Patent ID: 9697681
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: G07F

Claim:
1. A method of operating a gaming system having a central authority associated with a database and interconnected to a plurality of gaming machines, each gaming machine having a credit input mechanism configured for player interaction to receive credit input associated with a monetary value for establishing a credit balance, the method comprising: establishing a credit balance via said credit input mechanism receiving player interaction, said credit balance associated with a player account; identifying the start of a first regular gaming session for said player; identifying the end of said first regular gaming session; collecting first activity data from said one gaming machine during said first regular gaming session; identifying the start of a first virtual gaming session for said one player; identifying the end of said first virtual gaming session; collecting second activity data from said one gaming machine during said first virtual gaming session; transmitting said first activity data and said second activity data to said central authority; and storing information in said database based on said first activity data and said second activity data.