HK1208838B - Table game system - Google Patents

Description

Table game system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a table game system having a security function in a card game such as baccarat using playing cards (hereinafter simply referred to as "cards").

Background

In poker, baccarat, bridge, blackjack, and other card games, a dealer sets one or more decks of playing cards in a card dealer or the like and distributes the cards to game players by drawing the cards one by one therefrom. In doing so, it is necessary to randomly distribute cards in order to ensure fairness in the game. Thus, the game host must randomly shuffle the playing cards sufficiently to ensure that the arrangement of the playing cards is a random order before placing the cards in the card shoe. Shuffled playing cards used in various card games such as poker, baccarat, bridge, or blackjack generally include 416 cards if 8 decks of cards are used.

A conventional card shuffling device for shuffling is disclosed in, for example, patent document 1. After shuffling with the shuffling device, each group of shuffled playing cards is arranged in a unique order with a uniquely identifiable shuffled card ID, such as a bar code, affixed to its packing box or the like.

Patent document 2 and the like also disclose a technique of printing the suit (type) and the face size (or number) of a card as a code on each card used in a casino to prevent forgery.

Shuffled playing cards to be used in a game are dispensed from a card shoe apparatus, and a code indicating the size of each card face dispensed is read by the card shoe apparatus. In recent years, the technology of counterfeiting cards has been greatly improved, and therefore, it has not been possible to illegally counterfeit cards with such additional codes. If the card itself is not falsified, the card having a regular code (qualified code) is illegally acquired. In this case, the cards may be mixed into predetermined positions in the shuffled playing cards before the cards are used in the game. In addition, in this case, the deliberately ordered counterfeit shuffled playing cards can completely replace the regular cards (8 decks of cards).

Reference list

Patent document

Patent document 1: WO 2009/069708

Patent document 2: JP4885103B

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a table game system including a plurality of association tables or a plurality of databases each of which can obtain a correlation between a code attached to each shuffled playing card and a card face size of the card. The correlation between the codes in the shuffled playing cards and the card face size can be obtained only from the shuffled card ID attached to each shuffled playing card by optionally changing the association table or database to be used.

According to the present invention, when a card having a counterfeit code is set in the regular shuffled playing cards, the counterfeit card (a card fraudulently set in the regular shuffled playing cards) can be found from the correlation between the code of the regular playing cards and the size of the card face. (the code of the counterfeit card does not match the correlation between the code and the face size of the regular playing card).

Further, according to the present invention, the correlation between the code of each card and the card face size of each card in each deck of shuffled playing cards is different. The correlation between the code group of each deck of shuffled playing cards and the card face size can be obtained only from the shuffled card ID attached to each deck of shuffled playing cards and capable of being individually identified. Even when the deliberately-ordered forged shuffled playing cards completely replace the regular cards (8 decks of cards), the correlation between the code of the cards obtained from the shuffled card ID and the card face size does not match the correlation between the code of the forged shuffled playing cards and the card face size. Therefore, the present invention has a countermeasure to prevent cheating by changing the association table or database to be used as appropriate so that a cheating person cannot learn the correlation between the code of the card and the size of the card face.

Solution to the problem

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a table game system comprising:

a shuffled playing card composed of playing cards which are shuffled into a plurality of decks having a unique arrangement order, and a uniquely identifiable shuffled card ID is added to the shuffled playing cards as an ID code; and

a card shoe apparatus including a barcode reader capable of recognizing a shuffled card ID, and housing shuffled playing cards so that the shuffled playing cards can be manually assigned to a game table one by one,

wherein each of the shuffled playing cards is given a code relating to the size of the face of the card,

the card shoe apparatus includes:

a card storage unit for storing shuffled playing cards;

an opening for drawing out the cards one by one from the card housing unit;

a card reading unit that reads, from a card, a code attached to the card with respect to a size of a face thereof; and

a control unit that stores rules of the card game and includes a winner/loser determination unit that determines a winner/loser of the card game based on the card face size information read by the card reading unit,

the control unit includes a memory for storing a plurality of association tables or a plurality of databases each of which can obtain a card face size of each card in accordance with a code of each card in the shuffled playing cards, and

each of the association tables or databases is recorded in association with the shuffled card ID, and one of the plurality of association tables or databases is identified by identifying the shuffled card ID using a barcode reader, and according to the identified association table or database, the card reading unit reads a code when each card is drawn from the card housing unit and identifies the card face size of the card according to the code.

Advantageous effects of the invention

With the present invention, there can be provided a table game system in which a card shoe apparatus includes a plurality of association tables or a plurality of databases each of which can obtain a correlation between a code of a card attached to shuffled playing cards and a face size of the card and which has a countermeasure against cheating, wherein shuffled card IDs of shuffled playing cards to be used are read to identify the shuffled playing cards, and a set of codes attached to the shuffled playing cards to be used is identified based on the shuffled card IDs, thereby automatically identifying one of the association tables or the databases within the card shoe apparatus, wherein each association table or the database can obtain a correlation between a code and a face size, thereby preventing a cheating person from knowing the correlation between the code of the card and the face size.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the entirety of a table game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of shuffled playing cards to be used in a table game system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a general configuration of a card shoe apparatus.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a playing card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing a main part of a card guide portion of the card shoe device, in which the card guide portion is partially cut away.

Figure 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the output waves from the sensors and the indicia in the card dealing arrangement.

Detailed Description

An embodiment of the table game system of the present invention will be described below. Fig. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the entirety of a table game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view of shuffled playing cards to be used in a table game system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the shuffled playing card set 1s is packaged in the table game system of the present embodiment, when a game is to use the shuffled playing card set 1s, it is unpacked and then housed in the card shoe apparatus 2 so that the cards 1 of the shuffled playing card set 1s can be dealt one by one. During play, the dealer dispenses cards 1 from the card shoe 2 onto the table. Cards 1 of each shuffled playing card set 1s, which consists of a predetermined number of whole decks of cards, typically 6, 8, 9 or 10 decks, are shuffled to be arranged in a unique and random arrangement order and packaged as an ID code with a uniquely identifiable shuffled card ID attached to a packing box 4, such as a barcode 3 or (which may be replaced with an RFID or RF tag).

As shown in fig. 2, in the assembled state, the packing box 4 of the shuffled playing card set 1s has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and encloses the shuffled playing card set 1 s. The packing box 4 has the fracture parts 5 provided at two positions at a predetermined interval, each fracture part having a cut line of a zipper shape arranged in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has the central band 6 in a central portion defined by the fracture parts 5 provided at the two positions. The central strip 6 is coloured to be easily distinguishable from the other parts (the central strip 6 in figure 2 is not coloured). A configuration is achieved in which the left and right sides of the packing box 4 are removed by removing the two breaks 5 along a tangent line so as to expose the sides of the shuffled playing card set 1s (fig. 1). As shown in fig. 2, encircled numbers 1 to 3 indicating a program command for removing the breaking parts 5 are printed on each breaking part 5.

The cut card 1c is inserted into the shuffled playing card set 1s before the shuffled playing card set 1s is set in the card shoe apparatus 2. The cut card 1c may be inserted anywhere within the back half of the shuffled playing card set 1s (at the last quarter or fifth of the shuffled playing card set 1 s) when used in a game. The cut card 1c is used to end the game at the game table when about 20 to 40 cards 1 remain in the card shoe 2 to prevent any player or anyone from counting the size of the face of the card 1 dealt during the game to predict the size of the face of the card when the number of unassigned cards becomes small. Normally, when the cut card 1c is drawn during the game, the use of the shuffled playing card set 1s currently used is stopped after the game or after several games thereafter, and the game ends. The shuffled playing card set 1s in the card shoe apparatus 2 is replaced with a new card set, and a new game is started.

In fig. 1, the table game system of the present embodiment includes a shuffled playing card set 1s, the shuffled playing card set 1s being constituted of playing cards 1, the playing cards 1 being constituted of a predetermined number of whole decks of playing cards shuffled to have a unique arrangement order, and having an attached uniquely identifiable shuffled card ID such as a barcode 3; and a card shoe device 2 for receiving therein a shuffled playing card set 1s to allow the received cards 1 to be manually dispensed one by one onto a game table; and has a bar code reader 100 or an input tool 200 capable of identifying the shuffled card ID.

In fig. 3, the card shoe 2 of the table game system of the present embodiment is provided with a cover 2f so that the shuffled game card set 1s can be inserted and removed. A sensor S for detecting the opening/closing of the lid 2f is provided below the lid 2f, and detects the opening/closing of the lid 2f, thereby detecting the replacement of the shuffled playing card group 1S. The card shooter 2 includes a card guide unit 7 that guides the cards 1 manually drawn one by one from the card storage unit 2C and dealt to the game table; a code reading unit 8 that reads a code C indicating the number (the number, the size of the face) of the card 1 when the card 1 is manually drawn out from the card housing unit 2C by a dealer or the like of the casino; a winner/loser determination unit 10 that determines a winner/loser of the card game based on the rank (card face size) of the cards 1 sequentially read by the code reading unit 8; and an output tool 11 that outputs the result determined by the winner/loser determination unit 10.

Figure 4 shows cards 1 of a shuffled playing card set 1 s. The number is encoded and printed as a mark M on each card 1 used in the table game with UV ink or the like, which is not visible under normal conditions. Each code C is constituted by a mark M, and the codes C are disposed in a point-symmetric manner on the upper and lower sides of the card 1. Each card 1 in the playing card set 1s is also printed with a group code SC. The shuffled card ID identified by the barcode 3 (as an ID code) is stored in a database in association with the group code SC. The block code SC is also disposed in a point-symmetric manner on the upper and lower sides of the card 1. Preferably, the code C and the block code SC are printed with paint that becomes visible upon irradiation with UV rays, in positions that do not overlap with the indication of the card type or index (index).

Next, the code reading unit 8, which reads the code C indicating the number (rank, card face size) of the card 1 from the card 1 when the card 1 is manually drawn from the card housing unit 2C, will be described in detail with reference to fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a main part of the card shoe device 2. In fig. 5, the code reading unit 8 is provided in the card guide unit 7 while the opening 13 is provided in the front portion of the card housing unit 2C, wherein the card guide unit 7 guides the cards 1 manually drawn one by one from the opening 13 of the card housing unit 2C and dealt onto the game table. The card guide unit 7 is inclined, and a card guide cover 14 is attached to a portion of each side edge of both sides thereof, the card guide cover 14 also serving as a sensor cover. Each of the two card guide covers 14 is also configured to be attachable/detachable with screws or the like (not shown). When the card guide cover 14 is removed, the sensor group 15 of the code reading section 8 is exposed. The sensor group 15 is composed of 5 sensors including two ultraviolet reaction sensors (UV sensors) 20 and 21 and object detection sensors 22 and 23. It should be noted that the UV sensor 24 for reading the block code SC is arranged in the vicinity of the two UV sensors 20 and 21. The function of the UV sensor 24 is the same as that of the UV sensors 20 and 21, and outputs a signal according to the presence of the block code SC.

The object detection sensors 22 and 23 are optical fiber sensors each of which can detect the presence of the card 1 and its movement. The object detection sensor 22 is placed on the upstream side of the card guide unit 7 in the flow direction (arrow F) of the card 1, and the object detection sensor 23 is placed on the downstream side of the card guide unit 7 in the flow direction of the card 1. As shown in fig. 5, the object detection sensors 22 and 23 are disposed on the upstream side and the downstream side of the UV sensors 20 and 21, respectively. Each UV sensor 20 and 21 includes an led (UV led) emitting ultraviolet rays and a detector. The indicia M are printed on the playing card 1 with a UV luminescent ink which emits a color upon application of UV radiation. The card 1 is irradiated with UV rays (invisible light), and the detector detects light reflected by the mark M of the code C of the card 1. The UV sensors 20 and 21 are connected to the control unit 12 of the code reading unit 8 via a cable. The code reading unit 8 determines the arrangement of the marks M based on the output signals of the detectors of the UV sensors 20 and 21, and also determines the number of dots (the size of the face) corresponding to the code C.

In the code reading unit 8, the start and end of reading performed by the UV sensors 20 and 21 are controlled by the control unit 12 in accordance with detection signals from the object detection sensors 22 and 23. The control unit 12 also determines whether the card 1 has passed through the card guide unit 7 properly based on the detection signals from the object detection sensors 22 and 23. As shown in fig. 4, rectangular symbols M are arranged in a 2-row 4-column configuration at the upper and lower edges of the card 1, respectively, and the arrangement of the symbols M indicates the face size (rank) and suit (red peach, black peach, etc.) of the card 1. If one or more of the UV sensors 20 and/or 21 detects the marker M, the one or more UV sensors will output an on signal. The code reading unit 8 determines the correlation between the signals received from the two UV sensors 20 and 21. This enables the code reading unit 8 to recognize the code based on the relative deviation or the like between the two marks M detected by the two UV sensors 20 and 21, thereby recognizing the rank (card face size) and the type (suit) of the corresponding card 1.

Fig. 6 shows the relationship between the code C and the outputs of the on signals of the two UV sensors 20 and 21. The arrangement of the marks M determined in advance can be identified based on the comparison result of the relevant changes in the outputs of the on signals of the UV sensors 20 and 21. Therefore, since the marks M are printed in 4 rows, 2 rows (upper and lower rows) of the marks M and 4 types of arrangement can form 256 kinds of codes (4 × 4 × 4 × 4). Fifty-two (52) different playing cards are each assigned one of the 256 codes and the association of such assignments is stored in memory 12M or programmed as an association table. By identifying the code C, the card reading unit 8 can identify the rank (card face size) and the type (suit) of the card 1 according to a predetermined association table (T1 to T10). The 52 playing cards may also be freely associated with 52 codes among the 256 codes stored in the association table (T1 to T10), and therefore, there may be various associations among them.

An association table is prepared by freely associating 52 codes of 256 codes with 52 cards, and a plurality of different association tables (T1 to T10) (10 in the present embodiment) are prepared in advance. These 10 types of association tables, databases, or programs are stored in advance in the memory 12M. When a game is started, first, the barcode reader 100 reads the barcode 3 (as an ID code) to identify the shuffled card ID of the shuffled game card set 1s to be used housed in the card shoe apparatus 2. Based on identifying the group of shuffled playing cards to be used, a code group printed on the shuffled playing cards to be used is also identified based on the shuffled card ID. For example, numbers from 1 to 10 are assigned to a plurality of association tables (T1 to T10) or databases, and the shuffled card IDs of the shuffled playing cards to be used are subjected to an association process so that one of the association table numbers (T1 to T10) or database numbers can be identified. Identifying one of the 10 types of association tables (T1 through T10) or databases (e.g., T3) in this manner, each of the 10 types of association tables (T1 through T10) or databases enables obtaining the correlation between the code and the card face size of the playing card. The size and suit of the face attached to card 1 is identified from code C using the identified association table (T3). If the code C does not match the code defined in the association table (T3), an error occurs and it is determined that there is a possibility of cheating.

Since the association tables (T1 to T10) or one of the databases 1 to 10 is automatically identified based on the shuffled card ID within the card shoe apparatus 2, it is difficult to externally predict which of the 10 types of association tables (T1 to T10) will be selected and used, and therefore, the use of counterfeit cards or the like can be prevented. The shuffled card ID read from the barcode 3 (as an ID code) is provided with information that can identify a certain group code SC. The control unit 12 is programmed to determine whether the group code SC identified by the shuffled playing cards ID matches the group code SC printed on the shuffled playing cards to be actually used.

The control unit 12 will be described in further detail below. The control unit 12 may be implemented by a computer device and includes a winner/loser determination unit 10 that automatically determines a winner/loser of a game, and the like. Such processing functions (in the control unit 12) are implemented by a program installed in the computer for determining the winner/loser, which is executed by the computer processor. The control unit 12 also reads a shuffled card ID capable of uniquely identifying the shuffled playing card set 1s from the barcode 3 read by the barcode reader 100, and stores the shuffled card ID in the read memory 12M. The control unit 12 reads the barcode 3 with the barcode reader 100 and stores the shuffled card ID that can be uniquely identified. Next, the control unit 12 identifies the shuffled playing card set 1s to be currently used or to be used or being used in the game and the current time, and stores them in association with the shuffled card ID. Further, the group code SC stored in association with the shuffled card ID is identified (stored in the memory 12M or in a memory of an external control device (not shown)).

The code reading unit 8 reads the group code SC printed on the playing card 1 and the control unit 12 checks whether or not the read group code SC matches the group code SC identified from the shuffled playing card ID. If the identified block code SC does not match the block code SC read by the code reading unit 8, it is considered that something such as a security warning is required has occurred, and an alarm or the like with the associated shuffled card ID is given by the external transmission device 300. The occurrence of the notification event requires that a security alert associated with the relevant shuffled card ID and the time of occurrence of the event be issued (by the timer 2t) to the management of the casino or the game field via the external transmission device 300. The control unit 12 also externally transmits such a mismatch condition with the associated shuffled card ID through the external transmitting device 300 if the code C representing the card face size read by the code reading unit 8 does not match the code C representing the card face size identified by the shuffled card ID read by the barcode reader 100 defined in the association table (e.g., T3).

In this way, if it is determined using the identified association table (T3) that the code C representing the card face size read by the code reading unit 8 does not match the code defined in the identified association table, an error is considered to have occurred (an irregular event), and notification of the occurrence of the event requires that a safety warning associated with the relevant shuffled card ID and the occurrence time of the event be dealt (by the timer 2T) to the management of the casino or the game field. The casino management stores and records the transmitted event associated with the associated shuffled card ID in the database 400. The dealer or the like is also notified of the occurrence of a safety issue requiring warning (mismatch of the block code SC, abnormal reading of the code C, or the like) through a display made of the lamp 51 and the liquid crystal display unit 52.

When an event requiring a security alarm or the like occurs, a warning or the like with the shuffled card ID concerned is issued by the external transmission device 300 so that a report relating to the shuffled card ID concerned is issued to a management department or a game field of the casino via the external transmission device 300; however, the group code SC identified by the shuffled card ID of the currently used group of shuffled playing cards 1s and the currently used association table may be notified to the management department or the game field of the casino.

The block code SC will be described in detail. The cards 1 are provided with a block code SC as shown in figure 4, configured with coded information representative of the group of cards and not visible under normal conditions (e.g. UV ink). The group code SC is set at the same position in the cards of at least the same card group. The block code SC itself is a substance or material that emits light of different wavelength spectra as a code when irradiated with light of different wavelengths, and is configured to emit light of different wavelengths when irradiated with light of different wavelengths. The control unit 12 determines whether the identified block code SC matches the block code SC read by the code reading unit 8 according to whether the predetermined wavelength of the light matches the wavelength of the light reading the block code SC. At the start of the game, the shuffled card ID of the shuffled playing card set 1s to be used housed in the card shoe apparatus 2 is identified by reading the barcode 3 (as an ID code) with the barcode reader 100. The shuffled card ID and the group code SC are correlated with each other so that if a shuffled game card group 1s to be used is identified, a group code SC attached to the shuffled game card group 1s is identified from the shuffled card ID. When actually reading the group code SC attached to the used card 1, it is determined whether the group code SC recognized by the control unit 12 of the card shoe apparatus 2 matches the group code SC read by the code reading unit 8. It is therefore not possible to know how to determine the block code SC from the outside.

A polymer material, a DNA material, or the like having a molecular structure that emits light of a specific wavelength under irradiation with light is used as a substance or material that emits light of a different wavelength spectrum under irradiation with invisible light (ultraviolet ray, infrared ray, or the like) of a different wavelength. In fig. 4, polymer materials having a molecular structure emitting light of a specific wavelength under light irradiation are shown as group codes SC printed on the upper and lower edges of the playing card 1. The block code SC cannot be recognized by the human eye under normal use conditions (sunlight, natural light, etc.). The block code SC is read by the UV sensor 24. The group code SC is read by the UV sensor 24 provided in the card guide unit 7 while being guided by the card guide unit 7 as the card 1 slides therethrough. The block code SC may also be printed in combination with an infrared or ultraviolet responsive ink for printing the code C for identifying the number (face size) of the card 1. Each block code SC within the infrared or ultraviolet responsive ink is not recognizable to the human eye under normal use conditions (sunlight, natural light, etc.). A light source for reading the block code SC is provided integrally with the UV sensor 24. In example 1, a plurality of leds (uvleds) emitting two different wavelengths of ultraviolet light are used as a light source (not shown).

As described above, the block codes SC are printed independently and at least at the same position of the same group. However, there is also an arrangement in which the block code SC is arranged using a substance or material for encoding, and such substance or material is contained in a coating material, anchor coating material or ink for printing a back pattern, mark, index, or number encoded to indicate the mark on the surface of the card. As a variation of this embodiment, the group code may be printed on the playing card 1 in a similar manner to the indicia M or the barcode 3. The set of information representing the group code for each deck or each of the multiple decks of cards 1 may be different. The set of information for each casino or gaming table or any other unit where cards are used may be distinguishable. The set of information for each card supply source (card shoe, etc.) may be different. Further, a different block code may be set for each production lot, or each casino using cards.

Next, a modification is described in which an input tool 200 is provided in place of the barcode reader 100 capable of recognizing the shuffled card IDs. Instead of reading the barcode 3 with the barcode reader 100 to identify the shuffled card ID of the card group to be used, a configuration may be used in which the barcode reader is provided in a separate device (for example, a device for handling the card 1 or a device for confirming that the card 1 has been handled) mounted on the game table, and the shuffled card ID of the card group to be used is obtained by the barcode reader, and the shuffled card ID is input to the card shoe device 2 by a communication tool 201 provided with such a device. In this case, a separate device with a barcode reader is used as an input device capable of identifying the shuffled card ID.

List of reference numerals

1 playing card

1s shuffled playing card set

Card dealing device

2C card storage unit

3 Bar code

8 code reading unit

10 winner/loser determination unit

12 control unit

13 opening

100 bar code reader

Claims (3)

1. A tabletop game system comprising:

a shuffled playing card composed of playing cards which are shuffled into a plurality of decks having a unique arrangement order, and to which a shuffled card ID which can be uniquely identified is added as an ID code;

a card shooter device that receives the shuffled playing cards in a card receiving means so that the shuffled playing cards can be manually dispensed one by one onto a game table, and reads a code relating to the size of the face of the card printed on the card from the card;

a barcode reader or an input device for identifying information of the shuffled card ID, which is capable of identifying the shuffled card ID; and

a control unit that stores rules of the card game and includes a winner/loser determination unit that determines a winner/loser of the card game based on the card face size information read by the card reading unit,

the control unit includes a memory for storing a plurality of association tables or a plurality of databases each of which is capable of obtaining a card face size of each card based on a code of each card,

each group of shuffled playing cards is composed of playing cards, and by attaching codes to the playing cards using a specific association table,

a code group based on one association table selected from a plurality of association tables is used in shuffling playing cards,

the shuffled card ID attached to the shuffled playing cards contains information for identifying a specific association table selected from a plurality of association tables, and

therefore, the specific association table is identified by shuffling the card ID, and when the card is drawn, the control unit identifies the card face size of each card by the code read from the card by the card reading unit based on the specific association table.

2. The table game system according to claim 1, wherein a group code is printed on each of the shuffled playing cards, and the shuffled card ID is associated with the group code, and the card reading unit reads the group code printed on the cards, and the control unit checks whether the read group code matches the group code identified from the shuffled card ID.

3. The table game system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a transmission device that transmits such a mismatch with the shuffled card ID to the outside if a block code or a code representing the size of a face read by the card reading unit does not match a block code identified from the shuffled card ID read by the bar code reader or a code representing the size of a face defined in an identified association table or database.