Patent ID: 8246434

Claim:
A method of playing a video poker tournament utilizing a deck of playing cards comprising: a) at least two players entering the tournament; each player receiving a predetermined number of credits; b) designating a range of credits from which each player selects the credits to be wagered in the play of the tournament; c) designating a predetermined number of hands that will be used in the play of the tournament; d) designating a group of initial hands selected from the deck of playing cards as the starting hands to be used in play of the tournament; e) each player in the tournament playing out, according to the conventional manner of play of video poker, each starting hand from the group of starting hands and allowing each player to vary the number of credits wagered on each starting hand; f) as each starting hand is played out to a final hand, awarding a score for each final hand based on the poker hand ranking of each final hand; g) accruing a running score for each player based on his scores for each final hand and noting a final score for each player after all of the starting hands have been played; h) ranking each player according the final score of the player; and i) making an award to the player with the highest final score.