Patent ID: 8342932

Claim:
A playing card handling system, comprising: a playing card input receiver; a playing card output receiver; at least one playing card transport path extending between the playing card input receiver and the playing card output receiver; an intermediary playing card receiver disposed between the playing card input receiver and the playing card output receiver in the at least one playing card transport path, the intermediary playing card receiver comprising a plurality of playing card receiving compartments, physically coupled for movement together; an input optical sensor having a field-of-view encompassing a portion of the at least one playing card transport path upstream of the intermediary playing card receiver, the input optical sensor operable to capture identifying information from playing cards at a position upstream of the intermediary playing card receiver to assist in assigning playing cards to the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of the intermediary playing card receiver; an inventory optical sensor having a field-of-view that encompasses a portion of the intermediary playing card receiver, and is operable to capture identifying information from playing cards received in the playing card receiving compartments of the intermediary playing card receiver to confirm the presence and identity of the playing cards assigned to the plurality of playing card receiving compartments of the intermediary playing card receiver; and a control subsystem configured to control a transfer of a plurality of playing cards from the input playing card receiver to the intermediary playing card receiver.