System and method of data handling for table games

• US 20020111205A1
• Filed: 04/04/2002
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Anthony J. Beavers
• Original Assignee: Anthony J. Beavers
• Inventors: Beavers, Anthony J.
• Granted Patent: US 6,676,517 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/34 Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3213 Details of moving display elements, e.g. spinning reels, tumbling members
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3234 about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3237 about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

A table game system is provided. The table game system includes a position system that generates position data, such as the positions of one or more players and the value of cards, dice, roulette wheels, or other game table positions. A wager system generates wager data, such as the wager placed by each player at each position. A payout system receives the position data and the wager data and generates payout data, such as by using the position data to determine the outcome of the table game and the wager data to determine the payout data based on the outcome of the table game.

Claims

1. A device for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a handle;

a straight portion extending downwards from the handle, configured for insertion into a game table cash slot; and

a data entry device receiving user-entered data and providing the user-entered data to the game table system.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising a user-readable display coupled to the data entry device and displaying the user-entered data.

3. The device of claim I further comprising a data transfer device coupled to the data entry device, the data transfer device connecting to a game table system data transfer device so as to allow the user-entered data to be transferred to the game table system.

4. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a weight sensor system receiving weight data for a location; and

a cheque system receiving the weight data and the image data and generating cheque value data.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the weight sensor system comprises two or more weight detection cells, each weight detection cell generating cell weight data.

6. The system of claim 4 further comprising:

an optical sensor generating image data of the location; and

wherein the cheque system further comprises an image data analysis system receiving the image data and generating cheque color data.

7. The system of claim 4 wherein the cheque system further comprises a cheque weight system receiving the weight data and generating one or more combinations of cheques.

8. The system of claim 4 wherein the cheque system further comprises:

an image data analysis system receiving the image data and generating cheque color data;

a cheque weight system receiving the weight data and generating one or more combinations of cheques; and

a verification system receiving the cheque color data and the combinations of cheques, determining which of the combinations of cheques corresponds to the cheque color data; and

generating verification request data for an operator to select one of two or more remaining combinations of cheques.

9. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a tray having one or more tubes, wherein each tube is configured for holding a plurality of cheques, each tube having a window slot;

a sensor generating image data of each window slot; and

a cheque system receiving the image data and generating tube value data.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the cheque system further comprises a stack length system receiving the image data and generating stack length data.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the cheque system further comprises a cheque value system receiving cheque value data for each tube and providing the cheque value data to generate the tube value data.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the cheque system further comprises:

a stack length system receiving the image data and generating stack length data;

a cheque value system receiving cheque value data for each tube; and

a tube value system receiving the stack length data and the cheque value data and generating the tube value data.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the patron identification system comprises a card recognition system receiving a card and extracting the patron identification data from the card.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the card is one or more of the group comprising a magnetic stripe card, a smart card, and a bar code card.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the cheque value system further comprises a plurality of keys, wherein each key is associated with a cheque value.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising a housing containing the player position entry system and the cheque value system, wherein the housing is configured to be placed over a drop slot of the game table.

19. The system of claim 18 further comprising a display located between the drop slot and the gaming table, such that an operator must drag currency over the display when using a paddle to place the currency into the drop slot, so as to clean the display.

20. The system of claim 17 further comprising a card entry device angled so as to allow an operator to easily provide a card to the card entry device, the card entry device receiving account data from the card and providing the account data to the table game system.

13. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a patron identification system receiving patron identification data; and

a cheque value system receiving one or more cheque value selections and providing the cheque value selections to the table game system.

17. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a player position entry system comprising two or more keys corresponding to player locations at a table game; and

a cheque value system having a plurality of keys, wherein each key is associated with a cheque value, the cheque value system receiving one or more cheque value selections and providing the cheque value selections to the table game system.

21. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

one or more foot pedals configured for discreet operation by an operator of a table game, each foot pedal generating control data; and

one or more indicators generating indication data based upon the control data.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the one or more indicators further comprise a light device configured to provide an indication to casino operations personnel in a manner that does not alert one or more patrons at the table game.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the one or more indicators further comprise a display device configured to provide an indication to one or more patrons of an occurrence of an event at the table game.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the zone sensors correspond to one or more betting zones of a craps game table.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the zone sensors correspond to one or more betting zones of a roulette game table.

27. The system of claim 24 wherein the zone sensors are weight sensors.

28. The system of claim 24 wherein the wager system is a dealer data entry system receiving payout data and game result data and generating the wager data from the payout data and the game result data.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the waveform analysis system further comprises a peak detection system receiving the sonic data and generating the wheel position data from the sonic data.

31. The system of claim 29 wherein the sonic sensor is oriented at an angle to the roulette wheel.

24. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

two or more zone sensors generating zone sensor data;

a wager system receiving wager data; and

wherein the table game system receives the zone sensor data and the wager data and determines whether the wager data correlates to the zone sensor data.

29. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a sonic sensor configured for placement over a roulette wheel and generating sonic data; and

a waveform analysis system receiving the sonic data and generating ball location data from the sonic data.

32. A system for obtaining data for use in a table game system comprising:

a card shoe configured to hold a plurality of cards;

a shuttle guide coupled to the card shoe generating shuttle position data; and

a shuttle in the card shoe and in contact with the shuttle guide, the shuttle holding the plurality of cards in a manner that allows a number of cards to be estimated based on a position of the shuttle.

33. The system of claim 32 further comprising a card removal sensor generating card removal data and providing the card removal data to the table game system.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the card removal sensor further comprises a card scanning device using ambient lighting to generate image data of each card as it is removed from the card shoe and providing the image data to the table game system.

35. The system of claim 33 further comprising one or more of the group including a burn control generating burn data, an include control generating include data, a reveal control generating reveal data, and a reveal indicator.

37. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the position system further comprises:

an image system generating image data; and

a card detection system receiving the image data and generating card data from the image data.

38. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the position system further comprises:

an image system generating image data; and

a player detection system receiving the image data and generating player position data from the image data.

39. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the wager system further comprises two or more zone sensors.

40. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the wager system further comprises:

two or more zone sensors generating zone data; and

a cheque value system receiving the zone data and generating wager data from the zone data.

41. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the payout system further comprises a blackjack payout system.

42. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the payout system further comprises a craps payout system.

43. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the payout system further comprises a roulette payout system.

44. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the position system further comprises a ball position system.

45. The table game system of claim 36 wherein the position system further comprises a dice position system.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein the wager system further comprises a zone system generating zone data.

48. The system of claim 46 wherein the payout system further comprises a position system receiving position data and the wager data and generating the payout data from the position data and the wager data.

49. The system of claim 46 further comprising a player overpay system generating player overpay data.

50. The system of claim 46 further comprising a player underpay system generating player underpay data.

36. A table game system comprising:

a position system generating position data;

a wager system generating wager data;

a payout system receiving the position data and the wager data and generating payout data; and

wherein the position data and the wager data are representative of positions and wagers at a table game in a casino.

46. A system for monitoring two or more operators of table game systems comprising:

a wager system generating wager data

a payout system generating payout data; and

wherein the table game system receives the wager data and the payout data and generates notification data.

51. A system for monitoring two or more players of table game systems comprising:

a player identification system generating player identification data;

a wager system generating wager data associated with the player identification data;

a payout system generating payout data associated with the player identification data; and

a player monitoring system receiving the player identification data, the wager data, and the payout data and generating total data and average bet data.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the player identification system comprises:

an image data system generating image data; and

a player recognition system receiving the image data and generating player identification data.

53. The system of claim 51 wherein the player identification system comprises a card reader.

54. A system for generating game data comprising:

a plurality of zones, each zone generating zone data associated with a type of betting data;

a grid array superimposed on each of the plurality of zones, such that each zone is associated with a grid box; and

wherein selection of each grid box can be used to generate numerical data.

55. The system of claim 54 wherein the grid array is inscribed on a felt layer that covers the plurality of zones.

56. The system of claim 54 wherein each zone further comprises a weight sensor and the zone data comprises weight data.