Game monitoring system

Abstract

To provide a game monitoring system for monitoring a game in a table game.SOLUTION: A game monitoring system includes: a chip ID identification part for identifying chip ID when a gaming chip to which a chip ID is imparted is in a bet area on a game table; a first camera for imaging a player that plays a game on the game table and the gaming chip, and generating a first image; a player detection part for detecting the player from the first image; a chip detection part for detecting the gaming chip; a first association part for associating the player who has bet the gaming chip with the detected gaming chip; a second association part for associating the player associated with the gaming chip by the first association part with the chip ID of the gaming chip identified by the chip ID identification part; and a recording part for recording a set of the chip ID of the gaming chip and the image of the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip by the second association part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a game monitoring system for monitoring a game.

[0002] Conventionally, in games played in casinos and the like, game play by players is monitored to detect cheating, patron ratings, etc. By performing the games, betting by players, settlement of bets, etc. all electronically, the results of the games, betting by players, winnings and losses of players, and the amounts of those bets can be obtained as electronic information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 085706 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Similarly, in real table games using physical game tables, playing cards, and gaming chips, there is a demand to monitor the games and keep track of the amounts bet, winnings, losses, etc. by players. For this reason, conventional game monitoring systems embed RFID tags in gaming chips and read the RFID tags in the betting area or chip tray of the game table to monitor the movement of gaming chips at the game table, and also require players to present their membership cards to identify the players.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a game monitoring system for monitoring a real table game. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The game monitoring system of the first aspect has a configuration including: a chip ID identification means for identifying the chip ID of a gaming chip when a gaming chip with a chip ID assigned thereto is in a predetermined area on a game table; an imaging means for photographing a player playing a game at the game table and the gaming chips on the game table to generate an image; a player detection means for detecting the player from the image; a chip detection means for detecting the gaming chip from the image; a first association means for associating a player detected by the player detection means as a player who has bet the first gaming chip with a first gaming chip detected by the chip detection means; a second association means for associating the chip ID of the first gaming chip identified by the chip ID identification means with a player associated with the first gaming chip by the first association means; and a recording means for recording a pair of the chip ID of the first gaming chip and an image of the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

[0007] With this configuration, for each gaming chip in a specified area on the game table, the chip ID is associated with the player who bet that gaming chip and this is recorded, so that in a real table game, the game can be monitored.

[0008] The game monitoring system of the second aspect is configured in such a way that, in the game monitoring system of the first aspect, it further includes a storage means for storing the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with its owner, and a comparison means for comparing the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means, and outputting a signal indicating a mismatch if the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

[0009] With this configuration, if the person stored as the owner of a gaming chip placed in a specified area of ​​the game table does not match the person identified based on an image as the player who bet with the gaming chip, this fact can be notified.

[0010] The game monitoring system of the third aspect is the game monitoring system of the second aspect, in which the player is assigned a player ID, and further includes a player ID identification means for identifying the player ID of the player detected by the player detection means, the storage means stores the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with the player ID of the player who owns it, and the comparison means is configured to compare the player ID of the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with the player ID identified by the player ID identification means for the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means, and output a signal indicating a mismatch when the ID of the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match with the player ID of the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

[0011] With this configuration, if the ID of the person stored as the owner of a gaming chip placed in a designated area of ​​the game table does not match the ID of the person identified based on an image as the player who bet with that gaming chip, it can be notified.

[0012] A fourth aspect of the game monitoring system is the game monitoring system of the second aspect, wherein the storage means stores the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with facial information of its owner, and the comparison means compares the facial information associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with facial information extracted from the image of the player associated with the first gaming chip by the second association means, and outputs a signal indicating a mismatch if the facial information associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match with the facial information extracted from the image of the player associated with the first gaming chip by the second association means.

[0013] With this configuration, if the facial information of the person stored as the owner of a gaming chip placed in a specified area on a game table does not match the facial information of the person identified based on an image as the player who bet with that gaming chip, this fact can be notified.

[0014] The game monitoring system of the fifth aspect is configured in such a way that, in the game monitoring system of the second aspect, the control means further includes a control means for rewriting the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means to the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means when the comparison means determines that the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

[0015] With this configuration, the owner stored in association with the chip ID of the gaming chip can be rewritten to the correct owner.

[0016] The game monitoring system of the sixth aspect has a configuration in which, in the game monitoring system of the second aspect, it further includes an update means for rewriting the owner associated in the storage means with the chip ID of the payout gaming chip paid out by the dealer to the player associated with the payout gaming chip by the second association means.

[0017] With this configuration, the owner of the gaming chip paid out by the dealer and stored in association with the chip ID can be rewritten to the player who received the gaming chip.

[0018] The seventh aspect of the game monitoring system is configured in such a way that, in the game monitoring system of the second aspect, it further includes an update means for rewriting, in the storage means, the owner associated with the chip ID of the payout gaming chip paid out by the dealer to the player associated with the first gaming chip that moved from the specified area together with the payout gaming chip by the second association means.

[0019] With this configuration, the owner stored in association with the chip ID of the gaming chip paid out by the dealer can be rewritten to the player who bet the gaming chip that was the subject of the payout.

[0020] The game monitoring system of the eighth aspect is a game monitoring system of any of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the gaming chip is equipped with an RFID tag that stores the chip ID, and the chip ID identification means is configured to identify the chip ID of the gaming chip by reading the chip ID from the RFID tag.

[0021] This configuration allows the chip ID to be identified by RFID.

[0022] A ninth aspect of the game monitoring system is a game monitoring system of any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein the gaming chip has a chip ID written on its side, and the chip ID identification means is configured to detect the gaming chip from an image in which the gaming chip appears, and identify the chip ID of the gaming chip by deciphering the chip ID on the side of the detected gaming chip.

[0023] This configuration allows the chip ID to be identified by the markings on the side.

[0024] A tenth aspect of the game monitoring system is the game monitoring system of the first aspect, wherein the player detection means detects the player's hand, and the first association means associates the player's hand detected by the player detection means and the gaming chip detected by the chip detection means based on the positional relationship between the two.

[0025] With this configuration, the chip ID of the gaming chip can be associated with the player based on the positional relationship between the hand and the gaming chip.

[0026] The game monitoring system of an eleventh aspect is configured such that, in the game monitoring system of the first aspect, the chip ID identification means detects the gaming chip from a first image generated by the photographing means and identifies the chip ID of the detected gaming chip, the chip detection means detects the gaming chip from a second image generated by the photographing means and different from the first image, and the second association means identifies the gaming chip in the same position as the first gaming chip based on the relationship between the position of the gaming chip detected by the chip ID identification means in the first image and the position of the gaming chip detected by the chip detection means in the second image.

[0027] With this configuration, gaming chips in the same position in the two images can be identified as the same gaming chip.

[0028] A twelfth aspect of the game monitoring system is the eleventh aspect of the game monitoring system, wherein the photographing means includes a first camera for generating the first image and a second camera different from the first camera for generating the second image, and the second association means is configured to identify the gaming chip in the same position as the first gaming chip by converting the position in the first image of the gaming chip detected by the chip ID identification means and the position in the second image of the gaming chip detected by the chip detection means into a common coordinate space.

[0029] With this configuration, by mapping the gaming chips in one of the two images onto the other image, gaming chips in the same position can be identified as the same gaming chip.

[0030] A thirteenth aspect of the game monitoring system is configured in such a manner that, in the game monitoring system of the first aspect, the chip ID identification means identifies the position on the game table of the gaming chip whose chip ID has been identified, the chip detection means identifies the position on the game table of the gaming chip detected from the image, and the second association means identifies the gaming chip in the same position as the first gaming chip based on the position identified by the chip ID identification means and the position identified by the chip detection means.

[0031] With this configuration, gaming chips in the same position can be identified as the same gaming chip based on the positions of the gaming chips on the game table in the two images.

[0032] A 14th aspect of the game monitoring system is configured in such a manner that, in the game monitoring system of the first aspect, the chip ID identification means identifies the timing when the gaming chip whose chip ID has been identified was placed on the game table, the chip detection means identifies the timing when the gaming chip detected from the image was placed on the game table, and the second association means identifies the gaming chip placed on the game table at the same timing as the first gaming chip based on the timing identified by the chip ID identification means and the timing identified by the chip detection means.

[0033] With this configuration, it is possible to determine that the gaming chip identified by the chip ID identification means and the gaming chip identified by the chip detection means are the same gaming chip, based on the timing at which the gaming chip was placed on the game table. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a game table to which a game monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a side view of the gaming chip according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the gaming chip according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a game monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of association performed by the first associating unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] Hereinafter, the embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described, but the embodiments described below are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Furthermore, the elements of the multiple embodiments can be combined in any combination.

[0036] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a game table to which a game monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in Fig. 1, a game monitoring system 100 according to the embodiment can be applied to a game table 110 in a casino or the like.

[0037] The game table 110 has a roughly oval table top 111. A dealer is positioned on one side of the table top 111, and player positions for multiple players are provided on the opposite side. Each player position is provided with a betting area 112 for each player position. In this embodiment, the game table 110 is a game table for Baccarat. The betting area 112 includes betting areas for player, banker, tie, player pair, and banker pair as betting objects.

[0038] A first camera 11 and a second camera 12 are installed on the game table 110. The angle of view and direction of the first camera 11 are set so that the first camera 11 can capture the betting area 112, gaming chips (betting chips) bet on the betting area 112, and players playing on the game table 110. The angle of view and direction of the second camera 12 are set so that the second camera 12 can capture the betting area 112 and gaming chips (betting chips) bet on the betting area 112, and so that the gaming chips are captured larger than those captured by the first camera 11. The first camera 11 and the second camera 12 are attached to poles 113 and 114 provided on the game table 110. Note that a plurality of first cameras 11 and a plurality of second cameras 12 may be provided to share the capture range.

[0039] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a side of a gaming chip according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the gaming chip according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, a center line 51 is provided in the center in the thickness direction on the side of the gaming chip 50. The color of the center line 51 represents the type (value) of the gaming chip 50. Therefore, by observing the side of the gaming chip 50, the value of the gaming chip 50 can be known from the color of the center line 51.

[0040] A chip ID for identifying the gaming chip 50 is written as code information on the center line 51. In the gaming chip 50 of this embodiment, the code information representing the chip ID is represented by the presence or absence of multiple dots arranged in two rows, one above the other. That is, 2 bits of information are expressed by the presence or absence of dots above and below each column, and 5 bytes of information are expressed by a group of dots in 20 columns. The multiple dots representing the chip ID may be printed on the side of the gaming chip 50 with ink that is invisible to the naked eye under natural light but becomes visible when irradiated with infrared or ultraviolet light.

[0041] 3, a number representing its value is printed on the front and back of the gaming chip 50. Naturally, this number corresponds to the color of the center line on the side.

[0042] 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a game monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition to the above-mentioned first camera 11 and second camera 12, the game monitoring system 100 includes an information processing device 20 and a database 40. The first camera 11 and second camera 12 are each connected to the information processing device 20 so as to be able to communicate with each other. Furthermore, the information processing device 20 is connected to the database 40 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0043] An information processing device 20 may be provided for each game table 110, or the first camera 11 and the second camera 12 provided for each of the multiple game tables 110 may be connected to one information processing device 20. Furthermore, a database 40 may be provided for each of the multiple game tables 110, or one database 40 may be provided for the multiple game tables 110. Furthermore, the database 40 may be provided on the cloud.

[0044] The first camera 11 and the second camera 12 each take a photograph and generate an image at the time when the player places the gaming chip 50 in the betting area 112 of the game table 110 or at the time when the gaming chip 50 is placed in the betting area 112 and the game starts (i.e., the time when the gaming chip 50 is no longer permitted to be moved).

[0045] The information processing device 20 is a computer including a memory used as a temporary storage area, a processor that performs calculations according to input signals in accordance with the information processing program of this embodiment, and a storage device that stores various data. The database 40 includes a storage device and a processing device that performs processes such as searching and updating the information stored in the storage device.

[0046] 4 by executing the information processing program of this embodiment. Specifically, the information processing device 20 includes a chip detection unit 21, a chip ID identification unit 22, a player detection unit 23, a player ID identification unit 24, a first association unit 25, a second association unit 26, a comparison unit 27, a recording unit 28, a rewrite control unit 29, and an update unit 30.

[0047] The chip detection unit 21 acquires an image captured by the first camera 11 (hereinafter referred to as the "first image") and detects a chip group area including a chip group from this first image. When gaming chips 50 to be bet on the betting area 112 of the game table 110 are stacked and placed on the betting area 112, the chip detection unit 21 detects the area including the stack of betting chips as a chip group area (chip stack area). Specifically, the chip detection unit 21 detects a rectangular frame including the chip group as the chip group area.

[0048] The chip detection unit 21 detects chip areas corresponding to the individual gaming chips from the detected chip group area. At this time, the chip detection unit 21 may detect the individual chip areas using the center line 51 of the side surface of the gaming chip 50. That is, the chip detection unit 21 may determine the position and size of the chip area according to the position and length of the center line 51.

[0049] The chip ID identifying unit 22 acquires an image captured by the second camera 12 (hereinafter referred to as the "second image"). Then, the chip ID identifying unit 22 detects the chip group area and the chip area from this second image in the same manner as the chip detection unit 21. The chip ID identifying unit 22 performs code recognition on the detected chip area and decodes the code information of each gaming chip 50. As a result, the chip ID identifying unit 22 identifies the chip ID of each chip area, and in this way identifies all chip IDs included in each chip group area. At this time, the chip ID identifying unit 22 may detect the center line 51 of the gaming chip 50 and perform code recognition in the area of ​​the detected center line 51.

[0050] Alternatively, the chip ID identification unit 22 may be an RFID system that identifies the chip ID of the gaming chip placed in the betting area 112 by RFID. In this case, an RFID tag that stores the chip ID of the gaming chip is built into the gaming chip. The RFID system includes an antenna and a reader. The antenna is embedded under the table top 111 at a position corresponding to each betting area 112. The reader is connected to the antenna and obtains the chip ID from a signal read by the antenna.

[0051] The chip detection unit 21 specifies the position of the detected chip group area, and specifies the timing when the chip group area was detected. In addition to this, or instead of this, the chip ID specification unit 22 specifies the position on the game table of the gaming chip 50 whose chip ID has been specified. Also, the chip ID specification unit 22 specifies the timing when the gaming chip 50 whose chip ID has been specified was placed on the game table.

[0052] The player detection unit 23 detects a player from the first image obtained by shooting with the first camera 11. At this time, the player detection unit 23 detects the entire player including the face, upper body, arms, and hands from the first image as the player, and extracts a skeleton model consisting of the player's face area and each key point of the upper body, arms, and hands. The player detection unit 23 recognizes the face area and skeleton model of the same player or multiple key points that make up the same as belonging to one player.

[0053] The player ID identification unit 24 identifies the player ID by performing face authentication on the face area of ​​the first image detected by the player detection unit 23. The player identified by the player ID identification unit 24 is registered in advance with an image of the face and is assigned a player ID, and the player ID identification unit 24 uses face authentication technology to determine which registered player the face in the face area belongs to. Note that, if the face authentication result does not determine that the face belongs to any of the registered players, the player ID identification unit 24 determines that the player in the face area, i.e., the player shown in the player area, is an unregistered player.

[0054] A player may be registered with his / her player ID, or may be registered with his / her face information. When a player is registered with a player ID, the player ID identification unit 24 identifies the player ID of the player whose face area is detected from the first image. When a player is registered with face information, the player ID identification unit 24 identifies face information of the player whose face image is detected from the first image. Here, the face information may be the face image of the player, or may be a feature amount extracted from the face image of the player.

[0055] The first associating unit 25 associates the player detected by the player detection unit 23 as the player who bet the first gaming chip with the first gaming chip detected by the chip detection unit 21. Specifically, the first associating unit 25 associates the player's hand detected by the player detection unit 23 with the gaming chip 50 detected by the chip detection unit 21 based on the positional relationship between the two.

[0056] 5 is a diagram showing an example of association by the first association unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the chip detection unit 21 detects chip group areas c1 and c2 from the same image, the first image 90, captured by the first camera 11, and the player detection unit 23 detects the players P1 and P2. The first association unit 25 determines a combination of hands and chip group areas, and further a combination of players and chip group areas, based on the distances between the hands p11 and p21 of the players P1 and P2 detected by the player detection unit 23 and the chip group areas c1 and c2.

[0057] 5, the distance between the reference point cp1 of the chip group area c1 and the hand p11 of the player P1 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, so the first associating unit 25 associates this chip group area c1 with the player P1. Also, the distance between the reference point cp2 of the chip group area c2 and the hand p21 of the player P2 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, so the first associating unit 25 associates this chip group area c2 with the player P2. The reference point may be the center of the bottom side of the rectangular frame that constitutes the chip group area.

[0058] As described above, the player detection unit 23 recognizes the facial areas f1, f2 and skeleton models sm1, sm2 including multiple key points of the same player as belonging to the same player, so the first association unit 25 can associate the chip group area with either the facial area and the skeleton model or each key point.

[0059] The second associating unit 26 associates the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 identified by the chip ID identifying unit 22 with the player associated with the gaming chip 50 by the first associating unit 25. Specifically, the second associating unit 26 first identifies the gaming chip 50 detected by the chip detection unit 21 and the gaming chip 50 whose chip ID is identified by detecting it by the chip ID identifying unit 22. To this end, based on the relationship between the position of the gaming chip 50 detected by the chip ID identifying unit 22 in the first image and the position of the gaming chip 50 detected by the chip detection unit 21 in the second image, the gaming chips 50 located at the same position are identified as the same gaming chip 50.

[0060] More specifically, the second associating unit 26 converts the positions of the chip group areas detected by the chip detection unit 21 in the first image to positions in the second image, thereby identifying chip group areas in the same position as the same gaming chip 50. Alternatively, the second associating unit 26 may instead convert the positions of the chip group areas detected by the chip ID identification unit 22 in the second image to positions in the first image, thereby identifying chip group areas in the same position as the same gaming chip 50. Alternatively, the second associating unit 26 may convert both the positions of the chip group areas detected by the chip detection unit 21 in the first image and the positions of the chip group areas detected by the chip ID identification unit 22 in the second image into a common coordinate space, thereby identifying chip group areas in the same position as the same gaming chip 50.

[0061] In this way, the second association unit 26 identifies gaming chips 50 in the same position as the same gaming chip 50 based on the position identified by the chip detection unit 21 and the position identified by the chip ID identification unit 22, but alternatively, the second association unit 26 may identify gaming chips 50 placed on the game table 110 at the same timing as the same gaming chip 50 based on the timing at which the gaming chip is detected by the chip detection unit 21 and the timing at which the gaming chip 50 is identified by the chip ID identification unit 22.

[0062] The second associating unit 26 associates the chip ID of the gaming chip identified by the chip ID identifying unit 22 with the player associated with the gaming chip by the first associating unit 25. Specifically, when a player is registered with a player ID, the second associating unit 26 associates the chip ID of the gaming chip identified by the chip ID identifying unit 22 with the player ID of the player associated with the gaming chip by the first associating unit 25. In addition, when a player is registered with face information, the second associating unit 26 associates the chip ID of the gaming chip identified by the chip ID identifying unit 22 with the face information of the player associated with the gaming chip by the first associating unit 25.

[0063] The recording unit 28 records a pair of the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 and an image of the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26. At this time, the recording unit 28 may further record the chip ID and the player ID of the player associated therewith, as described later, or may record the chip ID and face information of the player associated therewith. As in this embodiment, the recording unit 28 records only the image of the player in association with the chip ID identified by the chip ID identification unit 22, instead of the player ID for identifying the player associated with the chip ID, so that the player's personal information is not recorded and the player's privacy is maintained.

[0064] The database 40 stores the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 and its owner in association with each other. Specifically, when a player is registered with a player ID, the database 40 stores the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 and the player ID of the player who owns the gaming chip in association with each other. Alternatively, when a player is registered with face information, the database 40 stores the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 and the face information of the player who owns the gaming chip in association with each other.

[0065] The comparison unit 27 compares the owner associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 with the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26. When the owner associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26, the comparison unit 27 outputs a signal indicating a mismatch.

[0066] Specifically, when a player is registered with a player ID, the comparison unit 27 compares the player ID associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 with the player ID identified by the player ID identification unit 24 for the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26. In this case, when the player ID of the owner associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 does not match with the player ID of the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26, the comparison unit 27 outputs a signal indicating a mismatch.

[0067] When the database 40 stores the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in association with the face information of its owner, the comparison unit 27, in addition to or instead of the above specific example, compares the face information associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 with the face information extracted from the image of the player associated with the gaming chip by the second association unit 26. In this case, when the face information associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 does not match with the face information extracted from the image of the player associated with the gaming chip 50 by the second association unit 26, the comparison unit 27 outputs a signal indicating a mismatch.

[0068] The above-mentioned function of the comparison unit 27 makes it possible to output a signal indicating a discrepancy when a player other than the original owner operates a gaming chip 50 on the game table 110, thereby warning of such a discrepancy.

[0069] When the comparison unit 27 determines that the owner associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 in the database 40 does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip by the second association unit 26, the rewrite control unit 29 rewrites the owner associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip in the database 40 to the player associated with the chip ID of the gaming chip by the second association unit 26.

[0070] When a gaming chip 50 is erroneously associated with a player, the rewrite control unit 29 can correct the association with the correct player. Also, when a chip ID that is not associated with any player is specified, the rewrite control unit 29 rewrites the player associated with the chip ID by the second association unit 26 as the owner of the chip ID.

[0071] When a player wins a game and receives gaming chips 50 from the dealer, the owner of the gaming chips related to the payout (hereinafter referred to as "payout gaming chips") should be changed from the dealer or casino to the player who won the game. Therefore, the update unit 30 rewrites the owner associated with the chip ID of the payout gaming chip paid out by the dealer in the database 40 to the player associated with the payout gaming chip by the second association unit 26. For this purpose, the first camera 11 and the second camera 12 take pictures when the gaming chips 50 are paid out, the first association unit 25 associates the chip group area of ​​the payout gaming chip with the player who is going to take the payout gaming chip, and the update unit 30 updates the database 40 according to this association.

[0072] Alternatively, the update unit 30 rewrites the owner associated with the chip ID of the payout gaming chip paid out by the dealer in the database 40 to the player associated with the gaming chip 50 moved from the bet area 112 together with the payout gaming chip by the second association unit 26. As a result, the chip ID of the payout gaming chip 50 is stored in the database 40 in association with the player ID of the player who received it.

[0073] In addition, when an RFID tag storing a chip ID is built into the gaming chip 50 and the chip ID identification unit 22 reads the chip ID from the RFID tag of the gaming chip 50 in the betting area 112, the chip ID may be identified by reading the RFID tag of the paid-out gaming chip in the paid-out betting area 112, and the player ID to be associated with it may be updated.

[0074] In the above embodiment, the first camera that captures the first image and the second camera that captures the second image are separate cameras, but they may be one camera. In this case, both the first image and the second image are generated by the one camera. In this case, the shooting conditions (angle of view, resolution, shooting direction, etc.) may be different between when the first image is captured and when the second image is captured.

[0075] As described above, in the game monitoring system 100 of this embodiment, the first associating unit 25 associates the gaming chips 50 (chip stack) on the game table 110 detected from the first image by the chip detection unit 21 with the player detected from the first image by the player detection unit 23, and the chip ID identifying unit 22 identifies the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 based on the second image, and the second associating unit 26 associates the player with the chip ID. This makes it possible to determine which player's gaming chips 50 belong to the gaming chips 50 on the game table 110, and allows game management such as cheating detection and patron rating to be performed.

[0076] As described above, the method of identifying the chip ID of the gaming chip 50 on the game table 110 is not limited to the method using an image, but may be the method using an RFID tag and an RFID reading system. Since the above embodiment allows the association of the gaming chip with the player who operates the gaming chip, for example, when a player bets gaming chips 50 in a betting area 112 other than the betting area in front of the player position, or when a back better who is not at the player position bets gaming chips 50, it is possible to determine which player bet those gaming chips based on the image.

[0077] In addition, the information processing device 20 may further recognize the position, type, and number of the gaming chips 50 bet on the game table 110 based on the first image or the second image, or may recognize the position, type, and number of the gaming chips 50 bet on the game table 110 by incorporating an RFID tag storing at least the type information in the gaming chip 50 and embedding multiple antennas in the game table 110 to read the RFID tag of the gaming chip 50. [Explanation of symbols]

[0078] 100 Game Surveillance System 110 Game Tables 111 Table Top 112 Betting Area 11 Camera 1 12 Second Camera 20 Information processing device 21 Chip detection unit 22 Chip ID identification section 23 Player detection unit 24 Player ID Identification Unit 25 First Association Section 26 Second Association Section 27 Comparison section 28 Recording Section 29 Rewrite control section 30 Update section 40 Databases

Claims

1. a chip ID specifying means for specifying the chip ID of a gaming chip when the gaming chip to which the chip ID is assigned is in a predetermined area on a game table; an image capturing means for capturing an image of a player playing a game at the game table and the gaming chips on the game table to generate an image; a player detection means for detecting the player from the image; a chip detection means for detecting the gaming chip from the image; a first association means for associating a player detected from the image by the player detection means as a player who has bet the first gaming chip with the first gaming chip detected from the image by the chip detection means, based on the image; a second associating means for identifying the gaming chip, the chip ID of which is identified by the chip ID identifying means, and the first gaming chip detected from the image by the chip detecting means as being the same gaming chip, and associating the chip ID of the identified first gaming chip with the player associated with the identified first gaming chip by the first associating means; a storage means for storing the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with its owner; a comparison means for comparing an owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with a player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means, and outputting a signal indicating a mismatch when the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means; Equipped with the storage means stores the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with face information of its owner; The comparison means compares facial information associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with facial information extracted from the image of the player associated with the first gaming chip by the second association means, and outputs a signal indicating a mismatch when the facial information associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the facial information extracted from the image of the player associated with the first gaming chip by the second association means.

2. The player is assigned a player ID, The game device further includes a player ID specifying means for specifying the player ID of the player detected by the player detection means, the storage means stores the chip ID of the gaming chip in association with a player ID of a player who owns the chip; The game monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the comparison means compares the player ID of an owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means with the player ID identified by the player ID identification means for a player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means, and outputs a signal indicating a mismatch if the ID of the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the player ID of the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

3. The game monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising a control means for, when the comparison means determines that the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means does not match the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means, rewriting the owner associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip in the storage means to the player associated with the chip ID of the first gaming chip by the second association means.

4. 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an update means for rewriting the owner associated with the chip ID of a payout gaming chip paid out by a dealer in the storage means to the player associated with the payout gaming chip by the second association means.

5. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an update means for rewriting the owner associated with the chip ID of the payout gaming chip paid out by the dealer in the storage means to the player associated with the first gaming chip that moved from the specified area together with the payout gaming chip by the second association means.

6. the gaming chip includes an RFID tag storing the chip ID; 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the chip ID identifying means identifies the chip ID of the gaming chip by reading the chip ID from the RFID tag.

7. The gaming chip has a chip ID written on a side thereof, 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the chip ID identification means detects the gaming chip from an image showing the gaming chip and identifies the chip ID of the gaming chip by deciphering the chip ID on a side of the detected gaming chip.

8. The player detection means detects the player's hands, 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the first associating means associates the player's hand detected by the player detection means with the gaming chip detected by the chip detection means based on a positional relationship between the two.

9. the chip ID identifying means detects the gaming chip from the first image generated by the photographing means, and identifies the chip ID of the detected gaming chip; The chip detection means detects the gaming chip from a second image different from the first image generated by the photographing means, The game monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the second association means identifies the gaming chip in the same position as the first gaming chip based on the relationship between the position of the gaming chip in the first image detected by the chip ID identification means and the position of the gaming chip in the second image detected by the chip detection means.

10. the photographing means includes a first camera for generating the first image and a second camera different from the first camera for generating the second image; The game monitoring system of claim 9, wherein the second association means identifies the gaming chip located in the same position as the first gaming chip by converting the position of the gaming chip in the first image detected by the chip ID identification means and the position of the gaming chip in the second image detected by the chip detection means into a common coordinate space.

11. the chip ID specifying means specifies a position on the game table of the gaming chip whose chip ID has been specified; the chip detection means identifies a position on the gaming table of the gaming chip detected from the image; 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the second associating means identifies the gaming chip located at the same position as the first gaming chip based on the position identified by the chip ID identifying means and the position identified by the chip detection means.

12. the chip ID specifying means specifies a timing when the gaming chip with the specified chip ID was placed on the game table; the chip detection means identifies a timing at which the gaming chip detected from the image was placed on the game table; 2. The game monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the second association means identifies the gaming chip placed on the game table at the same timing as the first gaming chip based on the timing identified by the chip ID identification means and the timing identified by the chip detection means.

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