Intelligent baccarat shoe

• US 20050051955A1
• Filed: 08/25/2004
• Published: 03/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Downs, Justin G. III, Schubert, Oliver M., Marz, Joshua David
• Granted Patent: US 7,213,812 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 273/149.R
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/18 Score computers; Miscellaneous indicators time-testing devices G07C
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2001/001 Bridge or baccarat
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2425 Scanners, e.g. for scanning regular characters

Abstract

A method of controlling the game of baccarat is disclosed, the method including the steps of providing a card delivery shoe equipped with a sensor capable of reading at least a rank of each card; at least one first processor capable of controlling operation of the card delivery shoe; and receiving signals from the sensor and programmed to display information related to the game of baccarat, visual result information for each round of play being displayed on the card delivery shoe or on a screen provided on a casino table.

Claims

1. A playing card delivery shoe for use in the play of the casino table card game of baccarat from which delivery shoe cards may be dealt comprising

a) an area for receiving a first set of playing cards useful in the play of the casino table card game of baccarat;

b) first card mover that moves playing cards from the first set to a playing card staging area wherein at least one playing card is staged in an order by which playing cards are removed from the first set of and moved to the playing card staging area;

c) second playing card mover that moves playing cards from the playing card staging area to a delivery area wherein playing cards removed from the staging area to the delivery shoe are moved in the same order by which playing cards were removed from the first set of playing cards and moved to the playing card staging area;

d) a visual display in communication with the card delivery shoe that indicates the results of a round of play by indicating at least whether a Player hand or Dealer hand is a winning hand in the round of play and

e) at least one playing card reading sensor that reads at least one playing card value of each playing card separately after each playing card has been removed from the area for receiving the first set of playing cards and before removal from the playing card delivery area;

wherein there is a communication link between the playing card reading sensors and a processor, which processor analyzes said data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat and determines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based upon said data, and the results are displayed on the visual display.

2. The shoe of claim 1 wherein at least one card but less then an entire deck of cards is present in the staging area.

3. The shoe of claim 1 wherein the display is located on the shoe.

4. The shoe of claim 1 wherein results of play for a round of play of baccarat are determined before delivery of playing cards to players, the determination based upon a specific set of rules applied by software to said data.

5. The storage shoe of claim 4 wherein the data determines expected card information that is at least temporarily stored in a memory storage component in at least one of the shoe and an external computer for each shuffled set of playing cards inserted in the area for receiving a shuffled set of playing cards.

6. The storage shoe of claim 5 wherein a system of comparison is present to compare the value of the playing cards read in step d) with the expected playing card information for each shuffled set of playing cards inserted in the area for receiving a shuffled set of playing cards.

7. The storage shoe of claim 1 wherein said at least playing card value data is read in the device before the playing card is being removed from the storage device and said data is processed by the processor and stored by said processor.

8. The storage shoe of claim 5 wherein the first set of playing cards comprises a shuffled set of playing cards.

17. The shoe of claim 1 wherein the visual display comprises lighting that provides different color display for different results.

18. The shoe of claim 3 wherein the visual display comprises lighting that provides different color display for different results.

9. A card storage shoe for use in the play of the casino table card game of baccarat comprising a card infeed area where an approximately vertical set of playing cards can be seated, a playing card moving element that moves one playing card at-a-time from the approximately vertical set of playing cards, an automatic mechanical transporting system for horizontally transporting individual ones of playing cards moved from the vertical set of playing cards to a playing card delivery area, and a playing card reading system that reads at least value of playing cards before playing cards become stationary in the playing card delivery area, and the value of playing cards read is used to determine expected results in play of a round of baccarat.

10. The shoe of claim 9 wherein a buffer area is present between the playing card infeed area and the playing card delivery area and at least some playing cards remain stationary for a time in the buffer area before being delivered to the playing card delivery area.

11. The shoe of claim 10 wherein only one playing card may be present in the playing card buffer area at any time.

12. The shoe of claim 11 wherein playing cards are read in the shoe as they enter the playing card buffer area or when the playing cards are within the playing card buffer area.

13. The shoe of claim 9 wherein playing cards are read in the shoe after they leave the playing card buffer area but before they are stationary in the playing card delivery area.

14. The shoe of claim 9 wherein more than one sensor is present along a path between the card infeed area and the card delivery area to detect the presence of cards at specific locations.

15. The shoe of claim 13 wherein a sensor-reader reads cards discontinuously when the sensor-reader is triggered by a card detection sensor in the shoe.

16. The shoe of claim 9 wherein there is a communication link between the playing card reading sensors and a processor, which processor analyzes said data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat and determines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based upon said data.

19. The shoe of claim 16 wherein the visual display comprises lighting that provides different color display for different results.

34. The shoe of claim 9 wherein a playing card position sensor is present that triggers operation of the playing card reading system so that discontinuous signals of playing cards are provided by the playing card reading system.

35. The method of claim 16 wherein a playing card position sensor triggers reading of individual playing cards so that discontinuous signals of playing cards are provided.

20. A method of providing cards to a dealer in the casino table card game of baccarat for manual delivery of the cards by a dealer comprising:

placing a set of cards within a card infeed area of an automatic dealing shoe;

mechanically moving cards in the order in which cards are removed from the set of cards from the set of cards from the card infeed area to a card delivery area where at least some cards become stationary;

reading individual cards for at least value after the cards are removed from the card infeed area and before the cards become stationary in the card delivery area;

wherein there is a communication link between card reading sensors and at least one processor, which the at least one processor analyzes said data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat and determines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based upon said data, and the results are indicated to at least the players by a visual display associated with the processor.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the visual display is located on the automatic dealing shoe.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the visual display is located on the gaming table.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the visual display is located proximate to the at least one processor.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the set of cards is placed in an approximately vertical stack in the card feed area.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein at least one card from the set of cards is moved to a buffer area between the infeed area and the card delivery area, and at least one card remains stationary within the buffer area until the card delivery area is sensed to be empty of cards.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein at least one card that remains stationary in a buffer area remain in the buffer area until a signal generated from the shoe indicates that at least one card is to be moved from the buffer area to the card delivery area.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the signal is generated by a sensor in the card delivery area indicating that an additional card is desired in the card delivery area.

28. The method of claim 23 wherein the signal is generated by a sensor in the card delivery area indicating that no cards are present in the card delivery area.

29. The method of claim 20 wherein the visual display comprises lighting that provides different color display for different results.

30. The method of claim 26 wherein the visual display comprises lighting that provides different color display for different results.

36. The card delivery shoe of claim 28 wherein a playing card position sensor is present that triggers operation of playing card reading sensors so that discontinuous signals of playing cards are provided by the playing card reading sensors.

44. The method of claim 27 wherein the second processor is external to the shoe.

31. A card delivery shoe for use in the play of baccarat, the shoe having a visual display element, a storage end and a delivery end, the shoe storing a first set of cards in the storage end and allowing manual removal of cards from the delivery end, at least one first sensor in the delivery end that senses when a card is absent from the delivery end and sends a signal to a motor that a card is to be delivered to the delivery end, a card reading sensor, and a motor that mechanically delivers a card to the delivery end of the shoe, wherein there is a communication link between the card reading sensors and at least one processor, which said at least one processor analyzes said data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat and determines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based upon said data, and the results are indicated to at least the players by the visual display element on the automatic dealing shoe.

32. The card delivery shoe of card claim 31 wherein at least one sensor reads card values in the card delivery shoe before a card that is read is stationery in the card delivery end.

33. The shoe of claim 32 wherein a card position sensor is present that triggers operation of the card reading sensors so that discontinuous signals of cards are provided by the card reading sensors.

37. A method of controlling the game of baccarat by providing:

an automatic card delivery shoe equipped with a sensor capable of reading at least a rank of each card;

at least one processor for controlling the operation of the automatic card delivery shoe and for processing signals from the sensor;

a visual display in communication with the at least one processor, the visual display being capable of displaying at least an indication of a winning hand.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising at least one host computer capable of storing data received from the at least one processor.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein data is transmitted via a network connection to the host computer.

40. The method of claim 38, where information is displayed on one or more of a dealing shoe display and an external display.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein at least one of:

player hand, banker hand, player hit card, banker hit card and an identity of a winning hand is displayed.

42. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one processor comprises a processor that is internal to the shoe.

43. The method of claim 37 wherein the at least one processor comprises a processor that is external to the shoe.

45. A dealing shoe for baccarat comprising playing card reading sensors and a communication link from at least one card reading sensor to a processor,

the processor receiving signals from the sensor and the processor sending signals regarding at least a count of playing cards to a visual display, the processor then identifying final winning hands or a tie in a round of play when the round of play is complete, and the visual display then displaying results for the round of play.

46. The dealing shoe of claim 45 wherein the processor identifies the winning hand or a tie and signals the shoe to the visual display to identify a winning hand or a tie by distinct visual information.

47. The dealing shoe of claim 46 wherein the distinct visual information comprises different color lights.

48. A card delivery shoe for use in the play of baccarat on a casino table, the casino table having a visual display element, a storage end and a delivery end, the shoe storing a first set of cards in the storage end and allowing manual removal of cards from the delivery end, at least one first sensor in the delivery end that senses when a card is absent from the delivery end and sends a signal to a motor that a card is to be delivered to the delivery end, a card reading sensor, and a motor that mechanically delivers a card to the delivery end of the shoe, wherein there is a communication link between the card reading sensors and a processor, which processor analyzes said data according to rules of play of the game of baccarat and determines results of play for a round of play of baccarat based upon said data, and the results are indicated to at least the dealer by the visual display element on the casino table.

49. The card delivery shoe on a casino table of claim 48 wherein the table comprises a visual display element that receives information from the processor to display at least count of both a player hand and a dealer hand as a round of baccarat play progresses.

50. The card delivery shoe of claim 49 wherein the visual display device provides a visual signal as to which hand must be next addressed by rules of play programmed into the processor.

51. The card delivery shoe of claim 50 wherein winning hands or a tie are identified by unique visual information displayed on the visual display device.