Patent ID: 9293005
Filing Date: 2016-03-22
CPC Classification: G07F

Claim Text:
1. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising: (a) receiving, by an acceptor of the gaming system, a physical item associated with a monetary value; (b) causing at least one processor to execute a plurality of instructions stored in at least one memory device to establish 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) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to place a wager on at least one play of a wagering game in response to the received actuation of the wager button; (e) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with at least one display device to display the at least one play of the wagering game upon the wager, an amount of the wager being at least a minimum wager amount and at most a maximum wager amount, the credit balance decreasable by the wager; (f) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to operate with the at least one display device to display the credit balance of the player; (g) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to determine if the player's credit balance is less than a designated wager amount and greater than or equal to a lowest eligible credit balance, the designated wager amount being less than or equal to the maximum wager amount; (h) if the player's credit balance is less than the designated wager amount and greater than or equal to the lowest eligible credit balance: (i) receiving an, actuation of a cashout button; and (j) causing the at least one processor to execute the plurality of instructions to initiate a payout associated with the credit balance in response to the received actuation of the cashout button if the credit balance is greater than or equal to the lowest eligible credit balance.