Method and apparatus for using upstream communication in a card shuffler

• US 8,337,296 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2001
• Issued: 12/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Grauzer, Attila, Lopez, David B.
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, PETER DUNG BA
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoang, Bach
• Application Number:
  US09/967,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20030064798A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,106 Days
• Field of Search: 463/29, 463 9- 13, 463/16, 463/25, 463 40- 43, 463 46- 47, 463/17, 463/22, 463/26, 273/274, 273/292, 273/309, 273/149.R, 273/149.P, 273/139, 273/148.A, 273/307, 273/138.1, 273/138.2, 273/144.R, 273/144.A, 273/144.B
• US Class Current: 463/22
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/06 Card games appurtenances
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/067 Tables or similar supporting structures
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/10 Card holders
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/18 Score computers; Miscellaneous indicators time-testing devices G07C
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2250/58 Antifraud or preventing misuse
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• 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 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3258 Cumulative reward schemes, e.g. jackpots
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Abstract

A tray, serving as a transaction drawer, optimally fitted to X-ray inspection equipment for ease and efficiency of the operation. Yet, easy to handle by the operator and stackable for storage and having a test wedge to verify read outs by the X-ray machine, made out of translucent, plastic material, economically produced.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a live casino table card game in a gaming table environment, the gaming table environment comprising a gaming table, an automatic card shuffler comprising a processer, a local processor and a central control computer, the method comprising:

the shuffler processor sending information via a data connection to at least one of the local processor and the central control computer; and

at least one of the local processor and the central control computer communicating information to the shuffler processor;

wherein the automatic card shuffler responds to the information communicated to the shuffler processor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing at least one wager sensor, the at least one wager sensor sending information via a data connection to at least one of the local processor and the central control computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein information related to the automatic card shuffler operation is transmitted from the shuffler processor to at least one of the local processor and the central control computer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein information sent from the shuffler processor includes at least one of a) datum relating to completion of a shuffling event, b) indication of a correct number of cards in a shuffler, c) jam of a shuffling event, d) insufficient or excessive cards in a shuffling event, e) a count of the total number of cards in the shuffler, f) a count of the total number of cards in a specific area within the shuffler, g) number of hands dealt to active players at a table, h) rank and/or suit of specific hands dealt at the table, i) hands achieving bonuses at the table, and j) indication of an excess of cards of specific rank and suit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein all communication between the shuffler processor, local processor and the central control computer takes place in real time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein all communication from at least one of the central control computer and the local processor is communicated through a data port in the shuffler.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication from the at least one of the local processor and the central control computer controls at least one operation of the shuffler.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein information is provided from both the shuffler processor and the local processor computer in real time to the central control computer and the central control computer identifies or records at least one event selected from the group consisting of:

hands dealt per unit time;

identification of when a service call should be made;

automatic service call generation;

jam detection/recovery and reports of at least one of the jams and clears;

rounds of play per unit time;

the rank and suit of each card in the hand;

data on the amount of time an individual table is in use, the time of day an individual table is in use, specific information identifying individual tables from among a group of at least two tables, and the times when the tables are most filled;

an identification number corresponding to an individual shuffler is input into the local processor or the central control computer to track the location of each shuffler;

when individual shuffler information is input to the table game shuffler, this shuffler information is transmitted to the main controller either directly from the shuffler or into the local processor and then to the central control computer;

reports on shuffler swap outs are generated;

when the system is reading the rank and value of each card, the local processor is informed of the count or rank of each hand; and

when the system has informed the local processor of the rank of each hand, specific awards are identified for each ranked hand meeting a minimum predetermined rank.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein a signal from the bet sensors is input into the shuffler itself to enable the shuffler to deal only the number of hands needed to cover bets.

20. The method of claim 1,

wherein communication between at least two of the processor, local processor and central control computer is by way of a network connection.

21. The method of claim 1,

wherein the information is transmitted to one or more of a local computer and a central computer.

10. A method of controlling a live casino table card game comprising:

providing a live gaming table with at least two player locations and at least one sensor in each player location for sensing bets;

providing a computer controlled automatic card-shuffling device;

providing a table game controller;

providing a central game controller; and

electronically measuring betting information; and

wherein the card-shuffling device receives game related data from at least one of the table game controller and the central game controller, responds to received game related data, and transmits data to at least one of the table game controller and central game controller in real time.

11. A method of controlling a live casino card game including:

a security system for a casino table card game, the method comprising;

a) providing a casino table with i) indicia theron for the placement of wagers, ii) a data entry system with an associated local computer, and iii) sensors that can detect the placement of at least one specific category of wager;

b) shuffling cards with a mechanical shuffler with a shuffler process integral to the shuffler;

c) providing information to a central computer regarding at least one of the value of cards fed out of a section of the shuffler or a rank of hands provided to a player during a play of a card game or a suit of cards provided to the player; and

d) the central computer receiving the information from the shuffler in real time, receiving information from the sensors, and receiving information from the data entry system; and

the shuffler processor and the central computer communicating data among each other in real time, with data sent to the shuffler processor from the central computer.

12. A method of controlling a live casino table card game, comprising:

providing a live gaming table with at least two player locations and at least one sensor in each player location for sensing bets;

providing a computer controlled automatic card-shuffling device;

providing a table game controller;

providing a central game controller; and

electronically measuring betting information; and

wherein the card-shuffling device receives game related data from at least one of the table game controller and the central game controller, responds to received game related data, and transmits data to at least one of the table game controller and the central game controller in real time.

13. The method of claim 12,

further comprising the step of the processor in the shuffler providing information to the external computer, the information being selected from the group consisting of occurrence of a card jam, occurrence of a jam recover and a number of times that a complete shuffler has been performed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the external computer processes information from the shuffler related to a single card game in real time.

15. The method of claim 13,

and further comprising a central computer, wherein the central computer is in communication with at least one of the external computer and the shuffler processor, wherein the central computer processes information related to multiple card games.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the information is one or more data types selected from the group consisting of:

rank of hand, suit of a card, value of a card, number of cards present in the shuffler, number of cards present in one or more areas within the shuffler, and a number of complete shuffling sequences that have been performed.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the external computer is directly linked to the processor via a date port in the shuffler.

18. The method of claim 12,

further comprising activating an information display device in response to the information from the shuffler.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the external computer processes information related to multiple card games.