Patent Application

App. No. 13/919,849

Abstract

Claims (53)

1 . A method of operating a gaming table, the method comprising:

projecting with a system an image onto a rear side of a screen display positioned proximate a playing surface of a gaming table to enable viewing of the image on a front side of the screen display;

illuminating the rear side of the screen display with radiation from a radiation source located at the rear side of the screen display, wherein the screen display is at least partially translucent to the radiation to enable at least a portion of the radiation to reflect from an object placed proximate the front side of the screen display;

receiving the at least a portion of reflected radiation at a radiation sensor;

generating digital data corresponding to the portion of reflected radiation received at the radiation sensor; and

determining that the object is present on the top side of the screen with a control circuit configured to receive the digital data.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing the digital data with a control circuit to identify the object, and automating at least a part of a dealer's task responsive to identifying the object.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein illuminating the rear side of the screen display with radiation from a radiation source comprises illuminating the rear side of the screen display with an infrared radiation source.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein generating digital data corresponding to the portion of reflected radiation comprises recording a video image with an infrared camera.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein projecting the image onto the rear side of the screen display comprises:

illuminating a digital micromirror device (DMD) comprising a plurality of mirrors with an illumination source configured to radiate visible light; and

selectively moving each of the plurality of mirrors such that the image is projected toward the rear side of the screen display.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein moving each mirror of the plurality of mirrors comprises individually and selectively rotating each mirror between an on state in which the visible light is reflected to a pixel of the screen display corresponding to the mirror, and an off state in which the visible light is reflected away from the screen display.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the portion of reflected radiation at the radiation sensor comprises receiving the portion of reflected radiation reflected by a unique pattern comprising radiation sensitive material on a portion of the object.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining with the control circuit that a player placed a wager responsive to detecting at least one gaming chip placed on the front side of the screen display.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving information at the control circuit identifying each card dealt during a wagering game from a card handling device;

detecting at least one wager placed by sensing gaming chips placed on the screen display;

utilizing at the control circuit the information from the card handling device and the wager detections to automatically determine a winner of the wagering game and any applicable bonus multiplier; and

indicating the winner and any applicable bonus multiplier on the screen display.

10 . A gaming assembly, comprising:

a playing surface comprising at least one screen display;

an image projection system positioned on a rear side of the at least one screen display configured to project an image onto the at least one screen display;

a radiation source positioned on the rear side of the at least one screen display, the radiation source configured to illuminate at least one object on the at least one screen display with radiation;

a radiation sensor configured to capture at least a portion of the radiation that reflects off at least one object on a front side of the at least one screen display, and generate digital data corresponding to the portion of the radiation that reflects off the at least one; object; and

a control circuit operably coupled to the radiation sensor and configured to utilize the digital data to determine the presence of the at least one object.

11 . The gaming assembly of claim 10 , wherein the image projection system comprises:

an illumination source configured to radiate visual light; and

a digital micromirror device (DMD) configured to selectively reflect the visual light from the illumination source to the at least one screen display.

12 . The gaming assembly of claim 10 , further comprising an automatic card handling device operably coupled to the control circuit.

13 . The gaming assembly of claim 12 , wherein the automatic card handling device is configured to identify each card that is dealt from the automatic card handling device and wherein the control circuit is configured to track the location and identity of each card.

14 . The gaming assembly of claim 13 , wherein the control circuit is configured to automatically determine and indicate to a dealer a winning player of a round of a wagering game on the at least one screen display.

15 . The gaming assembly of claim 10 , wherein a front surface of the at least one screen display is at least one of substantially planar and curved.

16 . The gaming assembly of claim 10 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

cause the image projection system to project a player interface including at least one player option on the screen display;

highlight various areas of the screen display to assist a player during game play; and

detect a selection of the at least one player option by sensing finger touches on the screen device with the radiation sensor.

17 . The gaming assembly of claim 10 , wherein the radiation source comprises an infrared radiation source, and the radiation sensor comprises an infrared radiation sensor.

18 . A wagering game system, comprising:

a gaming table including:

a playing surface comprising at least one screen display;

an image projection system behind the playing surface, the image projection system configured to project a first player interface corresponding to a first wagering game onto the at least one screen display;

a radiation source behind the playing surface configured to direct radiation toward the at least one screen display;

a radiation sensor behind the playing surface configured to generate a digital image from reflected radiation that reflects off of at least one object placed on the screen display; and

a control circuit operably coupled to the radiation sensor and configured to:

receive digital data corresponding to the digital image from the radiation sensor; and

detect the presence of the at least one object.

19 . The wagering game system of claim 18 , wherein the control circuit is configured to cause the image projection system to change from projecting the first player interface corresponding to the first wagering game to projecting a second player interface corresponding to a second wagering game different from the first wagering game.

20 . The wagering game system of claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of gaming tables including the gaming table, and at least one server configured to communicate with each of the plurality of gaming tables through at least one network.

21 . The wagering game system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one server is configured to link each of the plurality of gaming tables to a progressive jackpot.

22 . The wagering game system of claim 20 , wherein the radiation sensor is configured to sense a unique identifier on a player tracking card placed on the screen display, monitor the player's activity on the gaming table, and send data indicating the player's activity to the at least one server.

23 . The wagering game system of claim 20 , wherein the at least one server is configured to determine the profitability of a plurality of wagering games played at each of the plurality of gaming tables.

24 . The wagering game system of claim 20 , wherein each of the plurality of gaming tables is configured to detect dealer errors, and send a report of the dealer errors to the at least one server.

Assignments (9)