Patent ID: 9659444
Date: 2017-05-23
CPC Classifications: G07F

Claim:
1. A method of operating a gaming system, said method comprising: receiving, by an acceptor, a physical item associated with a monetary value, the physical item being one of a ticket and currency; establishing, by at least one processor, a first credit balance based on the monetary value associated with the received physical item and initiating, by the at least one processor, a gaming session; receiving an actuation of a wager button; responsive to the received actuation of the wager button, placing, by the at least one processor, a wager on a play of a wagering game; reducing, by the at least one processor, the first credit balance based on the placed wager; randomly determining, by the at least one processor, an outcome for the play of the wagering game; if the randomly-determined outcome is associated with an award, increasing, by the at least one processor, the first credit balance based on the award; receiving an actuation of a cashout button; and responsive to the received actuation of the cashout button, terminating, by the at least one processor, the gaming session and initiating, by the at least one processor, a payout including: (1) an amount of non-cashable credits in lieu of a first portion of some but not all of the first credit balance, and (2) a monetary value representing a remaining second portion of the first credit balance, wherein the non-cashable credits cannot be used to initiate a play of a game during a subsequent gaming session unless a second quantity of credits representing a deposit of value in addition to any non-cashable credits has first been wagered on one or more plays of the game in the subsequent gaming session, the second quantity of credits determined based on the amount of non-cashable credits.