A Las Vegas poker player allegedly used wire communication technology to cheat in games. He’s likely facing felony charges. Mike Postle used wire communications to find out his opponents’ cards in real-time. The information was sent through a smartphone screen, smartwatch beeps and voice commands.
RFID chips are used to transmit information on high-tech cards and tables. The signals are encrypted, and require special software to decipher. The chips can be read by RFID readers positioned in specific spots on the table, and then the data is relayed to tournament or TV production computers. The RFID readers are less than an inch below the surface of the area where the cards are laid, and each card has a tag that’s unique to it. Matt Berkey, a local poker expert, says that it’s similar to a barcode. “They’re different, and all of them have a unique identification code that passes through the reader and onto the motherboard.”
The cards then show up on a graphics system in the table, and the results are displayed for viewers to see. This allows players to see the cards in play, despite being hidden from view, and it’s also helpful for TV broadcasters to keep track of each hand as it happens.
But the technology hasn’t stopped there. Some cheaters in poker are now using an advanced type of RFID. These cards have an embedded chip with an integrated antenna that can be read by RFID devices. The chip is programmed in a way that it responds to a specific electromagnetic field. It can also contain any type of information the poker analyzer requires to read the cards.
These RFID chips are used in casino chip sets, and they can be useful to keep track of the game or ensure that everyone is playing fairly. These chips can be coated with invisible ink to make them more effective. These inks are visible as black spots in the deck of cards when viewed by an infrared device.
To use a scanner, you will need several things: an infrared camera hidden on the card that can detect invisible ink, an RFID and RFID reader that can scan the cards and an app to interpret the results. The app then displays the results on your phone or tablet, which you can then show to your opponents if necessary.
This article originally appeared on KTNV. Copyright