Blackjack game with an award modifying feature

1 . A method of playing a game having an award modifying feature comprising the steps of:

a) wagering a monetary amount on a card game involving a player playing against a dealer;

b) playing the card game until an intermediate condition is reached, wherein the intermediate condition includes providing the player and the dealer with one or more cards to form a player's intermediate hand and a dealer's intermediate hand, respectively;

c) providing an intermediate award to the player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules;

d) playing the card game until a final outcome is reached, wherein upon reaching the final outcome the player forms a player's final hand and the dealer forms a dealer's final hand; and

e) modifying the intermediate award to provide a final award if the dealer's final hand satisfies one or more second predefined criteria, wherein the relationship between the final award and the intermediate award is determined by one or more mathematical formulas associated with at least the second satisfied predefined criteria.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of wagering a monetary amount on a card game involving a player playing against a dealer further includes wagering a first amount having an outcome dependent on satisfying the first predefined criteria in the intermediate condition and wagering a second amount having an outcome dependent on the final outcome of the game.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of providing an intermediate award to the player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules, further includes:

determining if the player's intermediate hand is equivalent to an automatic winning blackjack hand comprising an ace card and a second card having a numerical value of ten in accordance with the rules of blackjack; and

determining the rank and suit of the cards in the player's intermediate hand.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more first predefined criteria are satisfied if the player's intermediate hand is determined to be a winning blackjack hand comprising an ace and a second card of the same suit.

5 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the one or more first predefined criteria are satisfied if the player's intermediate hand is determined to be a winning blackjack hand.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the step of providing an intermediate award to the player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules, further includes determining the intermediate award by multiplying the first amount by a predetermined multiplier according to the rank of the second card in the player's intermediate hand.

7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined multiplier is determined according to a payout table.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the payout table comprises:

Player's intermediate hand

Payout

Ace and King of the same suit

25 to 1

Ace and Queen of the same suit

20 to 1

Ace and Jack of the same suit

15 to 1

Ace and 10 of the same suit

10 to 1

Any blackjack

 5 to 1

9 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the step of playing the card game until a final outcome is reached, wherein upon reaching the final outcome the player forms a player's final hand and the dealer forms a dealer's final hand, further includes playing a game of blackjack until a final outcome is reached and the player's final hand and the dealer's final hand are formed.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the step of modifying the intermediate award to provide a final award if the dealer's final hand satisfies one or more second predefined criteria, wherein the relationship between the final award and the intermediate award is determined by one or more mathematical formulas associated with at least the second satisfied predefined criteria, further includes modifying the intermediate award if the cumulative numerical value of the dealer's final hand is greater than twenty-one.

11 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the final award is double the monetary value of the intermediate award.

12 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the step of modifying the intermediate award to provide a final award if the dealer's final hand satisfies one or more second predefined criteria, wherein the relationship between the final award and the intermediate award is determined by one or more mathematical formulas associated with at least the second satisfied predefined criteria, further includes modifying the intermediate award if the cumulative numerical value of the dealer's final hand is equal to twenty-six.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the final award is a multiple of the monetary value of the intermediate award.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of wagering a monetary amount on a card game involving a player playing against a dealer further includes wagering a first amount having an outcome dependent on satisfying the first predefined criteria in the intermediate condition, wagering a second amount having an outcome dependent on the final outcome of the game and wagering a third amount having an outcome dependent on the player's intermediate hand having a cumulative value of either twenty or twenty-one in accordance with the rules of blackjack.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , further comprising the step of providing an additional award being twice the value of the third amount if the player's intermediate hand has a cumulative value of either twenty or twenty-one.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of playing the card game until a final outcome is reached, wherein upon reaching the final outcome the player forms a player's final hand and the dealer forms a dealer's final hand, further includes playing a game of blackjack until a final outcome is reached and the player's final hand and the dealer's final hand are formed.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the step of modifying the intermediate award to provide a final award if the dealer's final hand satisfies one or more second predefined criteria, wherein the relationship between the final award and the intermediate award is determined by one or more mathematical formulas associated with at least the second satisfied predefined criteria, further includes multiplying the intermediate award if the cumulative numerical value of the dealer's final hand is greater than twenty-one and multiplying the additional award by two.

18 . A method of playing a game according to claim 1 , wherein the card game is blackjack.

19 . A method of playing a game according to claim 1 , wherein the card game is baccarat.

20 . A method of playing a game according to claim 1 , wherein the card game is a poker-type game.

21 . A method of playing a wagering card game comprising an underlying card game comprising blackjack and an auxiliary card game comprising:

placing at least one wager on the underlying blackjack game;

placing a wager on the auxiliary card game;

dealing two cards to a player in the blackjack game;

dealing two cards to a dealer hand;

displaying the player's cards to determine if the auxiliary card game has been won according to the rules of the auxiliary game; and

wherein if the two cards dealt to the player wins an amount in the auxiliary card game and the dealer's hand satisfies a predefined event, the amount the player wins in the auxiliary card game is changed.

22 . The method of claim 21 wherein the predefined event comprises the dealer busting.

23 . The method of claim 21 wherein the predefined event is a suited event in the dealer's hand.

24 . The method of claim 21 wherein the predefined event is a suited blackjack in the dealer's hand.

25 . The method of claim 22 wherein the amount won in the auxiliary card game is increased by the predefined event being achieved.

26 . The method of claim 22 wherein the auxiliary card game is a bonus event.

27 . The method of claim 23 wherein the auxiliary card game is a bonus event.

28 . The method of claim 26 wherein the amount won is defined according to a table comprising:

Ace and King of the same suit (Payout at 25 to 1)

Ace and Queen of the same suit (Payout at 20 to 1)

Ace and Jack of the same suit (Payout at 15 to 1)

Ace and 10 of the same suit (Payout at 10 to 1)

Any blackjack with cards (Ace and 10-count card) of different suits (Payout at 5 to 1), and

Any (hard or soft) count of 20 (Payout 1t 2 to 1).

29 . The method of claim 27 wherein the amount won is defined according to a table comprising:

Ace and King of the same suit (Payout at 25 to 1)

Ace and Queen of the same suit (Payout at 20 to 1)

Ace and Jack of the same suit (Payout at 15 to 1)

Ace and 10 of the same suit (Payout at 10 to 1)

Any blackjack with cards (Ace and 10-count card) of different suits (Payout at 5 to 1), and

Any (hard or soft) count of 20 (Payout 1t 2 to 1).

30 . The method of claim 25 wherein the increase comprises the addition of an absolute amount to the amount the player wins.

31 . The method of claim 25 wherein the increase comprises multiplying the amount the player wins.

32 . The method of claim 21 played on an electronic gaming system.

33 . A machine readable media for facilitating a method of playing a game having an award modifying feature, comprising:

a) a data segment for,

i) storing game data relating to a card game in which players play against a dealer having a predefined intermediate condition and a final outcome;

ii) storing wagering data relating to a monetary amount wagered on a card game involving a player playing against a dealer in an wagering database;

iii) storing intermediate condition data relating to an intermediate predefined criteria and a mathematical formula for calculating the appropriate intermediate award; and

iv) storing final outcome data relating to a final predefined criteria and a mathematical formula for calculating the appropriate modification to the intermediate award;

b) a code segment for,

i) playing the card game until the predefined intermediate condition is reached;

ii) determining if an intermediate award is appropriate based on whether a predefined intermediate criteria is satisfied;

iii) playing the card game until the final outcome is reached;

iv) determining if the intermediate award should be modified based on whether a final predefined criteria is satisfied at the final outcome; and

v) modifying the intermediate award based on the determination.

34 . A multi-player platform that provides multiple player positions for live players to engage in a blackjack game having an award modifying feature with a virtual dealer and virtual cards comprising at least two player positions that enable live players to place wagers on the game, a display system for showing a virtual dealer, a display system for showing the virtual cards used in play of the game, and a database that contains the rules of the game, the processor enabling play for each player on the blackjack game according to the rules in the database, wherein the game comprises the steps of:

a) wagering a monetary amount;

b) playing the card game until an intermediate condition is reached, wherein the intermediate condition includes providing a player and the dealer with one or more cards to form a player's intermediate hand and a dealer's intermediate hand, respectively;

c) providing an intermediate award to a player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules stored in the database;

d) playing the card game until a final outcome is reached, wherein upon reaching the final outcome the player forms a player's final hand and the dealer forms a dealer's final hand; and

e) modifying the intermediate award to provide a final award if the dealer's final hand satisfies one or more second predefined criteria stored in the database, wherein the relationship between the final award and the intermediate award is determined by one or more mathematical formulas stored in the database and associated with at least the second satisfied predefined criteria.

35 . The platform of claim 34 , wherein the step of wagering a monetary amount further includes wagering a first amount having an outcome dependent on satisfying the first predefined criteria in the intermediate condition and wagering a second amount having an outcome dependent on the final outcome of the game.

36 . The platform of claim 35 , wherein the step of providing an intermediate award to the player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules, further includes:

determining if the player's intermediate hand is equivalent to an automatic winning blackjack hand comprising an ace card and a second card having a numerical value of ten in accordance with the rules of blackjack; and

determining the rank and suit of the cards in the player's intermediate hand.

37 . The platform of claim 36 , wherein the one or more first predefined criteria are satisfied if the player's intermediate hand is determined to be a winning blackjack hand comprising an ace and a second card of the same suit.

38 . The platform of claim 37 , wherein the step of providing an intermediate award to the player if the player's intermediate hand satisfies one or more first predefined criteria, wherein the intermediate award is determined by a predetermined set of rules, further includes determining the intermediate award by multiplying the first amount by a predetermined multiplier according to the rank of the second card in the player's intermediate hand.

39 . The platform of claim 38 , wherein the predetermined multiplier is determined according to a payout table.

40 . The method according to claim 39 , wherein the payout table comprises:

Player's intermediate hand

Payout

Ace and King of the same suit

25 to 1

Ace and Queen of the same suit

20 to 1

Ace and Jack of the same suit

15 to 1

Ace and 10 of the same suit

10 to 1

Any blackjack

 5 to 1

41 . A system for playing a game having an award modifying feature comprising:

a) a database for storing game data relating to the rules of a card game, a first predefined criteria including a first predetermined set of rule relating to an intermediate award payment amount, a second predefined criteria including a mathematical formula for determining an award modification;

b) a processor for

i) playing the card game until an intermediate condition is reached, wherein the intermediate condition includes providing the player and the dealer with one or more cards to form a player's intermediate hand and a dealer's intermediate hand, respectively;

ii) determining if the first predefined criteria is satisfied;

iii) determining the intermediate award based on the predetermined set of rules if the first predefined criteria is satisfied;

iv) playing the card game until a final outcome is reached, wherein upon reaching the final outcome the player forms a player's final hand and the dealer forms a dealer's final hand;

v) determining if the second predefined criteria is satisfied;

vi) calculating the modification to the intermediate award using the mathematical formula if the second predefined criteria;

c) a user interface for receiving wagers from the players, communicating the game play to the players and distributing the award to players.

42 . The system of claim 41 , wherein the user interface is configured to operate over the world wide web to permit the players to play the card game using the world wide web.

43 . The system of claim 41 , wherein the card game is blackjack.