Methods and systems for facilitating table games

• US 9,694,272 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2016
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Walker Digital Table Systems LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital Table Systems LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Moore, Stephen, Besterman, Brian, Bischoff, Jeff
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Kevin Y
• Application Number:
  US14/994,127
• Publication Number:
  US 20160121201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 539 Days
• Field of Search: 463 25, 463 39, 463 46, 463 47
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/06 Card games appurtenances
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2003/00164 Casino tables
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2429 IC card, chip card, smart card
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2489 by radio transmitters, e.g. using RFID
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00157 Casino or betting games horse races A63F3/00082
• 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: G07F 17/322 Casino tables, e.g. tables having integrated screens, chip detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3237 about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players

Abstract

A gaming table provides for use of RFID technology to track chip movement on a table game and to infer an association between a wager and a player position based on a chip identifier of a chip placed on a particular position of the table. In some embodiments, previous position history of the chip is also taken into account in determining a player position associated with a wager.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating a card game, comprising:

a table apparatus, the table apparatus having positioned thereon

a plurality of player positions, each player position for association with a respective player position antenna; and

at least one shared position antenna associated with a shared player position, the shared player position for placement of chips by one or more players of a plurality of players, each respective placement of at least one chip on the shared player position serving as an indication of a wager being placed by a particular player of the plurality of players;

a processor operable to communicate with each of the respective player position antennas and the at least one shared position antenna; and

a memory accessible to the processor, the memory storing (i) information about RFID-enabled chips usable on the table apparatus for a card game; and

(ii) a program,

wherein the processor is operable with the program to;

receive an indication that a first RFID-enabled chip has been acquired at the at least one shared position antenna, the indication including an identifier of the at least one shared position antenna that acquired the first RFID-enabled chip and a unique identifier of the first RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a first specific RFID-enabled chip and a first acquiring antenna;

access, from the memory, information defining a most recent particular player position associated with the unique identifier of the first specific RFID-enabled chip acquired by the first acquiring antenna;

determine, based on the information, the first specific RFID-enabled chip as being placed as part of a wager to be associated with the most recent particular player position; and

register the wager for the most recent particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor being operable with the program to register a wager comprises the processor being operable with the program to register a type and magnitude of the wager based on at least one of a denomination of the first specific RFID-enabled chip and a type of wager associated with the first acquiring antenna.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the wager comprises a re-characterization wager.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory stores a position history of the first specific RFID-enabled chip, the position history indicative of at least one player position the specific RFID-enabled chip has been associated with during the card game.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the position history comprises an indication of a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was acquired at a particular player position of the plurality of player positions and a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was determined to no longer be on the particular player position.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processor being operable with the program to determine the most recent player position comprises the processor being operable with the program to determine a player position at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was acquired, as indicated in the position history, immediately preceding the receiving of the indication that the specific RFID-enabled chip has been acquired at the first acquiring antenna.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the table apparatus further includes positioned thereon:

at least one second antenna associated with a first player position of the table; and

at least one third antenna associated with a second player position of the table, wherein each of the first, second and third antennas is operable to determine an RFID-enabled chip within a predetermined range of the respective antenna; and

wherein the processor is operable with the program and at least one of the second at least one antenna and the third at least one antenna to;

receive, from one of the second at least one antenna and the third at least one antenna and prior to the indication being received from the first acquiring antenna, an indication of the RFID-enabled chip being acquired at the player position associated with the antenna from which the indication is received, the indication including a unique identifier of the RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a second acquiring antenna for the specific RFID-enabled chip;

determine a time at which the indication is received, thereby determining an acquisition time; and

store, in the memory and in association with the player position associated with the antenna and the acquisition time, an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:

determine that the specific RFID-enabled chip is no longer recognized by the second acquiring antenna as being on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna;

determine a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip is determined to no longer be on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna, thereby determining an expiration time; and

store, in the memory, an indication of the expiration time in association with the specific RFID-enabled chip.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:

determine whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within a predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for a period of time that is not less than a predetermining minimum period of time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the determining whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range is performed after receiving the indication from the second acquiring antenna but before storing the indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna, and wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:

only perform the storing in the memory an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:

remove an indication of the second acquiring antenna from the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has not been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:

determine an end of a current game; and

clear the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip from the memory.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a monitor associated with a dealer position of the table, the monitor for displaying to the dealer wagers placed on the table, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to;

display on the monitor the wager registered for the particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor associated with a table for facilitating a card game, the instructions causing the processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving an indication that a first RFID-enabled chip has been acquired at an at least one shared position antenna, the indication including an identifier of the at least one shared position antenna that acquired the first RFID-enabled chip and a unique identifier of the first RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a first specific RFID-enabled chip and a first acquiring antenna,

wherein the at least one shared position antenna is associated with a shared player position of the table, the shared player position for placement of chips by one or more players of a plurality of players, each respective placement of at least one chip on the shared player position serving as an indication of a wager being placed by a particular player of the plurality of players;

accessing, from a memory associated with the processor, information defining a most recent particular player position associated with the unique identifier of the first specific RFID-enabled chip acquired by the first acquiring antenna;

determining, based on the information, the first specific RFID-enabled chip as being as being placed as part of a wager to be associated with the most recent particular player position; and

registering the wager for the most recent particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein registering a wager comprises registering a type and magnitude of the wager based on at least one of a denomination of the first specific RFID-enabled chip and a type of wager associated with the first acquiring antenna.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the wager comprises a re-characterization wager.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the memory stores a position history of the first specific RFID-enabled chip, the position history indicative of at least one player position the specific RFID-enabled chip has been associated with during the card game.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the position history comprises an indication of a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was acquired at a particular player position of the plurality of player positions and a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was determined to no longer be on the particular player position.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from one of a second at least one antenna and a third at least one antenna and prior to the indication being received from the first acquiring antenna, an indication of the RFID-enabled chip being acquired at a player position associated with the antenna from which the indication is received, the indication including a unique identifier of the RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a second acquiring antenna for the specific RFID-enabled chip,

wherein the at least one second antenna comprises an at least one antenna associated with a first player position of the table and the at least one third antenna comprises an at least one antenna associated with a second player position of the table;

determining a time at which the indication is received, thereby determining an acquisition time; and

storing, in the memory and in association with the player position associated with the antenna and the acquisition time, an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

determining that the specific RFID-enabled chip is no longer recognized by the second acquiring antenna as being on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna;

determining a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip is determined to no longer be on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna, thereby determining an expiration time; and

storing, in the memory, an indication of the expiration time in association with the specific RFID-enabled chip.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within a predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for a period of time that is not less than a predetermining minimum period of time.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the determining whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range is performed after receiving the indication from the second acquiring antenna but before storing the indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna, and wherein the method further comprises:

only performing the storing in the memory an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

removing an indication of the second acquiring antenna from the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has not been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

determining an end of a current game; and

clearing the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip from the memory.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying, on a monitor associated with a dealer position of the table, the wager registered for the particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.