Poker Table Suggestions

[Vermilion755 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I am thinking about building a poker table with cameras in it, much like the ones you see on the televised poker tours. I am looking for advice on the cheapest way to pull this off. I would like an 8 or 9 camera system that would hook up to either a TV or a computer, for people to watch live. The idea is that we'll have a big poker game with 20-30 people, and as people drop out, they can go into another room and watch the game while seeing everyone's hands as they play, live. This means I would need something that will display a split screen of all 8 cameras, or perhaps 8 mini splits and one large screen for an overhead view maybe. I can always use a separate camera and TV or webcam and computer for this.

 

This would just be for at my own house, so wired cameras are fine, but whatever is cheapest. Technically, I'm looking for 1 basic video camera to see the table overhead, but the other 8 cameras don't have to be video necessarily. They could just snap a picture with the press of a button, or take a picture every 10-20 seconds or something, either way. It really just needs to take 1 picture and hold it on the screen until the next round of play. Another idea is that I could put the cameras under the table with a glass window above them, so that players can just set their cards on the glass so the camera can see them at all times.

 

Another thing that I was hoping will make this cheaper, is that the cameras will be only a few inches away from the cards they are focused on. They don't have to be high quality either... as long as we can make out the card and suit, we are set. I don't know if there are cameras made for close ups, but let me know. I do prefer color however.

 

I have searched google and ebay for cheap cameras, and there seem to be some cheap cameras, as low as 5-10 bucks a peice, but I don't know if these are the right ones I'd want to use or not. Please let me know any ideas for the cheapest setup to get the job done as possible. I am hoping to keep this under a couple hundred bucks if I can, as the receiver or card for the computer will likely cost 50-100 bucks I figured.

 

Thanks,

Vermilion

[Soundy 1]

You probably want to search for "pinhole" or "spy" cameras - not that they need to be covert, but those are small so they can be easily mounted in the table, and are designed to give a wide view with a lot of depth-of-field.

 

All you need after that is a multiplexer - a nine-channel model should suffice (they typically come in 4, 9 and 16-channel designs). Shouldn't be hard to find one for a decent price on fleaBay or even Craigslist, as they're not used very much anymore. You don't even need a fancy duplex/triplex type - a simplex version will be fine. Some will give you simple 2x2/3x3/4x4 splits, better ones will give you additional Picture-in-Picture options.

 

Something like this would do nicely, if you can get a good bid in: http://cgi.ebay.com/GV-MUX16TC-16-CHANNEL-COLOR-MULTIPLEXER-30FPS_W0QQitemZ190372063826QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c530f2a52

[survtech 0]

Difficult to pull off that way. On TV, the players are instructed to "lift" their cards for the camera and have to do that in a specific spot marked on the table in front of each player. Those cameras are located in the rail and wired through that, under the table, down the leg(s) and into the floor. That would require an awful lot of work.

 

You might just consider locating a wide-screen (16:9) HD / megapixel camera over the center of the table. For a traditionally shaped poker table, HD 16:9 would be a better fit than a standard 4:3 due to the shape of the table.

 

The Sanyo VCC-HD2100 is one of the least expensive HD cameras around. It is 1080p (1920x1080), which works really well to cover a poker table with the appropriate lens. You can also get them in dome form. Here's a link: http://us.sanyo.com/High-Definition. There are other brands of camera that would probably do the job just as well.

 

You might also look at inexpensive HD camcorders. They might be easier to connect to a standard HDTV or computer through USB or HDMI. Many are 720p, which would work well enough to see the cards, although 1080p would be better.

[Soundy 1]

Uuuuuummmmm slight problem with that plan: for the overhead cam to see the players' cards, the cards would have to be flipped up, which would allow the other players at the table to see them as well. Perhaps you're not familiar with the nuances of the game, but this is not a desirable thing...

[survtech 0]

Perhaps you're not familiar with the nuances of the game, but this is not a desirable thing...

You do know where I work, don't you? Of course, I'm familiar with the game!!!

 

My question is why would you want to show the players' hole cards and do you actually think the players would comply? I certainly wouldn't - even in a "friendly" game.

[Soundy 1]

Perhaps you're not familiar with the nuances of the game, but this is not a desirable thing...

You do know where I work, don't you? Of course, I'm familiar with the game!!!

 

My question is why would you want to show the players' hole cards and do you actually think the players would comply? I certainly wouldn't - even in a "friendly" game.

 

"The idea is that we'll have a big poker game with 20-30 people, and as people drop out, they can go into another room and watch the game while seeing everyone's hands as they play, live."

[survtech 0]

I still wouldn't reveal my hole cards to a camera! I wouldn't care if they were in the next room; in the next city or on the next planet!

[Soundy 1]

Well then, you'll never get to play poker on TV. I wouldn't be surprised that it's part of the TV contract they sign, that they're required to show their hole cards to the cameras.

[survtech 0]

Well then, you'll never get to play poker on TV. I wouldn't be surprised that it's part of the TV contract they sign, that they're required to show their hole cards to the cameras.

Different circumstances. There is a lot of security in those games.

[hardwired 0]

I do wonder about the opportunity for cheating there. One player dropping out early as a shill for another player, with some type of wireless communication equipment, could really screw things up pretty easily. If you could build in a little delay (30 seconds or so), it would go a long way in preventing that.

 

No really easy way to do that comes to mind right now, though.