Patent ID: 7731193

Claim:
A method of playing a guts poker game using one or more decks of playing cards, a dealer, two or more players, and a playing surface comprising a dealer area and a player area, the method comprising: in a first round of play: receiving on said playing surface a first ante from each of a first group of at least two players, wherein a sum of the received first antes constitutes a first pot; dealing a hand comprising at least two playing cards to each of said first group; dealing at least two additional hands face down in said dealer area to form at least two dead man hands; providing each of said first group an option to participate in or withdraw from the first round of play; determining a highest hand among participating players in accordance with a predetermined ranking of hands; awarding a first winning pot to one of the participating players having said highest hand; and receiving on said playing surface a first amount equal to a first value of said first winning pot from each of said participating players not having said highest hand; and in the second round of play: receiving on said playing surface a second ante from each of a second group of at least two players, wherein a sum of the received second antes and the received first amounts constitutes a second pot; dealing hands to each of said second group; providing each of said second group an option to participate in or withdraw from the second round of play; determining that only one player of said second group is participating in the second round of play and revealing said at least two dead man hands; determining another highest hand among said only one player and said at least two dead man hands in accordance with the predetermined ranking of hands; and awarding a second winning pot to said only one player when the only one player's hand is determined to be the another highest hand, and otherwise: receiving on said playing surface a second amount equal to a second value of said second winning pot from said only one player and continuing additional rounds of play until a sole player wins a subsequent pot by beating said at least two dead man hands, whereupon said playing cards are collected for shuffling and wherein the playing cards are collected and shuffled when insufficient unshuffled cards remain for continued dealing.