the method of the present invention hereinafter set forth provides for a side , or bonus wager , for a blackjack - style game . by blackjack - style game what is meant is a game where there is a target value set for the valuation of the hands , players receive hands of cards as does a dealer , and winning and losing of the blackjack - style game is based upon comparison of the dealer &# 39 ; s and player &# 39 ; s hands inter se as well as in relation to the target value . in connection with blackjack - style games , the method of play of tradition blackjack is well known but will briefly be described to aid in the understanding of the present invention . other such blackjack - style games include games such as “ spanish 21 ” as described in lofink et al , u . s . pat . no . 5 , 615 , 888 and “ no bust 21 ” as described in mostashari , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 170 , 828 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as well as blackjack games which offer various side wagers . the game , as is well known , is played by the player making a game wager to participate in the game . once the players have made their wagers , the dealer deals to each participating player an initial hand of two - cards and deals himself an up card and a hole card to define an initial dealer &# 39 ; s set s of cards . each player , in turn , is provided with several options to complete their hands . the basic object of the players &# 39 ; actions is to complete their hands to have a card sum value equaling or getting close to the game &# 39 ; s predetermined target value , which for traditional blackjack , is “ 21 .” if the player &# 39 ; s hand exceeds the target value , they automatically “ bust ” and lose their game wager . in summing the cards , the following values are assigned to the cards : as is well known in the game of traditional blackjack , the following options may be exercised by each player : 1 . the player may stand on the sum value of the initial two cards . for example , if the player has a queen and an 8 , their card sum value is 18 and the player would stand . if the player has a 4 and a 6 , their initial holding ( set s ) has a value sum of 10 and the player would take at least one or more additional card ( s ), or “ hit ( s ).” 2 . the player may take one or more hits . for example , if the player &# 39 ; s initial hand is a 4 and a 6 , the player would take an additional card . if the first hit card is , for example , a 2 for a hand sum value of 12 , the player may take another hit . if the second hit card is a queen , the sum value would be 22 and the player would bust and immediately lose the game wager and be out of the hand of play . if the second hit card is a 9 , the player would stand on a hand sum value of 21 . 3 . the player may , according to some rules , surrender their hand and one - half of their wager . 4 . the player may “ split ” if their first two cards are a pair , e . g ., a pair of 8s . the player matches their initial wager and splits each of the 8s into separate hands and hits or stands according to the above . 5 . the player may double down on their first two cards . for example , if the player has a 4 and a 6 the player may double their game wager and receive one additional card to complete their hand . 6 . if the dealer &# 39 ; s up card is an ace , the player may take insurance by matching their game wager . if the dealer has a ten - value hole card for a natural , the player loses their game wager but is paid 2 : 1 on their insurance wager thus resulting in no loss to the player . it should be noted that where the dealer &# 39 ; s up card is an ace and the dealer has a natural , the player automatically loses their wager and , except for insurance , can exercise no other option . certain rules may be adopted such as , if the dealer &# 39 ; s up card is an ace and the player has a natural , the player may elect to receive a 1 : 1 payment on their game wager before the dealer checks the hold hole card for a natural . after all players have exercised their options in regards to their hand the dealer completes his hand . the dealer &# 39 ; s actions are generally according to the following rules . if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand sum value is less than 17 , the dealer would take additional cards defining a set c of additional cards until his hand sum value is equal to or exceeds 17 . some rules require the dealer to stand on a soft 17 and some rules require the dealer to hit a soft 17 . if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand sum value exceeds the target value of 21 , the dealer busts and he loses and all players who have not previously busted themselves , win their game wagers and are paid 1 : 1 . if the dealer does not bust , the game wagers are resolved by comparing the dealer &# 39 ; s hand sum value to that of each player in succession . if the player &# 39 ; s value exceeds the dealer &# 39 ; s , the player wins and is paid 1 : 1 based on their game wager . if the dealer &# 39 ; s value is greater than the player &# 39 ; s , the player loses their game wager . if the hand values tie , it is a push and the player neither wins nor loses . if the player has a natural ( a blackjack of an ace and a 10 - value card in set s ), and the dealer does not , the player is awarded a pay greater than 1 : 1 such as 3 : 2 or 6 : 5 . after resolution of the hands , the players make new wagers and a new hand is played . a drawback of the traditional , base game , of blackjack is that the highest award ( except for the insurance wager ) to the player is for a natural which is paid 3 : 2 or 6 : 5 . all other wagers are paid at even money ( 1 : 1 ). according to the present invention , the players are permitted to make an optional side wager . the side wager , according to one embodiment , is won or lost based upon the following criteria : 1 . if the dealer hand does not exceed a predetermined target value ( e . g . 21 ), the player loses their side wager . 2 . if the dealer hand exceeds a predetermined target value , the player wins an amount according to a pay table which relates the number of cards in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand ( sets s and c ) to a bonus award . an example of such a table based on a predetermined target value of 21 is shown in table 1 . thus , if the player made the side wager of $ 5 and the dealer &# 39 ; s hand is 3 , 2 ( set s ) and 7 , 2 , ace and king ( set c ), there are six cards in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand ( s + c ) and according to the example pay table above , the player would be paid $ 5 × 20 =$ 100 on their side wager . thus the player does not have to accurately predict the number of “ hits ” the dealer will take to win . thus the frequency at which the players will win their side wagers will increase . further , since all players who have made the side wager will be paid if the award criteria are met , the comradery between the players increases . in a further embodiment , certain cards may be designated to be subtracted from ( not counted ) the dealer &# 39 ; s hand sum in determining whether the award criteria have been met as well as the award . for example , all ten - value cards may be designated as being subtracted from the sum . as but an example and using the pay table below , the following may occur : 1 . the dealer hand is composed of 2 , 4 , king and 8 for a total value of 24 , thus exceeding the predetermined target value of 21 . 2 . the dealers card sum would be 4 − 1 ( the ten - value card of the king is subtracted ) for a total of 3 . the player would be paid the odds for cards on their side wager . an example of such a table based on a predetermined target value of 21 is given in table 2 . this variant of the game of the present invention may also be varied to only subtract those predetermined cards only when they appear in the initial set s of dealer &# 39 ; s cards or just in the dealer &# 39 ; s up card in set s . still another variant is to subtract the predetermined card when it appears in the additional card set c of the dealer &# 39 ; s hand . as an additional feature to the game , certain cards may be designated as triggers to enhance the award of the side wager to the player . as but an example , if the dealer hand that exceeds the predetermined target value meets the criteria for an award to the players and contains one or more predetermined trigger cards or card combinations , the award may be increased as by multiplying the award . for example , “ 7s ” may be designated as such triggers and be a multiplier of 2 . as long as there is a 7 in a dealer hand that goes over 21 , the 2 . an example of a pay table based on a predetermined target value of 21 is shown in table 3 . the dealer hand is composed of 7 , 7 , ace , ace and 10 , for a total of 0 . 5 cards . since it pays 5 to 1 for 5 cards and there is a 7 in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand , the player &# 39 ; s award would be 5 × 2 = 10 times the wager . further , all multipliers in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand can be added up to become a larger multiplier . for example , three 7s in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand will increase the multiplier to 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 . still further , all multipliers in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand can be multiplied to become a larger multiplier . for example , three 7s in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand will increase the multiplier to 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 . still further , each additional 7 in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand may represent a different multiplier . thus , the following would be examples of the application of the triggers : ( 1 ) the dealer hand is composed of 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 and the player &# 39 ; s award would be two times the base bonus award because there is one 7 . ( 2 ) the dealer hand is composed of 7 , 7 , 2 and 10 and the player &# 39 ; s award would be triple the base bonus award because there are two 7s . ( 3 ) the dealer hand is composed of 7 , 7 , a , a and 7 and the player &# 39 ; s award would be five times the base bonus award because there are three 7s . other cards or card combinations in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand may be used as triggers . as above , the triggers may be constrained to appear in the dealer &# 39 ; s initial hand set of cards s or in the additional card set c . however , it is preferred that the triggers may be in any component c , s or c + s to trigger the enhanced award . as still a further embodiment , if the dealers hand exceeds a predetermined target value of 21 , a bonus award will be issued to the player according to the value sum of the card ( s ) in s and the sum of cards in c + s . aces count as 1 only for the purpose of determining the appropriate payoff odds for the side wager . an example of a pay table for multipliers for this embodiment is given in table 4 . for example , if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand is composed of 4 , 8 ( set s ) and a , a , 2 and 9 ( set c ), in that order , for a final total of 25 , the player will be paid 100 to 1 because the initial dealer two - card total is 12 and there are six cards in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand . as still a further embodiment , a predetermined card is used as a multiplier to increase the payoffs if at least one such card exists in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand . for example , if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand exceeds a predetermined target value of 21 , a bonus award will be issued to the player according to the point total of the card ( s ) in s . furthermore , if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand contains the multiplier card , then the payoff is increased . aces count as 1 only for the purpose of determining the appropriate payoff odds for the side wager . an example of a pay table for this embodiment wherein the multiplier is a 6 is given in table 5 . for example , if the dealer &# 39 ; s hand is composed of a , a ( set s ), 4 , 6 and 10 ( set c ) in that order , for a final total of 22 , the player will be paid 500 tol because the initial dealer two - card total is 2 and there is a 6 in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand . further , as described earlier , certain cards can be discounted from the set of s , c or s + c and / or certain cards can be designated as triggers . further , certain 2 - card totals can be discounted from the set of s to enhance the payoff odds at the low end of the pay table . an example of the 2 - card total of 13 being excluded is given in table 5 . 1 : as still a further embodiment , the side wager bonus award may be enhanced by the character of a player &# 39 ; s initial holding that needs no draw . for example , a natural or a two - card “ pat ” hand of hard 17 to 20 needs no further action by the player . thus , it can be awarded according to the following criteria : 1 . the dealer &# 39 ; s hand exceeds a predetermined target value and the player is entitled to an award based upon the applicable dealer hand card sum ; 2 . the player &# 39 ; s hand has at least one predetermined holding such as , if the player has a natural , the pay table award would be multiplied by 2 × or 3 ×. the examples given below assume that a player natural acts as a multiplier of 2 ×. as stated above the enhancement of the award may be triggered by at least one predetermined card or card combination occurring in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand or in the player &# 39 ; s hand . any of the foregoing methods can be incorporated into electronic blackjack - style games . for example , for video blackjack , the device may be configured to permit the player to lodge their side wager and play the base game as well as the bonus award game of the present invention . while i have described certain embodiments of the present invention , it should be understood that it is subject to modifications and changes which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention .
a method for playing an improved game of cards which includes a target value , such as blackjack , is set forth . prior to the dealing of a hand of play , a player makes a side wager , which proposition , is won or lost , based upon the the dealer &# 39 ; s hand exceeding the target value and various parameters involving the dealer &# 39 ; s hand or the dealer &# 39 ; s and player &# 39 ; s hand . one parameter is based upon the total number of cards in the dealer &# 39 ; s hand . another is based upon the sum value of the dealer &# 39 ; s first two cards alone or in conjunction with the player &# 39 ; s hand .