fold by discarding all of his/her cards face-down on the table. At  375 , folding players are out of the hand such that they lose their Tian-Hu wager and any placed Di-Hu double down wager. Folding players who placed a bonus wager remain eligible for the bonus payout. At  380 , players electing to remain in the hand do so by placing a wager in the Fa-Hu wager area  125 . The Fa-Hu wager may be, as depicted in the Fa-Hu wager area  125 , equal to or twice the player&#39;s Tian-Hu wager. Players electing to remain in the hand also lose any placed Di-Hu double down wagers, must discard two cards face-down and either turn their remaining four cards face-up on the table or leave their remaining four cards face-down for the dealer to open. At  385 , once all players have elected to remain in the hand or folded, the dealer collects all of the discarded cards and removes them from the table and starting with the left-most card (from the dealer&#39;s vantage point), the dealer turns over four of the six community cards. At  390 , it is determined if any one of the four community cards is a joker. If so, at  395 , the dealer removes the joker and replaces it with a new card from the deck. 
     At  400 , starting with the left-most player (from the dealer&#39;s vantage point), the dealer inspects each remaining player&#39;s hand to determine whether the combination of the player&#39;s four cards and the four community cards forms a Hu (deemed a Fa-Hu at this stage of the hand). A Fa-Hu must include at least one non-community card. If so, at  405 , any player holding a Fa-Hu is paid, according to pay table  150 , even money on his or her Tian-Hu and Fa-Hu wagers. If the five cards also form a flush, the player is paid the flush Hu bonus equal to one-half the Fa-Hu wager. After the payouts have been made, the players holding Fa-Hus are out of the hand (except that those players&#39; bonus wagers, if any, remain in play) causing the dealer to collect their cards. At  410 , any player not holding a Fa-Hu may elect to remain in the hand or fold. At  415 , folding players lose their Tian-Hu and Fa-Hu wagers and the dealer collects their cards. At  420 , players electing to remain in the hand for a fourth round must place a Ting-Hu wager in the Ting-Hu (10-Hu) wager area  130 . The Ting-Hu wager, as depicted in the Ting-Hu wager area  130 , may be in an amount equal to, double or triple the player&#39;s Tian-Hu wager. At  425 , after each player has elected to either fold or remain in the hand, the dealer turns over, beginning with the left-most card (from the dealer&#39;s vantage point), the two remaining community cards. At  430 , it is determined whether either of the two community cards is a joker. If so, at  435 , the dealer removes the joker and replaces it with a new card from the deck. 
     At  440 , starting with the left-most player (from the dealer&#39;s vantage point), the dealer inspects each remaining player&#39;s hand to determine whether the combination of the player&#39;s four cards and the six community cards forms a Hu (deemed a Ting-Hu at this stage of the hand). A Ting-Hu must include at least one non-community card. At  445 , any player holding a Ting-Hu is paid, according to pay table  150 , even money on their Tian-Hu, Fa-Hu and Ting-Hu wagers. If the five cards also form a flush, the player is paid the flush Hu bonus equal to one-half the Ting-Hu wager. 
     At  450 , after all wagers according to pay table  150  have been resolved, any bonus wagers are resolved. The bonus wagers are resolved based on the six community cards only and are paid according to pay table  155 . All players that placed a bonus wager, including those players who folded during the hand and those players who declared a Hu during the hand remain eligible for a bonus payout and, if the six community cards achieve a sufficient rank, are paid according to pay table  155 . The bonus payouts are additive such that a player may be paid on more than one outcome. If all players either declared a Hu or folded prior to the six community cards being revealed, the placed bonus wagers are returned to the players.  FIG. 14  shows a table  500  detailing an exemplary payout scheme for one embodiment of the present invention with a flush Hu paying one-half the last wager, or even money on the Di Hu double-down wager, if placed. 
     While the flowchart  300  details one embodiment of the present invention, the method of play may be varied. For example: three or two community cards may be revealed during the Fa-Hu round and the other three or four community cards, respectively, may be revealed during the Ting-Hu round; cards can be discarded face-up after the Tian-Hu round, either sequentially or simultaneously by all players; or the declaration of Tian-Hu and/or Di-Hu hands can be made mandatory rather than optional. Also, the payout structure may be altered as desired by the casinos and other gaming establishments such that the house advantage is in line with the industry standards. Moreover, the Fa-Hu and Ting-Hu betting structure (e.g., limits) may be modified. 
     The embodiments of the present invention may also be facilitated by electronic gaming devices or accessed online. With such systems, a processor and software control the game and its outcomes. The operation of electronic gaming devices and the Internet are well known to those skilled in the art. 
     Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.