US20080106039A1

US20080106039A1 - Texas hold 'Em High/Lo 8 or better and razz low ball

Info

Publication number: US20080106039A1
Application number: US11/594,288
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael D. Portano
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-11-08
Filing date: 2006-11-08
Publication date: 2008-05-08

Abstract

The new game of Texas Hold 'Em is called Texas Hold 'Em Hi/Lo 8 or Better and Texas Hold 'Em Razz or Low Ball.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention related to the field of interactive, electronic gaming systems. More particularly, the present invention related to all gaming systems from electronic, to live version casino, to play games similar to the game of Omaha Hi/Low 8 or Better and also Seven Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or Better. This invention for Texas Hold 'Em is to make it's own version of Hi/Low 8 or Better.
In the standard game of Texas Hold 'Em the highest hand wins the game. The rank of the hands are as follows:

1. Royal Flush
2. Straight Flush
3. 4 of a Kind
4. Full House
5. Straight
6. 3 of a Kind
7. 2 Pairs
8. 1 Pair
9. High Card

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,128 ('128 Patent), which issued to Marquez, discloses a multiple hand variation of the card game of Hi-Lo poker involving individual players being dealt six cards, the six cards being divided into a one-card high ranking hand, a two-card high ranking hand, and a three-card low ranking hand is disclosed. The cards in the three hands are ranked according to a hierarchy which ranks individual cards according to values placed upon each card and in addition, ranks combinations of cards according to an established criteria. The players must arrange the cards in the three hands so as to maximize their overall chances of having one or more winning hands when compared to a bank player's three hands. Each player's one-card, two-card and three-card hands are compared against the bank player's respective one-card, two-card and three-card hands to determine if the player wins the hand in which case the bank player pays the player, or if the player loses the hand, in which case the player forfeits its wager for the hand, or there is a tie.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,354 ('354 Patent), which issued to Banyai, discloses a casino poker game in which each player plays his or her poker hand against the poker hand or hands of a banker who is preferably also the dealer. The game comprises a modified version of draw poker wherein the players may discard cards and improve their hands with a draw, and wherein each player elects among high, low and high-low poker rankings to his or her hand for application against the dealer's high and/or low hands. Progressive jackpot and bad beat bonus payments are available for both high and low player hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,453 ('453 Patent), which issued to Srichayaporn, discloses a method of playing a high/low poker game includes each seated player placing a first high hand wager in a first high hand betting location and a first low hand wager in a first low hand betting location; each seated player optionally placing one or more additional wagers in one or more additional high hand or low hand betting locations; each seated player designating at least two cards or tiles selected from an initial hand as a high hand and designating at least two cards or tiles from an initial hand as a low hand; determining winners and paying wagers for the first high hand and first low hand betting locations by comparing the relative rank of the seated players' high hands and low hands, respectively; and, if a seated player placed a wager in one or more additional high hand or low hand betting locations, then determining winners and paying wagers for each additional high hand betting location and each additional low hand betting location. A banking version of a high/low poker game additionally includes the step of a dealer setting out a dealer high hand and a dealer low hand to which the player's hands will be compared. In addition, an apparatus for playing a high/low poker game includes a playing area with at least two player stations designated to provide a high hand placement location; a low hand placement location; two or more high hand betting locations; and two or more low hand betting locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,485 ('485 Patent), which issued to Daines, discloses a method of playing a five-card, high-low card game includes dealing a player a five card hand face up and determining if the hand is high or low by the number of low (Ace to 6) card compared with the number of high (8 to King) cards in the hand. Sevens are neutral and are replaced in the hand. The player may place a bet on high or low, prior to being dealt the hand.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0183256, which was authored by Ko, teaches a method which is set forth for playing a Poker game where each player makes a wager and a dealer is dealt N cards and each player is dealt N-1 cards, where N is greater than or equal to 4. Each player has the option to discard and receive replacements for his best hand of N-1 cards. The dealer reveals his hand and assembles the highest ranking hand of N-1 cards which are compared to the player's hand to determine the outcome of first wager. If the dealer's hand does not have at least a predetermined ranking, each player is paid based upon their first wager at odds based upon the player's hand. In one embodiment, where the dealer does not qualify, the player is paid double. The player may make an optional dealer hand wager that the dealer hand will be of a rank below a predetermined ranking. The player may also make a player hand side wager that the player's hand will be one of a predetermined schedule of winning hands.
United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0096130, which was authored by Mullins, teaches a gaming method or system which has at least two different games and a participating progressive jackpot. The progressive jackpot is the same for some or all games within the gaming system. For example, if a given gaming system has two different games, a player can win the progressive jackpot while playing either of the two games. More than two games and more than one progressive jackpot can be utilized within the gaming system described herein. Almost any game can be used in the gaming method and system. It is generally preferred that the games be games of skill and/or chance such as playing card games, high/low card games, twenty-one card games, poker card games, dice games, slot machine casino style games, lottery, pull tab, keno, bingo type games or any other suitable game (i.e. having table fixed jackpots and/or progressive jackpots). All games included within the gaming system utilize at least one progressive jackpot as a prize but may also provide smaller win amounts like table jackpots or a one game jackpot or a one-machine jackpot. The games may be played in whole or in part electronically.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0087082, which was authored by Ko, teaches a method which is set forth for playing a Poker game where each player makes a wager and a dealer is dealt N cards and each player is dealt N-1 cards, where N is greater than or equal to 4. The wager placed may be split into a first wager and a second wager. Each player has the option to discard and receive replacements for his best hand of N-1 cards. Replacement cards may be dealt as community cards, with a number of sets of cards being dealt, and the player having the choice of the best set of cards to use. The dealer reveals his hand and assembles the highest ranking hand of N-1 cards which are compared to the player's hand to determine the outcome of wagers placed according to a pay table associated with each wager. Where the wager has been split, the first wager is paid at even money or better, and the second wager is paid at even money or less. If the dealer's hand does not have at least a predetermined ranking, each player is paid based upon each of their wagers at odds based upon the player's hand. The player may make an optional dealer hand wager that the dealer hand will be of a rank below a predetermined ranking. The player may also make a player hand side wager that the player's hand will be one of a predetermined schedule of winning hands.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0119044, which was authored by Kekempanos et al. teach a method of playing community card games, in table games format and or electronic, video, slot machines for casinos. According to an embodiment of the present invention, one or more players place an initial wager and a dealer/electronic, video, and or slot machine deals at least one card(s) to the players and at least one card(s) to the dealer. The players and dealer then inspect their at least one card(s) and decide to keep them or draw at least one new card to hopefully form a better at least one card(s). If a decision of a draw is made for an at least one new card, the amount of cards that are drawn, you must have that equal amount(s) of card(s) discarded. After the draw option is complete, at least two sets of community card(s) are dealt. Each set of community card(s) has at least one card. The sets of community card(s) will be named “A” SET, “B” SET, and “C” SET etc. Players have to bet on at least one of the set(s) of community card(s) of either A, B, or C etc. Each set of community card(s) will be used in conjunction with each of the players' and or dealer's at least one card, to form the best possible predetermined poker hand, for each. The players' wagers are then resolved by evaluating the players' hands and the dealer's hand in comparison of the best hand of a predetermined fashion, and or the resolution of wagers played against a predetermined pay scale. Various modifications to the first embodiment of the present invention are set forth herein. This method of playing a poker style game, may be used in Texas Hold'Em, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, Omaha Eight or Better (High-Lo Split), Razz, or any poker game using community cards. The number of cards in each set may change and the number of sets for each game may change. The player may choose to bet one set of cards (A) and choose a specific set (B) for the dealer to have to use to complete the dealer hand. These features are new, novel and non-obvious, instead of the old way of only one flop, turn and river, and also the new feature of replacing the hole cards.
As is generally known in the arts, there is no precise information on where or when Texas hold 'em Poker was first played. According to legend, the earliest game played was in Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900s and it first came to Dallas, Tex. in 1925. Texas hold 'em was introduced to Las Vegas by a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Crandall Addington, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim. The game was later introduced to Europe by bookmakers Terry Rogers and Liam “The Gentleman” Flood.
Like most variants of poker, the objective of Texas hold 'em is to win pots, where a pot is the sum of the money bet by oneself and other players in a hand. A pot is won either at the showdown by forming the best five card poker hand out of the seven cards available, or by betting to cause other players to fold and abandon their claim to the pot.
Hold 'em is normally played using small and big blind bets. Antes may be used in addition to blinds, particularly in later stages of tournament play. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. In tournament poker, the blind/ante structure periodically increases as the tournament progresses. (In some cases, the small blind is some other fraction of a small bet, e.g. $10 is a common small blind when the big blind is $15. The double-blind structure described above is relatively recent; until the 1980s, a single-blind structure was most common.)
The three most common variations of hold 'em are limit hold 'em, no-limit hold 'em and pot-limit hold 'em. Limit hold 'em has historically been the most popular form of hold 'em found in casino live action games in the United States. In limit hold 'em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind; this amount is called the big bet. No-limit hold 'em is the form most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in the main event of the World Series of Poker. In no-limit hold 'em, players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). In pot-limit hold 'em, the maximum raise is the current size of the pot.
Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold 'em a closed poker game. The hand begins with a “pre-flop” betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise. After the flop betting round ends a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary.
If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since the other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand.
If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties (see the second example below). Note that the card's numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Hold'em. The best possible hand given the five community cards is referred to as the nuts. The lowest possible nuts is three Queens (on a board such as 2 3 7 8 Q with no more than two cards of any one suit).
Also known as “seven eight” or “stud eight”, eight or better is the most common form of high-low split stud. Played as seven-card stud, but the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand (using the ace-to-five low values). An 8-high hand or lower is required to win low. Betting takes place as if playing standard high-hand stud; that is, low card pays the bring-in, if any, on the first round, and subsequent rounds start the betting with the highest showing poker hand. The showdown is cards speak, that is, there is no declaration for high and low. Each player may choose a different subset of five cards to play for high and low. For example, a player with A-A-8-6-6-4-3 can play a high hand of A-A-6-6-8, and a low hand of 8-6-4-3-A. A player with K-9-8-7-6-5-4 can play a 9-high straight for his high hand, and 8-7-6-5-4 for low (which is the worst possible qualifying low, but it does qualify). A player with K-9-8-7-7-6-5 can play the 9-high straight for high, but cannot play any low hand, because he cannot make an 8-high or lower. If there is no qualifying low hand, high hand takes the entire pot.
Razz is seven-card stud played with ace-to-five low hand values. It is usually played with a bring-in, paid by the player with the highest-ranking upcard on the initial deal (aces are always low cards in Razz, even for the purpose of assigning the bring-in). On the second and subsequent rounds, the player with the lowest exposed hand starts the betting. London lowball is seven-card stud played with ace-to-six low hand values. It is usually played at pot limit or no limit, and is otherwise identical to Razz. A sample Razz deal (suits are omitted here because they are never of consequence in Razz; in London lowball, a flush cannot play as a low hand but otherwise they don't generally matter either) follows:
Alice deals each player two downcards and then one upcard: Bob's upcard is a J, Carol is dealt a 3, David an A, and Alice a 4. Bob's J is the high card (David's A is low), so he pays a $1 bring-in. Carol, David, and Alice all call. Now Bob is dealt a 9, Carol another 3, David a 4, and Alice a 2. The best low hand showing is now David's 4-A, just beating Alice's 4-2. David bets $1, Alice calls. Bob folds his J-9, and Carol calls (her pair of 3s is the worst hand showing, but there are still many cards to come). Alice now deals Carol an A, David a K, and herself an 8. The low hand showing is now Alice's 8-4-2, so she bets $2. Carol raises $2, and David folds. Alice calls, ending the round. Carol is now dealt a 6, and Alice another 8. Now the lowest hand showing is Carol's 3-3-6-A, a pair of 3s being lower than Alice's pair of 8s. She bets $2 and Alice calls. A final downcard is dealt, Carol again best $2, and Alice calls. Alice reveals that her downcards are 7-J-A, making her lowest five-card hand an 8-7-4-2-A. Carol reveals her downcards to be a 4-6-7, making her lowest five-card hand a 7-6-4-3-A, which wins the pot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

How the Game of Texas Hold 'Em is Essentially Played:

The first round of betting is that the players are to call the Big Blind bet to stay in the game. The player who turns to bet can call the Big Blind bet, raise the bet of the fold. When all the betting is done the player who posts the Big Blind has an option to raise or check the bet.
When the dealer/house collects all the players bets into the middle of the table then deals the game; bring one card down and place three cards up in the middle of the poker table as a flop. After three cards are on the poker table the dealer will ask the first player do you want to bet or not?
The player will make his/her move in betting to make a bet or check after all players make their choice of betting the casino/house will collect if any new bets and place it in the middle of table. Then the dealer will deal or other card out one down and one in the middle of the table up as the card. Again the dealer will ask the player for betting after all bets are made if any bets are called or place; the dealer place the chips in the middle of the table. Then the dealer deals the last card. One card down and one card up as the River card. Then the dealer again will ask the player for betting action. After all bets are down the dealer will collect the bet and place the bets in the middle of the table and the dealer/casino will ask to show me a winner the highest hand wins the game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features of my invention will become more evident from a consideration of the following brief description of reference numerals and patent drawings:

No. 1—poker table.

No. 2—casino chips

No. 3—Player Name

No. 4—Chip Rack

No. 5—Pit Amount and Bets

No. 6—Bank Roll

No. 7—Player Cards

No. 8—Community Cards

No. 9—Pot

No. 10—Player Bet

No. 11—For online poker game in play with numbers

No. 12—Action of Game

No. 13—Bet

No. 14—Payouts

No. 15—Dealer Button

FIG. 1 is a table of six players at a poker table, either playing electronically or person to person in a real casino set up. In FIG. 1 player makes betting action to get the game started. Four players are in the game.

FIG. 2 shows three cards as the flop on the game. Three players stay in the game, one folds.

FIG. 3 shows on the third round of betting the turn card is dealt out, all three players stay in the round.

FIG. 4 shows The River card being dealt out. The players makes a bet, one raises, the other two call.

FIG. 5 describes that after all bets are in, the high hand is awarded and the low hand is awarded.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of one poker game from start to finish. The game begins with The Blinds and shows the step by step procedures of the flow chart. It covers all in player activity. Also, if there is no call on the player bet the game is over. When the game completes, the game will start over again.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

More specifically, the game is played as follows:
6 players (3) on Game #394630 (11) each receive 2 (7) cards on Texas Hold 'Em High/Low 8 or Better. The player (3) choice is to stay in (12) or fold (12) their hand of poker.
Bob (3) calls (12) $10.00 (13), Portano (3) called (12) $10.00 (13). Empty Head folds (12) 3XXX (3) folds (12) and rolls (3) bet (3) as $5.00 (12)(13) and The Who (3) checks (12).
The Flop (12) is A♡5♦J♦ (8) Rolls (3) Calls (12) $10.00 (13) Portano (3) calls (12) $10.00 (13) Roll (3) Fold (13).
The turn is 7♡. The Who bets $20.00. Bob calls $20.00, Portano calls $20.00.
The River K♡.
The Who bets $20.00. Bob calls $20.00. Portano raises to $40.00. The Who calls and Bob calls.
Payouts—
The Who can win low with A♡3 4♦, 5♦, 7♡. The Who wins $125.00.
Portano wins High with 3 of a Kind K's.
Portano wins $125.00.
Bob lost no high or no low hand.

Player Cards
C.P.U.
Cont the C.P.U.
Flow Charts of Start CPU=Player=CPU finish.

Claims

1. A pair of Texas Hold 'Em, games, game one comprising Texas Hold Em Hi/Lo 8 or Better and game two comprises Texas Hold 'Em Razz or Low Ball.

2. The casino/house or dealer can set up on the rules of the games of Texas Hold 'Em Hi/Lo 8 or Better and Texas Hold 'Em Razz or Low Ball.

3. In both games Texas Hold 'Em Hi/Lo 8 or Better and Texas Hold 'Em Razz or Low Ball is covered by modifications on the deck of cards set up; adding new card(s) value, new suit(s) or adding joker(s) or wild card(s). Also taking away card(s) or suits.

4. The games defined in claim 3 where the games are playable at any place where poker is played, from casinos to children's game for real money or chips.