Financial gaming system and method

Abstract

A gaming system and method within a gaming establishment having a plurality of electronic gaming devices for a player to play games of chance or skill. A central database stores a financial account for the player. Each of the plurality of gaming devices communicates with the central database either directly or through a central accounting system. An identification device uniquely identifies the player and is utilized by the player to activate a selected gaming device. When the selected gaming device is activated, an account balance for the player is retrieved from the central database. The selected gaming device maintains a record of the player's account balance while the player plays the game, and reports the updated balance to the central database when the player finishes playing. The player can then activate another gaming device and begin playing with his updated account balance. The account may be linked to external financial networks enabling the player to redeem his winnings at redemption devices external to the gaming establishment.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

In the following, the essential features of the invention will be described in detail by showing preferred embodiments, with reference to the attached figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the system of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of an exemplary embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Claims

1. A gaming system by which a player may utilize credits in a financial account to play a game of chance or skill at a gaming device within a gaming establishment, said system comprising: means for establishing the financial account for the player;means for adding credits to the financial account, wherein an account balance for the player is stored in a central database;means for issuing an identification device to the player, said identification device being utilized by the player to activate the gaming device and to input the player's identification information to the gaming device;means for retrieving the player's account balance from the central database when the gaming device is activated by the player's identification device;means for updating the player's account balance while the player plays the game on the gaming device;means for determining that the player has finished playing the game; andmeans for sending the player's updated account balance to the central database in response to a determination that the player has finished playing the game.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising redemption means within the gaming establishment for redeeming the credits in the player's account.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising redemption means external to the gaming establishment for redeeming the credits in the player's account, wherein the redemption means is linked to the player's account through an external financial network.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the external redemption means includes an ATM machine for making a cash withdrawal.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the external redemption means includes a retail merchant that accepts credits from the player's account in exchange for merchandise or services.

6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the external redemption means includes a financial institution for making a cash withdrawal.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the means for adding credits to the financial account includes a point-of-sale (POS) terminal within the gaming establishment.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the gaming device includes means for adding credits to the financial account.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the identification device is selected from a group consisting of: a financial card with a magnetic strip having the player's identification information encoded thereon;an RFID tag having the player's identification information encoded thereon;a smart card having the player's identification information encoded thereon;a token with an optical code having the player's identification information encoded thereon; anda USB device having the player's identification information stored thereon.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the means within the gaming device for determining that the player has finished playing the game is selected from a group consisting of: a card-reader slot having means for sensing when the player removes the identification device from the slot, said identification device comprising a card with a magnetic stripe having the player's identification information encoded thereon;a button for indicating that the player has finished playing the game; anda timer for indicating when a predefined time period for playing the game has expired.

11. A method of enabling a player to utilize credits in a financial account to play a game of chance or skill at a gaming device within a gaming establishment, said method comprising: establishing the financial account for the player;adding credits to the financial account, wherein an account balance for the player is stored in a central database;issuing an identification device to the player, said identification device being utilized by the player to activate the gaming device and to input the player's identification information to the gaming device;reading by the gaming device, the player's identification information from the identification device;retrieving the player's account balance from the central database in response to reading the player's identification device;updating the player's account balance in the gaming device while the player plays the game on the gaming device;determining that the player has finished playing the game; andsending the player's updated account balance from the gaming device to the central database in response to a determination that the player has finished playing the game.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising redeeming the credits in the player's account at a redemption device within the gaming establishment.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising redeeming the credits in the player's account at a redemption device external to the gaming establishment, wherein the external redemption device is linked to the player's account through an external financial network.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of redeeming the credits in the player's account at an external redemption device includes making a cash withdrawal at an ATM machine external to the gaming establishment.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of redeeming the credits in the player's account at an external redemption device includes exchanging credits from the player's account for merchandise or services at a retail merchant.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step of redeeming the credits in the player's account at an external redemption device includes making a cash withdrawal at a financial institution external to the gaming establishment.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of adding credits to the financial account includes adding credits utilizing a point-of-sale (POS) terminal within the gaming establishment.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of adding credits to the financial account includes adding credits utilizing the gaming device.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of issuing an identification device to the player includes issuing an identification device selected from a group consisting of: a financial card with a magnetic stripe having the player's identification information encoded thereon;an RFID tag having the player's identification information encoded thereon;a smart card having the player's identification information encoded thereon;a token with an optical code having the player's identification information encoded thereon; anda USB device having the player's identification information stored thereon.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the step of determining that the player has finished playing the game includes determining by the gaming device that an event has occurred from a group consisting of: removal of the identification device from a card-reader slot in the gaming device;pressing of a button for indicating that the player has finished playing the game; andexpiration of a timer for indicating when a predefined time period for playing the game has expired.

21. A gaming system enabling a player to play a game of chance or skill within a gaming establishment having a plurality of gaming devices, said system comprising: a central database for storing a financial account for the player;means for linking each of the gaming devices with the central database;means for uniquely identifying the player;means for retrieving an account balance for the player from the central database when the player activates a selected gaming device and the player is uniquely identified;means for determining the player's winnings or loses while the player plays the game; andmeans for updating the player's account balance in the central database when the player finishes playing the game.

22. The gaming system according to claim 21, wherein the means for uniquely identifying the player is a biometric identification device.

23. The gaming system according to claim 21, wherein the means for uniquely identifying the player is an identification device issued to the player.

24. The gaming system according to claim 21, further comprising: a central controller for controlling the plurality of gaming devices and the central database;means within the selected gaming device for determining that the player has left the selected gaming device; andmeans within the selected gaming device for sending a notification to the central cotroller that the player has left the selected gaming device;wherein the central controller enables the player to activate a second gaming device upon receiving the notification that the player has left the selected gaming device.

25. The gaming system according to claim 21, further comprising: a central controller for controlling the plurality of gaming devices and the central database;wherein the central controller enables the player to simultaneously activate a plurality of gaming devices while maintaining a current balance in the central database.