Reading the Table Angel Group’s RFID and Camera System for Casino Chip Tracking

Japanese gaming technology company Angel Group Co., Ltd. has filed a patent for a gaming table system that combines RFID tag reading and camera-based image recognition to accurately identify and track casino chips on a gaming table – a dual-technology approach that overcomes the individual limitations of each method and delivers more reliable chip detection.

The Problem

The accurate real-time tracking of gaming chips on a casino table is fundamental to casino operations. Knowing precisely how many chips of which denomination are in each betting position at any given moment enables automated betting calculations, fraud detection, regulatory compliance and game integrity monitoring. As casino operators move towards digitised, data-driven table management, the ability to reliably read chip stacks has become increasingly important.

Two technologies have been applied to this challenge independently, and each has significant limitations when used alone. Camera-based image recognition can capture the position and visual characteristics of chip stacks, but it struggles with chips that are face-down, obscured in large stacks, or partially hidden beneath other chips. The top surface of a chip stack is visible to a camera, but any chips below the top are effectively invisible to image analysis.

RFID technology – using radio-frequency tags embedded in individual chips – can in principle read chips regardless of their visual orientation or position within a stack. However, RFID systems face their own challenges on a gaming table. The density of chips, metal surfaces, and interference between multiple tags can make it difficult to accurately associate a specific RFID reading with a specific position on the table. Knowing that a particular chip is somewhere on the table is different from knowing exactly where it is and which stack it belongs to.

What This Invention Does

Angel Group’s invention solves the problem by combining both technologies in a way that allows each to compensate for the weaknesses of the other. The system includes a camera that takes images of chip stacks on the gaming table, feeding those images to an image recognition module that analyses chip position, chip type and chip quantity from the visible stack surfaces.

Simultaneously, an array of multiple antennas reads the RFID tags embedded in the chips. The system includes a chip judging portion that correlates the RFID reading results from each antenna with the image recognition results for each chip stack position. By cross-referencing what the camera can see with what the RFID antennas can detect, the system builds a comprehensive picture of the chip distribution across the entire table – including chips that neither system could accurately identify on its own.

The use of multiple antennas is particularly important. By distributing antennas across the table area, the system can use signal strength patterns and directional information to associate RFID readings with specific table positions, feeding this locational data into the correlation with image recognition results. The combined output is a chip count and valuation that is more accurate and more reliable than either technology could achieve independently.

Key Features

Dual-technology integration. The system combines camera image recognition and RFID antenna reading in a single integrated platform, with each technology providing information that the other cannot capture alone.

Multi-antenna array. Multiple antennas distributed across the gaming table provide spatial RFID data, enabling chips to be associated with specific table positions rather than simply being detected as present somewhere on the table.

Chip judging correlation engine. A dedicated chip judging component associates RFID reading results from individual antennas with image recognition results for specific chip stack positions, producing a unified, correlated chip assessment.

Full stack visibility. By combining surface image data with RFID detection of chips at any orientation or stack depth, the system can account for chips that are not visible to the camera – addressing one of the fundamental limitations of image-only approaches.

Casino table management integration. The system architecture is designed for integration into the broader casino table management environment, where accurate real-time chip data supports betting calculations, payouts and regulatory monitoring.

Who Is Behind It?

Angel Group Co., Ltd. is a Japanese company focused on gaming and entertainment technology. The sole inventor named is Yasushi Shigeta. The application is filed through RnB IP Pty Ltd in Canberra and is a divisional of an earlier filing (AU 2024202728), reflecting ongoing development and refinement of the company’s gaming table technology.

Why It Matters

Casino operations are data-intensive businesses where the accuracy of real-time chip information has direct financial and regulatory implications. Errors in chip reading – whether through failure to detect chips, misidentification of denominations or inability to correctly assign chips to betting positions – translate directly into financial risk, compliance failures and operational inefficiency.

A system that combines the complementary strengths of RFID and image recognition delivers meaningfully better accuracy than either technology alone, and does so in a way that is robust to the challenging physical environment of a casino table – with its dense chip configurations, reflective surfaces and rapid changes in chip distribution between hands. As casino operators in jurisdictions including Australia invest in automated table management systems, solutions like Angel Group’s dual-technology platform are likely to become increasingly important tools for operational control, fraud prevention and the delivery of a consistent, accurately monitored gaming experience.

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AU 2026201578 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.