A system, and method of operating a system, including a dealer device and at least one player device located at a gaming device. The dealer device configured to allow a dealer to enter funds received from a player to a respective player account, to allow the dealer to finalize wagers and enter an outcome of a game; to calculate a change in the player account based on the outcome of the game. The player device configured to display a player screen including computer generated graphics; to allow each respective player to enter a wager on the game; to display an outcome of the instance of the game; and to display wager and player account data to the player.

A system includes one or more elements (e.g., a processor) configured to determine, via a smart card-handling device in response to an initial deal for a playing round of a blackjack game, that an upward-facing card of a dealer's initial hand indicates a first required rank value of a natural hand. The system further automatically detects, based on electronic analysis of card-draw timestamp data, card-draw image data, and game settings, whether a rank value of a downward-facing card of the dealer's initial hand indicates a second required rank value of the natural hand. The automatic detection occurs without exposing the downward-facing card and prior to another card being drawn, for the playing round, after the initial deal. Furthermore, the system indicates, via one or more electronic indicators, whether the dealer's initial hand either equates to the natural hand or does not equate to the natural hand.

A system includes one or more elements (e.g., a processor) configured to determine, via a smart card-handling device in response to an initial deal for a playing round of a blackjack game, that an upward-facing card of a dealer's initial hand indicates a first required rank value of a natural hand. The system further automatically detects, based on electronic analysis of card-draw timestamp data, card-draw image data, and game settings, whether a rank value of a downward-facing card of the dealer's initial hand indicates a second required rank value of the natural hand. The automatic detection occurs without exposing the downward-facing card and prior to another card being drawn, for the playing round, after the initial deal. Furthermore, the system indicates, via one or more electronic indicators, whether the dealer's initial hand either equates to the natural hand or does not equate to the natural hand.

A new game and the methods thereof are disclosed. The game comprises utilizing new devices, rules, methods, well-defined terms, and a plurality of playing cards designed with special markings and performing alternative actions within a conditional loop to tactically and strategically form the cards on-hand as required melds/pair with bonus-earning patterns. The structure, format, rules, and playing methods of the present invention are designed to provide a great mental workout, and the purpose of the present invention is to engage people and create a friendly and gregarious environment that allows everyone to enjoy the company of others.

An automatic playing card handling apparatus for use in casino card games possesses a card intake portal and a first card deck discharge portal which are both accessible by a dealer. The shuffling apparatus is controlled by a microcontroller which allows two fully-shuffled, but separated, card decks to be ready for play simultaneously. A first shuffled card deck is independently supported in the first card deck discharge portal by a retractable support structure while a second shuffled card deck remains ready for play while independently supported by an elevator just below the first card deck discharge portal. A third unshuffled card deck may coexist within the card intake portal. An optical recognition sensor cooperates with the microcontroller to interrogate the integrity of each deck during randomization to discover unreadable cards, unexpected cards, damaged cards or missing cards. If the microcontroller determines that a deck is faulty, then that faulty deck is automatically disgorged from the apparatus through a second discharge port into a secured or unsecured container. Three separated decks can be automatically routed through the apparatus in order to assure uninterrupted card play. Also disclosed is a method of randomizing two groups of playing cards.

An automatic playing card handling apparatus for use in casino card games possesses a card intake portal and a first card deck discharge portal which are both accessible by a dealer. The shuffling apparatus is controlled by a microcontroller which allows two fully-shuffled, but separated, card decks to be ready for play simultaneously. A first shuffled card deck is independently supported in the first card deck discharge portal by a retractable support structure while a second shuffled card deck remains ready for play while independently supported by an elevator just below the first card deck discharge portal. A third unshuffled card deck may coexist within the card intake portal. An optical recognition sensor cooperates with the microcontroller to interrogate the integrity of each deck during randomization to discover unreadable cards, unexpected cards, damaged cards or missing cards. If the microcontroller determines that a deck is faulty, then that faulty deck is automatically disgorged from the apparatus through a second discharge port into a secured or unsecured container. Three separated decks can be automatically routed through the apparatus in order to assure uninterrupted card play. Also disclosed is a method of randomizing two groups of playing cards.

A card disposal system for a table game of the present invention includes a discharge opening for disposal of cards after a game, a disposed card receiving board for receiving the cards from the discharge opening, a disposed card information acquiring means that acquires information on the number (rank) of the card placed in the discharge opening, a group information acquiring means that acquires group information of the card disposed of, a card counter serving as a number counting means that counts the number of cards that are placed in the discharge opening for disposal, a deck examination means that determines whether cards to be disposed of includes all the cards within a predetermined number of decks, and an output means that outputs a result of the determination.

A card disposal system for a table game of the present invention includes a discharge opening for disposal of cards after a game, a disposed card receiving board for receiving the cards from the discharge opening, a disposed card information acquiring means that acquires information on the number (rank) of the card placed in the discharge opening, a group information acquiring means that acquires group information of the card disposed of, a card counter serving as a number counting means that counts the number of cards that are placed in the discharge opening for disposal, a deck examination means that determines whether cards to be disposed of includes all the cards within a predetermined number of decks, and an output means that outputs a result of the determination.

A compact card handling device for use in casinos possesses a card intake portal and two playing card discharge portals which are all accessible by a device operator. An optical recognition sensor cooperates with a microcontroller to interrogate the integrity of each card during an ongoing shuffling operation to discover unexpected cards, including unrecognized cards and flipped cards. Unexpected cards are immediately discharged to a dedicated portal for operator review. In the commonly encountered case of flipped cards, the operator may correct the orientation and re-insert a mis-oriented card into the device without interrupting the ongoing shuffling operation.

The invention herein describes a card handling apparatus used for automatically creating play-ready hands for use in casino poker games whereupon the apparatus may be programmed to accommodate a number of different game variations, and a variable number of players. The apparatus verifies the integrity of each deck before discharging the play-ready hands to a first discharge portal. Decks that do not meet verification criteria are isolated and moved to a second discharge portal. Non-faulty decks are moved to a metering station where they are metered to a card output tray at high speed while forming the play-ready substacks. Two decks may be shuffled, verified and queued within the device before commencing a game, or a second deck may undergo shuffling while play-ready hands from a first deck are being metered to the output tray.