US Patent 10255753 Online live dealer draw poker gaming system and method

A method and apparatus for providing hybrid draw poker games to online players, where electronic indications of an initial set of physical cards and electronic indications of a contingent set of physical cards that are dealt by a live dealer at a physical gaming table. The electronic indications of the initial set of physical cards are provided to one or more online players over a network. The gaming server receives an indication from one of the remote players to discard one or more card values associated of the initial set of physical cards. The gaming server then assigns one or more physical cards of the contingent set of physical cards as first replacement cards to the remote player, and then determines a final game value for the remote player based on the initial physical cards not discarded by the first remote player and the one or more first replacement cards.