Card dispensing shoe with scanner

• US 5,722,893 A
• Filed: 10/17/1995
• Issued: 03/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Smart Shoes, Inc.
• Inventors: DesPrez, Louis W., Hill, Otho D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica
• Assistant Examiner(s): SCHAAF, JAMES CHARLES
• Application Number:
  US08/543,908
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: 463/23, 463/29, 463/46, 463/47, 463/11, 463/12, 273/292, 273/148 R, 273/149 R, 273/149 P
• US Class Current: 463/47
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2425 Scanners, e.g. for scanning regular characters

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a shoe of the type described wherein the shoe has a card scanner which scans indicia on a playing card as the card moves along and out of a chute by manual direction by the dealer in the normal fashion. The scanner can be one of several different types of devices which will sense each card as it is moved downwardly and out of the shoe. A feed forward neural-network which is trained using error back-propagation to recognize all possible card suits and card values sensed by the scanner. Such a neural-network becomes a part of a scanning system which provides a proper reading of the cards to determine the progress of the play of the game including how the game might suffer if the game players are allowed to count cards using a card count system and perform other acts which would limit the profit margin of the casino. The shoe of the present invention is also provided with additional devices which make it simple and easy to record data relevant to the play of the game. For instance, the shoe has means for accommodating a "customer-tracking-card" or preferred customer card which reads the personal information of a card holder from a magnetic stripe on the card and this information travels with the preferred customer from game to game, throughout a casino, which the customer likes to play. An LCD display can also be part of the shoe and this display can be used to enter and retrieve vital player information as deemed necessary or desirable to the customer file opened when the magnetic stripe reader reads the preferred customer card with the customer name and account number embedded within the cards magnetic stripe.

Claims

1. A card delivery shoe for use in dealing playing cards for the playing of a card game comprising:

an elongated housing having a chute for supporting a deck of playing cards for movement toward one end of the housing, said housing having an outlet opening near the front thereof whereby the cards of the deck are removed manually one-by-one out of the housing during the play of a game along the chute in the housing;

means for scanning indicia on each of the cards as they move along said chute whereby a signal is generated which represents the value and suit of the cards as they move one-by-one out of the housing; and

means for coupling the scanner to a host computer for processing the signal for determination of the trends in the play of the game in accordance with the way in which the cards are played relative to a card count system, wherein the scanner includes a feed forward neural-network which is trained using error back-propagation to recognize the possible card suits and card values of the cards of a card deck supported on the chute.

2. A shoe as set forth in claim 1, wherein the scanner includes a feed forward neural-network which is trained using error back-propagation to sense and recognize all possible card suits and card values, said sensor being operable to create a two-dimensional bit-mapped image of the card suit and value of the card moving along the path.

3. A shoe as set forth in claim 2, wherein the housing has means for directing a position signal to a computer to indicate the location of a card which moves along said housing toward said outlet opening,

means for directing the output signal of the image to a host computer, and

means responsive to the host computer for determining that a deck has been penetrated.

4. A shoe as set forth in claim 1, wherein is included a magnetic stripe reader carded by the shoe and coupled to the host computer.

5. A shoe as set forth in claim 1, wherein is included a alpha-numeric keyboard and LCD display carded by the shoe near the rear end thereof and coupled with a signal input line coupled to the computer contained within the shoe to enter and retrieve information to and from a customer'"'"'s file.

6. A card tracking system comprising a card delivery shoe for use in dealing playing cards for the playing of a card game and a host computer wherein said shoe comprises:

an elongated housing having a chute for supporting a deck of playing cards for movement toward one end of the housing, said housing having an outlet opening near the front thereof whereby the cards of the deck are removed manually one-by-one out of the housing during the play of a game along the chute in the housing;

means for scanning indicia on each of the cards as they move along said chute whereby a signal is generated which represents the value and suit of the cards as they move one-by-one out of the housing;

means for coupling the scanner to a host computer for processing the signal for determination of the trends in the play of the game in accordance with the way in which the cards are played relative to a card count system, wherein the scanner includes a feed forward neural-network which is trained using error back-propagation to recognize the possible card suits and card values of the cards of a card deck supported on the chute;

wherein the scanner has an output signal, and means for coupling the output signal to a host computer, said host computer being programmed to perform the following;

(1) assign a specific numerical value, card suit, and card count value to each card passed over and identified by the scanner;

(2) keep track of the number of cards played from and remaining in the deck and the number of cards played and remaining in each suit of the deck;

(3) calculate a selected card count system running and true counts for the deck being dealt as each card is removed from the deck and at the beginning of each round during real time;

(4) calculate the maximum, minimum and average running and true counts set at the beginning of each round for all decks dealt or issued during a specific time period;

(5) activate an alert display on the shoe to inform the dealer that the house deck penetration has been achieved and this will be the last round dealt from the deck in the shoe before shuffling;

(6) activate an alert display on a remote computer monitor that a specific deck penetration has been reached and that the card count system true count for the current shoe or deck being dealt is favorable to the players.

7. A card delivery method comprising:

directing a group of cards, one-by-one, downwardly along a chute toward one end of a path of travel;

scanning indicia on the cards as they move along said path;

generating an output signal representing the value and suit of the cards as they move one-by-one out of the housing; and

processing the signal for the determination of the trends in the play of the game as played by skilled card count system players wherein the scanning step includes operating a feed forward neural-network which is trained using error back-propagation to recognize the possible card suits and card values of said group of cards on the chute.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein the scanning step includes actuating a feed forward neural-network which is tried using error back-propagation to sense and recognize all possible card suits and card values of said card group, said sensing step being operable to create a two-dimensional bit-mapped image of the card suit and value of a card moving along the path.

9. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein is included the step of reading from and writing information on a magnetic stripe by means of a alpha-numeric keyboard and LCD display coupled to the shoe.

10. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein is included the step of entering information to a customer'"'"'s file by means of a alpha-numeric keyboard coupled to the shoe.

11. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein is included the step of displaying on a LCD display data entered to and retrieved from a customer'"'"'s file by means of a alpha-numeric keyboard coupled to the shoe.