Cashless gaming apparatus and method

[54] CASHLESS GAMING APPARATUS AND METHOD

[75] Inventors: Peter D. Dickinson, Reno; Charles T.

Schreiber, Sparks; Logan Pease,
Reno, all of Nev.

[73] Assignee: International Game Technology
(IGT), Reno, Nev.

[21] Appl. No.: 829,097

[22] Filed: Jan. 31, 1992

[51] Int. CI.' A63F9/00

[52] U.S. CI 273/138 A; 364/412

[58] Field of Search 273/138 A, 143, 434;

194/210, 217; 364/412

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,339,798 7/1982 Hedges 273/138 A X

4,575,622 3/1986 Pellegrini 273/434 X

4,669,596 6/1987 Capers et al 194/210

4,669,730 6/1987 Small 273/138 A

4,675,515 6/1987 Lucero 235/381

4,689,742 8/1987 Troy et al 273/138 A X

4,815,741 3/1989 Small 273/138 A

5,007,641 4/1991 Seidman 273/138 A

5,038,022 8/1991 Lucero 273/138 A X

5,080,364 1/1992 Seidman 273/138 A

5,096,195 3/1992 Gimmon 273/138 A

5,135,224 8/1992 Yamamoto et al 273/143 R

5,197,094 3/1993 Tillery et al 273/434 X

Primary Examiner—William H. Grieb

A cashless gaming apparatus and method suitable for casinos. A player hands over money and an ID card to a clerk at a validation terminal. The clerk stores the ID number and the amount of money in the memory of the validation terminal. Then the clerk returns the ID card to the player for operating any one of a number of game terminals. The player then selects a game terminal which reads the player's ID card, whereupon the cash amount from the validation terminal is downloaded to the selected game terminal and the game terminal can then be played. If the player wishes to play another game terminal, the player actuates a cashout switch on the current terminal. The player then moves to another game terminal and the player's ID card is read into the second game terminal, whereupon the money remaining as a cash amount is downloaded to the second game terminal. The player can then play the second game terminal. When the player wishes to stop play of the game terminals completely, the player actuates the cashout switch of the last game terminal played. The player presents his ID card to the clerk at the validation terminal and the validation terminal reads the ID card. A ticket showing the card number and the cash amount is printed and the player is paid the cash amount on the spot. The printed ticket is then used for reconciliation.

17 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets