Patent ID: 7137627

Claim:
A method of performing a security check on a card handling device comprising a card shuffler having a card shuffling area within the card shuffler used at a gaming table having a gaming table area comprising a method performed in the card shuffler of: providing a first card receiver for receiving cards; providing cards in an initial card count; providing a card-receiving area generally adjacent to the first card receiver; providing a card-moving mechanism between the first card receiver and the card-receiving area and moving cards from the first card receiver to the card-receiving area; providing a second card receiver for receiving cards after the cards have been moved to the card receiving area; providing a second card moving mechanism for moving cards from the card-receiving area to the second card receiver; and counting cards within specified areas within the card handling device; wherein card removal from the shuffling area is deactivated card movement from the card receiving area to the second card receiver is halted, all cards in the area of the gaming table and the cards within the second card receiver are retrieved and inserted into the first card receiver for receiving cards to be processed, the cards inserted into the first card receiver for receiving cards to be processed are counted as they move to the card-receiving area, the cards counted as they move defining retrieved cards, and the number of retrieved cards are added to the number of cards counted in the card receiving area within the card handler to provide a final count of cards, the final count being compared to the initial count.