Column: Pequot casino keeps an eye on patrons

Monday, February 9, 2009  

"Even in an age when we've become accustomed to being watched, counted and tracked as we punch in key codes and swipe our way through gates and checkouts, the modern casino still stands out for the long reach of its watchful surveillance systems.

Eye-in-the-sky cameras follow casinogoers into every nook and cranny, from the elevators in the garage or the buffet to the gaming floors. Face-recognition systems can be used to identify people when they arrive - card counters, for instance, are on the most wanted face lists - and player reward cards for slot machines help casino managers determine exactly how much you spend and how long you play.

Now at the casinos at Foxwoods, managers have a new arrow in their surveillance quiver, a way to track table game players as closely as they do slot machine customers.

The casino has rolled out a new system that will enable them to track chips using technology known as radio frequency identification. Each chip is embedded with a device that can be read by scanners that identify its unique serial number. They can follow each chip from vault to table to player to cash cage.

This is a tracking system that casinos owners have been eager for since the technology was first tested more than 20 years ago. But it's just making its way now, in a more refined form than early versions, into wide use."

Get the Story:
David Collins: Foxwoods finds new way to watch us (The New London Day 2/6)