Identifying a specially designated object to facilitate dynamic promotions related to use of the object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11847889-B2
Application number	US-202217727936-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 25, 2022
Priority date	Jul 31, 2015
Publication date	Dec 19, 2023
Grant date	Dec 19, 2023

Abstract

In accordance with some embodiments, a physical game element such as a wagering chip or a playing card may be utilized to implement a promotion scheme on an electronic card table (e.g., using RFID or optical imaging technology). During a game it may be determined whether the element is associated with special functionality (e.g., entitles the player to a payout multiplier, special payout table, bonus prize or other benefit). The special functionality may have been previously associated with the element or associated with the element during the game (e.g., dynamically and/or randomly). In accordance with some embodiments a player is not able to readily discern the special functionality by a physical inspection of the physical game element and is only notified of the special functionality once the physical game element is used in a qualifying action (e.g., during a wager at an electronic card table).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for facilitating special functionality of game elements during a card game, the method comprising:
receiving data defining at least one physical game element detected as being in use for a card game;
determining, based on the data and during the card game, that special functionality is associated with the physical game element, the special functionality entitling a player associated with the physical game element to a benefit the player would not otherwise be entitled to during the card game, wherein the association of the special functionality with the physical game element is concealed from the player of the physical game element;
identifying a qualifying action associated with the physical game element that must be satisfied prior to an indication of the special functionality being revealed to the player;
determining, by tracking one or more activities of the player, that the player has utilized the physical game element in the qualifying action;
outputting, during the card game, the indication of the special functionality to the player of the physical game element in response to the player utilizing the physical game element in the qualifying action;
applying the special functionality to an event associated with the card game; and
updating, in an electronic memory, a status of the physical game element, wherein the status is indicative of whether the special functionality continues to be associated with the physical game element after the applying.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical game element is one of a playing card and a wagering chip.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical game element comprises an RFID-enabled game element and wherein the step of receiving data comprises:
receiving the data using an RFID interrogator of a card table on which the RFID-enabled game element is being used.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical game element comprises a game element having an optically readable code located on a surface thereof and wherein the step of receiving data comprises:
receiving the data based on a reading of the optically readable code by an optical image reader of a card table on which the physical game element is being used.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the physical game element.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises information comprising at least one characteristic of the physical game element.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on the data, that special functionality is associated with the physical game element comprises:
looking up in a table, based on the data, whether the physical game element is associated with the special functionality, wherein the physical game element had been selected for association with the special functionality prior to a current card game being initiated if the table indicates that the physical game element is associated with the special functionality.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on the data, that special functionality is associated with the physical game element comprises:
applying an algorithm to the physical game element during the card game to determine an outcome; and
determining based on the outcome that the physical game element is to have special functionality associated with it.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the outcome is determined based at least partly on information associated with at least one of the player, a game session at an electronic table on which the card game is being played and a gaming establishment at which the game is being played.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the algorithm selects a game element on a pseudo-random basis.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining which special functionality out of a plurality of special functionalities is to be applied to the event.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting comprises:
outputting, via a display device of an electronic table on which the card game is being played and after the card game is initiated, an indication that at least one physical game element being used in the card game is associated with special functionality.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the indication further defines the special functionality associated with the physical game element.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the indication includes an identification of at least one of the physical game element, the player associated with the physical game element and a player position of the player associated with the physical game element.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic memory comprises an electronic memory of at least one of the physical game element, an electronic table and a server device.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a server device, data defining a plurality of physical game elements that have been selected by the server device for association with the special functionality; and
wherein the step of determining comprises determining that the detected physical game element is included in the data defining the plurality of physical game elements.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying comprises:
applying a multiplier to a payout won as a result of use of the physical game element.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the special functionality comprises performing at least one of modifying data in a paytable and selecting an alternate paytable for use in determining a game result for the player associated with the physical game element.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the special functionality comprises modifying at least one of a card value, a wager value, a wagering chip value and a card game rule, as any of the foregoing may be used to determine a game result for the player.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the least one physical game element is one of a plurality of physical game elements usable by players for play of the card game, each physical game element of the plurality of physical game elements having a regular reward functionality associated therewith;
wherein the special functionality is in addition to the regular reward functionality associated with the physical game element, the special functionality having been associated with a subset but not all of the plurality of physical game elements at a time prior to determining that the special functionality is associated with the physical game element.

21. A method for facilitating special functionality of game elements during a card game, the method comprising:
receiving data defining at least one physical game element detected as being in use for a card game;
determining, based on the data and during the card game, that special functionality is associated with the physical game element, the special functionality entitling a player associated with the physical game element to a benefit the player would not otherwise be entitled to during the card game, wherein the association of the special functionality with the physical game element is initially concealed from a user of the physical game element;
assigning a qualifying action specific to the physical game element; and
in response to the physical game element being utilized by the user in the qualifying action, revealing to the user the special functionality of the physical game element;
wherein the method is performed by at least one processor coupled to mem

Assignees

• Walker Digital Table Systems Llc

Inventors

• Moore Stephen
• Russell Michael
• Hettinger Mark

Classifications

• G07F17/3248 Primary

  involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value · CPC title

• A63F1/18

  Scoring or registering devices; Indicators (A63F1/16 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06K7/10009

  sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves · CPC title

• G06K19/0723

  the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs · CPC title

• G07C15/006

  electronically · CPC title