Wager recognition system having ambient light sensor and related method

A token sensor apparatus, comprising:

• a first token sensor assembly, including:
• a container including container side walls that define an inside perimeter and an outside perimeter of the container;
• a translucent cover disposed on a top surface of the side walls;
• a passive ambient light sensor disposed within the container, and configured to operate in a high gain mode that triggers the passive ambient light sensor detecting light over a variable range of light having 11 lux to at least 400 lux;
• an operational amplifier operably coupled with the passive ambient light sensor, and configured to saturate responsive to the passive ambient light sensor detecting the light within the variable range;
• a light controller coupled to the passive ambient light sensor;
• and
• a visual element operably coupled to the light controller, the visual element configured to flash responsive to a control signal received from the light controller indicative of when a token has been placed on the translucent cover to block ambient light from the passive ambient light sensor, and wherein the light controller is configured to not poll a condition of the passive ambient light sensor while the visual element is illuminating.

A token sensor apparatus, comprising:

• a first token sensor assembly, including:
• a container including container side walls that define an inside perimeter and an outside perimeter of the container;
• a translucent cover disposed on a top surface of the side walls;
• a passive ambient light sensor disposed within the container, and configured to operate in a high gain mode that triggers the passive ambient light sensor detecting light over a variable range of light of 11 lux to at least 400 lux;
• and
• an operational amplifier operably coupled with the passive ambient light sensor, and configured to saturate responsive to the passive ambient light sensor detecting the light within the variable range, wherein the high gain mode has a gain of at least 100×;
• a light controller operably coupled to the passive ambient light sensor;
• and
• a visual element including light sources operably coupled to the light controller and configured to indicate when a token has been placed on the translucent cover to block ambient light from the passive ambient light sensor by flashing responsive to a control signal received from the light controller, wherein the light controller is configured to not poll a condition of the passive ambient light sensor while the light sources are illuminating.

A method of controlling a token sensor assembly, the method comprising:

• operating a passive ambient light sensor in a high gain mode over variable ambient light conditions between 11 lux and at least 400 lux;
• detecting ambient light within a subset of a visible light spectrum passing through a translucent cover of the token sensor assembly indicative of absence of a token being positioned on the translucent cover for the token sensor assembly;
• detecting absence of the ambient light indicative of the token being positioned on the translucent cover for the token sensor assembly;
• transmitting a signal to at least one of a game controller or a light controller indicating whether the token is positioned on the translucent cover;
• generating light with a plurality of light sources from within the token sensor assembly, the generated light passing through the translucent cover and out from the token sensor assembly if a presence of a wager is detected;
• and
• ceasing to poll a condition of the passive ambient light sensor while the plurality of light sources is generating the light.