RFID is a casino owner's best friend

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a hot topic. People talk about Wal-Mart using RFID tags to monitor inventory, but here's a story that shows how a casino operation in Louisiana really needs RFID technology to monitor slot-machine keys, which sometimes seem to wind up getting lost and then removed from the casino premises. State law requires that if a slot machine key is detected passing through an exit the casino has to be shut down immediately and all the slot machines have to be re-keyed. In other words, the old system would simply detect that a key had left the premises, but wouldn't help detect that a key was on the verge of leaving.

By using RFID enabled keys for the slot-machines the casino can monitor the whereabouts of the keys at all times as they move through the casino. More importantly, the RFID tags allow the casino operator to detect that the purloined key is approaching an exit in time for security to take action, and prevent the casino from having to be shut down.