Patent Publication Number: US-2006001211-A1

Title: Automated playing card identification system for casino-type card games

Description:
This application is related to, and claims the benefit of, Provisional U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/579,268, filed Jun. 15, 2004, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
      This application includes material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to the field of automatic recognition, data storage, hand ranking, and/or statistical analysis of playing card ranks and suits for playing table playing card games. More specifically, an embodiment of the invention relates to games which use playing cards and are played at a casino, card room or other gaming table with live human participants.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In the gaming industry there is a significant volume of gambling which occurs at live table games which involve the use of playing cards. Exemplary live table games include blackjack, baccarat, a large number of versions of poker, and the like.  
      It has long been a desire for some television programs to broadcast coverage of live table games. However, a major limitation and disadvantage of games using playing cards is that, depending on the rules of the game being played, a number of playing cards are dealt face down or are discarded by either the dealer or the players throughout the hand. This makes it impossible for broadcasters to supply the audience with background information, “color commentary”, or the like during lulls in the action. By way of example, since the rank and suit of the face-down or discarded playing cards is not generally known, it is impossible to accurately calculate win percentages of each player&#39;s hand. Thus, there have been relatively few live broadcasts of games using playing cards.  
      Rather than broadcasting the game live, the camera crews record the game as it progresses, including manually recording each card dealt, the amount or amounts of each bet made, and each individual player&#39;s action. These recordings are sent to a production studio for post-production processing. The production studio generates graphic images representing various aspects of the game, such as the cards held by each player, the amount bet, and the win percentage for each player&#39;s hand.  
      Some attempts have been made to streamline the recording process to expedite the post-production process. For example, some in the prior art have recorded card game action using video cameras mounted in the cushion which surrounds the table playing surface, a well as cameras mounted above the table. This approach is disadvantaged by the fact that the rank and suit of cards dealt face-down, whether dealt to a player or discarded by either a player or the dealer, cannot be determined through the use of an overhead camera, and is available to the cushion-mounted cameras only when the player lifts the cards from the playing surface to determine his hand. Even when the player lifts his cards from the table, it is possible that the suit and rank of the top cards in the hand may not be visible to the camera, as they may be covered by the lower card or cards of the hand. Discarded cards are typically not lifted from the table, and the rank and suit of the discarded playing cards remains unknown. This information must be gathered at the end of the hand if it is to be supplied to the post-production team.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      What is need is a system and methods through which game play information can be monitored and collected in or near real time, thus allowing broadcasters to provide live coverage of playing card games. Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an automated playing card identification system for games using playing cards that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. The invention addresses the limitations present in the prior art and provides a means of automatically determining the rank and suit of all cards dealt or discarded. This allows accurate calculation of potential win percentages and the generation of virtually instantaneous graphics images and statistical information for use in live television broadcasts.  
      An object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for the automatic recognition of playing cards for casino-type card games. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
      To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, in one aspect of the present invention there is provided an automatic card-recognition system, an electronic card data processor or processors which allow automatic collection, storage and hand ranking of historic and current card and player information, and statistical entry, analysis and retrieval systems.  
      In another aspect of the present invention there is provided embedded radio-frequency identification tags or other wirelessly pollable tags to provide a unique identification serial number for each card in the playing card deck or decks, or computer-generated barcode information printed on the back of each playing card; and a plurality of radio-frequency identification readers, built into the game playing surface, and being controlled to provide automatic identification of playing cards dealt or played, or at least one barcode scanner to provide the same function  
      In yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a plurality of radio-frequency identification readers, built into the game playing surface, and being controlled to provide automatic identification of playing cards dealt or played, or at least one barcode scanner to provide the same function.  
      An embodiment of the invention includes both internal and external graphics generator interfaces which allow television broadcasters to immediately display graphics related to the game or hand in progress. Statistical data on cards and player hands, as well as bet amounts, summary totals and individual player actions are available from the system for use as computer printouts, statistical analysis screens on locally-connected personal computers, as television broadcast graphics, or for other such purposes.  
      It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
      In the drawings:  
       FIG. 1   a  and  FIG. 1   b  are top views of playing cards containing radio-frequency identification chips, the back of the playing cards having been removed for clarity.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a card identification system embodiment, including a television graphics output, utilizing a single radio-frequency identification reader.  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a card identification system embodiment, including a television graphics output, utilizing a plurality of radio-frequency identification readers.  
       FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of a playing surface embodiment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. For clarity, similar components in the various figures have been given the same reference numerals.  
       FIG. 1   a  represents laminated playing card  200  incorporating a self-adhesive radio-frequency identification tag consisting of a microchip transceiver  203  and associated antenna  202  mounted on a thin polyvinyl chloride carrier  204 . The complete assembly incorporates a front substrate that includes the playing card face, the radio-frequency identification tag, and a rear substrate that includes the playing card back, which are bonded together to form a complete playing card assembly. In this figure, the playing card back has been removed for clarity.  
       FIG. 1   b  represents an alternative configuration of a laminated playing card assembly, utilizing a self adhesive radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) tag consisting of a microchip transceiver  203  and associated antennas  202 , mounted directly on a playing card surface  200 . The complete assembly incorporates a front substrate that includes the playing card face, the radio-frequency identification tag and a rear substrate that includes the playing card back, which are bonded together to form a complete playing card assembly. In this figure, the playing card back has been removed for clarity.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a single-sensor automatic playing card identification system, including an optional graphics generator output for television. In this embodiment, the playing cards used as part of the game include at least one RFID tag, with each card assigned a unique identifier. Each card dealt at card table  100  is passed over antenna  101  during the dealing process, and may also pass over antenna  101  during game play. When a card passes over antenna  101 , the card transmits its unique identification number. The transmitted identification number is received and decoded by radio-frequency identification reader  102 . In the illustrated embodiment, the identification number data is transmitted to game processor  103  by means of RS232 or RS485 serial communications link  114 . It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that alternative communications means, such as, but not limited to, a communication means employing BlueTooth™ technology, may be substituted therefor without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention.  
      Game processor  103  validates the radio-frequency identification tag data, searches an internal database to determine the rank and suit of the card, and assigns that card to the appropriate player depending on the rules of the game in play. This card and player information can be displayed on one or more system console monitors  106 .  
      In the illustrated embodiment, when the required minimum number of cards have been dealt (depending on the rules of the game in play and the number of players), the game processor transmits the hand information for all players, plus information on any dead or discarded cards, to Win Percentage processor  104 . Such transmission may occur via Ethernet link  115  or other wired or wireless communication means. Win Percentage processor  104  performs an analysis of every possible hand for each player based on the cards remaining in the deck and returns an estimate of the percentage of hands that could be won using the cards currently held by each player. This information is relayed to game processor  103  and can also be made available on system console monitor  106 . The win percentage information is also available to graphics generator  105  for output to a television truck or other transmission source. In the illustrated embodiment, graphics generator  105  provides serial-digital (RS601) outputs for video fill  108  and video key  109  signals required for insertion of the image over standard television pictures, high definition television pictures, or other broadcast data streams. The signals can be synchronized to reference signal  110  generated by the television truck or other transmission source.  
      An embodiment of the system supports manual entry of wager amounts and player actions through system console terminal  106  or through Manual Bet Recorder station  111 . This allows the inputting of card information when such data is unavailable through the automatic system and provides a manual backup for the automatic playing card recognition system. Information entered through system console terminal  106  or Manual Bet Recorder station  111  is stored in Game Processor  103  for use in statistical analysis of the game, tournament, or event, and for the generation of appropriate graphics for the television broadcast.  
      An embodiment of the system also provides for a plurality of Statistics Monitoring workstations  113 . These workstations can be connected to game processor  103  via Ethernet link  115  or an alternative wired or wireless communication means. By way of example, without intending to limit the present invention, such connectivity allows users to monitor and analyze various aspects of the game, including the current hand, wager amounts, win percentages, player actions, and game results.  
      The proposed system can also incorporate a plurality of printers  107 , interfaced to game processor  103  via Ethernet link  115  or other wireless or wired communication means, or directly connected to game processor  103  or any of the Statistics Monitor workstations  113 . This allows the system to provide hard-copy output of each hand played and other associated statistics.  
       FIG. 3  is a block schematic diagram of a multi-sensor automatic playing card identification system, including an optional graphics generator output for television. In this configuration, an individual antenna  101  is located at each player position, with an additional antenna and reader located at both the discard area and “community card” area on the playing surface, depending on the type of game being played. Each antenna has an associated radio-frequency identification reader  102 . All readers can be connected through an RS485 communications link  117  or other wired or wireless communication means to Data Concentrator  116 , which can transmit all received radio-frequency tag data to game processor  103  via Ethernet connection  115  or other wired or wireless communication means.  
      Game processor  103  validates the radio-frequency identification tag data, searches a database to determine the rank and suit of the card just dealt, and assigns that card to the appropriate player, depending on the rules of the game in play. This card and player information can be displayed on system console monitor  106 . When the required minimum number of cards have been dealt (depending on the rules of the game in play and the number of players), game processor  103  transmits the hand information for all players, plus information on any dead or discarded cards, to Win Percentage processor  104  via Ethernet link  115  or an alternative wired or wireless communication means. Win Percentage processor  104  performs an analysis of every possible hand for each player based on the cards available in the deck and returns an estimate of the percentage of hands that could be won using the cards currently held by each player. This information can be made immediately available to a user via system console monitor  106 , and can also be made available to graphics generator  105  for output to a television truck or other broadcast source. In the illustrated embodiment, graphics generator  105  provides serial-digital (RS601) outputs for video fill  108  and video key  109  signals required for insertion of the generated images over standard television pictures, high definition television pictures, or other broadcast data streams. These signals can be synchronized to reference signal  110  generated by a television truck or other broadcast source.  
      Manual entry of wager amounts and player actions is supported through the system console terminal  106  or through Manual Bet Recorder station  111 . Information entered through system console terminal  106  or Manual Bet Recorder station  111  is stored in game processor  103  for use in statistical analysis of the game, tournament, or event, and for the generation of appropriate graphics for the television broadcast.  
      In the illustrated embodiment, manual card data entry may also be accomplished through system console terminal  106 , or through Manual Data Entry station  112 . This allows the inputting of card information when such data is unavailable through the automatic system and provides a manual backup for the automatic playing card recognition system.  
      The illustrated embodiment provides a plurality of Statistics Monitor workstations  113  which are connected to game processor  103  via Ethernet link  115  or other wired or wireless communication means. These workstations allow monitoring and statistical analysis of various aspects of the game, including the current hand, wager amounts, win percentages, player actions, and game results.  
      The illustrated embodiment also incorporates an optional plurality of system printers  107 , interfaced to game processor  103  via Ethernet link  115  or other wireless or wired communication means, or directly connected to either game processor  103  or any of the Statistics Monitor workstations  113 . This allows the system to provide hard-copy output of each hand played and other associated statistics.  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a typical playing surface. A groove  301  of suitable size and shape is machined into plywood playing surface  300  and a loop-wire antenna  101  is inserted into the groove. The antenna connector (not shown) is routed through a hole in the playing surface, and is mechanically and electrically connected to Radio-frequency Identification reader  102  using a suitable shielded cable. After assembly, the entire playing surface is covered with the standard felt material  303  normally used on playing card gaming surfaces.  
      Radio-frequency Identification Reader  102  may be mounted directly to the bottom of the playing surface (as shown), or may alternately be located within a protective housing within the playing table structure or framework.  
      While the invention has been described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.