Granted Patent B2

US 8,105,144 · App. 12/243,006 · Granted Jan 31, 2012

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A gaming terminal capable of conducting a wagering game, the gaming terminal comprising:

one or more displays for displaying a plurality of symbol-bearing objects to form a plurality of user-playable hands and for displaying a plurality of community symbol-bearing objects, wherein the plurality of community symbol-bearing objects is capable of being combined with each of the user-playable hands;

a wager input device to receive a wager for the plurality of user-playable hands;

an input device for allowing a player to select at least one of the displayed plurality of user-playable hands to discard, the unselected user-playable hands forming a reduced plurality of user-playable hands, the reduced plurality of user-playable hands including at least two user-playable hands; and

a controller operative to form individual best hands by combining the plurality of community symbol-bearing objects with each of the reduced plurality of user-playable hands, wherein the entire received wager is allocated to the reduced plurality of user-playable hands.

2. The gaming terminal of claim 1 , wherein the input device further allows the player to select a preferred hand from at least one of the displayed user-playable hands.

3. The gaming terminal of claim 2 further comprising a system memory capable of storing a pay table thereon, wherein the controller is further operative to rank a preferred individual best hand formed by combining the preferred hand with the community symbol-bearing objects, the rank being based on the pay table stored on the system memory.

4. The gaming terminal of claim 3 , wherein the controller is further operative to increase the primary payoff when the preferred hand rank is favorably compared to the pay table.

5. A method of conducting a wagering game, comprising:

receiving a wager for a plurality of user-playable hands via a wager input device;

providing a plurality of cards to form the plurality of user-playable hands via a controller;

discarding, via player selection, at least one of the plurality of user-playable hands, creating a reduced plurality of user-playable hands, the reduced plurality of user-playable hands including at least two user-playable hands;

providing a plurality of community cards via the controller;

after providing the plurality of community cards, discarding, via player selection, at least a second one of the plurality of user-playable hands to create a further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands, wherein each of the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands is capable of being combined with the plurality of community cards to form a plurality of individual best hands;

selecting a preferred user-playable hand from the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands; and

allocating the entire received wager to the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands via the controller and increasing the payoff for the preferred user-playable hand by applying a multiplier to the associated payoff amount contained in a pay table via the controller.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising awarding a player a payoff for each of the individual best hands meeting a predetermined criterion.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising awarding the player a primary payoff for each of the plurality of individual best hands, the primary payoff being based on the pay table.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of user-playable hands and the plurality of community cards are dealt from a deck including at least 52 standard playing cards and the playing cards are combined to form poker hands.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising awarding a player a payoff based on a raking of the individual best hands in response to one or more of the individual best hands meeting a predetermined criterion.

10. A method of conducting a wagering game, comprising:

receiving a wager for a plurality of user-playable hands via a wager input device;

providing a plurality of cards to form the plurality of user-playable hands via a controller;

discarding, via player selection, at least one of the plurality of user-playable hands, creating a reduced plurality of user-playable hands, the reduced plurality of user-playable hands including at least two user-playable hands;

providing a draw of at least one additional card via the controller;

after providing the draw of at least one additional card, discarding, via player selection, at least a second one of the plurality of user-playable hands to create a further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands, wherein each of the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands is capable of being combined with the draw of at least one additional card to form a plurality of individual best hands; and

allocating the entire received wager to the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands via the controller.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising awarding a player a payoff for each of the individual best hands meeting a predetermined criterion.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising awarding the player a primary payoff for each of the plurality of individual best hands, the primary payoff being based on the pay table.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of user-playable hands and the at least one additional card are dealt from a deck including at least 52 standard playing cards and the playing cards are combined to form poker hands.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising providing a player with the ability to select a preferred hand from the further-reduced plurality of user-playable hands.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising awarding the player a primary payoff for each of the plurality of individual best hands, the primary payoff being based on a pay table containing payoff amounts.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising increasing the primary payoff for the preferred individual best hand by applying a multiplier to the associated payoff amount contained in the pay table.

Assignments (9)