Patent Application Number: 2009200139
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Prior Art Detail
Summary / Description
| Summary / Description | Patent publication which discloses a player tracking unit for allowing game players to participate in loyalty programs on gaming machines. A magnetic stripe card or a smart card may be used to initiate the loyalty program session. |
Basic Information
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | United States of America |
| Patent/Application # | 20030036425 |
| Kind Code | United States (US) - United STATES Patent - A |
| Patentee Name | Kaminkow, Joseph E.; Rowe, Richard E.; INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY (IGT) |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | Figures 4-11B and 13, [0011]-[ |
| URL | http://www.freepatentsonline.co... |
| Filing Date | August 6, 2002 |
| Additional Information | |
Notes / To Do
| Notes | |
Excerpt
Excerpt [0011] Typically, when a game player wants to play a game on a gaming machine and utilize the player tracking services available through the player tracking unit, a game player inserts a player tracking card, such as a magnetic striped card, into the card reader 24. After the magnetic striped card has been so inserted, the player tracking unit 107 may detect this event and receive certain identification information contained on the card. For example, a player's name, address, and player tracking account number encoded on the magnetic striped card, may be received by the player tracking unit 107. ....[0035] When a magnetic striped card is used in a player tracking session, which is one type of loyalty program session, the session is initiated when physical contact between the magnetic stripe and magnetic reader is detected. In the present invention, the loyalty program session may be initiated without physical contact between the loyalty program instrument and the instrument reader in response to a number of conditions...The first gaming event may be one of i) an input of loyalty program instrument data from the loyalty point instrument via the non-physical contact data interface, ii) a deposit of an indicia of credit into the gaming machine, iii) an insertion of a card into a card slot on the gaming machine, iv) an activation an input button on the gaming machine, v) an input of a loyalty program instrument into the input mechanism on the gaming machine, ..... [0060] At the end of the player's game play session, the amount of loyalty points awarded to the player may be stored on a loyalty point instrument such as a printed ticket, a smart card, a debit card, a room key or a portable wireless device. ..... [0064].. . Further, a single generation site may issue a plurality of different instrument types for cashless transaction and loyalty program transaction such as but not limited to smart cards, printed tickets, magnetic striped cards, room keys and portable wireless devices. In addition, a single validation site may accept and validate both cashless instruments and loyalty program instruments such as but not limited to smart cards, printed tickets, magnetic striped cards, room keys and portable wireless devices. .... [0137] In one embodiment, a plurality of bar-codes corresponding to different loyalty programs may be located on the same substrate. Player tracking clubs run by different casinos use different index numbers for their clubs that are not compatible. ... With the present invention, bar-codes from different player tracking clubs may be printed on the same substrate or attached the same substrate using a bar-code printed on an adhesive backing. At the start of the loyalty program session, the plurality of bar-codes may be scanned from the substrate, the scanned numbers may be analyzed to determine if any are valid for the gaming machine or gaming device on which the player has requested a loyalty program session.. |
Relevance
Claims
1
A method of processing a user data card comprising: determining that a user data card comprising a non-compatible smart card has been entered into a card reader; obtaining a user identifier from a magnetic stripe of the user data card; and processing the user identifier to obtain data from a user record to enable further processing in respect of the user data card.
| Relevance | See the Excerpt. [0137] discloses a system that reads several types of information on a card. |
Claim Chart
All
2
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the further processing includes transferring credit from the user record to a gaming machine.
| Relevance | See the Excerpt. [0011] discloses the 'player tracking services' which reads the information from the card. |
Claim Chart
All
3
A method as claimed in claim 2, further comprising transferring credit to the user record from a gaming machine.
| Relevance | See [0060]. |
Claim Chart
All
5
An interface module for a gaming system, the interface module arranged to be placed in data communication with a card reader and a user database storing user records, the interface module arranged to: determine that a user data card comprising a non-compatible smart card has been entered into a card reader; obtain a user identifier from a magnetic stripe of the user data card; and process the user identifier to obtain data from a user record associated with the identifier to enable further processing in respect of the user data card.
| Relevance | See the Excerpt. [0011] discloses the 'player tracking services'. |
Claim Chart
All
United States