Patent Publication Number: US-2009227312-A1

Title: Higher or Lower Poker Game

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/068,638, titled “Higher or lower poker”, filed Mar. 10, 2008, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein are related to electronic video card games. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Electronic card games have been available to be played on screens in venues such as casinos. Various card games, such as poker and solitaire are popular electronic video card games. It is desirable to present players with new electronic card games that include aspects of games already know to players and new variations on those games. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a video poker screen showing a payout table and an initial deal after a player has placed a bet according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is diagram of a video poker screen as it appears after the player has made an initial, correct “higher or lower” choice according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram of a video poker screen showing all hands bet after the completion of a game according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of a video poker screen as it appears before the start of a game in which the player has chosen to play three hands according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an electronic gaming system according to an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an electronic gaming system according to another embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     Embodiments described herein include variations of an electronic video poker game that feature allowing a player to make a wager and view one of three dealt cards. The other two dealt cards are face down.  FIG. 1  is a diagram of a video poker screen showing payout tables  100  and an initial deal after a player has placed a bet according to an embodiment. Before the bet is made, the player is presented with the payout tables  100 . The player makes a bet  101 . Three cards are dealt to the player, and one card  102  is face up. In this case the face up card is a 4 of diamonds. The player then chooses whether the next card is higher or lower than the last face up card. The player continues this process until either all cards are revealed or the player chooses incorrectly. When this part of the game is completed, the cards which make up the rest of the hand are then revealed. The player is rewarded various prizes based on traditional poker hand rankings, such as High Card up to Royal Flush. The example shown in the figure shows pay schedule that returns approximately 107%. In other embodiments, the schedule can be modified to attain a variety of return percentages. 
       FIG. 2  is diagram of a video poker screen as it appears after the player has made an initial, correct “higher or lower” choice according to an embodiment. The player elects a higher  103  or lower  104  card from the last preceding card  105 . 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram of a video poker screen showing all hands bet after the completion of a game according to an embodiment. After the three cards have been revealed or if the player has incorrectly chosen higher or lower  106 , the player is shown each hand they bet. All cards revealed during the Higher/Lower portion of the game are then added to the 4 card hands on the right side of the screen. The player is paid based on the poker hand rating  107 . 
     Players have the option to play multiple hands.  FIG. 4  is a diagram of a video poker screen as it appears before the start of a game in which the player has chosen to play three hands  108  according to an embodiment. 
     The method as described herein can be applied to any poker game format used for video poker including, but not limited to, Draw Poker, Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, Triple Bonus Poker, Super Bonus Poker and the like. Each of these poker format would use a standard deck of fifty-two playing cards. It is also possible to practice the method of the present invention in poker game formats that include wild cards such as Deuces Wild, and One-Eyed Jacks Wild. Additional wild cards, such as one or more Jokers, may be added to the conventional fifty-two card deck to allow the method of the present invention to be played in poker game formats such as Jokers Wild, Deuces Joker Wild and so on. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an electronic gaming system  900  according to an embodiment. System  900  includes a server  902  that hosts and serves the electronic video poker game as described herein. The server  902  can include any known data servers, storage devices and/or processors capable of communicating via a network. The server  902  is coupled to a network  904  that can be a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), the Internet, or any other network via which the electronic video game data can be efficiently transferred. 
     Various venues  906 ,  908 , and  910  are coupled to the network  904  for receiving the electronic video poker game from the server  902 . Each of the venues  906 ,  908 , and  910  include video poker machines. The video poker machines include display device or monitors that display the game as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . The video poker machines also include a processor as known in the art. The video poker machines also include input and output devices for receiving input from a player and generating appropriate output. For example, input devices include buttons for the player to push, and a touch screen the player can touch to select and/or move items displayed. Output devices include the monitor and speakers for outputting auditory information and sound effects. 
     Venue  906  includes machines  912 A and  912 B through  912 N. Venue  908  includes machines  914 A and  914 B through  914 N. Venue  910  includes machines  916 A and  916 B through  916 N. 
     One or more of the venues  906 ,  908 , and  910  can be casinos licensed to accept wagers and pay bets. Alternatively, one or more of the venues  906 ,  908 , and  910  can be private homes that purchase the electronic video poker game and play the game privately. In yet another alternative, one or more of the venues  906 ,  908  and  910  are establishments that provide the electronic video poker game to patrons who do not wager real money when playing the game. Other alternatives are possible. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an electronic gaming system  1000  according to another embodiment. System  1000  includes venues  1002 ,  1004  and  1006 . Each of the venues  1002 ,  1004  and  1006  include a server that stores and serves the electronic video poker game as described herein. Each of the venues  1002 ,  1004  and  1006  further include video poker machines that display the game as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . Venue  1002  includes server  1008  and machines  1010 A and  1010 B through  1010 N. Venue  1004  includes server  1012  and machines  1014 A and  1014 B through  1014 N. Venue  1006  includes server  1018  and machines  1018 A and  1018 B through  1018 N. 
     Further variations on the system configurations shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  are also within the scope of the claimed invention. 
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “hereunder,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the word “or” is used in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list. 
     The above description of illustrated embodiments of the systems and methods is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the systems and methods to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the systems components and methods are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the systems, components and methods, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. The teachings of the systems and methods provided herein can be applied to other systems and methods for video card games, not only for the systems and methods described above. 
     The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to the systems and methods in light of the above detailed description. 
     In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the systems and methods to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all systems and methods that operate under the claims. Accordingly, the systems and methods are not limited by the disclosure, but instead the scope of the systems and methods is to be determined entirely by the claims. 
     While certain aspects of the systems and methods are presented below in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of the systems and methods in any number of claim forms. For example, while only one aspect of the systems and methods may be recited as embodied in machine-readable medium, other aspects may likewise be embodied in machine-readable medium. Accordingly, the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing the application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the systems and methods.