System and method for concurrently playing multiple communal card poker games

A method for electronically facilitating concurrent play of multiple, communal-card poker games by a participant, comprising:

• displaying a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards on a display device, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand;
• allowing the participant to select one of the plurality of selectable starting hands via a user interface;
• displaying a plurality of multi-card flops on the display device, wherein each of the multi-card flops displayed corresponds to one of the concurrently-played poker games;
• deriving a plurality of participant resulting poker hands, one for each combination of the participant's selected starting hand and each of the multi-card flops, wherein each of the participant's resulting poker hands is derived by determining the highest poker rank available for a predetermined number of total cards associated with each combination of the participant's selected starting hand and each of the multi-card flops;
• deriving a plurality of remaining resulting poker hands, one for each combination of non-selected ones of the starting hands and each of the multi-card flops, wherein each of the remaining resulting poker hands is derived by determining the highest poker rank available for the predetermined number of total cards associated with each combination of the non-selected starting hands and each of the multi-card flops;
• and
• comparing the participant's resulting poker hands to the remaining resulting poker hands for each of the concurrently-played poker games to determine whether the participant's resulting poker hands have a higher poker rank than corresponding ones of the remaining resulting poker hands for each of the concurrently-played poker games.

A method for a plurality of players to concurrently play multiple communal-card poker rounds, comprising:

• (a) presenting a plurality of starting hands face-up, wherein each starting hand includes one or more cards representing a potential portion of a resulting poker hand;
• (b) requiring each player to select any one of the starting hands;
• (c) presenting a plurality of communal-card flops face-up, wherein one of the communal-card flops is presented for each of the multiple poker rounds that is concurrently played;
• (d) for a first of the concurrently-played poker rounds, comparing the players' resulting poker hands, each derived from each player's selected starting hand and a first of the communal-card flops, wherein a predetermined poker rank is used as a criterion for comparison;
• and
• (e) for a second of the concurrently-played poker rounds, comparing the players' resulting poker hands, each derived from each player's selected starting hand and a second of the communal-card flops, wherein the predetermined poker rank is used as the criterion for comparison.

A method for concurrently playing multiple communal-card poker games, comprising:

• presenting a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand;
• allowing game participants to select any one of the plurality of selectable starting hands;
• presenting a plurality of communal-card flops, wherein each of the presented communal-card flops corresponds to one concurrently-played communal-card poker game;
• deriving resulting poker hands for each of the concurrently-played communal-card poker games for each of the participants, wherein each of the resulting poker hands is derived from at least a portion of the cards associated with each selected starting hand and one of the communal-card flops;
• and
• comparing each of the participants' resulting poker hands to each other on a per-poker game basis.

A method for concurrently playing multiple poker rounds, comprising:

• dealing a plurality of starting hands, wherein each starting hand includes one or more cards representing a potential portion of a resulting poker hand;
• selecting one of the starting hands by a game participant for use in all of the multiple poker rounds;
• distributing remaining starting hands to a corresponding number of dummy hands for use in all of the multiple poker rounds;
• dealing a plurality of communal card flops, wherein each of the communal card flops includes at least one face up card, and wherein the number of communal card flops dealt corresponds to the number of multiple poker rounds being concurrently played;
• determining participant poker ranks for each of the game participant's resulting poker hands derived from cards comprising the selected starting hand and each of the plurality of the communal card flops;
• determining remaining poker ranks for each resulting dummy hand derived from cards comprising each remaining starting hand and each of the plurality of the communal card flops;
• and
• for each of the multiple poker rounds concurrently played, determining which of the participant's resulting poker hands and the dummy hands corresponds to a winning poker hand in accordance with a predetermined poker rank hierarchy.

A computer-implemented poker apparatus for allowing a game participant to concurrently play a plurality of communal-card poker rounds, the poker apparatus comprising:

• a display device to display an electronic image of a plurality of starting hands and a plurality of communal-card flops, wherein the number of the communal-card flops dealt corresponds to the number of concurrently played communal-card poker rounds, and wherein the starting hands represent a potential portion of a resulting poker hand;
• a user interface to allow the game participant to select one of the displayed starting hands;
• and
• a computer processing system configured to derive a plurality of participant's resulting poker hands from corresponding card groups comprising the selected starting hand and each of the plurality of communal-card flops, to derive remaining resulting poker hands from corresponding card groups comprising each non-selected starting hand in connection with each of the plurality of communal-card flops, and to determine relative poker ranks of the participant's resulting poker hand and the remaining resulting poker hands for each corresponding poker round.

A computer-implemented poker apparatus for allowing a game participant to concurrently play a plurality of communal-card poker games, the poker apparatus comprising:

• means for displaying a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand;
• means for allowing the participant to select one of the plurality of selectable starting hands;
• means for displaying a plurality of multi-card flops, wherein each of the multi-card flops displayed corresponds to one of the concurrently-played poker games;
• means for deriving a plurality of participant resulting poker hands, one for each combination of the participant's selected starting hand and the plurality of multi-card flops;
• means for deriving a plurality of remaining resulting poker hands, one for each combination of non-selected ones of the starting hands and the plurality of multi-card flops;
• and
• means for comparing the participant resulting poker hands to the remaining resulting poker hands on a per-poker game basis, such that the participant resulting poker hands and the remaining resulting poker hands associated with corresponding multi-card flops are compared.

A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a computer system for electronically facilitating concurrent play of multiple communal-card poker games by a participant by performing steps comprising:

• displaying a plurality of selectable starting hands of cards on a display device, wherein each of the selectable starting hands represents a potential subset of a resulting poker hand;
• allowing the participant to select one of the plurality of selectable starting hands via a user interface;
• displaying a plurality of multi-card flops on the display device, wherein each of the multi-card flops displayed corresponds to one of a plurality of concurrently-played poker games;
• deriving a plurality of participant resulting poker hands, one for each combination of the participant's selected starting hand and the plurality of multi-card flops;
• deriving a plurality of remaining resulting poker hands, one for each combination of non-selected ones of the starting hands and the plurality of multi-card flops;
• and
• comparing the participant resulting poker hands to the remaining resulting poker hands on a per-poker game basis, such that tie participant resulting poker hands and the remaining resulting poker hands associated with corresponding multi-card flops are compared.