Method and apparatus for using upstream communication in a card shuffler

• US 9,452,346 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2012
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Grauzer, Attila, Lopez, David B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hu, Kang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Clarke, Jr., Robert T.
• Application Number:
  US13/719,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20130109455A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,379 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 security system for a casino table card game has a casino table with i) indicia thereon for the placement of wagers, ii) a data entry system with an associated computer, and iii) sensors that can detect the placement of at least one specific category of wager; a shuffling device with a microprocessor integral to the shuffler for providing information regarding cards or hands; a central table gaming computer that receives information from the shuffler in real time, receives information from the sensors, and receives information from the data entry system, the associated computer, the microprocessor and the central table gaming computer communicating data among each other in real time.

Claims

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

sensing wagers by players at at least one player location and communicating the sensing to a table game control computer and to a central control computer in real time;

controlling an automatic card shuffling device with a processor in the automatic card shuffling device and transmitting, with the processor, shuffler information relating to card shuffling in real time via a data port in the automatic card shuffling device to at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer, wherein the shuffler information includes information regarding at least one current hand generated by the automatic card shuffling device;

electronically measuring betting information for the at least one current hand and transmitting the betting information for the at least one current hand to at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer in real time, the electronic measuring including use of the shuffler information transmitted from at least the processor in the automatic card shuffling device; and

feeding the betting information for the at least one current hand from the central control computer or the table game control computer to the automatic card shuffling device through the data port.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one datum relating to completion of a shuffling event to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein feeding the betting information for the at least one current hand from the central control computer or the table game control computer to the automatic card shuffling device through the data port comprises feeding the betting information for the at least one current hand through the data port from outside the automatic card shuffling device into the processor in the automatic card shuffling device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the table game controller computer communicates in real time to the processor in the automatic card shuffling device and that communication asserts at least one control over operation of the automatic card shuffling device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein both the processor in the automatic card shuffling device and the table game control computer communicate in real time with the central control computer and the central control computer identifies or records at least two events 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 jams and clears, rounds of play per unit time,

cards are scanned for at least one of rank and suit, the value of the hand can be automatically ranked and the payout can be displayed, eliminating dealer errors,

results of scanning for at least one of rank and suit,

when results of scanning for at least one of rank and suit are identified or recorded, a correct payout is displayed,

when results of scanning for at least one of rank and suit is identified or recorded, a correct payout is displayed, reports of dealer error/cheating are generated when wrong payouts are made,

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,

a signal from the bet sensors can be transmitted directly to the central controller to collect betting data,

the table game controller communicates with a player tracking system in the central game computer, permitting the system to measure individual player bets placed, player efficiency, individual player time at the table, frequency of individual player visiting property, and win and loss data of individual player,

the table controller continually polls a chip tray to verify the number of chips in the tray,

count of chips on the table is determined by sensors and included in the total count polled by the table game controller,

balances from chip movement on the table are fed to the central game computer in real-time identifying errors in payout,

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

dealer identification data is input into the table controller at the beginning of a shift and play at the table is directly attributed to individual players during their shifts,

individual dealer data is evaluated by a security software program to detect dealer cheating, dealer training needs and good dealer skills,

an identification number corresponding to an individual shuffler is input into the table controller or the central game controller 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 table computer and then to the main controller,

reports on shuffler swap outs are generated,

the central controller generates at least one report of game data with regard to rounds of play per shift, the number of players per shift, the average amount of time spent at the table per player, the handle, player reports that assist management in determining rating of a player, or at least one of analyses and reports to use for player comping,

the table controller is programmed to evaluate wagering patterns and on the basis of that analysis, alert at least one of the dealer and pit boss via the central controller that a card counter is playing on the table,

when the system is reading the rank and value of each card, the table controller is informed of the count or rank of each hand,

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

in the play of twenty-one or its variants, if at least one individual player'"'"'s bets consistently increase when a shoe is rich in 10 value cards, the system will alert the dealer and management that the player may be counting cards, and

the betting information for the at least one current hand collected at each table controller is transmitted in real time to the central controller after being assessed according to evaluative software identifying specific stylistic wagering habits.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer processes the shuffler information in real time from the automatic card shuffling device related to a single card game.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer processes the shuffler information in real time from the automatic card shuffling device related to multiple card games.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating an information display device in response to the shuffler information from the automatic card shuffling device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting the betting information for the at least one current hand with the table game control computer and communicating the betting information for the at least one current hand to the automatic card shuffling device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer comprises collecting the shuffler information with the processor in the automatic card shuffling device and feeding the shuffler information through the data port to outside the automatic card shuffling device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a correct number of cards in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a jam of a shuffling event to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a jam of a shuffling event to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a total number of cards in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a total number of cards in a specific area within the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a number of hands dealt to active players at the table to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of a rank of specific hands dealt at the table to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of hands achieving bonuses at the table to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the shuffler information in real time via the data port in the automatic card shuffling device to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer includes communicating at least one indication of an excess of cards of specific rank and suit to the at least one of the table game control computer and the central control computer.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising feeding at least one of shuffler identification information and shuffler service call information from the central control computer or the table game control computer to the automatic card shuffling device through the data port.