Gaming table tracking system and method
First Claim
1. A gaming chip, comprising a body and a transponder carried within the body, said transponder being encoded with permanent read-only identification information and further having a data bank for receiving and maintaining changeable information transmitted thereto from an RF antenna.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fully automated accounting system accurately and automatically monitors and records all gaming chip transactions in a casino. The system employs a gaming chip having a transponder embedded therein and has an ongoing and "on-command" ability to provide an instantaneous inventory of all of the gaming chips in the casino, including those in storage in the vault as well as the chips in the cashiers cage and at each gaming table on the casino floor. The system is capable of reporting the total value of the gaming chips at any location, as well as the value of any particular transaction at any gaming table or at the cashiers cage. Optionally, the transaction history of each chip may be maintained in a data base embedded in the chip (or alternatively in a central computer), and read each time the gaming chip is scanned by a special antenna. If the chip is not where it is supposed to be according to its recorded transactional history (for example, a vault chip shows up on a gaming table without having passed through the cashiers cage), it will be identified and may be invalidated by nullifying a special casino security code.
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Citations
26 Claims
- 1. A gaming chip, comprising a body and a transponder carried within the body, said transponder being encoded with permanent read-only identification information and further having a data bank for receiving and maintaining changeable information transmitted thereto from an RF antenna.
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4. A system for tracking movement of gaming chips within a casino, wherein the gaming chips carry electronically ascertainable information about the gaming chips, the casino comprising a vault for receiving and storing gaming chips, a cashiers cage for disbursing and cashing out gaming chips, and a plurality of gaming tables, the system comprising:
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at least one antenna associated with said vault for scanning gaming chips entering and leaving said vault; at least one antenna associated with said cashiers cage for scanning gaming chips entering and leaving said cashiers cage; and at least one antenna associated with said gaming tables, for scanning gaming chips at said tables. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of tracking movement of gaming chips in a casino, comprising:
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electronically identifying an electronically identifiable gaming chip at a first location within the casino; moving said gaming chip from said first location to a second location within said casino; electronically identifying said gaming chip at a second location within said casino; and recording the movement of the gaming chip from said first location to said second location in a data bank so that the transactional history of the gaming chip is preserved for future reference. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification