Bet tracking system for gaming tables
First Claim
1. A system for automatically rating betting activity of a casino patron at a gaming table, the system comprising:
- a machine-readable card for storing an identity code assigned to a casino patron;
a card reader associated with a position at a gaming table, for reading the identity code from the machine-readable card when activated by the machine readable card;
a communication system coupled to the card reader for transmitting to a computer system the identity code of the casino patron and a location code associated with the card reader; and
the computer system including a memory having customer and gaming table data bases stored therein, for associating a time code with activation of the card reader and for retrieving information on the casino patron and the gaming table to generate a casino patron betting record based on the identity, location, and time codes.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system is provided for automatically tracking the betting activity of casino patrons at gaming tables and providing an indication of this betting activity to casino personnel in real time. Casino patrons use magnetic cards to check themselves in and out of the bet tracking system through magnetic card readers located at each betting position of a gaming table. Customer identity and location codes are coupled from the gaming table to a computer system using a wireless communication network. The computer system uses the codes to retrieve customer information, to estimate an average bet for the patron based on the current minimum table bet for the gaming table and the time period of the patron'"'"'s play, and to calculate periodically an average theoretical win based on the patron'"'"'s play. This information is made available through the casino computer system to casino personnel at the patron'"'"'s gaming table and at any other gaming table to which the patron moves. The information available to the casino personnel is updated periodically to reflect the patron'"'"'s accumulated betting activity.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for automatically rating betting activity of a casino patron at a gaming table, the system comprising:
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a machine-readable card for storing an identity code assigned to a casino patron; a card reader associated with a position at a gaming table, for reading the identity code from the machine-readable card when activated by the machine readable card; a communication system coupled to the card reader for transmitting to a computer system the identity code of the casino patron and a location code associated with the card reader; and the computer system including a memory having customer and gaming table data bases stored therein, for associating a time code with activation of the card reader and for retrieving information on the casino patron and the gaming table to generate a casino patron betting record based on the identity, location, and time codes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for automatically rating betting activity of a casino patron at a gaming table, where the casino patron is identified by a machine-readable card, the method comprising the steps of:
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associating a card reader with a player position at the gaming table; providing a data base including casino patron and gaming table information in a computer system coupled to the card reader; retrieving information on the casino patron and the gaming table from the data base responsive to activation by the machine-readable card of a card reader at the gaming table; and determining a rating for the casino patron from the retrieved gaming table information. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26)
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25. A gaming table for tracking betting activity of casino patrons through machine-readable cards issued to the casino patrons and a computer system including data bases of casino patrons and gaming table information, the gaming table comprising:
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a playing surface; a card reader for reading data from the machine-readable cards, the card reader having an input for accepting a machine-readable card and an output for accessing the data read from the machine-readable card, and being associated with a location at the playing surface to define a playing position at the gaming table; and data coupling means electrically connected to the output of the card reader, for coupling data read from a machine-readable card to the computer system in order to retrieve casino patron and gaming table information from the computer system.
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Specification