METHOD OF PLAYING A BACCARAT GAME OF CHANCE

Technical Field

This invention relates to the field of playing a game of chance called Baccarat which allows a player to make a separate wager in addition to the base wager to potentially increase the player's winnings by allowing the player to make a separate wager on predicting what the total number of cards that will be dealt in the game will be that is the total number of cards dealt to the Player Hand and Banker Hand. A player may wager that either a total of four (4), five (5) or six (6) cards will dealt in the game. Background Art and Disclosure of the Invention

The invention is associated with the improvement of the game of chance called Baccarat which allows a player to make an additional separate wager from the traditional base Baccarat wager which offers the player the opportunity to wager on predicting what the total number of cards that will be dealt to the Player Hand and Banker Hand which is called Bonus Baccarat.

Traditional Baccarat is played as follows: Players make wagers before the hands are dealt in any amount from the table minimum to the table maximum. There are three options;

• betting on the Player Hand

• betting on the Banker Hand

• betting on a Tie

Baccarat is usually played with six (6) or eight (8) standard complete decks of cards. The cards are shuffled by the dealer, and then placed in a special box called the "shoe".

Four cards are dealt face-down:

1. First card to the Player Hand. The dealer takes a card from the "dealing player" and passes it to the player who wagered the largest amount on "Player Hand".

2. Second card to the Banker Hand.

3. Third card to the Player Hand.

4. Fourth card to the Banker Hand.

The player who got two cards (normally the player who wagered the largest amount!) takes first look at the cards - then cards are passed to the dealer who announces the numeric value of the Player Hand and places cards to the special area on the table marked as "PLAYERS".

Then the same procedure with the Banker Hand - the player who acts as a banker looks at the cards and passes them to the dealer who announces the numeric value of the Banker Hand and places cards to the special area on the table marked as "BANKERS".

Card values in Baccarat are different than other games. The value of a hand is determined by adding the values of its individual cards. Tens and face cards are counted as zero, while all other cards counted by the number on the card face. Only the last digit of the total is used, so all baccarat hands have values of between 0 and 9 inclusive (e.g., if

one card is a six of diamonds and the other is a eight of clubs, the value of the hand is 4). The hand with the higher value wins, if hands of the same value, the result is a tie. If either hand has a total of 8 or 9 (nine is the highest), then it is called a "Natural" and no more cards are dealt. If it is not a natural, then depending on the value of each hand the casino dealer may instruct the card dealer to draw a third card. The decision when to deal a third card follows precise set rules used by all casinos called Baccarat Drawing Rules.

As a matter of fact, all you need to do to play the Baccarat is to make the bet. Once a bet has been placed, there are no opportunities for further decisions-both the Banker Hand and the Player Hand are dealt according to Baccarat Drawing Rules. The Baccarat Drawing Rules are as follows: (1) if the first two cards of the Player Hand total 6 or more, then the player must stand without drawing another card, however, if the first two cards of the Player Hand total five or less, the player must draw one additional card; and (2) if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total 7 or more, then the banker must stand without drawing a card, however, if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total either 0, 1 or 2, then the banker must draw one card, but if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total 3, 4, 5, or 6, then whether the banker draws another card is determined by whether the Player Hand drew an additional, and if so what the value of the Player Hand's drawn card is as shown by the table below.

Banker Hand Drawing vs. Player Hand Drawing

Banker Player Hand Hand Value Drawn

8 - - -

7 - - -

6 - - - D D

5 D - - D D D D

4 D - - D D D D D D

3 D D D D D D D D D D

2 D D D D D D D D D D D

1 D D D D D D D D D D D

0 D D D D D D D D D D D

D = Banker Draws card, N = No card drawn by Player, — = means no draw by Banker

The Baccarat's fixed rules results in final hands of either two or three cards for each. The dealer keeps track of the Player Hand and the Banker Hand totals and announces the winning hand.

The winning hand will be the hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. If there is a tie, bets on the Banker Hand or Player Hand are returned.

This invention which is called "Bonus Baccarat" involves a separate individual bet from the traditional game. The way it works is as follows: Prior to the cards being dealt, the players have the option to make a separate bet by betting on what they think

will be the number of total cards which will be dealt in the game which is the total number of cards dealt to both the Player Hand and Banker Hand. The players can bet on whether there will be a total of either four (4) cards, five (5) cards or six (6) cards dealt. The player(s) place a monetary wager on special designated place on the table for either 4, 5 or 6 cards. The odds to win are as follows: Four cards is even money (e.g., bet $1 to win $1) while Five or Six cards is 1.5 to 1.0 (e.g. bet $1 to win $1.50). This is just an example of the payout odds and the odds may be adjusted as determined by the gaming establishment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. IA - 1C are flow diagrams showing the configuration of the game and showing how the game is played.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the betting option on the casino betting table.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

FIG. IA- 1C represents flow diagrams for playing a game of chance called Bonus Baccarat which allows a player to make a separate wager in addition to the base wager to potentially increase the player's winnings by allowing the players to make a separate wager on betting on what the total number of cards that will be dealt in the game will be that is the total number of cards dealt to both the Player and Dealer's Hands (i.e., a total of four (4), five (5) or six (6) cards).

A game is started by the dealer shuffling the playing cards which normally consists of between six (6) and eight (8) standard 52 card decks 204. The players then

make wager(s) on whether the Player Hand or Banker Hand will win 206. The winning hand is the hand which has the total numeric value closes to the value of nine (9) 226. The players are then also given the opportunity to make wager(s) on what the total number of cards that will be dealt in the game to both the Player Hand and Banker Hand will be 208. This is called the Bonus Baccarat Option 208. There is a separate location on the betting table that accepts the Bonus Baccarat Wager which is illustrated by diagram in Fig. 2. As identified in Fig. 2, the odds to win are as follows: If you choose Four cards and are correct its even money (e.g., bet $1 to win $1) while if you choose Five or Six cards and are correct its 1.5 to 1 (e.g. bet $1 to win $1.50). This is just an example of the payout odds and the odds may be adjusted as determined by the casino. The dealer begins the dealing by dealing two cards face down to both the Player Hand and Banker Hand with the first and third card dealt going to the Player Hand while the second and fourth card dealt going to the Banker Hand 210. The dealer then turns over the two cards in the Player Hand face-up and then turns over the two cards in the Banker Hand face-up so that all players can see the cards value 212. The Player Hand and Banker Hand are always kept separated on different parts of the table. The dealer then calculates the numeric value of the Player Hand and the numeric value of the Banker Hand 214. The value of a hand is determined by adding the values of its individual cards. Tens and face cards are counted as zero, while all other cards counted by the number on the card face. Only the last digit of the total is used, so all baccarat hands have values of between 0 and 9 inclusive (e.g., if one card is a six of diamonds and the other is a eight of clubs, the value of the hand is 4). If either the Player Hand or Banker Hand has a numeric value of 8 or 9 then no additional cards are dealt and the game is considered over

216. If either the Player Hand or Banker Hand is 8 or 9, then the dealer determines if the Player Hand or Banker Hand wins or if there is a tie 226. The hand that has the closes numeric values to 9 is considered the winning hand 226. The dealer then determines if the wager(s) made on the Player Hand wins, losses or ties and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly 228. The dealer determines if the wager(s) made on the Banker Hand wins, losses or ties and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly 228. The dealer then counts the total number of cards dealt to both the Player Hand and Banker Hand 232. The dealer then determines if wagers made on the Bonus Baccarat option are winners or losers and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly. If neither the Player Hand or Banker Hand has a numeric values of 8 or 9, then the dealer must determine if additional cards must be dealt 216. The dealer then assesses the numeric value of Player Hand 218. The Baccarat Drawing Rules are as follows: (1) if the first two cards of the Player Hand total 6 or more, then the player must stand without drawing another card, however, if the first two cards of the Player Hand total five or less, the player must draw one additional card; and (2) if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total 7 or more, then the banker must stand without drawing a card, however, if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total either 0, 1 or 2, then the banker must draw one card, but if the first two cards of the Banker Hand total 3, 4, 5, or 6, then whether the banker draws another card is determined by whether the Player Hand drew an additional, and if so what the value of the Player Hand's drawn card is as shown by the table below.

Banker Hand Drawing vs. Player Hand Drawing

Banker Player

Hand Hand

Value Drawn

8 - -

7 - -

6 - - D D

5 D - D D D D

4 D - D D D D D D

3 D D D D D D D D D D

2 D D D D D D D D D D D

1 D D D D D D D D D D D

0 D D D D D D D D D D D

D = Banker Draws card, N = No card drawn by Player, — = means no draw by Banker

Based upon the casino rules of play or what is called the Baccarat Drawing Rules and the numeric value of Player Hand, dealer determines if a third card should be dealt to Player Hand and acts accordingly 220. The dealer then assesses the numeric value of Banker Hand 222. Based upon the casino rules of play and the numeric value of Banker Hand, dealer determines if a third card should be dealt to Banker Hand and acts accordingly 224. At this point, the dealer then determines if the Player Hand or Banker Hand wins or if there is a tie 226. The hand that has the closes numeric values to 9 is

considered the winning hand 226. The dealer then determines if the wager(s) made on the Player Hand wins, losses or ties and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly 228. The dealer determines if the wager(s) made on the Banker Hand wins, losses or ties and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly 228. The dealer then counts the total number of cards dealt to both the Player Hand and Banker Hand 232. The dealer then determines if wagers made on the Bonus Baccarat option are winners or losers and collects wagers or makes payouts accordingly.