Hey,

Not sure how many of you get Anthony's Question of the Day but today's entry was about RFID chips. I never realized all the implications and data these chips could give a casino. I found it interesting, perhaps you will too...

Dave
Cheques in the Mail, Inc.

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Q: After reading about the RFID bottle caps at Treasure Island and remembering about RFID gambling chips at the Wynn, I got to wondering if this is a trend. Do you think surveillance-happy Las Vegas will employ more RFID technology as time goes along?

A: In a word, yes.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. It's basically a surveillance technology that enables data to be transmitted by a "tag." This tag contains a transponder; the transponder contains a digital-memory chip; the chip contains a unique product-identification code. The tag is scanned by an "interrogator," consisting of an antenna equipped with a transceiver and a reader. The interrogator emits a signal that activates the tag, allowing it to be decoded. The data is then transmitted to the host computer. Thus, the data transmitted by the tag identifies location in real time, plus whatever other specifics are programmed to be scanned, depending on what the tag is attached to.

And the tag can be attached to just about anything. Products at Wal-Mart are RFID'd for shelf location, price, color, etc. Smart cards use the technology to pass cars through toll booths and people through subway turnstiles and skiers onto lifts. Library books are scanned as they go through security detectors at exits. Car ignitions read RFID chips in keys to prevent theft. Pets are RFID'd to keep them from getting lost. Liquor bottle tops measure the flow of fluid. Even humans are starting to be tagged, for example in prisons, hospitals, and large corporations.

As you mention, the meanderings of gambling chips are tracked by RFID through casinos. Once the system is in place (and though it' a straightforward set-up, it's expensive; reportedly, the Wynn paid $2 million for its RFID chips, and that doesn't include the interrogators, computers, and networking software), the casino can acquire reams of relevant information about its gamblers.

For example, Mr. X buys in for $25,000 and is given a stack of $5, $25, $100, $500, and $1,000 RFID' chips. Every one of those chips carries a serial number that�s associated directly with Mr. X. At the table, when he loses a bet, the dealer stashes Mr. X's chips in a separate pile; when he wins, the dealer pays him back with "his" chips. All the while, the interrogator is transmitting every transaction to the computer. At the end of Mr. X's session, the computer knows exactly how many bets he made, how many he won, how many he lost, and how much in chips he walked away with.

The computer also knows that Mr. X gave Lorraine the cocktail waitress three of his $5 chips and two $25 chips. How? At the end of the night, she cashes in five of Mr. X's chips. He also toked the valet $25 and the housekeeper $10.

Now, say Mr. X is robbed in the parking garage. When the perpetrator or a confederate or fence tries to cash in the chips, he's nabbed on the spot.

Or perhaps another gambler cashes in the chips. That might mean Mr. X is using his credit line at the Wynn to loan money to others.

Mr. X might also take his $25,000 in chips from the Wynn and play them off across the street at the Venetian.

The technology can also help casinos catch players who try to sneak extra chips onto the table after hands are dealt (past-posting): With antennas installed under each player's spot, dealers can take a quick inventory of initial bets at the push of a button. The computer can then display all the initial bets on a LED screen right at the table, deterring players from past-posting. And it can pick off card counters: By tracking players'wagers, the computer can analyze game activity against statistical models, then alert management of an abnormal winning streak. Similarly, RFID can be used to track the chip inventory at each table, catch dealer mistakes, check dealer productivity, and deter chip theft.

It's not just about security. The marketing department can also use RFID data to its advantage. It can immediately identify big players who fall through the door and accurately rate, down to the last chip, the action of all table-game players, the same as slot and video poker machines do for machine players.

(Following the money is such a strong surveillance capability that governments would love to eliminate the anonymity of cash by putting RFID tags in their currencies.)

In short, RFID is like most evolving technologies. Now that it's (mostly) affordable and workable, it's not about to go away. It might currently be cutting-edge, but soon it'll be a trend and eventually it'll be the norm. In fact, it's distinctly possible that people in the near future will think nothing of being scanned by RFID interrogators everywhere they go.