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

• US 9,259,640 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2014
• Issued: 02/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Grauzer, Attila, Bourbour, Feraidoon, Yoseloff, Mark L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US14/330,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20140319771A1
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 463/11, 463/12, 463/13, 463/46
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 apparatus, comprising:

a card shuffler, including;

a card-handling system configured to;

receive a set of cards from a card infeed tray;

form randomized subsets of cards within a temporary card storage device having card storage areas configured to receive cards therein; and

individually output the randomized subsets of cards from the card storage areas to a card output tray;

a card recognition system configured to sense card information including a rank and a suit of at least the cards within the individual subsets of cards output to the card output tray as the cards are carried past the card recognition system by the card shuffler; and

a control system operably coupled with, and configured to control, the card-handling system and the card recognition system and further configured to assign a card to each card storage area to form the randomized subsets of cards.

2. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card shuffler further includes an authorization element configured to permit only authorized users to access at least some functions of the card shuffler.

3. The card apparatus of claim 2, wherein the authorization element includes a device selected from the group consisting of a retina scanner, an RFID scanner, a card reader, and a fingerprint scanner.

4. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card shuffler further includes a memory operably coupled with the control system, the memory configured to store the card information for current and historical rounds for each player of a wagering game.

5. The card apparatus of claim 4, wherein the card shuffler further includes a display operably coupled with the control system, the display configured to display the card information to a dealer without alerting the player.

6. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control system includes:

a first processor configured to determine a random order for the cards to be loaded into the card storage areas of the card-handling system; and

a second processor configured to interpret the card information sensed by the card recognition system.

7. The card apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control system is further configured to associate an identity for each card with a location of the card within the card-handling system.

8. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card handling system is configured to form each subset of cards to have a predetermined number of cards corresponding to a hand for players of a wagering game supported by the card handling shuffler.

9. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the temporary card storage device includes a carousel having compartments.

10. The card apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control system is further configured to control operation of the card-handling system to perform at least one additional function selected from the group consisting of shuffling the cards, arranging the cards in a desired order, verifying completeness of a subset of cards, reading special markings on the cards, scanning cards for unauthorized markings, identifying cards lacking required markings, measuring card wear, decommissioning cards, applying markings to cards, scanning cards for unauthorized electronic devices, and delivering special cards to the output tray.

11. A method comprising:

receiving a set of cards in an infeed system of a card shuffler;

physically forming random subsets of cards as groups within at least one temporary card storage area of a card-handling system of the card shuffler;

identifying card information for at least each card of the subsets of cards; and

dispensing the subsets of cards as groups from the at least one temporary card storage area to an output system of the card shuffler.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

tracking a position for each card grouped with a subset of cards within the card handling device;

tracking card information for each card grouped within the subset of cards; and

associating the position of each card with the card information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein associating the position of each card with the card information occurs during a time that is selected from the group consisting of:

after a randomized subset of cards is formed within the card-handling system;

as the randomized subset of cards is removed from the card-handling system;

after an individual randomized subset of cards is dealt to a player; and

after all randomized subsets of cards are dealt to all players of a round.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein associating the position of each card with the card information is performed only for randomized subsets of cards that are used in a round and not for unused cards in the round.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein associating the position of each card with the card information includes storing the position and storing the card information that are generated by separate processes.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising maintaining a play history for the subsets of cards dealt to each active player station of a gaming table.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein maintaining a play history includes:

storing card information for a maximum number of hands per player position in an internal memory of the shuffler; and

storing card information for additional hands beyond the maximum number of hands per player in a computer that is external to the shuffler.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein dispensing the subsets of cards as groups from the at least one temporary card storage area to an output system of a card shuffler includes:

dispensing a first subset of cards as a first group to the output system; and

dispensing a second subset of cards as a second group responsive to the control system receiving a signal indicating that the first subset of cards has been removed from the card output system.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising electronically generating a plurality of hands within a control system of the card shuffler prior to physically forming the subsets of cards as groups within at least one temporary card storage area of the card-handling system.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein electronically generating a plurality of hands within the control system includes:

electronically generating a random sequence for the set of cards to define an electronic deck; and

identifying subsets of cards that would be formed if the electronic deck were a physical deck that is dealt to the players by the dealer.

21. A card apparatus, comprising:

a card shuffler, including;

a card-handling system; and

a processor operably coupled with the card-handling system, the processor configured to control the card-handling system to internally form random subsets of cards and deliver each random subset of cards to an output tray; and

a card recognition system configured to recognize card information including a rank and a suit of each card formed into a random subset of cards.

22. The card apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor configured to control the card-handling system is further configured to internally form the random subsets in internal compartments as hands prior to being delivered to the output tray.

23. The card apparatus of claim 22, wherein the card recognition system includes a device configured to sense the rank and the suit of each card as the card passes from an infeed tray to the internal compartment of the card-handling system.

24. The card apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to electronically generate hand information prior to the card-handling device forming the random subsets as hands in the internal compartments.

25. The card apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a gaming table with a plurality of player areas equipped with a sensor to detect an active player position, wherein a number of random subsets of cards to be delivered is limited to a number of active player positions detected.

26. The card apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a table management system including overhead imaging equipment configured to capture game information from a live table game played on the gaming table, and compare the game information and the card information stored in the card shuffler to identify discrepancies between the game information and the card information.