US2009091083 (A1), WERTZBERGER STUART [US]
[0001] The present invention relates to card games, and more particularly to poker, and specifically to the poker games of Texas Hold'Em, Omaha and Omaha 8 or Better. Currently, Texas Hold'Em is one of the most popular poker games being played at gaming establishments in both the real and virtual worlds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It is an object of the present invention to provide a revised version of Texas Hold'Em, Omaha and Omaha 8 or Better which provides modified betting opportunities when compared with conventional rules for these games.
[0003] Pursuant to this object and other which will be become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in a poker game in which an additional, "Winner's Button" is utilized, the holder of which is in the desirable position of being last to place bets during the hand.
[0004] Although the game will be described as being played live at a gaming table, it is within the ambit of the present invention that the play of the game can be implemented electronically, such as on an electronic gaming machine, a portable hand held device, a stand-alone game machine, a personal computer, and others that are commercially available and known to those skilled in the art.
[0005] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The invention will be described in connection with each of the card games Texas Hold'Em, Omaha and Omaha 8 or Better.
[0007] As is known, the basic rules for Texas Hold'Em are as follows. The dealer shuffles a standard 52-card deck. In casinos, the dealer never plays. A round disk known as a "Dealer Button" moves clockwise from player to player with each hand. The button marks which player would be the dealer if the deal were advanced from player to player as the game went along. Generally, the game starts with one or two players to the left of the dealer (the Dealer Button) putting a pre-determined amount of money into the pot before any cards are dealt. This amount is referred to as "The Blind", with the first player's amount being the "Small Blind" and the second player's amount being the "Big Blind".
[0008] Next, each player is dealt two cards face down. At this point, betting begins with the player to the left of the two players who posted The Blinds.
[0009] After the first round of betting, the dealer deals three cards face up on the table, these cards are called "The Flop". If desired, before dealing The Flop, the dealer can discard or "burn" the top card on the deck.
[0010] After The Flop, another round of betting takes place similarly to the first round. After the second round of betting, a fourth card is dealt by the dealer face up on the table. This fourth card is called "The Turn". Again, the dealer can burn or discard the top card in the deck before dealing The Turn. A third round of betting then takes place after The Turn as in the first two rounds. After the third round of betting, the dealer deals a fifth and final card face up on the table, which card is known as "The River". As previously mentioned, the dealer can burn or discard the top card on the deck before dealing The River card.
[0011] Next, a final round of betting takes place. After this final round of betting, each player can use any combination of seven cards consisting of the two cards in a player's hand and the five community cards face up on the table to form the best possible 5-card poker hand. The player with the best hand wins.
[0012] To this point, the present invention follows the same rules as conventional Texas Hold'Em. From this point on, however, the betting hierarchy changes from hand to hand. The winner of this first hand receives a "Winner's Button". In the subsequent hand the player holding the Winner's Button is skipped over in the betting no matter what position he/she is in until all others have acted including the player with the Dealer Button and the Small and Big Blinds. After the Big Blind has acted, betting moves to the holder of the Winner's Button who is in the position to bet last. Play and betting continue throughout the course of the hand with all of the positions continuing to act in the order prescribed by the traditional rules, with the exception of the holder of the Winner's Button who would continue to bet last after all of the other players have bet.
[0013] After this subsequent hand is over and the winner determined, the Winner's Button is passed to that winner. The game then continues from hand to hand with the Winner's Button being passed from winner to winner while the Dealer's Button continues its clockwise rotation around the table.
[0014] In the event of a split pot, the Winner's Button goes to the same person who would normally receive the extra chip according to local casino/poker room rules.
[0015] This modified version of Texas Hold'Em is attractive to gamblers in that being in the final betting position is desirable from a strategy perspective. Therefore, the present invention is attractive in that it presents to the players the opportunity to be in an advantageous betting position if they are winning.
[0016] Therefore, when playing the double button poker game of the present invention, the first hand of a game, or a hand where the winner of the previous hand leaves the table, would only use a single Dealer Button. Every other hand will utilize both the Dealer's Button and a second, Winner's Button.
[0017] Omaha is played similar to Texas Hold'Em with the following differences: 1. each player is dealt four cards instead of two (however there are still five community cards); and 2. to form the best hand, each player must use two cards from his hand and any combination of three cards from the five community cards.
[0020] The use of the Winner's Button and Dealer's Button as described previously in connection with double button Texas Hold'Em is the same.
[0021] Omaha 8 or Better is similar to Omaha, except if there are three cards on the board that allow a low hand to be made that include an eight and two lower cards, the pot will be split between the winning high hand and the winning low hand. If there are not three cards of eight or below among the five community cards, then the hand is played the same as Omaha.
[0022] For a split pot in Omaha 8 or Better, the Winner's Button goes to the high hand winner.
[0023] Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited but by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.
