Method, apparatus and article for evaluating card games, such as blackjack

A discard card reader for reading information from an information bearing portion of one or more playing cards, the discard card reader comprising:

• a housing;
• means for simultaneously exposing the information bearing portion of at least two of a number of playing cards;
• and
• means for reading information from each of at least some of the playing cards.

A discard card reader for reading information from an information bearing portion of one or more playing cards which comprise completed hands of playing cards, the discard card reader comprising:

• a housing having a base;
• a card cradle sized and dimensioned to receive one or more completed hands of playing cards, the card cradle including a card support surface sloped with respect to the base to simultaneously expose the information bearing portion of at least two of a number of playing cards supported by the card support surface;
• a reading head positioned in the housing to read information from each of at least some of the playing cards when supported by the card support surface;
• and
• an actuator coupled to create relative movement between the playing cards supported by the card support surface and the reading head.

A method of operating a discard card reader for reading information from an information bearing portion of playing cards comprising completed hands of playing cards, comprising:

• receiving at least one completed hand of playing cards;
• and
• supporting the received playing cards such that the information bearing portion of at least two of the playing cards are exposed during a same time;
• and
• reading the exposed information bearing portion of the received playing cards.

A method of operating a discard card reader for reading information from an information bearing portion of playing cards comprising completed hands of playing cards, comprising:

• receiving at least one completed hand of playing cards;
• supporting the received playing cards such that the information bearing portions of at least two of the playing cards are exposed;
• incrementing a field of view of a reader to successively cover the information bearing portions of the received playing cards in a number of steps;
• and
• reading the exposed information bearing portion of the received playing cards when the field of view is incremented in at least two of the steps.

An automated system to monitor cards, comprising:

• a card deck reader capable of reading identifying information from a number of playing cards forming a deck of playing cards;
• a dealer hand reader capable of reading identifying information from a number of the playing cards forming a dealer's initial hand;
• a discard card reader capable of reading identifying information from a number of the playing cards forming a dealer's complete hand and a player's complete hand;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to receive the read identifying information from the card deck reader, the dealer hand reader and the discard card reader and programmed to process the read identifying information.

A method of evaluating a card game, comprising:

• automatically determining a value of a dealer's completed hand of playing cards;
• automatically determining a value of at least one player's completed hand of playing cards;
• and
• automatically determining an outcome of a card game based on the determined value of the player's completed hand of playing cards and the determined value of the dealer's completed hand of playing cards.

A method of evaluating card games, comprising:

• determining a sequence of a set of playing cards in a deck of playing cards, prior to a dealer dealing any of the playing cards from the deck in a card game;
• determining an identity of each of a number of playing cards forming a dealer's initial hand;
• determining a sequence of a number of collected playing cards including at least one player's complete hand and a dealer's complete hand;
• determining a position of a first card of the dealer's initial hand in the determined sequence of playing cards in the deck;
• determining a number of active hands corresponding to a number of hands played by one or more players during the card game based on the determined position of the first card of the dealer's initial hand;
• for each of a number of the players and for each hand played by the player, determining a value of each of a number of playing cards forming the player's completed hand;
• for each of the number of players and for each active hand played by the player, determining a value of the player's completed hand from the determined value of each of the number of playing cards forming the player's completed hand;
• determining a value of each of a number of playing cards forming a dealer's completed hand;
• determining a value of the dealer's completed hand from the determined value of each of the number of playing cards forming the dealer's completed hand;
• and
• for each of the players and for each hand played by the player, determining an outcome based on the determined value of the player's completed hand and the determined value of the dealer's completed hand.

A method of evaluating a card game, comprising:

• automatically determining an identity of each of a number of playing cards forming a player's completed hand;
• comparing the identity of each of the number of playing cards from the player's completed hand to an expected set of playing cards for the player's completed hand;
• and
• producing a notification if the identity of each of the number of playing cards from the player's completed hand does not match the expected set of playing cards for the player's completed hand.

A computer-readable media, having instructions that cause a computer to evaluate a card game, by:

• automatically determining a value of a dealer's completed hand of playing cards;
• automatically determining a value of at least one player's completed hand of playing cards;
• and
• automatically determining an outcome of a card game based on the determined value of the player's completed hand of playing cards and the determined value of the dealer's completed hand of playing cards.

A computer-readable media, having instructions that cause a computer to evaluate a card game, by:

• determining a sequence of a set of playing cards in a deck of playing cards, prior to a dealer dealing any of the playing cards from the deck in a card game;
• determining an identity of each of a number of playing cards forming a dealer's initial hand;
• determining a sequence of a number of collected playing cards including at least one player's complete hand and a dealer's complete hand;
• determining a position of a first card of the dealer's initial hand in the determined sequence of playing cards in the deck;
• determining a number of active hands corresponding to a number of hands played by one or more players during the card game based on the determined position of the first card of the dealer's initial hand;
• for each of a number of the players and for each hand played by the player, determining a value of each of a number of playing cards forming the player's completed hand;
• for each of the number of players and for each active hand played by the player, determining a value of the player's completed hand from the determined value of each of the number of playing cards forming the player's completed hand;
• determining a value of each of a number of playing cards forming a dealer's completed hand;
• determining a value of the dealer's completed hand from the determined value of each of the number of playing cards forming the dealer's completed hand;
• and
• for each of the players and for each hand played by the player, determining an outcome based on the determined value of the player's completed hand and the determined value of the dealer's completed hand.

A computer-readable media, having instructions that cause a computer to evaluate a card game, by:

• automatically determining an identity of each of a number of playing cards forming a player's completed hand;
• comparing the identity of each of the number of playing cards from the player's completed hand to an expected set of playing cards for the player's completed hand;
• and
• producing a notification if the identity of each of the number of playing cards from the player's completed hand does not match the expected set of playing cards for the player's completed hand.