I'm currently watching the WSOP main event final table live stream, and they are using rfid-embedded cards to instantly know the rank/suit of all cards the players are playing. This is a relatively new technology afaik (1-2 years), was wondering if anyone has information on who produces these cards and the technology behind it? I assume these cards are not purchasable by the general public, but I'd like to at least read up on how the cards get scanned and if the cards feel any differently than normal decks.
If you have a late-model credit card, debit card or passport, then you're already at least a little familiar about RFID technology. The abbreviation stands for Radio Frequency IDentification. The tech is perhaps a decade or more old and fairly cheap. Many stores use them for product inventory - instead of counting widgets on a shelf, you wave an RFID reader over it and get an immediate and accurate readout of how many such chips (and such widgets containing said chips) that shelf holds. Inventory that once took a few days can be done in a few hours, even for a huge store.
It's very simple - emit a specific radio frequency, the chip detects the frequency and using the power of the radio signal it "replies" to the inquiry with a transmission of data stored on the chip meant to identify whatever is bearing that chip. It requires no batteries for the RFID chip at all.
The playing cards with RFID built-in could easily be made of paper or plastic - but in the case of a professional poker tournament, odds are the cards are plastic and bridge-sized. The chip gets embedded during manufacture, easy peasy.
If you're thinking about getting RFID-equipped cards yourself, remember that while the chips are cheap, you still have to buy an RFID scanner to make them useful in any way - those are a bit more costly. Not only that, but it's a lot of trouble to go to in order to read the cards of the other players at the table!
If you have RFID-equipped credit or debit cards, you need to use extra caution. Let's say that you're hanging out at a local hotspot and you have your cards with you, stored in a typical leather wallet. Sophisticated thieves can carry an RFID scanner as they simply walk past you. Often they need a laptop computer to do this, but with some skilled hacking they could probably run it off of a smartphone or a tablet. As they're passing, they pick up the RFID transmissions given off by your cards when the scanner "pings" them for identification. The thief would take that data back home, get a few machines for creating mag-stripe cards and voila - they've just cloned your credit and debit cards, creating physical copies they can use in brick-and-mortar stores. Skip the machinery and they can simply drain your accounts online, but hiding the money gets a little trickier unless you have an account in a "bank haven" country. The most common way these would be used, though, would be through the use of insiders - someone who has access to a purchasing terminal in a store and can ring up a lot of charges, which can be "refunded" and converted into cash. I'm sure there's more ways in which to use the data to make a lot of cash, but do I really need to go on?
I carry two wallets. One is a standard leather model for holding ID, money, receipts, etc. The other is hard-shell aluminum and holds my cards linked to financial accounts (all RFID-equipped) and perhaps a few business cards as well. Just as radio and TV signals can be hard to receive inside a steel-and-concrete building, RFID scanners can't penetrate most metals and even some metal-infused plastics.
In theory, the cover of a US passport (and those of many other countries) can prevent your RFID chip from being read, but in practice, that only works if the cover is fully closed, and there's still a small chance of a successful read due to the cover not providing complete wrap-around coverage of the chip inside. Some security advocates love the idea of passports being virtually impossible to forge and quickly scanned by computer while others are concerned that a terrorist wanting to single out American targets need only walk through the area with an RFID reader in his bag to identify them by the signals given off by their passports. When traveling abroad, should you ever be unfortunate enough to find yourself in such a situation and you don't have proper shielding for your passport, do whatever you can to destroy or mutilate the back cover of it, in order to break the RFID chip hidden there - technically, it renders the passport invalid, but it also stops it from broadcasting your nationality.
How would you know if your country uses "e-passports" equipped with RFID chips? Look for the symbol in the image below on the front cover exterior.
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