WO2010096864A1

WO2010096864A1 - A system and method for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues

Info

Publication number: WO2010096864A1
Application number: PCT/AU2010/000209
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Hadlee
Original assignee: Flexi-Net Systems Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2009-02-27
Filing date: 2010-02-24
Publication date: 2010-09-02
Also published as: AU2010217186A1; AU2016219544A1

Abstract

A system for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues, the system including: a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information, the first sever capable of issuing a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit, the first ticket and the first server storing information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information; a second sever located at a second venue remote from the first venue, the second venue having second venue ownership information, the second server capable: of reading the information stored on the first ticket; communicating with the first server to change the ownership information from the first venue ownership information to the second venue ownership information; and provide the predetermined gaming credit to a gamer at the second venue.

Description

TITLE: A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOWING A TICKET TO BE USED AT A PLURALITY OF VENUES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of locations and in particular to a system and method for allowing a gaming ticket to be used at a plurality of gaming locations.

The invention has been developed primarily for use as a gaming ticket and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use and tickets can be used in any other suitable industry such as purchasing goods and other services.

This application is related to Australia patent applications 2009900872 and 2009900874 which are incorporated herein in their entirety by way of reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In this specification unless the contrary is expressly stated, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge; or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Inventions in the gaming industry have allowed gaming machines to accept and dispense tickets in place of cash. As such when a gamer "cashes out" and requests that the balance of credit from a machine be returned to them, instead of being paid in coins (which can be cumbersome and difficult to manage), the gaming machine prints out a ticket onto which the credit is stored. Typically the ticket has a unique identifier and the details of the ticket and the credit associated with the ticket are stored on secure servers within the gaming venue. The gamer can then take the ticket to a cashier where they can redeem the ticket and receive the cash amount or they can insert the ticket into another gaming machine at the venue which then allocated the credit associated with the ticket to the machine and allows the gamer to play the chosen game. If the gamer cashes out again, then a new ticket, separate to the ticket initially inserted into the machine, is printed out for the gamer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A disadvantage of the prior art is that tickets are specific to a single gaming venue and cannot be used at another gaming venue. Accordingly, if gamers fail or forget to redeem tickets at a particular venue they must return to the venue of issue to play or redeem the ticket which may not be possible or convenient. Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention advantageously allows a gaming operator to enable the use of tickets across a plurality of gaming venues in their group.

This is allows members who travel frequently between gaming venues to use tickets obtained from any one venue at any other venue within the group. As such, gamers who may be venue members or guests, are able to carry a ticket from one venue to another and be able to cash the ticket, or use the ticket in a gaming machine.

The preferred embodiment of the invention allows the movement of tickets between venues that belong to an individual group. The preferred embodiment is achieved by:

• Defining within an individual venues servers that there is a group configuration within a plurality of gaming venues. The plurality of gaming venues typically belong to a club, casino, or hotel group.

• Enabling "ownership" of a ticket to a particular site within the group.

• Enabling the ticket ownership to be transferred within the group of sites if the ticket is presented at a gaming machine, Cashier or CRT within one of the other venues.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues, the system including: a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information, the first sever capable of issuing a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit, the first ticket and the first server storing information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information; a second sever located at a second venue remote from the first venue, the second venue having second venue ownership information, the second server capable: of reading the information stored on the first ticket; communicating with the first server to change the ownership information from the first venue ownership information to the second venue ownership information; and provide the predetermined gaming credit to a gamer at the second venue.

Preferably the first sever is in communication with a first printer and the first ticket is printed by the first printer.

Preferably the first printer is located at a gaming machine located within the first venue.

Preferably the first ticket is printed in response to a gamer at the gaming machine cashing out. Preferably the predetermined amount of credit is equal to the credits available at the gaming machine when the gamer cashed out. In some jurisdictions the amount of credit may be different according to the requirements of legislation.

Preferably the ticket is a reusable ticket and the information stored can be rewritten. In this preference the if a gamer cashes out again after inserting a ticket having credit into the machine, then the same ticket is printed out for the gamer, with the new details stored against the unique ticket. Alternatively each ticket is used only once and if a gamer cashes out then a new ticket is issued and the old ticket retained by the gaming machine.

Preferably the information stored on the ticket is stored by way of any of the following: magnetic strip; barcode; microchip; or any other suitable means.

Preferably the first server and the second server communicate through one of the following: the Internet; a WAN; a VPN; or any other suitable means.

Preferably the ticket is read by a gaming machine located within the second venue and the predetermined amount of credit is provided to the gamer at the gaming machine located within the second venue once the ownership information has been changed to the second venue ownership information.

Preferably the information stored on the ticket is verified with the information stored on the first server prior to the ownership information being changed and the predetermined credit being provided to the gamer.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues, the method including the steps of: providing a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information, the first sever capable of issuing a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit, the first ticket and the first server storing information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information; providing a second sever located at a second venue remote from the first venue, the second venue having second venue ownership information, the second server capable: of reading the information stored on the first ticket; communicating with the first server to change the ownership information from the first venue ownership information to the second venue ownership information; and provide the predetermined gaming credit to a gamer at the second venue.

Preferably the method includes the step of providing a first printer in communication with the first server and wherein the first ticket is printed by the first printer.

Preferably the method includes the step of locating the first printer at a gaming machine located within the first venue. Preferably the method includes the step of printing the first ticket in response to a gamer at the gaming machine cashing out.

Preferably the predetermined amount of credit is equal to the credits available at the gaming machine when the gamer cashed out. In some jurisdictions the amount of credit may be different according to the requirements of legislation.

Preferably the method includes the step of storing information on the ticket by way of any of the following: magnetic strip; barcode; microchip; or any other suitable means.

Preferably the method includes the step of the first server and the second server communicating through one of the following: the Internet; a WAN; a VPN; or any other suitable means.

Preferably the method includes the step of the ticket being read by a gaming machine located within the second venue and the predetermined amount of credit being provided to the gamer at the gaming machine located within the second venue once the ownership information has been changed to the second venue ownership information.

Preferably the method includes the step of the verifying the information stored on the ticket with the information stored on the first server prior to the ownership information being changed and the predetermined credit being provided to the gamer.

Throughout the specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and other variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers of steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure Ia is a diagram of a gaming machine according to the invention; Figure Ib is a diagram of another gaming machine according to the invention; Figure 2 is a flow diagram of a method according to the invention; and Figure 3 is a diagram of another gaming machine according to the invention. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the invention provides a system for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues. While examples given in the preferred embodiment use two venues the system can be extended to any number of venues. While in the preferred embodiment the plurality of venues are all owned and operated by a single group entity it would be understood that in other embodiments the plurality of venues could all have separate owners.

The system of the preferred embodiment includes a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information. The ownership number can include a unique venue ID or simply the name of the venue. The first server is in communication with all the gaming machines located at the first venue and when requested to by a particular gaming machine (normally in response to a gamer cashing out) it can issue a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit to the requesting gaming machine. The gaming machine then prints out the first ticket using a printer connected to it. The information stored on the first ticket includes information relating to the predetermined amount of gaming credit (which is equal to the credit stored in the gaming machine when the gamer elected to cash out) and the first venue ownership information. Additional information such as a unique ticket number is also stored on the ticket.

The first server also stores information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information along with additional information such as the unique ticket number.

A second sever is located at a second venue remote from the first venue. The second venue can be in a separate suburb, city or even a different country to the first venue. The second venue has second venue ownership information which is different from the first venue ownership information so that each venue can be uniquely identified.

When a gamer inserts the ticket into the card reader of a gaming machine at the second venue, the gaming machine communicates the information from the ticket to the second server. As the venue ownership information belongs to the first venue and not the second venue, the ownership of the ticket needs to be transferred to the second venue before the gaming credit can be transferred to the gaming machine at the second venue. In order to achieve this, the second server recognises that the ownership belongs to the first venue and communicates with the first server to request that the ownership be changed to the second venue. If the request is approved then the ownership of the ticket is transferred from the first venue to the second venue. The transfer is recorded on the first server and the second server by changing the ownership information recorded for the ticket on each server. Once the ownership change is complete then the credit stored on the ticket can be allocated and credited to the gaming machine at the second venue. To achieve this the second server communicates the required information to the gaming machine at the second venue, the gaming machine then provides the credits to the gamer and the gamer can commence the game in the normal fashion.

In the preferred embodiment the ticket is a reusable ticket and the information stored can be rewritten on the magnetic strip as required. In some embodiments the venue operators may choose to use single use tickets.

The information stored on the ticket can be stored by way of any of the following: magnetic strip; barcode; microchip; or any other suitable means.

The first server and the second server communicate through one of the following: the Internet; a WAN; a VPN; or any other suitable electronic communication means.

A gaming machine according to the preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in Fig. IA, the gaming device includes one or more display devices controlled by the processor. The display devices are preferably connected to or mounted to the cabinet of the gaming device. The embodiment shown in Fig. IA includes a central display device 16 which displays a primary game. This display device may also display any suitable secondary game associated with the primary game as well as information relating to the primary or secondary game. The alternative embodiment shown in Fig. IA includes a central display device 16 and an upper display device 18. The upper display device may display the primary game, any suitable secondary game associated or not associated with the primary game and/or information relating to the primary or secondary game. These display devices may also serve as digital glass operable to advertise games or other aspects of the gaming establishment. The gaming device includes a credit display which displays a player's current number of credits, cash, account balance or the equivalent. In one embodiment, the gaming device includes a bet display which displays a player's amount wagered. In one embodiment, as described in more detail below, the gaming device includes a player tracking display which displays information regarding a player's playing tracking status.

In another embodiment, at least one display device may be a mobile display device, such as a PDA or tablet PC, that enables play of at least a portion of the primary or secondary game at a location remote from the gaming device.

The display devices may include, without limitation, a monitor, a television display, a plasma display, a liquid crystal display (LCD) a display based on light emitting diodes (LED), a display based on a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), a display based on polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs), a display based on a plurality of surface-conduction electron-emitters (SEDs), a display including a projected and/or reflected image or any other suitable electronic device or display mechanism. In one embodiment, as described in more detail below, the display device includes a touchscreen with an associated touch-screen controller. The display devices may be of any suitable size and configuration, such as a square, a rectangle or an elongated rectangle. The display devices of the gaming device are configured to display at least one and preferably a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols and indicia such as any visual representation or exhibition of the movement of objects such as mechanical, virtual or video reels and wheels, dynamic lighting, video images, images of people, characters, places, things and faces of cards, and the like.

In one alternative embodiment, the symbols, images and indicia displayed on or of the display device may be in mechanical form. That is, the display device may include any electromechanical device, such as one or more mechanical objects, such as one or more rotatable wheels, reels or dice, configured to display at least one or a plurality of game or other suitable images, symbols or indicia.

As illustrated in Fig. IA, in one embodiment, the gaming device includes at least one payment device 24 in communication with the processor.

A payment device such as a payment acceptor includes a note, ticket or bill acceptor 28 wherein the player inserts paper money, a ticket or voucher and a coin slot 26 where the player inserts money, coins, or tokens. In other embodiments, payment devices such as readers or validators for credit cards, debit cards or credit slips may accept payment. In one embodiment, a player may insert an identification card into a card reader of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the identification card is a smart card having a programmed microchip or a magnetic strip coded with a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information. In another embodiment, a player may carry a portable device, such as a cell phone, a radio frequency identification tag or any other suitable wireless device, which communicates a player's identification, credit totals (or related data) and other relevant information to the gaming device. In one embodiment, money may be transferred to a gaming device through electronic funds transfer. When a player funds the gaming device, the processor determines the amount of funds entered and displays the corresponding amount on the credit or other suitable display as described above.

In one embodiment, as mentioned above and seen in Fig. IA, one input device is a touchscreen 42 coupled with a touch-screen controller 44, or some other touch-sensitive display overlay to allow for player interaction with the images on the display. The touchscreen and the touch-screen controller are connected to a video controller 46. A player can make decisions and input signals into the gaming device by touching the touchscreen at the appropriate places. One such input device is a conventional touch-screen button panel.

The gaming device may further include a plurality of communication ports for enabling communication of the processor with external peripherals, such as external video sources, expansion buses, game or other displays, an SCSI port or a key pad.

In one embodiment, as seen in Fig. IA, the gaming device includes a sound generating device controlled by one or more sounds cards 48 which function in conjunction with the processor. In one embodiment, the sound generating device includes at least one and preferably a plurality of speakers 50 or other sound generating hardware and/or software for generating sounds, such as playing music for the primary and/or secondary game or for other modes of the gaming device, such as an attract mode. In one embodiment, the gaming device provides dynamic sounds coupled with attractive multimedia images displayed on one or more of the display devices to provide an audio-visual representation or to otherwise display full-motion video with sound to attract players to the gaming device. During idle periods, the gaming device may display a sequence of audio and/or visual attraction messages to attract potential players to the gaming device. The videos may also be customized for or to provide any appropriate information.

In one embodiment, the gaming machine may include a sensor, such as a camera in communication with the processor (and possibly controlled by the processor) that is selectively positioned to acquire an image of a player actively using the gaming device and/or the surrounding area of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the camera may be configured to selectively acquire still or moving (e.g., video) images and may be configured to acquire the images in either an analog, digital or other suitable format. The display devices may be configured to display the image acquired by the camera as well as display the visible manifestation of the game in split screen or picture-in-picture fashion. For example, the camera may acquire an image of the player and the processor may incorporate that image into the primary and/or secondary game as a game image, symbol or indicia.

Gaming device 10 can incorporate any suitable wagering primary and/or base game. The gaming machine or device may include some or all of the features of conventional gaming machines or devices. The primary or base game may comprise any suitable reel- type game, card game, cascading or falling symbol game, number game or other game of chance susceptible to representation in an electronic or electromechanical form, which in one embodiment produces a random outcome based on probability data at the time of or after placement of a wager. That is, different primary wagering games, such as video poker games, video blackjack games, video keno, video bingo or any other suitable primary or base game may be implemented.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in Fig. IB, one or more of the gaming devices 10 are in communication with each other and/or at least one central server, central controller or remote host 56 through a data network or remote communication link 58. In this embodiment, the central server, central controller or remote host is any suitable server or computing device which includes at least one processor and at least one memory or storage device. In different such embodiments, the central server is a progressive controller or a processor of one of the gaming devices in the gaming system. In these embodiments, the processor of each gaming device is designed to transmit and receive events, messages, commands or any other suitable data or signal between the individual gaming device and the central server. The gaming device processor is operable to execute such communicated events, messages or commands in conjunction with the operation of the gaming device. Moreover, the processor of the central server is designed to transmit and receive events, messages, commands or any other suitable data or signal between the central server and each of the individual gaming devices. The central server processor is operable to execute such communicated events, messages or commands in conjunction with the operation of the central server. It should be appreciated that one, more or each of the functions of the central controller as disclosed herein may be performed by one or more gaming device processors. It should be further appreciated that one, more or each of the functions of one or more gaming device processors as disclosed herein may be performed by the central controller.

In one embodiment, the game outcome provided to the player is determined by a central server or controller and provided to the player at the gaming device. In this embodiment, each of a plurality of such gaming devices are in communication with the central server or controller. Upon a player initiating game play at one of the gaming devices, the initiated gaming device communicates a game outcome request to the central server or controller.

In one embodiment, the central server or controller receives the game outcome request and randomly generates a game outcome for the primary game based on probability data. In another embodiment, the central server or controller randomly generates a game outcome for the secondary game based on probability data. In another embodiment, the central server or controller randomly generates a game outcome for both the primary game and the secondary game based on probability data. In this embodiment, the central server or controller is capable of storing and utilizing program code or other data similar to the processor and memory device of the gaming device.

In an alternative embodiment, the central server or controller maintains one or more predetermined pools or sets of predetermined game outcomes. In this embodiment, the central server or controller receives the game outcome request and independently selects a predetermined game outcome from a set or pool of game outcomes. The central server or controller flags or marks the selected game outcome as used. Once a game outcome is flagged as used, it is prevented from further selection from the set or pool and cannot be selected by the central controller or server upon another wager. The provided game outcome can include a primary game outcome, a secondary game outcome, primary and secondary game outcomes, or a series of game outcomes such as free games.

The central server or controller communicates the generated or selected game outcome to the initiated gaming device. The gaming device receives the generated or selected game outcome and provides the game outcome to the player. In an alternative embodiment, how the generated or selected game outcome is to be presented or displayed to the player, such as a reel symbol combination of a slot machine or a hand of cards dealt in a card game, is also determined by the central server or controller and communicated to the initiated gaming device to be presented or displayed to the player. Central production or control can assist a gaming establishment or other entity in maintaining appropriate records, controlling gaming, reducing and preventing cheating or electronic or other errors, reducing or eliminating win- loss volatility and the like.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each venue includes a central server 56 and a plurality of gaming machines 10. The systems of each venue operate independently of the systems of the other venues within the group just as they would if they were separate venues. The systems and central servers will only communicate when ticket ownership is being changed from one \enue to another. That is, when gamer inserts a ticket into the card reader of payment device 24 into one of the gaming machines 10 the ticket information is sent to the central server 56 for validation. The central server will recognise that the ownership information does not belong to the venue to which the gaming machine is attached and will initiate communication and a change of ownership request with the central server of the venue to which the ticket currently belongs.

It would therefore be understood that all system functions are intrinsically separated for each venue and each venue will function in accordance with its requirements. It would be understood that the requirements of each system may be different.

It is preferred that the ticket has a magnetic strip although it would be understood that the ticket information could be written on the ticket using any other suitable technology such as bar codes or microchips.

In the preferred embodiment each venue issues tickets with a distinct numeric range and this number is encoded into the magnetic stripe of the ticket.

The preferred embodiment creates additional stored procedures in the central servers of each venue which will only come into effect where the system recognises that the ticket inserted into the gaming machine connected to that particular server was not issued by that venue but was issued by a server within the group (that is, a server with which the central server connected to the gaming machine that received the ticket can communicate and change ownership information).

Under these specific circumstances the additional stored procedures will allow for the effective operation of tickets, should they move between different venues within the group.

When a ticket is moved between venues in the group and inserted into a gaming machine, the gaming machine and/or central server will read the "Get Local Ticket Procedure" which will return a result of "No". This then causes the "Get Remote Ticket Procedure" to commence which will return a result of "Yes this is a Valid Ticket within the Group".

Additional stored procedures will then be used to provide a fully reconciled transfer of ticket information between the Venues.

An advantage of this method is that the additional stored procedures are only activated in the event where a ticket is being moved between venues within the group. This ensures that existing systems continue normally within each venue and additional network traffic is only created in the specific instance of group ticket usage.

Further advantages of a system and method which can differentiate ticket ownership include: • There are records of tickets/transactions which have moved between the group of venues. This is essential to allow effective reconciliation of claimed and unclaimed tickets.

• Ticket use within the venue (normal ticket use) is not impacted by creating a Wide Area Network which would then be utilised for all transactions. Thus the normal transactions are not impacted in any way by allowing group ticket usage.

• The considerations which need to be taken in the event of the network links between the venues being down have minimal impact. In this instance this ticket would not be able to be used in the second venue while the network is down which again ensures the integrity of the system and the accuracy of the reconciliation.

• Network Traffic flow between the venues is similarly not high as only the transactions which are moving between the venues are required to call the stored procedures which deal with the ticket transfer process.

Accordingly, if tickets are not moved between venues, there is no difference between the existing systems that may exist in each venue. This is advantageous in some jurisdictions due to regulatory approval issues. Only in the instance where a ticket is moved from one venue to another and both venues are within the defined venue grouping is an additional procedure carried out and requested by the central server of each venue. The additional processes also preferably include the relevant information for security and reporting purposes. The system and method advantageously minimised inter venue network traffic.

Figure 2 shows the flow chart followed when a ticket is inserted into a gaming machine at any particular venue. The ticket is inserted. The gaming machine requests information on whether the ticket is a local ticket (that is, issued by the venue to which the gaming machine is attached). If the ticket is local then the normal procedures are followed and the ticket is then identified as being in use at the gaming machine. If the ticket is not local and was issued by another central server then the procedure to transfer the ownership of the ticket is executed.

A further example will now be described in four steps below. In this example there are three venues called venues A, B, C. The venues are connected via a secure wide area network (WAN).

Step 1 - Collect from Machine

Player has collected the ticket from gaming machine 9 at venue B. The ticket has a value of $50.00.

Step 2 - Ticket Transfer The player then decides to catch the courtesy Bus from venue B to venue C. at venue C the player decides to use the $50 ticket in gaming machine 10. At this point the interface will call the remote ticket procedure and will transfer the ticket ownership from site B to site C.

Venue B now has a transaction record of the ticket being transferred out to venue C. The ticket is now no longer unclaimed at venue B.

Step 3 - Further play and Transfer.

The Player continues to play on machine 10 at venue C. The player has won further credits and collects from machine 10 at a value of $450.00.

The player then collects the ticket at the Cashier at site C.

The player then proceeds to insert a $50 note in the bill acceptor of machine 11 at site C. The player plays these credits down to $30.00 and collects from machine 11.

The player then decides to catch the courtesy bus from venue C to venue A. Step 4 - Transfer and Collect.

The player has proceeded to venue A, the player decides that they do not want to play a machine, so they proceed to the Cashier and redeem the $30.00 ticket for cash. The Cashier application has called the remote ticket procedure and the ticket ownership has been transferred from venue C to venue A.

Venue C has a transaction record of the ticket being transferred out to Venue A. Venue A has a record of the ticket being transferred in to the venue and the ticket has been redeemed.

Additional reconciliation will be required if a ticket has moved between group venues and will follow the exact same logic as has previously been described above and will be specifically reported.

If there are no tickets transferred between venues, the reconciliation would not change from the procedures in the prior art. Only when there is a ticket transferred, from one venue to another venue, are Ticket transfer In and Ticket transfer Out parameters utilised during reconciliation.

A ticket which is issued at any given venue and has a value on it which is greater than 0.0 is considered an Unclaimed Ticket. It remains an Unclaimed Ticket until such time as it is inserted into another Gaming Machine at the venue or redeemed.

Any "Unclaimed Ticket" which is inserted into a Gaming Machine or redeemed at an alternate group venue transfers the ownership of the ticket to the receiving venue and records all details at the originating server, a record on the main server and a record at the receiving server. This will:

• Remove it from the "Unclaimed Ticket" status at the first venue.

• Creates a transfer out of the first venue.

• Creates a transfer in at the next venue, essentially it has initially become an unclaimed ticket at the receiving venue.

• This ticket will now be a ticket which operates under existing procedures at the receiving venue.

In some instances and if required by legislation, if a ticket presentation is greater than 24 hours after it was issued (irrespective of the venue it was issued at) then it will need to be taken to the cashier. This procedure may be different according to different legislation but could involve taking the ticket to a cashier to be redeemed.

For purposes of reconciliation and balancing at the venues the system provides the following reports:

• Group Ticket transfer In report.

• Group Ticket transfer Out report.

• Unclaimed tickets.

The algorithm used is as follows (this is used to balance and check each site individually):

Cash Banking (Safe or Vault)

Notes + Coins - Payouts + Opening Unclaimed tickets - Closing Unclaimed Tickets + Tickets Transferred In - Tickets Transferred Out = Nett Profit.

Where:

"Payouts" = Tickets Paid at Cashier + Cancel Credits + Refills + HandPay Jackpots + Short Pays + Payouts at CRT.

"Opening Unclaimed Tickets" = The Total Amount before Commencement of trade of all unclaimed tickets.

"Closing Unclaimed Tickets" = The Total Amount at close of trade of all unclaimed tickets.

"Tickets Transferred In" = The total amount of all tickets transferred TO the venue during the course of trade.

"Tickets Transferred Out" = The total amount of all tickets transferred OUT to other venues in the group during the course of trade. In a further embodiment of the invention as shown in Figure 3, the ticket reader system is considered separate to the gaming machine. This may be in the case of retrofitting existing gaming machines or may be due to regulatory requirements in some jurisdictions. In these embodiments, the ticket reader system processor 301 is connected to an in communication with the processor 12 of the gaming machine. A ticket reader and acceptor 302, display device 303, sound card 304 and speakers 305 are all connected to an in communication with the system processor 301 to provide the required functionality.

There are hundreds of available computer languages that may be used to implement embodiments of the invention, among the more common being Ada; Algol; APL; awk; Basic; C; C++; Cobol; Delphi; Eiffel; Euphoria; Forth; Fortran; HTML; Icon; Java; Javascript; Lisp; Logo; Mathematica; MatLab; Miranda; Modula-2; Oberon; Pascal; Perl; PL/I; Prolog; Python; Rexx; SAS; Scheme; sed; Simula; Smalltalk; Snobol; SQL; Visual Basic; Visual C++; and XML.

Any commercial processor may be used to implement the embodiments of the invention either as a single processor, serial or parallel set of processors in the system. Examples of commercial processors include, but are not limited to Merced™, Pentium™, Pentium II™, Xeon™, Celeron™, Pentium Pro™, Efficeon™, Athlon, AMD and the like.

Display screens may be segment display screen, analogue display screens, digital display screens, CRTs, LED screens, Plasma screens, liquid crystal diode screens, and the like.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims

1. A system for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues, the system including: a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information, the first sever capable of issuing a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit, the first ticket and the first server storing information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information; a second sever located at a second venue remote from the first venue, the second venue having second venue ownership information, the second server capable: of reading the information stored on the first ticket; communicating with the first server to change the ownership information from the first venue ownership information to the second venue ownership information; and provide the predetermined gaming credit to a gamer at the second venue.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the first sever is in communication with a first printer and the first ticket is printed by the first printer.

3. A system according to claim 2 wherein the first printer is located at a gaming machine located within the first venue.

4. A system according to claim 3 wherein the first ticket is printed in response to a gamer at the gaming machine cashing out.

5. A system according to claim 4 wherein the predetermined amount of credit is equal to the credits available at the gaming machine when the gamer cashed out.

6. A system according to claim 5 wherein the ticket is a reusable ticket and the information stored thereon can be rewritten.

7. A system according to claim 6 wherein the information stored on the ticket is stored by way of any of the following: magnetic strip; barcode; microchip; or any other suitable means.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein the first server and the second server communicate through one of the following: the Internet; a WAN; a VPN; or any other suitable means.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein the ticket is read by a gaming machine located within the second venue and the predetermined amount of credit is provided to the gamer at the gaming machine located within the second venue once the ownership information has been changed to the second venue ownership information.

10. A system according to claim 9 wherein the information stored on the ticket is verified with the information stored on the first server prior to the ownership information being changed and the predetermined credit being provided to the gamer.

11. A method for allowing a ticket to be used at a plurality of venues, the method including the steps of: providing a first sever located at a first venue having first venue ownership information, the first sever capable of issuing a first ticket having a predetermined amount of gaming credit, the first ticket and the first server storing information related to the predetermined amount of gaming credit and the first venue ownership information; providing a second sever located at a second venue remote from the first venue, the second venue having second venue ownership information, the second server capable: of reading the information stored on the first ticket; communicating with the first server to change the ownership information from the first venue ownership information to the second venue ownership information; and provide the predetermined gaming credit to a gamer at the second venue.

12. A method according to claim 11 including the step of the first server communicating with a first printer and wherein the first ticket is printed by the first printer.

13. A method according to claim 12 including the step of locating the first printer at a gaming machine located within the first venue.

14. A method according to claim 13 including the step of printing the first ticket in response to a gamer at the gaming machine cashing out.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the predetermined amount of credit is equal to the credits available at the gaming machine when the gamer cashed out.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein the ticket is a reusable ticket and the information stored thereon can be rewritten.

17. A method according to claim 16 including the step of storing information on the ticket by way of any of the following: magnetic strip; barcode; microchip; or any other suitable means.

18. A method according to claim 17 including the step of the first server and the second server communicating through one of the following: the Internet; a WAN; a VPN; or any other suitable means.

19. A method according to claim 18 including the step the ticket being read by a gaming machine located within the second venue and providing the predetermined amount of credit to the gamer at the gaming machine located within the second venue once the ownership information has been changed to the second venue ownership information.

20. A method according to claim 19 including the step of the verifying the information stored on the ticket with the information stored on the first server prior to changing the ownership information and providing the predetermined credit to the gamer.