Patent ID: 9524614
Filing Date: 2016-12-20
CPC Classification: G07F

Claim Text:
1. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising: (a) receiving, by an acceptor, a physical item associated with a monetary value, wherein the physical item is one of: (1) a ticket associated with the monetary value, and (2) currency; (b) establishing, by at least one processor, a credit balance for a player based at least in part on the monetary value associated with the received physical item; (c) receiving, an actuation of a wager button; (d) placing, by the at least one processor, a wager for a play of a game responsive to the actuation of the wager button, said wager deducted from said credit balance; (e) randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the play of the game and displaying, by at least one display device, said randomly determined outcome for said play of the game, the game having an average expected payback percentage; (f) upon an occurrence of a point accumulation event associated with said play of the game, adding, by the at least one processor, a quantity of points to a point balance of the player; (g) when the point balance of the player reaches a first designated point threshold, permanently modifying, by the at least one processor, the game for the player in a first manner such that any subsequent play of the game by the player has an increased average expected payback percentage; (h) when the point balance of the player reaches a second designated point threshold, permanently modifying, by the at least one processor, the game in a second manner without increasing the average expected payback percentage of the game; (i) receiving an actuation of a cashout button; and (j) initiating, by the at least one processor, a payout associated with the credit balance responsive to the actuation of the cashout button.