Casino game with next round multipliers

1. A method of operating a gaming machine, said method comprising:

(i) if a physical item associated with a monetary value is received via an acceptor supported by a housing of the gaming machine, identifying, via the acceptor, the received physical item and causing a processor to establish a credit balance based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the received and identified physical item;

(ii) if a wager button is actuated, causing the processor to place a first round wager on a first round of play of a card game and initiate the first round of play of the card game, the credit balance being decreasable by the first round wager;

(iii) for the first round of play of the card game:

(a) causing a processor to randomly select an initial hand of cards from a virtual deck of at least fifty-two cards;

(b) causing the processor to operate with a display device to display the initial hand of cards;

(c) causing the processor to operate with an input device to receive a selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold;

(d) causing the processor to form a final hand of cards by:

(1) operating with the display device to discard any non-held cards of the initial hand of cards;

(2) for each of any discarded cards, randomly selecting a replacement card from the cards remaining in the virtual deck of cards, and

(3) operating with the display device to display any such replacement cards;

(e) causing the processor to determine one of a plurality of different poker hand categories of the final hand; and

(f) when the poker hand category of the final hand is one of a plurality of different winning poker hand categories:

(1) causing the processor to determine an award for said final hand based at least in part on the final hand, a paytable, and any multiplier determined in a prior round of play, the paytable including, for each winning poker hand category, an award associated with said winning poker hand category, the credit balance being increasable by the award;

(2) providing the determined award; and

(3) causing the processor to determine a multiplier that is usable in a next round of play based at least in part on the final hand and a multiplier table, the multiplier table including, for each winning poker hand category, a multiplier associated with said winning poker hand category;

(iv) providing the next round of play using any determined multiplier from the first round of play, any determined multiplier being applied to at least one winning poker hand category in the paytable for said next round of play; and

(v) if a cashout button is actuated, causing the processor to initiate a payout associated with the credit balance.

2. The method of claim 1 , which includes providing (iii)(f)(3) if a secondary wager is placed in addition to said first round wager for the first round of play of the card game.

3. The method of claim 2 , which includes providing (iv) if the secondary wager is placed in addition to a next round wager placed for the next round of play of the card game.

4. The method of claim 3 , which includes providing the next round of play of the card game without using any determined multiplier from the first round of play if the secondary wager is not placed in addition to the next round wager.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first poker winning hand category is associated with a first multiplier and a second different poker winning hand category is associated with a second different multiplier.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein a probability of the final hand being of the first poker winning hand category is greater than a probability of the final hand being of the second poker winning hand category and the second multiplier is greater than the first multiplier.

7. The method of claim 1 , which includes, when the final hand is a losing hand, causing the processor to not determine any multiplier used for the next round of play.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input device includes a touch screen, and wherein causing the processor to operate with the input device to receive the selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold includes, for each held card of the initial hand of cards, receiving a touch in an area of the touch screen proximate said displayed held card.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input device includes a separate physical button associated with each card of the initial hand of cards, and wherein causing the processor to operate with the input device to receive the selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold includes, for each held card of the initial hand of cards, receiving an actuation of the physical button associated with said held card.

10. A gaming machine comprising:

a housing;

a processor;

a display device supported by the housing;

a plurality of input devices supported by the housing, the plurality of input devices including an acceptor; and

a memory device that stores a plurality of instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to operate with the display device and the plurality of input devices to:

(i) if a physical item associated with a monetary value is received via the acceptor, identify the received physical item via the acceptor and establish a credit balance based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the received and identified physical item;

(ii) if a wager button is actuated, place a first round wager on a first round of play of a card game and initiate the first round of play of the card game, the credit balance being decreasable by the wager;

(iii) for the first round of play of the card game:

(a) randomly select an initial hand of cards from a virtual deck of at least fifty-two cards;

(b) display the initial hand of cards;

(c) receive a selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold;

(d) form a final hand of cards by:

(1) discarding any non-held cards of the initial hand of cards;

(2) for each of any discarded cards, randomly selecting a replacement card from the cards remaining in the virtual deck of cards, and

(3) displaying any such replacement cards;

(e) determine one of a plurality of different poker hand categories of the final hand; and

(f) when the poker hand category of the final hand is one of a plurality of different winning poker hand categories:

(1) determine an award for said final hand based at least in part on the final hand, a paytable, and any multiplier determined in a prior round of play, the paytable including, for each winning poker hand category, an award associated with said winning poker hand category, the credit balance being increasable by the award;

(2) display the determined award; and

(3) determine a multiplier that is usable in a next round of play based at least in part on the final hand and a multiplier table, the multiplier table including, for each winning poker hand category, a multiplier associated with said winning poker hand category;

(iv) provide the next round of play using any determined multiplier from the first round of play, any determined multiplier being applied to at least one winning poker hand category in the paytable for said next round of play; and

(v) if a cashout button is actuated, initiate a payout associated with the credit balance.

11. The gaming machine of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to provide (iii)(f)(3) if a secondary wager is placed received in addition to said first round wager for the first round of play of the card game.

12. The gaming machine of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to operate with the display device and the plurality of input devices to provide (iv) (ii) if the secondary wager is placed in addition to a next round wager placed for the next round of play of the card game.

13. The gaming machine of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to operate with the display device and the plurality of input devices to provide the next round of play of the card game without using any determined multiplier from the first round of play if the secondary wager is not placed in addition to the next round wager.

14. The gaming machine of claim 10 , wherein a first poker winning hand category is associated with a first multiplier and a second different poker winning hand category is associated with a second different multiplier.

15. The gaming machine of claim 14 , wherein a probability of the final hand being of the first poker winning hand category is greater than a probability of the final hand being of the second poker winning hand category and the second multiplier is greater than the first multiplier.

16. The gaming machine of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, when the final hand is a losing hand, not determine any multiplier used for the next round of play.

17. The gaming machine of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of input devices include a touch screen, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to operate with the touch screen to receive the selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold by, for each held card of the initial hand of cards, receiving a touch in an area of the touch screen proximate said displayed held card.

18. The gaming machine of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of input devices include a separate physical button associated with each card of the initial hand of cards, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to operate with the physical buttons to receive the selection of any cards of the initial hand of cards to hold by, for each held card of the initial hand of cards, receiving an actuation of the physical button associated with said held card.