Patent ID: 7175179

Claim:
A method of playing a modified twenty-one game between at least one player and a dealer using one or more decks of cards and a table layout having a playing surface with a dealer position, a plurality of player positions, and a shared card position, comprising the steps of: (a) each player placing an initial wager to participate in the game; (b) dealing one or more cards to each player at the player's position; (c) dealing one or more cards to the dealer at the dealer's position; (d) dealing one or more shared cards to the shared card position, wherein the value and the suit of the shared card(s) are unknown to the players and the dealer; (e) dealing additional cards to players electing to receive more cards; (f) allowing players to adjust the wager prior to receiving additional cards; (g) dealing additional cards to the dealer following a fixed set of rules; (h) revealing the value and the suit of the shared cards after all player and dealer decisions are completed, wherein the value and the suit of the shared card(s) remain unknown until this revealing step; (i) calculating the hand count of each player hand using the card values dealt to the player and the total value of the shared cards; (j) calculating the hand count of the dealer hand using the card values dealt to the dealer and the total value of the shared cards; (k) comparing the hand count of each player's hand to the hand count of the dealer's hand to determine whether each player beats the dealer, loses to the dealer or ties with the dealer; (l) issuing awards to each player beating the dealer, according to an award schedule.