Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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PLAYER IDENTIFICATION
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a player identification system and, more
particularly, to a
player identification system that can be employed in conjunction with betting
terminals. The invention extends to a method of identifying players at betting
terminals.
Background to the Invention
Betting terminals have become increasingly common in a number of different
jurisdictions that have a regulated gambling industry.
Such a betting terminal has a player console that offers a player a menu of
one
or more games of chance that the player can select to play. Each game of
chance has outcomes that are determined by random events, usually generated
by means of a random number generator implemented in software. The software
random number generator may be executed locally within the player console
itself, or may be implemented externally in a gaming server, which is linked
to the
betting terminal by means of a communication network. In the latter topology,
one
or more separate player consoles may be connected to a single external gaming
server by means of the communication network.
It is usual for the player to play any of the games of chance by means of pre-
purchased credit. For reasons of simplicity and convenience it is customary
for
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the player console to be equipped with a coin-receiving mechanism and a
banknote reader that will allow the player to acquire credit in a simple
manner
without the necessity of using payment tokens such as credit cards, debit
cards
and the like. The player console may also be equipped with a printer that
prints
out an encoded voucher on demand when the player desires to terminate his
playing session and to cash out any credit that he may have accumulated. The
voucher may be redeemed for value from an operator of the betting terminal.
The games of chance offered by the player console may offer jackpot prizes
that
can be won from time to time.
Such a player console operates in an "always on" mode, in the sense that no
player login or authentication is required in order to play any of the games
of
chance. The player console may be located at a convenient location, such as a
betting shop, an entertainment venue, or the like. The gaming server to which
the
player console is linked may also be located with the player console, or may
be
located remotely therefrom.
It is possible that disputes may arise from time to time between different
players
over the right to cash out from any particular betting terminal, especially
when a
jackpot prize has been won.
Object of the Invention
It is an object of this invention to provide a player identification system,
and a
method of identifying players at betting terminals that will, at least
partially,
alleviate the abovementioned difficulties and disadvantages.
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Summary of the Invention
In accordance with this invention there is provided a player identification
system,
comprising:
a betting terminal operable by a player to play at least one game thereon and
to
place a wager on an outcome of any turn of the game, the outcome of each turn
the game being determined, at least in part, by chance; and
a camera associated with the betting terminal, the camera being arranged to
capture an image of the player operating the betting terminal at least once
during
each turn of the at least one game.
Further features of the invention provide for the player identification system
to
include a logging facility capable of logging, for each turn of the at least
one
game, logging data representative of a size and type of the wager placed by
the
player on the turn of the game, the corresponding outcome of that turn of the
game, and the image of the player captured by the camera during the turn of
the
game, for the betting terminal to be operable by the player to play any one of
a
number of different selectable games, for the camera to be arranged to capture
the image of the player operating the betting terminal at least once during
each
turn of any game being played by the player, and for the logging data to be
representative, also, of the particular game being played by the player.
Still further features of the invention provide for the logging facility to
include a
non-volatile storage memory for storing the logging data thereon, for the
storage
memory to be configured as a rolling buffer capable of storing logging data
relating to a number of the most recent turns of any games played by the
player,
for the player identification system to include an enquiry facility operable
to
display any logging data contained in the storage memory, and for the player
identification system to include a display monitor capable of displaying any
image
of the player contained in the storage memory.
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The invention extends to a method for identifying players at a betting
terminal,
comprising the steps of:
enabling a player to operate a betting terminal to play at least one game
thereon
and to place a wager on an outcome of any turn of the game, the outcome of
each turn the game being determined, at least in part, by chance; and
capturing, at least once during each turn of the at least one game, a camera
image of the player operating the betting terminal.
There is further provided for the method to include a step of logging, for
each turn
of the at least one game, logging data representative of a size and type of
the
wager placed by the player on the turn of the game, the corresponding outcome
of that turn of the game, and the image of the player captured by the camera
during the turn of the game, for enabling the player to operate the betting ,
terminal to play any one of a number of different selectable games, for
capturing
. the image of the player operating the betting terminal at least once during
each
turn of any game being played by the player, and for logging additional data
representative of the particular game being played by the player.
There is still further provided for storing the logging data on a non-volatile
storage
memory, for configuring the storage memory as a rolling buffer capable of
storing
logging data relating to a number of the most recent turns of any games played
by the player, for displaying any logging data contained in the storage memory
on
an enquiry facility, and for displaying any image of the player, contained in
the
storage memory, on a display monitor included in the enquiry facility.
Brief Description of the Drawings
A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below, by way of example
only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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Figure 1 is a functional representation of a player identification system
according to the invention, shown in conjunction with a betting terminal.
5 Detailed Description of the Invention
Referring to Figure 1, a player identification system is indicated generally
by
reference numeral (100).
The player identification system (100) is associated with a betting terminal
indicated generally by reference numeral (1 ) that includes a gaming server
(2)
and a user access facility (3) in the form of a player console having a touch
screen (4), a banknote reader (5), a coin receiving mechanism (6) such as a
coin
slot, and a thermal printer (7). The player console also includes an Internet-
enabled processor (8) which is in communication with the gaming server (2) by
means of a communication network (9) that is, in this embodiment, the
Internet.
The player console (3) is located remotely from the gaming server (2) and is
usable by a player to play any one of a number of different video games that
are
available for play. A menu of available games is presented to the player on
the
touch screen (4) and the player is able to select any one of the games in the
menu for play by touching a corresponding icon (not shown) displayed on the
screen in a manner that is well known in the art.
The Internet-enabled processor (8) is a conventional personal computer
operating under a Windows 2000 operating system, which is well known and
commercially available from the Microsoft Corporation of Seattle, Washington,
USA. The Internet-enabled processor (8) and the gaming server (2) execute
different components of any available game that is selected for play by the
player. Each game consists of a client process that is executed in the
processor
(8) and a server process that is executed in the gaming server (2). The client
process of a selected game simulates the progress of the game on the touch
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screen (4), while the server process generates, upon request of the of the
client
process, one or more random events that determine an outcome or outcomes of
a turn of the game. The client process obtains the result of the random event
from the gaming server (2) along the communication network (9) and utilises
the
result to display a corresponding outcome of the game to the player in an
intelligible manner by means of the simulation on the touch screen (4).
Each one of the available games is playable by the player against the
consumption of credit. The player may insert one or more banknotes into the
banknote reader (5) and coins into the coin slot (6) in order to procure
credit to
play any of the games, without the need to use payment tokens such as debit
cards, credit cards or the like. The player's credit balance is displayed on
the
touch screen (4) at all times. The player utilises his credit to place a wager
on
every turn of the games that he selects for play. The outcome of any wager is
either an unsuccessful outcome in which the player's wager is forfeited to an
operator of the betting terminal (1), or a successful outcome in which the
player's
wager is paid out at predetermined odds.
The player identification system (100) includes a logging database (10) remote
from the player console (3), which is accessible by means of the communication
network (9). The operation of the logging database (10) will be described in
more
detail in the description that follows. The player identification system (100)
includes, further, a logging facility in the form of a non-volatile storage
memory
(11 ) and a logging application software program (12) that is executable in
the
processor (8) of the player console (3). The non-volatile storage memory (11 )
is a
local Random Access Memory circular buffer and is sized to store transaction
data corresponding to a predetermined number, say 20, of consecutive wagers
made by the player. The transaction data is buffered in the circular buffer
(11 ) by
the logging application software program (12) that executes in the processor
(8)
of the player console (3).
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The player identification system (100) also includes a camera (13) arranged to
capture an image of a player using the player console (3) to play any
available
game thereon. The client process that executes in the processor (8) activates
the
camera (13) to capture the image of the player operating the player console
(3) at
least once during each turn of any game played by the player at the console.
The transaction data corresponding to any particular wager includes data
relating
to the size and type of the wager, the outcome of the wager, the size of a
prize
won by the player for a successful wager, an identification code corresponding
to
the selected game on which the wager was placed, a further identification code
corresponding to a player console from which the wager was made by the player,
and the image taken by the camera (13) of the player who made the wager. The
logging application software program (12) downloads the buffered transaction
data to the logging database (10) when the local buffer (11) is full and, once
the
download is complete, flushes the local buffer.
The player identification system (100) includes an enquiry facility (14)
connected
to the communication network (9). The enquiry facility (14) is a conventional
computer workstation capable of accessing the transaction data contained in
the
logging database (10). In particular, the enquiry facility (14) enables the
stored
image of the player corresponding to any particular wager to be displayed on a
display monitor of the computer workstation for viewing by interested parties.
Numerous modifications are possible to this embodiment without departing from
the scope of the invention. In particular, the betting terminal (1 ) may
include more
than one player console (3) communicable with the gaming server (2). Each
player console (3) has a corresponding camera (13), local buffer (11 ) and
logging
application software program (12). In this instance, the downloaded contents
from the different local buffers (11) of the display consoles (3) are
consolidated
and merged into the remote logging database (10). The merged transaction data
in the remote logging database (10) is available for the performance of
offline
queries.
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Further, the gaming server (2) and the camera (13) may be integrated within
the
display console (3) to provide, effectively, a standalone betting terminal. In
this
instance, the functionality of the gaming server (2) and the processor (8) in
the
display console ( 3) may be consolidated, necessitating only a single
processor
for the betting terminal (1) Further, the remote logging database (10) may
also be
integrated within the display console (3), making it possible to dispense with
the
use of an open communication network (9) such as the Internet and rely,
instead,
on a closed communication network or a local communication bus.
The invention therefore provides a player identification system that enables
the
identification of users of a betting terminal to be checked and verified.
