Casino card shoes, systems, and methods for a no peek feature

Abstract

Card shoes, systems and methods for determining a dealer's hand status are disclosed. An image of a last dispensed card captured by an image sensor in a card shoe is analyzed. A value of the card is determined by evaluating the image. A dealer's hand status is indicated on a notification element. In another method, the beginning of a round and a number of cards dealt is determined. A dealer's hand value is determined by determining a value of the last card dealt in the round and a value of a first dealer card dealt in the hand. Determining card values is performed by analyzing an image of the cards captured by an image sensor in a card shoe. Finally, the method includes notification of the dealer's hand status.

1 . A card dispensing apparatus, comprising:
 a card shoe configured for dispensing cards one at a time from at least one deck of cards disposed in the card shoe;   an image sensor operably associated with the card shoe and configured for recognizing a rank of each card that is dispensed from the card shoe; and   a notification element operably associated with the card shoe and configured for revealing to a dealer a dealer's hand status.   
     
     
         2 . The card dispensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the notification element is selected from the group consisting of a display, a LED, a speaker, a signal to an external device, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The card dispensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the notification element is a display configured to be perceived by the dealer and unreadable by gaming participants or unauthorized gaming observers. 
     
     
         4 . The card dispensing apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the dealer's hand status is determinable by a requesting element being configured to request at least a value of a last dispensed card and the notification element being configured to indicate the value of the last dispensed card. 
     
     
         5 . The card dispensing apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a requesting element operably associated with the card shoe and configured for the dealer to activate, wherein the dealer's hand status is determinable by the requesting element being configured to request if a value of a last dispensed card is a ten and the notification element being configured to indicate if the value of the last dispensed card is a ten. 
     
     
         6 . The card dispensing apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the dealer's hand status is determinable by the requesting element being configured to request if the value of the last dispensed card is an Ace and the notification element being configured to indicate if the value of the last dispensed card is an Ace. 
     
     
         7 . A card dispensing system, comprising;
 a card shoe configured for dispensing cards one at a time from at least one deck of cards disposed in the card shoe, the card shoe including;
 an image sensor operably associated with the card shoe and configured for recognizing a rank of each card that is dispensed from the card shoe; 
 a first communication module configured for transmitting information about the rank of each card and for receiving a hand notification; and 
 a notification element operably associated with the card shoe and configured for revealing an actionable event in response to receiving the hand notification; and 
   a table manager configured for:
 receiving the information about the rank of each card; 
 determining, from the information about the rank of each card, a first dealer-card rank and a second dealer-card rank; and 
 transmitting the hand notification to the card shoe if a combination of the first dealer-card rank and the second dealer-card rank comprise a blackjack. 
   
     
     
         8 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , further comprising a requesting element configured for enabling the notification element to reveal the actionable event by an indication selected from the group consisting of the dealer's hand value, the dealer's hole card value, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , further comprising a requesting element configured for enabling the notification element to reveal the actionable event by indicating that a dealer's hole card is a ten. 
     
     
         10 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , further comprising a requesting element configured for enabling the notification element to reveal the actionable event by indicating that a dealer's hole card is an Ace. 
     
     
         11 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , wherein the notification element is a display configured to be perceived by the dealer and unreadable by gaming participants or unauthorized gaming observers. 
     
     
         12 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , wherein the notification element is selected from the group consisting of a display, a LED, a speaker, a signal to an external device, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The card dispensing system of  claim 7 , wherein the table manager further comprises a second communication module configured for communication with a server across a communication network. 
     
     
         14 . A method for determining a dealer's hand status, comprising:
 analyzing an image of at least a portion of a last dispensed card captured by an image sensor in a card shoe;   determing a value of the last dispensed card by evaluating the image;   requesting a dealer's hand status by activating a requesting element associated with the card shoe; and   notifying the dealer of the dealer's hand status when the requesting element is activated by indicating a value of the last dispensed card.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein indicating the value of the last dispensed card comprises displaying the value to the dealer on a display configured to be perceived by the dealer and unreadable by gaming participants or unauthorized gaming observers. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein notifying the dealer comprises an action selected from the group consisting of presenting a sound, activating an LED, displaying the value of the last dispensed card, displaying the dealer's hand status, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein requesting the dealer's hand status comprises requesting if the last dispensed card is a ten and notifying the dealer comprises notifying the dealer that the last dispensed card is the ten. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein requesting the dealer's hand status comprises requesting if the last dispensed card is an Ace and notifying the dealer comprises notifying the dealer that the last dispensed card is the Ace. 
     
     
         19 . A method for determining a dealer's hand status, comprising:
 determining a beginning of a round of blackjack;   determining a dealer's hand value by:
 determining a value of a last card dealt in the round by analyzing an image of at least a portion of the last card dealt, the image captured by an image sensor in a card shoe; and 
 determining a value of a first dealer card in the round by applying an algorithm to identify the first dealer card and by analyzing an image of at least a portion of the first dealer card, the image captured by the image sensor in the card shoe; and 
   indicating the dealer's hand status resulting from the dealer's hand value.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein indicating the dealer's hand status comprises displaying the dealer's hand value, the value of the last card dealt, the value of the first dealer card, or combinations thereof on a display configured to be perceived by the dealer and unreadable by gaming participants or unauthorized gaming observers. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein indicating the dealer's hand status comprises an action selected from the group consisting of presenting a sound, activating an LED, displaying the dealer's hand value, displaying the value of the last card dealt, displaying the value of the first dealer card, sending a signal to an external device, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein indicating the dealer's hand status comprises indicating that the value of the last card dealt is a ten. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein indicating the dealer's hand status comprises indicating that the value of the last card dealt is an Ace. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein analyzing an image of at least a portion of the cards is performed by a device selected from the group consisiting of a card shoe, a table manager, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein determining a number of cards dealt comprises:
 analyzing at least one image of a table from at least one camera to determine a number of wagers placed or analyzing the at least one image of the table to determine a number of hands dealt in the round; and   determining that the number of cards dealt is twice the number of wagers placed plus two or twice the number of hands dealt, including the dealer's hand.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein determining the beginning of the round of blackjack comprises an action selected from the group consisting of determining that a table does not include any cards dealt thereon, determining that the table does not include any an bets placed thereon, receiving a start of round notification from a table manager, and receiving a start of round notification from the card shoe.