US008272958B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,272,958 B2 Smith et al. (45) Date of Patent: Sep. 25, 2012 (54) AUTOMATED MULTIPLAYER GAME TABLE is: A 3. E. R. et al. WITH UNIQUE IMAGE FEED OF DEALER 4,643,421wk I A 2/1987 MeyeraSal et al. O O 4,658,247 A 4, 1987 Aubin (75) Inventors: Philip Stephen Smith, Las Vegas, NV 4,687,200 A 8, 1987 Shirai (US); Ezra Christopher MacKenna, 4,724,307 A 2f1988 Dutton et al. 4,738,451 A 4, 1988 Logg enderson,C NXSS (US); Daymon B.Rush, 4,926,3274,887,819 A 12/19895/1990 WalkerSidley Savage, Las Vegas, NV (US) 4,995,615 A 2/1991 Cheng 5,090,708 A 2f1992 Gerlitz et al. (73) Assignee: Shuffle Master, Inc., Las Vegas, NV 5, 120,057 A 6/1992 Kitaue (US) 5,125,671 A 6/1992 Ueda et al. 5,149,104 A 9, 1992 Edelstein (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 3.32. A 88: An Jr. et al. patent is extended or adjusted under 35 5,221,083. A 6/1993 Dote ............................... 463,32 U.S.C. 154(b) by 2022 days. 5,288,078 A 2/1994 Capper et al. 5,317,505 A 5/1994 Karabed et al. (21) Appl. No.: 10/764,995 5,414,256 A 5/1995 Gurner et al. (Continued) (22) Filed: Jan. 26, 2004 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (65) Prior Publication Data WO WO 96/30856 10, 1996 US 2005/0164762 A1 Jul. 28, 2005 (Continued) (51) Int. Cl. Primary Examiner — David L. Lewis A63F 3/00 (2006.01) Assistant Examiner — Robert Mosser (52) U.S. Cl. ............................................ 463/33: 463/11 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — TraskBritt (58) Field of Classification Search .............. Eli's (57) ABSTRACT See application file for complete search history. A method and apparatus are used to simultaneously display a virtual dealer and a dynamic visual background image in (56) References Cited connection with a multi-player video platform simulating and effecting play of a casino table card game. The dealer imagery U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS is in the foreground and the background is behind the dealer. 3,595,987 A 7, 1971 Vlahos The background is either a live video feed from the casino, 4,007,487 A 2, 1977 Vlahos live feed from another location or event or pre-recorded 4,026,555 A 5, 1977 Kirschner et al. image sequences. The various videos are keyed or masked 4,344,0854,100,569 A 7,8, 19821978 Vlahos and layered together using known video production technol 4,397.509 A 8, 1983 Miller et al. 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WO WOOOf 51076 8, 2000 6,394,898 B1 5/2002 Nagao et al. * cited by examiner U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 1 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 2 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 3 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 e is U.S. Patent US 8,272,958 B2 CPUBLOCK 20 H(1-13 15 HC-13 10 10 16 FY-14 16 Pr-14 L ... 4 (Pri 5 in U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 5 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 .9Fig. 5 U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 6 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 ZOZ 100001001 |(1000,025|| U.S. Patent US 8,272,958 B2 U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 8 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 Multiplayer Platform (MPP) Game Display : Un 50" 4:3 Rear Projection 42"16:9 Plasma Monitor Interruptable TW/Monitor Dealer Card Table Power Supply USB Serial Table Video VGA A/C Power to PC Maintenance Dealer Video MPP Game Service Panel 300 s 8MB PC Platform Disk PENTUMG) 4 SG MPP Game Display Non R 5 WINDOWSGR XP Volatile s RAM Speakers MPP Game Engine (Dealer) Serial Communication Heber Pluto 5 Casino between the Motorola 68340 Game Display and Game Engine to MPP Player Stations fig. 8 U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 10 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 DS()0\70 0038C ONBEH9DS 80G ORGÄg |rº||E.“ No.|No. oA8+ +o/A No. TIITLE=jwOld Le LIII H U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 11 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 01|| 009|| ÅHOWEIN 00ff| /\/\/ HH00030 NIWWHOSSB008d 000|| U.S. Patent Sep. 25, 2012 Sheet 12 of 12 US 8,272,958 B2 DATA DATA DATA SOURCE SOURCE SOURCE 200 202D 21 OD 21 1D 212D PXEL PROCESSING CIRCUIT 2400 251D 25OD PXELOPERATOR 26OD OUTPUT PIXEL SFig. 12 US 8,272,958 B2 1. 2 AUTOMATED MULTIPLAYER GAME TABLE casino owners to develop practices that allow more games to WITH UNIQUE IMAGE FEED OF DEALER be played in a given amount of time. Accomplishing this without detracting from the players enjoyment and desire to BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION play the game is a challenging and longstanding issue with casino owners and consultants in the gaming industry. The 1. Field of the Invention use of high quality shuffling machines, such as those pro The present invention relates to the field of automated duced by Shuffle Master, Inc. (Las Vegas, Nev.) as shown in electronic table games, and particularly to automated games U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,655,684; 6,651,982; 6,588,751; 6,658,750; having images of a dealer of a card game displayed to players. 6,568,678; 6,325,373; 6,254,096; 6,149,154; 6,139,014: 2. Background of the Art 10 In the gaming industry, significant gambling occurs at live 6,068.258; and 5,695,189 that have significantly reduced the table games that use playing cards and a live dealer.