Apparatus, system, method, and computer-readable medium for casino card handling with multiple hand recall feature

• US 8,070,574 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2007
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Grauzer, Attila, Bourbour, Feraidoon, Yoseloff, Mark L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US11/810,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20080303210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,644 Days
• Field of Search: 463/11, 463/12, 463/22, 273/149.R, 273/373
• US Class Current: 463/11
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/80 Special adaptations for executing a specific game genre or game mode
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2001/005 Poker
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 9/24 Electric games; Games using electronic circuits not otherwise provided for video games A63F13/00; computerized gaming systems G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3216 Construction aspects of a gaming system, e.g. housing, seats, ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/322 Casino tables, e.g. tables having integrated screens, chip detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/00 ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for detecting, storing, and retrieving information about the composition of present and past hands of cards in a casino table game. The method includes causing a card-handling device to substantially automatically generate a plurality of hands wherein each hand includes one or more cards. Card information is identified that includes a rank and a suit of each card as each card moves through the card-handling device. A play history is maintained of a card composition of more than one round wherein the card composition of each round includes the cards in each hand of each round. The card information of at least one hand from at least one round may be displayed.

Claims

1. A card game monitoring apparatus, comprising:

a card-handling device to randomize and dispense cards during a casino table game play, the card-handling device forming a plurality of groups of cards, each group comprising one or more cards of a hand for a player position;

a card recognition system to recognize card information including a rank and a suit of each card while each card is under control of the card-handling device;

a control system comprising at least one processor and a memory wherein the control system is configured to;

control the card-handling device;

receive the card information for each card from the card recognition system;

maintain a play history comprising a card composition of two or more rounds, one of which is a completed round, the card composition of each round comprising hand information for the cards in each group of cards dispensed in the round; and

associate the hand information with each of the two or more rounds; and

a display in communication with the control system and configured for displaying the card information corresponding to the hand information of at least one hand from at least one round of the two or more rounds.

2. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display is further configured for displaying an image of the casino table game including player positions.

3. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display is a touch screen display configured for receiving input from a user touching a region of the touch screen display.

4. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 3, wherein the control system and the touch screen display are further configured to present navigation buttons for the user to touch to navigate the play history.

5. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein a round for display is selected from the group consisting of a current round and a completed round.

6. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an object recognition device in communication with the control system and configured for identifying a betting object indicating that a player position is active for a current round.

7. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 6, wherein the object recognition device is selected from the group consisting of chip readers configured as Radio Frequency Identifiers, one or more cameras configured to recognize chips on the casino table game, optical readers, and magnetic sensors.

8. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the display is further configured as a touch screen display for receiving input from a user touching a region of the touch screen display; and

the touch screen display and the control system are further configured to display an image of the casino table game play including player positions.

9. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 8, wherein the touch screen display and the control system are further configured to display which of the player positions are active for the current round.

10. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 8, wherein the display and the control system are further configured to display the card information of the current round or a completed round for a selected player position indicated by the user touching a region of the touch screen display associated with the selected player position.

11. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor includes a first processor configured for controlling the card-handling device and a second processor configured for communication with the card recognition system.

12. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card recognition system includes at least one sensor system selected from the group consisting of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors, contact image sensors (CIS), invisible light wavelength sensors, embedded radio frequency identification tag sensors, magnetic coding sensors, bar code sensors, and embedded electronic device sensors.

13. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card-handling device dispenses multiple groups of cards selected from the group consisting of:

hands, partial hands, a dealer hand, common cards and bonus cards.

14. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein a rank and a suit of each displayed card is displayed.

15. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 14, wherein at least a portion of an image of each card is displayed.

16. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a security element in communication with the control system to verify user identity.

17. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 16, wherein the security element is selected from the group consisting of a user card swipe, a user identification, a fingerprint scan, an RFID scan, a retina scan, a user password, and combinations thereof.

18. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the displayed card information comprises hand information from active cards.

19. The card game monitoring apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to receive login information from a user, the login information comprising a user identification and a password.

20. A card game monitoring system, comprising:

a card-handling device to randomize and dispense cards during a casino table game play comprising a plurality of groups of cards selected from the group consisting of hands and partial hands, each group comprising one or more cards, the card-handling device comprising;

a card recognition system to recognize card information including a rank and a suit of each card while each card is under control of the card-handling device; and

at least one processor for receiving the card information for each card from the card recognition system and determining the cards in each group of cards used in a current round;

an object recognition device to identify at least one betting object indicating at least one active player position for the current round; and

a table manager comprising a computer and configured for;

receiving position information about the at least one active player position from the object recognition device;

receiving the card information from the card-handling device; and

analyzing the card information and the position information to display the card information for the at least one active player position; and

a display that displays card information.

21. The card game monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the table manager is further configured for maintaining a play history comprising a card composition of a plurality of rounds, the card composition of each round comprising the cards in each hand of each round, and wherein the display is associated either with the table manager or the card-handling device.

22. The card game monitoring system of claim 21, wherein the table manager is further configured for displaying the card information for the at least one active player position for a completed round from the play history.

23. The card game monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the table manager is further configured for displaying an image of the casino table game including the player positions.

24. The card game monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the card recognition system includes at least one sensor system selected from the group consisting of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, charge coupled device (CCD) image sensors, contact image sensors, invisible light wavelength sensors, embedded radio frequency identification tag sensors, magnetic coding sensors, bar code sensors, and embedded electronic device sensors.

25. The card game monitoring system of claim 20, wherein the object recognition device is selected from the group consisting of chip readers configured as Radio Frequency Identifiers, one or more cameras configured to recognize chips on the casino table game, optical readers, and magnetic sensors.

26. A method of providing cards during a casino table game play, the method comprising:

causing a card-handling device to substantially automatically generate a plurality of groups of cards, each group comprising one or more cards of a hand for a player position;

identifying card information including a rank and a suit of each card as each card moves through the card-handling device;

maintaining a play history comprising a card composition for a plurality of rounds, the card composition of each round of the plurality of rounds comprising hand information for the cards in each group of the round;

associating the hand information with each round of the plurality of rounds; and

displaying the card information corresponding to the hand information of at least one hand from at least one round.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

identifying a betting object indicating at least one active player for a current round; and

augmenting the play history with position information about the at least one active player position.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein displaying the card information further comprises displaying the position information for the at least one hand.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein each group of cards is selected from the group consisting of a hand and a partial hand, and the at least one round is selected from the group consisting of a current round and a completed round.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising displaying an image of the casino table game play including player positions.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions, which when executed on one or more computers, perform the acts comprising:

causing a card-handling device to substantially automatically generate a plurality of at least partial hands, each at least partial hand comprising one or more cards;

identifying card information including a rank and a suit of each card as each card moves through the card-handling device;

maintaining a play history comprising a card composition for a plurality of rounds, the card composition of each round of the plurality of rounds comprising the cards in each at least partial hand of the round;

displaying the card information of at least one at least partial hand from at least one round;

identifying a betting object indicating at least one active player for a current round; and

augmenting the play history with position information about the at least one active player position.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein displaying the card information further comprises displaying the position information for the at least one at least partial hand.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 31, wherein the at least one round is selected from the group consisting of a current round and a completed round.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 31, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed on one or more computers display an image of a casino table game including player positions.

35. A system for delivering cards to a casino game, comprising:

a gaming table with a plurality of player areas, each player area of the plurality equipped with a sensor to detect an active player position;

a shuffler configured to form and deliver hands of cards; and

a processor programmed to;

direct the shuffler to deliver only a number of hands corresponding to a number of active player positions, as well as a dealer hand or common card positions when required by a rule of the casino game;

maintain a play history comprising a card composition of at least one round, the card composition of each round comprising the cards in each group of cards dispensed in the at least one round; and

augment the play history with position information about the active player position for each player area of the plurality.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the shuffler is equipped with a card rank and suit reading system.