Chips within chips
14 February 2005
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
Gaming chips are now being developed that can
track players' habits from the moment they sit
down at a table until they cash in their
winnings. The chips are embedded with radio
frequency identification (RFID) microchips that
carry uniquely identifiable serial numbers. Will
the casino eventually be allowed to track your
habits? Do you want them to know your betting
and decision strategy? Matthijs R.
Ah, Matthijs, the casino already tracks your
betting habits, and they know your wagering
strategies. At present it's at the slots
machines, but soon, as your question implies, it
will be with RFID chips at the gaming tables.
Casino slots today have a fully automated player
tracking system. With the swipe of your slot
club card, onboard software knows your name,
address, interests, denomination of play,
favorite machines, how much you have invested,
and your winnings at any given hour. Now betting
chips, usually made of fired clay or plastic,
are getting some new innards, silicon, and they
could be coming to a
casino near you.
Presently, you can play at any table game with
anonymity, but with RFID microchips, that
protection may well be a thing of the past.
These RFID chips act as transponders and work by
listening for a radio signal sent by
transceivers, or RFID readers. Because these
RFID chips are so tiny, they can be embedded in
almost anything and give it a unique ID code.
From blue jeans to razor blades, the
possibilities for embedding these chips into
virtually anything are endless. As RFID chips
prices continually drop, it will become
cost-efficient to put RFID tags in almost
anything that costs more than a buck, including
casino chips. Heck, even my wandering dog,
Maggie, has an RFID ID tag.
These days, the monitoring of your play at the
table games is done via an educated guess from a
pit boss, but his/her guesstimate is not always
reliable. Chip tracking will dramatically
improve their accuracy. The never-ending
squabble of getting your fair share of comps for
legitimate play can be identified down to your
last dime bet, since your wagering is tracked
both accurately and automatically. Once these
individually serialized chips are scanned at
gaming tables and matched up with each gambler's
player card, Casino operators will be able to
keep tabs on the fortunes of every gambler on
their property, recording the stakes placed by
each player, along with their wins and losses. A
high roller fleeing the tables with his spoils
can be tracked throughout the casino, even if
he's hiding in a toilet stall counting his
winnings.Also, an RFID chip will make it even
easier than the eye-in-the-sky to nab a
blackjack dealer with sticky fingers. Management
will even know which cocktail waitresses are
making what, and from whom.
So, the question remains, am I for this shade of
1984 technology? Nah. Color me skeptical, but
even if I'm not counting down the deck, I have
no interest in someone electronically monitoring
my play when I move from nickel to quarter chips
on a blackjack table, or if I'm bellied up at
the bar or making a pit stop. I still prefer
playing anonymously, with an occasional bone
(comp) tossed my way based on a floorperson's
best guess of my play. Besides, I have never had
to use a microchip to
find my nomadic dog. I just yell out "treat" and
she comes.
Gambling quote of the week: "Winning is a mental
state of mind. Conquer yourself and you have a
chance to conquer the casino." --Avery Cardoza,
gaming author.
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