Just waiting around for the ball game to start on a Saturday night....

Friday, February 11, 2005
Hi-Tech Chips for Wynn
When the doors open in April, the Wynn Las Vegas Resort will have high-tech betting chips on all of their table games. The new chips look just like regular ones, but each chip contains a radio device that signals secret serial numbers. Special equipment linked to the casino's computer systems and placed throughout the property will identify legitimate chips and detect fakes.

The technology behind the chips is known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, and it's been used for years to track livestock, enable employee security badges, and pay tolls. The casino industry is just the latest to find new uses for RFID technology. Retail stores are using it to monitor merchandise. Libraries are incorporating it into book collections to speed checkouts and re-shelving. The United States and other nations are incorporating it into passports to catch counterfeits. One company even offers to inject people with RFID chips linked to their medical records to ensure they receive proper medical care. In the casino, the RFID technology would let dealers or cashiers know when the value of the chips in front of them doesn't match the scanners' tally.

The high-tech chips will cost Wynn about $2 million. That's about double the price of regular chips, and doesn't include additional equipment the Wynn will need to purchase, such as RFID readers, computers and networking gear. The technology could also help casinos catch players who sneak extra betting chips onto the table after hands are dealt. With antennas placed under each player's spot at the table, dealers can take a quick inventory of chips that have been wagered at the push of a button. The casino will also use the chips to perfectly monitor players when calculating comps at the table by perfectly keeping track of hands played, amount bet, average bet, and time at the table.