Products and processes for operations management of casino, leisure and hospitality industry

• US 9,005,031 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2013
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ameranth, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ameranth, Inc.
• Inventors: Kessman, Marc D., McCauley, Sean P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahmed, Masud
• Application Number:
  US13/759,203
• Publication Number:
  US 20140221069A1
• Time in Patent Office: 798 Days
• Field of Search: 463 25- 42
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3204 Player-machine interfaces
• 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 17/3234 about the performance of a gaming system, e.g. revenue, diagnosis of the gaming system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3237 about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• 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 17/3276 wherein the players compete, e.g. tournament
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3283 wherein the number of active machines is limited
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack

Abstract

In various embodiments of this invention, a suite of customized computer software applications, a linked or wireless computer network and accessory components cooperate to enhance and extend customer and employee resource management in the casino/gaming environment.

Claims

1. A system for monitoring a poker tournament at a physical casino, comprising:

at least one application software program server; and

at least one computer memory with instructions executable by the said server to configure the server to access a system database containing poker tournament and player information and to;

provide tournament set-up and tournament maintenance functionality at the physical casino including at least the name of the tournament, date or dates of the tournament, times for the tournament, entry fee amounts, and total purse of the tournament;

present a user interface on one or more computing devices or displays to enable set up and maintenance of the tournament, and including the computation of teal time tournament status;

receive at least one player tournament check-in input including player identification information and identifying a player from the player check-in input information using the system database which includes information regarding previously registered players;

determine tournament seating including providing player status and storing player status in the system database;

select at least one player for a table responsive to a determination that the table has at least one available seat, and assign said at least one player to the table;

receive tournament status information regarding players containing player identification information, wherein the instructions when executed by the server enable the server to identify players from the player tournament status information;

cause status or results of the tournament, to be presented in real time on a large public display device suitable for simultaneous viewing by a multiplicity of tournament players inclusive of the use of unique player identifiers; and

calculate tournament results, so that the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for computations which calculate the amount of compensation/payout for the players based on the tournament results.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for the assignment and tracking of players to and at particular seats at the assigned tables.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide Tournament Tickets functionality.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide functionality to allow players to sign up for tournaments and pay their tournament fees via the internet.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to also provide functionality to allow players to receive wireless, real-time alerts related to the tournament and to automatically calculate and direct the seating of the players during the tournament.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to also provide functionality to allow dealers to be assigned to the tables of the tournament in accordance with established criteria.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein create tournament and view tournament functionality are also provided.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide functionality which also enables integration of tournament information with any player tracking system database used in the physical casino.

9. A system for monitoring a poker tournament at a physical casino comprising:

at least one non-tangible computer readable storage medium having computer executable instructions which when executed by at least one application software program server configure the server to access a system database containing poker tournament and player information and to;

provide tournament set-up and tournament maintenance functionality at the physical casino including at least as name of the tournament, at least one date for the tournament, and at least one entry fee amount;

provide a user interface on one or more computing devices or displays to enable the set up and maintenance of the tournament, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to compute real time tournament status;

facilitate receipt of a player tournament check-in input including player identification information and identifying a particular player from the player check-in input information using the system database, which includes information regarding previously registered players;

determine tournament seating, wherein the instructions when executed by the said server configure the server to allow for the monitoring of player status and storage the player status in the system database;

select at least one player for a first table responsive to at least one seat being available at a first table, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for the assignment of at least a first player to a first table;

allow the tournament to be managed in real time;

present status or results of the tournament in real time on a large public display suitable for simultaneous viewing by a multiplicity of tournament players, inclusive of the use of unique identifiers for the players;

calculate tournament results, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to cause computation of the tournament results to determine an amount of compensation/payout for players based on the tournament results.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for Tournament Bracket Display functionality.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide functionality for associating player information stored in the system database with another remote database that is not located in the physical casino.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide functionality to allow players to sign up for tournaments and pay their tournament fees via the internet.

13. The system of claim 9, Wherein the instructions when executed by configure the server to provide functionality to allow players to receive wireless, real-time alerts related to the tournament, compute and provide break times for the tournament, and automatically calculate and control the seating of the players curing the tournament.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein create tournament and view tournament functionality are also provided.

15. The system claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide functionality which enables integration of tournament information with any player or rewards tracking system database used in the physical casino.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to provide Convergence of Tournament Tables functionality.

17. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server also allows dealers to be assigned to the tables of the tournament in accordance with established criteria.

18. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for chips in and chips out and total in and total out monitoring functionality.

19. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to compute and provide break times for the tournament, to automatically calculate and control the seating of the players, and to modify tournaments that have been previously saved to the system database.

20. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions when executed by the server configure the server to allow for Tournament Tickets functionality.