Anonymous player tracking

Abstract

A tracking system and method usable in a casino environment tracks biometric characteristics of persons on a continuous basis and tracks electronic devices unrelated to the casino environment that emit wireless signals and correlates the biometric characteristics and the electronic devices to calculate a match probability value representing a confidence level that the person being tracked by the biometric characteristic is a possessor of the electronic device. Other variations include filtering based on hotel registration data, assigning facilities to improve the ability of identifying which devices are carried by which customers, and detecting groups of players and where there is the potential for collusion between players, to assign seating such that the possibility of player collusion is reduced. A further aspect includes managing relationships between staff and customers, enabling staff to provide a more personalized service to customers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for tracking and/or identifying persons within a casino environment using a tracking system, comprising:
 under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, tracking a biometric characteristic of a person on a continuous basis;
 tracking, on a continuous basis, an electronic device within a vicinity of the person, wherein the electronic devices is a device unrelated to the casino environment and is a device that emits signals according to at least one wireless communication protocol; 
 correlating, at the one or more computer systems, the biometric characteristic that was tracked and the electronic device that was tracked to calculate a match probability value representing a confidence level that the person being tracked by the biometric characteristic is a possessor of the electronic device; and 
 identifying, on a continuous basis, the person as a function of the biometric characteristic and the electronic device based on the match probability value. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the biometric characteristic comprises at least one of a facial characteristic of the person or a voice characteristic of the person, the method further comprising:
 analyzing the at least one of the facial characteristic of the person or the voice characteristic of the person; and   identifying a potential sub-group of persons to which the person belongs.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the correlating the biometric characteristic and the electronic device includes excluding the person from the potential sub-group of persons as a function of the electronic device. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the excluding the person from the potential sub-group of persons includes:
 detecting a location of other electronic devices in other locations within the casino environment; and   excluding an associated person with each of the other electronic devices from the potential sub-group of persons.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the excluding the person from the potential sub-group of persons includes using check-in/check-out data from a hotel reservation system. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the potential sub-group of persons includes persons who are logged on to gaming machines in other locations of the casino environment, wherein persons who are logged on to gaming machines are detected using one or more player tracking cards. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 establishing an identity of a particular person through a separate process;   tracking one or more tracked electronic devices near the particular person during the separate process; and   identifying the electronic device among the one or more tracked electronic devices as being associated with the particular person.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the associating the electronic device with the particular person includes:
 tracking movement of the electronic device as the particular person moves away from a location associated with the separate process; and   associating the electronic device with the particular person.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the separate process is a check-in process of the particular person at a hotel associated with the casino environment. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , including assigning the particular person to a room in the hotel away from other persons checking in to the hotel at the same time. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the assigning the particular person to a room away from the other persons includes assigning the particular person to a room on a different floor from the other persons. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further including associating the tracked one or more electronic devices with a particular person when the particular person uses a credit card and is identified. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the tracking the electronic device within the vicinity of the person includes sensing the electronic device. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein an identity of the person is established using cell phone company records when the electronic device is a cell phone. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 establishing a first biometric probability of a match with a first person as a function of the biometric characteristic;   establishing a first electronic device probability of a match with the first person as a function of the electronic device;   establishing a second biometric probability of a match with a second person as a function of the biometric characteristic;   establishing a second electronic device probability of a match with the second person as a function of the electronic device;   multiplying the first biometric probability and the first electronic device probability together and establishing a combined first probability;   multiplying the second biometric probability and the second electronic device probability together and establishing a combined second probability;   comparing the combined first probability and the combined second probability; and   based at least in part on the comparing, identifying the person as the first person or the second person.   
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method for tracking and/or identifying persons within a casino using a tracking system, comprising:
 under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, tracking, on a continuous basis, a biometric characteristic of one of the persons using a tracking system;   analyzing the biometric characteristic;   identifying a potential sub-group of the persons to which the one of the persons belongs;   tracking, on a continuous basis, an electronic device within a vicinity of the one of the persons, wherein tracking the electronic device within the vicinity of the person is performed using one or more of cell phone location, WiFi, or other wireless communications protocols;   correlating the biometric characteristic and the electronic device in order to calculate a match probability value; and   identifying, on a continuous basis, the one of the persons as a function of the biometric characteristic and the electronic device based on the match probability value.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 establishing a first biometric probability of a match with a first person as a function of the biometric characteristic;   establishing a first electronic device probability of a match with the first person as a function of the electronic device;   establishing a second biometric probability of a match with a second person as a function of the biometric characteristic;   establishing a second electronic device probability of a match with the second person as a function of the electronic device;   multiplying the first biometric probability and the first electronic device probability together and establishing a combined first probability;   multiplying the second biometric probability and the second electronic device probability together and establishing a combined second probability;   comparing the combined first probability and the combined second probability; and   based at least in part on the comparing, identifying the one of the persons as the first person or the second person.   
     
     
         18 . A computer-implemented method for tracking and/or identifying persons within a casino environment using a tracking system, the tracking system for storing information related to the persons including one or more electronic devices, which may be carried by each person, comprising:
 under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, associating the electronic device with a particular person during a process when the particular person has been identified at an associated location;   tracking, on a continuous basis, movement of the electronic device as the particular person moves away from the associated location, wherein tracking the electronic device within a vicinity of the person is performed using one or more of cell phone location, WiFi, or other wireless communications protocols;   associating the electronic device with the particular person;   storing information about the electronic device in a database of the tracking system as being associated with the particular person, the database including biometric data and/or related electronic device information;   tracking, on a continuous basis, a biometric characteristic of the particular person;   analyzing the biometric characteristic of the particular person;   identifying a potential sub-group of the persons to which the particular person belongs;   sensing one or more electronic devices within the vicinity of the particular person on a continuous basis;   correlating the biometric characteristic of the particular person and the electronic device in order to calculate a match probability value; and   identifying, on a continuous basis, the particular person as a function of the biometric characteristic and the electronic device based on the match probability value.