Methods and systems for facilitating table games

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9694272-B2
Application number	US-201614994127-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2016
Priority date	Jun 7, 2010
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A gaming table provides for use of RFID technology to track chip movement on a table game and to infer an association between a wager and a player position based on a chip identifier of a chip placed on a particular position of the table. In some embodiments, previous position history of the chip is also taken into account in determining a player position associated with a wager.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for facilitating a card game, comprising:
a table apparatus, the table apparatus having positioned thereon
a plurality of player positions, each player position for association with a respective player position antenna; and
at least one shared position antenna associated with a shared player position, the shared player position for placement of chips by one or more players of a plurality of players, each respective placement of at least one chip on the shared player position serving as an indication of a wager being placed by a particular player of the plurality of players;

a processor operable to communicate with each of the respective player position antennas and the at least one shared position antenna; and
a memory accessible to the processor, the memory storing (i) information about RFID-enabled chips usable on the table apparatus for a card game; and (ii) a program,

wherein the processor is operable with the program to:
receive an indication that a first RFID-enabled chip has been acquired at the at least one shared position antenna, the indication including an identifier of the at least one shared position antenna that acquired the first RFID-enabled chip and a unique identifier of the first RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a first specific RFID-enabled chip and a first acquiring antenna;
access, from the memory, information defining a most recent particular player position associated with the unique identifier of the first specific RFID-enabled chip acquired by the first acquiring antenna;
determine, based on the information, the first specific RFID-enabled chip as being placed as part of a wager to be associated with the most recent particular player position; and
register the wager for the most recent particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor being operable with the program to register a wager comprises the processor being operable with the program to register a type and magnitude of the wager based on at least one of a denomination of the first specific RFID-enabled chip and a type of wager associated with the first acquiring antenna.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the wager comprises a re-characterization wager.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the memory stores a position history of the first specific RFID-enabled chip, the position history indicative of at least one player position the specific RFID-enabled chip has been associated with during the card game.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the position history comprises an indication of a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was acquired at a particular player position of the plurality of player positions and a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was determined to no longer be on the particular player position.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the processor being operable with the program to determine the most recent player position comprises the processor being operable with the program to determine a player position at which the specific RFID-enabled chip was acquired, as indicated in the position history, immediately preceding the receiving of the indication that the specific RFID-enabled chip has been acquired at the first acquiring antenna.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the table apparatus further includes positioned thereon:
at least one second antenna associated with a first player position of the table; and
at least one third antenna associated with a second player position of the table, wherein each of the first, second and third antennas is operable to determine an RFID-enabled chip within a predetermined range of the respective antenna; and
wherein the processor is operable with the program and at least one of the second at least one antenna and the third at least one antenna to:
receive, from one of the second at least one antenna and the third at least one antenna and prior to the indication being received from the first acquiring antenna, an indication of the RFID-enabled chip being acquired at the player position associated with the antenna from which the indication is received, the indication including a unique identifier of the RFID-enabled chip, thereby determining a second acquiring antenna for the specific RFID-enabled chip;
determine a time at which the indication is received, thereby determining an acquisition time; and
store, in the memory and in association with the player position associated with the antenna and the acquisition time, an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
determine that the specific RFID-enabled chip is no longer recognized by the second acquiring antenna as being on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna;
determine a time at which the specific RFID-enabled chip is determined to no longer be on the player position associated with the second acquiring antenna, thereby determining an expiration time; and
store, in the memory, an indication of the expiration time in association with the specific RFID-enabled chip.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
determine whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within a predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for a period of time that is not less than a predetermining minimum period of time.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the determining whether the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range is performed after receiving the indication from the second acquiring antenna but before storing the indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna, and wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
only perform the storing in the memory an indication of the specific RFID-enabled chip as having been acquired at the second acquiring antenna if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
remove an indication of the second acquiring antenna from the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip if it is determined that the specific RFID-enabled chip has not been located within the predetermined range of the second acquiring antenna for the period of time that is not less than the predetermined minimum period of time.

12. The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
determine an end of a current game; and
clear the position history associated with the specific RFID-enabled chip from the memory.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a monitor associated with a dealer position of the table, the monitor for displaying to the dealer wagers placed on the table, wherein the processor is further operable with the program to:
display on the monitor the wager registered for the particular player position based on the indication from the first acquiring antenna and the information.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor associated with a table for facilitating a card game, the instructions causing the processor to perform a method comprising:
receiving an

Assignees

• Walker Digital Table Systems Llc

Inventors

• Moore Stephen
• Besterman Brian
• Bischoff Jeff

Classifications

• A63F2009/2489

  by radio transmitters, e.g. using RFID · CPC title

• A63F2003/00164

  Casino tables · CPC title

• A63F2009/2429

  IC card, chip card, smart card · CPC title

• A63F3/00157 Primary

  Casino or betting games (horse races A63F3/00082) · CPC title

• G07F17/322

  Casino tables, e.g. tables having integrated screens, chip detection means · CPC title