Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/873309, filed Dec. 6, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. This application is also a continuation/divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/951488, filed Dec. 6, 2007, now pending. 
         [0002]    This invention relates primarily to a poker game, and more particularly to poker game in which the two separate groups of community cards are dealt and the players play both groups of community cards. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Poker is a very popular card game. In general, there are two types of poker games: draw poker and stud poker. 
         [0004]    In draw poker, the player is dealt one or more cards as his initial hand. The player then selects from these cards which cards he wishes to hold and which cards he wishes to discard. The discarded cards are removed from the player&#39;s hand and the player receives replacement cards for the discarded cards resulting in the player&#39;s final hand. The player wins or loses based on the poker hand ranking of the player&#39;s final hand. 
         [0005]    In stud poker, the player only uses the cards that are dealt to him to form his hand. There is no discarding unwanted cards and no replacement cards are provided to the player. Again, the player wins or loses based on the poker hand ranking of the player&#39;s final hand. 
         [0006]    In some forms of poker, there is only one player. The player plays against a pay table. As shown in the pay table, certain poker hand rankings are winning combinations and all other poker hand combinations are losing combinations. These single hand poker games can be played as either draw poker games or stud poker games. 
         [0007]    In these single player poker games, the player makes a wager to participate in the game. The player wins an award if the player&#39;s final poker hand is a winning combination. The amount of the award is based on the particular poker hand combination that the player achieves on his final hand and is shown in the pay table. The amount of the award is also a function of the amount wagered by the player. 
         [0008]    In other forms of poker, there are multiple players. Quite often in these multiple player games, the object for the player is to have a higher ranking poker hand than all of the other players. In order to participate in the game, the players make wagers which are collected in a common pot. Usually, the first wager by each player is called the Ante wager. During the play of the poker game, various betting rounds occur at which each player may make additional wagers. Players may also fold at any point in the poker game upon which the player is withdrawing from further participation in that round of the game. Poker games that have more than one betting round can result in much larger common pots. 
         [0009]    At the end of the round of the game, the player with the best poker hand wins the pot. These multiple player poker games can be played as either draw poker games or stud poker games. 
         [0010]    Seven Card Stud is a popular stud poker game. Each player receives initially three cards: one card face up which can be seen by all of the other players and two cards face down (the Hole cards) which can be seen only by that player. A round of betting occurs. A fourth card is dealt face up to each player and another round of betting occurs. A fifth card is dealt face up to each player and another round of betting occurs. A sixth card is dealt face up to each player and another round of betting occurs. Finally, a seventh card is dealt face down to each player and another round of betting occurs. The player with the best five card poker hand out of his seven cards wins the common pot. 
         [0011]    Another variation of stud poker is Six Card Stud in which each player makes his best five card poker hand out of his six cards. 
         [0012]    Poker can also be played using community cards. A community card is a card that is shared among all of the players in the game. Typically, community cards are displayed face up in the center of the table so that all players can see the community cards. 
         [0013]    A very popular form of poker that uses one or more community cards is the Hold &#39;Em format. A player initially receives one or more Hole cards which are cards unique to that player. Then a plurality of community cards are displayed during which betting rounds occur. The player with the best poker hand at the end of the game wins the common pot. 
         [0014]    In Texas Hold &#39;Em Poker, each player receives two Hole cards and a round of betting occurs. Then three community cards (the Flop) are displayed and another round of betting occurs. Then a fourth community card (the Turn or Fourth Street) is displayed and another round of betting occurs. Finally, a fifth community card (the River or Fifth Street) is displayed and another round of betting occurs. The player with the best poker hand out of the seven cards (his two Hole cards and the five community cards) wins the common pot. 
         [0015]    Omaha Poker plays quite similar to Texas Hold &#39;Em Poker except that each player initially receives four Hole cards. The display of the community cards and the betting rounds are the same as in Texas Hold &#39;Em Poker except that in the final determination a player must use two of his four Hole cards to make his final five card. 
         [0016]    There is discussed in old Hoyle poker texts another version of Omaha in which each player gets two Hole cards and the five community cards are displayed one card at a time. This results in six rounds of betting and the player is not required to use either of his Hole cards in his final poker hand. See, SCARNE, infra at  26 . 
         [0017]    Another Hold &#39;Em poker type game is called Pineapple. In Pineapple, each player receives three Hole cards. The community cards are displayed three, one and one. In regular Pineapple, the player must discard one of his Hole cards before the three card flop is revealed. In Crazy Pineapple, the player must discard one of his Hole cards after the flop is revealed, but before the turn card is revealed. 
         [0018]    SCARNE&#39;S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CARD GAMES (copyright 1973, 1983) at pages 6-55, inclusive (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein) describes many draw poker and stud poker games. At pages 44-45 the method of play of Las Vegas Style Hold &#39;Em poker is described and tracks quite closely the description of Texas Hold &#39;Em poker described above. 
         [0019]    SCARNE, Id., at pages 23-26 also describes various “spit-in-the-ocean” card games which can generally be categorized as draw poker games that use community cards. When the player discards unwanted cards from his own hand, the replacement cards come from the community cards to complete the player&#39;s final hand. 
         [0020]    According to SCARNE, Id., at pages 25-26, some of these “spit-in-the-ocean” card games do not use a draw step. Scarne describes a game known as Lame Brain (which also goes by the name of Cincinnati or by the name of Confusion). Each player receives five cards in his own hand and there are five community cards dealt face down. Each community card is turned up one at a time with appropriate betting rounds. The best five card hand wins with each player forming his final five card hand from the total of ten cards—the player&#39;s five cards and the five community cards. 
         [0021]    Variations of Lame Brain are also described. Round the World uses four player cards and four community cards with the best five card hand being the winner. Both Lame Brain and Round the World can be played as High-Low games. 
         [0022]    Another game similar to Lame Brain is called Criss Cross (also called, Cross Widow or X Marks the Spot or Crossover). The five community cards are displayed in a cross configuration. Each player&#39;s final hand comes from the player&#39;s five cards and up to three of the community cards, but a player may only use community cards that are in the same horizontal or vertical row. 
         [0023]    A disadvantage of many of the known community card games is that only one hand can played at a time. A more exciting poker game would include multiple groups of community cards so that each player could be playing for multiple ending hand outcomes. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    Each player receives two hole cards. A first group of community cards and a second group of community cards are dealt. Additional community cards are dealt to each group. Once all cards have been dealt, the highest ranking poker hand from using either of the community card groups is the winning hand. 
         [0025]    The betting takes place in the customary manner as appropriate for the game format being played. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  shows a gaming table layout on which the method of the present invention can be played and after the first three community cards have been dealt. 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  shows a gaming table layout on which the method of the present invention can be played and after the fourth community card has been dealt. 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  shows a gaming table layout on which the method of the present invention can be played and after the fifth community card has been dealt. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0029]    The method of play of the present invention can be played on a suitable live gaming poker table as shown in  FIG. 1 . The table  10  is provided with a plurality of player locations, e.g. A-F, and the dealer sits adjacent the table at location  12 . As is conventional in live gaming poker, the dealer does not play a hand, but merely deals the cards and supervises the wagering and payouts during the player of the game. 
         [0030]    Many of the traditional live poker game formats can be adapted for play in accordance with the present invention. In each format, the use of antes, blinds (big and/or small) and a dealer button can used as would be appropriate for the poker game format being played. 
         [0031]    Version 1. The method of the present invention as applied to Texas Hold &#39;Em begins with each player receiving two Hole cards from the dealer. A round of betting occurs. All bets are collected into a pot usually aggregated in front of the dealer&#39;s location  12 . As is conventional, a portion of the pot is raked by the dealer as the house&#39;s fee for dealing the game. 
         [0032]    Next two or more distinct groups of community cards are dealt in which all of the community cards in each group are distinct from all of the community cards in each of the other groups. In the example shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , five community cards are dealt face up in each group of community cards. The first group of community cards starts with a first flop of three community cards  41 ,  42  and  43  is displayed in first hand  40  and the second group of community cards starts with a second flop of three community cards  51 ,  52  and  53  is displayed in the second hand  50  in a suitable location such as the center of the gaming table  10 . 
         [0033]    Another round of betting occurs. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a fourth community card  44  (the Turn or Fourth Street) is displayed in the first hand  40  and a fourth community card (the Turn or Fourth Street) is displayed in the second hand  50 . 
         [0034]    Another round of betting occurs. As shown in  FIG. 3 , a fifth community card  45  (the River or Fifth Street) is displayed in the first hand  40  and a fifth community card (the River or Fifth Street) is displayed in the second hand  50 . 
         [0035]    A final round of betting occurs. The remaining player with the best five card poker hand either using the five community cards from first hand  40  plus the player&#39;s Hole cards or using the five community cards from the second hand  50  plus the player&#39;s Hole cards wins the entire pot. 
         [0036]    Alternatively, the remaining player with the best five card poker hand using his two Hole cards and the five community cards from the first hand  40  wins half the pot. The remaining player with best five card poker hand using his two Hole cards and the five community cards from the second hand  50  wins the other half the pot. If the same player has the best poker hand from both the first hand  40  and the second hand  50 , that player wins the entire pot. 
         [0037]    If more than two groups of community cards are used, then the player with the best hand from among his two Hole cards and one of the plurality of groups of community cards could win the entire pot or the pot could be split a plurality of ways for each winning player having the best hand using each group of community cards. 
         [0038]    Version 2. The method of the present invention as applied to Omaha Hold &#39;Em begins with each player receiving four Hole cards from the dealer. A round of betting occurs. 
         [0039]    Next two groups of three community cards representing a first hand and a second hand are dealt face up in the same manner as described in Version 1. Another round of betting occurs. Then a fourth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fourth community card is displayed in the second hand. Another round of betting occurs. 
         [0040]    Then a fifth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fifth community card is displayed in the second hand. A final round of betting occurs. 
         [0041]    The remaining player with the best five card poker hand either using the five community cards from first hand plus only two of the player&#39;s four Hole cards or using the five community cards from the second hand plus only two of the player&#39;s four Hole cards wins the entire pot. 
         [0042]    Alternatively, the remaining player with the best five card poker hand using only two of his four Hole cards and the five community cards from the first hand wins half the pot. The remaining player with best five card poker hand using only two of his four Hole cards and the five community cards from the second hand wins the other half the pot. If the same player has the best poker hand from both the first hand and the second hand, that player wins the entire pot. 
         [0043]    Version 3. The method of the present invention as applied to Pineapple Hold &#39;Em begins with each player receiving three Hole cards from the dealer. A round of betting occurs. Each player must discard one of his Hole cards at this point. 
         [0044]    Next two groups of three community cards representing a first hand and a second hand are dealt face up in the same manner as described in Version 1. Another round of betting occurs. Then a fourth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fourth community card is displayed in the second hand. Another round of betting occurs. 
         [0045]    Then a fifth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fifth community card is displayed in the second hand. A final round of betting occurs. 
         [0046]    The remaining player with the best five card poker hand either using the five community cards from first hand plus the player&#39;s Hole cards or using the five community cards from the second hand plus the player&#39;s Hole cards wins the entire pot. 
         [0047]    Alternatively, the remaining player with the best five card poker hand using his Hole cards and the five community cards from the first hand wins half the pot. The remaining player with best five card poker hand using his Hole cards and the five community cards from the second hand wins the other half the pot. If the same player has the best poker hand from both the first hand and the second hand, that player wins the entire pot. 
         [0048]    Version 4. The method of the present invention as applied to Crazy Pineapple Hold &#39;Em begins with each player receiving three Hole cards from the dealer. A round of betting occurs. 
         [0049]    Next two groups of three community cards representing a first hand and a second hand are dealt face up in the same manner as described in Version 1. Another round of betting occurs. Each player must discard one of his Hole cards at this point. 
         [0050]    Then a fourth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fourth community card is displayed in the second hand. Another round of betting occurs. 
         [0051]    Then a fifth community card is displayed in the first hand and a fifth community card is displayed in the second hand. A final round of betting occurs. 
         [0052]    The remaining player with the best five card poker hand either using the five community cards from first hand plus the player&#39;s Hole cards or using the five community cards from the second hand plus the player&#39;s Hole cards wins the entire pot. 
         [0053]    Alternatively, the remaining player with the best five card poker hand using his Hole cards and the five community cards from the first hand wins half the pot. The remaining player with best five card poker hand using his Hole cards and the five community cards from the second hand wins the other half the pot. If the same player has the best poker hand from both the first hand and the second hand, that player wins the entire pot. 
         [0054]    The method of the present invention can be applied to any poker game that uses community cards. Poker games that split the pot between the best high hand and the best low hand can also be adapted to the method of play of the present invention. 
         [0055]    While the invention has been illustrated with respect to its various embodiments, these embodiments should be considered as illustrative rather than limiting. Various modifications and additions may be made and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description, but rather should be defined only by the following claims.

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