Following the Chips in Wynn's New Casino

ctwxman writes "As Steve Wynn gets set to open his new Las Vegas casino, something new hits the tables: RFID encoded chips they report that "The fancy new chips look just like regular ones, only they contain radio devices that signal secret serial numbers. Special equipment linked to the casino's computer systems and placed throughout the property will identify legitimate chips and detect fakes" " " Having stayed pretty much everywhere else cool on the strip, I'm sure I'll try the Wynn out soon after it opens, but I think I'll be cashing out my chips before I leave the casino. It makes me nervous knowing I could be unwittingly scanned by others after I leave the floor. Of course, this added inconvenience may save me a fortune in blackjack losses!

Could it be spoofed? Is this just PR?

[A nonymous Coward]

Seems to me it could be spoofed, but I Am Not An Expert. What if you have a small radio transmitter in your pocket to swamp the table's RFID transmitter? Maybe read the RFID at one table, and play it back later to spoof some other table?

Plus it would give the security personnel a false sense of security, and maybe more traditional ways of cheating would be easier.

I wonder if this is not just a publicity ploy, just make some noise to get more people in who would not otherwise come in.

Tracking gamblers

[redelm]

RFIDs in the chips will make tracking the gamblers very easy: Record the RFIDs as issued, as bet and as paid out. Yes, it will require (gasp!) computers, but the casinos have money.

They will be able to track individual gabling habits, and from that, system usage.

I wonder...

[Iphtashu Fitz]

If I took some chips out of the casino, rendered the RFID tags useless with a magnet (or whatever it takes), then went back and requested payment, would they refuse to pay?

I can potentially imagine the big stink that would arise if RFID tags stopped working in valid chips for some reason. Suppose you were playing blackjack and won a ton of money, went straight to the cashier, and they refused to pay because the RFID tags weren't responding. I can imagine lawsuits would spring up pretty darned quickly.

Re:Be calm, relax, things aren't that bad...

[Tackhead]

> The readers that are designed for doorways can do roughly 2 feet, but they're huge and very very obvious - they're designed for store entrances, where they make you walk through the "gates" to get in/out of the store. You can't miss a 4-foot (max) separated row of columns covering all the exits...

Considering the space already available to install cameras, cabling, and God only knows what else above the ceiling, wouldn't it be easy to include large transmitters in the ceiling?

Better yet, install a semi-large one (a little smaller than your doorway-size variety) in each table. Doesn't matter if you see all 10 tables "light up" when Joe Gambler walks by them, you only need to get 2-3 hits before you can retrace his steps.

It's sorta like facial recognition in that you can build up a track of where Joe Gambler went during his entire time at the site.

But it's better -- because you can sort those tracks by dollar amount. What would it be worth to a casino's marketing department to know which path certain groups customers walk after losing all their chips (or after doubling their chips!), and reorganizing their floors (placing bank machines along the most likely route for the losers, and slot machines or other tables along the way to the cashier's cage for the winners) accordingly?

If you were really clever, you could even have hustlers on the floor. Guy wins $1000 at a $25 Blackjack table? Cute chick comes over and offers him a drink on the way to the cashier's. Asks him how he did. Points out the conveniently-located row of $100 tables that somehow always have to be walked around before he can get to the cashier's.

As we progress, running a casino will become more and more like playing SimAnt. (Then you can sell an extension the technology to the government to play with the rest of society, and it gets to be a lot more fun, to say nothing of more profitable :)

Re:Is it illegal . . .

[Don'tTreadOnMe]

In the couple of casinos I worked at, they wanted you to take the chips home with you - it's close to 100% profit. And the silvers and clays are made by companies with almost as much rigor as the US Mints, so someone would have to go to a lot of trouble to bring in fake chips.

Toll Road Readers in Canada

[renehollan]

There's a toll road around Toronto, Ontario, that uses RFID readers in much the same way.

However, it also reads license plates directly if you don't have an RFID tag. One receives a bill in the mail (with a surcharge for not being "in" the system) at the end of the month.

Dunno about out of province drivers. I guess Canadian ones are tracked down and fined or jailed. (Americans probably just get a fist shaken at them, as they cross the border back into the U.S., thinking to themselves "nyeah, nyeah, nheah, nyeaaah, nyeah!).

Canuks complain about the cost of maintaining the bridge to Buffalo from the Canadian side. Yanks have the smarts to put a toll on their side of the bridge. Why did I have to be born north of the 49th and surrounded by pinko idiots? Sigh. (Insightful, no! Troll! But wait, insightful... Aw, screw it, I'll take Troll for -5 karma, Alex.).

Addendum from the original poster

[ctwxman]

CmdTaco has added comments to the parent post after mine. However, there is no clear distinction where my words end and his begin. Since they might be interpreted to be from me, and they don't represent my sentiments, please note: everything written beginning with the words, "Having stayed," does not belong to me. In email conversation, CmdTaco has said he didn't feel there would be any confusion since my words are italicized. In this case, I respectfully disagree. I would appreciate this post being modded up.

A new precedent?

[Anonymous Coward]

What's to stop them from RFIDing the cards next? It would sure make things easier for the dealer. I bet you won't read about that on in the news.

Re:They are tracking the chip... not you...

[Karma Farmer]

I get comped for averaging a $100 bet over the course of an hour, even if it is the first visit.

Holy cow. I don't even make $100 an hour at my job. How much are these comps worth, that you're willing to spend so much to get them?