TABLE WITH SENSORS AND SMART CARD HOLDER FOR AUTOMATED GAMING SYSTEM AND GAMING CARDS

• US 20090191933A1
• Filed: 11/14/2008
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John B. French
• Original Assignee: John B. French
• Inventors: French, John B.
• Granted Patent: US 8,221,244 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/12
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/02 Cards; Special shapes of cards card-printing methods B41K, B41M
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/10 Card holders
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/18 Score computers; Miscellaneous indicators time-testing devices G07C
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2001/003 Blackjack; Twenty one
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/322 Casino tables, e.g. tables having integrated screens, chip detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3232 wherein the operator is informed
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00

Abstract

Methods and systems for intelligent tracking and/or play and/or management of card gaming use an intelligent card distribution or holding device with detectors for determining the value and unique identity of individual cards and for recording card play. Playing cards are equipped with a read/write data storage connected to a transponder and/or incorporated into electromagnetic writable particles or smart particles (smart dust). A system of the invention records various game play events on the playing cards themselves during game play and optionally also in a database on the system. In specific embodiments, the principal scanning and writing elements and electronic and optical interfaces are embodied into a hand-held card holder (HHCH). In specific embodiments, the system utilizes various types of sensors and/or indicators and/or and electronic circuits and software to scan, track, monitor, compute, and interface with electronic devices, to enable the automatic operation of Casino table games. The system can scan playing cards, scan gaming chips, indicate a players win/loss/draw, increase or decrease player betting positions, compute awards to players based on their playing activity, photograph individual players, and transmit player'"'"'s images to casino security/surveillance departments and or other authorized casino personnel. The system may activate table displays that indicate each player'"'"'s win/loss/draw of their bets, and/or dealers card count, indicate in the game of blackjack when a dealer has blackjack, or any other significant event that occurs such as indicating when a player has a winning/loss/draw on specific card combinations.

Claims

1. A method of automating game play at a gaming table using a smart hand held card holder (HHCH), comprising:

receiving data at said HHCH indicating a player/dealer position to which cards are being dealt;

detecting at said HHCH an identity of cards dealt to said player position;

storing at said HHCH a history of cards dealt to said player position;

totaling cards dealt to said dealer;

determining at said HHCH one or more game status results; and

indicating by said HHCH one or more game status indications.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

writing data to a playing card indicating one or more of;

time dealt;

player identity;

dealer identity;

total of hand resulting from that card;

information regarding indications prompting deal of that card, such as detection of player hand action, detection of dealer input, detection of card placement, and time of actions;

active bet at time of deal;

information regarding placement of cards detected on table.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further wherein said HHCH is able to perform recited method steps at one or more of:

a table with no electronic components;

a table without electrical connection to other electronic devices.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said receiving data at said HHCH indicating a player position comprises one or more of:

optically detecting one or more table markings indicating a player position;

electronically detecting one or more table indicators which are passive and/or active indicating a player position;

receiving dealer input indicating a player position;

optically detecting one or more player identifications indicating a player position; and

electronically detecting one or more player identifications indicating a player position.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

providing a plurality of wireless player indicators, said indicators optically or electronically communicating a player'"'"'s desired game play and/or betting actions to said HHCH; and

optically or electronically reading data from said plurality of wireless player indicators to determine a player identification.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

providing a one or more wireless interfaced data displays, said displays presenting one or more play status indications and optically or electronically communicating a player'"'"'s desired game or bet activity to said HHCH; and

providing a one or more wireless player chip placement areas, said chip placement areas reading information about chip activity and optically or electronically communicating a chip activity to said HHCH.

4-5. -5. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. A system for tracking movement and/or betting and/or play and/or identity of gaming pieces using an intelligent card holder comprising:

a holding compartment in said holder for receiving and holding playing cards;

a dispensing opening in said holder for distributing or dealing playing cards;

a plurality of electronically readable and writeable gaming pieces;

an electronic control system in said holder for interfacing with other electronic components and receiving, analyzing, and storing data;

at least one electronic component in said holder for reading data from said gaming pieces; and

at least one electronic component in said holder for writing data to said gaming pieces.

12. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said holder is a hand held holder.

13. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said holder is a table card holder that generally is not hand held during game play.

14. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said pieces comprise one or more of:

gaming chips; and

playing cards.

16. The system as recited in claim 11 further comprising:

a plurality of table motion indicators for reading motion and/or location of cards at particular dealer and player playing areas; and

a plurality of table motion and/or location indicators for reading motion and/or location of chips at particular dealer and player playing areas.

18. The system as recited in claim 12 wherein said hand held holder interfaces with devices that are suitable to transmit and or receive data directly and or indirectly to the hand held holder.

19. The system as recited in claim 12 wherein said hand held holder is a holder able to read and write data to gaming chips and playing cards without need of other antenna or electronic components at a gaming table.

20. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said holder contains at least one or at least two interfaces for communicating with game pieces and/or a gaming table and/or other electronic components, said interface selected from the group:

an optical scanning interface able to detect visible or invisible reflected light from one or more of;

playing cards, gaming chips, a gaming table with markings thereon;

an RF interface able to read and/or write and/or send and/or receive data wirelessly from one or more of;

playing cards, gaming chips, one or more antennas attached to or incorporated in a gaming table;

smart cards indicating player or dealer identity and/or player credit cards or bonus cards;

one or more other electronic components for data storage, analysis, display, user input;

a magnetic head interface able to read and/or write data to devices that included embedded magnetic particles, said devices including one or more of;

playing cards, cards indicating player or dealer identity and/or player credit cards or bonus cards.

22. The system as recited in claim 20 wherein said holder uses one type of interface for reading or writing data to a gaming playing card and a different type of interface for determining playing status of the card.

23. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein data written to at least one of said playing cards comprise one or more of:

a unique identity of said at least one card;

identity of a game participant dealt said card;

game play history of said card;

running total of all cards dealt to a hand receiving said card;

a validation code for said card;

game play location of said card;

betting area that relates to card play; and

betting amount related to card play.

24. The system as recited in claim 11 wherein said holder scans cards that are adjacent or proximate to said holder and can thereby determine a particular player and/or player betting area associated with a card during game play.

25. The system as recited in claim 11 further comprising:

an electronic control system for interfacing and controlling an antenna at said shoe, and for processing information received by said antenna when scanning playing cards during one or more of;

a card game;

position and/or status of cards at a player'"'"'s gaming area;

position and/or status of cards at a dealer'"'"'s gaming area;

position and/or status of cards at a game table discard area;

position and/or status of cards at an optional or additional gaming area that is activated before and/or during game play.

26. The system as recited in claim 20 and further comprising an electronic control system for interfacing and controlling an antenna at said holder, and for processing information received by the antennas when scanning the playing cards, said control system optionally further capable of:

maintaining a running inventory of all of the playing cards at a table, by value and by location, and is further capable of identifying and invalidating counterfeit and unauthorized playing cards; and

maintaining a running inventory of all of the gaming chips at a table, by value, individual fingerprint and by location, and is further capable of identifying and invalidating counterfeit and unauthorized gaming chips; and

said memory operatively connected with said electronic control system.

29. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein said electronic control system is capable of maintaining a running or intermittent inventory of moveable gaming pieces at a table (e.g., cards and/or chips) and is further capable of identifying and invalidating counterfeit and unauthorized playing cards and/or gaming chips;

and is further able to determine a pieces location on a table by determining proximity to table optical patterns and/or table antennas and/or table transponders.

32. The system as recited in claim 26 further comprising one or more characteristics selected from the group consisting:

each movement of a playing card between locations on a gaming table is recorded as the card'"'"'s transactional history, and said electronic control system is capable of identifying a playing card which is not in a location indicated by the transactional history for that card;

scanning steps include writing information onto a data bank stored on the card regarding the movement of the card from one location to another at said table, so that the card'"'"'s table activity, players, dealers , activity, transactional history is maintained in said data bank.

wherein the electronic control system is capable of invalidating a playing card not found in a location indicated by the card'"'"'s transactional history.

wherein the electronic control system is capable of invalidating and/or revalidating all scannable playing cards in the casino in the event of an emergency.

further comprising means for identifying players in said casino, wherein the electronic system is capable of rating a particular player'"'"'s performance based upon data obtained from tracking the playing cards, and gaming chips. and related electronic components and optical patterns on gaming tables and interfacing with casino camera monitoring systems;

wherein if playing cards are removed in an unauthorized fashion from a gaming table such removal is sensed by a table indicator and or a related camera monitoring systems.

39. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said holder has a two way data interface with playing cards and/or gaming chips and two or more components selected from the group consisting of:

card dealers;

game operators;

card players;

table displays;

cameras;

gaming chip storage areas;

table chip bank;

gaming chips betting areas;

table and off table data banks;

players gaming chips;

players complimentary cards;

players credit cards;

players identification cards.

40. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said holder is a hand held holder that can also scan playing cards, when they are placed on the gaming table.

41. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein said holder is a hand held holder that RF scans gaming chips contained in a gaming table chip tray or table chip bank and transfers reading results to a casino data bank, thereby allowing the casino to have a running inventory of the values of gaming chips at gaming tables, enabling running profit and loss totals and indicating when trays contents should be changed.

15. (canceled)

17. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

27-28. -28. (canceled)

30-31. -31. (canceled)

33-38. -38. (canceled)

42. A method of tracking movement of playing cards at a gaming table, comprising:

electronically identifying an electronically identifiable playing card at a first location at said table;

moving said playing card from said first location to a second location at said table;

electronically identifying said playing card at a second location within said table; and

recording the movement of the playing card from said first location to said second location in a data bank so that the transactional and/or game play history of the playing card is preserved for future reference.

44. The method as recited in claim 42, wherein the card table includes a card storage area for receiving and storing playing cards, a card distribution location for disbursing and receiving playing cards, and a plurality of gaming tables, the method further comprising the steps of:

electronically scanning all playing cards entering and leaving the card storage area of the gaming table;

electronically scanning all playing cards entering and leaving the card distribution area such as;

stationary card holders, (from which cards are dealt to game participants) hand held playing card holders and table components that scan playing cards with under the table-surface antennas;

electronically scanning playing cards utilized in the various steps required to play a specific card game by game participants;

processing the information received from the scanning steps in order to maintain a running playing card inventory within the casino by value and card location.

processing the information received from the scanning steps in order to maintain a running gaming chip inventory within the table game and casino table bank, by value and chip location; and

wherein the data bank is disposed in a transponder stored on the playing card and/or magnetic particles, or optical data retaining components.

46. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein the scanning steps further comprising:

encoding additional information in a data bank carried by each playing card each time it is moved from one location to another, thereby building a readable transaction history for each individual playing card;

reading the transactional history for each individual playing card;

and further comprising;

comparing each playing card'"'"'s transactional history to its present location, and identifying any playing card not located in the location indicated by its transactional history;

electronically invalidating any playing card identified as having no identification code or an invalid identification code.

electronically invalidating all scannable playing cards in the casino in the event of an emergency.

wherein said system includes a camera, the method further comprising the step of activating the camera responsive to a particular signal received during one of said scanning steps.

receiving identification information related to players in the casino, the processing step including the step of rating giving credits to each identified player by the win /loss. or break even and amount bet and winning percentage.

43. (canceled)

45. (canceled)

47-52. -52. (canceled)

53. A playing card, comprising:

a body; and

one or more electronic components able to have data stored thereon;

at least one of said components able, when activated by an appropriate electronic system, to receive and store data regarding game play during game play;

at least one of said components able, when activated by an appropriate electronic system, to have data read there from during game play.

54. A playing card, as recited in claim 53, further comprising one or more features selected from the group:

optical patterns on said body

visible patterns and human invisible optical patterns.

further wherein said one or more electronic components able to have data stored thereon is able to store a unique card identification at least that when activated by an appropriate electronic system uniquely identifies the card from other cards that may have the same suit and value;

further wherein said one or more electronic components able to have data stored thereon comprises at least one area containing magnetically readable and/or writeable material.

further wherein said one or more electronic components able to have data stored thereon comprises at least one RF transponder component;

further wherein said one or more electronic components is further encoded with permanent read-only identification information for a card;

wherein said changeable information comprises a transactional history of the card; and

wherein said changeable information comprises a voidable casino security code.

59. A playing playing card, as recited in claim 53 further comprising at least two of:

optical patterns on said body;

at least one area containing magnetically readable and/or writeable material;

at least one RF transponder component; and

further wherein said cards interface with an electronic system that reads data from one of said components and stores information including said data on a different of said components.

55-58. -58. (canceled)

60-62. -62. (canceled)

63. A system for tracking movement and/or play of playing cards using an intelligent card shoe comprising:

a holding compartment in said shoe for receiving and holding playing playing cards;

a deal opening in said shoe for distributing or dealing playing cards;

at least one electronic component for scanning playing playing cards entering and leaving said shoe; and

at least one electronic writer for writing data to playing playing in cards entering and leaving said shoe;

wherein said shoe is able to read data from and write data to said playing playing cards;

said data comprising one or more of;

a unique identity of said cards;

game play history of said cards;

a validation code for said cards;

game play location of said cards;

individual value of cards received by game participants;

total value of cards received by game participants;

history of cards received by player is recorded on last card dealt to game participant; and

identity of individual game participants that received cards.

64. The system as recited in claim 63 wherein said shoe is a hand held shoe, that remains held by a game operator during a majority of game play.

65. The system as recited in claim 63 wherein said shoe is generally positioned on or near a game table and is generally not held during game play.

66. The system as recited in claim 64 wherein said hand-held shoe scans cards that are adjacent or proximate to said shoe and can thereby determine a particular player and/or player betting area associated with a card during game play.

67. The system as recited in claim 64 further comprising:

an electronic control system for interfacing and controlling an antenna at said shoe, and for processing information received by said antenna when scanning playing cards during one or more of;

deal of cards;

position and/or status of cards at a player'"'"'s gaming area;

position and/or status of cards at a dealer'"'"'s gaming area;

position and/or status of cards at a discard area;

totaling cards received at a players and/or dealers playing area;

position and/or status of cards at a optional or additional gaming area that is activated during game play;

further wherein;

said electronic control system maintains a running inventory of all of the playing cards at a table, by value and by location;

said electronic control system identifies and invalidates counterfeit and unauthorized playing cards;

said electronic control system maintains a running inventory of all of the gaming chips at a table, by value and by location;

said electronic control system identifies and invalidates counterfeit and unauthorized gaming chips;

said electronic control system maintains a running inventory of moveable gaming pieces at a table (e.g., playing cards and/or chips);

said electronic control system determines a gaming piece'"'"'s location on a table by determining proximity to table optical patterns and/or table antennas and/or table transponders.

75. The system as recited in claim 63, wherein the scanning steps include writing information onto a data bank stored on the card regarding the movement of the card from one location to another at said table, so that the card'"'"'s table activity, players, dealers , activity, transactional history is maintained in said data bank.

76. The system as recited in claim 75, wherein the electronic control system is capable of invalidating a playing card not found in a location indicated by the card'"'"'s transactional history.

77. The system as recited in claim 63 further comprising means for identifying players in said casino, wherein the electronic system is capable of rating a particular player'"'"'s performance based upon data obtained from tracking the players playing cards, and gaming chips. and related electronic components and optical patterns on gaming tables. and interfacing with casino camera monitoring systems.

78. The system as recited in claim 63 and further comprising a camera and means responsive to a particular signal from one of said tracking and monitoring components within said system for actuating a camera.

68-74. -74. (canceled)

79-89. -89. (canceled)