Intelligent table game system

摘要

A card dealing system incorporating playing cards with rank and suit information encoded thereon via micro-dots, and a shoe capable of reading such micro dots as a playing card is drawn from the shoe. A game controller unit determines the positioning of the micro-dots on the playing card, and determines the rank and suit information therefrom. The game controller thereby monitors the progress and status of a card game. The shoe includes a mechanism for increasing the force needed to pull a card from the shoe in certain circumstances. The engagement of this mechanism may be tied to the rules of the game, or may relate to circumstances apart from the rules of the game, such as the detection of a cut card or a virtual cut card.

主权项

1. A playing card shoe comprising:
a card cradle for holding a plurality of playing cards; a card dispensing portion for allowing the playing cards to be manually removed from the playing card shoe; a sensor for detecting an indicator on a playing card as the playing card is pulled from the card dispensing portion, wherein the sensor detects micro-dots on a face of the playing card in a plurality of regions as the playing card is drawn out of the card dispensing portion, the micro-dots are printed in visible ink in a pattern, the pattern encoding the rank and suit of the playing card, wherein the micro-dots are sized to not be visible to the unaided human eye, and wherein the rank and suit of each playing card is each encoded via an x-y coordinate grid, in which at least one location on the grid represents the rank and suit of each playing card; a card removal limiter for controlling the removal of the playing cards from the card dispensing portion; and a controller in communication with the card removal limiter and the sensor.