Automatic funding of paragames on electronic gaming platform

Abstract

The provision of a paragaming event on an electronic gaming machine is provided by intercepting a cashout event, identifying the account balance and presenting an offer to participate in the paragaming event. If the customer agrees, the account balance is appropriately reduced and a voucher in followed by a cashout event is initiated to maintain a record of the transaction. A cash voucher and a transaction receipt are then printed for the customer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of United States patent application filed on Aug. 31, 2006 with a title of CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING ADDITIONAL EVENT PARTICIPATION TO ELECTRONIC VIDEO GAME CUSTOMER and assigned Ser. No. 11 / 468,946, which is a continuation-in-part of United States patent application filed on Oct. 20, 2003 with a title of CLOSED-LOOP SYSTEM FOR DISPLAYING PROMOTIONAL EVENTS AND GRANTING AWARDS FOR ELECTRONIC VIDEO GAMES and assigned Ser. No. 10 / 689,407.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The video gaming industry continues to advance by exploiting the relatively recent technology advancements, such as networking and communication technology advancements. However, as in most industries, some of the technological advances are introduced by specific companies for specific purposes. As a result, these technological advancements are functionally ideal for the purpose to which they were intended. However, when ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The present invention advantageously provides the ability for paragaming activity to be parasitically provided on an electronic gaming machine. In one embodiment of the invention, a cashout event is detected by a control unit. The control unit may detect the cashout event by receiving a cashout command over an SAS port or by detecting printer commands commensurate with a cashout event over a printer port, or both. The control unit effectively operates to prevent the cashout event from printing a cash voucher and instead, offers to the customer the opportunity to participate in a paragaming activity. If the customer declines, the cashout event is concluded and a voucher is printed. However, if the customer accepts the offer, the control unit parses the printer commands to identify a current balance, and if the balance is sufficient it deducts the fee associated with the paragaming event from the balance. In addition, certain paragaming events may also include payout tables and provide winnings. If the paragaming activity results in a winning event similar actions can be taken to add the winnings to the existing balance. Alternatively, other SAS or standard commands may be used to implement the payout aspect of the paragaming event. The control unit then causes a “voucher in” event to occur, followed by another cashout event. This allows the accounting system to keep a record of the event. A unique ID is associated with the transaction to facilitate tracking and reporting. The control unit then prints a transaction receipt and a cash voucher.

[0010] Another aspect of the present invention is to move funds from the control unit onto the EGM instead of printing out a cash voucher. This aspect of the invention is realized by placing the control unit between the EGM and the bill acceptor and communicating to the bill acceptor through its interface—typically a serial port. Advantageously, this aspect of the present invention not only enables the transfer of funds from the control unit to the EGM, but it also enables a variety of other features to the bill acceptor. For instance, the control unit can temporarily turn the EGM into an ATM, allow the customer to extract funds through the ATM to be loaded into the control unit, and then transfer these funds via ATM transfer using the card reader interface. The card reader is also connected to control unit so that the control unit can read cards and can do further actions for cards that the EGM would normally reject.

Problems solved by technology

However, if the customer accepts the offer, the control unit parses the printer commands to identify a current balance, and if the balance is sufficient it deducts the fee associated with the paragaming event from the balance.

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