Method and system for video poker
One embodiment of the present invention comprises a method including steps of populating a primary set of card positions with a first set of initial cards, determining at least one discarded card from the first set of initial cards, replacing the at least one discarded card from the first set of initial cards with replacement cards to form a final set of cards, and determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in at least one secondary set of card positions. If the at least one discarded card is to be included in the at least one secondary set of card positions, the method further provides for populating the at least one secondary set of card positions with the at least one discarded card. Some embodiments of the present invention also provide for determining a payout based on at least the final set of cards.
1. An apparatus, comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor in communication with the storage device,
the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor, and
the processor operative with the program to perform a method comprising:
selecting a card position of a primary set of card positions;
determining a first set of initial cards;
associating each initial card with a respective card position of the primary set of card positions;
determining a discarded card from the first set of initial cards;
if the discarded card is associated with the selected card position,
populating a secondary set of card positions with the discarded card;
replacing the discarded card from the first set of initial cards with a randomly selected replacement card to form a final set of cards, said final set of cards including any initial cards that were not discarded and any randomly selected replacement cards; and
determining a first payout based on the final set of cards.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , in which selecting comprises:
selecting the card position at random from the primary set of card positions.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
determining a second payout based on at least the discarded card.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
highlighting the selected card position.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
populating the primary set of card positions with a second set of initial cards; and
identifying at least one discarded card from the second set of initial cards.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
populating the secondary set of card positions with at least the at least one discarded card from the second set of initial cards.
7. An apparatus, comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor in communication with the storage device,
the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor, and
the processor operative with the program to perform a method comprising:
populating a primary set of card positions with a first set of initial cards;
determining at least one discarded card from the first set of initial cards;
determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in at least one secondary set of card positions;
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions with the at least one discarded card;
replacing the at least one discarded card from the first set of initial cards with a randomly selected replacement card to form a final set of cards, said final set of cards including any initial cards that were not discarded and any randomly selected replacement cards; and
determining a first payout based on the final set of cards.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
determining at random whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 ,
in which the at least one discarded card is associated with a respective card position of the primary set of card positions, and
in which determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions based on the respective card position associated with the at least one discarded card.
10. The apparatus of claim 7 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
associating the at least one discarded card with a queue of discarded cards,
each discarded card of the queue of discarded cards having a respective order in the queue; and
in which determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
determining whether to include the at least one discarded card based on its respective order in the queue.
11. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions with the at least one discarded card after a predetermined period of time.
12. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions with the at least one discarded card after a period of time determined at random.
13. The apparatus of claim 7 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
populating the primary set of card positions with a second set of initial cards; and
in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
after populating the primary set of card positions with the second set of initial cards,
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions with the at least one discarded card.
14. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
determining a highest expected value based on the at least one secondary set of card positions and the at least one discarded card; and
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions based on the highest expected value.
15. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions based on at least one predetermined rule.
16. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions based on at least one player preference.
17. The apparatus of claim 7 , in which populating the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
populating the at least one secondary set of card positions based on the at least one discarded card and at least one predetermined card position of the at least one secondary set of card positions.
18. The apparatus of claim 7 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
associating the at least one discarded card with a set of discarded cards; and
in which determining whether to include the at least one discarded card in the at least one secondary set of card positions comprises:
selecting at least one of the discarded cards from the set of discarded cards at random.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , the processor operative with the program further to perform:
displaying the set of discarded cards at a holding location that is not of the primary set of card positions and is not of the at least one secondary set of card positions.