Patent Grant
10092820
The embodiments of the present invention relate to an automatic card shuffler for use with card games utilizing 4-6 decks of cards such as Baccarat.
Automatic card shufflers have been used by casinos for decades and have helped revolutionize the gaming industry. Automatic card shufflers speed up play of casino games and may reduce cheating and advantage play. Automated shufflers may be configured to sit on a casino table or be incorporated therein.
The automatic shuffler industry is currently dominated by automatic shufflers which utilize rollers, elevators and bins to separate and randomly reorganize the cards. It would be advantageous to develop new automatic shuffler technology which is more efficient and reliable than the current automatic shuffler technology.
A first embodiment of the present invention relates to a single deck shuffler utilized for poker games. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the shuffler technology disclosed herein may be used with multi-deck shufflers and other card games as well.
Accordingly, one embodiment of the automatic card shuffler of the present invention comprises broadly a pre-shuffle bin, card-selector assembly, drive wheel and post-shuffle bin. The pre-shuffle bin is configured to accept a single deck of cards (e.g., standard 52-card deck of playing cards). While in the pre-shuffle bin, a modest downward force may be applied to the single deck of cards. A weight, spring, roller or other physical article may be used to apply the modest downward force. Modest as used herein means a force that maintains the deck of cards substantially flat and square during the shuffling process. Any weight or other article in contact with the cards should have a soft padding between the weight or other article and the cards to prevent damage to the cards. A base or floor of the pre-shuffle bin is an independent member that may be selectively raised and lowered to position the deck of cards pursuant to a randomly-selected card number (e.g., 1-52). Two jokers may also be used such that a deck of playing cards includes 54 playing cards rather than 52. Once positioned correctly based on the randomly-selected card number, an upper body of the card-selector assembly moves a number of cards corresponding to the randomly-selected card number off the top of the deck thereby exposing a bottom card (i.e., the randomly-selected card) to a drive wheel. The drive wheel propels the bottom card from the pre-shuffle bin between offset lower and upper walls defining a passageway into the post-shuffle bin. The process is repeated 51 times until all cards in the deck in the pre-shuffle bin have been propelled into the post-shuffle bin.
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises an automatic card shuffler configured to shuffle eight decks of cards (or less) and deal a round of Baccarat. A round being a number of cards sufficient to deal a Baccarat hand in a traditional manner (i.e., one card at a time to each player position). In this embodiment, the automatic shuffler comprises two pre-shuffle bins, each configured to receive approximately four decks of cards wherein the pre-shuffle bins are spaced apart from one another, each near a card slide leading to a card-receiving area. Cards are randomly selected from the cards in each of the pre-shuffle bins and propelled against a respective card slide directing the cards to the card-receiving area where shuffled cards stack. Once a sufficient number of buffer cards (e.g., seven) have been deposited into the card-receiving area, a card flipper moves the seven cards against a face plate of an integral dealing shoe. A buffer-holder device maintains the buffer cards against the face plate for dealing as the card flipper returns to a home position to receive more shuffled cards. In this manner, while cards are being dealt in a round of Baccarat, new cards are being shuffled for the next round.
Other variations, embodiments and features of the present invention will become evident from the following detailed description, drawings and claims.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the embodiments of the present invention combine software and hardware. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for embodiments of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like or conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, AJAX, PHP, HTML, XHTML, Ruby, CSS or similar programming languages. The programming code may be configured in an application, an operating system, as part of a system firmware, or any suitable combination thereof.
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The components of the embodiments of the present invention may be fabricated of any suitable materials, including, but not limited to, plastics, alloys, composites, resins and metals, and may be fabricated using suitable techniques, including, but not limited to, molding, casting, machining and rapid prototyping.
Detailed below is a single deck automatic card shuffler configured to insert into a poker table. In one embodiment, the single deck automatic card shuffler inserts into the chip tray cut-out in the poker table proximate to the poker game dealer. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the shuffler technology disclosed herein may be used with multi-deck shufflers which insert into a gaming table or secure to a gaming table top or bottom. The automatic card shuffler may be used to shuffle paper and plastic cards.
The single deck shuffler detailed herein comprises broadly a (i) pre-shuffle bin, (ii) card-selector assembly, (iii) drive wheel and (iv) post-shuffle bin.
While
The base or floor 122 of the pre-shuffle bin 120 is free to raise and lower relative to an upper body 131 and lower body 132 of the card-selector assembly 130 thereby selectively positioning the deck of cards 102 into 1 of at least 52 vertical positions. In one embodiment, best seen in
As seen in
In one embodiment, the processor 103 is configured to place the shuffler 100 in a short-cycle mode. Responsive to one or more sensors detecting a time below a pre-established threshold time (e.g., 20 seconds) between cuts of successive shuffled decks of cards by the dealer, the processor 103 places the shuffler 100 into short-cycle mode wherein, the shuffler randomly selects a pre-established number of cards (e.g., 35) for shuffling as described herein and then moves consecutively in order the remaining cards from the pre-shuffle bin 120 to the post-shuffle bin 200 on top of the previously shuffled cards. When the deck is removed from the post-shuffle bin 200, the dealer cuts the deck such that the consecutively-moved cards are moved to the bottom of the deck prior to dealing. The consecutively-moved cards are those remaining after the shuffling of the pre-established number of cards so even if some on the consecutively-moved card end up in play, they have been adequately shuffled. The short cycle mode is advantageous for fast-paced games (i.e., heads-up).
In one embodiment, an automatic calibration system is premised on card or deck thicknesses as measured by sensors proximate to the pre-shuffle and/or post-shuffle bin. Sensors 104, 105 may measure card thicknesses or additional sensors may be installed for the specific purpose. Given the tendency of playing cards (paper and plastic) to expand during use, it is beneficial to calibrate the automatic card shuffler so that the stepper motor 124 is moved at accurate tolerances to ensure that the randomly-selected card is the card propelled by the drive wheel 160 to the post-shuffle bin 200. Responsive to detecting the thicknesses of cards expanding, the automatic calibration system, via processor 103, communicates to the stepper motor 124 to alter the distance the stepper motor 124 raises and lowers for each card position.
In another embodiment, a card-counting sensor 106 may be used to sense each card moving from the pre-shuffle bin 120 to the post-shuffle bin 200 so the deck count may be verified. The card-counting sensor 106 may be positioned between the pre-shuffle bin 120 and post-shuffle bin 200. In an alternative embodiment, the automatic card shuffler 100 may incorporate a card reading system (e.g., image capturing technology) to identify the rank and suit of each card thereby verifying the exactness of the deck of cards.
The processor 103, as described above, also controls the doors 437, 447, 457 and plunger 458, or other article, pursuant to sensor feedback indicating the deck of cards has been shuffled and is ready for game play.
One or more LEDs may be integrated into the automatic card shuffler to indicate shuffler status. With an LED, different colors and/or blinking speeds are indicative of shuffler status including ready to load status, ready to remove shuffled cards status, card jam status, missing card status, etc.
While the shuffler 100 has been detailed relative to a poker game, it should be understood that the shuffler 100 may be suitable for any number of cards games with modification. As described herein, the shuffler 100 can be used for a single blackjack game. A two-deck blackjack game requires that the shuffler 100 have a slightly increased profile (<1″ more than a single deck) to accommodate the additional deck of cards.
With carnival games or novelty games (e.g., Three Card Poker) the hands are dealt by a dealing module forming part of the shuffler. Each hand is then provided to the player by the dealer. Given the design of the shuffler 100, the process of dealing hands is very simple and efficient as the shuffler 100 may pause after each hand is formed and re-start after each hand is dealt. In one embodiment, a blocking wall is attached to sides of the shuffler 100 (with the post-shuffle bin 200 removed or re-configured to allow cards to exit the shuffler 100) so that cards propelled from the pre-shuffle bin 120 strike the blocking wall landing on the table surface or previous propelled cards. The blocking wall may be modest in height/width serving only to stop propelled cards so that the cards stack on top of one another. Once a hand is formed, the shuffler 100 pauses. An arm or lever then moves part or all of the formed hand away from the blocking wall allowing the dealer to grab and deal the hand. One or more sensors proximate to the blocking wall detect when the formed hand has been removed and trigger the shuffler 100 to begin again and deal a next hand. The process continues until a button or other input device, used by the dealer, alerts the shuffler 100 that the next hand is the final hand (i.e., dealer hand) to be dealt which causes the shuffler 100 to handle the remaining cards in the shuffler in one of several ways.
In a dual deck embodiment (i.e., batch), once each of the hands has been dealt, the shuffler 100 consecutively propels the remaining cards against the blocking wall thereby emptying the shuffler of cards for the second deck to be inserted. In another embodiment, the remaining cards may be pushed together from the shuffler 100 by a mechanical device (e.g., arm) or similar article. With such an embodiment, wall 137 of upper body 131 may rotate open allowing the remaining cards to be collectively pushed from the shuffler 100 by the mechanical device. In a single deck embodiment where only one deck is used, the remaining cards may be maintained in the pre-shuffle bin 120 until the played cards are inserted back on top so that the shuffling process may begin again.
To minimize movement and maximize dealing speed, the shuffler 100 may not propel the selected cards in the order they are randomly selected. For example, if the three randomly selected cards for a Three Card Poker game are numbers 1, 52 and 2 in that order, rather than deal the cards in the selected order, the shuffler 100 may deal the hand by propelling cards 52, 2 and 1 to minimize shuffler movement while increasing the deal pace. With a single player hand, the order of the cards in the hand is irrelevant.
Another embodiment of the present invention involves an automated rake drop device 300. During live poker games, dealers rake (i.e., collect) a portion of each pot for the house. The rake acts as a fee for the house operating the game. The normal rake procedure involves the dealer taking chips from the poker pot and placing them onto a drop slot covered by a slidable lever. After the hand ends and the pot is pushed to the winning player(s), the dealer opens the slot using the slidable lever allowing the chips to fall through an opening in the poker table into a drop box connected to an underside of the poker table. As shown in
The shuffler technology detailed herein may be used for a multi-deck shuffler (e.g., 4-8 decks) as well. In one embodiment, a multi-deck shuffler comprises a single unit having two shuffler components and a shared post-shuffle bin into which both shuffler components propel cards from bins of each shuffler. A vertical pre-shuffle bin accepts, for example, six decks of cards comprising 312 cards (6×52). A mechanism (e.g., rollers, pusher, etc.) separates the six decks in two substantially equivalent stacks with one stack being deposited into a bin of one shuffler component and a second stack being deposited into a bin of the other shuffler component. Selected random numbers then cause the shuffler component to propel cards into a common post-shuffle bin. In one embodiment, the random number generator selects a number from 1-312 and the shuffler component holding the selected card propels the card into the shared post-shuffle bin. Alternatively, each shuffler component may have its own random number generator such that each shuffle component may act independently. Regardless of the process, the result is six decks of shuffled cards requiring only a single shuffle. As the post-shuffle bin is vertically oriented, once the shuffle process concludes, a mechanism tips the post-shuffle bin into a horizontal position such that the shuffled cards are made available to the dealer. In one embodiment, a shallow frame associated with the post-shuffle bin maintains the decks in an orderly arrangement. A sensor detects when the post-shuffle bin is empty causing the post-shuffle bin to close.
Depending on the embodiment, the two shuffle apparatuses may have a different, unknown number of cards. For example, if a pusher is used to separate the 312 cards into two separate stacks, the number of cards in each shuffler apparatus may be unequal. The system firmware is configured to assume an equal number of cards in each shuffler apparatus so that the shuffling process continues in a normal fashion until it is determined that such is not the case. If one of the shuffler apparatuses attempts to shuffle a card but no card exists at the selected location, the bin base continually raises one spot until a card is located. From this exercise, the shuffler firmware can determine a number of cards in each shuffler apparatus and continue the shuffle normally until complete.
A multi-deck shuffler is ideal for handling a Baccarat game. The concept of shuffling and dealing simultaneously is only possible with a random-selection shuffler. In a game wherein players and a dealer each receive three cards, three cards are randomly selected and moved to the gaming table ready for dealing to the player or dealer. This occurs after only three cards have been moved from the unshuffled deck. Contrarily, random-position shufflers require each card to be moved to a random position, shelf or slot before they can be dispensed as complete, individual hands. That is, random-position shufflers require all unshuffled cards to be moved before the dealing phase.
In one embodiment, a Baccarat shuffler 400 is configured to randomly select and shuffle enough cards to complete a round of play as opposed to enough cards to fill a hand. In this manner, the round of cards may be used to deal cards in the traditional fashion (i.e., one card at a time to each player position). With current market shufflers, novelty game hands are dealt such that players and the dealer receive hands in a single group of cards rather than one at a time.
Besides providing a smaller profile, the use of two shuffler devices 410-1, 410-2 inherently results in a faster shuffling process. The speed of the two shuffler devices 410-1, 410-2 is further increased when the next two random cards are selected from different shuffle devices 410-1, 410-2, as the first shuffler device 410-1 moves to select the card in its pre-shuffle bin, the second shuffle device 410-2 can begin moving to locate the card in its pre-shuffle bin.
Loading the Baccarat shuffler 400 begins with a dealer dividing eight decks of cards into two piles of approximately equal cards. Given the operation of the two shuffler devices 410-1, 410-2, the two piles of cards do not have to be equal. Once the two piles are created, a two-step loading process begins. The Baccarat shuffler 400 is configured, responsive to a dealer “Load” input (e.g., button, touch screen interface, etc.), one of the pre-shuffle bins of one of the shuffler devices 410-1 raises to an upper-most position while the pre-shuffle bin of the other shuffler device 410-2 remains at a lowest-most position. Once the first pre-shuffle bin is loaded with one pile of cards, the dealer may utilize a “Loaded” input to cause the first pre-shuffle bin to move to a home position while the other pre-shuffle bin moves to a highest-most position. Alternatively, one or more sensors located in the pre-shuffle bins may automatically trigger the raising and lowering of the pre-shuffle bins upon cards being loaded into the first pre-shuffle bin. Once the second pre-shuffle bin raises to the upper-most position, the second pile of cards is loaded. The dealer may complete the loading process by utilizing the “Loaded” input again or sensors may trigger an automatic movement whereby the second pre-shuffle bin returns to a home position.
The shuffler operation is set forth above and the only difference is that the two shuffler devices 410-1, 410-2 operate individually to randomly select and propel cards 413 from the respective piles of cards into the common card-receiving area 420 and on to the card flipper 425.
Conducting a Baccarat game includes two procedures for burning cards. The first procedure involves burning a single card. The second procedure turns the top card face up and burns an additional number of cards equal to the face-up cards value. For example, if the top card is a seven, seven cards are burned whereas if the top card is a ten, ten cards are burned. Casinos may also implement other burn card procedures which the Baccarat shuffler 400 can be configured to shuffle and deal.
In a first embodiment, the Baccarat shuffler 400 shuffles eight cards and forces them against a dealing shoe face plate (see,
With the single face-down card burn card variation, the Baccarat shuffler 400 first randomly selects and forces eight cards against the dealing shoe face plate (deemed an eight-card buffer) and then seven-card buffers for each subsequent round until a new fresh game shuffle. Dependent upon the number of cards used to play the previous hand of the Baccarat game, the Baccarat shuffler 400 is configured to shuffle a sufficient number of cards to create the seven-card buffer. If the first round requires six cards to play, six more cards are shuffled to maintain the seven-card buffer for the next round; if the first round requires five cards to play, five more cards are shuffled to maintain the seven-card buffer for the next round and if the first round requires four cards to play, four more cards are shuffled to maintain the seven-card buffer for the next round. With the single face-up card plus number of burn cards equal to the top card value (Ace=1) burn card variation, the Baccarat shuffler 400 first randomly selects and forces eighteen cards against the dealing shoe face plate and then seven-card buffers for each subsequent round until a new fresh game shuffle. With the single face-up card plus number of burn cards equal to the top card value (Ace=11) burn card variation, the Baccarat shuffler 400 first randomly selects and forces nineteen cards against the dealing shoe face plate and then seven-card buffers for each subsequent round until a new fresh game shuffle. With the single face-up card plus number of burn cards equal to the top card value (ten value cards=0) burn card variation, the Baccarat shuffler 400 first randomly selects and forces seventeen cards against the dealing shoe face plate and then seven-card buffers for each subsequent round until a new fresh game shuffle.
A buffer-holder member 540 is configured to maintain the shuffled cards 535 (a.k.a. buffer cards) against the face plate 511 once the card flipper 530 returns to the home position. Like the card flipper 530, the buffer-holder member 540 is rotatably attached to the housing 505 (or other internal component). In one embodiment, as best shown in 19G and 19H, the buffer-holder member 540 is U-shaped with two arms 541-1, 541-2 and a support 543 connecting the two arms 541-1, 541-2. A plate 545 may be attached to the support 543 to provide more contact area with the shuffled cards being maintained against the face plate 511. The plate 545 may have a soft covering to prevent damage to the buffer cards 535. Responsive to sensor outputs, a stepper motor, servo or other electromechanical element drives the buffer-holder member 540 to maintain the buffer cards 535 against the face plate 511 and back to a home position.
The buffer-holder member 540 and card flipper 530 operate in concert to move shuffled cards against the face plate 511 and maintain the shuffled cards against the face plate 511. Referring to
In
Sensors in or near the card-receiving area and integral dealing shoe provide the necessary outputs for controlling dealing operations, including movement of the card flipper 530 and buffer-holder member 540, of the Baccarat shufflers 500, 600. The sensors detect the number of cards propelled from the shuffler devices as well as number of cards removed from the dealing shoe. The collected sensor data or outputs is used by the processor to control the card flipper and buffer-holder member.
In another embodiment, the shuffler technology is used in a continuous shuffler 350 as shown in
Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/145,492 filed May 3, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,573,047 and which is incorporated herein by reference for any and all purposes.
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| Child | 15371125 | US |
