| Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
  Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrixUSPTO Application #: 20070057469Title: Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix Abstract: An apparatus and a method enabled by the apparatus perform a method of measuring wagering activity on a gaming table. The method comprises providing at least one grid of sensors positioned over an area defined by the surface of a gaming table to sense the presence or absence of gaming elements on the gaming table surface. The sensors sense gaming elements (e.g., playing cards, gaming chips, tokens, player cards, etc.) on the gaming table surface. Signals are sent from the sensors (preferably to a logic control device) indicating the presence or absence of the gaming elements. The logic control device sends signals to a processor in response to receiving the signals from the sensors, and the processor storing information from said signals from the logic control system indicating the presence or absence of gaming elements on the casino table surface. (end of abstract)
Agent: Mark A. Litman & Associates, P.A. York Business Center - Edina, MN, US Inventors: Attila Grauzer, James V. Kelly, Oliver M. Schubert USPTO Applicaton #: 20070057469 - Class: 273309000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Amusement Devices: Games, Games Accessories, Game Supporting Tables Or Surfaces The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070057469. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The casino environment is undergoing significant changes. From a completely labor intensive environment, with live dealers, live security, and physical cards, with security provided by casino personnel, the casino is rapidly moving towards a highly automated electronic environment. Wagers on live gaming tables can be sensed, cards read, cards shuffled, hands read, commands sent from controls, component performance monitored, player activity monitored, dealer activity monitored, identification or players and dealers verified, jackpots incremented or decremented, state of the game or the state of components reported, game results determined or verified, hands verified in discard compartments, rounds of play counted, payouts calculated, a history of results displayed, and many other events and data relating to the operation of a table, pit or casino can be electronically provided. [0002] There has been some resistance to the implementation of these more automated systems, and those reasons include the initial costs, the maintenance costs, and the perceived need for costly technical support staff to maintain the systems. Where more sophisticated components require service, or new components are to be added to the system, the level of technical skill and the degree of complexity of the work needed to implement the addition increases dramatically. Additionally, the down time to a table or pit that can be caused by the introduction or new components can be significant, further increasing the effective cost of the system. [0003] The proposed systems have also been complex and sophisticated in their software and communication requirements. Known systems also tend to require significant component intelligence at each table just to support the communication function between components. At least these factors would lead to significant resistance within the industry for the installation of the more highly automated systems. [0004] In the gaming industry, significant gambling occurs at live table games that use playing cards and a live dealer. Exemplary live table games include blackjack, poker, poker variants such as Let It Ride.RTM. stud poker, baccarat, casino war and other games. There are a number of proprietary or specialty live table card games which have developed, such as Fortune Pai Gow poker.RTM., Let-It-Ride.RTM. stud poker, Three Card Poker.RTM. game, Four Card Poker.RTM. game, Caribbean Stud.RTM. poker and others. These and many other games all involve play using playing cards. The cards are dealt by a live dealer to the players, to a flop and/or to the dealer. The use of playing cards provided by a live dealer has a number of associated limitations and disadvantages that have long plagued the casino industry. Some of these are of general concern to all or most card games. Others are problems associated with the use of playing cards in particular games. Some of the principal concerns and problems are discussed below. [0005] The use of playing cards at live table games typically involves several operational requirements that are time-consuming. These operations are conveniently described as collecting, shuffling, dealing and reading of the cards. In many card games there is also a step of cutting the deck after it has been shuffled. In the collecting operation, a live dealer typically collects the cards just played at the end of a hand. This is done in preparation for playing the next hand of cards. The cards in known systems must often be collected in the specific order in which they had appeared in the play of the game and must also be collected in a specific orientation, such as all cards being in a facedown or face-up condition. The cards also are typically straightened into a stack with the long sides and short sides aligned. These manipulations take time and are not typically appreciated by either the dealer or players because they distract from the play and entertainment value of the game. The use of physical cards also adds a regular recurring cost to play of the game in the wear on decks of cards that must be replaced every few hours. In many games the cards collected at the end of the hand are deposited into a discard rack that collects the played cards until the time a new stack is obtained or the stack is shuffled. In some games the cards are immediately shuffled into the stack either manually or using a card shuffling machine. More typically, the cards are collected and then shuffling is performed later by the dealer or a shuffling device controlled by the dealer. [0006] When shuffling is needed, it involves a break in the action of the table game and consumes a significant amount of time. Shuffling is also the most time consuming operation in preparing for the next hand. Thus, shuffling is of substantial financial significance to the casino industry because it requires significant time and reduces the number of hands that can be played per hour or other period of time. The earnings of casinos are primarily dependent upon the total number of hands played. This is true because the casino on average wins a certain percent of the amounts wagered, and many or most casinos are open on a 24-hour basis. Thus, earnings are limited by the number of hands that can be played per hour. In light of this there has been a significant and keen interest by casino owners to develop practices that allow more games to be played in a given amount of time. Accomplishing this without detracting from player enjoyment and desire to play the game is a challenging and longstanding issue with casino owners and consultants in the gaming industry. The use of high quality shuffling machines, such as those produced by Shuffle Master, Inc. (Las Vegas, Nev.) as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,655,684; 6,651,982; 6,588,751; 6,658,750; 6,568,678; 6,325,373; 6,254,096; 6,149,154; 6,139,014; 6,068,258; and 5,695,189 that have significantly reduced the problem in down time. [0007] The amount of time consumed by collecting, shuffling and dealing is also of significance in private card games because it also delays action and requires some special effort to perform. In private games there is also some added complexity due to card players remembering or figuring out which player had previously dealt and who should now shuffle and re-deal the cards as needed. [0008] In the gaming industry there is also a very significant amount of time and effort devoted to security issues that relate to play of the casino games. Part of the security concerns stem from frequent attempts to cheat during play of the games. Attempts to cheat are made by players, dealers, or more significantly by dealers and players in collusion. This cheating seeks to affect the outcome of the game in a way that favors the dealer or players who are working together. The amount of cheating in card games is significant to the casino industry and constitutes a major security problem that has large associated losses. The costs of efforts to deter or prevent cheating are very large and made on a daily basis. Many of the attempts to cheat in the play of live table card games involve some aspect of dealer or player manipulation of cards during collection, shuffling, cutting or dealing of cards. Thus, there is a need for methods and apparatus that can be used in the play of live table card games that collect data that can be used to reduce the ability of the dealer and/or players to cheat by manipulation of playing cards. [0009] Of greatest concern are schemes whereby the deck is stacked and the stacked deck is used to the collusive player's advantage. Stacked decks represent huge potential losses since the player is aware of the cards which will be played before play occurs and can optimize winnings by increasing bets for winning hands and decreasing bets for losing hands. It is also desirable to provide decks or groups of cards where card counters are disadvantaged because of the reduction in their ability to track distributions of cards in the group of cards being used for play. Continuous shufflers, in which cards are reintroduced into the group of cards being used without first unloading all of the cards in the machine, helps to eliminate that aspect of improper behavior at the gaming table. [0010] Casinos have recognized that their efforts to reduce cheating would be improved if the casino had comprehensive information on the cards which have been played, the amounts bet, the players and dealers involved and other information about actions which have taken place at the card tables. This is of particular importance in assessing the use of stacked decks. It is also important where card tracking is occurring. Additional explanation about card tracking is discussed below. The information desired by the casinos includes knowing the sequence and exact cards being dealt. It would be even more advantageous to the casino if physical cards and live dealers could be eliminated, as this would remove almost all major existing methods of fraud from casino table card games. [0011] Some attempts have been made to acquire and record card game activity. Current technology involves cameras that are mounted above the tables to record the action of the card games. The disadvantage of this approach is that not all cards dealt are easily imaged from a camera position above the table because some or all of the cards are not dealt face-up, or are hidden by overlying cards. Although house rules in some casinos may require blackjack games to reveal all cards so that the order of dealt cards can be imaged, other casinos do not. [0012] In card games such as poker, hands are not always revealed. The covered cards of the players do not allow the rank, suit or order of dealt cards to be ascertained from an above-table camera or on table mounted cameras. [0013] Other camera imaging systems monitor wagers, such as the optical monitoring systems disclosed in Fishbine U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,647, Schubert U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,871, and Soltys U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,663,490, 6,652,379, 6,638,161, 6,595,857, 6,579,181, 6,579,180, 6,533,662, 6,533,276, 6,530,837, 6,530,836, 6,527,271, 6,520,857, 6,517,436, 6,517,435 and 6,460,848, [0014] Even where cameras are used, their use may not be effective. Such cameras may require time-consuming and tedious human analysis to go over the videotapes or other recordings of table action or require the use of software that is complex and imprecise. In some present systems, some human study may be needed just to ascertain the sequence of cards dealt or to determine the amount of betting or to confirm software determinations from camera read data. Such human analysis is costly and cannot economically be used to routinely monitor all action in a casino card room or table game pit. [0015] For the above reasons, the video camera monitoring techniques have found very limited effectiveness as a routine approach for identifying cheating. There has also been relatively limited use as a serious analytical tool because of the difficulty of analysis. Such camera surveillance techniques are of limited effectiveness as a deterrent because the analysis is completed after the player is gone from the table. Additionally, many cheats have a working knowledge of their limitations and utilize approaches that are not easily detectable by such systems. [0016] As mentioned above, video camera monitoring and recording has been used to detect cheating and card counting. The tape recordings serve as evidence to prove the cheating scheme. However, in the past, this has generally required other evidence to initially reveal the cheating so that careful analysis can be performed. More routine and general screening to detect cheating has remained a difficult and continuing problem for casinos. This is also a human intensive review, with both video monitoring security personnel and live personnel watching the players and apprehending players at the tables. [0017] The most significant cost in operation gaming tables is the personnel costs. A number of attempts have been made to automate systems to reduce the need for pit staff, or other staff that are directly or indirectly involved in the operation or maintenance of the games. [0018] Casino equipment suppliers have attempted to overcome the complex problem of data acquisition on live gaming tables in a number of ways. One solution has been to provide electronic simulations of casino table card games. Such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,509 (Miller); U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,342 (Takashima); U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,615 (Cheng); U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,080 (Naku); and Published U.S. Patent Applications 2002/0169013 (Serizawa); 2003/0199316 (Miyamoto); and the like. These systems do not require a dealer, and include individual monitors for display of the players' hands and the dealer hands. This approach allows for electronic data acquisition, but provides a high cost solution to the problem [0019] Another approach has been to provide an automation of card handling, with a live dealer and the use of actual gaming chips. Sines U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,651,985 and 6,270,404 are titled "Automated system for playing live casino table games having tabletop changeable playing card displays and play monitoring security features." Sines U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,069 is similarly titled "Automated system for playing live casino table games having tabletop changeable playing card displays and monitoring security features." The Sines patents describe a video gaming table that requires the use of a live dealer, even though virtual cards are used. The Sines system includes bet/chip sensors on the table and requires the use of actual chips. [0020] U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,998 (Forte and Sines) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,766 (Forte and Sines) describe a computer controlled gaming table for playing blackjack. The system uses physical cards and the game is run by a physical dealer. This system provides a count display (e.g., LED display) at each player position to show the player count and dealer count (as appropriate) that is determined from reading the rank and suit of the physical cards. Physical playing chips are also used; with no credit wagering capability. [0021] U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,936 (Bennett et al.) teaches a ticketless control system for monitoring player activity at a table game, such as blackjack. Physical cards and physical chips are used. Player identity cards identify each player entering play at a table, and a separate ticket printer issues a results ticket at the end of play or reads the ticket at the beginning of play. [0022] U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,769 (Order) describes gaming equipment for professional use of table games with playing cards and gaming chips, in particular for the game of blackjack. The system automatically registers and evaluates all phases of the game automatically. This is achieved by a card shoe with an integrated device for recognition of the value of the drawn cards (3') (optical recognition device and mirroring into a CCD-image converter); photodiodes (52) arranged under the table cloth (51) in order to register separately the casino light passing through each area (53, 54) for placing the gaming chips (41) and areas (55, 56) for placing the playing cards (3) in dependence of the arrangement or movement of the jettons (gaming chips) and playing cards on the mentioned areas; a device for automatic recognition of each bet (scanner to register the color of the jettons, or a RFID-system comprising a S/R station and jettons with integrated transponder); an EDP program created in accordance with the gaming rules to evaluate and store all data transmitted from the functional devices to the computer; and a monitor to display the run of the game and player wins. [0023] U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,533 (Franchi) describes a casino operating system for controlling the flow of funds and monitoring gambling activities in a casino or a gaming establishment utilizing a network of computers, including a central computer and individual game computers. Each player receives an encoded betting card from the cashier. At the games, each player position is equipped with a control panel including a card reader into which the betting card is inserted. The control panel also includes an electronic screen and keyboard. From the control panel, the player may place a bet and perform all options available to the player in the particular game. The system records the hands dealt to each player and the winner, and credits or debits the player's betting card accordingly. In an alternative embodiment, the casino operating system allows the players to use chips to place bets instead of the above-described betting card. The chips are marked or encoded so that they can be counted once final bets have been placed to determine the amount of each player's bet. These "smart" RFID chips transmit an identification signal enabling the value of the chips to be counted by a remote sensor once final bets have been placed to determine the amount of each player's bet." Continue reading... Full patent description for Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Systems, methods and articles to facilitate playing card games with selectable odds Next Patent Application: Trivia game Industry Class: Amusement devices: games ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Gaming table activity sensing and communication matrix patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.60812 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Computers: Graphics , I/O , Processors , Dyn. Storage , Static Storage , Printers |
||
